Total distance traveled: 2294 miles
Total time: 19 days 4 hours
Engine hours logged: 81 (yuck!)
And that's that.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Arrived!
Arrived in Hilo at 1100 local after motoring all but 5 of the last 30 hours in little or no wind. Not what we had planned for, especially after the Hilo locals we spoke to warned of strong Northerly winds near the island, but it's good enough for us.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Day 18
A few things have happened worth note.
First; we ate our last Pamplemousse. Pretty good to have fresh fruit for over two weeks.
Next; the wind died. Last night around 1100 Linda got me up to help with some sail adjusting and by the time I was ready to go back to bed we needed to start the motor to keep moving. We've been motoring ever since.
Next; this morning the wind came up a little. You might think that's good, but its not because the direction its blowing from is exactly the direction we want to go. There's not much wind, but even 30 degrees either side and we'd be able to get some additional trust from it instead of it slowing us down.
Finally; it being our last day at sea its fishing day. Especially since we're motoring and its calm (I hate cleaning fish when its rough). Anyway, I put two lures out this morning (two new, un-tried lures) and in a couple hours caught two fish. My fish cleaning helper, Ziggy, was there the entire time to supervise and now we have 6 quart size freezer zip-locks full of Dorado for when we get in.
One more night, as long as this bloody wind doesn't increase.
115 miles to go to Hilo
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Day 17
When we started this passage I figured the hardest part was going to be crossing the ITCZ, because that is where we were most likely to encounter violent squalls. WRONG! It turns out this last 250 miles getting to Hilo is the squalliest zone. Last night we had a doozy. Linda got me up at 2200 telling me there was something bearing down on us. We were sailing with reefed main and reefed jib. No sooner had I rolled up the jib entirely then we were almost out of control doing over 7 knots under just the reefed main. Then when we started to put the second reef in the main it got really bad. Driving rain, seas breaking over the boat and a LOT of wind. It didn't last long, only about 20 minutes (just long enough to complete all the reefing activities). Then being shell-shock we refused to let out the second reef and we ended up motoring for three hours in light winds. Bah!
It remains cloudy and rainy today (not so much rain really, just a steady drip like there are a bunch of leaks in the sky).
240 miles to go to Hilo
Rain, rain, go away
Monday morning dawned almost completely clear for a change and I made the mistake of telling John what a good solar day it would be. By the time I woke up at 11 AM it was completely overcast, and by mid-afternoon it was raining (more like heavy dripping). It's now after 9 PM and the rain hasn't let up yet. Poor John struggled during his evening watch to keep us on course with the wind vane. By the time I came on watch he told me to just let it go where it wants to since the wind has been all over the place. So it's been about 5-10 degrees too high, but we'll fix that after he's had some rest.
I think we're beginning to find with these long passages that we tend to be grumpiest at the beginning when we're still getting used to the routine, and at the end when we're so close to being there but are still too far away for it to be over with.
Both water and cabin temps have been 79-80. We still see flying fish and the occasional petrel or shearwater, but that's about it. John has seen dolphins once at night and briefly during the day. Oh, and I'm happy to report that we've seen not a speck of plastic garbage during the entire trip so far.
This is our last Monday night at sea for this passage!
Linda
Monday, November 30, 2009
Day 16, late update
All's well on board. We just had a little sail handling to do at the end of my morning watch so I forgot to do an update.
340 miles to go to Hilo
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Day 15
A fast day, these NorthEast trade winds are really driving us along. the cockpit has gotten dryer over the last couple days and we can sit out for short periods without fear of getting soaked. We still take a healthy dollop now and again though so there's no star gazing at night. 4 more nights!
522 miles to Hilo
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Day 14
After the wind blew very hard in the afternoon I expected it to go crazy at night, but luckily it didn't and actually calmed down a little letting us sleep in relative peace. One more minor failure, I made a weather cloth for the starboard cockpit rail before we left Nuku Hiva. I used a piece of the old mainsail and even though the materials were not top of the line I thought it was well put together. The Pacific ocean feels otherwise as last night a wave broke against the cloth splitting the fabric where it attaches to the rail. Oh well, at least I didn't spend a lot of $$ on the silly thing.
660 miles to go to Hilo
John
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday
John forgot to say the other part of the mantra which is, "This is the last Friday of this passage that we'll spend at sea!"
Although I've completely given up on my twice daily facial routine of cleansing and moisturizing, this afternoon I managed to heat up a can of pork and beans for lunch, cleaned out the cat litter box, and swept the carpets. It's amazing how much better we feel after we get some good sleep.
We talk to our Polish friend, Natazha, every evening at sunset on the HF radio. She is still a few hundred miles out from Honolulu to complete her single-handed circumnavigation. She's tired from pumping water out of her boat, and now her friends have asked her to slow down so she doesn't arrive too soon before the big party they have planned for her. Are they nuts?!
After John talks to Natazha he checks in to the Pacific Seafarer's net with our position and all our weather information. So I think the Yotreps (pangolin) site gets updated twice in a 24 hour period for those of you following along. I sure would love to see it, but I think we get taken off it as soon as we confirm our arrival.
Assuming the seas don't actually worsen as we get closer to the islands (which I fully expect them to, so that I can be pleasantly surprised if they don't), I think this is pretty close to the picture you see from an airplane flying over the Pacific. As in, "I sure wouldn't want to be sailing in a small boat out in THOSE seas!"
Linda
Day 13
It calmed down a little yesterday afternoon so I was able to get a bit more sleep, but it piped back up again in the night and hasn't let up at all yet today. The outhaul wire on the staysail boom broke at 1030 so we had a fire drill to get that repaired. we're back up and running again.
We have a mantra, every morning and evening we say the number of nights left at sea. Today it's 'Six more nights!'
799 miles to go to Hilo
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