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
19 August 2016
18 August 2016
15 August 2016
14 August 2016
13 August 2016
11 August 2016
11 August 2016
10 August 2016
08 August 2016
07 August 2016
06 August 2016
23 July 2016 | ~50nm west of Kaneohe
22 July 2016 | West of Hawaii (300mi North of Darby)
20 July 2016
18 July 2016
Recent Blog Posts
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 [...]

Sea Creatures

19 August 2016
Bill
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.

There's the squid. We were on the way down to Hawaii, a few days into the race when George noticed something squishy under his feet while he was steering one night. We turned on our lights to find, unfortunately :( a semi squashed squid. it was about 8 inches long and a pale white with a rather lot of ink squirted out around the deck. We had several others on deck as well which we kindly returned to the sea. The ink was very black and difficult to wash off the deck. The theory we came up with as to why these were jumping onto out boat was that at night we turn on 'Nav' lights. One of these lights is bright white and located facing away from the back of the boat. We think these squid would see the light and jump towards it. What do you think?

Another frequent visitor to our deck is the flying fish. I have seen these most frequently in the lower latitudes, but just saw one the other day flying over the waves here in the North. Each morning, we would take a survey of the flying fish on the deck. How big was it? Where was it? We had a few every morning, mostly only a few inches long. These creatures are most impressive in the sea. We don't know why they fly, probably to escape being eaten, but when they do it's really impressive. The take off out of the water like any fish I guess, but then they defy gravity and instead of falling on an arc back into the water they take off gliding over the waves. They do this for a surprising distance, often 20 or 30 yards. And then they usually take right back off again. Perhaps this is another convenient mutation that has allowed them to survive the next hungry fish?

The Tuna is an amazing fish. The are all muscle. We enjoyed the Tuna in two ways, one as the majestic creature that it is, another as Poke. We were unsuccessful fishing on the way to Hawaii, but on the way back we caught two fish: a Mahi Mahi, aka Dorado, and a Yellow Fin Tuna. The Tuna, as I said is complete muscle. Joe describes them as 'footballs', because that's the shape they are; thick and stubby. We saw one jump across in front of the boat one day. It was really moving fast and jumped a foot or two out of the water in a big graceful arc. It was likely chasing another fish. Maybe one of those flying fish? I was amazed at the size of incredibly small size of the connection between the torso and the tail. For a fish that was about 20 inches in total length, the connection was only maybe a 1/2 inch thick! They have big black eyes and definitely was looking at us as we hovered over it in excitement. We had been told that if you pour alcohol over the gills, it kills them instantly. This is not true. We poured a pint of vodka over them and he was still kicking so to speak, albeit now probably very drunk. We opted for the the winch handle between the eyes, and although not very efficient it did the trick. I voted for the SV Delos recommendation of cutting the gills, but that was vetoed as being too messy. It turned out to be pretty messy any way. Joe cut of two amazing fillets up on deck and then finished them by removing the skin in the galley. The fillets then were turned into Poke, a dish we ran across frequently in Hawaii. Our Poke had some soy, garlic, Saracha and we ate it with crackers, wasabi (real wasabi thanks Stella!) and pickled ginger. Yes, we were prepared.

I should not overlook the Mahi Mahi, because it is the prettier of the two fish. It's an amazing combo of glittering greens, blues and yellows. It's a beautiful fish. The one we caught was also about 20 inches. They have a blunt snout that looks like they could use to ram another fish, but it gives them a unique look among fish. The Mahi Mahi makes equally good Poke as well!

One day we were sailing along, and I was at the helm. Trash, more specifically floating plastic, is a constant during the trip. It seems to float past the boat almost exactly 10 yards away on either side. Why is that? Obviously, that's not true, there's trash everywhere, but it's interesting that most of what we actually saw was at that distance. Something to do with optics or human psychology or something. Anyway, I'm looking to Starboard and see something big. It looks like a 50 gallon drum floating with one of its round ends up. I follow it as the boat comes up along side (10 yards away, naturally). Just as we get closest to it, I see a flipper come up out out of the water. Wow, it's a turtle! It was a big one, like those you might see snorkling or diving in Hawaii. We were in the middle of the pacific. Where was it going? Where did it come from? How does it know where to go? What does it eat? The questions abound.

Patrick was on the helm and yelled "There some life in the water ahead". We rushed up on deck to find several, maybe 5, Orca's swimming around the boat! They would surface, blow and then we would see the big black back as the dove back down again. As we sailed away, a couple followed the boat for 1/4 mile or so. As we anxiously peered of the back of the boat we were rewarded by one last surface only 10 or 15 yards away. I think they are as amazed to see us as we are to see them. Imagine, a boat this far out in the ocean.

Just today, Dolphins started swimming along with us. They would swim on one side, then under the boat and swim on the other side. They jumped incredibly close to the bow of the boat. I've heard of this behavior before, but I'm not sure why they like to be so close; maybe within 6 inches.

We see quite a few Birds. Less out in the middle of the ocean but they are there none the less. I don't know the names, but there are basically two types that I can describe. One is smaller, like a small sea gull. One just landed on our boat today for a rest. The birds out here fly in a very specific way. They glide down in the troughs of the waves and then pop up into the wind to gain energy. The arc across the wind and then dive back down into another trough. They go very fast and cover a great distance with very little energy, although they do flap, so It makes me wonder how they do that for as long as they do. The most impressive bird is much bigger; we think it's an albatross. It's very majestic as it climbs up and then dives down for the glide. The glide is very efficient, as their wings are so close to the water they seem to touch.

We also some some whales off in the distance one day, but we couldn't quite see the type. We've seen other things as well, but couldn't get a close enough look to see what they are.

All this makes you wonder what's going on down there under the boat. I think there is quite a lot going on as we sail on by. A whole world to themselves swimming around enjoying life and trying not to get eaten!
Comments
Gallery Error: Unknown Album [1:]:36589
Aquavit's Photos -

About & Links