May

Left the dock more or less on time as Brisbane. Nice sunny day. No wind at Brisbane but wind picked up towards SF right on the nose. Motored past the city front and chuckled at a spinnaker faux pas by a race crew. Motored out the gate on an outgoing tide. Not too rough but straight into the wind until the light bucket. Other folks queasy but patches worked well for Ruth and Mary. Todd noticed that sheave in clew of main sail was cracked. Not much we could do about it without a big riveting tool but we taped it so the sharp edges wouldn't chafe the outhaul. Turned left at the light bucket and had fast beam reach. Had great lasagne for dinner but not much appetite by most.

Noon position - under Bay bridge

Autopilot drive failed 2nd day out due to leaking hydraulic seal. Fortunately we had a complete spare with motor, pump two cylinders and hoses. Todd and I were able to replace in about 3 hours and it worked great. Working on pilot hanging into the bilge made Todd feel much better. In general everyone is feeling better. Ruth and I made dinner. Electrical load greater than anticipated. It looks like we need to run the genset about 2 hours per day to keep the batteries charged. Watermaker working well.

Noon position - 35 55N 124 06 W

First experiments with the cruising spinnaker. Great sail. Boat rides well with it - less rolling and 1.5kts more speed. Left it up until wind picked up til 20kt then doused it at dark. Watched bad Spike Lee movie "Just Do the Right Thing".

Noon position - 32 20 N 125 38 W

Wind shifting to the north so we are having to sail increasingly west of course on starboard tack in order to avoid going dead downwind. Jibed and put up spinnaker. Winds start to lighten later in the day. Played "Jennifer's" card game. Every one feeling 100%. Leave spinnaker up until midnight. Mary and Todd very intent but tense watching the spinnaker and adjusting course with wind shifts in order to avoid problem. Finally take down spinnaker at midnight and start motoring.

Noon position - 29 59 N 127 05 W

Motored all day. Caught 3 Yellow Fin Tuna. Threw one back by mistake because we thought it was one of those dreadful skipjack Tuna. Had poisson cru for lunch and Ruth's breaded fish special for dinner. Very excellent! Watch Best of SNL including Waynes World skits after dinner. Sailed for a few hours wing-on-wing until wind died again.

Noon position - 27 07 N 126 48 W

Motored all day and night – very little wind and that which there is from directly astern making it difficult to sail. Officially entered the tropics around sunset with the crossing of the Tropic of Cancer.  Watched “Dead Calm” - a spooky movie to see on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean.  Had pizza for dinner.  Pacific Seafarer’s net on 14.313 Mhz reports the disappointing news that the northern limit of the trades is very far south at about 15N!

Noon position – 24 27 N 127 14 W

Forward head clogged at 2AM! (You clog it you fix it).  Played Scrabble for breakfast.  Ruth won as usual.  Todd tackles head problem and finds that the “joker” valve has turned itself inside out.  Easily fixed and only slightly messy.  Still motoring.  Half of main tank remains at noontime. 

Noon position – 21 32 N 127 42 W

Motoring again from 1AM onward.  Wind came up around 9AM and we were able to make 5 kts wing-on-wing.  Tightened up forward and aft lower shrouds and was able to stop the worrisome and annoying noise of the mast moving ever so slightly in its step.  Pancakes with 7 grain for breakfast. 

Noon position – 19 07 N 128 04 W

Put up spinnaker at daybreak. Making 8.5 kts all day long on fast reach. Bursts to over 10 kts! Mostly clear skys. Flying fish. Water termperature 76 deg. Called our mother's on the Iridium phone. Found a new use for Boeshield T-9 - quieting squeaking wood joints in aft cabin. Took spinnaker down just before sundown. Good thing as the sock was tangled and we had to drop it on deck and sort it out. Also the wind went to 18kt after dark. Pacific Seafarers net gave our days run (0330Z to 0330Z) as 182 miles!

Noon position - 16 20 N 128 33 W

5/14/01

A great sailing day with apparent wind slightly aft of the beam, 6 ft seas, a little rolly though. Hitg 11.8 kts surfing. Water temperature 79 degrees. Passed halfway point. No land for 1100 miles in any direction. Used washing machine underway. Works passably but must have an uncovered internal resovoir that spills when heeled. Watched Father of The Bride. One or two small rain showers but no squally winds.

Noon position - 13 15 N 128 54 W

Water temperature 80.1 degrees. Several flying fish and squid on the deck. Seas 6 ft from NE winds 18 kt from NE. Ran watermaker for 2 hours. Tanks now full. Wish there were a diesel maker. Doldrums approaching tomorrow. Nice sunset. Spaghetti for dinner. Salad still holding up after 11 days. A record 186 mile day

Noon position - 10 10 N 129 10 W

Entered doldrums at 8 AM around 7 deg 22 min North. Wind shifty and getting lighter. A few wimpy squalls. No lightning. Finally started engine and headed due south after fiddling around various directions and points of sail for a few hours. A few rain showers during the day but mostly nice but windless weather. Steak and salad for dinner. Iced mocha for desert. Around midnight wind 4kts from the south, slowly shifting to the east.

Wind increased to 6 kts from east south east at 10 AM. Started sailing again. Altered course from due south to direct Nuka Hiva (208 deg magnetic). In the Southeast Trades and through the doldrums! This has got to be the easiest doldrums crossing weve done! Remainer of the day is great sailing conditions, close reaching in 10-12 kts. Great sunset. Dinner is chicken with asparagus and Portobello mushrooms. Really bad propagation on 14.313 Mhz for the net.

A few wimpy squalls in the early morning. Some rain showers but wind only up to 18 kts averaging 10kts. Expecting to cross the equator on Saturday morning and arrive Nuka Hiva on Wednesday. Fuel situation looks good. Approx 25 gals remain main tank, 75 gals aux tank, 20 gals jerry jugs. Weather gods willing, there should be no more motoring except entering the anchorage. Using approx 2 gals/day charging batteries and running watermaker.

Unfortunately, the weather gods are not smiling. Ran out of good south east wind at 4AM and instead got drizzle with 2kt from the north east. Motored for 4 hours. Wind came back at 0930 but drizzle didnt leave. Wind shifted to East at 10-12kts around 1 PM so we hoisted spinnaker. Crossed equator at 342PM. Toasted King Neptune with Martinellis and initiated two new shellbacks (Todd and Mary). Good wind lasted until sunset then became flukey. Steak with green beans and horseradish sauce for dinner. Sailed due south in light winds until 5 AM next morning, then started engine

Motored through several wimpy (e.g. windless) squalls until some east wind came back at 1030 AM. Wind improved later to 10kt from ESE and we closed reached at 6.5 to 7.5 kts remainder of the day and evening. Lost the North Equatorial Countercurrent which was slowing our progress by 0.8 kt. Now estimating arrival early Thursday morning. Fishing hasnt been productive lately. Ruth is going to try using the flying fish that land on the deck as bait. Watched Thunderball on DVD after dinner.

Good ESE wind at 9-10kts. Boat speed of 6.5 kts with 0.5kt favorable current gives SOG of 7 kts. Clear skies with a few small cumulus clouds. Transferred 75 gal aux diesel tank to main tank. Guage shows slightly over 1/3 tank. Drained 1 inch of gunge from fuel filter. Still no fish. Chicken curry with cornbread for dinner. Nice sunset.

Wind good til about 4AM next morning then it died, shifting to very light out of the north east. Started engine. Motored all day. Unfortunately had to do more maintainance on the forward head. Close to dead calm at sunset. Dinner was "Fred's" beef from Palo Alto, homemade bread and the last of the salad makings. Heard that Nancy on "Tethys" enroute to Hilo from the Galapagos had a close call with a sheared bolt holding on her bobstay but they were able to make a good fix underway.

Transferred 15 gals from jerry jugs to main tank. Guage shows ¼ tank. 100 miles out at 10AM PDT. We have enough diesel to motor all the way to Taiohae Bay on Nuku Hiva (and we may have to). Considered sailing because we currently will arrive at midnight and will have to stand off. However there is only 0.8 kts of wind so we are continuing to use the iron jib.

(from Ruth) Forgive me, JO, for I have sinned. First, I let the non-fishing one in my life talk me out of buying a rod and reel, and only using handlines.and only bought 1 Rappalla..Then, though I did catch 3 yellowfin and 2 mahi mahi in the first few days, I..lost 3 'something bigs' to OLD 300 lb. test line (or maybe they were REALLY, big ;).then I lost 3 'something bigs' to wrong knot!! (I now know the uni-knot!)..I then drove the boat thru a school of tuna and they hit my 'too small lure/line'. These transgressions will be fixed ASAP:/) It's pretty hot today, but cool enough in the shade on deck. We're still having a great time with our good friends. Everyone is looking forward to anchoring and enjoying some diving, windsurfing, hiking, etc. We are very lucky to have just enough fuel to make it to Nuku Hiva; we're only 76 nms out, but will have to slow down, to get there after sunrise.

Sailed (actually more like drifted) in 1kt of wind until 1AM. Then started up the engine so as to arrive at sunrise. Actually got an hour of good wind right before sunrise and did a little sailing. Arrived Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva and set bow and stern anchor to prevent uncomfortable rolling at night when the wind dies. Went ashore and found that the gendarmes were closed until Saturday because of a holiday but it was ok for us to go to town even though we hadn't done the checkin formalities. 18 days, 22 hours San Francisco to Nuku Hiva - a very! rightous time thanks to the iron jib.