12/12/2008, Pacific Ocean
Since leaving Seattle in 2002, Bob and Sisiutl have logged over 50,000 miles in the Pacific. 2008 was one of the longest passages covering 7,500 miles from New Zealand to California. After arriving in New Zealand in 2007, Bob's 3rd Puddle Jump, Bob met and married Caryl St Clair in Wellington, NZ. She had never sailed before but loves the South Pacific islands. Her heavy involvement in animal welfare led to her establishing a foundation on Majuro, Marshal Islands for spaying/neutering street animals to help control their population and improves their life. She received a grant to purchase necessary equipment for veterinarians to use in surgery on remote islands. In 2008 we sailed from New Zealand to California to pick up the equipment and join the 2008 Baja Ha-Ha fleet leaving San Diego in November. Along the way we stopped in Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau, Palmyra Island, and Hawaii. In Hawaii Caryl flew to Seattle while Bob began a solo passage to California.
Caryl had not sailed before joining Bob and had plenty of sailing for a while. When leaving New Zealand we encountered gale force winds for the first 8 of 11 days blowing from the north. We were finally able to head north after sailing from Wellington to Opua on the north end of New Zealand. Our first stop was Minerva Reef where we were pinned for days with breaking waves across the opening. Finally arriving in Tonga we spent a couple of months in the Hapaii and Vavaau group. Our next stop was in Samoa in a lovely anchorage on Savaii, then Tokelau which requires an advance visa so we could not land but did anchor a few days off the east tip of the island before heading for Palmyra Island. Bob was last on Palmyra in 2006 and was surprised to see how much the Nature Conservancy had expanded their presence. In 2006 there were only three people living there. 2 caretakers and 1 from Fish and Wildlife Service. Now there are over 40 people on the island doing various research and support activities. The passage from Palmyra to Hawaii was pleasant and we stopped for a couple of days at Niihau before ending on Kauai. Niihau is a restricted island and only for native Hawaiians. We were able to anchor in a quiet bay and enjoyed that quiet Hawaiian island. We arrived on Kauai September 1st. After a couple weeks of provisioning and resting Caryl flew to Seattle and Bob started the solo passage to California.
The first few days were marked by absolute calm weather. Bob had to motor a great deal to get to some wind. Then came the expected mid-Pacific stormy area where lows seem to spawn. Caught in a squash zone Bob had to trail warps to keep the boat speed down...even under bare poles. Finally 600 miles from California and on the latitude of Point Conception, Bob was able to turn east and head on a delightful beam reach directly for his destination of Oxnard.....less than a week away. Unfortunately the Pacific has a lot to learn about the concept of average wind speeds! A developing high just off the coast above Pt. Conception started churning up big winds and seas under perfectly clear skies. When the seas reached 30-40ft and the winds started hitting 50kts Bob hove to for three days waiting for conditions to settle down again. It was really amazing to see the monster breaking waves heading for Sisiutl but just before they arrived they seemed to flatten and roll harmlessly under her before heading off again to the south. This was the same storm that caused the abandonment of the sailing vessel La Cenicienta reported in the October 'Lectronic Latitudes. When the winds dropped back into the 20's Bob started out again for Oxnard. A day later in the middle of the night the only large breaking wave that he encountered swept Sisiutl taking the dodger down and delivering its contents to King Neptune. With torn sails and a furling headsail that could not be brought down due to a jammed top roller, Bob rigged an inner headsail from a storm sail to make headway again. Unfortunately the wind died with no progress toward California. With only 18 gallons of fuel remaining Bob contacted the Pacific Seafarers Net for assistance. They arranged for Bob to meet the Coast Guard at a position that would leave 5 gallons of fuel. The following day the USCG vessel Halibut met Bob and instead of providing enough fuel to complete the passage towed him into Oxnard.
After a short stay in Oxnard to get the sails repaired and have Caryl rejoin him Sisiutl left Oxnard to join the Baja Ha-Ha fleet in San Diego. The night before the start Bob discovered that the transmission rear seal had blown out and he could not use his engine for movement. Faced with a similar problem in 2006 when his engine failed in San Diego Bob decided again to make the trip to Mexico under sail power alone. His mechanic, Teapot Tony in Puerto Vallarta, is so good that it is worth the extra effort to get to him for major repairs rather than have them done in California. The following morning Bob & Caryl left San Diego with the rest of the Ha-Ha fleet. The first day was pleasant sailing and then the wind failed yet again and subsequent days had total miles of 25, 45, 40.... We arrived in Turtle Bay after the Ha-Ha fleet had left and decided to make our own way for the rest of the trip. When the winds returned we left Turtle Bay and made a direct run to Cabo. From there to Bandaras Bay and a slip in the beautiful new Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz. It's good to be back and to have Teapot Tony complete the repairs for yet another Puddle Jump crossing into the Pacific in March 2009. This time we plan to end up in the Marshall Islands and spend some time before continuing on our eventual circumnavigation. Bob's had quite enough of the north Pacific!!!
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04/14/2008, New Zealand
Bob and Caryl married in New Zealand prior to their departure back into the South Pacific.
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