Dear friends of Odyssey, a sad day today which everyone will receive differently, some will be disappointed, some pleased, some relieved and some I told you so's. Yesterday I turned the ship around and made a course back to Ensenada. We are now on the wind beating toward that destination. Our ETA will be about 7-8 days. The ship is in good shape and sailing well and we are in no danger. The decision to head for home was purely a personal one made by me for personal reasons. I would like to thank Randy for being an excellent crewmate and I would especially like to thank Lars for all the commitment and work he has put into this project. I could not have asked for more from both my crewmates.  Naturally morale is a bit low on board. I take full responsibility for this decision which was mine and mine alone. On return to Ensenada I will clean up the boat for sale. Make all the necessary arrangements and then return home closing what has been a great chapter of my life. I have no regrets and I will look back fondly on the preparation and sailing of the boat that we did. She has proved a fine ship indeed.  Jon.

Day 8, we left one week ago today at 1100 am. Note we have covered 736 n. miles in that time

0105 am. Thursday 25th April 2013, This is a first. From 0830 last night to this point in time, we have drifted 2 nm. To save the sails from work hardening we dropped the mainsail and furled the headsail. The wind is still AWL making steering hard to deal with and frankly we are tired of fighting to make progress. John and Lars are below sleeping while we roll in the swell that sloshes fuel and water in their respective tanks accompanied by the creaks and groans of the vessel are the sounds I hear. Not a restful night for the crew below, but then, everything will go quiet. Noises stop and it seems as if we are tied to a dock in a protected harbor, you can hear a pin drop. Then it starts all over again. We have reached the latitude of Cabo San Lucas 22 degrees 50 minutes but 717 nm east of us. We are officially now High Seas Drifters. I am writing at the chart table, which is located at the starboard side of the companionway facing forward. In front of me is John�'s new Simrad chart plotter. On the screen, I see the digital black shape of our boat resting on a white blank screen with nothing around it for over 700 nm. Beside the chart plotter outboard is the Furuno radar, on a shelf to my right as I sit, another GPS unit, which gives basic information, including the distance in a straight line back to Ensenada. That is 730 nm to the east of us. To port from this location is the galley where Lars does his magic. His abilities in the galley stems from a longtime friendship with a chef and together they would explore culinary arts that now we aboard get to enjoy. Forward of the galley is the ships table with two bench seats one fore the other aft running along the beam of Odyssey 1. Just inboard running centerline of the vessel is her keel-stepped mast. This table can be dropped to create a bed for additional sleeping space. Adjacent this is a long bench seat on starboard, which makes a secure sleeping bunk for the off watch when fitted with the lee cloth, which is stored below the cushions. Forward of this general living area is an enclosed head and shower to port, nicely laid out with a teak grate floor over a deep shower sump to pump the shower water overboard and not into the bilge. A good-sized space that seems perfect. To starboard of the head are lockers, drawers, and a closet behind a door leading into the forward cabin, which is also surprisingly large and seems a well laid out area for an offshore boat. Add to this a series of drawers for storage to port and you can see why this is a popular design for people seeking a mid-40 footer. Making the decision to join Odyssey 1 on this cruise I had about 1 day to get ready. My wife Joy ran around Ensenada looking for blankets so I could have bedding, as there wasn�'t enough for the crew, which would now be three. This bedding along with several other items will be left for future crew, as I don�'t want to deal with flying it all back home. The reason I mention this is it is now warm enough to sleep without blankets. So in some ways, progress is being made. Last night we downloaded GRIB files of our area with the SSB radio, which uses a pactor modem, which is in turn connected to Lars computer. These can be a large number of charts and data that can be sent to your Sailmail address and then you can download this data back to your computer for viewing. Very cool. The trick is, to make a connection to a radio station that can handle your call. The bad news is we have several more days of this ahead. We have 2162 nm to the Marquesas. Funny thing, I now remember the singing strings on my first boat while anchored at Catalina. This as I might have explained before is when a rod with tight strings of monofilament line are in a soft breeze. We now have 3 rods in holders set in the stern rocket launchers. The sound if you have never heard it is fascinating. Soft high, then low pitch vibrations like a violin in the hands of a master not afraid to explore the musical creativity of nature. Mezmorizing. John, the Australian owner of Odyssey 1 is a Doctor by vocation but surprisingly enough creates music, sings and records in his home studio as his avocation. Two nights ago, he played some tapes. He is a skilled musician. I am in good company with these guys, we get along very well and handle the frustrations of not sailing for what is now 5 days without wind in a row. While writing this email (out of boredom) I pop my head above the companionway for a look and as you would guess nothing at all�... The AIS feature is a relative new comer in the world of yachting. First required on ships it is now used widely by yachtsmen. The safety it affords cruisers will save lives. Over the last 30 years I have read many stories of yachts that would have survived collisions if only they had AIS on board and the extra time the AIS warning gives the yachtsman and crew. This bit of technology is an instant hit to the boating world like GPS. AIS sends a VHF radio message to a receiver that also sends GPS info that can overlay on the chart plotter. There are two basic types of units A and B. A is a receiver like the one we have aboard Odyssey 1, with this we can see what is out there. B, allows you to also send the same info that ships send out so their crew will know your location even if you do not show up on radar yet. This is a problem with low fiberglass yachts like most sailboats. It is now 0220 am and I am still hoping for wind. Last wind was Saturday night. 5 days with no wind in a row. We are going nowhere and with the GRIB update, we have more days like this ahead. 0315 am and I will let John sleep in. The batteries are down to 12.15 volts which is low for ships house batteries at present we are using 3.0 amps per hour. Nav lights account for most of that I would guess. No breeze for the wind generator so it just rides with the ship as worthless crew and closely followed by two sleeping solar panels, that lazily under produce due to the cloud cover when the sun does rise. Odyssey 1 is a 1977 Kelly Peterson 44. These little ships are still very popular, in fact, three were in the marina we left at Cruiseport. I first saw Odyssey 1 in the yard at Baja Naval while we were having work done on Spirit of Hanalei. I asked John why the boat had a 1 after the name Odyssey. He explained that like in Canada a ships name needs to be unique to the boat. Now being Australian registered and there was already an Odyssey and an Odyssey II the next option was Odyssey 1. The Peterson 44 was built at a time when the stars aligned and the economy was healthy enough to support sales of about 200 vessels. From my limited look at systems aboard she is a fine ship and John has done a great job recommisioning her for ocean crossing. However, given the present conditions she is overbuilt, as an inflatable raft could do what we are now doing. Yet, I think back to a week ago when we were off to a great start, making good way at 7 and 8 knots south. Now that is what this boat was built for. I just went on deck for a look around, as you would guess NOTHING. The wind instrument shows 0, I check the GPS, distance from Ensenada, 730 nm. 0730 am, we have traveled 1 nm in 3.5 hours. All crew gather informally in the center cockpit at 0830 and the subject of breakfast was mentioned. Given the calm conditions, I decide to see if I can make a breakfast like Joy does for us onboard our boat. She is a great omelet creator from whatever we might have aboard. I use six eggs, after chopping up one onion, 2 spicy peppers and one bell pepper and fry in olive oil remove from heat and mix the eggs with a dash of milk. We have a good supply of vegetables on board in brown paper sacks, some of which have gone bad so we review the supplies often to cull the pantry of mold or spoilage. Hi Joy, hopefully we can talk on the radio. Perhaps on 14.310 USB or 14.325¬ USB. I know these will be open to us if not otherwise being used. If so, we can wait for a clearing. We can make contact on the net then say prearranged which will be one of the above stations. This way we don�'t become entertainment for to many board hams. It is 0945 am all sail down and we are rocking from side to side like the swing of a pendulum. Then she stops. Then she will hobbyhorse. All aboard are in their own worlds reading listening to music or resting. It is warm and 95 percent overcast. At 1100 am we start the engine to charge some tired batteries and head south east to find some wind we see on the GRIB files. Location is 22 D 51 min N 122 D 47 min W still off Cabos latitude. At 1430 pm. Lars jumps up from a sailing magazine he is reading and says something about a fish. Once on the stern he yells Dorado... it turns out to be smaller. Looking out over the glassy surface, I see a very large black fin of a large shark very slowly sweeping 500 feet behind us. Interested in an easy meal. It is so hot out in the sun that the propane bottle hug on the rail starts to vent off the expanding pressure so I suggest we douse the bottle with cool seawater. After we land the Dorado, we put the head on a hook with wire leader and set it out on 200 feet of line. By 1900 hrs., no bite. As you can tell, I was a bit board today, when we start sailing in a day or two the length will shorten. Close for now, Randy

Day 7. 720 nm traveled. 1.350 nm to the equator. We have hit an area with no wind again and the forecast from the GRIB files does not seem to improve much the next couple of days. Yesterday we had about six hours of no wind and that gave me the opportunity to see if we could burley up a couple of tunas or maybe an open water shark. We had some leftovers from the large tuna and for about 1½ hours, I tried throwing small chunks of tuna over the side. Nothing happened. To spend the afternoon I decided to bake our first bread on the trip. I have never baked anything with dry-yeast and in a gas oven, but the result turned out surprisingly well. The only thing that I should change is adding more salt. We had the engine running for an hour to repower the batteries and to get some hot water. I placed the dough in the engine room, which is the warmest place on the boat. The rest of the day just passed away. Our position: N23.703.972 and W122.542.865 Lars

Once again no wind! All night we made only about 50 nautical miles �- so now about 60 hours without wind. Seas are mild with an old swell gliding effortless under Odyssey 1 �- moving faster than we are from the north. 11.00 am. Started engine to charge and a few miles as a bonus. At this point, we are only 608 nm. From Ensenada. Approaching the same latitude as La Paz with an average speed of 4.9 knots. When we left Ensenada last Thursday at 11.00 am. It did not take long for us to clear Todos Santos Island and into about 20 knots of wind, which at one point gave us the speed of 10 mph. over the bottom as per Lars´s IPad application. The fishing is not good lately �- other than the 50-pound Tuna (Yellow fin). Not to worry, as we still must have 40 pounds left in the fridge. Lars is a great enthusiastic cook and has a very large selection of recipes as well as lures. I was able to speak with Joy on the SSB radio last night and with Peter. We spoke before the net started. Good thing because two hours later we were relaying messages back and forth as we could not hear each other directly. I am very happy we are both HAMS as it is good to hear her voice. Last Thursdays first run of 24 hours gave us a distance of 168 nautical miles where as we are doing less than a hundred per day now. The color of the ocean water as seen through polarized lenses is the most spectacular shade of blue �- as rich as any I have seen �- so clean and pure. The water maker gives us about 150 ppm. What a bonus to world cruising. That and GPS, fiberglass and AIS make this a popular lifestyle for so many of us. I like the idea of a wind generator as fitted aboard Odyssey 1. It is an Aerogen �- very quiet. Runs both day and night. With this 100% cloud cover as we gave had these last few days, the two solar panels are just along for the ride. The wind can work both day and night. After last nights attempt to hear Joy�'s voice once more, and striking out. Lars suggested we try the Sailmail one more time. It worked! We have tried so many times to get through. Now where are we? N24.28. W122.34 611 nautical miles from Ensenada. 2.272 nm. to Marquesas. Then 450 nm. to Tuamutos. Then about 600 nm. to Papeete. Singing strings. For several days I have been hearing a rather odd but ethereal sound that would happen on the boat: Was it the wind generator? Lars said it was the fishing lines on his two rods that stay in rod holders on the stern. After spending time on the stern, I was able to hear that in fact he was correct. It is so quiet out here with only 2-4 knots of warm breeze that I doubt there is any sound at all. All I hear are the stikes of the running rigging on the mast the soft gurgle of the bubbles as the hull moves slowly south. Some times the head sail which looks to be about a 120% Genoa will slat like distant thunder all sounds are generated from the boat. Just the sound of a crewmembers voices seem an assault on the quiet. The air is warm, Lars showed me photos of his fishing and diving adventures last summer in the south pacific. He reminds me of Aaron �- same age, fishing, travel, diving, computers �- I would enjoy a trip like this with one or more of our kids. The Fleming steering gear is working hard to steer at such low speeds. I cut and taped small ribbons of white trash sack to use as tell tails. This allows a better idea of the airflow across the vane. In light breezes like these 3-4 knots, everything is critical. The only chore is to keep the boat moving south or southwest as long as she is moving. The distance we still have to go is like starting a sail to Hawaii. The watch system. Because we only have a crew of 3 �- we do an alternating 3 on 6 off starting at 9. pm. Switch at midnight then again at 3. am. That is the hardest watch to do. The moon sets about then and the dark is total. We seem to see more ships at night and with the standard Horizon VHF with build in AIS we have an alarm which spots ships at a distance of 15 nautical miles. We can see the beacon on the chart plotter and we can read the details of the ship and even the ships MMSI number, which can be called like a phone number. This is very good for safety, we always ask if the see us. Most often, they do not. Then at about a range of 7 nm. they are able to see us on the radar. So far so good!

We are well and things are working. The first 24 hours was rough with 25-28 kn wind. We caught one Yellowfin Tuna at about 50 punds so that will probably feed us the next week. Besides that, we caught a small Yellowtail. The weather has improved and we have winds from the northwest at about 10 kn. We are traveling with about 5.5 kn. and we have about 1795 kn to the equator.

After about a month of preparations we are finally ready for departure. We will try to update this once a day using sailmail.