The Big Island & Photos (finally)

We're still in Hilo (rainy side) - but plan to leave tomorrow (very early am) for the other side of the island... we'll plan to anchor where possible and take our friends out for day sails.  We've been pretty busy here (hence the blog silence) visiting friends and touring around the island.  A one-week rental car turned into two weeks when Tim figured out that was the only way to get to the surf breaks.  He's caught a few waves, but nothing to write home about.  Mostly small wind chop, but definitely better than nothing.  I haven't gotten out in the surf here -- the lava rocks scare me, as does the undertow and the possiblity of running over turtles that are feeding on the rocks under the surf.  At the local Hilo break, I counted almost 10 turtles one day!  I think they're green turtles, and they looked pretty good sized.  We've gotten to snorkel a bit and seen amazing fish every time.  Looking forward to more good snorkeling off of the boat once we're over on the Kona side of the island.  Still not sure when we'll head for Maui....it'll be hard to leave our friends on the Big Island!

Lots of folks have been asking for pictures, and our internet connection on the boat ( I bought a wireless card for here) has been pitifully slow, so just checking email has been painful.  But today I finally made time to come use the wifi at the local bar (wouldn't you know the bar across from the port is called Margarita Village -- but I'm sticking to beer -- margaritas will never be the same as in mexico!).  So check out the pictures from our passage below!

First some photos from our departure afternoon -- when jason paddled out to see us off...

Then we were off and running until we approached the Socorro Islands and anchored at Isla Benedicto for about 30 hours...

Approaching Isla Benedicto

Lori is glad to see land!

Tim and Lori checking out the two *large* manta rays swimming around the bay.

A family of Humpback whales came to see us off the morning we left Isla Benedicto.

Then we sailed away from Isla Benedicto and for a day or so, there were still birds and sighns of life like this passing ship (I think this was the Iranian ship that called us on the VHF)...

Notice that despite the sun, Tim is wearing a wool sweater and pants!!!

Underway we saw little wildlife, but when the birds visited, we took photos!

Our first visiting bird (a eurasian collared dove?) - tim moved him from the deck to the cockpit so he wouldn't keep getting drenched by the waves coming over the bow.

Lucky Lori caught us a nice Yellofin Albacore Tuna... which she proceeded to clean and I made sashimi for lunch!



Lori's Tuna!

Cleaning the fish underway -- not an easy task, and messy!

Sashimi - yum.  Where's the wasabi?

We did see *one* rainbow underway.  It was beautiful.

The night of our passover seder we felt it was fitting to send off the wine bottle with a little message....

The next time we threw out the hook, I caught a mahi mahi (also known as a dorado or dolphinfish) with my lucky red and white feather lure... Lori had caught her fish before she even got the line out all the way, mine took a bit longer... after about 10  minutes I had a hit!  Mahi are such beautiful fish, it's always sad to see the colors change when they die.  But they sure are good to eat!

Tim made fish fingers with the mahi -- we had to strap in to cook - gave you something to brace against and made sure you wouldn't get thrown across the boat when the waves hit.

The pictures don't do justice to the height of the swells we encountered... Tim's not real happy here (because i'm taking a photo, or because the windvane is making a loud cracking noise every few minutes?), and check out the wave behind him...

Here's an idea of our view on a typical day... grey, overcast, poled out jib, trying to stay the course downwind.

We did have a couple of sunsets, but never clear enough to see the green flash (which Tim and I have yet to see -- does it really occur?  I'm not so sure...)

We're a little tired!

 Had to include this photo of Tim's over the stern Boga pose.  I had to hold on to make sure he stayed aboard.  He had to tighten the screws on the windvane.  Our friend Skip on S/V Dolphin had similar problems and actually sheared a bolt on his.  Skip was singlehanding... how did he fix that without going overboard???  Note the bird on the mizzen boom in this photo.  That was our friend Jack (kerouac) who hitched a ride with us for a few days.  He was pretty territorial too...

Over the stern *boga* pose, with Jack looking on from the boom.

 For many hours, a second booby, who we named 'Magoo' kept trying to land next to Jack, and when he did it was mayhem-- here they are fighting.

Mr. Magoo finally found his home on the main boom.

 Finally, our first sight of land....

Yup, can you tell we're happy to be at the dock???

Midnight Blue at the dock - note the cruiseship behind us!

Our friends Robyn, Brian and Tasman came down to welcome us to Hawaii. 

And, we added the line to the globe...

That's all for now!

Life in Rainy Hilo!

Life in Rainy Hilo!

Friday May 6th, 2011
Position: 19 degrees 43 minutes North, 155 degrees 03 minutes West
Anchored in Radio Bay, Hilo, Hawaii

Total mileage since Punta Mita Mexico == about 2900 miles
top mileage day 143 miles
trip average 120 miles per day

Our last day was one of the roughest of the passage - after two pretty sleepless nights (sleeping in the washing machine, we had to deal with a totally overcast squally morning - occasional high wind gusts and lots of lulls in between. We were really concerned about keeping up our speed as we had over 60 miles to cover during daylight hours if we were to make it in by dark. We had sailed all night with the jib out on a pole, as close to our downwind course as possible, and we were making good speeds (the occasional 9.5+!). It seemed that the wind died so we decided to put up the spinnaker and that was a mistake - we were way overpowered sliding down the waves - to scary for nervous nelly jane, and even for Tim! So all that effort (put up the main, take down the jib and pole, raise the spinnaker) and we had to undo it and go back to the poled out jib. Eventually at 3pm we started the engine to make water before we hit port, and then motorsailed the last 3 hours to make sure we got in before dark. It was a bit anticlimactic approaching Hawaii - we couldn't see land until about 12 miles out! We hardly saw a sunrise or sunset the whole trip (too overcast), and still haven't seen the snowy peak of Mauna Kea (they've had a winter weather warning up there - icy roads!). The island of Hawaii is pretty incredible, and we're looking forward to exploring more. Tim & I have been here before but it's all new for Lori.

Pulling in to the harbor channel, a big squall hit, and Lori got soaked steering us in. It was a bit nerveracking for us all, but luckily the squall passed quickly and we got in to the dock and some other boaters helped tie off our stern for the night. After uncorking a celebratory bottle of Bubbles we all started to realize how hungry we were, and at the same time how exhausted we were and dinner just seemed like way too much effort… but thanks to cell phones and a few calls to our friendly Hawaiian security guards (we still weren't legally allowed to step on land) we were able to call and order a yummy pizza pie from Big Island Pizza and get it delivered, as well as a security escort to the front gate to pick it up!!! How's that for service with a smile!! ALOHA!! :

The next morning Tim cleared us in to customs. We had to give up our leftover produce and frozen chicken/meat, but they didn't come to inspect the boat, just asked us to bring it up to the office. The port here is secured by Homeland Security - which means we have to have an escort any time we leave the boat - they pick us up in a little pickup and drive us to the front gate (or back). Yesterday we made two outings - first one we walked up the street about a mile to the pancake house for breakfast… A squall hit just as we got about 5 minutes down the road, so we were like drowned rats when we reached the restaurant,( the bus boys followed us around mopping up our puddles!!!) - needless to say, we were all a bit grumpy by the time we had that hot coffee and ginormous pancakes. Then later we took the (FREE!) bus into downtown Hilo to do laundry and look around. The Laundromat was awesome - reasonable, quick and clean and nice staff! Our laundry weighed about half as much on the way home. Lots of Thai and other yummy looking restaurants and a well stocked natural foods store; it's a cute town. We went to get a beer and there was a huge line at the Mexican restaurant - turns out it was cinco de mayo!

Looking back on the trip Lori made the observation that we were in "a constant state of suspended aggravation," the sleep deprivation and the wobbliness that required you to hang on or brace yourself constantly (including while sleeping) just made for an uncomfortable passage. We had very few reprieves of calmer seas and sunny weather. And now we're here in grey rainy Hilo - it's been raining quite a bit since we landed! And humid in between. (I guess that explains why all the plants here- similar to the ones we are familiar with from the Virgin Islands- look to be on steroids!!! So lush and a gorgeous shade of green!!) Quite different from our dry sunny mexico! But we're glad to have made it in one piece and to realize how fortunate we had no big problems with the boat and no one got sick or injured. Thanks to Tom (and Billy!!!) for the stash of Eco-lips lip stuff - nearly 3000 miles later and none of us got chapped lips (we used it constantly - better than any other chapsticks we had with us) - we all loved our flavors (my favorite was the orange cream).

Last night Tim painted the line on globe. It's pretty crazy to think how far we've come. We'll stay on Hawaii for a while, then head to Maui next, and make our way up the chain to Oahu and Kauai. Today our good friends Robyn and Brian (and Tasman) will come down to see us and then I'll head up to spend a night with them and let Tim have a mellow night on the boat. We'll also plan to visit with Tim's good friend Grant here on Hawaii, and then can't wait to see Tim's brother Kevin soon!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

We're here!

Just a quick note that we arrived safely in hilo last nite and tied up and drank champagne at sundown. Just cleared in and goin for breakfast now...yipeee!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

DAY 25: Tuesday May 3, 2011
Position: 19 degrees 29 minutes North, 152 degrees 25 minutes West
About 150 miles to go…

We are definitely getting land fever now. Last night was so rolly not much sleep was had by any of the crew. But today dawned brilliant and sunny with much much calmer seas and winds and both Lori and I were immediately pestering Tim - when can we put up the spinnaker?? So about 10 AM the spinnaker went up, the boat evened out and the crew all had well deserved naps (in turns). We may make it to Hilo tomorrow depending on the winds, and if not, then it'll be on Thursday. It's either been to rough, or we've been too tired to fish since Jane caught the Mahi, but maybe tomorrow on our way in!

We've already changed time twice this trip - the first time we skipped two hours, then one more, and today we're going to make the final change to Hawaii time! It's been pretty strange sailing so far west that we can really tell that we're no longer in the right time zone, as the sun starts to set later and later, and come up later and later. The watch schedule we've used has Lori on for the sunrise (6 - 9 am) and it was getting so that most of her watch was in the dark!

Still waiting for that first glimpse of the mountains on the Big Island, and to smell the land…. Our next post may be from land!!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Still wobbling along

Still wobbling along…

DAY 23: Sunday May 1, 2011
Position: 19 degrees 45 minutes North, 147 degrees 39 minutes West
About 425 miles to go…

As we were preparing to sail away from Punta Mita, we placed bets on our arrival date. That afternoon the breeze was fresh, and everything looked good for a very fast passage. Tim guessed April 29, followed by Jane picking April 30th, Jason (our would be stowaway who paddled out to see us off) chose May 1, and Lori went with May 2nd. Well, looks like none of us win. What will be our arrival date? Still not totally sure, but looking more like sometime May 5th. I know it says day 23 up top there, but we didn't leave til 5pm on day 1, and we stopped for more than 24 hours at Isla Benedicto. So we've really done about 21 days of sailing to date…not the fastest passage ever to Hawaii, but we're getting there!

We've been making good speeds the past few days, in the 6-8 knot range (there goes a 7.8!), but as seems to be the case this trip, we're not exactly on course, so we will have to make some tacks to lay Hilo. Yesterday we flew the spinnaker for the first time in a while… the winds and seas had died down so it was a perfect time for a nice downwind run. Then last night we ran with just our jib out and dealt with rainy squalls on and off (seems each crew person had their own personal soaking). Today we've had honking winds 15-20 knots all day from the NE, good for making progress, but seas of 8-10 feet make it very wobbly! We haven't seen any ships for days, just lots of blue blue blue (different shades) of water. I imagine that'll change as we get closer to Hawaii. We're starting to fantasize about the Laundromat and clothes that aren't covered in salt. Provisions are holding up well, we still have some fresh produce - apples, cukes, carrots, onions and tomatoes… just ate the last of the broccoli yesterday - it held up 3 weeks in the fridge! We'll want to use up the produce before we arrive or I think it may be confiscated.

I'm gonna let Lori tell you about our recent bird visitors/hitchhikers.

For days we have been all alone out here, not a sign of other life so to speak, so the other afternoon when a juvenile brown boobie bird landed on the overturned dinghy up on deck for a rest, it was a major event. We all took turns going up for a closer look and photo ops which the bird didn't seem to mind. Several hours later though, Tim, remembering of the 'gifts' the last boobie left on deck, decided that it was time for this guy to go… it was comical really, Tim up there flapping his arms and clapping and this bird defiantly spreading his wings and honking back at him(they sound similar to a duck)! He finally took flight. After Tim thwarted his many attempts at re-landing he flew off and Tim nestled into his sunny spot in the cockpit with his book. Some minutes later the bird was back, he decided to perch this time on the mizzen boom, and settled into preening…His tail end was aimed clear of the boat so Tim decided he could stay…and so he did…for nearly 2 days!!! We were all amazed by his lack of fear of us, as close as he would let us get to him. I suppose maybe he was fully aware of the point on the end of his beak and what it was capable of!?! He responded to the name of Jack, which seemed appropriate for a hitchhiker… He settled into his little spot back there, leaving a few brief times for feeding, never gone for more than 15 min, then back to his fastidious grooming…then yesterday an adult boobie who we later would call Magoo, began eyeing up Jack's spot. He appeared tired and his feathers looked ragged. It seemed as if he was having troubles seeing well too. Jack wasn't too keen on him swooping and would honk up a great ruckus anytime he got near. They went beak to beak in a few battles before , mercifully, Magoo realized that we had an unoccupied second boom!! After a few botched attempts at landing, he finally made it and hunkered down for the night. I can't tell you how sweet it was to have them both out there on the night watches, company of sorts. It was also quite impressive how they managed to hang in through the squalls, some with some heavy rains and decent winds! This morning they flew off, apparently feeling rested enough to move on. In exchange for a safe haven they provided us with a nice diversion from the otherwise unchanging sea scape, and it definitely boosted our spirits! It feels a little empty without them there!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com