Aquavit: Pac Cup 2016
| Vessel Name: | Aquavit |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42iP |
| Hailing Port: | San Francisco |
| Crew: | Michael, Bill, Joe, Patrick and Karl |
| Extra: | 8/3/16 - On a quest from Kaneohe, Hawaii back to San Francisco with new Crew: Michael, Bill, Joe, Patrick and Karl 7/11/16 - On a quest to Kaneohe, Oaho, Hawaii with Crew: Michael, Mike, Bill, Paulo, Magnus and George |
20 August 2016
Getting from there to here
As much as we would like to take all the credit for our long voyage across the Pacific, we have had a steady and reliable aid guiding us along. That aid is the multitude of instruments we have to tell us things like: where are we? Are we going in the right direction? How fast are we going? Is [...]
19 August 2016
Sea Creatures
For the most part, the life in the deep ocean is under the water and not seen, but there have been some remarkable sightings on this trip. Here's a taste of what we have encountered.
18 August 2016
SF approach, full moon and meteor
This is an interesting part of the return trip. We had the hard sailing north from Hawaii into the prevailing swell. We had the sinister high pressure that was following us everywhere we went in the middle of the trip. Now, finally we are on track towards SF. It's a good feeling to be making [...]
18 August 2016
Heavy Weather Sailing
It's almost a relief hitting the heavy weather portion of our trip. We were worrying about the gale for so long, and the large seas and high winds that it would bring where we were further south, that when it finally hits we know what to expect. As our last correspondence with the weather guys states: "There [...]
15 August 2016
Whales and Weather
Saw a pod of killer whales yesterday, passed all around us, and one followed us for a few minutes. This is their place and they are curious about us. I've seen lots of killer whales in the San Juans, but new and exciting to several others.
14 August 2016
Weather
Seems like we've been plagued by the adverse weather this trip. On the way to Hawaii we encountered large, confused, seas and then Hurricane Darby. The last leg of the trip to Kanehoe was rushing like madmen to avoid been trapped at sea for days while the storm system passed. (We arrived at 4pm. Boats [...]
8 nights / 7 days
Yesterday morning I downloaded the grib (weather) files and noticed a big change in the Pacific High (area of no wind that dominates the northeastern Pacific). After being stationary for a couple of months the Pac High is now moving south...quickly. This means that our plan of skirting (and sailing) the southern edge of the high from a latitude of about 37 degrees is no longer viable...it's all no wind now. We also got an "alert update" yesterday afternoon from our weather guy Rick suggesting we go south a couple of hundred miles, sailing a SE course, and then turning NE again in a few days.
However, to get south we'd need to motor since the wind direction and wind speed do not allow us to sail a SE course. Dilemma!
Background: We filled some fuel into the tank from our jerry cans yesterday and carefully calculated fuel usage and figured we have about 1,000 NM of capacity. We also considered the weather patterns and the possibility that, even if we go south, the high may continue to move southward and stop our wind.
Decision is to motor eastward for a few days, hoping we get the expect lift about 400 miles eastward of our current position. Big change in plans that the shifting weather has imposed on us. We were able to sail most of yesterday and most of the night-- very easy and pleasant sailing with small swells, the consequence of course of low wind.
Given the light and easy conditions we all have more free time. I started reading a book, the first time opening a page since leaving SF July 4th. Everyone was reading and listening to music. Most everything is fixed (door, sails, hatch, lee clothes, etc.) on the boat so not much else to do. (Note: nothing seems to break in calm seas and low winds, only when things are howling!).
Open Pacific, no boats. Thought I saw a boat light on the horizon last night, but it was probably a star on the horizon. Nothingness.
Some tidbits: when doing an ocean voyage, fuel, electricity, food and water are constantly being monitored. I've mentioned the fuel (tank is 34 gallons and we brought 11 5-gallon cans extra. We have 175 gallons of water, of which 5 gallons is emergency water, so 170 gallons that we could normally use. (Tanks have 94 gallons so the rest is in containers under the floor boards of the boat (bilges)). Water is for drinking, so we use "wet wipes" to clean ourselves. We figure 1 gallon of water per day per person, including cooking and dishes (cleaned in salt water, rinsed in fresh water), so on a 30 day trip that amounts to 150 gallons. (We're hoping for a 16 day trip but need to plan for contingencies). Should be alright on water. Electricity: lots of need for power, but by not using the refrigerator (we have 3 coolers with dry ice that last about 9 days)we limit our power usage. Our normal usage is covered by running the engine about 1 1/2 - 2 hours per day. But in our current motoring phase, electricity is no problem. Food-- Bill and Joe took care of that one, so hope we have enough!
It's 10:15am Hawaii time as I write this. Joe and Bill are on deck...not much to do since we're motoring but always want a lookout in any case. Pat and Carl are sleeping. I'm writing, having gotten off my shift at 10am.
California here we come...just not sure how quickly!
Cheers from the crew of Aquavit,
Michael
