SV Delos

Vessel Name: delos
08 July 2008 | Shileshole Marina
07 July 2008 | Straits of Juan de Fuca
06 July 2008 | North Pacific, 47 N Latitude
05 July 2008 | North Pacific, 45 N Latitude
04 July 2008 | North Pacific, 44 N Latitude
03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude
03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude
02 July 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 41 N Latitude
01 July 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 38 N Latitude
30 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 38 N Latitude
29 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 37 N Latitude
28 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 35 N Latitude
27 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 34 N Latitude
27 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 34 N Latitude
26 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 32 N Latitude
25 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 30 N Latitude
24 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific
23 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific!
22 June 2008 | Somewhere North of the Hawaiin Islands
22 June 2008 | North of the Hawaiin Islands
Recent Blog Posts
08 July 2008 | Shileshole Marina

Day 20- Home sweet home!

The rest of the night through the straits was uneventful. There was a lot of shipping traffic but it clearly showed up on the AIS and radar. We pulled into Port Townsend just before 6:00AM to a beautiful, sunny, clear morning. There wasn't a breath of wind and the water was like a mirror.

07 July 2008 | Straits of Juan de Fuca

Day 19- Land Ho!

At 1:40PM we spotted the mountains of Vancouver Island off our port bow! Initially they were hard to tell apart from the clouds on the horizon, but slowly they began to take shape. It was a very emotional experience for everyone to see land after so many days and miles at sea. About the same time [...]

06 July 2008 | North Pacific, 47 N Latitude

Day 18- 110 miles and counting.

110 miles to go until land fall! We're estimating 3PM tomorrow to reach the straits. The winds were light and their direction unfavorable so we started motoring at about 6AM and continued through most of the day until about 5:30 when the wind finally shifted and came up. Motoring wasn't unwelcome [...]

05 July 2008 | North Pacific, 45 N Latitude

Day 17- Happy 4th of July!

Wow! Only 290 more miles until we get to the straits! From there it's another 80 or so to Pt. Townsend, then another 30 or so to Shileshole Marina. We're getting closer and you can sense the anticipation of seeing family and friends on everyone's mind.

04 July 2008 | North Pacific, 44 N Latitude

Day 16- 1900 miles under the keel.

The winds were moderate and the seas relatively flat today. We ran under the asymmetrical chute for most of the day making good speed of over 7 knots. Great sailing! This morning while Kurt and I were in the cockpit we saw a pod of porpoises. They stayed with us playing in the bow wave just long [...]

03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude

svcapaz.com

I meant to link to this a few days ago but it slipped my mind. The other guys have been posting to svcapaz.com. I think they have been uploading pictures. Be sure to check it out to get a different perspective on the trip!

Day 20- Home sweet home!

08 July 2008 | Shileshole Marina
Brian Trautman
The rest of the night through the straits was uneventful. There was a lot of shipping traffic but it clearly showed up on the AIS and radar. We pulled into Port Townsend just before 6:00AM to a beautiful, sunny, clear morning. There wasn't a breath of wind and the water was like a mirror.

After arriving we immediately jumped to the dock to feel the first solid non-moving surface under our feet in over 2 weeks. Within 5 minutes we were greeted by Erin, PJ, Abby, Ian, Austen, and Bryce. A few days ago PJ asked us what were craving. We said pizza, so there they were with a huge Hawaiian pizza in hand! They also brought OJ and champagne for celebratory mimosas. The 6 hour ride to Shileshole was done completely under power. There was absolutely no wind but we didn't mind because we were busy catching up anyway.

Before I knew it we were safely and securely tied up on good old F-dock at Shileshole. It was a beautiful, sunny Seattle summer day. We had a great welcoming committee from friends on the dock to welcome the crew and boat back. We milled around for an hour of so sharing stories, packing up, and reflecting on the 2650 miles we had just traveled, the majority using the wind as power.

Before arriving I wondered if it would be anti-climatic to arrive, walk down a few more slips, and be back at our floating home. We live on F-dock about 15 spaces away from Capaz as it turns out. It wasn't at all but we did feel like immediately setting sail on Delos with just Erin and me. It was pretty much the same issue for Eric who lives on his boat on L-dock. He actually did end up going sailing that afternoon with his dad.
Erin and I took time to enjoy each other's company after being apart by lounging in the sun for the rest of the afternoon, trying to figure out how to take an even longer trip on our own boat.

It was great to have the opportunity to participate in this adventure, and I want to thank Brad, Eric, and Kurt for being such awesome crewmates and companions. One of the unexpected pleasures of this trip was the writing of this blog. I didn't realize how much fun it would be to share our experiences with everyone back home. This was made especially so knowing that you were following our progress day to day. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read, and especially for leaving comments.
Be sure to check out the photo section as I uploaded more pictures.

Day 19- Land Ho!

07 July 2008 | Straits of Juan de Fuca
Brian Trautman
At 1:40PM we spotted the mountains of Vancouver Island off our port bow! Initially they were hard to tell apart from the clouds on the horizon, but slowly they began to take shape. It was a very emotional experience for everyone to see land after so many days and miles at sea. About the same time the VHF radio that had been silent since leaving Hawaii crackled to life with a small craft advisory for the Straits of Juan de Fuca. From then on the radio chatter of the Canadian and US Coast Guards assisting vessels was nearly non-stop. This much communication seemed overwhelming and we couldn't help but wonder if it was just a busy day or a shock to our systems after being un-connected for so long.
We sailed along on very long, slow, rolling waves. Brad commented on how the closeness to land affected the wave patterns, and after paying attention I saw what he meant. They really couldn't even be called waves because the period was so long, and the motion so gentle. When on the top of one of these you had a clear view of the horizon. As the roller passed you and you moved into the trough nothing but water was visible again.
We sailed for 3 more hours before officially entering the straits around 5PM. We celebrated on deck and took photos as we officially left the Pacific Ocean. About 1 hour into the straits we saw something we had waited for all trip. Eric and I were chatting in the cockpit when less than 100 yards off our port side a huge humpback whale breached the surface and came crashing through the water! We could hardly contain ourselves as the whale continued to breach every minute or so. By this time Kurt and Brad were also on deck and we snapped a ton of pictures. Pretty amazing to travel over 2500 miles across the ocean and then see a breaching whale in your own backyard. We figured it was a good omen welcoming us home.
It's still about 80 miles to Pt. Townsend where we'll tie up just long enough for Erin, Abby, PJ and all kids to join us for the last leg to Shileshole. With poor winds and unfavorable current our ETA is 5:30AM. We're shortening watches to keep people more alert because we are now in a major shipping area and cargo ships and tankers are everywhere.

Day 18- 110 miles and counting.

06 July 2008 | North Pacific, 47 N Latitude
Brian Trautman
110 miles to go until land fall! We're estimating 3PM tomorrow to reach the straits. The winds were light and their direction unfavorable so we started motoring at about 6AM and continued through most of the day until about 5:30 when the wind finally shifted and came up. Motoring wasn't unwelcome today. Except for the noise the boat is upright so walking around is easier. Also, now that we're further north it's getting cold enough to want a heater. The main diesel heater has some issues so we can't use that, however there is an auxiliary heater run off the engine heat (just like a car) that works great.

The weather was mostly sunny for the first time in a few days which drew us out the aft deck to catch some sun. We were visited by two pods of porpoises today. Both of these pods were much more active than the ones we saw a few days ago. We estimate the pod size to be 16-18 and a mix of adults and juniors. The largest looked to be 8 feet while the smallest was around 4 feet. All were very playful and zoomed in and out of our bow wave for almost 20 minutes. The larger ones were more curious and would swim parallel to the boat and roll on their sides to get a better look at us. The smaller ones were focused on seeing how close they could cut in front of our bow. You could tell they really enjoyed the bow wave. We're guessing it's something to do with the pressure caused by the wave.

When they weren't playing at the bow they were jumping and surfing waves. You could see them speed up under the crest of a wave. As soon as the wave began to break they would launch themselves out of the face, often getting their bodies completely out of the water. I also spotted the first land bird since Hawaii. Definitely a sign of our proximity to land.

Our provisions are getting a little low on fresh food but we still have plenty of canned and dry goods remaining. We have resorted to mostly canned soups, sauces, and some of the frozen food we have left. Amazingly we still have romaine lettuce, a few eggs, and some lunch meat and cheeses left. The lunch meat is suspect to me but Kurt had a sandwich yesterday and he seems to be ok. No thanks .. I bet we could go another week before we would really have to start scrounging. We would run out of coffee for sure, which is a dietary staple for the early watches. We're down to a few 6-packs of soda (we had 10 flats originally). Amazingly we still have some beer left. We attribute this to the colder and rougher weather for the last half of the trip. It's hard to drink beer when walking to the fridge is an adventure!

The wind finally filled in just before dinner so we turned off the engine and set sails. Hopefully we'll be able to sail through the night and still maintain our direction and wind speed. Anticipation of getting home is growing as the miles shrink!

Day 17- Happy 4th of July!

05 July 2008 | North Pacific, 45 N Latitude
Brian Trautman
Wow! Only 290 more miles until we get to the straits! From there it's another 80 or so to Pt. Townsend, then another 30 or so to Shileshole Marina. We're getting closer and you can sense the anticipation of seeing family and friends on everyone's mind.

The wind was consistent today and we knocked off the miles on a broad reach under sail. It was raining and cold so we all spent the 4th inside the pilot house. You can definitely tell we're north. We played cards (hearts) this afternoon and as the loser it was my job to cook dinner. Since it's nearly impossible to grill in the wind I pan friend up some of our remaining steaks.

To celebrate the 4th we shot off expired flares from the aft deck. There were two kinds- the first were shells shot from a hand gun and the second were red parachute flares. The hand gun shells arced high and were visible for 20-30 seconds until they hit the water. The parachute flares were the highlight. These are launched from a cardboard tube held in your hand. When they reach the top of their trajectory a secondary charge pops a parachute. Since we were running with the wind at our back the flares caught up to us, and even passed us on a few occasions. W did call out on the VHF to warn people if anyone was close even though nothing showed up on radar or AIS. All the flares we shot off were well past their expiration date. Most expired in 2000. Our grand finale of 4 simultaneous red parachutes was somewhat dampened because 2 were duds. They shot off but the flare never lit and the parachute never deployed. If you have expired flares replace them! You may actually need them some day.

We're hoping to make Pt. Townsend late Sunday, and be into Shileshole on Monday. Of course this is subject to change!

Day 16- 1900 miles under the keel.

04 July 2008 | North Pacific, 44 N Latitude
Brian Trautman
The winds were moderate and the seas relatively flat today. We ran under the asymmetrical chute for most of the day making good speed of over 7 knots. Great sailing! This morning while Kurt and I were in the cockpit we saw a pod of porpoises. They stayed with us playing in the bow wave just long enough for me to snap a few pictures.

One thing that I'm bad about is down time. If I have a few free moments I seem to fill them with projects, plans for projects, or anything else to keep myself busy. When you're at sea there is only so much to do. If the boat is taken care of then you only have a few choices- eat, sleep, read, or relax. I think the schedule of being out as sea has a lot to do with it. You may have to wake up at 3:00AM for a watch, but after the watch your time is yours. Your schedule is dictated more by the sunrise and unset than by an arbitrary time clock. I've found myself going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. This morning after working to get the computers up and running again I still had a full day to spend how I wanted.

Tomorrow is the 4th and we plan to celebrate by shooting off rescue flares. Of course, we'll make sure no one is in the area to avoid giving them the wrong idea. Should be fun! The GRIB shows the wind picking up overnight so we pulled the chute down and tidied up the boat in case the sea gets rough. We're about 450 NM from the entrance to the straits, and should pass through 45 N latitude sometime in the next 8 hours or so. So far we've put in about 1900 miles of travel. Getting close!

svcapaz.com

03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude
Brian Trautman
I meant to link to this a few days ago but it slipped my mind. The other guys have been posting to svcapaz.com. I think they have been uploading pictures. Be sure to check it out to get a different perspective on the trip!

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