Voyages of Companera

Today, April 5th I pick up Jacob & Charlotte at the Papeete Airport at 9 PM, Marita Hills arrived March 27th & so Compañera has her full compliment of crew. Tomorrow we will take a short sail & take on fuel. Friday we plan an excursion on Tahiti, perhaps hike the Lava Tubes; make a final provision run on Saturday and set sail for Moorea on Sunday or Monday. From there we will explore more of the Society Islands, ending up in Bora Bora. Weather permitting, we will check out of French Polynesia from Bora Bora toward the end of April and set course for Hawaii some 2,300 miles to the north.
I arrived almost a month ago & have worked getting Compañera ready for this long ocean crossing. I have been fortunate to have found an excellent diesel mechanic who has worked with me for days replacing seals, impellers, belts & engine mounts. We've replaced parts on the watermaker & installed more gear. Compañera is ready for the sea & now it is time to test both the crew & the vessel for more adventures on "Voyages of Compañera".
The crossing to Hawaii will take 2 1/2 - 3 weeks & Companera will spend several weeks recovering in Hawaii at the Waikki Yacht Club before heading back to mainland USA. I hope to visit with good friends Betty & Don Hardaway while there!
Marita & I have managed to squeeze in some fun times as well. Yesterday we took a bus to visit the Historical Museum & also went on to see some natural grottoes where Marita swam in some very cool fresh water. Today we went snorkeling on a sunken plane & boat, it was in about 20' of water w lots of curious fish. We're now at a restaurant where they have WiFi so hopefully at long last I can post an update. Internet service has been a real challenge for us. I will pick up Jacob & Charlotte in about 4 hours.

Our time exploring the Society Islands is probably best told in order from one island to the next as apposed to day by day. Each island has its lures and all of them have a feeling of paradise. Moorea was our first destination leaving Tahiti. A few hour sail brought us to this island full of tall mountain peaks, big tropical forests, and stunning lagoons. One day we spent exploring trails through the rain forest. These trails pass through pineapple groves and ancient ruins called maraes on their way to beautiful overlooks of both Cooks and Opunohu Bays. Another day we all took the dingy out to swim with stingrays and blacktipped sharks. Jacob and Charlotte seemed a little hesitant at first, but a few stingray hugs later they were diving right in.
We packed up a set sail for the island of Huahine on the evening of Easter Sunday. Around 17 hours later the crew of Compañera happily dropped the anchor right outside the town of Fare on Huahine. The overnight sail went smoothly and the newer crew had some adjusting to the gusty and choppy conditions. Huahine is a relaxed place with a landscape and culture that feels exactly that. Here, the crew spent several days biking around the entirety of the island. Jacob had the rare luxury of riding the bike (now famous) that Bruce Springsteen had rented only one week prior. The remote beaches and bright lagoons that circle the island are breathtaking. Another breathtaking site, in a much different way, are the blue-eyed eels which are famous and of spiritual importance locally. Feeding these 5 foot long slimy eels bits of tuna is a creepy site as they slither and squirm all over themselves in excitement. Jacob and Charlotte stumbled across a local distillery which specializes in countless varieties of fruit liqueurs and brandy. Compañera as a crew went to Distillery Huahine Passion and left very well provisioned for our journey.
Next on the agenda was Raiatea, the island we had been watching the sun set over every night during cocktail hour. Our sail to Raiatea was smooth, allowing us to arrive at a mooring just in time for cocktail hour. Without knowing beforehand, our time here coincided with the homecoming of [ ] a traditional Tahitian style sail boat the had just finished a year long circumnavigation of the globe. We all attended the homecoming ceremony and were able to witness a lot of ancient rituals, clothing, and singing. One day, Joel dropped Charlotte, Marita, and Jacob off on shore so they could go and explore the 'Three Cascades Trail'. Luckily, these three met a couple guides who were super eager to show them the way. The guides happened to walk on four legs and were dogs. A very rugged and natural trail takes you to the first waterfall, where Marita opted to relax in the pool and sit under the falling water. Charlotte and Jacob continued on past the second waterfall and up and over several rope ladders draped off of muddy cliffs to arrive at the third waterfall. Standing underneath these 30 meter falls felt like a well needed power wash massage. Joel rallied the Compañera crew to move Compañera to a bay a few miles away in order to drop anchor and explore one of French Polynesia's biggest rivers. While dingying up the river, we came across a local fisherman who was more than happy to show us around his family's land and teach us about the local flora and fauna. Later, he sent us back down river with a branch full of bananas, several coconuts, rambutans, papaya, and a hand full of a ginger root vegetable.

Friday, April 28: Only a few more days now before our departure for Hawaii. At present we are moored in the beautiful bay of Tapuamu on the Island of Tahaa, where we can see the peaks of Bora Bora off to the West. Today Jacob will be hauled up to the mast top to clean & inspect instruments & lights while it is calm. I've got a few maintenance & repair jobs below & then, we'll visit the Coral Gardens at a nearby motu. Then it will be time to finally set sail for Bora Bora where we will put on fuel, provision for the voyage & officially check out of French Polynesia. Our actual departure date will depend on weather & sea conditions but will be sometime during the first week in May.
Wednesday,May 3, 2017: still moored in front of the MaiKai resort hotel in Bora Bora. There is much & annoying boat traffic but it's still a paradise. Motored over to the dock early this AM & topped off water tanks. Charlotte & Jacob cleaned dingy bottom in prep for bringing it on board. Marita sewed on last of the telltales for the Mainsail & I downloaded lots of weather info on the SSB. Now they are off to rent bikes for a trip around the island. The red port running light is not working so will take care of that this AM then clear out starboard locker to switch out anchor rodes. I want less heavy chain in forward anchor locker while sailing upwind. There is no diesel in Bora Bora until tomorrow (Thursday) so we will fill up on diesel before our final checkout, hopefully in mid morning. All is still a go for a Thursday departure.

Up the mast

Most sane people would wonder why you would leave a safe harbor in an island paradise but any sailor knows when the time has come to weigh anchor and set sail. The weather made the decision even easier. Nuku Hiva is a large, high, volcanic island. Winter squalls accelerated as they raced through the canyons. The swells came from the SW but the winds varied wildly which resulted in Compañera being tossed about erratically. After three days of torrential rain, violent squalls and constant motion, it was time to leave. The forecast on July 21st was not great with winds 25-30 knots w agitated seas and squalls. By July 23rd the winds slacked to 18-22 knots w agitated seas & occasional squalls and with weather predicted to improve. We hadn’t been able to sleep much at anchor due to the violent motion inside the bay so leaving in less than good conditions was appealing. Raising the anchor went well despite lots of growth on the chain. Thankfully we have an anchor Wash-down. As we were about to raise the main sail, one of the bindings on the Lazy Jacks parted and so Laura had to wench me up the mast to retrieve it and make repairs.
As we nosed out of Taiohae Bay, we were hit w all 22+knots of wind along w the agitated seas. Quickly we turned into the wind to put in a reef and as we did so a shackle on the main sheet failed. So it was back into the bay to make more repairs. On retrospect, it would have been prudent to have re-anchored & called it a day. But instead at 11 am we nosed back out into an angry sea heading SW for Tahiti via the Tuamotos some 800 miles away. For much of the afternoon the winds ranged from 18-24 knots, boat speed 6-7 knots as we passed Ua-Pou island to port. The seas were rough but manageable & “Bob”, the hydo-vane was keeping us on course. As evening approached the winds & seas abated somewhat & I even considered shaking out the reef. But Laura prevailed and even convinced me to put in a second reef for the night. Thank God she did!!
Part II
As darkness fell, we unknowingly entered the valley of hell. Squalls had been visible throughout the afternoon but now a huge one bore down on us with angry tendrils trailing the leading edge. It hit us hard but we had enough time for me to grab the helm and prepare to ride it downwind. Laura secured everything below or so we thought. In such conditions, you forget your course and just go with the wind but off enough to prevent a jib. Previously we had secured a preventer to the boom. Little did I know at that moment that I would not be able to release my grip on the helm for the next 15 hours. The knot meter went from 8 to 10+ knots as we raced down the increasingly high and steep swells in gusts often exceeding 35 knots. The seas became increasingly menacing as swell and surface winds collided to form pyramids of white water that broke over the boat and threatened to fill the cockpit. The sea water lashing me actually warmed me unlike the torrential rain that was chilling me to the bone.
Somehow in the midst of this Laura managed to go below and heat up potatoes and sausage. She brought it out to the cockpit and between squalls was able to hand feed me. I’m not sure I could have survived that endless night w/o her nourishment and encouragement. She perched on the top step of the companion way, facing aft. The huge breakers bearing down on us were in her full view and between the roll of the boat & Laura’s wide eyes, I could anticipate the worst of it. During the highest wind gusts I struggled to keep Compañera from turning into the wind. We had too much mainsail up but didn’t have a third reef. Laura probably had the worst of it because all she could do most of the time was just to watch in terror as the next squall bore down on us. I, at least, could struggle with the wheel and keep us heading downwind. The swells were building between 3 & 4 meters or 9 to 12 feet with crests well in excess of 15 feet.
After midnight, the squalls continued but were now lighting up the skies with bolts and sheets of lightning. There was really no way to avoid anything as we were driven downwind relentlessly. Laura grabbed our handheld electronics wrapped them in antimagnetic bags and put them in the oven. We put on flip flops and hoped for the best as a direct hit would wipe out all electronics and probably the diesel as well. It was at this point she made the awful discovery that we had failed to latch the forward hatch and the V berth was flooded w saltwater.
Previously I had been running the diesel to charge up the batteries when my engine alarm sounded and I quickly had to shut down the engine. Things were not going well. We shut down the fridge and electronics to conserve power. But strangely, I felt OK. Compañera was a solid vessel, performing well. Laura was steadfast and, although scared, showed no signs of panic or seasickness. I had been at the helm for almost 9 hours and was confident I could make it till dawn. During this time I got thirsty and Laura would slide a water bottle to me across the cockpit. Eventually, of course, I had to pee and that was a real problem as I couldn’t let go of the wheel. During a brief ease in conditions, I kicked off my pants & simply stood half naked & peed in the cockpit while hanging onto the wheel. Not a pretty sight but necessary.
Finally, after an eternity, faint light appeared in the eastern horizon and I could even detect a break in the cloud cover. Winds that had gusted over 40 during the night were beginning to ease into the low 30’s & soon into the 20’s!! WE WERE GOING TO LIVE!!!! The seas, of course, were not happy! They seemed to be coming from all directions but did not seem so ominous anymore. We had been tested and found seaworthy. Perhaps we really are “Trusty Shellbacks”!! By 8 AM Laura was sitting beside me at the helm and while I watched she took the helm in still turbulent seas. My fingers were frozen to the helm, my arms ached, I was exhausted but I was wide awake and extremely thankful. Laura handled the helm flawlessly thereafter, while I laid in the cockpit watching the skies open up into a beautiful day.

Pacific Puddle Jump log for Compañera

March 31, 2016
Heading 210° mag
Distance 149nm
Avg speed 6.2kts

Day one was sunny and bright as we left San Jose del Cabo at 0830. We had a commander weather routing plan and made for our first waypoint at 10' north. Dolphins were swimming off the bow as we cleared the cape and all the fishing boats. Wind increased to about 18kts and we put in the first reef. The wind continued to pick up to about 24kts and we put in the second reef and furled the jib in most of the way. We were making around 8kts for most of the day with a quartering sea coming from the north west. Pretty sloppy conditions for most of the first day and night. Had to steer 180' just to settle the boat down so Laura could cook and we could eat. We discovered the solar panels were not connected. Fixed that. Discovered wind generator not charging the batteries. We are going to connect the generator directly to the batteries.

April 1, 2016
Heading 210° mag
Distance
Avg speed
Pos 19°51'N. 111°13'W

Day 2. Seas settled down a bit and the wind settled to 12-20kts out of the north west. We are on a broad reach and shook out bot reefs from the main. At 1420 we are sailing at 210' doing about 7.7kts. Mostly cloudy skies but warm. Swimsuit and no shirt. Dad and I tried to get the hydrovane to work but had no luck. Dad worked on the bilge pump that has stopped working. I put out a trolling line. As of right now we have 2448nm left to go. I am really enjoying the sailing and Laura has been keeping us all fed with good food. None of us slept very well last night so we are all tired. Dad and Laura are down napping and I am getting all I can out of the boat between napping in the sun. Dad snapped awake and started tearing apart my bunk to get to the bilge pump. We worked on that for about 3 hrs. 3 ships showed up behind us on the AIS. They were eastbound for Panama. Laura made some amazing fajitas for dinner. Saw flying fish.

April 2, 2016
Heading 220' mag
Pos 19°13'N. 111° 53'W

Day 3. 0220 mid watch scattered clouds seas calm. Wind is off the beam for the most part and blowing 9-12kts. Sailing at 7kts now but the winds drop and the sails flap and then the wind picks up. Overall very pleasant sailing. We are passing some islands now. Islas Revililia Gigedo. I can't see them it is very dark and they are several miles distant.
Sailed due south for most of the day at about 5kts. Did laundry and hung it to dry. Got to talk to Kerry for about 5 min sounds like things are good at home. I miss her and the kids a lot. My dad and I were up on the bow working and I saw a big white flash in the water below, probably 15-20ft deep and 15-20 feet long. I saw this a couple more times over the next hour. Once off the port side about 20 feet out and it dove showing white colored flukes. I think it was a blue whale. Very cool.
Sailing was difficult due to low variable winds. Rigged the wisker pole on port side and then rigged it on the starboard side. Sailed along for awhile but the winds died. Dad started the motor and dropped the sails I guess around 2200.

April 3, 2016
Heading 110' true
Pos 17°38'N. 112°54'W
2260 nm to go
1015mb

Day 4, 0000 Just came on watch. Engine is running and we are doing about 5kts with the sour smell of diesel blowing over the transom. Dad is running the water maker and it needs to be turned off at 0200. Hopefully we have a better day sailing today. Woke dad to relieve me at 0500.
Day 4 12:39. Sailing along with the code zero about 4.5kts. Put out the third fishing line today. I am determined to have sushi for dinner. Had both head sails rigged earlier and we were going along about 5-5.5kts. The wind shifted and I rolled in the jib. I have the reacher polled out with the boom.
Day 4. 1407. We are going 3.5-4kts and it is warm. We took a swim off the back of the boat. We each dragged behind the boat for awhile and washed up.
Day 4 approx 1700 I hooked a good size tuna on the fishing rod with the rig I bought in Mexico. The line started ripping off the reel but I couldn't slow down the boat as dad was sleeping. The big one got away. I was pretty bummed out about loosing my best rig when we noticed one of the hand lines had a fish. Turned out to be a small Yellowtail Tuna. Sushi appetizer for dinner😀👍
Slow sailing day working hard just to keep the boat at 4kts.

April 4, 2016
Heading 260° true
Pos 16°02'N. 13°28'W
2170 nm to go
1015mb
90 miles for last 24 hrs.

Day 5, 0000. Started watch. Winds are back up to a fairly steady 12-13kts. Boat speed is over 5kts and we are heading more south than west. We are flying only the screacher polled out to the boom on the starboard side. It is doing a fine job and I hope it keeps up the good work. We need to get to 15° north to catch better winds and we don't like to do sail changes at night for safety reasons. We need to make a better VMG if I am going to make my flight home.
0800 woke up to dad making coffee and getting ready for the big sail change. The code zero was out on the stbd and we took that in. Raised the main took down the wisker pole that was rigged to port. Trimmed the main and rigged and raised the asymmetric spinnaker. After we got everything rigged and trimmed we were making great time on our way to Japan. The wind had shifted yet again so we were traveling North West and we wanted to go southwest.
1200 got the boat traveling on a more acceptable course and dad made breakfast for me and Laura.
13:17. Spotted a sail off the port bow and hailed them on the VHF. Star of the sea had 4 people on board traveling from La Paz to Hiva Oa. Not part of the puddle jump group. Very nice people. Exchanged weather information and pleasantries.
15:45. Lat 15°19.628'
17:03. Winds increasing to 13-15kts. Doused spinnaker turned south and set wing on wing jib poled out on stbd. Headed straight for the marquesas at 6.5 kts. 😀👍
17:05. Lat 15°14 Long 114°09.
18:00. Went below to get a nap when Laura yelled we have a fish. I came on deck and started reeling in a small yellow tail tuna. Dad came on deck and doused the sails and we landed the fish. While we were cleaning that one we caught two more. We cleaned them and put them on ice for a sushi party later.

April 5, 2016
Heading 168 true
Pos 14°42. N. 114°49W.
2058 nm to go
1015.5 mb
112 miles for the last 24 hrs

Day 6. 01:00. Laura woke me for watch. Nice to get another hour rest. Didn't sleep very well due to the motion of the ocean. We have been blasting down the rhumb line at 6.5-8kts since 17:00 yesterday. This has been a very cool run.
05:00 wake dad for his watch the boat is still moving fast.
07:30. I hear noise on the deck so I go topside and dad wants to shorten sail so we make some adjustments to the rig. Laura makes us some coffee and toast and the day starts. We have been having a problem keeping the batteries charged. I have been able to get the hydrovane working reliably so we don't have to use the autopilot all the time. But the solar still can't keep up with demand. So we decide to get after this wind generator that has not been pulling is weight. We verify that it is not putting any charge into the batteries so we try to wire it directly to the battery as per the installation manual. We try to pull the slack out of the cable run which means we have to get into every cabinet on the boat. The boat looks like we had some pissed off customs inspectors aboard. About this time 10:00, we hear a noise that sounds like the hum of a motor. Turns out dad had put out the fishing lines and we had a big fish on the line. The boat is chaos, dad drops the sails I fight the fish and we eventually land a 15lb blue fin tuna. It was an exhausting day. We had to finish with the wind generator, which we never got working, to put the boat back together to clean the fish and then clean the boat of all the fish blood. But a great day. We had a beer and I made sushi from the yellow fin tuna we caught yesterday. It was the best sushi ever.

April 6, 2016
Heading 137 true
Pos 13°21. N. 116°35. W
1928 nm to go
130 miles for last 24 hrs.

Day 7 23:30 woke up to night winds and the boat was flying. Actually didn't really sleep it was pretty hot down below. We took in a second reef In the main before I went to sleep.
02:30. Dad relieves me from watch. I am exhausted but have a hard time sleeping because the boat is sailing really fast and it is hot like an oven down below.
07:30. Dad calls me on deck. He has been hand steering to save battery power and we couldn't get the hydrovane dialed in because of the rough seas. Dad had to pee. The morning is cloudy. Dad makes coffee and toast. Laura has not been feeling well since last night. We start the day and get the hydrovane set up and about 11:00 set up the rig for dead down wind wing on wing. Hydrovane is amazing once you figure it out. It is steering is dead downwind with a 6-8ft following sea which is a difficult angle to steer for anyone or anything.
11:49. Dad and Laura go below to get some much needed rest. I have announced today a day of rest. We will see how long that lasts with dad 😀. We are sailing straight for Hiva Oa doing about 7kts. It has started raining. I will take off all my clothes and get a much needed shower.

April 7, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 11°37.N. 118°29W
1776 nm to go
152 miles for the last 24hrs

Day 8 00:00 Laura woke me for watch. Really tired. Sail changes before bed and sail changes first thing in the morning. Hard to get rest and it is getting hotter. My little cabin is hot and muggy. We had to take down the main sail last night at around 20:00 so it was dark and the boat is moving around a lot. The wind came up after dark and kept building and we already had 2 reefs in the main so it had to come down. I planned out the exercise and things went off really well. I was safely secured to the boat on a short tether the entire time. The boat settled down and actually picked us speed.
07:00. Dad is ready to make some sail changes because we are worried that we will lose our wind. We raised the main and prepared to launch the code zero furling screacher. Somehow the clew got wrapped in the sail tangling everything. We had to take it down and pull the whole thing into the cabin to untangle it. We launched the code zero out of the forward hatch and it went up normally. We stayed with that arrangement for awhile and then the winds picked back up. We put the main out on the stbd side and wound up the code zero and poled out the jib on the port side. We sailed like this all day making better than 6.5kts all day and into the night.
18:00. Had a cocktail hour because it was a long hard day. I was in the cockpit alone dad and Laura were down below making drinks and the fishing line gets hit hard and line is ripping off the reel. I think it was another really big tuna that took most of my line and my rig. The fight was short but exciting. Then we sat down to a dinner of sashimi and rice from the previous day's catch. I take the 04:00-08:00 watch today so hopefully I can get some rest.

April 8, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 9°33. N. 120°35. W
1601 nm to go
175 nm for the last 28hrs

Day 9
04:00. Laura wakes me for watch. I slept ok but not great. It is hot and muggy and the boat was moving fast so sleep is hard to come by. I make my crystal light lemonade and head up into the cockpit. It black dark and I can feel that the boat is moving along at better than 6.5kts. We are really making great time. The weather router tells us to expect calm in the next couple days but we haven't seen it yet thankfully. We are now more than 1000 nm from Cabo San Lucas.
08:00 approx. Dad wakes up and I make coffee and we sit in the cockpit and chat about boats and other stuff. He goes below and makes toast out of the fresh bread Laura baked the day before. Delicious bread. Laura gets up and we have some more coffee.
09:00 I notice the jib furling line has nearly chaffed through during the night and we are still sailing at around 7 kts and surfing a following sea. If this line fails we could have big problems because we won't be able to take the sail in if the wind picks up and we will be forced to go to the bow to take it down.
We spend most of he day re rigging the furling line. We also called the company that makes our useless wind generator to see if they could help get it working. The dick that answered the phone was as useless as a football bat. We ended up sending an email with what we hope was convincing evidence that the damn thing is not charging our batteries.
17:00 We have 2 reefs in the main and the jib furling line has been repaired and rigged in reverse to better position the damaged part of the line. The jib is rolled about half way in and we are still doing 6.5kts and surfing to 8.5. Laura notices a very dark cloud bank overtaking us from behind. Dad is below and just went to sleep. We wake him up and about the time he pokes his head out the companionway the rain starts and the wind picks up to about 25kts. I roll in the jib put on my life jacket and harness myself to the boat. We look like a bunch of crazy people. I decide to steer through the squall and get a much needed shower and laundry all in one. It was great, an hour and a half of tropical downpour and I felt like a new man. Laura decided to go below and cook dinner in the middle of the squall and high seas and produces an Asian ginger tuna using the last of the big tuna. We had this with rice and it was great. Dad keeps poking his head out of the companionway making sure I don't need a relief.
I did change out of my wet clothes before dinner. I went below to bed. I have had only a few hours of sleep in the last few days and fall into a deep sleep. I do manage to write an email to Kerry and the kids. I miss them.

April 9, 2016
Heading 250 mag
Pos 8°5. N. 122°20. W
1466 nm to go
135 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 10
00:00. Dad gets me up to help with the sails. The wind has dropped to 6kts and he needs to go on deck to make changes. We all agreed no one goes out on deck in the dark by themselves ever never never ever. So I steer the boat while dad releases the preventer. I am like the walking dead I am still asleep. I go below back to bed and fall into a deep sleep that he can't wake me at 03:00 for my watch. He said he even picked up my hand and wondered if I was alive 😀. He let me sleep for another hour and I feel like a new person. I didn't know I was so tired. I normally stand the balls to four (midnight to four). The navy called it the balls to four watch, maybe because it is the worst watch but I think those guys just like to say "balls". The wind has been picking up at sundown about the time I go to bed and we have to do sail changes and then again first thing in the morning. So for the past couple days I have been staying up late, standing the "balls" watch and getting up early to help with morning adjustments. All our days have been busy with managing the boat and trying to get certain things working. I have tried to get naps here and there but the muggy heat down below has made that difficult.
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch and the boat is only going about 3.5kts and there is 6kts of wind. It is quite and very dark. I am actually enjoying the slow pace this morning but I worry that we are in for some days of very light winds that have been predicted by the weather router.
21:00 I stand the watch and we drift through the night and today. We did some sail changes and tried many different combinations but nothing could make the wind blow faster than 3kts and blow us due west at that. This did give us a day off so to speak or a rope-yarn day as they say in the great grey canoe club. It is 9pm and the screacher is still on starboard tack flapping in the log breeze. We are doing 2.5kts. We have only covered about 40 miles towards our destination today. We did get some laundry done, dad dealt with the broken stanchion, and Laura made us up some fine cocktail hour treats and a great Thai chicken dinner. I got to call Kerry and she sounds good, I really miss her and wish she was here with me. We need to get more sat phone minutes. All in all another great day.
About to make a final sail change for the day. Taking in the screecher and poling out the jib on starboard tack and changing course to 210 mag for the night if the wind shift holds.

April 10, 2016
Heading 200 true
Pos 7°31. N. 123°30. W
1394 nm to go
72 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 11
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch. I went to bed early but the heat and sweat make it difficult to fall asleep. Dad had me help him on deck at around 02:30 to gybe the jib over the stbd tack. We were in a squall and it was raining and the wind was blowing maybe 15kts. Not real bad but it was nice to get some wind back. When I come on deck at 04:00 we are nearly dead down wing and probably 10kts of wind and we are heading almost due west. I decide to gybe back and head more south west. Seems like the wind has dropped a bit but probably just the wind angle. We are still making about 4kts which is pretty sad but better than we suffered through yesterday. We are now heading more directly for Hiva Oa. I hope the winds pick up a bit and we can make up some time. 72 miles towards our destination in 24 hours is SLOOOOWWWWW😀. Still having fun.
08:51. It is light outside. I let dad know I am going on deck to raise the main sail. Mainsail is up and now we are making about 5kts. Very pleased.
09:20. The crystal light is almost gone. There's gonna be trouble. Looks like today will be the half way point as far as distance is concerned.
13:10. Started the engine and we are attempting to cross the ITCZ or doldrums.
15:00 approx. Noticed a menacing looking cloud formation behind us and gaining, the wind started picking up so we started sailing along picking up speed under a double reefed main.
There have been squalls following us all night and we have been sailing along at about 6kts all night.

April 11, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 6°09. N. 124°47. W
1282 nm to go
112nm for the last 24hrs

Day 12
02:30. Dad wakes me to help him gybe the boat in about 20kts of wind. It went smooth as silk. I think we are getting better all the time.
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch. We are running the engine to fill the batteries and sailing at 5+ kts in about 16-22kts of wind. This is great and we are making great time.
04:24. I just checked and we are more than halfway there😀👍. Hiva Oa!
18:53. We sailed until the wind blew itself out around 09:00. I shook out the second reef, then I shook out the first reef. Each time we gained a knot or so and each lasted about a half hour. Finally I had the screecher and a full maim and we were doing about 3.5kts. 0930. We started the motor and we have been motoring ever since. It is jungle hot. Not like a nice Panama jungle but like an Africa jungle hot. I have been laying around all day like a blue tick hound on a Georgia front porch in the summertime. OK it's not all that bad but it is hot. I shaved off my beard. It took about a thousand swipes with my now useless razor and I no longer look like King Neptune.
21:15 identified the southern cross. Very cool. I always wanted to see the southern cross while sailing.

April 12, 2016
Heading 200mag
Pos 4°12. N. 126°19. W
1133 nm to go
149 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 13
02:00. It's my birthday. Dad wished me happy birthday. Laura is going to bake some brownies for the big celebration. I woke up at 02:00 and came on deck to sleep in the cockpit. I think I woke up from the heat in my cabin. Fell asleep topside right away. My dad was still on watch and some breeze came up so he rolled out the jib. It added about a knot to our speed which is nice but not enough to turn off the engine.
08:00. Wake dad to put up the main. The breeze is a steady 12+kts. Laura makes coffee and they sing happy birthday. Really good day so far. I get my birthday wish of the perfect wind.
Keep busy all day dodging squalls or really dealing with them. We pretty much sail right through and when the wind gets heavy we run dead downwind with a reefed main and the jib rolled all the way in. The squalls last for about 20 minutes and then things settle down and we put everything back the way it was.
Laura made brownies for my birthday and we had a really nice celebration and dad and Laura named the hydrovane BOB in my honor. It was really nice. I called Kerry and Katelyn and it was really nice to get to talk with them. I wanted to call more people but the minutes on the sat phone start ticking off pretty quick. Opened the card Kerry sent with me and loved it! What a cool surprise and very thoughtful.
21:30. Went to bed with 2 fans that have new batteries and I had to come up into the cockpit to go to sleep.

April 13, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 2°57N. 128°1. W
1009nm to go
124nm for the last 24hrs

Day 14
Sleeping on deck to keep cool. I am sleeping in swim trunks which is all I wear at this point. They are nice because the dry fast after squalls move through and give us a thorough drenching. I have been wearing long sleeved shirts to keep from getting to burned and I am getting a nice tan in the process. I am sure I am losing weight, mostly because we are eating great food but I am not snacking on junk and I am so busy I don't think of food much. My swim trunks are showing large canyons of plumbers crack and I have to figure out a way to keep them from falling off.
We are making really good time for the most part but we get slowed down sometimes by sail changes but we are getting better. The code zero or screecher as we call it has given us some problems. This is a really large lightweight sail we use to sail in light breezes. It stays hoisted and rolls up on a special halyard at the very front of the boat. The problem we had yesterday is we got hit by a squall and the top of the sail started to unwind. This is bad because it creates a bubble at the top of this wound up sail and in 25-30kts of breeze it will tear itself apart. We managed to run downwind and blanket the sail with the main sail and get it down before it damaged itself. We then have to take the sail into the boat and fully unwind it and then launch it from the forward hatch and quickly roll it up and then take it back down an pack it away. These are the sorts of things we and other boats deal with on this trip. Lots of people asked me what I would be doing out here for three weeks and I told them I would be doing lots of reading but I haven't cracked a book. We have been busy everyday with projects and sail changes.
18:18. General report on the day. We really don't know what time it is and we don't really care. We think we are California time minus 2. Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? It has been a magnificent day of sailing. Relatively flat water, 12-15 knots of breeze, and we are sailing at 7 plus knots all day. We are less than 1000 miles from Hiva Oa and hauling ass to get there. We have made some repairs to the boat. The whisker pole had some rigging break on it yesterday so we spent a couple hours this morning on that. I laid in the cockpit for several hours doing nothing and really enjoying the ride. One of the 12 volt fans broke so I took it apart and found a broken wire. 2 soldering irons and neither one work 😀.
We have been on a beam reach all day and we are convinced we are in the South Pacific trade winds.

April 14, 2016
Heading 201 mag
Pos 01°05. N. 129°39. W
861 nm to go
148nm for the last 24

Day 15
04:00. No wind started motor and dropped main sail. We have about 86 miles to the equator. I am really excited to get to Hiva Oa. Snoozing in the cockpit on watch. Ray marine autopilot goes nuts and refuses to steer a proper course. This goes on for about 45 min.
13:55. Finished putting on spare fuel. All the spare fuel has been put in the tanks. We also raised the screecher and refurled it and rerigged some lines so hopefully it is easier to handle in the future. We talked about flying the spinnaker but ther is just not enough wind. We have 3 trolling lines out so maybe we will get some fish action.
18:30. We crossed the equator👍👍😀we did a little ceremony and jumped into the water and came out trusty shell backs. I have been a trusty shellback for many years and have been forced to put up with these slimy wogs for the last 2000 miles. We are now ready for some big winds to push us the rest of the way to Hiva Oa.
19:00. Had a cocktail hour and put up the spinnaker In about 8 kts of breeze. We have between 7 and 11 kts of breeze gusting to 12+ on occasion. If it goes above 13kts the spinnaker comes down. We are still concerned with the fuel situation as we would like to arrive with about half a tank of fuel just to be safe. We are not sailing the angle we would like but we are going SSW so we are going in the right general direction and making a respectable VMG. That is velocity made good toward our destination.

April 15, 2016
Heading 194 mag
Pos 00°25. N. 130°37. W
755nm to go
106 mm for 24 hrs

Day 16
12:00. Still sailing under spinnaker with variable winds 8-12 kts. Dad and I are on deck ready to take down the spinnaker when it gets above 12kts.
13:32. Daily report. We took down the spinnaker and started motoring at about 02:00 We have been motoring since. We believe better winds are to the west based on reports from Huzzah and some grib files we downloaded. Huzzah is another boat on the puddle jump and they left a day before us. Right now we have about 7 kts over the port quarter. Not enough to get us moving with any sort of alacrity. Dad and I spent the morning rigging fishing lines. We are fishing for 50 year old fish because we are using 50 year old gear. Dad just smiles and says "it works". I slept like a baby last night thanks to the new fan we rigged. FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!! Line is ripping off the reel and is nearly gone by the time I am able to slow this monster down. It took nearly all the line off the reel and I fought this guy for 20min. Dad gaffes him and we fillet him in the cockpit 20lb blue fin tuna is now in the refer. We have launched the spinnaker and are making 7kts with 11-13 kts showing for wind speed. Life is good.

April 16, 2016
Heading 197 mag
Pos 02°32 S. 131°55. W
608 nm to.go
147 nm for last 24

Day 17
0300. Laura wakes me for watch. She has taken 2 watches so dad can sleep. He thinks so much about the boat and every little noise that he can't sleep. He has been down since about 19:00 and hopefully he will sleep till sunrise. The night is beautiful with a nearly full moon shining across the endless ocean and a few clues in the sky. I am only wearing my bathing suit on watch it is so warm.
03:30. Changed course. Fell off the wind about 10° to a new course Of 208° mag.
We sailed and lounged in the warm sun all day doing about 7kts. Average speed always seems slower so probably fair to say average speed 6.8kts.

April 17, 2016
Heading 213 true
Pos 4°16 S. 134°06 W
443 nm to go
1007mbar steady
165 nm for last 24

Day 18
03:00. Dad wakes me to help him. We are surrounded by squalls and the wind has picked up from 13 kts to about 18 gusts to 20. Raymarine autopilot steers off about 45° when it is engaged and he is stuck at the wheel and can't trim the sails. There is too much weather helm to engage "bob" the hydrovane. I trim the main and jib and we get "bob" back to work. I go back to bed but can't sleep, work is starting to creep back into my thoughts and I have had lots of rest.
04:00. I come back on deck to take the watch. Dad tells me he has a boil on his butt. This sounds funny at first but I have had a boil and it is no joke. They hurt like hell and he will probably need to take the antibiotics I got from my doctor. I actually got the antibiotics just in case we had some sort of skin problem like this. He needs to hot compress that thing several times a day and keep it really clean or it will turn into something serious. Sorry to disclose your PHI dad. I trim the sails for the conditions and change our course about 10° to port. Dad tells me we were sailing like hell for the last few hours but we're off course. We are now heading straight to Hiva Oa on a broad reach with winds between 13 and 18 kts. I partially furled the jib because it was back winding the main sail a little to much. The ride settled down a little and we may have picked up half a knot but we are not making the 7kts we were earlier. The seas are a little sloppy with the occasional wave dumping the main but all in all not a bad ride.
05:00. Some disclosure about this log. The times are jacked up. We call it iPad time and is off by about 2 hrs so 06:00 is really 04:00. I may go back and correct this. have not been very good about recording the barometer readings. I will try harder now that we only have 3 days left. The daily funds for mileage are taken when I get on watch and distance to waypoint difference between today and yesterday. They are not miles actually sailed and I am not always on watch at the same time. This is the best I could do since I don't know the chart plotter SW very well. 165 miles for the last 24hrs is out best run yet and it is reasonably accurate. We stayed on the same course all day and we had the fastest consistent speed of the trip staying around 7+ kts for most of the day. This boat is really fast and stable when trimmed properly. It just seems to dig in and go like a race horse. We just lounged around all day and let "bob" the hydrovane steer the boat. It was one of the most comfortable days so far and we were flying.
06:00. I have been trimming sails and realized that I love this. Trimming for another .1 knot gives me a rush. I am a freak😀. The boat is sailing nice doing about 6 knots comfortably. I am happy with the speed although I think we should be making 7 knots.
I don't want to disturb people sleeping.
07:05. Winds gusting to 17 knots. Took in the first reef and picked up some boat speed and the hydrovane "bob" is able to hold our proper course. Reefing is always a good idea.

April 18, 2016
Heading 213 mag
Pos 6°13 S. 135°39 W
293 nm to go
150 nm for the day

Day 19
01:00 dad gets me up to help him strike the main sail. There has been on squall after another and he is tired of it. I go back to bed for 2 more hours
03:00. I relieve dad on watch and he says this is one of his worst nights sailing. Winds keep changing direction, seas are confused, and constant rain squalls. Can't wait to see what my watch has in store.
04:00 put up main with one reef
05:09. Spotted lightning off port bow out on the horizon. Put computers in esd bags.
07:54 in the middle of a big squall. Main reefed and the jib pulled in. 18-23 knots of wind. Sailing nice but lots of rain. The wind has even crap all morning till now and even now is seems to be dropping. I can only get like 5 knots because the wind dropped again.
09:00. Dad and Laura are up and we have had coffee and toast. The wind is stabilizing out of the northeast. Dad and I rig the wisker pole in anticipation of use later in the day. Just as we finish and get into the cockpit we are hit with a squall with winds up to 30 knots. Dad just gets the boat to turn down wind and I bring in the jib about half way. It rains and blows like hell for about 20 minutes and then begins to let up. The squall leaves us with a fair breeze to Hiva Oa. We fly wing on wing using the wisker pole we rigged earlier, making over 6 knots in 12-13 knots of breeze.
14:00. We are running on a starboard tack with 16-20 knots of breeze. We are making over 7 knots consistently. I make scrambled eggs and heat us some of dads beans for the three of us. I am cleaning the dishes when I see dad putting out the fishing line, the one on the rod and reel. We have 2 other shorter lines tied to the back of the boat. About two minutes after he put the line in the water he gets a hit and line starts ripping off the reel. I run up and douse the jib by rolling it up and turn the boat into the wind to stop the boat and fight the fish. We have a preventer on the mainsail so what happens is the boat begins to sail backwards and we are running over our 2 trolling lines and are picking up speed sailing backwards. Laura and I are frantically pulling in the trolling lines that are now hooking all the shit that gets stored on the back of the boat like the fenders, the flag, some laundry, the boarding ladder, and the hydrovane. Dad continues to fight the fish but it gets away because I couldn't stop the boat. I wish I could have had a video of that boat maneuver, the first part clean and sure like a hockey stop on ice skates, and then the sinking feeling that the boat was beginning to sail itself in reverse. We must have looked like a bunch of clowns😀. Good times for sure.

April 19, 2016
Heading 228 mag
Pos 7°57 S 137°25 W
146 nm to go
147 nm for the day

Day 20

03:00. Dad wakes me for watch. The engine has been running for the last couple hours to charge the batteries. He tells me the water maker is not working. With all the challenges and breakdowns and things that plain don't work ( wind turbine) this would about send me over the edge. Most of this other stuff has been small annoying stuff that are normal breakdowns but the water maker is a big deal. Fortunately we are almost there so it is not any danger and he will get it going. Dad seemed to take it in stride. I think we are all happy to be so close to the end of this most excellent adventure and I am sure dad and Laura are excited to get on with enjoying French Polynesia. Now on to trimming this boat for speed!!!
03:30-04:00. Managed to slow the boat from 5 knots to 3.5 knots by going to wing on wing and better yet we were going due west. I didn't check our course before I adjusted the sails. Flopped the jib over or gybed the jib for you sailor types so we are on a port tack headed straight for Hiva Oa at a decent 5.5knots. This is a sultry morning with a thick warm breeze out of the east. Just a swimsuit and a nearly full moon to keep me company. I was able to email Kerry and the kids today as dad managed to get a radio connection. There is a lot of radio traffic so has been difficult to get a good connection.
09:30. Dad and Laura are up. Dad and I put up the screecher and is is making us fly along about 6-7 kts in 13 knots of breeze.
10:40. Rolled up the screecher as I saw 18 knots of true wind. It was fun for a second doing 8 knots but to windy for that sail. Rolled out the jib and we are back to 6-7 knots in 16-18 knots of breeze.

April 20, 2016
Heading 223 mag
Pos 9°43 S. 138°42 W
18 nm to go

Day 21

00:41. Dad wakes me to help gybe the main for the second time tonight. Land fall!!!! I can see the island of Hiva Oa. There are big rain clouds framing the island and it is dark. The moon is full so the night is bright when the moon breaks free of the clouds. What a wonderful sight. We will wait till morning to drop anchor and it is only about 1 am now. We still have to go down the southwest side of the island to get to the harbor.
04:14. Laura and I are on deck dad is getting some much needed sleep. We have been motoring down the south side of the island for about 2 hours and we have been smelling the tropical flowery smell from the island. It is late and I am tired but the sky has cleared and the moon is reflecting off the ocean as it hangs over the anchorage. I slowed the engine about 20 minutes ago because we are getting close and we wanted to wait for daylight to anchor. I want to wake dad because he would love this but he needs some rest.

Pacific Puddle Jump log for Compañera

March 31, 2016
Heading 210° mag
Distance 149nm
Avg speed 6.2kts

Day one was sunny and bright as we left San Jose del Cabo at 0830. We had a commander weather routing plan and made for our first waypoint at 10' north. Dolphins were swimming off the bow as we cleared the cape and all the fishing boats. Wind increased to about 18kts and we put in the first reef. The wind continued to pick up to about 24kts and we put in the second reef and furled the jib in most of the way. We were making around 8kts for most of the day with a quartering sea coming from the north west. Pretty sloppy conditions for most of the first day and night. Had to steer 180' just to settle the boat down so Laura could cook and we could eat. We discovered the solar panels were not connected. Fixed that. Discovered wind generator not charging the batteries. We are going to connect the generator directly to the batteries.

April 1, 2016
Heading 210° mag
Distance
Avg speed
Pos 19°51'N. 111°13'W

Day 2. Seas settled down a bit and the wind settled to 12-20kts out of the north west. We are on a broad reach and shook out bot reefs from the main. At 1420 we are sailing at 210' doing about 7.7kts. Mostly cloudy skies but warm. Swimsuit and no shirt. Dad and I tried to get the hydrovane to work but had no luck. Dad worked on the bilge pump that has stopped working. I put out a trolling line. As of right now we have 2448nm left to go. I am really enjoying the sailing and Laura has been keeping us all fed with good food. None of us slept very well last night so we are all tired. Dad and Laura are down napping and I am getting all I can out of the boat between napping in the sun. Dad snapped awake and started tearing apart my bunk to get to the bilge pump. We worked on that for about 3 hrs. 3 ships showed up behind us on the AIS. They were eastbound for Panama. Laura made some amazing fajitas for dinner. Saw flying fish.

April 2, 2016
Heading 220' mag
Pos 19°13'N. 111° 53'W

Day 3. 0220 mid watch scattered clouds seas calm. Wind is off the beam for the most part and blowing 9-12kts. Sailing at 7kts now but the winds drop and the sails flap and then the wind picks up. Overall very pleasant sailing. We are passing some islands now. Islas Revililia Gigedo. I can't see them it is very dark and they are several miles distant.
Sailed due south for most of the day at about 5kts. Did laundry and hung it to dry. Got to talk to Kerry for about 5 min sounds like things are good at home. I miss her and the kids a lot. My dad and I were up on the bow working and I saw a big white flash in the water below, probably 15-20ft deep and 15-20 feet long. I saw this a couple more times over the next hour. Once off the port side about 20 feet out and it dove showing white colored flukes. I think it was a blue whale. Very cool.
Sailing was difficult due to low variable winds. Rigged the wisker pole on port side and then rigged it on the starboard side. Sailed along for awhile but the winds died. Dad started the motor and dropped the sails I guess around 2200.

April 3, 2016
Heading 110' true
Pos 17°38'N. 112°54'W
2260 nm to go
1015mb

Day 4, 0000 Just came on watch. Engine is running and we are doing about 5kts with the sour smell of diesel blowing over the transom. Dad is running the water maker and it needs to be turned off at 0200. Hopefully we have a better day sailing today. Woke dad to relieve me at 0500.
Day 4 12:39. Sailing along with the code zero about 4.5kts. Put out the third fishing line today. I am determined to have sushi for dinner. Had both head sails rigged earlier and we were going along about 5-5.5kts. The wind shifted and I rolled in the jib. I have the reacher polled out with the boom.
Day 4. 1407. We are going 3.5-4kts and it is warm. We took a swim off the back of the boat. We each dragged behind the boat for awhile and washed up.
Day 4 approx 1700 I hooked a good size tuna on the fishing rod with the rig I bought in Mexico. The line started ripping off the reel but I couldn't slow down the boat as dad was sleeping. The big one got away. I was pretty bummed out about loosing my best rig when we noticed one of the hand lines had a fish. Turned out to be a small Yellowtail Tuna. Sushi appetizer for dinner😀👍
Slow sailing day working hard just to keep the boat at 4kts.

April 4, 2016
Heading 260° true
Pos 16°02'N. 13°28'W
2170 nm to go
1015mb
90 miles for last 24 hrs.

Day 5, 0000. Started watch. Winds are back up to a fairly steady 12-13kts. Boat speed is over 5kts and we are heading more south than west. We are flying only the screacher polled out to the boom on the starboard side. It is doing a fine job and I hope it keeps up the good work. We need to get to 15° north to catch better winds and we don't like to do sail changes at night for safety reasons. We need to make a better VMG if I am going to make my flight home.
0800 woke up to dad making coffee and getting ready for the big sail change. The code zero was out on the stbd and we took that in. Raised the main took down the wisker pole that was rigged to port. Trimmed the main and rigged and raised the asymmetric spinnaker. After we got everything rigged and trimmed we were making great time on our way to Japan. The wind had shifted yet again so we were traveling North West and we wanted to go southwest.
1200 got the boat traveling on a more acceptable course and dad made breakfast for me and Laura.
13:17. Spotted a sail off the port bow and hailed them on the VHF. Star of the sea had 4 people on board traveling from La Paz to Hiva Oa. Not part of the puddle jump group. Very nice people. Exchanged weather information and pleasantries.
15:45. Lat 15°19.628'
17:03. Winds increasing to 13-15kts. Doused spinnaker turned south and set wing on wing jib poled out on stbd. Headed straight for the marquesas at 6.5 kts. 😀👍
17:05. Lat 15°14 Long 114°09.
18:00. Went below to get a nap when Laura yelled we have a fish. I came on deck and started reeling in a small yellow tail tuna. Dad came on deck and doused the sails and we landed the fish. While we were cleaning that one we caught two more. We cleaned them and put them on ice for a sushi party later.

April 5, 2016
Heading 168 true
Pos 14°42. N. 114°49W.
2058 nm to go
1015.5 mb
112 miles for the last 24 hrs

Day 6. 01:00. Laura woke me for watch. Nice to get another hour rest. Didn't sleep very well due to the motion of the ocean. We have been blasting down the rhumb line at 6.5-8kts since 17:00 yesterday. This has been a very cool run.
05:00 wake dad for his watch the boat is still moving fast.
07:30. I hear noise on the deck so I go topside and dad wants to shorten sail so we make some adjustments to the rig. Laura makes us some coffee and toast and the day starts. We have been having a problem keeping the batteries charged. I have been able to get the hydrovane working reliably so we don't have to use the autopilot all the time. But the solar still can't keep up with demand. So we decide to get after this wind generator that has not been pulling is weight. We verify that it is not putting any charge into the batteries so we try to wire it directly to the battery as per the installation manual. We try to pull the slack out of the cable run which means we have to get into every cabinet on the boat. The boat looks like we had some pissed off customs inspectors aboard. About this time 10:00, we hear a noise that sounds like the hum of a motor. Turns out dad had put out the fishing lines and we had a big fish on the line. The boat is chaos, dad drops the sails I fight the fish and we eventually land a 15lb blue fin tuna. It was an exhausting day. We had to finish with the wind generator, which we never got working, to put the boat back together to clean the fish and then clean the boat of all the fish blood. But a great day. We had a beer and I made sushi from the yellow fin tuna we caught yesterday. It was the best sushi ever.

April 6, 2016
Heading 137 true
Pos 13°21. N. 116°35. W
1928 nm to go
130 miles for last 24 hrs.

Day 7 23:30 woke up to night winds and the boat was flying. Actually didn't really sleep it was pretty hot down below. We took in a second reef In the main before I went to sleep.
02:30. Dad relieves me from watch. I am exhausted but have a hard time sleeping because the boat is sailing really fast and it is hot like an oven down below.
07:30. Dad calls me on deck. He has been hand steering to save battery power and we couldn't get the hydrovane dialed in because of the rough seas. Dad had to pee. The morning is cloudy. Dad makes coffee and toast. Laura has not been feeling well since last night. We start the day and get the hydrovane set up and about 11:00 set up the rig for dead down wind wing on wing. Hydrovane is amazing once you figure it out. It is steering is dead downwind with a 6-8ft following sea which is a difficult angle to steer for anyone or anything.
11:49. Dad and Laura go below to get some much needed rest. I have announced today a day of rest. We will see how long that lasts with dad 😀. We are sailing straight for Hiva Oa doing about 7kts. It has started raining. I will take off all my clothes and get a much needed shower.

April 7, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 11°37.N. 118°29W
1776 nm to go
152 miles for the last 24hrs

Day 8 00:00 Laura woke me for watch. Really tired. Sail changes before bed and sail changes first thing in the morning. Hard to get rest and it is getting hotter. My little cabin is hot and muggy. We had to take down the main sail last night at around 20:00 so it was dark and the boat is moving around a lot. The wind came up after dark and kept building and we already had 2 reefs in the main so it had to come down. I planned out the exercise and things went off really well. I was safely secured to the boat on a short tether the entire time. The boat settled down and actually picked us speed.
07:00. Dad is ready to make some sail changes because we are worried that we will lose our wind. We raised the main and prepared to launch the code zero furling screacher. Somehow the clew got wrapped in the sail tangling everything. We had to take it down and pull the whole thing into the cabin to untangle it. We launched the code zero out of the forward hatch and it went up normally. We stayed with that arrangement for awhile and then the winds picked back up. We put the main out on the stbd side and wound up the code zero and poled out the jib on the port side. We sailed like this all day making better than 6.5kts all day and into the night.
18:00. Had a cocktail hour because it was a long hard day. I was in the cockpit alone dad and Laura were down below making drinks and the fishing line gets hit hard and line is ripping off the reel. I think it was another really big tuna that took most of my line and my rig. The fight was short but exciting. Then we sat down to a dinner of sashimi and rice from the previous day's catch. I take the 04:00-08:00 watch today so hopefully I can get some rest.

April 8, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 9°33. N. 120°35. W
1601 nm to go
175 nm for the last 28hrs

Day 9
04:00. Laura wakes me for watch. I slept ok but not great. It is hot and muggy and the boat was moving fast so sleep is hard to come by. I make my crystal light lemonade and head up into the cockpit. It black dark and I can feel that the boat is moving along at better than 6.5kts. We are really making great time. The weather router tells us to expect calm in the next couple days but we haven't seen it yet thankfully. We are now more than 1000 nm from Cabo San Lucas.
08:00 approx. Dad wakes up and I make coffee and we sit in the cockpit and chat about boats and other stuff. He goes below and makes toast out of the fresh bread Laura baked the day before. Delicious bread. Laura gets up and we have some more coffee.
09:00 I notice the jib furling line has nearly chaffed through during the night and we are still sailing at around 7 kts and surfing a following sea. If this line fails we could have big problems because we won't be able to take the sail in if the wind picks up and we will be forced to go to the bow to take it down.
We spend most of he day re rigging the furling line. We also called the company that makes our useless wind generator to see if they could help get it working. The dick that answered the phone was as useless as a football bat. We ended up sending an email with what we hope was convincing evidence that the damn thing is not charging our batteries.
17:00 We have 2 reefs in the main and the jib furling line has been repaired and rigged in reverse to better position the damaged part of the line. The jib is rolled about half way in and we are still doing 6.5kts and surfing to 8.5. Laura notices a very dark cloud bank overtaking us from behind. Dad is below and just went to sleep. We wake him up and about the time he pokes his head out the companionway the rain starts and the wind picks up to about 25kts. I roll in the jib put on my life jacket and harness myself to the boat. We look like a bunch of crazy people. I decide to steer through the squall and get a much needed shower and laundry all in one. It was great, an hour and a half of tropical downpour and I felt like a new man. Laura decided to go below and cook dinner in the middle of the squall and high seas and produces an Asian ginger tuna using the last of the big tuna. We had this with rice and it was great. Dad keeps poking his head out of the companionway making sure I don't need a relief.
I did change out of my wet clothes before dinner. I went below to bed. I have had only a few hours of sleep in the last few days and fall into a deep sleep. I do manage to write an email to Kerry and the kids. I miss them.

April 9, 2016
Heading 250 mag
Pos 8°5. N. 122°20. W
1466 nm to go
135 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 10
00:00. Dad gets me up to help with the sails. The wind has dropped to 6kts and he needs to go on deck to make changes. We all agreed no one goes out on deck in the dark by themselves ever never never ever. So I steer the boat while dad releases the preventer. I am like the walking dead I am still asleep. I go below back to bed and fall into a deep sleep that he can't wake me at 03:00 for my watch. He said he even picked up my hand and wondered if I was alive 😀. He let me sleep for another hour and I feel like a new person. I didn't know I was so tired. I normally stand the balls to four (midnight to four). The navy called it the balls to four watch, maybe because it is the worst watch but I think those guys just like to say "balls". The wind has been picking up at sundown about the time I go to bed and we have to do sail changes and then again first thing in the morning. So for the past couple days I have been staying up late, standing the "balls" watch and getting up early to help with morning adjustments. All our days have been busy with managing the boat and trying to get certain things working. I have tried to get naps here and there but the muggy heat down below has made that difficult.
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch and the boat is only going about 3.5kts and there is 6kts of wind. It is quite and very dark. I am actually enjoying the slow pace this morning but I worry that we are in for some days of very light winds that have been predicted by the weather router.
21:00 I stand the watch and we drift through the night and today. We did some sail changes and tried many different combinations but nothing could make the wind blow faster than 3kts and blow us due west at that. This did give us a day off so to speak or a rope-yarn day as they say in the great grey canoe club. It is 9pm and the screacher is still on starboard tack flapping in the log breeze. We are doing 2.5kts. We have only covered about 40 miles towards our destination today. We did get some laundry done, dad dealt with the broken stanchion, and Laura made us up some fine cocktail hour treats and a great Thai chicken dinner. I got to call Kerry and she sounds good, I really miss her and wish she was here with me. We need to get more sat phone minutes. All in all another great day.
About to make a final sail change for the day. Taking in the screecher and poling out the jib on starboard tack and changing course to 210 mag for the night if the wind shift holds.

April 10, 2016
Heading 200 true
Pos 7°31. N. 123°30. W
1394 nm to go
72 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 11
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch. I went to bed early but the heat and sweat make it difficult to fall asleep. Dad had me help him on deck at around 02:30 to gybe the jib over the stbd tack. We were in a squall and it was raining and the wind was blowing maybe 15kts. Not real bad but it was nice to get some wind back. When I come on deck at 04:00 we are nearly dead down wing and probably 10kts of wind and we are heading almost due west. I decide to gybe back and head more south west. Seems like the wind has dropped a bit but probably just the wind angle. We are still making about 4kts which is pretty sad but better than we suffered through yesterday. We are now heading more directly for Hiva Oa. I hope the winds pick up a bit and we can make up some time. 72 miles towards our destination in 24 hours is SLOOOOWWWWW😀. Still having fun.
08:51. It is light outside. I let dad know I am going on deck to raise the main sail. Mainsail is up and now we are making about 5kts. Very pleased.
09:20. The crystal light is almost gone. There's gonna be trouble. Looks like today will be the half way point as far as distance is concerned.
13:10. Started the engine and we are attempting to cross the ITCZ or doldrums.
15:00 approx. Noticed a menacing looking cloud formation behind us and gaining, the wind started picking up so we started sailing along picking up speed under a double reefed main.
There have been squalls following us all night and we have been sailing along at about 6kts all night.

April 11, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 6°09. N. 124°47. W
1282 nm to go
112nm for the last 24hrs

Day 12
02:30. Dad wakes me to help him gybe the boat in about 20kts of wind. It went smooth as silk. I think we are getting better all the time.
04:00. Dad wakes me for watch. We are running the engine to fill the batteries and sailing at 5+ kts in about 16-22kts of wind. This is great and we are making great time.
04:24. I just checked and we are more than halfway there😀👍. Hiva Oa!
18:53. We sailed until the wind blew itself out around 09:00. I shook out the second reef, then I shook out the first reef. Each time we gained a knot or so and each lasted about a half hour. Finally I had the screecher and a full maim and we were doing about 3.5kts. 0930. We started the motor and we have been motoring ever since. It is jungle hot. Not like a nice Panama jungle but like an Africa jungle hot. I have been laying around all day like a blue tick hound on a Georgia front porch in the summertime. OK it's not all that bad but it is hot. I shaved off my beard. It took about a thousand swipes with my now useless razor and I no longer look like King Neptune.
21:15 identified the southern cross. Very cool. I always wanted to see the southern cross while sailing.

April 12, 2016
Heading 200mag
Pos 4°12. N. 126°19. W
1133 nm to go
149 nm for the last 24hrs

Day 13
02:00. It's my birthday. Dad wished me happy birthday. Laura is going to bake some brownies for the big celebration. I woke up at 02:00 and came on deck to sleep in the cockpit. I think I woke up from the heat in my cabin. Fell asleep topside right away. My dad was still on watch and some breeze came up so he rolled out the jib. It added about a knot to our speed which is nice but not enough to turn off the engine.
08:00. Wake dad to put up the main. The breeze is a steady 12+kts. Laura makes coffee and they sing happy birthday. Really good day so far. I get my birthday wish of the perfect wind.
Keep busy all day dodging squalls or really dealing with them. We pretty much sail right through and when the wind gets heavy we run dead downwind with a reefed main and the jib rolled all the way in. The squalls last for about 20 minutes and then things settle down and we put everything back the way it was.
Laura made brownies for my birthday and we had a really nice celebration and dad and Laura named the hydrovane BOB in my honor. It was really nice. I called Kerry and Katelyn and it was really nice to get to talk with them. I wanted to call more people but the minutes on the sat phone start ticking off pretty quick. Opened the card Kerry sent with me and loved it! What a cool surprise and very thoughtful.
21:30. Went to bed with 2 fans that have new batteries and I had to come up into the cockpit to go to sleep.

April 13, 2016
Heading 210 mag
Pos 2°57N. 128°1. W
1009nm to go
124nm for the last 24hrs

Day 14
Sleeping on deck to keep cool. I am sleeping in swim trunks which is all I wear at this point. They are nice because the dry fast after squalls move through and give us a thorough drenching. I have been wearing long sleeved shirts to keep from getting to burned and I am getting a nice tan in the process. I am sure I am losing weight, mostly because we are eating great food but I am not snacking on junk and I am so busy I don't think of food much. My swim trunks are showing large canyons of plumbers crack and I have to figure out a way to keep them from falling off.
We are making really good time for the most part but we get slowed down sometimes by sail changes but we are getting better. The code zero or screecher as we call it has given us some problems. This is a really large lightweight sail we use to sail in light breezes. It stays hoisted and rolls up on a special halyard at the very front of the boat. The problem we had yesterday is we got hit by a squall and the top of the sail started to unwind. This is bad because it creates a bubble at the top of this wound up sail and in 25-30kts of breeze it will tear itself apart. We managed to run downwind and blanket the sail with the main sail and get it down before it damaged itself. We then have to take the sail into the boat and fully unwind it and then launch it from the forward hatch and quickly roll it up and then take it back down an pack it away. These are the sorts of things we and other boats deal with on this trip. Lots of people asked me what I would be doing out here for three weeks and I told them I would be doing lots of reading but I haven't cracked a book. We have been busy everyday with projects and sail changes.
18:18. General report on the day. We really don't know what time it is and we don't really care. We think we are California time minus 2. Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? It has been a magnificent day of sailing. Relatively flat water, 12-15 knots of breeze, and we are sailing at 7 plus knots all day. We are less than 1000 miles from Hiva Oa and hauling ass to get there. We have made some repairs to the boat. The whisker pole had some rigging break on it yesterday so we spent a couple hours this morning on that. I laid in the cockpit for several hours doing nothing and really enjoying the ride. One of the 12 volt fans broke so I took it apart and found a broken wire. 2 soldering irons and neither one work 😀.
We have been on a beam reach all day and we are convinced we are in the South Pacific trade winds.

April 14, 2016
Heading 201 mag
Pos 01°05. N. 129°39. W
861 nm to go
148nm for the last 24

Day 15
04:00. No wind started motor and dropped main sail. We have about 86 miles to the equator. I am really excited to get to Hiva Oa. Snoozing in the cockpit on watch. Ray marine autopilot goes nuts and refuses to steer a proper course. This goes on for about 45 min.
13:55. Finished putting on spare fuel. All the spare fuel has been put in the tanks. We also raised the screecher and refurled it and rerigged some lines so hopefully it is easier to handle in the future. We talked about flying the spinnaker but ther is just not enough wind. We have 3 trolling lines out so maybe we will get some fish action.
18:30. We crossed the equator👍👍😀we did a little ceremony and jumped into the water and came out trusty shell backs. I have been a trusty shellback for many years and have been forced to put up with these slimy wogs for the last 2000 miles. We are now ready for some big winds to push us the rest of the way to Hiva Oa.
19:00. Had a cocktail hour and put up the spinnaker In about 8 kts of breeze. We have between 7 and 11 kts of breeze gusting to 12+ on occasion. If it goes above 13kts the spinnaker comes down. We are still concerned with the fuel situation as we would like to arrive with about half a tank of fuel just to be safe. We are not sailing the angle we would like but we are going SSW so we are going in the right general direction and making a respectable VMG. That is velocity made good toward our destination.

April 15, 2016
Heading 194 mag
Pos 00°25. N. 130°37. W
755nm to go
106 mm for 24 hrs

Day 16
12:00. Still sailing under spinnaker with variable winds 8-12 kts. Dad and I are on deck ready to take down the spinnaker when it gets above 12kts.
13:32. Daily report. We took down the spinnaker and started motoring at about 02:00 We have been motoring since. We believe better winds are to the west based on reports from Huzzah and some grib files we downloaded. Huzzah is another boat on the puddle jump and they left a day before us. Right now we have about 7 kts over the port quarter. Not enough to get us moving with any sort of alacrity. Dad and I spent the morning rigging fishing lines. We are fishing for 50 year old fish because we are using 50 year old gear. Dad just smiles and says "it works". I slept like a baby last night thanks to the new fan we rigged. FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!! Line is ripping off the reel and is nearly gone by the time I am able to slow this monster down. It took nearly all the line off the reel and I fought this guy for 20min. Dad gaffes him and we fillet him in the cockpit 20lb blue fin tuna is now in the refer. We have launched the spinnaker and are making 7kts with 11-13 kts showing for wind speed. Life is good.

April 16, 2016
Heading 197 mag
Pos 02°32 S. 131°55. W
608 nm to.go
147 nm for last 24

Day 17
0300. Laura wakes me for watch. She has taken 2 watches so dad can sleep. He thinks so much about the boat and every little noise that he can't sleep. He has been down since about 19:00 and hopefully he will sleep till sunrise. The night is beautiful with a nearly full moon shining across the endless ocean and a few clues in the sky. I am only wearing my bathing suit on watch it is so warm.
03:30. Changed course. Fell off the wind about 10° to a new course Of 208° mag.
We sailed and lounged in the warm sun all day doing about 7kts. Average speed always seems slower so probably fair to say average speed 6.8kts.

April 17, 2016
Heading 213 true
Pos 4°16 S. 134°06 W
443 nm to go
1007mbar steady
165 nm for last 24

Day 18
03:00. Dad wakes me to help him. We are surrounded by squalls and the wind has picked up from 13 kts to about 18 gusts to 20. Raymarine autopilot steers off about 45° when it is engaged and he is stuck at the wheel and can't trim the sails. There is too much weather helm to engage "bob" the hydrovane. I trim the main and jib and we get "bob" back to work. I go back to bed but can't sleep, work is starting to creep back into my thoughts and I have had lots of rest.
04:00. I come back on deck to take the watch. Dad tells me he has a boil on his butt. This sounds funny at first but I have had a boil and it is no joke. They hurt like hell and he will probably need to take the antibiotics I got from my doctor. I actually got the antibiotics just in case we had some sort of skin problem like this. He needs to hot compress that thing several times a day and keep it really clean or it will turn into something serious. Sorry to disclose your PHI dad. I trim the sails for the conditions and change our course about 10° to port. Dad tells me we were sailing like hell for the last few hours but we're off course. We are now heading straight to Hiva Oa on a broad reach with winds between 13 and 18 kts. I partially furled the jib because it was back winding the main sail a little to much. The ride settled down a little and we may have picked up half a knot but we are not making the 7kts we were earlier. The seas are a little sloppy with the occasional wave dumping the main but all in all not a bad ride.
05:00. Some disclosure about this log. The times are jacked up. We call it iPad time and is off by about 2 hrs so 06:00 is really 04:00. I may go back and correct this. have not been very good about recording the barometer readings. I will try harder now that we only have 3 days left. The daily funds for mileage are taken when I get on watch and distance to waypoint difference between today and yesterday. They are not miles actually sailed and I am not always on watch at the same time. This is the best I could do since I don't know the chart plotter SW very well. 165 miles for the last 24hrs is out best run yet and it is reasonably accurate. We stayed on the same course all day and we had the fastest consistent speed of the trip staying around 7+ kts for most of the day. This boat is really fast and stable when trimmed properly. It just seems to dig in and go like a race horse. We just lounged around all day and let "bob" the hydrovane steer the boat. It was one of the most comfortable days so far and we were flying.
06:00. I have been trimming sails and realized that I love this. Trimming for another .1 knot gives me a rush. I am a freak😀. The boat is sailing nice doing about 6 knots comfortably. I am happy with the speed although I think we should be making 7 knots.
I don't want to disturb people sleeping.
07:05. Winds gusting to 17 knots. Took in the first reef and picked up some boat speed and the hydrovane "bob" is able to hold our proper course. Reefing is always a good idea.

April 18, 2016
Heading 213 mag
Pos 6°13 S. 135°39 W
293 nm to go
150 nm for the day

Day 19
01:00 dad gets me up to help him strike the main sail. There has been on squall after another and he is tired of it. I go back to bed for 2 more hours
03:00. I relieve dad on watch and he says this is one of his worst nights sailing. Winds keep changing direction, seas are confused, and constant rain squalls. Can't wait to see what my watch has in store.
04:00 put up main with one reef
05:09. Spotted lightning off port bow out on the horizon. Put computers in esd bags.
07:54 in the middle of a big squall. Main reefed and the jib pulled in. 18-23 knots of wind. Sailing nice but lots of rain. The wind has even crap all morning till now and even now is seems to be dropping. I can only get like 5 knots because the wind dropped again.
09:00. Dad and Laura are up and we have had coffee and toast. The wind is stabilizing out of the northeast. Dad and I rig the wisker pole in anticipation of use later in the day. Just as we finish and get into the cockpit we are hit with a squall with winds up to 30 knots. Dad just gets the boat to turn down wind and I bring in the jib about half way. It rains and blows like hell for about 20 minutes and then begins to let up. The squall leaves us with a fair breeze to Hiva Oa. We fly wing on wing using the wisker pole we rigged earlier, making over 6 knots in 12-13 knots of breeze.
14:00. We are running on a starboard tack with 16-20 knots of breeze. We are making over 7 knots consistently. I make scrambled eggs and heat us some of dads beans for the three of us. I am cleaning the dishes when I see dad putting out the fishing line, the one on the rod and reel. We have 2 other shorter lines tied to the back of the boat. About two minutes after he put the line in the water he gets a hit and line starts ripping off the reel. I run up and douse the jib by rolling it up and turn the boat into the wind to stop the boat and fight the fish. We have a preventer on the mainsail so what happens is the boat begins to sail backwards and we are running over our 2 trolling lines and are picking up speed sailing backwards. Laura and I are frantically pulling in the trolling lines that are now hooking all the shit that gets stored on the back of the boat like the fenders, the flag, some laundry, the boarding ladder, and the hydrovane. Dad continues to fight the fish but it gets away because I couldn't stop the boat. I wish I could have had a video of that boat maneuver, the first part clean and sure like a hockey stop on ice skates, and then the sinking feeling that the boat was beginning to sail itself in reverse. We must have looked like a bunch of clowns😀. Good times for sure.

April 19, 2016
Heading 228 mag
Pos 7°57 S 137°25 W
146 nm to go
147 nm for the day

Day 20

03:00. Dad wakes me for watch. The engine has been running for the last couple hours to charge the batteries. He tells me the water maker is not working. With all the challenges and breakdowns and things that plain don't work ( wind turbine) this would about send me over the edge. Most of this other stuff has been small annoying stuff that are normal breakdowns but the water maker is a big deal. Fortunately we are almost there so it is not any danger and he will get it going. Dad seemed to take it in stride. I think we are all happy to be so close to the end of this most excellent adventure and I am sure dad and Laura are excited to get on with enjoying French Polynesia. Now on to trimming this boat for speed!!!
03:30-04:00. Managed to slow the boat from 5 knots to 3.5 knots by going to wing on wing and better yet we were going due west. I didn't check our course before I adjusted the sails. Flopped the jib over or gybed the jib for you sailor types so we are on a port tack headed straight for Hiva Oa at a decent 5.5knots. This is a sultry morning with a thick warm breeze out of the east. Just a swimsuit and a nearly full moon to keep me company. I was able to email Kerry and the kids today as dad managed to get a radio connection. There is a lot of radio traffic so has been difficult to get a good connection.
09:30. Dad and Laura are up. Dad and I put up the screecher and is is making us fly along about 6-7 kts in 13 knots of breeze.
10:40. Rolled up the screecher as I saw 18 knots of true wind. It was fun for a second doing 8 knots but to windy for that sail. Rolled out the jib and we are back to 6-7 knots in 16-18 knots of breeze.

April 20, 2016
Heading 223 mag
Pos 9°43 S. 138°42 W
18 nm to go

Day 21

00:41. Dad wakes me to help gybe the main for the second time tonight. Land fall!!!! I can see the island of Hiva Oa. There are big rain clouds framing the island and it is dark. The moon is full so the night is bright when the moon breaks free of the clouds. What a wonderful sight. We will wait till morning to drop anchor and it is only about 1 am now. We still have to go down the southwest side of the island to get to the harbor.
04:14. Laura and I are on deck dad is getting some much needed sleep. We have been motoring down the south side of the island for about 2 hours and we have been smelling the tropical flowery smell from the island. It is late and I am tired but the sky has cleared and the moon is reflecting off the ocean as it hangs over the anchorage. I slowed the engine about 20 minutes ago because we are getting close and we wanted to wait for daylight to anchor. I want to wake dad because he would love this but he needs some rest.