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 [...]
Finding the wind, swimming and sleeping
3:15pm PST 8/13/16
10 days at sea
We found some wind yesterday afternoon and have been able to sail. We are very pleased with how Aquavit performs under light wind. 6kts of wind and she sails 5kts close hauled (close to the wind) when seas are flat. When we are lucky with 7kts of wind, she makes 6kts. So we're mainly sailing, inter spaced with motoring. This is important since we want to conserve diesel, and we are not in a hurry to reach the coast (990 miles away) since all the forecasts show heavy gales 4 days hence more. If we get the timing right, we'll get out of the high and get about 300 miles from the coast just as the gales abate. If not, we'll slow down more to let the gales pass.
Days spent mainly reading and enjoying the sea and sunshine and catching up on sleep. Bill saw a sea turtle in the early evening. The other event of the day is a light was spotted about 6 miles southeast of us at about 1:30am. We saw the light distinctly, Joe and I were on watch, and it showed up the on the AIS. Her name was Alchemist, an 115 foot sailing vessel (but under motor at the time at 11kts), sailing toward SF or even further north. The AIS said bound for Honolulu with a ETA of July 3rd...so we assumed that they had failed to update their status and it was on the return voyage. First light in more than a week, and then she was gone, passing about 6 miles in front of our bow at the nearest point.
All is well on Aquavit. Maybe we'll stop for a swim again today. Never seen Bill happier than jumping off the bow and swimming to the stern, and with Karl doing flips off the stern into the water and Pat taking his GoPro filming the keel and rudder. Smiles all around. (Joe and I didn't swim. But I should have, and will today if we stop).
Poke for lunch, last of the fish. Lost the lure yesterday, so no more fishing for us unless George left something on the boat. (Did you take all your gear with you, George?)
All is well, and spirits are high. We are all into a regular routine and days seem to fade and meld into one another, easy to forget the day of the week. Everyone is sleeping well. Not thinking about the days ahead, as I don't want to set expectations of days ahead and our arrival date. Living day by day is best so we can sail the best and safest route for our approach to SF with no pre-set time of arrival. Having said that, I expect 8-9 days more! Of about 2500 NM total from HI to SF (with the northerly route we took), we've sailed/motored more than 1500 NM.
Reporting from Aquavit,
Michael
