SV Delos

Vessel Name: delos
08 July 2008 | Shileshole Marina
07 July 2008 | Straits of Juan de Fuca
06 July 2008 | North Pacific, 47 N Latitude
05 July 2008 | North Pacific, 45 N Latitude
04 July 2008 | North Pacific, 44 N Latitude
03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude
03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude
02 July 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 41 N Latitude
01 July 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 38 N Latitude
30 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 38 N Latitude
29 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 37 N Latitude
28 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 35 N Latitude
27 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 34 N Latitude
27 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 34 N Latitude
26 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 32 N Latitude
25 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 30 N Latitude
24 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific
23 June 2008 | Middle of the Pacific!
22 June 2008 | Somewhere North of the Hawaiin Islands
22 June 2008 | North of the Hawaiin Islands
Recent Blog Posts
08 July 2008 | Shileshole Marina

Day 20- Home sweet home!

The rest of the night through the straits was uneventful. There was a lot of shipping traffic but it clearly showed up on the AIS and radar. We pulled into Port Townsend just before 6:00AM to a beautiful, sunny, clear morning. There wasn't a breath of wind and the water was like a mirror.

07 July 2008 | Straits of Juan de Fuca

Day 19- Land Ho!

At 1:40PM we spotted the mountains of Vancouver Island off our port bow! Initially they were hard to tell apart from the clouds on the horizon, but slowly they began to take shape. It was a very emotional experience for everyone to see land after so many days and miles at sea. About the same time [...]

06 July 2008 | North Pacific, 47 N Latitude

Day 18- 110 miles and counting.

110 miles to go until land fall! We're estimating 3PM tomorrow to reach the straits. The winds were light and their direction unfavorable so we started motoring at about 6AM and continued through most of the day until about 5:30 when the wind finally shifted and came up. Motoring wasn't unwelcome [...]

05 July 2008 | North Pacific, 45 N Latitude

Day 17- Happy 4th of July!

Wow! Only 290 more miles until we get to the straits! From there it's another 80 or so to Pt. Townsend, then another 30 or so to Shileshole Marina. We're getting closer and you can sense the anticipation of seeing family and friends on everyone's mind.

04 July 2008 | North Pacific, 44 N Latitude

Day 16- 1900 miles under the keel.

The winds were moderate and the seas relatively flat today. We ran under the asymmetrical chute for most of the day making good speed of over 7 knots. Great sailing! This morning while Kurt and I were in the cockpit we saw a pod of porpoises. They stayed with us playing in the bow wave just long [...]

03 July 2008 | North Pacific, 42 N Latitude

svcapaz.com

I meant to link to this a few days ago but it slipped my mind. The other guys have been posting to svcapaz.com. I think they have been uploading pictures. Be sure to check it out to get a different perspective on the trip!

Day 13- Gentlemen don't sail to weather.

01 July 2008 | Middle of the Pacific, approaching 38 N Latitude
Brian Trautman
We're on the third reef point of the sails and beating our way to windward. The wind is steady 30+ with gusts to 40 and swells are 8-9 feet with 15 foot waves. The boat is heeled over at a constant 25 degrees and occasionally goes over enough to bottom out the gimbaled stove with a loud WHACK which I think is close to 40 degrees. Everything is pretty damp inside because the water is being driven through the closed hatches and dorades. In fact, I'm typing this right now with my jacket and hood on to keep my head from getting dripped on. The noise of the wind in the rigging sounds like a freight train going by.

Even with the small amount of sail we have up we're still moving at 8-9 knots. If things build more we'll completely take down the main and just run under the jib and mizzen. When the boat slams into (or through) a wave there is a resounding SMACK on the hull that resonates through the entire boat. It hits so hard that the hard disk protection warning on the laptop keeps coming on. This is the feature that's supposed to save the hard drive when the laptop is dropped. Everything hangs in the air for a moment as the boat loses momentum. As the bow punches through the wave there is an explosion of spray that finds its way into hatches, dorades, and the door to the cockpit. The pilot house windows look like we're driving through a non-stop salt water car wash. A few minutes ago one of the lockers on the windward side of the boat opened up and a plastic bowl flew across the salon and landed at Kurt's feet at the nav station.

Even performing a normal task like making coffee or using the head is a major endeavor. Each step must be a pre-planned choreographed event. The floors are wet and slippery (and angled) so handholds are paramount. Wait, get your next hand hold, and take a step, repeat. It's like learning to walk all over again. Just getting from the salon to the galley takes a lot of energy and 20-30 seconds to move less than 10 feet. I think a good way to explain it would be to imagine the worst airplane turbulence you're ever experienced, or even seen on TV. Now imagine this for a few days and you'll be close. Jorge the autopilot is nothing less than a rock star. He's been doing a great job of steering us through this mogul field of waves that we're in without a complaint at all.

Food was simple today due to the conditions. We heated up some soup, a few frozen tacquitos, and had some coffee. As of 1PM we were about 980 miles from Neah Bay so we're under the 1000 mile mark! Hopefully we only have another day of this before we can change to a more comfortable point of sail. Everyone is feeling pretty good and we're trying to stay rested, although it's hard to sleep with all the motion and noise. As the saying goes- gentlement don't (or shouldn't) sail to weather.
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