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.

2000 miles

 Isn't that a song? 

Anyway!

We've sailed over 2000 miles of open ocean! 

It's another beautiful day for sailing. Good wind! Sunny. Blue in every direction. 

We've been informed that our AIS (more likely the antenna) may not be producing a signal since that heavy weather run. 

... if you are following along at home...

 Our GPS position as of 1630 HNL time is:

L: 14° 37.4' N

Lo: 153° 55.1' W

COG 320°

SOG 8.5 kt

Love and light,

~e.

Good save! (39/12)

Because it's sooo windy, we took the mainsail down to the second reef to be extra safe and preserve a cushion of de-power-ability.

(Vocabulary deterioration, seems to be a side effect of this kind of isolation... LOL)

Anyway, we executed a well timed, very efficient reefing drill, and after the hoist, as we examine everything about the sail and the changes we made, Jeff noticed that the halyard looked funny just above where it is tied to the head of the sail.  

Ut-oh.  Confirmed with binoculars, its frayed.  gotta fix it before it breaks! 

Again! Head to wind, drop the sail. Jeff climbs up the rigging to get to the head, unties it and hands it to Tosten through the cockpit window. Torsten pulls it into the galley (this is our new halyard and plenty long) where we have the hot-knife staged, cuts it and hands it back. 

Jeff re-rigs it, we rehoist (to the second reef) and it's good as new. 

Holy moLe   y!  That's some wear!! On a new line, too. We figure it must have occurred during light wind and "flogging" or when the sail swings back and forth from one side to the other. Sheesh!  

What a good catch!!

Whew! 

Thanks angels!

Love, 

~e.

Dolphins!!

Last night at sunset and this afternoon. 

No lucky photos yet.. just crappy phone-camera snap with lousy timing. But I'll keep trying! 

Day 39/12

We are definitely not in the doldrums we have been sailing in a nice strong breeze since yesterday afternoon.

It was a tough night. Very dark, with no moon and heavy cloud cover. Plenty of rain before midnight, not too much after. The seas were very confused and not tiny. The wind was 17-22+. We stood 2-person watches and it was good to have a buddy. Nobody left the cockpit and everyone was harnessed & tethered all night. And we were happy to see the dawn.

It was cool to see how much sail trim we can do by feel. The boat performed well.

We sailed the main on the first reef (shortened a bit at the foot) and the staysail (the smaller of the triangle sails on the bow). I suspect we averaged 8 knots through the water on our preferred course toward Hawaii Island.

Now, at almost mid-day, and over 11° North latitude, the skies have cleared significantly, the waves are trying to find a more consistent pattern and we are all getting accustomed to the new rhythm.


Love & Light,
~e.

Day 38/11 Sailing Again!

Ok!
I think it's real...
I think we are out of the ITCZ & the doldrums. (What a depressing word.)

We've had steady wind speed and direction for an hour and a half.

And it's pretty favorable.
We can sail at about 1/2 the windspeed on our preferred course! Hot Damn!
We are back in the saddle, baby!

Thanks for all those good vibes! Keep 'em coming!!
Love, light, & fair winds,
~e.

Day 38/11

Still stuck in the zone.

Luckily, the engines are running well. (Thanks to all the blood sweat & tears.)

We are getting down to half of the fuel stores. It computes. 

We are running sails and engines in a southerly, light wind scenario. Hoping to just sail soon. 

Jeff is getting itchy. 

Itchy to get going. 

He talks to the air. 

(We are all doing FINE. Just Fine.)

Jeff is also getting hives when he goes in the engine room from all the petroleum products.  We are all taking turns. 

Love,

~e.