Sorry for the silence. We are just slowly catching up with ourselves, settling in, and Fanning is a quite primitive island. Although the government has an internet setup, it is not functioning and hasn't been for several months. They await the Kwai, a ship that comes every few months with supplies for the islanders (flour, sugar, solar panels, computer modem apparently, etc...). The main anchorage is a lee shore and strongly influenced by currents, making for uncomfortable sleeping during the strong ebb current throughout the night, with waves crashing over the bow and water rushing under the hull, as if we were underway. We've been trying to dry out, but have had a few on and off wet days (it's those squalls passing us by). Desperate to dry out, we made the mistake of leaving our hatches open just a crack when we went ashore to check in (which required stops, paperwork and some small fees at: the Police Station/Immigration, Quarantine, and the Local Council). But it only took a few squalls for Shawn to be ready with her shower gear at a moments notice. We are working on a catchment system with several ideas including tarps, awnings, upside down sail covers and funnels which are in the process of being implemented, though Fatty has caught the most fresh water for us yet! We have spent hours watching the tidal changes, recalibrating our tide chart (it was basically an hour early), seeing how Tao rides the currents under anchor, and checking the surf. We are making progress each day and along with the normal dive to check the anchors, we took Fatty around the lee side (the navigable waters) of the lagoon with our lead line to find different anchoring options.
Yesterday we spent ashore again as the locals started to set up a craft fair for a cruise ship that was to come visit. Unfortunately, with the strong winds whipping up 2-ft swells onto the lee shore where they were to disembark, the cruise ship guests did not come ashore for safety. It is almost comical thinking of this as we see a "ferry" (two long pontoons with plywood along the sides, reminiscent of a sweep rig on the MF Salmon River) with a tiny motor astern, cross the river several times each day jam packed with children from villages across the river, and surely not a life vest aboard... This morning we took advantage of the slack tide, weighed our anchors and made our way NW across the channel to another anchorage we had sounded from Fatty, that we hope is quieter, at least in terms of currents. We are now anchored behind Cartwright Point, upwind of a grounded cargo ship whereas before we were anchored behind Weston Point next to a mostly sunken ship wreck!
Chris has made his way out surfing already- though the swell is currently small. And we have even figured out a way to reef Fatty's sail, because the Trade Winds blowing over the island are too strong to have all the sail area up. We have been doing our best to learn the Kirbati language, but are grateful that many people know at least one or two words of English (and several learned English in the Kirbati capital of Tarawa, nearly 2,000-miles to the west) most have huge smiles when greeted with "Mauri," the local word for Aloha. One local already walked 6-km both ways to bring us 4 most amazing drinking coconuts. There are a few other cruising boats here, all with unique stories, so it is nice to share this amazing spot in the middle of the Pacific with both cruisers and locals alike. We'll try to keep updates coming to the blog, so keep checking in, but everything does seem to take forever... for now, we are quite enjoying this spot that is almost equal distance between Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Brisbane, Australia!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Day 9- the final push, anchor's down at Fanning Island
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 03-deg 51-min N 159-deg 21-min W
Wind: NE 17+ Seas: wind waves < 1-ft!!
Avg. Course: 187 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: storm jib and mains'l nestled in their covers
24-hr distance traveled: 82.1-nm
The heavier weather continued and we chose to bring down the 80% jib, raise the triple-reefed mains'l, and raise the storm jib for the day. It turned out to be a wise combination. Around 1400 another ominous squall line marched toward us so we pulled the mains'l down and ran with only the storm jib until average speeds were less than 4-knots, not until after 1700. Although the rain and cloud part of the squalls abated after this, the winds never decreased staying a solid 20 gusting to 25-knots all afternoon and the seas jacked up accordingly to 10-ft. Shawn had requested that Chris bring the weather down to more manageable by the time her evening watch rolled around. Somehow, her request was gratefully granted. We put the triple-reefed main back up around 1700 and enjoyed tuna melts with Granny Smith apple slices and tomato soup as the sunset and the conditions returned to what we deemed more "normal". We calculated that to get to our outer waypoint around 0700 the following morning, we needed only to travel at 4.3-knots, so did not add more sail area.
Shawn's night watch was sublime. Not a cloud to be seen, stars everywhere melting into phosphorescent seas. Once in a while a thin squall cloud would come by, cover the sky and pass relatively mellowly, then the sky would be clear once again. With these mellow conditions, she offered to take a couple extra hours to give Chris sleep in preparation for the morning landing, and awoke him at 0200 when we were 20-nm out. Chris pulled the mains'l down almost right away to slow our forward progress, and 10-nm out, finally hove to for an hour to await the sunrise. Back underway, he awoke Shawn at 0630 with a hearty "Land Ho!". By 0800 we were rounding the corner into the lee of Fanning Atoll, a welcome relief from the constant seas of the passage. Trade winds still flow over the small island so we spent the next two hours sailing in nice winds in the pleasantly calm seas in the lee of the atoll. While sailing, we attached Rocky (who had been riding aft in the lazarette with a teak plug in the haus pipe) to the forward chain, enjoyed a freshwater downpour to clean us off, saw a rainbow, generally prepared for imminent landfall, and were welcomed into the river flowing out of the lagoon by several playful dolphin.
Our 1100 slack tide forecast was coming fast, so at 1030 we dropped the storm jib and hove to to prepare the chain for anchoring. Unfortunately, we found that we had flipped it around from the direction we wanted it, so had to pull all of our chain out and turn it around. As Shawn was managing chain, we received a hail on the radio from Scotch Power, who had left Hawaii 5-days previous to us, reporting there were currently 2.5-knots of current flowing out of the pass from the lagoon. Still, trusting our data, we planned to enter at 1100, if not exactly slack tide, preferring to be working against the ebb than being pushed too fast by a flood. The anchor and chain ready, we fired up Yannie, pulled the mains'l down, and began to motor toward our entrance waypoint.
As we joined our outer pass waypoint and turned toward the bearing we had calculated for entering through the center of the pass, we were a bit worried that our depth sounder was not working as it had not yet registered any depths. No time to head back out and dive on it to see if there was growth inhibiting its function, if we were going to attempt this entrance at the appointed time as there is only 10-min of slack tide before it would turn and rush into the lagoon during this large swing New Moon time. This will be our first pass entrance in Tao and Shawn is grateful for Chris' solid river background. Chris had decided that he would prefer to be motoring "upstream" as there is more control and at any moment, we could just fall off with the current and get spit back out to sea versus being rushed in too fast to make any maneuvers to avoid possible dangers (coral head or land for instance) into an area with which we are unfamiliar.
As we entered the channel our depth sounder finally registered depths (191-ft). Although 1115 already, it was obvious that current was still flowing out of the lagoon as we motored through swirly water (like at the end of a river rapid) and we could see the water rushing toward us. Surf was breaking on both the starboard and port sides of the pass, but neither of us gawked as we were both focused on our tasks. Chris did not waver from steering 052-deg T bearing (even when Shawn stated how much closer we were to the right bank), and Shawn was busy staring at the depth sounder and reading the depths aloud to Chris, as Chris gave updates of how the boat was handling. We were powering at 1500-rpm which in 15-knots of flat water pushes us about 3.5 to 4.0-knots and seeing speeds as low as 1.9-knots. This means the "river" was still rushing at us at up to 2-knots. However, we were making progress and still in control. Slow and steady, Chris continually "ferried" Tao keeping the bow directly into the current and as we passed the most constricted section, we were able to break free of the pull of the outflow and began moving faster in our intended direction. And we were in!
The obvious "shipwreck" anchorage (with an old rusty ship sticking out of the water) was already filled with 3 sailboats, so now we had to figure out where to drop the hook. Winds were still blowing a stiff NE 15-knots as we saw Scotch Power waiting for us and recognized Michael Kapchinski in his boat Fianna in the pole-position spot closest to the beach and out away from the channels currents next to the shipwreck. He hailed us on the radio and welcomed us in just warning us not to anchor in the dark blue areas (aka the "river"). Noting that all three boats were bow and stern anchored, we nestled in between the two cruisers we know, downwind and close to the beach, and dropped Rocky in 15-ft of unbelievably blue-green water. We backed down, and Shawn's stomach dropped as she heard Rocky skip along the bottom, coral pieces from the sound of it. She let out more scope and was happy to hear Rocky set, then Chris revved Yannie up to set her deeper. More radio chatter with Fianna explained that the stern hook was required to keep the incoming flood current from turning Tao to end up with her stern into the strong NE winds. So we let an additional 100-ft of chain out, and with the winds blowing us down, reversed against it (and the now incoming tide) and dropped our stern hook. We then used Yannie to help us motor up into the wind to bring the extra 100-ft back aboard, letting out scope for our stern hook all-the-while. At this time, probably a half hour after first dropping Rocky, we noticed the entrance "river" now had large waves, obviously strong flood current against strong wind. Phew, we timed it just right!
We were excited to raise our Kirbati courtesy flag, though apparently we have crossed the date line so it is Sunday, and there is nobody here to check us in. That is quite alright with us, gives us a little time to get cleaned up and dried out before heading ashore to check ourselves in tomorrow morning. Sorry for the long winded report, just so much excitement to share! Now it is time to sit back and tip back a cold drink in celebration to have safely arrived at Fanning Island after a momentous passage.
Position: 03-deg 51-min N 159-deg 21-min W
Wind: NE 17+ Seas: wind waves < 1-ft!!
Avg. Course: 187 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: storm jib and mains'l nestled in their covers
24-hr distance traveled: 82.1-nm
The heavier weather continued and we chose to bring down the 80% jib, raise the triple-reefed mains'l, and raise the storm jib for the day. It turned out to be a wise combination. Around 1400 another ominous squall line marched toward us so we pulled the mains'l down and ran with only the storm jib until average speeds were less than 4-knots, not until after 1700. Although the rain and cloud part of the squalls abated after this, the winds never decreased staying a solid 20 gusting to 25-knots all afternoon and the seas jacked up accordingly to 10-ft. Shawn had requested that Chris bring the weather down to more manageable by the time her evening watch rolled around. Somehow, her request was gratefully granted. We put the triple-reefed main back up around 1700 and enjoyed tuna melts with Granny Smith apple slices and tomato soup as the sunset and the conditions returned to what we deemed more "normal". We calculated that to get to our outer waypoint around 0700 the following morning, we needed only to travel at 4.3-knots, so did not add more sail area.
Shawn's night watch was sublime. Not a cloud to be seen, stars everywhere melting into phosphorescent seas. Once in a while a thin squall cloud would come by, cover the sky and pass relatively mellowly, then the sky would be clear once again. With these mellow conditions, she offered to take a couple extra hours to give Chris sleep in preparation for the morning landing, and awoke him at 0200 when we were 20-nm out. Chris pulled the mains'l down almost right away to slow our forward progress, and 10-nm out, finally hove to for an hour to await the sunrise. Back underway, he awoke Shawn at 0630 with a hearty "Land Ho!". By 0800 we were rounding the corner into the lee of Fanning Atoll, a welcome relief from the constant seas of the passage. Trade winds still flow over the small island so we spent the next two hours sailing in nice winds in the pleasantly calm seas in the lee of the atoll. While sailing, we attached Rocky (who had been riding aft in the lazarette with a teak plug in the haus pipe) to the forward chain, enjoyed a freshwater downpour to clean us off, saw a rainbow, generally prepared for imminent landfall, and were welcomed into the river flowing out of the lagoon by several playful dolphin.
Our 1100 slack tide forecast was coming fast, so at 1030 we dropped the storm jib and hove to to prepare the chain for anchoring. Unfortunately, we found that we had flipped it around from the direction we wanted it, so had to pull all of our chain out and turn it around. As Shawn was managing chain, we received a hail on the radio from Scotch Power, who had left Hawaii 5-days previous to us, reporting there were currently 2.5-knots of current flowing out of the pass from the lagoon. Still, trusting our data, we planned to enter at 1100, if not exactly slack tide, preferring to be working against the ebb than being pushed too fast by a flood. The anchor and chain ready, we fired up Yannie, pulled the mains'l down, and began to motor toward our entrance waypoint.
As we joined our outer pass waypoint and turned toward the bearing we had calculated for entering through the center of the pass, we were a bit worried that our depth sounder was not working as it had not yet registered any depths. No time to head back out and dive on it to see if there was growth inhibiting its function, if we were going to attempt this entrance at the appointed time as there is only 10-min of slack tide before it would turn and rush into the lagoon during this large swing New Moon time. This will be our first pass entrance in Tao and Shawn is grateful for Chris' solid river background. Chris had decided that he would prefer to be motoring "upstream" as there is more control and at any moment, we could just fall off with the current and get spit back out to sea versus being rushed in too fast to make any maneuvers to avoid possible dangers (coral head or land for instance) into an area with which we are unfamiliar.
As we entered the channel our depth sounder finally registered depths (191-ft). Although 1115 already, it was obvious that current was still flowing out of the lagoon as we motored through swirly water (like at the end of a river rapid) and we could see the water rushing toward us. Surf was breaking on both the starboard and port sides of the pass, but neither of us gawked as we were both focused on our tasks. Chris did not waver from steering 052-deg T bearing (even when Shawn stated how much closer we were to the right bank), and Shawn was busy staring at the depth sounder and reading the depths aloud to Chris, as Chris gave updates of how the boat was handling. We were powering at 1500-rpm which in 15-knots of flat water pushes us about 3.5 to 4.0-knots and seeing speeds as low as 1.9-knots. This means the "river" was still rushing at us at up to 2-knots. However, we were making progress and still in control. Slow and steady, Chris continually "ferried" Tao keeping the bow directly into the current and as we passed the most constricted section, we were able to break free of the pull of the outflow and began moving faster in our intended direction. And we were in!
The obvious "shipwreck" anchorage (with an old rusty ship sticking out of the water) was already filled with 3 sailboats, so now we had to figure out where to drop the hook. Winds were still blowing a stiff NE 15-knots as we saw Scotch Power waiting for us and recognized Michael Kapchinski in his boat Fianna in the pole-position spot closest to the beach and out away from the channels currents next to the shipwreck. He hailed us on the radio and welcomed us in just warning us not to anchor in the dark blue areas (aka the "river"). Noting that all three boats were bow and stern anchored, we nestled in between the two cruisers we know, downwind and close to the beach, and dropped Rocky in 15-ft of unbelievably blue-green water. We backed down, and Shawn's stomach dropped as she heard Rocky skip along the bottom, coral pieces from the sound of it. She let out more scope and was happy to hear Rocky set, then Chris revved Yannie up to set her deeper. More radio chatter with Fianna explained that the stern hook was required to keep the incoming flood current from turning Tao to end up with her stern into the strong NE winds. So we let an additional 100-ft of chain out, and with the winds blowing us down, reversed against it (and the now incoming tide) and dropped our stern hook. We then used Yannie to help us motor up into the wind to bring the extra 100-ft back aboard, letting out scope for our stern hook all-the-while. At this time, probably a half hour after first dropping Rocky, we noticed the entrance "river" now had large waves, obviously strong flood current against strong wind. Phew, we timed it just right!
We were excited to raise our Kirbati courtesy flag, though apparently we have crossed the date line so it is Sunday, and there is nobody here to check us in. That is quite alright with us, gives us a little time to get cleaned up and dried out before heading ashore to check ourselves in tomorrow morning. Sorry for the long winded report, just so much excitement to share! Now it is time to sit back and tip back a cold drink in celebration to have safely arrived at Fanning Island after a momentous passage.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Day 8- Dolphins, pilot whales, and heavier weather
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 05-deg 13-min N 159-deg 10-min W
Wind: ENE 17+ Seas: E 5-8-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.9-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 118-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 80.2-nm
First order of business, awning up to create a cockpit enclosure, our haven, free from much of the exposure (Thanks to Ivett from Stitch in Time in Puerto Vallarta). Second, hang wet cushions from recent leeward wave wash. Third, cut up pineapple for snacking pleasure. Following the pattern that we had seen over the past few days, fresh winds continued to lighten into the afternoon, and at 1330 Chris added triple-reefed main to the sail area for the afternoon.
Up from her afternoon nap, Shawn did a quick inventory of freshies and quickly changed dinner plans to veggie stirfry in order to use carrots and peppers that would hold no longer. How to feed the crew is never far from Shawn's mind and Chris says her Achilles heel is the fresh produce- always buying too much to use and then racing against time to use what we can. In terms of the fresh items, this passage has been more frustrating than others. It seems we are more frequently pulling items to use just a little too late. We could chalk this up to the fact that we did a bulk CostCo run a few days earlier than in a perfect world, or that we left 5 days later than planned. But after thinking about it, Shawn has decided that a big part of it is that all of the fresh vegetables one buys in Hawaii are pretty much on their way out already- very little is actually grown on the islands, everything else is shipped in from afar (often times Mexico and California but as frequently from Asia). We had no idea how good we had it provisioning in Mexico, where much of the food is actually grown!
Dinner was accompanied by another fabulous sunset, changing colors, and getting brighter with each moment. The highpoint of Shawn's night watch was being visited by a pod of dolphin at just past midnight. In the starless cloud filled sky, it was impossible to actually see the dolphin. However, the phosphorescent streaks marked where they were exactly. They were actually surfing the ocean waves into our bow waves. It was like watching masterful surfers catching the waves and performing cutbacks to stay on them. A great way to change watches! Chris' night watch was less exciting as winds were a bit fluky and cloud cover increased until reaching 100%. Light came just in time for him to see a squall envelop us, high winds on the leading edge and then buckets of rain after, lasting nearly an hour. The day was promising to be a cloudy one, and at the beginning of Shawn's watch we pulled the main down to prepare for obviously oncoming squalls. Several squalls marched past and the biggest (enough to overpower our 80% jib for us to need to turn more off the wind) stayed awhile. These squalls are packing more of a punch with leading edge winds in the 20-knot range followed by heavy rains.
Noon again, both of us on deck in the steamy rain, and a small pod of pilot whales chose this moment to join us in our decision making process. What is this weather? It is not on our weather gribs (of course according to Don Anderson, squalls are impossible to forecast, you forecast them with your eyes and your radar so, of course the weather models don't see this). Where did our idyllic trade wind weather go? Did the ITCZ expand since we last saw it forecast? We are rapidly approaching Fanning Island, and at this pace will have to heave to for part of the night to time reaching our outer waypoint by 0700ish. Send good weather thoughts our way for our (hopefully) last 24-hrs before landfall.
Position: 05-deg 13-min N 159-deg 10-min W
Wind: ENE 17+ Seas: E 5-8-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.9-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 118-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 80.2-nm
First order of business, awning up to create a cockpit enclosure, our haven, free from much of the exposure (Thanks to Ivett from Stitch in Time in Puerto Vallarta). Second, hang wet cushions from recent leeward wave wash. Third, cut up pineapple for snacking pleasure. Following the pattern that we had seen over the past few days, fresh winds continued to lighten into the afternoon, and at 1330 Chris added triple-reefed main to the sail area for the afternoon.
Up from her afternoon nap, Shawn did a quick inventory of freshies and quickly changed dinner plans to veggie stirfry in order to use carrots and peppers that would hold no longer. How to feed the crew is never far from Shawn's mind and Chris says her Achilles heel is the fresh produce- always buying too much to use and then racing against time to use what we can. In terms of the fresh items, this passage has been more frustrating than others. It seems we are more frequently pulling items to use just a little too late. We could chalk this up to the fact that we did a bulk CostCo run a few days earlier than in a perfect world, or that we left 5 days later than planned. But after thinking about it, Shawn has decided that a big part of it is that all of the fresh vegetables one buys in Hawaii are pretty much on their way out already- very little is actually grown on the islands, everything else is shipped in from afar (often times Mexico and California but as frequently from Asia). We had no idea how good we had it provisioning in Mexico, where much of the food is actually grown!
Dinner was accompanied by another fabulous sunset, changing colors, and getting brighter with each moment. The highpoint of Shawn's night watch was being visited by a pod of dolphin at just past midnight. In the starless cloud filled sky, it was impossible to actually see the dolphin. However, the phosphorescent streaks marked where they were exactly. They were actually surfing the ocean waves into our bow waves. It was like watching masterful surfers catching the waves and performing cutbacks to stay on them. A great way to change watches! Chris' night watch was less exciting as winds were a bit fluky and cloud cover increased until reaching 100%. Light came just in time for him to see a squall envelop us, high winds on the leading edge and then buckets of rain after, lasting nearly an hour. The day was promising to be a cloudy one, and at the beginning of Shawn's watch we pulled the main down to prepare for obviously oncoming squalls. Several squalls marched past and the biggest (enough to overpower our 80% jib for us to need to turn more off the wind) stayed awhile. These squalls are packing more of a punch with leading edge winds in the 20-knot range followed by heavy rains.
Noon again, both of us on deck in the steamy rain, and a small pod of pilot whales chose this moment to join us in our decision making process. What is this weather? It is not on our weather gribs (of course according to Don Anderson, squalls are impossible to forecast, you forecast them with your eyes and your radar so, of course the weather models don't see this). Where did our idyllic trade wind weather go? Did the ITCZ expand since we last saw it forecast? We are rapidly approaching Fanning Island, and at this pace will have to heave to for part of the night to time reaching our outer waypoint by 0700ish. Send good weather thoughts our way for our (hopefully) last 24-hrs before landfall.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Day 7- Tradewinds push us as Tao rouses flying fish
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 07-deg 05-min N 159-deg 45-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 115-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 198-nm
Trade Winds are a glorious thing, they just go and go and go, and we are enjoying their consistent 15-20-knots immensely. There is a diurnal pattern that we've noticed. Winds seem to pick up just after sunset and sunrise with lulls in late night and late afternoons. Day 7 started with pulling the mains'l down at noon in the solid nearly 20-knot breeze. After treating ourselves to sandwiches with the last of our deli turkey and a Coke, we prepped the cockpit for a shower. It feels wonderful to be clean! Unfortunately the Coke made it difficult for Shawn to sleep during her off watch and she got out of the bunk to make dinner with an upset stomach, choosing one of the easier but most rewarding dinners to prepare- chicken pesto pasta. Chris had a busy Radio hour checking in on the PacSea, talking to his dad, and then catching up with our friends on Midnight Blue (KF7OHO)who spent 3-months at Fanning Island, and are currently underway from Oahu back to California. We were treated to one of those sunsets that keep getting better and better as we enjoyed our nightly meal together.
Night watches were mellow and passed quickly, Shawn nursing her still upset stomach, and Chris had his most relaxing night watch of the trip thus far. Though we could have carried mains'l through the night, Chris raised it to triple-reefed as the sun came up. As the afternoon carried on, winds freshened a bit and Shawn, feeling better now, chose to bring the main down for a mellower ride. Our current calculations put us reaching our waypoint just off Fanning on Saturday. We will try to be there around day break as it is important to time it well to make the entrance through the pass to the atoll at slack tide. To do this, we need to continue moving, but not at breakneck speeds, as we don't want to get there to early near unknown land in dark hours.
There has been a constant barrage of flying fish throughout this passage. Very frequently we get to watch huge schools of them performing their synchronized swim-flying. Hundreds of silvery forms, in groups of all approximately the same size, glide from wave to wave as a multitude of birds circle above. We found a quite large one on deck yesterday and wished that Griz were here to enjoy it. We are missing Grizzly immensely, but are happy to know that she is instead enjoying a palatial non-moving house with her Gramum in Ithaca. We have several pictures of her hung around the boat (including one of her on her kitty shelf hung on the kitty shelf itself) that are helping us to feel like she's here. And though we miss her snuggly love, we do not miss cleaning her litter box while underway. Enjoyable thus far, this passage has felt both quick yet each day long. Through our individual ups and downs, current focus is shifting to prepare for upcoming landfall.
Position: 07-deg 05-min N 159-deg 45-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 115-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 198-nm
Trade Winds are a glorious thing, they just go and go and go, and we are enjoying their consistent 15-20-knots immensely. There is a diurnal pattern that we've noticed. Winds seem to pick up just after sunset and sunrise with lulls in late night and late afternoons. Day 7 started with pulling the mains'l down at noon in the solid nearly 20-knot breeze. After treating ourselves to sandwiches with the last of our deli turkey and a Coke, we prepped the cockpit for a shower. It feels wonderful to be clean! Unfortunately the Coke made it difficult for Shawn to sleep during her off watch and she got out of the bunk to make dinner with an upset stomach, choosing one of the easier but most rewarding dinners to prepare- chicken pesto pasta. Chris had a busy Radio hour checking in on the PacSea, talking to his dad, and then catching up with our friends on Midnight Blue (KF7OHO)who spent 3-months at Fanning Island, and are currently underway from Oahu back to California. We were treated to one of those sunsets that keep getting better and better as we enjoyed our nightly meal together.
Night watches were mellow and passed quickly, Shawn nursing her still upset stomach, and Chris had his most relaxing night watch of the trip thus far. Though we could have carried mains'l through the night, Chris raised it to triple-reefed as the sun came up. As the afternoon carried on, winds freshened a bit and Shawn, feeling better now, chose to bring the main down for a mellower ride. Our current calculations put us reaching our waypoint just off Fanning on Saturday. We will try to be there around day break as it is important to time it well to make the entrance through the pass to the atoll at slack tide. To do this, we need to continue moving, but not at breakneck speeds, as we don't want to get there to early near unknown land in dark hours.
There has been a constant barrage of flying fish throughout this passage. Very frequently we get to watch huge schools of them performing their synchronized swim-flying. Hundreds of silvery forms, in groups of all approximately the same size, glide from wave to wave as a multitude of birds circle above. We found a quite large one on deck yesterday and wished that Griz were here to enjoy it. We are missing Grizzly immensely, but are happy to know that she is instead enjoying a palatial non-moving house with her Gramum in Ithaca. We have several pictures of her hung around the boat (including one of her on her kitty shelf hung on the kitty shelf itself) that are helping us to feel like she's here. And though we miss her snuggly love, we do not miss cleaning her litter box while underway. Enjoyable thus far, this passage has felt both quick yet each day long. Through our individual ups and downs, current focus is shifting to prepare for upcoming landfall.
Day 7- Tradewinds push us as Tao rouses flying fish
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 07-deg 05-min N 159-deg 45-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 115-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 198-nm
Trade Winds are a glorious thing, they just go and go and go, and we are enjoying their consistent 15-20-knots immensely. There is a diurnal pattern that we've noticed. Winds seem to pick up just after sunset and sunrise with lulls in late night and late afternoons. Day 7 started with pulling the mains'l down at noon in the solid nearly 20-knot breeze. After treating ourselves to sandwiches with the last of our deli turkey and a Coke, we prepped the cockpit for a shower. It feels wonderful to be clean! Unfortunately the Coke made it difficult for Shawn to sleep during her off watch and she got out of the bunk to make dinner with an upset stomach, choosing one of the easier but most rewarding dinners to prepare- chicken pesto pasta. Chris had a busy Radio hour checking in on the PacSea, talking to his dad, and then catching up with our friends on Midnight Blue (KF7OHO)who spent 3-months at Fanning Island, and are currently underway from Oahu back to California. We were treated to one of those sunsets that keep getting better and better as we enjoyed our nightly meal together.
Night watches were mellow and passed quickly, Shawn nursing her still upset stomach, and Chris had his most relaxing night watch of the trip thus far. Though we could have carried mains'l through the night, Chris raised it to triple-reefed as the sun came up. As the afternoon carried on, winds freshened a bit and Shawn, feeling better now, chose to bring the main down for a mellower ride. Our current calculations put us reaching our waypoint just off Fanning on Saturday. We will try to be there around day break as it is important to time it well to make the entrance through the pass to the atoll at slack tide. To do this, we need to continue moving, but not at breakneck speeds, as we don't want to get there to early near unknown land in dark hours.
There has been a constant barrage of flying fish throughout this passage. Very frequently we get to watch huge schools of them performing their synchronized swim-flying. Hundreds of silvery forms, in groups of all approximately the same size, glide from wave to wave as a multitude of birds circle above. We found a quite large one on deck yesterday and wished that Griz were here to enjoy it. We are missing Grizzly immensely, but are happy to know that she is instead enjoying a palatial non-moving house with her Gramum in Ithaca. We have several pictures of her hung around the boat (including one of her on her kitty shelf hung on the kitty shelf itself) that are helping us to feel like she's here. And though we miss her snuggly love, we do not miss cleaning her litter box while underway. Enjoyable thus far, this passage has felt both quick yet each day long. Through our individual ups and downs, current focus is shifting to prepare for upcoming landfall.
Position: 07-deg 05-min N 159-deg 45-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: 80% jib
24-hr distance traveled: 115-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 198-nm
Trade Winds are a glorious thing, they just go and go and go, and we are enjoying their consistent 15-20-knots immensely. There is a diurnal pattern that we've noticed. Winds seem to pick up just after sunset and sunrise with lulls in late night and late afternoons. Day 7 started with pulling the mains'l down at noon in the solid nearly 20-knot breeze. After treating ourselves to sandwiches with the last of our deli turkey and a Coke, we prepped the cockpit for a shower. It feels wonderful to be clean! Unfortunately the Coke made it difficult for Shawn to sleep during her off watch and she got out of the bunk to make dinner with an upset stomach, choosing one of the easier but most rewarding dinners to prepare- chicken pesto pasta. Chris had a busy Radio hour checking in on the PacSea, talking to his dad, and then catching up with our friends on Midnight Blue (KF7OHO)who spent 3-months at Fanning Island, and are currently underway from Oahu back to California. We were treated to one of those sunsets that keep getting better and better as we enjoyed our nightly meal together.
Night watches were mellow and passed quickly, Shawn nursing her still upset stomach, and Chris had his most relaxing night watch of the trip thus far. Though we could have carried mains'l through the night, Chris raised it to triple-reefed as the sun came up. As the afternoon carried on, winds freshened a bit and Shawn, feeling better now, chose to bring the main down for a mellower ride. Our current calculations put us reaching our waypoint just off Fanning on Saturday. We will try to be there around day break as it is important to time it well to make the entrance through the pass to the atoll at slack tide. To do this, we need to continue moving, but not at breakneck speeds, as we don't want to get there to early near unknown land in dark hours.
There has been a constant barrage of flying fish throughout this passage. Very frequently we get to watch huge schools of them performing their synchronized swim-flying. Hundreds of silvery forms, in groups of all approximately the same size, glide from wave to wave as a multitude of birds circle above. We found a quite large one on deck yesterday and wished that Griz were here to enjoy it. We are missing Grizzly immensely, but are happy to know that she is instead enjoying a palatial non-moving house with her Gramum in Ithaca. We have several pictures of her hung around the boat (including one of her on her kitty shelf hung on the kitty shelf itself) that are helping us to feel like she's here. And though we miss her snuggly love, we do not miss cleaning her litter box while underway. Enjoyable thus far, this passage has felt both quick yet each day long. Through our individual ups and downs, current focus is shifting to prepare for upcoming landfall.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Day 6- moist conditions and bigger seas = soggy sailors
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 09-deg 01-min N 158-deg 15-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 4-8-ft
Avg. Course: 193 T
Avg. Speed: 5.1-knots
Rig: 80% jib and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 121-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 313-nm
We started Day-6 by pulling the triple reefed mains'l down in the squally conditions. Shawn went down for her off-watch to grab some much needed sleep as she'd been cranky and grouchy since getting up that morning. Chris uploaded our Winlink Airmail and downloaded weather gribs and as he weathered a few more small squalls he finally pulled the mains'l back up to the third reef around 1600. PacSea Net check-in is falling around 1800 these days, a social time, with Shawn getting up and starting dinner and Chris chatting it up on the radio with his dad Dave (WB6AXR) in Palos Verdes, CA. Yesterday was a busy one with additional contact from family friend and sailor Jim Whiting (KI6EQU) from the Marina del Rey Yacht Club station and also Randy (KH6RC), one of the PacSea net controllers who talked us over to Hawaii and then tested Shawn for her general license, stationed at the South Point of the Big Island. So nice to know that people are interested and take time to say hello!
The sleep worked and Shawn awoke refreshed, happy to hear all the radio chatter and read received e-mails before making dinner. Steak and vegetable soup over rice and fresh romaine, cucumber, tomato and cheese salad (Julia, remember all that romaine you saw when we Skyped over 2-weeks ago? Our Waeco refeer rocks!). Shawn had passed a big bowl of each up to Chris, who was holding them in his high side seat while she clambered up onto deck. It was at this moment that one of the sneaky little waves decided to pour in, just past the dodger and right onto Chris' back. The rockstar did not spill a morsel, though he and our cushion seats were both soaked through. Useless to get dry clothes on and sit on the wet cushions- Shawn already had her evening watch garb on (having given up on the foul weather gear, thin Patagonia rain pants, Marmot Precip rain jacket and boots ala s/v Caramelo)- Chris stripped down for dinner. Many thanks to the Ocean Goddesses for that!
As juxtaposed with the previous night's continual squalls, last night was magical. We dropped the mains'l for the night, Venus and the stars shone bright, and each moment the phosphorescence grew more brilliant in the nearly New Moon conditions. In the surrounding darkness, the crests of all the breaking waves within view were green and at midnight watch change, Chris found Shawn hanging over the stern (clipped in of course) trying to photograph the windvane blade cutting through the water creating a bright green sparkling wake. A few squalls and subsequent lulls later Chris witnessed a gorgeous sunrise. While Shawn made raisin and apple filled oatmeal, Chris busily hung our cushions and his foulie gear to dry, then together we put the triple reefed mains'l back up for a fantastic morning sail. Breezes have been consistent around 18-knots and seas are a little more organized and bigger (to 8-ft) as we clock our biggest mileage day yet, 121-nm at the noon point.
Position: 09-deg 01-min N 158-deg 15-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 4-8-ft
Avg. Course: 193 T
Avg. Speed: 5.1-knots
Rig: 80% jib and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 121-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 313-nm
We started Day-6 by pulling the triple reefed mains'l down in the squally conditions. Shawn went down for her off-watch to grab some much needed sleep as she'd been cranky and grouchy since getting up that morning. Chris uploaded our Winlink Airmail and downloaded weather gribs and as he weathered a few more small squalls he finally pulled the mains'l back up to the third reef around 1600. PacSea Net check-in is falling around 1800 these days, a social time, with Shawn getting up and starting dinner and Chris chatting it up on the radio with his dad Dave (WB6AXR) in Palos Verdes, CA. Yesterday was a busy one with additional contact from family friend and sailor Jim Whiting (KI6EQU) from the Marina del Rey Yacht Club station and also Randy (KH6RC), one of the PacSea net controllers who talked us over to Hawaii and then tested Shawn for her general license, stationed at the South Point of the Big Island. So nice to know that people are interested and take time to say hello!
The sleep worked and Shawn awoke refreshed, happy to hear all the radio chatter and read received e-mails before making dinner. Steak and vegetable soup over rice and fresh romaine, cucumber, tomato and cheese salad (Julia, remember all that romaine you saw when we Skyped over 2-weeks ago? Our Waeco refeer rocks!). Shawn had passed a big bowl of each up to Chris, who was holding them in his high side seat while she clambered up onto deck. It was at this moment that one of the sneaky little waves decided to pour in, just past the dodger and right onto Chris' back. The rockstar did not spill a morsel, though he and our cushion seats were both soaked through. Useless to get dry clothes on and sit on the wet cushions- Shawn already had her evening watch garb on (having given up on the foul weather gear, thin Patagonia rain pants, Marmot Precip rain jacket and boots ala s/v Caramelo)- Chris stripped down for dinner. Many thanks to the Ocean Goddesses for that!
As juxtaposed with the previous night's continual squalls, last night was magical. We dropped the mains'l for the night, Venus and the stars shone bright, and each moment the phosphorescence grew more brilliant in the nearly New Moon conditions. In the surrounding darkness, the crests of all the breaking waves within view were green and at midnight watch change, Chris found Shawn hanging over the stern (clipped in of course) trying to photograph the windvane blade cutting through the water creating a bright green sparkling wake. A few squalls and subsequent lulls later Chris witnessed a gorgeous sunrise. While Shawn made raisin and apple filled oatmeal, Chris busily hung our cushions and his foulie gear to dry, then together we put the triple reefed mains'l back up for a fantastic morning sail. Breezes have been consistent around 18-knots and seas are a little more organized and bigger (to 8-ft) as we clock our biggest mileage day yet, 121-nm at the noon point.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Day 5- Half way there: busier watches and a visit from a booby bird
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 11-deg 00-min N 157-deg 54-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 4-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 5.0-knots
Rig: 80% jib and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 120-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 434-nm
As you've probably guessed, Day-5 started with a sail change. Mains'l down to triple-reef, drop storm jib, flake it get back to cockpit into a sailbag, hank on new sail, raise 80% jib. The whole process probably only took about a half hour (ridiculously long for you racers out there, I'm sure). With more sail area up front we were able to move along in the right direction at a nice clip with less pressure on our wind vane, Moni. Back on track, Chris motivated a little shopping spree. Our packing the boat, has made all the produce up front in the V-berth a bit less accessible, so he pulled down our hanging bins and checked our citrus bin pulling kiwi fruit and oranges that needed to be consumed first. Shawn went forward and organized, finding that all the avocados (5) were ready to eat and the jicama, bundled together in a half mesh half plastic bag, needed to removed and placed in open air to breathe. The windfall of avocados decided our dining for the evening: Mexican night with rice, black beans and a huge amount of guacamole! We enjoyed this with our nightly entertainment provided by a passing masked booby bird who very determinedly successfully landed upon our stern arch solar farm. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are indeed a nice platform, however, with the boat rolling back and forth, time after time, after landing and attempting a clumsy "booby dance," the bird was unable to keep footing and slipped back into the ocean only to try once again.
It was an active night. Once darkness descended, squall after squall rolled through. About half of each hour was spent weathering a medium rain and increased winds, through which Shawn held tight deciding that the increase in winds was manageable, but always ready to douse the triple-reefed main. Chris came on deck for his watch in the middle of one of the bigger squalls, and we decided to drop the main together. Through Chris' graveyard watch he spent the first two hours observing and fiddling with the Monitor wind vane, the second two hours he decided to put the triple-reefed main back up and then slowly implemented. Once again, flying along, with Tao loaded to the max, the cockpit drains equilibrate with water coming up over our cockpit grate. Tired of dealing with this, he spent the final 2-hrs pulling gear out of the lazarette to access our cockpit drains and closed the forward two (of four) to experiment (since we are in manageable weather).
Shawn awoke tired and sore from the past 5 days of wedging into places to keep stable and being constantly knocked around while moving. First stop, the head where you've got to wedge yourself, do your business, then wedge yourself again in order to pump water in with one foot and out with other hand all the while making sure not to have too much in the bowl such that a stray roll from a wave might toss some out onto the sole. All that successfully completed, one final wedge is required in order to thoroughly wash hands. Though it had been a long night, we still managed a nice huevos rancheros breakfast to celebrate having passed our half-way point at just after 0200 this morning, 482.5-nm from both our outbound and inbound destinations. After a relatively mellow morning watch, Chris was awaken for his shift early as one more squall passed overhead which brought us to another noon point and another decision about sail configuration.
Position: 11-deg 00-min N 157-deg 54-min W
Wind: ENE 17 Seas: E 4-7-ft
Avg. Course: 192 T
Avg. Speed: 5.0-knots
Rig: 80% jib and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 120-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 434-nm
As you've probably guessed, Day-5 started with a sail change. Mains'l down to triple-reef, drop storm jib, flake it get back to cockpit into a sailbag, hank on new sail, raise 80% jib. The whole process probably only took about a half hour (ridiculously long for you racers out there, I'm sure). With more sail area up front we were able to move along in the right direction at a nice clip with less pressure on our wind vane, Moni. Back on track, Chris motivated a little shopping spree. Our packing the boat, has made all the produce up front in the V-berth a bit less accessible, so he pulled down our hanging bins and checked our citrus bin pulling kiwi fruit and oranges that needed to be consumed first. Shawn went forward and organized, finding that all the avocados (5) were ready to eat and the jicama, bundled together in a half mesh half plastic bag, needed to removed and placed in open air to breathe. The windfall of avocados decided our dining for the evening: Mexican night with rice, black beans and a huge amount of guacamole! We enjoyed this with our nightly entertainment provided by a passing masked booby bird who very determinedly successfully landed upon our stern arch solar farm. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are indeed a nice platform, however, with the boat rolling back and forth, time after time, after landing and attempting a clumsy "booby dance," the bird was unable to keep footing and slipped back into the ocean only to try once again.
It was an active night. Once darkness descended, squall after squall rolled through. About half of each hour was spent weathering a medium rain and increased winds, through which Shawn held tight deciding that the increase in winds was manageable, but always ready to douse the triple-reefed main. Chris came on deck for his watch in the middle of one of the bigger squalls, and we decided to drop the main together. Through Chris' graveyard watch he spent the first two hours observing and fiddling with the Monitor wind vane, the second two hours he decided to put the triple-reefed main back up and then slowly implemented. Once again, flying along, with Tao loaded to the max, the cockpit drains equilibrate with water coming up over our cockpit grate. Tired of dealing with this, he spent the final 2-hrs pulling gear out of the lazarette to access our cockpit drains and closed the forward two (of four) to experiment (since we are in manageable weather).
Shawn awoke tired and sore from the past 5 days of wedging into places to keep stable and being constantly knocked around while moving. First stop, the head where you've got to wedge yourself, do your business, then wedge yourself again in order to pump water in with one foot and out with other hand all the while making sure not to have too much in the bowl such that a stray roll from a wave might toss some out onto the sole. All that successfully completed, one final wedge is required in order to thoroughly wash hands. Though it had been a long night, we still managed a nice huevos rancheros breakfast to celebrate having passed our half-way point at just after 0200 this morning, 482.5-nm from both our outbound and inbound destinations. After a relatively mellow morning watch, Chris was awaken for his shift early as one more squall passed overhead which brought us to another noon point and another decision about sail configuration.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Day 4- the "other" tack
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 12-deg 58-min N 157-deg 29-min W
Wind: ENE 15 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 191 T
Avg. Speed: 4.9-knots
Rig: storm jib and double-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 117-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 554-nm
Gorgeous sunny sailing continued throughout yesterday afternoon. As night closed in, we pulled the single-reefed mains'l down to a double-reef for easy handling. One minute it seemed that we needed to shake a reef and the next we were glad to have pulled it as mini-squalls became the norm throughout the night. We used the term "mini" to mean sprinkles of rain and a 5-knot increase in wind as the thin wispy clouds covered large portions of the star-filled sky and then quickly moved on by. Near dawn, cloud cover thickened and by sunrise, there was 98% cloud cover. All morning long we have awaited the seemingly daily AIS ship alarm alert, but as of yet, no ships on the horizon.
Nearly all the way to Hawaii we were on a starboard tack. Since leaving the lee of the Big Island, this passage has all been port tack, and there are definitely differences. Knowing that this was to be the case, we rigged what we could for port tack. This means, we tried to get weight evenly distributed throughout Tao, but were happy to have a little extra on the port (the high or windward side), so, we're pulling fresh water from our starboard tank first. We also set up the starboard sea berth for sleeping and are using the port berth as our "closet," as it is more comfortable to sleep on the downwind side. Outside in the cockpit, Chris still claims the high side seat under the dodger, whereas Shawn has found that she prefers the low-side seat, now known as the "corner pocket." What we weren't as ready for was the galley sloping the opposite direction- instead of everything sliding to the center of the boat, everything slides outboard. Most annoyingly, the counter-extension (a.k.a cutting board) that spans the sink, now instead, slides outboard, or further from reach. Also, our galley strap had to be shortened (by the complex method of knotting it) in order to bear weight leaning toward the stove instead of away from it. Farther forward, the boat design unfortunately allows the small amount of forward leakage water to drain onto the raised forward sole (instead of underneath the head while on starboard tack) before going into the bilge, so we are currently on towel patrol. However, we are daily adapting and are grateful that weather has been so perfectly mellow thus far.
As the noon point was collected, we are pointing a bit to windward of our rhumb line. Moni has been straining to keep us heading off the wind with more mains'l up than forward sail area (the potato chip sized storm jib is really small). Chris, just up from the bunk, is observing the conditions and deciding whether Day-5 will start with a sail change.
Position: 12-deg 58-min N 157-deg 29-min W
Wind: ENE 15 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 191 T
Avg. Speed: 4.9-knots
Rig: storm jib and double-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 117-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 554-nm
Gorgeous sunny sailing continued throughout yesterday afternoon. As night closed in, we pulled the single-reefed mains'l down to a double-reef for easy handling. One minute it seemed that we needed to shake a reef and the next we were glad to have pulled it as mini-squalls became the norm throughout the night. We used the term "mini" to mean sprinkles of rain and a 5-knot increase in wind as the thin wispy clouds covered large portions of the star-filled sky and then quickly moved on by. Near dawn, cloud cover thickened and by sunrise, there was 98% cloud cover. All morning long we have awaited the seemingly daily AIS ship alarm alert, but as of yet, no ships on the horizon.
Nearly all the way to Hawaii we were on a starboard tack. Since leaving the lee of the Big Island, this passage has all been port tack, and there are definitely differences. Knowing that this was to be the case, we rigged what we could for port tack. This means, we tried to get weight evenly distributed throughout Tao, but were happy to have a little extra on the port (the high or windward side), so, we're pulling fresh water from our starboard tank first. We also set up the starboard sea berth for sleeping and are using the port berth as our "closet," as it is more comfortable to sleep on the downwind side. Outside in the cockpit, Chris still claims the high side seat under the dodger, whereas Shawn has found that she prefers the low-side seat, now known as the "corner pocket." What we weren't as ready for was the galley sloping the opposite direction- instead of everything sliding to the center of the boat, everything slides outboard. Most annoyingly, the counter-extension (a.k.a cutting board) that spans the sink, now instead, slides outboard, or further from reach. Also, our galley strap had to be shortened (by the complex method of knotting it) in order to bear weight leaning toward the stove instead of away from it. Farther forward, the boat design unfortunately allows the small amount of forward leakage water to drain onto the raised forward sole (instead of underneath the head while on starboard tack) before going into the bilge, so we are currently on towel patrol. However, we are daily adapting and are grateful that weather has been so perfectly mellow thus far.
As the noon point was collected, we are pointing a bit to windward of our rhumb line. Moni has been straining to keep us heading off the wind with more mains'l up than forward sail area (the potato chip sized storm jib is really small). Chris, just up from the bunk, is observing the conditions and deciding whether Day-5 will start with a sail change.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Day 3- Fantastic sailing and snap peas too
Time: 2200 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 16-deg 47-min N 156-deg 42-min W
Wind: ENE 12-14 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 191 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: storm jib and single-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 116-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 671-nm
We are happy to report that Chris is feeling much improved and both of our appetites are ravenous. This is good because we have a ton of vegetables that are ready to be eaten. We are very impressed with our new refrigerator's performance, having pulled crisp and near fresh snap peas out for use in last nights ginger and red pepper pasta. Tao, with her new rigging, is doing excellent and our MVP crew-member, Moni is steering true without complaint.
It has been beautiful sailing for the past 24-hours. A fast beam reach with semi-organized seas. Light winds, but enough to keep us moving and at the noon point, it is just picking up a couple of knots for more regular speeds in the 6-knot range. We keep talking about putting up more sail area, but we're moving plenty quick and are comfortable with the manageable configuration, and then it picks up just enough that we need to pull another reef anyway. As long as we're making 100-nm per day, seems like plenty of sail area. With the moon near gone, the night watches are filled with spectacular star-gazing, a stunning planet that is setting a few hours after the sun (anyone know which one?), and of course phosphorescence lining our wake.
After a relatively uneventful night, Shawn got up early to photograph the sunrise, and at 0800 we had another cargo ship encounter. This time 30-min after being warned of its presence, it passed 3.4-nm behind us (just as the AIS had estimated) en route to Panama. Again, upon radio contact, the ship could not find us on their radar at 10-nm out. We love our AIS. Otherwise, our watches are each accompanied by several birds as they circle Tao hunting for fish below our keel, and we are eating perfectly ripe tomatoes like apples. It is difficult to keep track of the day of the week, but we're pretty sure it's Sunday, and so we want to send a special Happy Mother's Day out to all you mothers following our adventures.
Position: 16-deg 47-min N 156-deg 42-min W
Wind: ENE 12-14 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 191 T
Avg. Speed: 4.8-knots
Rig: storm jib and single-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 116-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 671-nm
We are happy to report that Chris is feeling much improved and both of our appetites are ravenous. This is good because we have a ton of vegetables that are ready to be eaten. We are very impressed with our new refrigerator's performance, having pulled crisp and near fresh snap peas out for use in last nights ginger and red pepper pasta. Tao, with her new rigging, is doing excellent and our MVP crew-member, Moni is steering true without complaint.
It has been beautiful sailing for the past 24-hours. A fast beam reach with semi-organized seas. Light winds, but enough to keep us moving and at the noon point, it is just picking up a couple of knots for more regular speeds in the 6-knot range. We keep talking about putting up more sail area, but we're moving plenty quick and are comfortable with the manageable configuration, and then it picks up just enough that we need to pull another reef anyway. As long as we're making 100-nm per day, seems like plenty of sail area. With the moon near gone, the night watches are filled with spectacular star-gazing, a stunning planet that is setting a few hours after the sun (anyone know which one?), and of course phosphorescence lining our wake.
After a relatively uneventful night, Shawn got up early to photograph the sunrise, and at 0800 we had another cargo ship encounter. This time 30-min after being warned of its presence, it passed 3.4-nm behind us (just as the AIS had estimated) en route to Panama. Again, upon radio contact, the ship could not find us on their radar at 10-nm out. We love our AIS. Otherwise, our watches are each accompanied by several birds as they circle Tao hunting for fish below our keel, and we are eating perfectly ripe tomatoes like apples. It is difficult to keep track of the day of the week, but we're pretty sure it's Sunday, and so we want to send a special Happy Mother's Day out to all you mothers following our adventures.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Day 2- Squalls, rainbows, ships and sun with a side of seasickness
Time: 2000 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 16-deg 47-min N 156-deg 42-min W
Wind: EENE 8-13 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 189 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: storms'l and single-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 108-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 786-nm
Yesterday afternoon and evening the winds stayed E around 15-knots. The night was blissfully star-filled sailing due south, directly toward the Southern Cross constellation. This morning, winds have come down a bit to 10-15, bringing our speeds down and more mains'l up. Chris has been battling seasickness through it all. Very frustrating to have done all this work to get here and not feel well. His graveyard shift was rough as he was welcomed by the quarter moon rise accompanied by a squall (which gratefully only upped the winds 5-knots so no sail reduction required), a flying fish in the cockpit, and subsequently he tossed his dinner over the rail. Rough watch. Shawn, on the other hand, awoke this morning feeling great. A little sad to have missed the sunrise, instead she got to enjoy the beauty of a morning squall, pulled down the main to a triple-reef, and after the bulk of the cell had passed, watched a rainbow march away as the sun shone through. Main back up to double-reef and barely a moment to relax when our new AIS alarm went off.
First ship sighting, check. It was a bit nerve wracking with our new integrated VHS/AIS system, but with Chris' groggy help from the bunk, Shawn noted the ship's 13-knot speed, just over 10-nm away and its CPA (closest point of approach) was over 8-nm. Still, she hailed the cargo ship, en route to Quingdao, China, just to see if they saw us. Nope, we're not on their AIS because we only receive don't have a transponder (it would be nice to have this extra feature but didn't seem necessary at the time), and they couldn't make our small ship out on their radar. No problem, their hulking mass was barely visible to us on the horizon, passing far behind us. Another AIS success. A few moments later, we assume it was them that they played a song over channel 16 for Shawn. In the middle of the Pacific!
Clouds cleared up and it has been blissfully sunny the rest of the morning watch, although seas have not quite organized yet. We've been rotating through 4 6-hr watches. Shawn with 0600-noon, Chris noon-1800, Shawn 1800-midnight, Chris midnight to 0600. However, there are several crossover areas where Shawn gets up early and/or Chris stays on deck late to allow for Shawn to do meal prep and cook, Camelbak refill (note to self, do not sit on hose...), and computer work since Chris simply can not help with these tasks when seasick. However, Chris has been a rock star standing all of his watches through the sickness and is set up to do our check-ins on the PacSea Net at the end of his afternoon shift. Unfortunately, he has been feeling so poorly that extra conversation is not yet appealing. When he awoke for his watch this afternoon, he was feeling "better" so let's hope it holds. Everything is better when not battling seasickness...
Position: 16-deg 47-min N 156-deg 42-min W
Wind: EENE 8-13 Seas: E 3-6-ft SE component
Avg. Course: 189 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: storms'l and single-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 108-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 786-nm
Yesterday afternoon and evening the winds stayed E around 15-knots. The night was blissfully star-filled sailing due south, directly toward the Southern Cross constellation. This morning, winds have come down a bit to 10-15, bringing our speeds down and more mains'l up. Chris has been battling seasickness through it all. Very frustrating to have done all this work to get here and not feel well. His graveyard shift was rough as he was welcomed by the quarter moon rise accompanied by a squall (which gratefully only upped the winds 5-knots so no sail reduction required), a flying fish in the cockpit, and subsequently he tossed his dinner over the rail. Rough watch. Shawn, on the other hand, awoke this morning feeling great. A little sad to have missed the sunrise, instead she got to enjoy the beauty of a morning squall, pulled down the main to a triple-reef, and after the bulk of the cell had passed, watched a rainbow march away as the sun shone through. Main back up to double-reef and barely a moment to relax when our new AIS alarm went off.
First ship sighting, check. It was a bit nerve wracking with our new integrated VHS/AIS system, but with Chris' groggy help from the bunk, Shawn noted the ship's 13-knot speed, just over 10-nm away and its CPA (closest point of approach) was over 8-nm. Still, she hailed the cargo ship, en route to Quingdao, China, just to see if they saw us. Nope, we're not on their AIS because we only receive don't have a transponder (it would be nice to have this extra feature but didn't seem necessary at the time), and they couldn't make our small ship out on their radar. No problem, their hulking mass was barely visible to us on the horizon, passing far behind us. Another AIS success. A few moments later, we assume it was them that they played a song over channel 16 for Shawn. In the middle of the Pacific!
Clouds cleared up and it has been blissfully sunny the rest of the morning watch, although seas have not quite organized yet. We've been rotating through 4 6-hr watches. Shawn with 0600-noon, Chris noon-1800, Shawn 1800-midnight, Chris midnight to 0600. However, there are several crossover areas where Shawn gets up early and/or Chris stays on deck late to allow for Shawn to do meal prep and cook, Camelbak refill (note to self, do not sit on hose...), and computer work since Chris simply can not help with these tasks when seasick. However, Chris has been a rock star standing all of his watches through the sickness and is set up to do our check-ins on the PacSea Net at the end of his afternoon shift. Unfortunately, he has been feeling so poorly that extra conversation is not yet appealing. When he awoke for his watch this afternoon, he was feeling "better" so let's hope it holds. Everything is better when not battling seasickness...
Friday, May 11, 2012
Day 1 (first full day)- Ready, set, oops too fast!
Time: 2000 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 18-deg 34-min N 156-deg 24-min W
Wind: E 15 Seas: Confused dominant ESE 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 198 T
Avg. Speed: 6.3-knots
Rig: storms'l and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 65.7-nm (really only 10.5-hrs of travel as the other 13.5 were spent hove-to, drifting, sailing back along our track, or bobbing violently rail to rail in order to stay in the lee of the Big Island and out of the South Point waters until day break)
Distance to Fanning Island: 895-nm
We were surprised to have great sailing winds all the way south along the Kona coast, and we ended up as far south as we wanted to get (15-nm offshore at the latitude of Okoe Bay) by 1800. This is right where we wanted to be 10-hours from then, so we decided to heave-to. Unfortunately, there really wasn't enough wind and the currents were strongly pulling us toward South Point. After PacSea Net checking and sunset, as the cloak of darkness settled, a nearly hour long downpour ensued as we drifted. Although Shawn was quickly reminded that our foul weather gear has been reduced to merely wind protection over the miles, she was rewarded for witnessing the dark disorienting downpour by amazing views of phosphorescence at all different depths, shapes, and sizes in the confused seas as we teased the edge of the South Point "channel". Soon we had enough wind to jibe and sailed back along our track, now in SE winds. That is, until they shut down completely, and the sails angrily slapped themselves over and over in seas with no wind. Chris pulled them down and rigged our storm jib in preparation, as we spent several quite un-sleep-inducing hours awaiting sun and breeze. To make our goal of reaching the edge of the channel at least 30-nm west of South Point by 0800 and really to end the ceaseless rail to rail roll, we fired up Yannie for a brief half hour motor where, just as forecast, we found the wind.
There is something magical that comes with daybreak, endless possibilities. The NOAA forecast had said channel winds would be strongest this morning at 0800 and were to lessen gradually (bringing the seas with them) for the rest of the weekend. Thus far, it has been spot on. To us, this makes our rather sleepless night in attempt to time ourselves, worthwhile, because so far we have had as beautiful a sailing passage as we could imagine past South Point, a place that breeds such confused seas and overly windy conditions. Both of us individually have been sending grateful energy to Tony Morrelli who did such an amazing job putting our 3rd reef into our mains'l- it is a perfect amount of sail for single handing in so many conditions.
As we took the noon point, the seas are mellowing a little and becoming ever so slightly more organized though we still have random waves break over our dodger, and our bodies are each desperately seeking balance. Having our Camelbak's this round is really helping to fend off dehydration, Shawn's meal/snack planning has been keeping us fed, and luckily so far nobody's food has been lost overboard. The sun is out and we are sailing at a great clip. Though a bit south of our intended course, we figure we can make up the lost easting once the seas organize. Until then, we will tire ourselves out getting used to the intense exposure until we are exhausted enough to sleep on a schedule.
Position: 18-deg 34-min N 156-deg 24-min W
Wind: E 15 Seas: Confused dominant ESE 3-7-ft
Avg. Course: 198 T
Avg. Speed: 6.3-knots
Rig: storms'l and triple-reefed mains'l
24-hr distance traveled: 65.7-nm (really only 10.5-hrs of travel as the other 13.5 were spent hove-to, drifting, sailing back along our track, or bobbing violently rail to rail in order to stay in the lee of the Big Island and out of the South Point waters until day break)
Distance to Fanning Island: 895-nm
We were surprised to have great sailing winds all the way south along the Kona coast, and we ended up as far south as we wanted to get (15-nm offshore at the latitude of Okoe Bay) by 1800. This is right where we wanted to be 10-hours from then, so we decided to heave-to. Unfortunately, there really wasn't enough wind and the currents were strongly pulling us toward South Point. After PacSea Net checking and sunset, as the cloak of darkness settled, a nearly hour long downpour ensued as we drifted. Although Shawn was quickly reminded that our foul weather gear has been reduced to merely wind protection over the miles, she was rewarded for witnessing the dark disorienting downpour by amazing views of phosphorescence at all different depths, shapes, and sizes in the confused seas as we teased the edge of the South Point "channel". Soon we had enough wind to jibe and sailed back along our track, now in SE winds. That is, until they shut down completely, and the sails angrily slapped themselves over and over in seas with no wind. Chris pulled them down and rigged our storm jib in preparation, as we spent several quite un-sleep-inducing hours awaiting sun and breeze. To make our goal of reaching the edge of the channel at least 30-nm west of South Point by 0800 and really to end the ceaseless rail to rail roll, we fired up Yannie for a brief half hour motor where, just as forecast, we found the wind.
There is something magical that comes with daybreak, endless possibilities. The NOAA forecast had said channel winds would be strongest this morning at 0800 and were to lessen gradually (bringing the seas with them) for the rest of the weekend. Thus far, it has been spot on. To us, this makes our rather sleepless night in attempt to time ourselves, worthwhile, because so far we have had as beautiful a sailing passage as we could imagine past South Point, a place that breeds such confused seas and overly windy conditions. Both of us individually have been sending grateful energy to Tony Morrelli who did such an amazing job putting our 3rd reef into our mains'l- it is a perfect amount of sail for single handing in so many conditions.
As we took the noon point, the seas are mellowing a little and becoming ever so slightly more organized though we still have random waves break over our dodger, and our bodies are each desperately seeking balance. Having our Camelbak's this round is really helping to fend off dehydration, Shawn's meal/snack planning has been keeping us fed, and luckily so far nobody's food has been lost overboard. The sun is out and we are sailing at a great clip. Though a bit south of our intended course, we figure we can make up the lost easting once the seas organize. Until then, we will tire ourselves out getting used to the intense exposure until we are exhausted enough to sleep on a schedule.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Day 1- We're Sailing!!
Time: 2000 Zulu (noon Hawaii time)
Position: 19-deg 37-min N 156-deg 02-min W
Wind: SW 12 Seas: SW 2-ft
Avg. Course: 193 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: 80% jib and mains'l with 1st reef
24-hr distance traveled: 2.5-nm (pushed off at 1111)
Distance to Fanning Island: 960-nm
Winds abruptly mellowed out last evening just after the sun set and we tossed and turned as isolated heavy downpours washed our decks. This morning our weather window still looked good, so we got about preparing to set sail. After our cups of tea, Chris 4200ing velcro to help it stay on his soda charger, Shawn doing final dishes, and one more fresh water hose down each, we let go the mooring at just after 0900 and made the short jaunt to the fuel dock. The harbor conditions were nice and quiet, the rain apparently keeping some of the fishermen away. We topped off barely 7-gallons of diesel and watched several fishing vessels putting over 25-times that much in ($1K!!)while we enjoyed a final non-moving meal of poached eggs and salsa over toast.
Just after 1100 we motored off the fuel dock in very light winds, Tao finally out of the harbor into the swell once again. We hemmed and hawed for a few moments as we determined where the wind and seas were actually coming from and discussed how to time getting to South Point (approximately 60-nm away) around dawn. Once we reached Kailua-Kona Bay we put the sails up, our decision, to slowly sail on the afternoon breezes and if we need to make up miles when there is no wind in the night, we'll motor then. It's been awhile! We got the sails up and the engine off while the clock struck noon and as the afternoon sea breezes filled in. We are making such good way that we actually might have to heave-to tonight in order to stay in the lee of the Big Island until dawn, so we can start our sail past South Point in daylight hours. Until then, we will gratefully enjoy a few more mellow moments of Hawaiian Aloha, sailing here in the protected lee of the Big Island.
Position: 19-deg 37-min N 156-deg 02-min W
Wind: SW 12 Seas: SW 2-ft
Avg. Course: 193 T
Avg. Speed: 4.5-knots
Rig: 80% jib and mains'l with 1st reef
24-hr distance traveled: 2.5-nm (pushed off at 1111)
Distance to Fanning Island: 960-nm
Winds abruptly mellowed out last evening just after the sun set and we tossed and turned as isolated heavy downpours washed our decks. This morning our weather window still looked good, so we got about preparing to set sail. After our cups of tea, Chris 4200ing velcro to help it stay on his soda charger, Shawn doing final dishes, and one more fresh water hose down each, we let go the mooring at just after 0900 and made the short jaunt to the fuel dock. The harbor conditions were nice and quiet, the rain apparently keeping some of the fishermen away. We topped off barely 7-gallons of diesel and watched several fishing vessels putting over 25-times that much in ($1K!!)while we enjoyed a final non-moving meal of poached eggs and salsa over toast.
Just after 1100 we motored off the fuel dock in very light winds, Tao finally out of the harbor into the swell once again. We hemmed and hawed for a few moments as we determined where the wind and seas were actually coming from and discussed how to time getting to South Point (approximately 60-nm away) around dawn. Once we reached Kailua-Kona Bay we put the sails up, our decision, to slowly sail on the afternoon breezes and if we need to make up miles when there is no wind in the night, we'll motor then. It's been awhile! We got the sails up and the engine off while the clock struck noon and as the afternoon sea breezes filled in. We are making such good way that we actually might have to heave-to tonight in order to stay in the lee of the Big Island until dawn, so we can start our sail past South Point in daylight hours. Until then, we will gratefully enjoy a few more mellow moments of Hawaiian Aloha, sailing here in the protected lee of the Big Island.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Holding pattern
After the walk of shame to extend our permit here in Honokohau Harbor, we stopped promising people when we are leaving, no one believes us anymore anyway. We end our greetings with people we see here every day, laughingly, “See you tomorrow!” And figure that one of these mornings, we will just quietly be gone, underway again. Today finds us still in a holding pattern. Last evening we watched the sun set from our dock with Randy and his boat Sundowner’s fishing crew (who are so filled with aloha). We met the locals that trickled by and the fishermen were only too happy to explain how unpleasant it is currently at South Point. Interestingly, we found out that many bottom fishermen are mobilizing for this weekend’s expected reduced winds. Not surprisingly, this data coincides with the NOAA forecast.
So, we plan as best we can with the information we have, and choose to continue to
make thoughtful conservative choices to ensure the smoothest and safest possible ride. Since we have waited so long already, we might as well wait just a little
more instead of pushing off in one of the rare Small Craft Advisory's in effect today for the Hawaii Island Leeward Waters. We use the precious extra time here to enjoy Hawaii's aloha and test our backup computer system, downloading updated software and getting all of our waypoints in line. If all stays the same, we will push off tomorrow (Thursday) morning and hopefully reach the South Point
Friday morning (along with the bottom fishing fleet) when winds are forecast to start relaxing. We'll just see what the weather says in the morning...
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Wait...for...it...
Time: 1800 Zulu (10am Hawaii time)
Position: 19-deg 40-min N 156-deg 01-min W
Wind: calm Seas: calm
Avg. Course: 002 (at least that's the direction our bow is pointed)
Avg. Speed: 0.0-knots
Rig: 80% jib and mains'l nestled in their sail covers
24-hr distance traveled: 0-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 965-nm
The best things come to those who wait, right? Testing our patience, we have chosen to wait another 24-hrs in hopes that the long-term-turned-near-term forecast of decreased winds and seas off South Point continues to hold. So, we will do the walk of shame to the Harbor Office telling them that we are here just one more night, Chris will replace our engine start switch (last evening post wash down, the starter circuit was shorting- again), and we will continue to enjoy eating the produce that refuses to wait with us. The new plan is to get up tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, top off diesel at the fuel dock, and slowly sail south in the light winds found in the lee of Hawai'i. All of this in hopes to time reaching the area off South Point (approximately 24-hrs after leaving Honokohau) in a period of more comfortable winds and seas. Only time will tell...
Position: 19-deg 40-min N 156-deg 01-min W
Wind: calm Seas: calm
Avg. Course: 002 (at least that's the direction our bow is pointed)
Avg. Speed: 0.0-knots
Rig: 80% jib and mains'l nestled in their sail covers
24-hr distance traveled: 0-nm
Distance to Fanning Island: 965-nm
The best things come to those who wait, right? Testing our patience, we have chosen to wait another 24-hrs in hopes that the long-term-turned-near-term forecast of decreased winds and seas off South Point continues to hold. So, we will do the walk of shame to the Harbor Office telling them that we are here just one more night, Chris will replace our engine start switch (last evening post wash down, the starter circuit was shorting- again), and we will continue to enjoy eating the produce that refuses to wait with us. The new plan is to get up tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, top off diesel at the fuel dock, and slowly sail south in the light winds found in the lee of Hawai'i. All of this in hopes to time reaching the area off South Point (approximately 24-hrs after leaving Honokohau) in a period of more comfortable winds and seas. Only time will tell...
Monday, May 7, 2012
Logistics of Communication
Once we are more than a few miles off shore we will no longer have cell service and therefore, we have set our phone plan to be suspended and we will be out of range from internet as well. However, this does not mean that we have no means of communication... We are very grateful to have an HF radio aboard.
(1) You can
connect with us by e-mailing our KI6MTD@winlink.org
address. To be safe, cc one of our land e-mails in case it doesn't get through to our shipboard address, and we'll get it when we next have internet. Remember that this is coming to us via HF radio waves, so please, no
attachments and also, erase the original message if sending a reply to shorten
the message that we have to download (remember how slow the old modems were? It
is similar and often slower). That said, please feel free to write as much as
you want, text downloads quickly, and we love to hear from you while under way.
You are our connection to the world outside of our sailing bubble!
(2) We will
be checking in each day on the PacSea Net.
This is a HAM radio net that meets every day on 14.300 MHz at 0300 Zulu and runs
at least an hour often two checking in boats all over the Pacific Ocean. If you
don’t happen to have an HF radio or receiver, you can still follow along by checking their
most updated roll call and see the conditions we reported when we last checked in (look for KI6MTD near the end of the list).
Or if you are really adventurous you might try to listen through your computer. We
haven’t tested this, but their website gives this option, let us know if it works.
(3) You can also see our position on a map by checking our Winlink position reports or our Yotreps position reports, both of which we have put links to on Our Current Track page.
(4) We will
attempt to upload a daily blog post while underway, but that depends on conditions at sea, so no promises, but look forward to it as a pleasant surprise if we manage it.
Next planned
stop, 965-nm, is Fanning Island, Kiribati! Much love to you all, keep in touch!
Last Minute Projects
 |
| Tao's nearly ready to push off |
This whole
month has been filled with tasks as we have slowly worked toward setting
sail south. It started with ear appointments, sewing machine repairs, standing
rigging replacement, bending sails, Kona visit with Dave, Toni and Ty and even a
quick Honolulu visit with Grandma. It continued with Morning Star solar charge
controller installation, sewing and installing a new galley strap and above
fridge pocket, restringing our food hammock, searching for seeds to sprout underway (you can’t have them
mailed from the mainland), and a large amount of time has gone into wedding planning
up to launching our wedding website and sending out invitations. We found new favorite
mediums and spent days shaping foam and attaching industrial strength Velcro: to cover Sunny’s corners atop the dodger, to hang Chris’ soda charger along the cabin wall for easy access and storage, and to create plugs for
inconveniently placed spaces where our dodger attaches to our cabin top. Then came the last minute shipping frenzy
when first our back up camera died (it might have had something to do with a
drink getting spilled on it) and soon after the local propane store would not fill
our two severely rusted 2.5-gal propane tanks (and of course no one on the
island carries that size tank). Ebay with 2-day shipping came to the rescue. Shawn’s
continual provisioning at every store in town led to requirement of creative
storage, including finding a secret bilge space area just the right size for an entire case of bottled Kona brewery beer, adding two new hanging bins in the V-berth, and three new plastic bins (created by cutting the top off of collapsible 5-gal water jugs for bomber flexible storage containers) filled with cans. We thought we had filled every space as we left Berkeley and then again as we left Mexico. Still, with reorganization, we found more space under the navigation station, below the galley
sink, below the new refrigerator, in the V-berth after moving water jugs aft to the quarter berth, in Grizzly's food area, and even Grizzly's shelf became available space for storage.
 |
| Chris and his first engine mount (the original?!) |
.JPG)
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And now we
are playing the weather game. Safe in harbor, we check the weather forecasts
and try to decide on the right moment to untie from the dock and get
underway. One more “channel” to cross, we carefully watch the forecasts for the
South Point of the Big Island, looking (in vain?) for a weather window. South
Point is infamous for being rough, with winds and seas running into land in the
middle of the ocean, creating swirling washing machine along with a constant promontory
effect. The later days of each forecast tends to look a little milder and then
intensify as they get closer. It is like pushing off from the raft put in and
running the biggest rapid right off the bat. We are trying to set ourselves up
for success to time our crossing of the intense 50 or so miles off of South
Point. Another sail boat, Scotch Power, has pushed off for the same destination a day before us and hopefully we'll get fills regarding their conditions along the way. Until then, we continue to run final checks retying everything down,
testing the HF radio connection, downloading gribs, adding e-mail addresses to
our white list, updating the blog, and checking the weather yet again. So we
wait, and sleep, and cook, and prepare, and maybe we’ll push off later today.
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