Aquavit: Pac Cup 2016
| Vessel Name: | Aquavit |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42iP |
| Hailing Port: | San Francisco |
| Crew: | Michael, Bill, Joe, Patrick and Karl |
| Extra: | 8/3/16 - On a quest from Kaneohe, Hawaii back to San Francisco with new Crew: Michael, Bill, Joe, Patrick and Karl 7/11/16 - On a quest to Kaneohe, Oaho, Hawaii with Crew: Michael, Mike, Bill, Paulo, Magnus and George |
20 August 2016
Getting from there to here
As much as we would like to take all the credit for our long voyage across the Pacific, we have had a steady and reliable aid guiding us along. That aid is the multitude of instruments we have to tell us things like: where are we? Are we going in the right direction? How fast are we going? Is [...]
19 August 2016
Sea Creatures
For the most part, the life in the deep ocean is under the water and not seen, but there have been some remarkable sightings on this trip. Here's a taste of what we have encountered.
18 August 2016
SF approach, full moon and meteor
This is an interesting part of the return trip. We had the hard sailing north from Hawaii into the prevailing swell. We had the sinister high pressure that was following us everywhere we went in the middle of the trip. Now, finally we are on track towards SF. It's a good feeling to be making [...]
18 August 2016
Heavy Weather Sailing
It's almost a relief hitting the heavy weather portion of our trip. We were worrying about the gale for so long, and the large seas and high winds that it would bring where we were further south, that when it finally hits we know what to expect. As our last correspondence with the weather guys states: "There [...]
15 August 2016
Whales and Weather
Saw a pod of killer whales yesterday, passed all around us, and one followed us for a few minutes. This is their place and they are curious about us. I've seen lots of killer whales in the San Juans, but new and exciting to several others.
14 August 2016
Weather
Seems like we've been plagued by the adverse weather this trip. On the way to Hawaii we encountered large, confused, seas and then Hurricane Darby. The last leg of the trip to Kanehoe was rushing like madmen to avoid been trapped at sea for days while the storm system passed. (We arrived at 4pm. Boats [...]
What is that White Light?
Karl says that he's feeling 100%, Bill says that a blog will likely be forthcoming today, Pat says he's in his natural element at sea, Joe says he's at 80% and slept well last night for the first time on the trip. I'm also doing well, but don't want to think about 2 1/2 weeks more at sea! (Land is my natural element, I guess).
We stopped the boat yesterday for an hour to repair the main sail. Had a small rip, which we replaced with a sail patch. Dropped the main and made the repair on the flat surface of the companionway hatch. Worked well at the second try. (Pat suggested the best approach).
My watches yesterday were interesting. The late afternoon watch had us dodging squalls. We changed course from 60 to 90 degrees to sail between 2 nasty looking squalls, but a larger ugly one was bearing down on us...time to motor sail eastward! We motor sailed around it and only got a little rain. The breezes yesterday were strong 14-23 knots and moderate swells. Made for good sailing and we made about 160 nautical miles.
The night watch (11pm-2am; first hour with Pat, next 2 hours with Joe) was unusual for two reasons. First reason is that there was a dim light north east of the boat. Boat not on the AIS system. Speculation was that it might be a squid boat that shines massive lights into the water to attract the squid. But after a couple of hours we saw a distinct white light (no other lights) but the vessel did not appear to be moving. Happy when we passed the vessel. Could have been a stationary cable repair vessel, or a military vessel (don't use AIS). Second, the wind conditions were swirling during much of my two hours with Joe on deck, probably because of the light squalls. Wind turned 360 degrees at 11 kts. the entire time. We had to roll in jib and motor sail with main alone until conditions stabilized, finally going back to an easterly breeze at 14kts.
Life aboard is routine, at least after a few days. Everyone realizes that you must sleep whenever you can....not necessarily when you're really tired...in order to be clear-headed when hour shift arises. Crew check their watch and duty schedules/lists when they awake. Duties usually take about 45 minutes and the rest of the time is "free" time or all participating in other situations, e.g. sail repair, fixing battens, etc. Under current sea conditions, no emergencies or special tasks so life is good! (E.g. Right now: Bill and Joe chatting away in the cockpit during their watch, Pat is chillin listening to music (headphone), and Karl is reading a book..."Tigers Curse", a fantasy book).
Warm thoughts to all.
Michael
