Easily the best day sailing this trip. We have entered the trade winds and are blasting to Honolulu. We are currently 480 miles from Honolulu and expect to get there late night on Monday...please oh please before last call!

On friends on Tower still lead, but they have a lot of sailing to do on the less favorable gybe. We are on a perfect reach into Honolulu and they have to gybe and sail low to come down from the North. This is our biggest advantage over them. We definitely will gain ground on them but I don't know if it will be enough. They should have had a great day today as the conditions would be perfect for their boat; big waves and following winds of 20 - 25 knots.

The sun is getting ready to set, so the winds and waves are of course, picking up. I'm glad I got a nap, could be another sh*t fight tonight.

Everybody, myself included, is excited to get to Honolulu. JJ and the kids are waiting there and I am excited to once again change diapers instead of spinnakers.

Aloha
Jim

Comments [9]

So last night we got after it. We gybed into every squall we could find and then looked for the next one. The squalls last anywhere from a few minutes to 15. The winds can pick-up dramatically and so can the rain. But we are on a mission to catch Tower and add to our lead on a few boats chasing us. Sleep was not possible for the crew as we ferociously drove the boat into the black hole.

This morning we find ourselves 2nd to Tower. They are a much better suited boat to the current conditions; high winds and big waves for surfing. Their boat likely surfs up to 20 mph or more while we hit a more stately 15. We are both headed for Diamond Head, they from the North, us from the South. Both of our tactical options are running out as we approach the finish. I's going to come down to; 1. Can we plot a smarter course through the channel to Diamond Head and 2. our boat handling will need to be better. It's going to get interesting the next few days, will brains and skill beat boat speed?

Last night our man Ty was drilled right in the ear by a flying fish. I'm not sure who was more surprised, Ty having been smacked hard or the fish for landing on the only thing that smelled worse than him.

Current situation;

Red Bull: Gone
Coffee: Limited
Chocolate: Gone

No stimulants is a bad thing for this crew.

Beer: yeah right
Sleep situation: 1 hour last night (maybe) Accelerator pedal: fire walled
Arrival: Monday late
Post arrival: Kiss wife and kids, mai tai, mai tai, mai tai, kiss wife and put kids to bed, shower, brush teeth, kiss wife?

Aloha!
Jim

Comments [3]

All right let's get this out of the way first. We sailed extra distance yesterday and last night in an attempt to find more wind and better wind direction...bad idea, we are now in second as our nemesis "Tower" slipped by us last night. Dang it.

We are 825 miles from Hawaii and this thing is far from over. We are pushing ourselves and the boat as hard as possible and hope springs eternal.

Last night somebody found a bag of candy that Ty had squirreled away. Think 8 10-year old boys and a freshly burst pinata, I think you get the idea of how long that bag lasted.

As the sugar high faded, the Big Dipper rose in all of it's splendor suspended above us. I dreamed it was full of something...anything, other than Tang, the current drink of choice on Rancho Deluxe. We had a gorgeous weather night complete with stars, and moon but including a serious case of the wousdi's. Yes, that would be the newly invented word of the day. We were blasting along with the kite and spinnaker staysail and every 2 - 4 minutes a wave of unusual size and direction (wousdi) would clobber the boat sending us sideways to the right and rolling the boat just enough to roll me out of my 1 hour slumber and paste me to the wall.

We have just gybed and the wousdi's are now with us instead of against us! Ya just gotta love getting a little friendly wousdi.

As I now type this (I was called away for a pesky sail change oh by the way those things are a nuisance, somebody give me a pair of throttles), we are 800 miles from the barn & Mai Tai Madness, thinking/dreaming of a noon Monday arrival?

Mushi Mushi,
Jim

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