Home

2009 Log Book






December 24, 2009 - Day 23 - Actual Miles Sailed 100 Distance to go 0

I have arrived, showered, and off to a Christmas Party of a bunch of boat people!

December 23, 2009 0500 PST

Sorry for the late update, I was having trouble contacting the email server. Wind and seas are laying down a bit, all is well aboard.

December 22, 2009 - Day 21 - Actual Miles Sailed 146 Distance to go 212

No luck slowing the boat down. It has been blowing 30's gusting 40's since midnight last night. Currently the seas are 20' and the mainsail is all the way down. Still making over 6 knots!

A challenging day of sailing! The second most challenging I've experienced. The wind is due to be down to 25 by midnight tonight, and is already starting to drop from the peaks around 10 this morning.

December 21, 2009 - Day 20 - Actual Miles Sailed 117 Distance to go 356

According to the chart I have entered the "Exclusive Economic Zone" of the US. I'm within 200 miles of the coast. I saw a couple coastal sea birds and a floating piece of kelp, good indications the dirt is getting closer.

The wind machine came back on at noon, and I was quite happy to turn off the drone of the diesel. Now rather than listen to the motor bang away and make less than five knots I am listening to the music of the stern wake and topping out over seven. I'll have to reef down for the night, can't leave the boat set up to sail that fast without some supervision.

December 20, 2009 - Day 19 - Actual Miles Sailed 109 Distance to go 468

Well the little front has passed and left no wind behind it. Rather than flop along at two knots all day I decided to use some of the carefully hoarded diesel. I'll probably motor through the night, until a new Northerly wind fills in tomorrow. At least the sun came out and it warmed up enough to do a shower in the cockpit with scalding water from the engine water heater.

I'm now in the Pacific Time Zone, so tomorrow morning when I wake up I'll be in sync with all those lucky enough to have jobs, and be out on the freeways in LA, San Francisco, or Seattle. Hmmm, I could have gone West to New Zealand and been there to hike all winter. It's summer down that way. There's always next year.

December 19, 2009 - Day 18 - Actual Miles Sailed 116 Distance to go 574

The weather continues to change almost hourly. Nothing like Trade Wind sailing where you can set the boat up and not mess around much for days. Today it looks like the high will move off to the South, and the cold front will catch up with me in the next day or so . . . or maybe not. It is getting pretty chilly. Down into the 50's last night and only hit 65 at mid day today. Up to a double layer of fleece and socks.

I've made the turn to the South toward San Diego. I'm actually 200 miles closer to San Francisco. From here I should be able to point fairly direct.

December 18, 2009 - Day 17 - Actual Miles Sailed 113 Distance to go 679

When I woke this morning I new the high was winning the battle. The boat was only doing three knots. Highs just sit there, big and fat with no wind. The weather router has me inching a little farther North in hopes of enough wind to keep sailing. Today I've done OK, but it is a lot of work. There are little squalls that come through every half hour or so. I have to go out and change from a setup for six knots of wind to one for twenty. Lots of string pulling. I'll be setting up for twenty over night and going real slow between the squalls.

December 17, 2009 - Day 16 - Actual Miles Sailed 144 Distance to go 783

A good days run! Those of you who have figured out the pattern now expect the frontal passage. It is probably going to fool us this time. The high pressure area off the California Coast is going to hold it away, and with any luck I'll get wind for another couple days on this system. That's one of the forecasters. The other one says the high is going to expand and I'll be stuck for days with no wind. My vote is with the first one, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

December 16, 2009 - Day 15 - Actual Miles Sailed 95 Distance to go 923

No wind again last night. Rolled up the jib and bobbed. Good for sleeping, but it's hard seeing I'm only 10 miles closer in the morning. The wind came up before noon, and I'm moving along nicely again.

December 15, 2009 - Day 14 - Actual Miles Sailed 118 Distance to go 962

Managed to get about ten hours sleep through the night and this morning. Left the boat reefed down, and went a little slower so I could rest. This morning was beautiful again so time for charging the batteries and a shower. It's getting harder to go outside for the cockpit shower, but setting up the indoor one for just another week hardly seems worth the bother. The weather guy has me going North again. Just a hundred miles, but it takes away from the fun to see miles added to the route at this point. I guess it's better than getting stuck in a high pressure zone with no wind though.

December 14, 2009 - Day 13 - Actual Miles Sailed 143 Distance to go 1066

The current frontal passage is the most powerful weather I've encountered in a while. Last night around 9 PM the wind picked up to the mid 30's gusting into the 40's, and held at that level until almost noon today. Great for making miles, but not very good for rest. It hasn't fully passed yet, the wind is down and the sky is clearing, but there will be a wind shift once it has passed. As soon as that happens I set the boat up for the new wind and get some sleep. Hopefully soon.

December 13, 2009 - Day 12 - Actual Miles Sailed 119 Distance to go 1206

Another day of great sailing, the wind is 15 knots just behind the beam. The next front is on it's way, but won't get here until tomorrow evening.

I have passed the half way point in terms of total number of miles I will have to sail. The distance to San Diego isn't quite half yet because of the large curve to the North I started out with. With luck I will have better winds on the second half. Traditionally I make a feast for the half way day lunch, today it was a grilled ham and swiss.

December 12, 2009 - Day 11 - Actual Miles Sailed 64 Distance to go 1321

By midnight the wind had failed completely. I rolled up the jib and bobbed until 10AM when I started the engine to top the batteries, run the watermaker, and heat water for a shower. The new wind is starting from the South, not much yet but I am supposed to get strong winds for up to five days.

I am on an area of the chart called the Moonless Mountains. This vast area of underwater seamounts covers hundreds of miles out here in the middle of the Pacific. No worries the tallest peaks are over 4,000 feet under my keel. It is an appropriate spot, I'm feeling sort of Moonless, and haven't been awake to see the Moon in days.

December 11, 2009 - Day 10 - Actual Miles Sailed 128 Distance to go 1382

The cold front was easy on me this time. No major squalls, and it was finished passing before 9 PM. I got the sails all reset to the new wind direction and was in bed early. Today is one of those beautiful winter days when it is crystal clear blue skies, steady NW wind, and a bit chilly. I sit hear in my fleece and down booties marveling at the beauty.

December 10, 2009 - Day 9 - Actual Miles Sailed 117 Distance to go 1502

Just finished reefing down in anticipation of another cold front tonight. This one isn't supposed to be real powerful, but I'd rather loose a knot than get pounded in a squall. The big deal today is that I turned another 10° toward San Diego. I'm almost done heading North, so now more of the miles count toward getting there instead of just getting around weather systems.

December 9, 2009 - Day 8 - Actual Miles Sailed 126 Distance to go 1602

Moving better. Still heading North for at least another couple days. The weather router wants me up around 33N before I head directly East. Bbbbrrrr. Actually today is better that way, only down to 70 last night and up to 77 this afternoon. The Boobies and Tropic Birds have been replaced by Black Footed Albatross. I like them better since they don't try to hover and land on the boat. Watching them soar among the 18' waves is pretty amazing.

December 8, 2009 - Day 7 - Actual Miles Sailed 104 Distance to go 1707

Another relatively slow day. I'm getting great sleep, and not working very hard, both a surprise. I expected much more challenging conditions, and they may still lie ahead. For now the forecast looks favorable until the next frontal system in a couple days. Oh yeah did mention those are COLD fronts? This morning I broke out the down booties, and the fleece is ready.

December 7, 2009 - Day 6 - Actual Miles Sailed 128 Distance to go 1797

Last night about 0200 I passed through the second cold front of the trip. Why are they always at night? The wind in the rigging woke me, and after I got things reset I noticed that the screen on the AIS had turned on. This device must have been designed by a sailor, when there are no targets it simply shuts the screen off. The bulk carrier SD Progresss out of Chine en route to Panama was 22 miles away, but the bad news was our closest point of approach was .15 miles! Since I had plenty of time to deal with it I just sat and watched. The weather outside was pretty thick, about two miles visibility. The alarm went off as it was supposed to when we were 20 minutes apart, it's 95db, loud enough to wake a tired sailor. Fifteen minutes later I was within two miles of THE spot, and I could finally see Progress, and yup we would have been real close. I simply stalled the sails for 10 minutes while the big guy passed about 3/4 of a mile safely in front of me.

December 6, 2009 - Day 5 - Actual Miles Sailed 112 Distance to go 1911

Finally a day better than 100 miles, and 96 good toward San Diego! Yesterday afternoon was the best sailing of the trip so far. I held seven knots for almost four hours. After dark the wind went light again, and this morning I had to run the engine another 5 hours. This leaves me well rested, but feeling like I'll be out here a long time. There is now a wind filling that is associated with the next frontal system, hopefully it will last more than 12 hors this time.

December 5, 2009 - Day 4 - Actual Miles Sailed 99 Distance to go 2007

I have added some daily statisticstable per a viewers request. I hope it looks OK, I have no way to verify it from here.

Last night the wind blew from exactly where I was trying to go, all night long. I chose to tack toward the North, which also took me back almost 50 miles to the West. Going South is undesirable because of wind patterns I will get into in a few days East of here. It isn't so pretty on the chart, I sailed 99 miles to cover 60 in distance, but only got 13 miles closer to San Diego. As of this morning the predicted wind shift has me making good time, and in the right direction. The next few days I should start to reel in some of those miles.

December 4, 2009 - Day 3 - Actual Miles Sailed 94 Distance to go 2020
When planning this passage I was initially concerned that there would be strong headwinds the entire trip. Those trades have broken down and are being interrupted by low pressure systems from the North Pacific. The first passed through early today. I got a good twelve hours of wind before the front passed, followed by four hours of squally heavy winds and rain. A great light show too! Since about 10:00 this morning the motor has been on because the clearing after the front left no wind at all. The cycle starts again tonight as another larger front passes in a couple days, hope I get more consistent winds from the next one.

December 3, 2009 - Day 2 - Actual Miles Sailed 95 Distance to go 2092
Yesterday I had great wind all day, and it died like somebody threw a switch just after sunset. Drifted around mostly going nowhere all night, it is way to early in the trip to start burning the precious diesel fuel. Made 65 miles toward San Diego in the first 24 hours.

The wind remained light this morning, but is at least moving the boat along at 2-3 knots. It is supposed to get a bit stronger tonight. The second cold front I was watching, the BIG ONE, seems to now look like it will be a non-event. As much as I was dreading beating into strong winds it is looking like at least my first week is going to be pretty mild. Unfortunately at this rate I'll still be out here in January when the frontal systems get serious.

December 2, 2009 - Day 1 - Hilo Hawaii to San Diego
Ijust sailed around the breakwater for Hilo Harbor. It was bit tense getting the anchor up and stowed, but all is well. I have a couple days of light air sailing to start, which is very welcome.

It is 2170 miles to San Diego. If the trade winds fill back in I will be tacking most of the way, which means I will sail about 3000 miles. The current forecast calls for a couple low pressure systems to override the trades, and give me strong but favorable winds. We'll see . . .


November 30, 2009
My little cold I caught over the weekend seems to be getting better, and my weather guru and I agree that Wednesday morning is the time to go. Busy stowing the boat, getting out the cold weather clothes, and baking cookies.

November 29, 2009
The past three weeks have been very busy getting the boat prepared for making passages with a single person onboard. It has also been terribly difficult emotionally trying to get used to the idea of continuing without Erin. I have added an AIS receiver that will identify ships within about 30 miles. I also built a ready bag for the small jib that eliminates the dangerous task of getting it from the cockpit to the foredeck. Now all I have to do to raise it is un-zip the bag, and hoist on the halyard. There were a few other small changes, all in the interest of safety for a solo sailor.

I have contracted with a weather routing service so I have a second guess at the potential problems in a winter crossing of the North Pacific. Rick, the meteorologist at weatherguy.com, is pretty sure I'll see up to 35 knots, which is quite a bit when going into it. The good news is it will only be for periods of about 12 hours, three or four times in the passage.

I will continue to keep this log up while underway. I expect to depart between December 1-5, depending on the weather. If I should miss, or stop checking in please understand that there is a lot of technology that can go wrong with getting these updates on the site. I carry an Emergency Beacon, so if something is wrong with me plenty of people will know.

November 10, 2009
Very sadly I watch Erin remove her stuff from the boat. She has decided life on a too small boat with a too grumpy old captain just isn't for her any longer. It is difficult to say what is up next for me. I will probably sail the boat to San Diego in the coming months, and try to start fresh . . . again.

November 3, 2009
We made it! So far this year that makes 89 nights at sea, and nearly 8,000 miles. For now we plan to be in Hilo for the next month, then on to Oahu. There probably won't be many entries here so feel free to get in touch through the guest log or email if you want the latest news.

November 2, 2009
Almost there. We can see volcano vents, and military aircraft. Unfortunately the wind has failed us, so we are motoring in the last 30 miles. The anchor should be down around 8PM Hawaii time.

November 1, 2009
Only 125 miles to go! It looks like tomorrow will be landfall, and not a day too soon. There is a large cold front that is due to arrive in the islands on Tuesday, which would turn the wind against us. We may not make it in early enough to get ashore for the celebratory ice cream though.

October 31, 2009
A Happy Halloween for us means making good time toward Hawaii and not running into any trick-or-treating fronts or low pressure systems masquerading as little squalls. We had a lot of rain last night and strong wind for a brief period, but no lightning. That's always a good thing.

October 30, 2009
We are clicking off the miles. The weather forecast still looks great, and we have put in a high mileage day at 150. That's about as good as it gets around here! We are getting busy eating the last of the fresh fruit and veggies that would be confiscated in Hilo. We still have a half dozen pamplemousse and many limes outside, onions and carrots in the root cellar, and green peppers in the fridge.

October 29, 2009
The Pacific is quite a bit more pacific today. The sun is out and we have a nice steady 15 knots behind the beam, urging us along to Hilo. Best part is the forecast is for that to hold a good deal of the rest of our trip. Then again, we should know not to trust the longer range forecasts by now. Made another great day of better almost 140 miles. Only 570 to ice cream!

October 28, 2009
It is an amazing contrast between the southern ocean spring, and the northern late fall. In the last 400 miles we have gone from gentle breezes with sunny skies to grumpy grey and a lumpy ocean. We are making good time, 142 miles yesterday, but looking forward to the getting there more than enjoying the going.

October 27, 2009
At six this morning, after a night of squalls, rain, and lightening, we turned off the motor and started sailing in the beginning of the Northern Trade Wind zone. The sixty hours of motoring through the ITCZ were the part of the trip we least looked forward to, and are happy they are behind us. The next waypoint on the GPS is now just offshore of Hilo and is 838 miles away. The stronger trades here will have us clocking those days off quickly, we hops. First stop in Hilo will be for ice cream.

October 26, 2009
We are in the heart of the ITCZ. So far we have been lucky, the two small squalls we have been through had little wind, ad only gave us a good wash down. Our entire northeast horizon is dominated by towering cumulus clouds. It might be a rough night.

October 25, 2009
The low pressure system we were worried about dissipated. A large hole of clear skies has developed in the ITCZ, so we're motoring due north, hoping to get north of the path of these lows before the next one develops.

With the engine running constantly and the sun frying us, the cabin temp is up to 92 degrees. Sweat levels are on the rise.

October 24, 2009
Typically the ITCZ is an area of very little wind, except in the parade of forming and dissipating squalls. This year there seems to be something different going on. Just after we left Nuku Hiva a large area of low pressure got itself organized and started spinning. Within a couple days Hurricane Neki was born, right along our path to Hawaii. It went west, then north, and is now blowing itself out northwest of the islands. Obviously we watch closely, with concern.

Yesterday the long term weather model started showing another of these areas of low pressure, forecast to develop over the next few days. If you zoom in on the map you will notice that we have made a hard right turn. We aren't heading to Mexico, just killing time. Our concern is that it would be impossible for us to outpace this new storm to Hawaii. Rather than chance the development of another hurricane, we will let this system pass, and then resume our trip. For now we are just bobbing in the waves, going as slow as we can.

October 23, 2009
Mystery of the day: What are booby birds, which supposedly don't venture more than a couple hundred miles from land, doing out here thousands of miles from the nearest dirt? The clouds are thickening as we get further into the ITCZ.

October 22, 2009
We're on the edge of the Southern Tarads, and the ITCZ. There are plenty of high altitude clouds to our north, and the trades are getting lighter. We are expecting squalls and the wind to fail soon. For now we sail . . . slowly.

October 21, 2009
We're dividing our passage into zones according to what fruit we've polished off: We've already passed through the banana zone; we've almost cleared the mango zone; we're entering a slightly rotten apple zone; next will come a wide zone of pamplemousse (grapefruit on steroids); we'll finish out in the canned peach zone. Probably no one in Hawaii will be offering us fruit from trees in their yard!

We're actually passing through three climate zones: We started in the Southern Trade Wind zone; we will then cross the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ); we will finish in the Northern Trade Wind zone.

We are running out of wind in the Southern Trades. In the last day we have gone from an average boat speed of 5 knots down to about half that. We will eek out every last bit of wind before we turn on the engine, because it's pretty hot in here already, and it will be hotter and very noisy as we motor across the ITCZ. When we reach the Northern Trades, which blow strong in this area it will be a fast, wet ride into Hilo.

October 20, 2009
We crossed the Equator at noon and offered Neptune his jigger of rum. He must have liked that Myer's Dark, because within a couple hours we caught a 20-pound tuna. It's a bloody clean-up, but the fridge and freezer will be stocked with fish for at least a week.

October 19, 2009
Another day of good sailing. The motion of the boat is still pretty good since the wind hasn't come up much. We have mostly 10 knots, which is ideal conditions. We finally ate down the goodies in the refrigerator to where we can fit some fish. The line is in the water, now we have to see if anything escaped the long liner we saw yesterday.

October 18, 2009
The wind is up to about 15 knots and the seas are growing. So far we haven't seen any squalls, just beautiful blue skies and glorious stars at night. We have to slow down a little for comfort, but are still making good time. We may have to put on the brakes to avoid some bad weather up around 10° North.

October 17, 2009
This is one of the fastest, most comfortable days ever spent aboard the Romany Star. The wind is under ten knots, and we are close reaching in nearly flat seas. We are enjoying the ride while it lasts.

October 16, 2009
At dawn we passed the last land we'll see for weeks, the Marquesan Island Eiao. We did not see Farmer Johnson. Conditions are extremely calm. We're not getting anywhere fast, but the going is easy when you're only heeling 3 degrees in flat seas.

October 15, 2009
We got underway just before noon, and are motoring around the windless west side of Nuku Hiva. A large pod of dolphins came by to send us along our way.

We have fuel for about 25% of this trip, and will probably use most of it. The doldrums or ITCZ just north of the equator have been averaging 300 miles wide. The weather pattern has been fairly light too. We will be honing our light air sailing skills along the way.

October 14, 2009
Tomorrow we will sail away from French Polynesia. It has been a great six months, but our visa's are over, and it's time to go.

We will be making a direct route to Hilo, Hawaii. It is a little over 2,000 miles, and we expect to take between two and three weeks. We as always hope for good weather, but only time will tell how that works out. The boat is loaded with fresh fruit, the diesel tanks are topped off, and we will be full from Paul's birthday feasting which started this morning with mangoes and pan au chocolate for breakfast, and finishes tonight with duck.

October 11, 2009
Our last French Polynesian anchorage will be Taiohae Bay. We are at the largest village in the Marqueses. It is time to take on fuel, fill the cooking propane cylinders, and load up on whatever fresh fruits and veggies we can find. There might even be a hamburger tonight! We hope to be leaving here on Thursday, unless we run into boat problems or the weather turns bad.

October 1, 2009
The Goldilocks boat has finally found that just right spot. We haven't had a real smooth anchorage since we left the Tuamotus, so we are delighted to be in Anaho Bay on Nuka Hiva. We will hang out here getting prepared for outr passage to Hawaii in a couple weeks. We will have to move around to Taiohae Bay on the south side for the last couple days, but it is notoriously rough, so we will put that off as long as we can. For now we are enjoying a beautiful spot with good snorkeling and hiking, with only an hour or so of chores a day.

September 29, 2009
We went through a tsunami drill this morning!We got notice ten minutes after an earthquake in Samoa, nearly 1500 miles away from us. We were ashore at the time, but quickly returned to the boat. Despite having to pull a bow and stern anchor, and put away all our at anchor shade, and miscellaneous junk, we got under way within a half hour. Most everyone ashore was moving to higher ground all around the anchorage. Two hours later we got a notice that the tsunami was six inches when it passed Tahiti. Feeling pretty safe we motored around to the west side of Ua Pou where we hope for a smoother anchorage fro the next couple nights.

September 27, 2009
After a very uncomfortable sail overnight we are anchored at Hakahau, Ua Pou. The sail was bad because we were going too slow and the motion of the seas tossed us around badly. We had to go slow so we wouldn't get in before daybreak. Now we are in the dramatic bay where we will do some more hiking. We've already been invited to a picnic on Tuesday by a swimmer going by the boat. We'll spend half of our last two weeks in the Marqueses here.

September 24, 2009
Again we fall into the pattern of sitting and enjoying a spot all too well. Tahuata has been wonderful, free fruit for the picking, great people, and the water is clear and warm. There are less than three weeks left on our visas, so we have to be moving on . . . tomorrow.

September 18, 2009
Our second session with Fati (Felix Fii) ended with Erin having a great Manta Ray above her ankle. She decided to leave the rest of the palette for another time.

Marquesan Manta Ray swimming up Erin's calf
Turtles in Paul's arm band, they are accompanied by Tuna and a Marquesan graphic.



September 17, 2009
Today we met and Fati, one of the most renowned tatoo artists in the Marqueses. So far he has managed to pin Paul with a very cool arm band, tomorrow we'll see what happens to Erin.


September 16, 2009
Back to the boonies. Atuona was just too big city, on top of that the anchorage was one of the worst ever. The next island to the south is Tahuata, we are anchored off the principal village of Vaitahu. This spot is known for the tatoo artists and wood and bone carvers. Erin is considering a full body tatoo, while Paul is looking for a bone fish hook necklace.

September 12, 2009
We have moved on to the main population center in the southern Marqueses at Atuona on Hiva Oa. This is going to be as quick a stop as we can manage. The anchorage is pretty uncomfortable, and the water is so dirty we won't even swim off the boat. We will get fuel, do a little provisioning, get onlline, and visit a few local sites, then be back off the beaten path, hopefully Tuesday. This is the village where both Paul Gaugin and Jacques Brell found inspiration. They didn't have to sleep in the bay.

September 6, 2009
We woke this morning surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of Hanavave Bay (the Bay of Virgins--we don't know if there are any here or not). Fatu Hiva has a reputation of being a bit on the spooky side. The cloud cap clinging to the tops of the 3000 foot peaks along with the eerily eroded remains of the volcano that formed the island lend to this atmosphere.

Our last island group in French Polynesia, the Marquesas are the geologically youngest, with a more primitive culture. We have five weeks left on our visas, and hope to visit five islands. Of course we always seem to stay too long in places we enjoy.

The passage from the Tuamotus was challenging, as we knew it would be. To cover the 530 miles we sailed a distance over ground of nearly 800, because we had to tack into the wind. Since the current ran against us the entire trip, we passed through about 900 miles of water! A long week, but boat and crew made it in good form.

September 5, 2009
Fatua Hiva dominates our horizon, but there are at lease a couple tacks to go. We are about 10 miles out, and it is directly upwind. We'll be anchoring by the light of the full moon later this evening.

September 4, 2009
The wind has been a steady 20 knots, but has not stayed far enough to the south to prevent our continued beating. We will still have another tack or two before we get in . . . maybe tomorrow, maybe Sunday.

September 3, 2009
The long forecast good wind has finally arrived! Yesterday was the worst so far at a whopping 48 miles covered. For now we are scooting along on course, eating up the last 150 miles to Fatu Hiva.

September 2, 2009
Back on starboard tack, heading the right direction, but the promised wind has come in an average of ten knots. Unfortunately that is working out as hours of 3 knots then minutes of 30+. Not making much progress, and pretty stressful as we bob between squalls.

September 1, 2009
Our progress toward the Marqueses has stopped for now. We have tacked over to port and are heading south toward our course line. We will be passing through a frontal system tonight with better wind on the other side. We'll hunker down and go slow the next twelve hours or so.

August 31, 2009
The weather is not as good as we had hoped, or was predicted. The wind is from about 20 degrees farther north than we need. Since we can't go directly into it we are slowly being forced north of our desired course. We are currently 37 miles north of that line. We will be having to do at least a couple tacks to get back on track. For now we are making good progress, over a hundred miles closer to our landfall in Fatu Hive since yesterday afternoon.

August 30, 2009
Our first day out has brought varied wind, not always favorable to us. We did manage to get about 80 miles clocked off toward our destination. We have not been sailing aggressively in the interest of crew comfort and going easy on the boat.

August 29, 2009
As the sun goes down we are sailing away from Fakarava, and the Tuamotus. We leave with many fond memories, and a couple good photos. We have very easy sailing for now, it is supposed to pick up tomorrow, but not enough to make it real uncomfortable . . . we hope.

August 27, 2009
The diving was great, and the sailing on the flat waters inside the atoll was some of the best ever. Sadly we are now making our preparations to depart the Tuamotus. We arrived back at the north end of Fakarava yesterday afternoon, and the supply ship arrived early this morning. We will replenish our stock of fresh veggies, and a couple dozen eggs today.

There is a weather system moving through the next three days that will keep us here until Saturday, or Sunday, when it should leave us with favorable winds for the start of our 600 mile passage to Fatu Hiva, in the Marqueses. That passage may be difficult since it is directly into the prevailing winds, but we are hoping for the best.

August 22, 2009
After an uneventful crossing of Fakarava lagoon we are ready for a couple days of diving on the southern pass. This spot is known for the quantity of sharks seen on the dives. We have friends with 80 sharks in one picture! We'll see if we can get a few for the web site.

August 21, 2009
We finally moved! We had a great day sail 25 miles to the north end of Fakarava. Tomorrow we will motor across the lagoon to the south side to begin our last week of diving in the Tuamotus. After that it will be off to the Marqueses, some say the more primitive of the island groups in French Polynesia.

August 13, 2009
Despite trying our best to move along a little quicker, we find ourselves planted again. Toau is turning into the high point of our year. The diving is great, we have some super pictures. The patriarch of the family ashore, Philippe, has taken Paul out searching for lobster one night and coconut crab another. We'll be here at least another week.

August 4, 2009
Toau is turning out to be one of our best stops so far. The water is clearer, and a bit warmer than anyplace we've been. There is one family here that maintains eight mooring balls, so we don't have to use our anchor (anchoring in coral is deadly to the coral, and tough on anchors and chain too). They only ask that we eat at their restaurant once a week in payment, where they serve lobster, fresh fish, and other local treats. We will definitely be here a couple weeks.

Our host Gaston grilled clams, lobster, fish, and varo for dinner.
The varo was an exceptional treat. Related to lobster, they burrow in the sand inside the lagoon, and are very tasty, but we fear are getting over utilized.
Erin scmoozed with Valentin, our hostess, in hopes of getting her Poisson Cru recipe.



July 31, 2009
The plans changed again! The Trade Winds came up sooner than expected, so we sailed all night. Since we didn't use any more of our fuel we skipped Fakarava for now, and made it to the next atoll to the north Toau. We aren't concerned about the overcast because we are just inside the reef on moorings placed to protect the coral from all the boats that want to anchor here. Here we have a very protected anchorage, and a small village. The diving is supposed to be great. We'll spend a few days here before we continue on to other spots in the central Tuamotus.

July 30, 2009
Just after I sent yesterday's entry the wind started to blow. Seems the little front that has pushed off the Trade Winds is a bit stronger than predicted. It's also about 200 miles north of where it was predicted, right on top of us. We are sailing very slowly from squall to squall, then rather quickly as they pass.

With any luck we'll make it in to Fakarava tomorrow. We have definately changed our landfall because there is a large pass through the reef, and a well charted lagoon. Without sunshine when we get in it is impossible to see the coral heads that are a danger in all the atolls.

July 29, 2009
So far this has been a motorboat ride. We have only sailed about six hours. We planned for full tanks in case we have to motor the entire way, if so we will then have to alter our destination to Fakarava where there is fuel available.

July 28, 2009
We got underway this morning before noon, and are sadly waving goodbye to Tahiti as it shrinks on the horizon. Our destination is about 300 miles east of here, which is directly into the Easterly Trade Winds. A small front is moving south of here with a high pressure ridge just north of it. That has interrupted the Trades. We are sailing in a light westerly with the spinnaker pulling the boat along at 4 knots. We hope the ridge will block the Trades for at least half of our short passage. When they fill back in from the east we will be beating hard to weather. For now it is fine sailing.

July 27, 2009
After eating our last meal of cheese sauce over fresh vegetables sopped up with a fresh baquette we are buttoning up the boat, preparing to depart Papeete tomorrow morning.

Our stay has been great, but we are looking forward to getting back to the stark seclusion of the Tuamotus. We are trying for an atoll called Raraka, primarily because there is little information available, and we expect to be the only boat there

July 24, 2009
Tonight is the last of the Heiva dance performances we will see. Soon we will have our last fresh croisants and baquettes. We have loaded the boat with all the brie and french chocolate we can possibly carry. As soon as the weather is right we will be heading back to the Tuamotus. This is the begining of our trip to Hawaii. We will stay in the Tuamotus about a month, and then on to the Marqueses for another month. From here to the Marqueses will be upwind sailing. We will be waiting for lighter trade winds to avoid bashing our brains and boat more than necessary. Papette has been great for hiking and cultural fun, as well as seeing other cruisers, but we are looking forward to getting back to some more secluded spots.

July 12, 2009
Sorry about the long break between updates. We have been busy eating brie and baguettes, snorkling, hiking, visiting friends, and the never ending boat projects.

Our plans have changed a bit. We are going to ratchet up our travel plans to try to make all our "Have to see" spots in about the next five years. That is about half what we had thought. So this year we will skip the Leeward Society Islands (Raietea and Bora Bora) and be heading back to the Tuamotus, and up to the Marqueses in about a month instead. From there up to Hawaii in the fall. Check out the calendar page for our current long term plan.

June 10, 2009
After a long night and morning dodging squalls, and getting hit by a couple, we are at anchor near Papeete, Tahiti.

We will be here for about a month. It's time to socialize, attend Heiva (three week long cultural festival), reprovision, do a few boat chores, hike, and maybe even relax. We'll be posting a Tuamotu page soon, and a Tahiti page as soon as we have some good pictures to share.

June 9, 2009
Another day of fine sailing. We should be at anchor tomorrow before noon.

June 8, 2009
Our week in Fakarava was great for winding down before the big city. The beach walking was excellent, the snorkeling only passable. The visibility in the water has been way less than we had hoped for.

We departed the south pass this morning on the ebb tide. The weather was perfect, and has remained that way the rest of the day. Just a few clouds, mid 80's, 10 knots of wind. To send us off from the Tuamotus, we caught the best Mahi-mahi that has ever been on the boat. It ran a little over 30 pounds and was nearly five feet long. We were glad that our small freezer space was nearly empty, because now it is packed full!

May 30, 2009
After a long night of trying to slow the boat down in 25 to 30 knot winds we arrived at the southern pass of Fakarava exactly on time for a slack water entrance into the lagoon. This pass is much narrower than Tahanea, and the current could be strong enough to prevent entry if timed poorly.

May 30, 2009
We departed Tahanea after lunch today. We are heading 50 miles up to a more populated atoll, Fakarava. The diving at Tahanea was less than great, visibility has only been about 50 feet. The Tuamotus are known for 200 foot visibility, and we hope to see some new critters at Fakarava. We will also catch up with some cruising friends. We are actually having to hold the boat back. The passes into the atolls are only a couple hundred feet wide, so there is no way we can enter before daylight.

May 25, 2009
Yesterday a cold front chased us into the south corner of the atoll. What would have been a three day rain storm in the Gambiers was only an afternoon shower here, so we ventured out onto the nearest palm-covered motu and past it to the crashing surf line. On the way we crossed a half-mile of coral reef that was last alive thousands of years ago, when sea level was higher. Spotted eels lurked in their underwater dens and and the fins of small black-tipped reef sharks sliced through the water's surface.

May 20, 2009
We motored across the lagoon this morning to get away from some chop from a southerly wind. We are also now another five miles off the beaten track. We saw one boat in the anchorage by the pass, and decided that we want some total isolation.

After anchoring we went for a walk on the reef, and saw small sharks, moray eels, various fish and crabs. Tomorrow we'll break out the dive gear and start exploring Tahanea underwater.

May 18, 2009
At noon today we motored through the pass here at Tahanea. This atoll is known for great dicing, and not many people. There are no services, no airport, no village, and no internet connection. We'll be here for the next few days to few weeks depending on how well we are liking it. We'll post here in the log instead of putting a page up, since it takes a high speed connection to do that. Our next major stop is Tahiti, and we don't need to be there until the middle of June.

May 17, 2009
The discussion on the boat is why this little week long passage is feeling SOOOOO difficult. The cold front has parked on top of us. Large squalls full of rain and some strong wind, but mostly not enough wind to sail. We are still 50 miles away from Tahanea, and may have to motor in tomorrow morning.

May 16, 2009
The weather department is sending us some of the less than desirable stock again. We have about a good days sail left to get to Tahaneha. Unfortunately there is another cold front coming through, so the wind is currently going light, and will turn to on the nose before the night is out. Looks like we'll arrive on Monday.

May 15, 2009
We're debating whether to change our destination atoll from Tahanea to Makemo, which is a bit further, but might be easier depending on wind direction. The other night we had a fly-by from a French military plane when we came within 25 miles of Mururoa, the site of years of nuclear testing. They seemed to find us unthreatening and went away.


May 14, 2009
The wind has dropped to 15-20 knots, but come around from the stern. The motion is still not so great, but we aren't pounding as hard. The catch of the day was our absolute favorite, a nice 10 pound Wahoo. We will eat well for the next few days (like we ever don't).

May 13, 2009
It has been an E Ticket ride since about 8 last night. Wind staead around 25 knots with 10 foot seas. Fortunately we are taking it just forward of the beam. Makes for a fast, wet ride.

May 12, 2009
We just made it out of the anchorage before a huge squall hit. We heard more thunder than we have heard in a long time. There was a solid 30 knots in the squall, followed by no wind at all. At least we can now use our abundance of diesel to motor along between the windy spots.

May 11, 2009
Our weather window is opening. We spent the day getting our check out paperwork together, and loading up on a last load of bananas, limes, and pamplemousse.

Tomorrow morning we will get underway for a 700 mile passage up to about the middle of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Our planned destination is Tahaneha, an atoll about 10 by 20 miles with no full time inhabitants. It is known for excellent diving and we plan to be in the water every day while there. The passage seems short after the 29 days from the Galapagos, but there is a chance the unsettled weather will throw some strong winds at us. We as prepared as we know how to be.

May 8, 2009
As the Southern Hemisphere winter is setting in we are experiencing cooler, blustery weather. It got down to 70 last night! There were torrential rains and wind gusts into the 40 knot range to go with it. It's getting to be time to be moving a bit closer to the equator.

Watching the weather charts has become a couple hour a day activity, since we want to pick the best time for our 700 mile passage up to the Tuamotu Archipelago. We hope to leave early next week.
April 27, 2009
We have been having a blast in Magareva. The place is amazing. Too bad we only have a six month visa for all of French Polynesia, or we might just hang out here for quite a while.

Paul spent a couple hours working with the wifi system. The owner of the company was on the phone from Tahiti. So far there is still no signal. It looks like we may not get a chance to upload any pictures real soon.

The parts for our frozen propeller shaft came in Saturday, and are installed. We can move under power again. It is a good feeling to know we can get out of the anchorage under our own power.

April 21, 2009
We are getting accustomed to Mangareva. It is all that a tropical paradise should be, beautiful beaches, smiling people, fruit falling on the ground that you pick up for free, etc etc . . .

The other side of the coin is that the supply ship came in today. All the cabbage, apples, ginger, and tomatoes were sold out before we got to the store. We got a few veggies, but will be glad for the canned stuff onboard. Hard to complain while the best bananas, mangoes, grapefruit, oranges, and limes are free.

It turns out that wifi arrived on the island four months ago. They had the first equipment failure last week, the replacement part is supposed to be on the weekly plane tomorrow. We will do our best to get a page posted soon.

April 19, 2009
We made it! After 29 days at sea, we are at anchor of Rikitea Village, Mangareva Island. The anchorage is perfectly flat, there is no motion, we are going to break out a bottle of wine and celebrate. We will be here for a couple weeks. Watch for a new "Voyages" page with some pictures and the real details of the passage.

April 18, 2009
Another night at sea. We are about seven miles outside the reef at the Gambiers. We have a minor mechanical that is preventing us from motoring, so we have to wait for perfect conditions at noon tomorrow to enter the pass.

April 17, 2009
With only 75 miles to go we are AGAIN running out of wind. All day it has gotten lighter and lighter. Sailing under out light nylon drifter and full main is very pretty, the additional knot of boat speed will get us in before dark tomorrow.

April 16, 2009
I feel like the little bear. Today we have the 15 knot trade winds we expected to have most of this passage. We are 220 miles away from the Gambiers, and hoping that our winds hold.

April 15, 2009
The filling and collapsing of the jib and the violent jerk of its line against a block on deck fills the boat with a cacophony of sound. Who said sailing was peaceful? We're hoping to make landfall by Saturday, but we're at the mercy of the winds.

April 14, 2009
The third big squall of the day arrived just after our showers. Timing couldn't have been worse to add to the cranky factor. On deck reefing down with 35 knots blowing through, saltwater pouring over the bow, on a direct target for the neck opening of the foul weather jacket. After it blows for 10 minutes we wallow in the calm behind the squall, and rinse the saltwater off before trying to catch a few minutes sleep.

April 13, 2009
The weather continues to dish up unexpected surprises. Today we are back to the grey, with a little rain, plenty of wind and huge seas. Not the Cadillac ride we hoped for. Finally had our first fresh fish for lunch, a 20 lb tuna sacrificed for our fare. No fishing for a few days.

April 12, 2009
We made it south of the front! Since about sunrise we have been back to the trade wind clouds, and mostly sunshine. The wind is still up above normal, but we are moving along, will have about a 140 mile days run. Only 725 miles to go. And we are finally west of Seattle for the first time since we left there in 2006.

April 11, 2009
Back to Seattle weather. Wall to wall clouds, and plenty of rain. There is a big low pressure area 400 miles south of us that has sent us a frontal system. The weather service says it is dissipating, it sure has plenty of wind and rain left! We are down to about 100 square feet of sail, and still making 6 knots.

April 10, 2009
How quickly the weather changes. Yesterday's trade winds turned out to be a tease and have been replaced by light air, drizzle, and confused seas, making for uncomfortable motion. The crew is cranky and tired of being teased. The chocolate supply is dwindling.

April 9, 2009
The trades are filling back in! We had NO wind all might with plenty of dark clouds, and some rain. Early this morning the cotton ball trade wind clouds showed up on the southern horizon, and within an hour we were back up to four knots. Still 1075 miles to go, nut we're moving again.

April 8, 2009
Another very light air day. We will make just over 50 miles, about half that from the current. It is frustrating after making such good time for a few days, on the other hand it is easy to get chores and cooking done with the boat standing up straight for a change.

April 7, 2009
The trades are usually steady, from the southeast between 10 and 20 knots in this area. For the last week, we had classic trade wind sailing. As of now this is unusual weather. The wind is out of the North, which made us reset the sails completely and a little less than ten knots. The charts say tomorrow will be even less. Our days of record length runs are in the past.

April 6, 2009
We slowed down a bit more today. It's amazing the difference of the ride in the boat between 6-7 knots versus 4.5-5.5. When moving faster, each wave starts a sprint along the face, the acceleration is apparent in everything you are doing, even trying to sleep. When we slow down all the motion and sound becomes gentle, it is far easier to walk, make lunch, and even to get in or out of bed. We'll only make 110 miles today, but the quality of the ride is well worth the time.

We are way out in the middle of the Southern Pacific. The closest point of land is Easter Island, 775 miles to our south. We have 1300 miles to go to Mangareva in the Gambiers.

April 5, 2009
Paul made celebratory pasta, since we reached the mid-point of our passage today. That's according to mileage, not time. If the trade winds remain steady, we might make it in 11 more days. Erin's ready for a beach-side massage and a beer.

April 4, 2009
Another fine day in paradise. We continue to make great time. We are both burning through our reading lists, and enjoying the luxury of many hours a day to gobble up Steinbeck and other greats. We mix in an hour or two of language practice too, Erin is working on Polynesian while Paul stumbles through simple French.

April 3, 2009
The bir event for today was setting our clocks back to Mountain Time. We started out due south of New Orleans, and are currently south of Denver. The Gambier islands, our destination aren't quite as far west as Hawaii. Three time zones to go!

We're moving a little slower today. We had two days in a row at 150 miles, which are records. Today we'll be back around 120, much closer to our average.

April 2, 2009
Smooth sailing, if you call riding up and down 8 foot waves every ten seconds smooth. From the angle they come from it is pretty good, until one pops over the side into the cockpit. The real challenge is showering, outside of course, then getting down below without becoming salt encrusted.

April 1, 2009
Well I could say we have arrived, but I don't think there are any out there that would believe it. No joke though, Erin just watched a BIG marlin jumping alongside the boat for about five minutes. Fortunately it didn't show any interest in our fishing line.

We still have a reasonably strong current working with us, so yesterday we managed to cover almost 150 miles. At that rate we only have two weeks to go.

March 31, 2009
Now we're going somewhere! We are averaging a little over 6 knots. Yeah you can ride a bicycle that fast and not even break a sweat. It's pretty much as fast as this old boat can go. We are on course, and smiling.

March 30, 2009
Early this morning we finally broke through the southern edge of the low pressure trough we have been poking along in for what felt like a very long time. We are in the southern trades! We made our first better than 100 mile day, the motion and moise in the boat are SO much better, and our ETA is now within about three weeks. Smiles all around on the boat.

So far today's batch of suicidal flying fish set a record. There were 16 of the stiff little guys drying on the decks this morning! We haven't been fishing so far since few will bite on a line hanging straight down. Now that we're moving we hope for some fresh fish on the menu soon.

March 29, 2009
The Seattle jokes are starting to wear pretty thin around here. No sun in days, rain ranging from fine mist to total downpour, wind from 0 to 15 knots, mostly 3 to 5.

Then again it is 83 in the cabin, and we're making our own schedule. The food is great and the company is entertaining.

March 28, 2009
We have had a wind shift to the direction of the trade winds, and for awhile it even started to feel like we had made it. Good wind through the night last night, but very light again all day today. The sky remains a very Seattle grey. Looking for some tropical sunshine.

Had a visit by a pod of spinner dolphins, and a solitary medium sized whale that we could not identify.

March 27, 2009
Stil not down far enough south to reach the trade winds. The boat is cleaner than she has been when we lived in the Northwest. The squalls offer the only wind, and then it is constantly shifting. Lots of sail handling practice, but hard for the off watch to sleep.

March 25, 2009
It looked like Seattle here this morning! We sailed through a huge rain storm almost all night. Made decent time, and got a real wash down. Both the rain and wind stopped this morning, so we are back to poking along.

March 24, 2009
We managed to go slower today than yesterday. We are getting out of the cold Peru Current so cabin temperature is up into the upper 80's. The area is full of small squalls that bring a little wind, but just for a few minutes as they pass.

March 24, 2009
The forecast for no wind has caught up with us. There isn't enough wind to keep a jib or spinnaker filled so we are flopping along with just the main up. There is a real racket as the sail fills and goes slack with the very small swell that is coming from windier country.

March 23, 2009
We continue our slow comfy sail to the southwest. Oddly, because of a cold current that comes up from Peru, it is a bit chilly. Nighttime temperature in the cbain is getting down to the mid 70's. We actually have to use a sheet!

March 22, 2009
Despite the forecasts for no wind at all, we seem to be sailing just fine. The big spinnaker has been up all day pulling us south. Our send-off from the Galapagos has included a whale show, lots of birds, and the ever present sea lions.

March 21, 2009
We will depart the Galapagos today, enroute to the Gambier Islands. We have enjoyed our stay, although we could have seen all there is to see in about half the time we were here.

Our suggestion to other travelers is to book one of the liveaboard boats that have 4 & 5 day tours that visit most of the islands. Though this may sound whirlwind, you will see more, and deal with a lot fewer hassles than we did booking our touring as we went.

The trip to the Gambiers will be a little over 3,000 miles. It will take at least 25 days, maybe a bit longer. It will be an easier passage than coming here from Mexico because the wind will be more favorable. Unfortunately there is little wind for the first couple hundred miles so we will be working hard for each mile starting out.

March 2, 2009
We arrived in Wreck Bay, Isla San Cristobal this morning. All is well, we are wandering around town, shocked at the missing selection of fresh food. We'll get over it. Watch for a new page covering our passage in the next day or two.

March 1, 2009
At 1:30 this afternoon we crossed the Equator. Neptune stopped by the boat to share in a spot of grog. He transformed Erin from a Pollywog to a Shellback, as it was her first crossing aboard a sailing ship.

We started the day with the first favorable wind and current we have seen in awhile. We are sailing comfortably, on course with a knot of current helping us along. There are just 50 miles to go, we should easily be at anchor by noon tomorrow.

February 28, 2009
We are so close . . . the equator is only 58 miles south of us, and we are within twenty miles of a couple of the smaller Galapagos Islands. The GPS still says we have 125 miles to go to our destination. We could make that in a good day, but unless there is a very odd change it will take us until late Monday to get in.

February 27, 2009
Still too much wind to motor into, and not enough to sail very fast. We are poking along and feeling like it could take forever. There are 178 miles to go, another three days at this rate of progress.

February 26, 2009
We have had a quiet day sailing about three knots, hard to weather. So for the three knots we make about one and a half toward our goal. We made 57 miles in the past 24 hours. There is still too much wind to motor into directly so the last 230 miles is going to take awhile. All is well, we still have some fresh vegetables and fruit, just anxious to get in.

February 26, 2009
We have had a quiet day sailing about three knots, hard to weather. So for the three knots we make about one and a half toward our goal. We made 57 miles in the past 24 hours. There is still too much wind to motor into directly so the last 230 miles is going to take awhile. All is well, we still have some fresh vegetables and fruit, just anxious to get in.

February 25, 2009
If you aren't bored yet, you will be shortly. We sure are. There is just enough wind to sail, but it is coming directly from our destination. We are tacking along doing 3-4 knots at 45° to where we want to go. There is just enough wind that motoring directly into it is inefficient, and somewhat uncomfortable. At least we could catch a fish, but no luck there either.

February 24, 2009
We have crossed into an area called the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone. We are now south of the northeasterly trade winds that have given us nice sailing for the past few days. For now there is a very light breeze from the southeast, but the large swell rolling through from the north makes it impossible for us to sail on it. When the sails fill they work fine, but a second later the swell rocks the boat enough that we spill our light breeze. Pretty frustrating. For now we motor.

February 23, 2009
Schools of flying fish take off at our bow, tilting their "wings" to soar away from the boat. They can actually negotiate waves and stay airborne for 5-10 seconds at a time, flying over the water for hundreds of feet.

We're still making good time, which for us means roughly six miles an hour through the water. We don't expect this wind to last through tomorrow.

February 22, 2009
We're still beating into uncomfortable seas on port tack, meaning we have to strap in to use the galley. But today we hove to (a trick of stopping and bobbing in the beeeze) so we could have more comfortable motion for a couple hours to shower and make a delicious lunch of tortellini with red peppers, portabello mushrooms, and a gorgonzola sauce. Then we went back to beating, but managed to keep our lunches down. Maybe we should heave to for 10 hours for some good sleep.

February 21, 2009
We passed a low pressure trough this morning, and since our nice comfortable sail has turned into a noisy beat. We are making good speed, on course, but are heeled 20° and often swing to over 30° when a big wave comes through. The boat handles this better than the crew. No gourmet cooking today.

February 20, 2009
There be squalls, here in the trade wind zone. We drove through a couple that we couldn't dodge today. They were of the benign variety, a little rain and a little wind, just enough to be refreshing. We know there are bigger nasty brethren lurking somewhere.

The sailing has been great! Steady winds and on our beam, or just a little forward. We are being reminded to focus on the voyage rather than the destination by the foul current. Often we see nearly half our boat speed stolen by the mean thing! Gggrrrr!!!

February 19, 2009
We have made into the trade winds. We were hoping for them to be northeasterly, but they are currently blowing about 15 knots due ease. Our course of southeast means the boat is hard to weather, healed over and beating into the waves. The forecast is for a week of this. No motoring in site soon, but a few bruises.

Last night the dark night sky combined with the extreme posphorescence and the midnight dolphin visits provided glowing tracks their play with each other as they wove in and out of our bow wave.

February 18, 2009
Nature report: no whales, no dolphins, just a few boobie birds--one stupid enough to bump into our topping lift. A contrary curmudgeonly current is keeping us down to 4 knots over ground, but the boat's motion is comfortable enough to keep the crew happy.

We motored for a few hours last night, but the diesel beast has been lying dormant since 7am. Since then it's been smooth sailing with full main and genoa.

February 17, 2009
The nature show was limited to a number of Boobie birds that flew circles around the boat most of the day. There was one small pod of very small dolphins, maybe I'll look them up and find they were anchovies.

We have had the nylon drifter up all day, not fast, but not using any diesel, and clocking off a few more miles.

February 16, 2009
It turns out the large porpoises (12-15 feet) we saw yesterday, were Melon Head Whales. They used to have them at Marineland according to our book. They swam with the boat a number of times through the night and sang us their songs.

We finally had to run the engine a couple hours this morning. Now we are back to our light air drifter, and just poking along at two knots.

The crew is happily feasting on our last fresh produce from Mexico, lunch was a frittata with yellow bell pepper and Portabello mushroom. We'll miss the variety and often be eating from cans in the coming year.

February 15, 2009
We passed a few tortugas (turtles) today and were serenaded by the largest dolphins we've ever seen. Their squeaks reverberated through the hull. We tried our spinnaker for the second time ever and after sorting out a few minor issues, it worked and looked great--for two hours. Then the wind shifted, and we had to take down the spinnie and pole.

We haven't run the engine since we left Z-huat. Sweat is running in rivulets--too bad we can't recycle it and use our watermaker less.

Thirty-two hours down, a couple hundred to go!

February 14, 2009
We left Zihuatanejo this morning at 10:00. The wind was just coming up so we used very little of our precious fuel getting away from the anchorage. We may have to motor quite a bit of this passage, which is known for calms, and we only carry enough fuel to make about half of it under power.

So far today we have had a great sail. The wind is behind us and just enough to move us along at nearly max speed all day. The forecast is for it to hold through the night, which always makes for a happy crew.

We'll miss Mexico, but watching the horizon for our next stop has us both very excited.

February 13, 2009
We have had a wonderful stay in Zihuatanejo. A great send-off from our adventures in Mexico.

The boat is packed, tanks are full, and the weather report is favorable. Tomorrow we depart for the Galapagos. We expect this to be about a two week passage through an area where we can expect everything from extended calms to the possibility of very strong winds. We are hoping for a happy medium, but will have to take whatever we get, there is no place to turn in and hide.

January 19, 2009
After a pretty uneventful passage we have dropped anchor in Zihuatanejo Bay. We will be here for almost a month, enjoying a family visit, the annual Sailfest fund raiser for the local schools, and a kickoff party for the gang of us that are crossing the Pacific this spring.

We probably won't be posting any updates here before we depart for the Galapagos around mid February.

January 18, 2009
we turned the motor off this morning and had a great day sailing in light air, wing on wing. The jib is on the pole to starboard and the main is all the way out to port. The cabin temp hit 89 so the fans are back in business.

January 17, 2009
We have moved into a new climate zone. Yesterday evening the wind shifted from the Northerlies we have had since leavinf La Paz to a South Westerly, that is much lighter, and at least ten degrees warmer. We had to motor for a couple hours this morning, but have sailed slowly since mid-day.

January 16, 2009
The nights have been clear and warmer--perfect for stargazing.

January 15, 2009
Today was clear skies and smooth sailing. Not fast, but getting warmer.

January 14, 2009
Had a pretty wild ride for our first night out. Down to just a small portion of the jib sail, and no main. Made great speed, but not much for a crew used to sleeping the night through in a slip. Wind has decreased through the day, and the motion is much more comfortable this evening.

January 13, 2009
Departed La Paz this morning on the outgoing tide. Had a couple hours good sailing, but most of the day has been motorboating. Tomorrow morning we will no longer be able to see the Baja California Peninsula. We leave with many fond memories of fun times and great people.