Dock side

 

We sat dock side for a fee hours waiting for clearance from the local customs and agriculture inspectors. 

They never showed up and were pretty lackadaisical on the phone. We actually, still don't have clearance, but we're moving ahead anyway.

Midnight watch musings

O'ahu is this big glow on and above the horizon. A little like a winter dawn.

. The wind that funnels through the Alanuihaha channel between Maui and the big island finally dissipated and we are in another light wind zone waiting to see what happens when we line up with the Kaiwi channel on the east side of O'ahu. Apparently there is an usual weather system on the N side of the island and we just don't know how that's going to play on this side. 

We are running a single engine and the mainsail at the moment, making just over 6 kt.  It looks like we might get in a little early, in which case we will go to a nearby anchorage that we are familiar with and clean up a bit before we go in. 

There has been One vessel that we've had visual (but not radar) contact with tonight.  I'm sure there will be a few more as we approach Pearl Harbor.  But there just isn't much traffic that comes up from the South. Throughout those years I spe   nt  observing the southern horizon from the barefoot bungalow in Ewa beach, It was always noteworthy when something came in from the South, it's that uncommon. 

We've come a long way. Over 2500 nautical miles of blue water sailing.  It's been a heck of an experience and I'm proud of all of us and this vessel. 

I'm grateful to have had excellent crew mates and companions. Trust worthy, competent, kind, among many other fine qualties.

I'm grateful and humbled to experience and internalize another perspective of living on Earth.  

Love and Light 

~e.

Last night watch (?!)

Sun is setting (after 7 pm!)  The wind has filled in to 17 kts and we are running full sail, no engines. 

It's a stunningly colorful sunset as it gets later. Feeling blessed! 

We are under 100 miles left (in a straight line) to the marina. 

 Managing our speed to try to arrive at 8:00 am.

Both engines are fully functional and we have two tanks aver 1/2 full. We could motor the rest of the way if we needed to. 

Guess what. The thing with the nav display: I fixed it!! (Technically, I broke it, too -- but let's not get buried in details.) It was just a setting!! It's all good, and Jeff can cross it off the repair list! Yay! Right...? yay? No? Whatever.  It's fine.  LOL

One more night at sea...

Love, light, and fair winds,

~e.

Day 42/15. Hawaiian waters

See that puffy white clouds over there on the horizon? That's Maui Island, and the mountain, Haleakala, about 80+? Miles away. 

All that flat blue? Windless expanse. It's like the doldrums take 2. Ugh. 

However, in good news, this amazing man that I'm doing life with, fixed the starter motor assembly (again!) And got enough power flowing to start the starboard engine.  

We are running both engines, with no sail up yet, "Headed for the barn." Expecting to arrive to the marina tomorrow morning & manage the arrivals business. 

((And maybe see my friends waving from shore as we cruise in! :) ))

I took a big nap around midday today. Aaaah. That felt good. I've sent Jeff down below to try to do the same. He's due some good sleep. 

He's been stressing since the engine wouldn't start.  

And then, because you know, what's a good adventure with out some obstacles...? The back light on the nav   igation  display went out. Yeah. So, no radar sweeps. No mapping.  

Luckily,  both of my crewmates have navigation software running on their tablets.  Ha!! We are fine!!  All the instruments still work and we have plenty other displays to use. 

Current Position:

L: 19.61 degrees N

Lo: 157.15 degrees W

Course: 325

Speed: 8 kt

Love, light, and fair winds,

~e.

Good Morning, from Hawai'i

No news

Not much news. 

It's much cooler than we've grown accustomed to. For example, I overheard Jeff reading the water temperature from one of the sensors and both he and Torsten were like "Brrr!!!"  Want to guess the water temp? 78.5 degrees. We are so spoiled!! LoL

I totally bundle up like I'm going to the northern California coast for night watch, squall jacket, beanie, ... no kidding.  If I had uggs, I might be tempted... LOL

Still no visual or radar or radio contact with any other vessels. But we will keep a good lookout tonight &  Maybe tomorrow we'll see something.  Maybe the Big Island, it's still, too far away, too cloudy and now, too dark to see it tonight. 

But, the moon is back in the night sky

Polaris is back, too! Mars and Jupiter have been pretty. And we can still see the southern cross. (At least for a few hours.) 

The starboard engine wouldn't start up this afternoon when it was tim   e to  exercise them. So un-cool.  ((On a personal level, I can maybe relate. But as far as meeting expectations of the crew and gear on this adventure, stbd engine is not a superstar.))

And now that's an issue that needs to be addressed. We pulled the starter motor and gave it some TLC. But wasn't enough.  I suggested hitting it with a hammer.  But, that didn't work. Shrug. Is it plugged in? Because now we're reaching the end of my helpful suggestions.  Hahaha!

Pray for a good night!

Love & Light

~e.

Day 41/14

It is almost noon. And the chart plotter shows us 123 miles away from the sw point off the big island!

We still haven't seen any vessels!!

It's still great sailing weather, with winds 17-22. The weather keeps us on our toes and adjusting course and/or sails as the swell or the rain clouds indicate.

The Trade Winds are powerful. And we are happy to be sailing well. The night watches can get a little intense with winds building to 30 kts.

We are starting to prepare for arrival, with notification to uscg, the marina, customs immigration & agriculture, too. It's a little tricky because most of these agencies have web-based or internet applications that they designed for shipping agencies to use. But I'm sure we'll manage, our timing might just be a little off.


Love and light,
~emily.