JAM Vic Maui 2014
| Vessel Name: | JAM |
| Vessel Make/Model: | J-160 |
| Hailing Port: | Fox Island, WA |
| Crew: | Jones, Steve Case, Carol Greetham, Tom Greetham, Marty Hedwall, Alan Barnes, Bill Fox, John McPhail,Tom Mitchell |
12 August 2014 | Strait of Juan de Fuca
Arrived at Neah Bay
We lighted land at 11:00 am and entered Neah Bay at 2:00 pm. We refueled, the skipper had pizza and ice cream for lunch and then we shoved off to complete our return. We are now motoring down the Strait and expect to reach Shilshole early tomorrow morning where we will drop off Bennett, Julia, Scott, and Thor. Steve Bill and the skipper will carry on to Gig Harbor. A picture of Julia sailing the large spinnaker.
12 August 2014 | Strait of Juan de Fuca
Arrived at Neah Bay
We lighted land at 11:00 am and entered Neah Bay at 2:00 pm. We refueled, the skipper had pizza and ice cream for lunch and then we shoved off to complete our return. We are now motoring down the Strait and expect to reach Shilshole early tomorrow morning where we will drop off Bennett, Julia, Scott, and Thor. Steve Bill and the skipper will carry on to Gig Harbor. A picture of Julia sailing the large spinnaker.
11 August 2014 | 41 09.0'N:142 46.0'W, 127 miles to go
August 11
August 11, 2014 We motored for most of the night. Both watches did do a little sailing but struggled with the light wind. This morning we put up the spinnaker in 9 kts of breeze and it is holding. We hope the wind will build. If we can get another 100 miles toward the Strait we think we can make Neah Bay under motor with the fuel we have left. The wind always seems to be light at the entrance to the Strait, well known to us as we have drifted there during many Swiftsure races. Both the skipper and Julia were feeling off yesterday. The skipper blames it on the kale but Julia�'s condition is of unknown origin. I think she suspects something from Steve�'s galley but that spotless area with excellent refrigeration certainly could not be the cause of any upset tummy. Both are better today. The skipper had a day of oatmeal yesterday to clean out the kale. Julie resorted to Lipton chicken noodle soup. The countdown continues with 211 miles to the Strait and 8 more to Neah Bay. Of course with our luck we will arrive after the fuel dock is closed. We are not thinking of that situation, yet. We are also looking forward to ice cream that is available at the Neah Bay store. The skipper�'s choice for first meal is grilled vegetables that his daughter Kari expertly does. No kale of course. Julia wants a BLT with avocado. Bill wants a broccoli quiche. Bennett is going for ice cream and bananas, and lots of them. The off watch are asleep so I cannot canvas them. Wait Thor has raised his head and is craving burgers, potato chips and veggies. I don�'t think anyone will want a taco for quite a while. Taking up at 7:00 pm we have 128 miles to the Strait. We are within motoring range but we have been surprised by a 20 kt NW breeze. We doused the spinnaker and have the #4 jib up and doing nearly nine kts. We look like we are home free and the worry about light winds and not enough fuel has gone away. It is NW weather, marine layer, cool, and damp. Foul weather gear, fleeces, watch caps and gloves are on. Welcome home!
11 August 2014 | 41 09.0'N:142 46.0'W, 265 miles to go
August 10
August 10, 2014 We sailed all day under the spinnaker until 10:00 pm when the wind quit. We are now motoring. The winds are playing games with us. There is wind behind us and ahead, but as we motor east the wind ahead is getting lighter and lighter. We do not have enough fuel to reach Neah Bay where we can get more so we are going to have to tough it out. At least we can sleep tonight and look for more wind in the morning. We spent several hours trying to repair the staysail. We think it should hold in light air so we will try it tomorrow. We are running out of sail repair tape. The menu from Steve�'s galley is getting thin as we run out of some foods. We have plenty of calories left but Hershey bars get tiresome after a while. We are all looking at the distance to go to the Straits gauge on the instrument panel far too frequently. We now have 265 miles to go and where we were celebrating each 100 mile increment now it seems we watch each 10 mile increment. Land Ho fever is setting in. We are seeing hundreds of finned jelly fish on the surface of the water. Far less interesting than porpoises. Plenty of sea birds but little else.
09 August 2014 | 41 09.0'N:142 46.0'W, Less than 500 miles to go
August 9
August 9, 2014 We just passed the 500 mile marker, just 489 to go. We switched to PDT today so each six hour watch was shortened by one and a half hours. The six to ten watch will have lots of daylight but the two to six am watch will now be mostly in the dark. That watch has been mostly in the dark in other ways for most of the trip. After sailing thousands of miles in the open ocean on four Hawaii races with limited green stuff, Julia has brought tons of kale aboard. What is it about kale that has captured the culinary world? Steve is at a loss of what to do with it so he resorts to his tried and true tactic, throw it in with everything else and see what happens. However he opened a bag today and the odor was beyond his ability to cope with. It would be ironic if after so many miles the crew would be done in by �"kale�". Yesterday form 6:00 am to 6:00 am this morning we did 250 miles. That is two miles more than our best day on the race. The return crew is already gearing up to rag on the race crew at home. We are making good time today but the forecast is for lighter winds ahead. We still have some fuel left so we may resort to the iron sail at some point. We are all anxious to make landfall. It has been a great voyage but family and friends ashore are on all of our thoughts. We are sticking to the 13th as our arrival date
