Day 6

Saturday, July 8

Another truly beautiful morning out here on Big Blue.

Yesterday was slow & steady, very light winds as we find ourselves well & completely entrenched in this big Pacific high and no clear path presents itself :::sigh:::

Either because of the shipping lanes or the circular flow of the water here, we are seeing more debris and flotsam than other days.

Even to the point of discovering a section of fishing net hooked onto our stbd rudder. Yikes!! Jeff and Olivia were able to dislodge and retrieve it. And now the offensive thing is stashed in our forward hold. Last night Jeff decided to run the port engine, and it started and ran (yay) in neutral, but there was a terrible vibration when it was put in gear. It turns out there is more abandoned fishing gear wrapped around the prop. SOB!!!
(And please don't ask how we know, lol) The unhappy plan is to bring the boat to a stall & dive on it today.

Earlier yesterday we ran the generator and the watermaker. We made good quality water and refilled the 60 gallon tank. At the same time we each showered and washed our hair and a few bits of laundry. Aaaah!

Everyone is in good spirits. Relaxed and rested, we've got some moves to make and are doing our best to make em count. Wish us luck.

Day 5? July 7

Another beautiful day on planet earth.

We are just shy of Lat. 32° and Long. 157°

The winds are nice. Actually, nice. Around 10-15. Not cold. Small towers of puffy clouds scattered across the sky. And while there is more than 1 swell & wind wind direction. They are all pretty small and not too fast.

I don't think I expected this kind of pleasantness. But I'll take it!!

Especially because the most sure thing is change... lol

Day 3 Passage

 Day 3 

Passage 

We are striving to find our groove out here, together. 

Meals and watchstanding, household & boat tasks, as well as a few remaining & pop-up "projects" :::sigh:::

The weather is good, we have confidence in the boat and un ourselves. 

But it's still a big adjustment for each of us!

Day 2

Day Two
Passage

Napping and some boat work (household) items. Watch standing: (scanning the horizon, listening for weird noises, monitoring the instruments and power. Trimming sails, tidying up the work space)

Fewer clouds today & no rain. Blue, blue, blue, as far as we can see.

We've noticed a few vessels, either through Marine Traffic or our radar sweeps, but none close enough to broach the visible horizon. Our route shares space with commercial shipping lanes; it is likely that we will see something! Just not yet (except for the occasional blip on the radar sweeps).

Burrito Bowls for dinner. Family's bellies approve.

Day 1

Passage from O'ahu to Vancouver Island.

We were supremely occupied Friday, Saturday and Sunday with prepping tasks. Installing, rehomeing, stowing,

Not to mention finishing a PAINTING project the scoops and the starboard, inboard hull. Omg. Informing family & friends, shutting down accounts. Also on Sunday, we took the boat out to adject the compass, perform an MOB drill, get fuel, test the water maker system. 

We made our Monday target departure leaving Ko'Olina before 9 am. Goodbye wasn't too bad… it seems like time for us to move on.

Motored (and motor sailed) along the coast to & around KaEna point and the Kauai channel. Totally off engines by 1330. 

Liv got a little seasick. Luckily, (and thanks to the scopalamine patch) I have held up pretty well. August is stressed and bored. Jeff is totally engaged and seems fine. As long as he can get some good sleep…

Beforre we left, we took Bella for a last walk round the mongoose hedges. She's so cute. And such a good dog.

On the boat, though, Bella has been stressed and very clingy. And has not pottied on the nets yet. 

Dinner was cheesy hash browns+ butter chicken & steamed broccoli. Nobody ate a lot, but everyone ate.

Watch schedule tonight:

Liv 6-9

Em 9-12

Jeff 12-3

Em &/or Liv 3-6 

In the early evening the moon rose full-full just south of east. Unfortunately,there has been quite a bit of cloud cover, including a few rain showers. 

We've been sailing with reduced sails for this overnight. The boat is balanced very little rudder input to stay on a northernly course. Even with a shortened Main and partially rolled Jib, we are still cruising along at about 7 - 8 knots. Not too uncomfortable, either. 

We have friends and family following our GPS "breadcrumbs" on NOFOREIGNLAND and praying for us. 

thanks for that!
Love & Light

January 2022

Happy new year, it's one of those time where time seems so elastic.  We feel like it's been a long time and none at all. The pandemic drags on, and yet we sometimes forget. A year ago we were scrambling for an apartment to rent, and sometimes it feels like we've been at the dock for an age. 

My girls are big and beautiful and wholly their own selves, not mine at all.

We get off the dock occasionally and shake some dust out of the sails, this is such a beautiful part of the world. We are so lucky! 

O is some kind of marine critter whisperer.  This porcupine/ puffer fish just fell in love. And there's a turtle that follows her around. It's wild!!

Little (not so little) Miss turned 12 this month!  Wow. We've come a long way, baby!

She invited a couple friends over for a sleepover on the boat, and then a trip to the big shopping center in Waikiki.

They had a great time.

Happy New Year

Happy Solstice and Blessed New Year

We are well and enjoying the mild climate, sunny days, and simplicity of indoor/outdoor docklife in Hawai'i after making some significant changes in these plague years & planting the seeds for our new lifestyle in this brave new world:

 We took the kids out of public school, sold the beach house, Jeff changed his work situation, we bought a boat and sailed it from Tahiti back to O'ahu. 

Currently, Jeff works with Jody and Skip McCormack, in part as a PG&E contractor from the boat. Olivia (13) and Camila (11) left school halfway through 6th and 4th grades when Covid hit and haven't been back; we are working through online curriculum for 8th and 6th grades online from the boat. There are amazing resources available and we couldn't be happier not to be in public middle school (for *so many* reasons!)  In addition to chief mate,  mom, and learning coach, part of my work is as social director, facilitating meetups and hangouts with old neighborhood friends and new homeschool friends.  Our loyal little terrier mix pup, Bella (10) seems prerty content to be a boat dog. I think mostly she just loves (as I do) that the pack is all together - all the time! 

We were so happy to travel this year! Our adventures and visits are our favorite memories of 2021.

After a few strange months in covid limbo Jeff and Emily and Torsten Hansen embarked on our big blue water sailing adventure. Olivia and Camila spent several weeks in Oklahoma with Roger and Kristen Pfieffer. And then in August we travelled to visit with our family in New York and in Connecticut. We were so happy to be at Cranberry Lake again finally (even with covid protocol limitations). Since then we've been really settling into our own family groove. 

Now we are in the vision stage (research & early planning) of a sail plan for 2022 that will take us from Hawai'i to the west coast of North America ending in Mexico in the autumn. 

Extending Warm Aloha,

Love and Light