More hard decisions today... a day or so after the decision was made to head to Cabo, we became aware that the tropics were not "all quiet" but things were starting to brew, and we would be under some definite time pressure to get to a safe port before a potential tropical storm might head our way. So today we again changed our destination - back to the safety of Ensenada, far enough north to be out of hurricane zone. Hopefully the weather gods will look favorably on us for the next few days!
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Sunday, June 10, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Day 28
We thought we might be there by now... But since "there" has just changed from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas (or thereabouts) we still have another 800 miles to go. As we approached the coast, the winds picked up and so did the seas, making it hard for us to keep on course for Ensenada. We hove-to (drifted with sails set to keep us in place) one night, then decided to head SE to be more comfortable and keep making headway. So after two days of heavy winds and BIG frightening seas (not to mention COLD COLD weather in general) we are far enough south that it just makes sense to continue towards Cabo and not try to get back north to Ensenada. So the journey continues... this trip has been really trying. Just when the light (or Margarita/cold beer) at the end of the tunnel appeared, it was extinguished and replaced by fear of seas breaking in the cockpit during the cold dark night. We finally holed up down below at night, leaving our windvane to steer the boat which she did admirably. Having the new radar, and the AIS systems that alert us to ships nearby we felt ok to not be on deck for once. Things seem to be letting up today and we are able to head right at Cabo, so maybe we'll make landfall in a week? Stay tuned!
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Day 25
Well, this has definitely made it into the record books for the longest passage ever for both of us. The way over from Mexico took 24 days of sailing (but really the record was 21 days straight since we stopped at the Socorro Islands after 3 days). Anyhow, we're getting close now, less than 500 miles to go, and we've had plenty of cold north wind for the past two days. Those winds should take us all the way in to port. May get some heavyish winds to keep things exciting just when we're getting verrryyyy tired. We hope to make landfall in a couple of days.
Tim's been keeping busy with little projects of course, trying to keep us dry and warm in the cockpit where we sit for our watches. It's gotten a bit rough for cooking but i did manage a pan of brownies for watch treats last night. We've still got a bit of tuna left which may go into a thai curry if it gets calm enough later today. Other than a rolly boat which requires constant bracing and one hand to steady yourself, all's well on board.
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Tim's been keeping busy with little projects of course, trying to keep us dry and warm in the cockpit where we sit for our watches. It's gotten a bit rough for cooking but i did manage a pan of brownies for watch treats last night. We've still got a bit of tuna left which may go into a thai curry if it gets calm enough later today. Other than a rolly boat which requires constant bracing and one hand to steady yourself, all's well on board.
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Friday, June 1, 2012
Day 21 - becalmed again last night!
Becalmed again last night, and sat drifting in big NW swells while Tim made a yummy dinner from our freshly caught Albacore Tuna! It was a beautiful fish. Tim had never caught one of these before. It definitely tasted different than the yellowfin we're used to eating. Didn't have the energy to roll sushi but had some sashimi. Raw, the meat was so melt in your mouth and silky, good dipped in wasabi and soy. Then Tim seared some, and cooked it reminded me of canned tuna! I plan to make fresh tuna salad today. We motored again yesterday, keeping a watch from the bow to ensure we didn't run over any large floating lines or nets. We're also keeping an eye out for the glass japanese fishing buoys... we passed a few earlier before we realized it might be cool to grab one to have as a keepsake of our time becalmed in the pacific! On bow watch we've both been enjoying sitting up there, perched on top of the overturned dinghy, listening to our favorite tunes on the earphones. It a sweet feeling to be cruising through the glassy ocean out here in the middle of it, but sad when you look around and see plastics floating. Some patches have lots of debris, but mostly we're just seeing the odd buoy or masses of line, or little bits of small plastic stuff. Don't think we're right in the pacific *gyre* where the bulk of the plastics are, but still sad to see what we've seen, and worrisome from the standpoint of motoring through it. That's why we chose to drift becalmed at night, since we can't keep a watch for the lines that could foul our prop and harm our engine.
Todays forecast sounds like we will hit the favorable westerly winds later today, the wind has already picked up again (in the middle of the night actually we got up and raised sail) so we're moving along towards Ensenada right now. If the winds pick up as forecast, we're going to have LOTS of wind to speed us along, maybe we can reach Ensenada in about a week. Been enjoying the solitude of the quiet moments when we're becalmed or sailing slowly along. It'll be quite a difference when we get back into heavy winds.
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Todays forecast sounds like we will hit the favorable westerly winds later today, the wind has already picked up again (in the middle of the night actually we got up and raised sail) so we're moving along towards Ensenada right now. If the winds pick up as forecast, we're going to have LOTS of wind to speed us along, maybe we can reach Ensenada in about a week. Been enjoying the solitude of the quiet moments when we're becalmed or sailing slowly along. It'll be quite a difference when we get back into heavy winds.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Day 18 - More than halfway now!
Position: May 29, 2012 at noon (HST), 34 degrees 11 minutes North, 139 degrees 52 minutes West.
First of all, we're definitely past the halfway mark now, both by distance covered, and by time elapsed (we hope WAY more than half the time!). Hard to measure when we hit *halfway* given that we haven't exactly sailed a straight line to our destination. Which by the way, we have decided will be Ensenada, Mexico, just south of San Diego. Given that a hurricane was headed at Puerto Vallarta this past weekend, we decided it is just too risky to sail further south until next fall. Unless of course, the winds push us that way and make it too difficult to get to Ensenada!
We've had some good wind and then a bunch of no wind. Right now we're back to motoring, trying to get out of the center of the high and back into some light winds at least. We've got a bunch of diesel still, but want to conserve as much as possible, not knowing what the remainder of the trip will bring. Last night was the first night I had a moon to light up the ocean around me for the better part of my watch. The night before was super cloudy and squally with cold winds and rain. But at least we had wind. Twice now, while sitting in the cockpit on night watch, I've been hit by flying fish! It's crazy. First time I thought it was a bird, until I got the flashlight shining on this flopping fish with wings. Next time I still yelled and woke up Tim (who thought I'd gone overboard), but I quickly realized what it was and got the fish back overboard. They have such beautiful big blue *wings*. Poor things - if I was panicked, I can't imagine how they must've felt!
So, still the decisions about whether to motor and use our diesel or sit becalmed and wait for wind. The forecast for the next 72 hours is mixed, we're really hoping for more wind! The other day, after seeing the forecast for light winds we decided to switch to our big huge 150+ jib (the forward sail), taking down the smaller 110 jib we had on the roller furling. Normally, this is not a maneuver that we would do at sea, but since there was no wind, we did it. And at it paid off that day - we were able to sail at nearly 5 knots in very light winds. Then as night fell, we were regretting the big jib - squalls, choppy seas and gusty winds made us remember why we had chosen the small jib for the passage. Too much sail can be scary in heavier conditions. Luckily we got the jib rolled up and managed through the night with the staysail, and now that it's light again, we're glad for the big jib.
Suffice it to say, there are always difficult decisions to make, and this trip had had it's share despite the mostly fair weather conditions. Depending on the wind, we're looking at about 10-12 more days at sea. Our GPS shows 1,100 more miles to Ensenada…. At least we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But we're running out of good books!
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First of all, we're definitely past the halfway mark now, both by distance covered, and by time elapsed (we hope WAY more than half the time!). Hard to measure when we hit *halfway* given that we haven't exactly sailed a straight line to our destination. Which by the way, we have decided will be Ensenada, Mexico, just south of San Diego. Given that a hurricane was headed at Puerto Vallarta this past weekend, we decided it is just too risky to sail further south until next fall. Unless of course, the winds push us that way and make it too difficult to get to Ensenada!
We've had some good wind and then a bunch of no wind. Right now we're back to motoring, trying to get out of the center of the high and back into some light winds at least. We've got a bunch of diesel still, but want to conserve as much as possible, not knowing what the remainder of the trip will bring. Last night was the first night I had a moon to light up the ocean around me for the better part of my watch. The night before was super cloudy and squally with cold winds and rain. But at least we had wind. Twice now, while sitting in the cockpit on night watch, I've been hit by flying fish! It's crazy. First time I thought it was a bird, until I got the flashlight shining on this flopping fish with wings. Next time I still yelled and woke up Tim (who thought I'd gone overboard), but I quickly realized what it was and got the fish back overboard. They have such beautiful big blue *wings*. Poor things - if I was panicked, I can't imagine how they must've felt!
So, still the decisions about whether to motor and use our diesel or sit becalmed and wait for wind. The forecast for the next 72 hours is mixed, we're really hoping for more wind! The other day, after seeing the forecast for light winds we decided to switch to our big huge 150+ jib (the forward sail), taking down the smaller 110 jib we had on the roller furling. Normally, this is not a maneuver that we would do at sea, but since there was no wind, we did it. And at it paid off that day - we were able to sail at nearly 5 knots in very light winds. Then as night fell, we were regretting the big jib - squalls, choppy seas and gusty winds made us remember why we had chosen the small jib for the passage. Too much sail can be scary in heavier conditions. Luckily we got the jib rolled up and managed through the night with the staysail, and now that it's light again, we're glad for the big jib.
Suffice it to say, there are always difficult decisions to make, and this trip had had it's share despite the mostly fair weather conditions. Depending on the wind, we're looking at about 10-12 more days at sea. Our GPS shows 1,100 more miles to Ensenada…. At least we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But we're running out of good books!
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
Day 12
Position: May 23, 9am Hawaii time, 31 degrees 01 minutes North, 147 degrees 55 minutes West
We've got wind in our sails now! For the past two days we've been sailing along to the north quite well. Our next challenge will be to get east - but the easterly winds aren't making this an easy task. We're hoping for a switch to more northerly winds that will help us get east. In any case, sure feels good to be moving and making tracks after the first ten days where we never got further than 500 miles from Hawaii - it felt like the islands didn't want to let us go! And now that we're under complete cloud cover and wearing our long underwear, we sure miss Hawaii!
Next on our agenda as we get to the point where we start heading east is to pick our destination. Will it be Ensenada (a port in Mexico just south of San Diego) or will we risk hurricane season and head south - trying to make landfall at Cabo San Lucas (tip of the Baja peninsula) before heading to Puerto Vallarta? We've studied the history of hurricanes (with help from our weatherdude Jamie on S/v Totem) and while it seems highly unlikely that a named storm would get that far north this early in the season, we know that you can never say never when it comes to hurricanes. And this seems to be an active early season for Mexico with two named storms already since we've been out here. Right now, we're leaning towards a track to Ensenada, although that would mean not going south to Vallarta until the fall after hurricane season. Ensenada would also be much closer, which makes it an attractive choice!
I have to say, we are so indebted to our friend Jamie for giving us invaluable guidance and support daily this trip!!! We knew that understanding the weather out here would be key, and we have the ability to download our own weather charts, but having internet access provides additional info. Knowing that someone onshore is looking out for our route with us gives us so much more confidence and lowers our stress levels immensely. Muchos gracias to Jamie and the Totem crew - who we know because Jamie's wife went to the UW MBA program with me, and we got to hang out in Mexico, although they've sailed far away to Australia now!
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We've got wind in our sails now! For the past two days we've been sailing along to the north quite well. Our next challenge will be to get east - but the easterly winds aren't making this an easy task. We're hoping for a switch to more northerly winds that will help us get east. In any case, sure feels good to be moving and making tracks after the first ten days where we never got further than 500 miles from Hawaii - it felt like the islands didn't want to let us go! And now that we're under complete cloud cover and wearing our long underwear, we sure miss Hawaii!
Next on our agenda as we get to the point where we start heading east is to pick our destination. Will it be Ensenada (a port in Mexico just south of San Diego) or will we risk hurricane season and head south - trying to make landfall at Cabo San Lucas (tip of the Baja peninsula) before heading to Puerto Vallarta? We've studied the history of hurricanes (with help from our weatherdude Jamie on S/v Totem) and while it seems highly unlikely that a named storm would get that far north this early in the season, we know that you can never say never when it comes to hurricanes. And this seems to be an active early season for Mexico with two named storms already since we've been out here. Right now, we're leaning towards a track to Ensenada, although that would mean not going south to Vallarta until the fall after hurricane season. Ensenada would also be much closer, which makes it an attractive choice!
I have to say, we are so indebted to our friend Jamie for giving us invaluable guidance and support daily this trip!!! We knew that understanding the weather out here would be key, and we have the ability to download our own weather charts, but having internet access provides additional info. Knowing that someone onshore is looking out for our route with us gives us so much more confidence and lowers our stress levels immensely. Muchos gracias to Jamie and the Totem crew - who we know because Jamie's wife went to the UW MBA program with me, and we got to hang out in Mexico, although they've sailed far away to Australia now!
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Friday, May 18, 2012
Day 7
Position: May 18, 6:30 pm Hawaii time, 25 degrees 52 minutes North, 151 degrees 19 minutes West
Just after the last posting, we were becalmed for the better part of the day… We tried to take it in stride and make the most of it. We stripped and jumped in the ocean for a dip - neither of us daring to venture far from the swim ladder, or stay in for more than a few minutes. Too scared of sharks or a sudden gust that might move the boat quickly from us. After doing some weather checks, Tim called me to the stern, where we had been trailing our fishing line listlessly all day. There was a school of beautiful mahi mahi that would get excited every time he tugged on the lure. It was funny to think that as long as we were just drifting along this school of fish would likely stay by the boat. Of course Tim got the next lure out that he could reel and make more action and caught a cute little mahi for our supper (actually several suppers so far).
We've managed to sail for the past two days - first on a NE heading, but then when winds started to get too light, we tacked to the SE this morning. We'll plan to keep tacking staying in the winds for a day or two until the forecast looks good to head further north. So all's well here on Midnight Blue, other than our constant concerns about choosing the best route to get across the ocean!
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Just after the last posting, we were becalmed for the better part of the day… We tried to take it in stride and make the most of it. We stripped and jumped in the ocean for a dip - neither of us daring to venture far from the swim ladder, or stay in for more than a few minutes. Too scared of sharks or a sudden gust that might move the boat quickly from us. After doing some weather checks, Tim called me to the stern, where we had been trailing our fishing line listlessly all day. There was a school of beautiful mahi mahi that would get excited every time he tugged on the lure. It was funny to think that as long as we were just drifting along this school of fish would likely stay by the boat. Of course Tim got the next lure out that he could reel and make more action and caught a cute little mahi for our supper (actually several suppers so far).
We've managed to sail for the past two days - first on a NE heading, but then when winds started to get too light, we tacked to the SE this morning. We'll plan to keep tacking staying in the winds for a day or two until the forecast looks good to head further north. So all's well here on Midnight Blue, other than our constant concerns about choosing the best route to get across the ocean!
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