04/13/2007, 1170 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 10deg 37'N 123deg 56'W
The miles continue to peel off in these great trade winds. My noon-to-noon distance for today is 147 mi. for an average speed of 6.1 kts. The air temperature is 81 and the water is 80. Each day brings warmer temperatures. The weather chart indicates that this wind should continue for another four days. At that point I will re-evaluate the course and determine how to best negotiate the doldrums.
There is not much to see out here except water and lots of it. The sky is 95% clear with patches of small cumulus clouds. At night there are more stars out than I ever thought possible. I will look tonight for the Southern Cross.
This morning I saw three white-tailed tropicbirds circling the boat and occasionally screaming as they are known to do. They were with me for several hours before finally giving up any hope of receiving offerings. Now and then I see small swallow-like birds flying just above the wave tops. It is very difficult to get a good look at them so I am unable to identify. Flying fish are almost always visible as they apparently try to get out of the way of the boat. Small schools of them will go airborne two feet above the water for perhaps 100 feet. Each morning I usually find half a dozen on deck but not enough large ones to justify a meal.
All is well onboard. I feel great and am getting enough sleep. By the way, I thoroughly enjoy the comments but I am not able to read them remotely. My nephew Troy bundles them and sends them each week. Feel free to email me if you wish.
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Comments [1]
04/12/2007, 1023 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 12deg 08'N 122deg 03'W
For the past 8 days since leaving Cabo San Lucas I have been on starboard tack which means the boat was always leaning predominantly to the port side (left for landlubbers). Yesterday I decided to get back a little closer to the intended course so I had to turn the stern of the boat through the direction of the wind (jibe) and get on a port tack. No big deal but I was a little off-balance for a couple hours until I relearned how to walk in the cabin with it leaning the other way. The boat does not sail well, or particularly fast, dead downwind and the course is now just about dead downwind so that is why I tack back and forth. This may be noticable on the map.
The trade winds provide great sailing and I am making excellent time. Today's noon-to-noon distance is 149 mi., my best time yet. That comes out to be an average of 6.2 knots. This will probably continue for the next five days until I get closer to the doldrums. Then it is a crap shoot. The air temperature is 76 and the water is 78. The sky is partly cloudy with large cumulus and the sea state is 4-5 ft.
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04/11/2007, 874 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 14deg 20'N 121deg 14'W
The wind is very steady now, NE at 15-18 knots and I am moving along nicely. My noon-to-noon distance is 131 miles for an average speed of 5.4 kts. The sea state is 4-5 ft. waves and a low NE swell. The air temp. is 74 deg. while the water is 76 deg.
There is not much need to trim the sails or adjust the autopilot at this point. Sand Dollar just racks up the miles. Because of this, I have gotten into a, more or less, daily routine. The first thing I do upon waking is pop my head outside and check the sails and sea state, then I check course, boat speed, and battery condition. Changes are then made if necessary. Coffee goes on the stove while I dial up the 6:30 AM Picante net, give my position, and chat with some other boats. There is another net I check in with at 8 AM which consists mostly of Europeans going to the Marquesas.
After breakfast I go for a walk on deck to check all sails and rigging for chafe. For the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon I work on various maintenance or repair projects. For example, today I will wash the deck (found six dead flying fish on deck from last night), attempt to eliminate some creaking in the cabin, repair a door latch, and troubleshoot the alternator which is not putting out a full charge to the batteries. In between projects I nap and listen to my French language tapes. Before dinner I send and receive emails. At 5:45 PM there is a weather briefing by the weather guru followed by questions and answers. Boats call in from the entire Eastern Pacific, from Hawaii to San Diego to Ecuador to French Polynesia. After dinner I read and sleep on and off for the next 12 hours while looking outside from time-to- time.
There you have my life at sea. It's not for everyone but it suits me fine for now.
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04/10/2007, 743 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 15deg 28'N 119deg 24'W
I am definitely in the "trades" now with a consistent 15-17 knots from the NE. This is great sailing! The boat rolls from side-to-side with an easy motion. Every now and then I tweak the sails or adjust the windvane autopilot to stay on the optimum course. My noon-to-noon distance today is 129 miles for an average speed of 5.4 knots. This I am happy with and it should stay this way for the next six days or so. The sky is mostly overcast today so the air temperature is only 74 deg. while the water is 78 deg.
The last of the tuna was finished off last night so I may put out a line today to see if there are any takers. The freezer has plenty of chicken and beef and there is still some fresh fruit and vegetables on board but only for another few days. There is plenty of cabbage, though. I find that my appetite has picked up after the first few days at sea but I never experienced any seasickness, thank god. Cooking onboard a rolling ship is quite a job so I try to keep it simple with as few dishes to wash as possible. Come to think about it, I am the same way on land.
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04/09/2007, 614 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 16deg 32'N 117deg 36'W
All is well today. Last night I saw the lights of 2 large boats and 3 more on the radar. They were 3 to 20 miles away and barely moving. Because I was sailing through an area of seamounts just below the surface, I surmise these were fishing boats. Furthermore, I could occasionally hear Russian radio transmissions on the VHF radio. I was tired so I decided, instead of working my way cautiously through the fleet, to "heave to" or park the boat, so to speak, and get some rest. When I woke 5 hours later the boats were gone and I continued on.
My noon-to-noon distance for the day was only 102 miles because of heaving to for 5 hours. The wind is picking up so my mileage should also. It is now blowing 15 knots from the NNE. The other "Puddle Jumpers" I have spoken to on the net today are doing fine but some are in search of wind. We will all get there eventually.
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04/08/2007, 512 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas at 17deg 24'N 116deg 12'W
Woke this morning to a fabulous sunrise through a break in the clouds. The wind continues to be light and progress is slow. My noon-to- noon distance for today is 114 miles for an average speed of 4.8 kts. The boat is rolling more now as she takes the swell on her beam but I am getting used to it. I'm just not sure about the eggs. The cabin temperature is 77 and the water is 78 (what is the key stroke for deg.?). I saw the first flying fish on deck this morning, a giant of about 2 inches. Nothing else to report. All is well. Happy Easter to all.
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