March 15 2008
At 7:05AM we motored back to
March 16 2008
No wind all night, it doesn’t look like we made any progress in the last 12 hours. Charisma motored ahead and Blue Plains is behind us. Mike got up early and fixed the sails. He had a headache, so he stayed up and made coffee. We saw whales twice today. Stu fished, but no fish.
March 17, 2008
I couldn’t sleep last night, winds were 15kts gusting to 22and we were heeled about 15 degrees. The reefing line got hooked in the wind generator and Mike had to get up to fix it. He does feel good this morning, he took some Dramamine. There were flying fish and a squid on our deck, Yuk! Stu tried fishing again first thing this morning, caught nothing. He is pretty sunburned, being fair skinned and blond doesn’t help! I only made coffee and handed out granola bars, it is too difficult to cook this morning! We lost our buddy boats, they are too slow, both are heavy boats compared to Airwego. We slowed down to 3 knots so they could catch up and they still couldn’t. The wind picked up to 30 knots with waves pouring over the bow! Water even came through the solar circles from the deck and poured salt water all over the sofas, what a mess! To top it off, I sleep on the sofas! Mike fell down the companion way and caught his finger on the hatch and cut his finger so bad he had to cut his wedding ring off! He also seems to be seasick. We were all up most the night. We did our watches from inside the cabin watching radar and chart plotter to stay on course. We had to tack to avoid a fishing boat that was headed a little to close for comfort to us.
March 18 2008
Dad’s birthday today, and I forgot to mail a card before we left! Sorry Dad! I can’t email him from the blue plains either! We had 4 flying fish on our deck this morning! Mike altered our course to get us back on track. We had been sailing for a little comfort for the night and got a little off course, but there was not much comfort to be had! Mike had to work on the generator to get the refer running today. I made pancakes for breakfast, the stove wasn’t level and we were rolling so much the cakes were weird shapes but they tasted fine and filled the hole. The winds are 20-25 knots and we are hitting speeds up to 9kts. Stu was sitting under the bimini and a bird in the sky, pooped and it landed right on his head! J
March 19, 2008
Produce is going bad quickly, why? Mike and Stu took down the wind generator while under sail, we noticed a brace broke, so it had to be fixed ASAP. They used a part that was a piece from the old stainless that we really thought was garbage but turned out to be a lifesaver! Good job boys! I videotaped their work! A school of dolphins swam by today, how fun! Mike chased a booby bird off our boat, with a boat hook, after it scared him half to death in the dark. Fished but no fish again! Worked on generator again!
March 20, 2008
Stu slept late as his watch didn’t end until 6AM, it seems he couldn’t wake me up and he started to wonder if my name was Cindy. He can’t whisper and expect me to hear! We put up the spinnaker and it worked excellent all day. Another school of dolphins swam by, at a very high rate of speed, they may have been chasing something. And the daily working on the generator, they found it blew a fuse. Tonight we hove to so we could open the cupboards without food falling on you, other than not getting killed by falling cans it was not any easier to cook.
March 21, 2008
It is ‘Good Friday’ we have been gone 6 days today. We sailed South a little off course in order to meet up with Charisma and Blue Plains Drifter today.. There is 90% cloud cover and very light wind. We took showers today, finally, we are always trying to conserve water. Mike played a few trumpet tunes for us, it was great! A booby bird sat on our bow all night, you would think with all the rolling the boat does, the bird would fall off. And he didn’t leave until morning.
March 22, 2008
There were light winds all night. Mike and Stu put up the spinnaker again. Stu fished but no fish again, are there fish in the sea?
March 23, 2008
Easter today! There was lots of wind all night! Looks like we made 150 miles in the last 24 hours. We have sailed about 835 miles in 8 days. No fish yet today but lost a lure L While we ran the generator the diesel hose popped off and we lost fuel. Mike sprayed the engine room with laundry soap to clean it up and then used the shower to clean the soap off. What a bummer, the engine gets a shower and we don’t. More flying fish on board, Stu held one up to videotape and he tried using one for bait, to no avail.
March 24, 2008
We have sailed 950 miles! Mike and I watched movies on our watch, it is a great way to pass time, although every 15 minutes you have to ‘pause’ in order to check radar, chart plotter and take a look outside. It’s cloudy but humid today. The refer pump is not working today but the generator is, thank you Jesus! We caught 3 fish today, yea! We threw one back because it was too small. The other 2 were Dorado, very good. The boys were so excited, come to think of it, so was I! I took pictures and videotaped the scene.
March 25, 2008
We have sailed 1070 miles almost half way. We have had great consistent wind although very rolly. I am so tired of rolling, it makes it difficult to do anything, even to sit you have to hold your self on your seat. Yes I am whining! Boat speed last night reached 9.3 kts, but everything seemed good. Problems again today with refer and generator, or is it battery related? We cooked a fish today with Lemon pepper and tomorrow we will try dill seasoning which is what Stu requested. Mike is really tired today!
March 26 2008
10 days, 1224 miles, we will be half way after today. Today the boys replaced the fuel filter with copper tubing and the generator has run all day. Last night the car on the boom that attached to the mainsail clew broke – another temporary fix had to be made. They noticed lots of chaff on the headsail sheet lines. Mike tried taping it, we will see if it stays on. We all took showers today. It is really rolly today and it rained last night. The rain clouds showed up on the radar, this is a nice feature, as you may be able to change course to miss some squalls. We made water today. We made popcorn with parmesan cheese for a snack.
March 27,2008
We are half way across the Pacific between
Today Mike had to bleed the air out of the generator so it would run. We did laundry today, boy is that a big job. The fix the boys did on the boom chaffed completely through again, so they had to come up with a new idea, and of course they did! This passage has been so rough on equipment, we did not expect this. I squeezed the juice out of the remaining 10 oranges today, they were going bad quick. It made about 2 cups of juice that we shared. It rained last night, the next rain I am going to be ready in a swimsuit, towel and shampoo, and I am going to shower, so bring it on. There are lots of clouds so it may be soon. It poured down rain, so we all took showers and in the midst of it all we caught a 15# fish. When we had dried off and went below, we were in the midst of 22 knot winds but we were so excited for a shower we were not paying attention and we didn’t have our life jackets on! And we were outside of the cockpit using slippery soap too! We celebrated with Butterfingers!
March 28, 2008
We continue to have wind and rolly seas. I will be so happy when we have calm seas and a good night sleep and no watches! This morning Mike made coffee and we drank it in the cockpit while watching dolphins and whales swimming around our boat. One whale was directly behind our boat and he came up on a swell and it looked like he would be coming right up our swim step, but that didn’t happen, thank goodness. We have generator problems again, God must be tired of me praying over that thing!
March 29, 2008
Almost to the ITCZ. I made a nice dinner with the tuna we caught. It will actually make about 3 or 4 meals for us, nice. Mike spent most all yesterday replacing the regulator on the generator, but we still have a fuel problem. Today we had to charge batteries with the main engine while they continued working toward a solution. They made a temporary work around. It rained again so I took another shower, there wasn’t near as much rain but anytime I can wash my hair I am so happy. Later it rained again and Mike and Stu went out for a shower, Mike forgot to keep his clothes on! This time things got seriously wet, the boat cushions had soaked up tons of water and had to be dried out. Inside the boat was wet too, leaking windows, hatches left open etc. Now we would love a little sun to dry out. The boys sat at the table and helped me make lunch. We had tuna salad on crackers as well as other stuff they chopped, it was a fun time. Not much wind today, slow going. Two hose clamps broke on the wheel for the Monitor and Stu fixed those. We need to buy more hose clamps.
March 30, 2008
We reached 5 degrees N and 131 degrees W, we now are change course, we believe based on the weather fax that we are in the ITCZ! I talked to Tiffany and Kristen on SSB 6212 today, they have been through a lot with shrouds breaking on Blue Plains Drifter! I can’t wait until landfall, we all need a break from broken equipment! Today Mike and Stu patched a tear in the dodger window, I don’t know how or when that happened. We watched a movie today.
March 31, 2008
16 days, 1900 hundred miles and 800 more to go!
Today is sunny and hot! It was a nice day for wind too with 18 knots, and no wind was predicted for today! God’s favor once again! We can’t really spare the diesel to motor. Charisma is 137 miles behind us after check in today and they are motor sailing. We are within a day of the equator! Stu was fishing today, but I hope he didn’t expect to catch anything as he left the ‘guards’ on the hooks.
April 1, 2008
17 days, 2000 miles and 700 more to go!
April fools day and winds are fluky and light. Mike made pancakes and coffee while I slept. Stu slept in and had to make his own pancakes, I videotaped him in the galley. Ha!
April 2, 2008
We crossed the equator today at 12:30 Zulu time (6AM PV time) on my watch. So I got the guys up 15 minutes before the crossing. We wore Burger King Crowns that Stu brought and toasted champagne and threw over a bottle of notes from Stu’s friends from home. We took pictures of each other and the chart plotter showing the 00000 latitude! We had fun. The guys went back to bed. Later got up and tried fishing without hook guards today. But no fish! It was hot today.
April 3, 2008
19 days and 2100 miles, 500+ to go! We had rain squalls with winds reaching 22kts last night, the wind comes and goes. We had slapping sails off and on, felt like more on. We are all very tired. Stu took over Mikes watch so he could sleep, what a nice guy! Little squalls today, showers and fishing.
April 4, 2008
20 days, 470 miles to go!
We have sailed 2230 miles from PV, actually more, 2230 represents a
straight line which is not how our actual course has been. All day today and last
night there have been significant squalls gusting to 25 knots. You can see them coming. After it’s over there usually isn’t much wind
and the sails flap and it is difficult to steer the boat. I gave Mike gummy bears to cheer him up on
his watch! We are all getting so tired, we are ready to be there! That is the same story with Charisma. We decided to make land fall
April 5, 2008
Beautiful morning! Sunny with 16 kts of wind, sailing to weather, heeled 10 – 15 degrees, 10% cloud cover, warm breeze and flying fish all around our boat they are amazing, the distance they can fly. They are fun to watch, like skipping rocks seeing just how far they can skip. No fish on our hook though.
April 6, 2008
22 days, 236 miles left. Charisma still a day behind us. Another beautiful morning, sun, wind and a beam reach, a little flatter than the last few days. I like it! Last night we caught 2 fish. The big one got away, but we still had one smaller one. The water pump for the refer had air in the lines and Mike had to bleed it before it would work. But right now all is well, thank you Jesus! We are almost there, planning to arrive in the day light.
April 7, 2008
23 days with one to go and 106 miles left. Yesterday we caught a Dorado about 2.5’ long!
And a tuna! Mike filleted it for the
first time and he did great! We ate most
of the Dorado between fish tacos for lunch and grilled for dinner. Thank you
Jesus, fish helps our budget so much! We
just tried to listen to the net and we can’t hear half the boats as they are
spread out over the 2500 mile course, we should be at land fall tomorrow so we
can check out of the net. It is
frustrating trying to hear everyone. Charisma is 125 miles behind and another
boat
April 8, 2008
24 days, we are 15 miles out from the bay between 2 islands
at 6:30AM, technically we arrived in the Marquesas in
just over 23 days. It is dark and the
winds are fluky so we decided to motor the last bit. We are very proud we used less than a tank
(40 gal) of diesel and that was mostly to run the generator to charge the
batteries and refer. Not bad! Good thing because we understand at