We are getting close and making great time since the winds have picked up to 18kts.
We are doing 8kts and if we keep up this pace, we will arrive Thursday in the late afternoon.
The problem is that if anything slows us, we will have a night arrival.
Our sailing roots are in the Bahamas and Caribbean and there, you never ever arrive at night into and unfamiliar place, period. Too many unseen dangers and things to hit.
In our whole time cruising, we made one night arrival into well lighted commercial harbor of Puerto Madera, Mexico, and that was even dicey since Mexican charts are 'always' wrong.
So, even though keeping this fast pace could be possible, it would also take a toll on the crew. We would be much more tired and likely to make mistakes having a noisy night sleep. Let alone the stress of clock watching for a day and a half worrying about every .1 knot of speed we lost for one reason or another.
So, discretion being the better part of valor, and since this is not a race but more of an endurance, we decided to slow it down to 5 kts and arrive Friday morning, rested, and in good light.
The slowing down part worked well but with 20 miles to go at 3AM with unknown charting accuracy, we parked (heaved to) the boat and slept for 3 hours. We awoke before sunrise and saw Fatu Hiva in the distance.
Almost there.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Day 23 - 7S 135W - Done Raining - South of the SPCZ - 350 miles to go
After 4 days of rain in many forms, we were ready for today. The rain finally stopped. It actually should have happened 2 days ago but weather is weather, especially here and you just have to deal with it.
So what do you do on a rainy day when you are stuck in your 45X25' house? We watched movies, listened to music, and tried to stay dry. We have 32 days of music on the ipod and have been through most of it.
In years past, we had hatches that leaked. In Bonaire, the boat was a moisture filled and wet after 4 days of continuous rain. Condensation was everywhere.
Different situation here. As long as we didn't bring too much water in, the cabin was fairly dry. So we left the jackets and wet clothes outside. There was alot of naked toweling off going on when we came inside, but it worked well. The autopilot worked well and handled the wind gusts that came with the showers.
So, today the skies were blue and the wind has returned. The seas are still lumpy so the boat is rocking and lurching around alot. We had full sail up for awhile but the main was flogging so we had to give up the speed for comfort and less chance of damage.
The most important rule when you are out here is: Be careful and don't break the boat. There are no facilities nor parts until Tahiti. We are only half way to New Zealand, so it is better to arrive later than sooner with a ripped sail.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
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So what do you do on a rainy day when you are stuck in your 45X25' house? We watched movies, listened to music, and tried to stay dry. We have 32 days of music on the ipod and have been through most of it.
In years past, we had hatches that leaked. In Bonaire, the boat was a moisture filled and wet after 4 days of continuous rain. Condensation was everywhere.
Different situation here. As long as we didn't bring too much water in, the cabin was fairly dry. So we left the jackets and wet clothes outside. There was alot of naked toweling off going on when we came inside, but it worked well. The autopilot worked well and handled the wind gusts that came with the showers.
So, today the skies were blue and the wind has returned. The seas are still lumpy so the boat is rocking and lurching around alot. We had full sail up for awhile but the main was flogging so we had to give up the speed for comfort and less chance of damage.
The most important rule when you are out here is: Be careful and don't break the boat. There are no facilities nor parts until Tahiti. We are only half way to New Zealand, so it is better to arrive later than sooner with a ripped sail.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
----------
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Sunday, April 7, 2013
Day 21 - Where did this other ITCZ come from?
Where do I start?
After the equator, we had 2 days of light winds and confused seas. The sails were slapping and would have ended up ripped sooner or later. At 1000AM we picked up a smudged, garbled, satellite photo by weatherfax and not really being able to locate our position on it, we made some assumptions that the weather that we could see to the south of us was the white smudge on the photo and we had to go through it to get to winds and our destination, so we started up the engines and headed directly south.
This weather is the Southern Pacific Convergence Zone or SPCZ. It's location comes and goes. More irregular than the Northern ITCZ. Well, it came.
That afternoon we dodged showers. There were anvil head thunderstorms around but we could see them. It became another avoid the storm day, like we just did 5 days ago in the ITCZ. When night came, there was no moon but there were times when it wasn't overcast that we could pick out the storms by where the stars weren't but mostly we used the radar for avoidance.
At 330AM, I came in for a break but was soon back at the helm. I got 35 minutes sleep at 6AM. We were at 4S and the sky was blue. We're out of it. NOT. By 10AM huge cells were dumping tremendous amounts of water, we were under an overhang, powered up trying to outrun the gust front. By late afternoon, the storms seemed different. There was not the wind force in them that we had earlier. It was becoming just rain, like spring showers, not summer thunderstorms. I knew we just couldn't keep motoring to the south and expect things to change. It really wasn't that bad at this point. So we put up the sails and let the showers overrun us. By now, I think we almost have all the Mexico dirt washed off the boat. The seas got too confused and the wind too light to sail so we have been motoring once again.
It is 9AM, we have been motoring for 15 hours, the seas are becoming more organized. I am hoping the heat breaks up the showers like yesterday and we can dry out.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
----------
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After the equator, we had 2 days of light winds and confused seas. The sails were slapping and would have ended up ripped sooner or later. At 1000AM we picked up a smudged, garbled, satellite photo by weatherfax and not really being able to locate our position on it, we made some assumptions that the weather that we could see to the south of us was the white smudge on the photo and we had to go through it to get to winds and our destination, so we started up the engines and headed directly south.
This weather is the Southern Pacific Convergence Zone or SPCZ. It's location comes and goes. More irregular than the Northern ITCZ. Well, it came.
That afternoon we dodged showers. There were anvil head thunderstorms around but we could see them. It became another avoid the storm day, like we just did 5 days ago in the ITCZ. When night came, there was no moon but there were times when it wasn't overcast that we could pick out the storms by where the stars weren't but mostly we used the radar for avoidance.
At 330AM, I came in for a break but was soon back at the helm. I got 35 minutes sleep at 6AM. We were at 4S and the sky was blue. We're out of it. NOT. By 10AM huge cells were dumping tremendous amounts of water, we were under an overhang, powered up trying to outrun the gust front. By late afternoon, the storms seemed different. There was not the wind force in them that we had earlier. It was becoming just rain, like spring showers, not summer thunderstorms. I knew we just couldn't keep motoring to the south and expect things to change. It really wasn't that bad at this point. So we put up the sails and let the showers overrun us. By now, I think we almost have all the Mexico dirt washed off the boat. The seas got too confused and the wind too light to sail so we have been motoring once again.
It is 9AM, we have been motoring for 15 hours, the seas are becoming more organized. I am hoping the heat breaks up the showers like yesterday and we can dry out.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
----------
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Day 17 - 126-35'W Crossed the Equator
We crossed the Equator at 7:35AM local time and had our Shellback Ceremony.
We gave gifts and praise to King Neptune so he would leave us alone.
Booker took the whole 'shellback' word literally and actually gave him a shell back. She dropped a nice conch shell that we have been carrying since the Bahamas to the depths of the ocean. I toasted Neptune and gave him some wine. As certified below, we are now officially Shellbacks.
Know ye, that DAVID & BOOKER DEAKYNE on the 3rd day of April, 2013 at 1430Z aboard the Sailing Vessel TORTUGUITA appeared at the equator at Latitude 0° , Longitude 126°35'W entering into Our Royal Domain, and having been inspected and found worthy by My Royal Staff and was initiated into the Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep. I command my subjects to Honor and Respect him as one of our Trusty Shellbacks.
(Signed)
Davey Jones - His Royal Scribe
Neptunus Rex - Ruler of the Raging Main
Shortly after our ceremony, the wind started to pick up, we put up the spinnaker and shut down the engine. We are under sail once again heading directly for the Marquesas.
Thanks Neptune.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Day 16 - 1 30N 126 30W - The Doldrums
Yes, they are really a place.
After the best sailing day so far, it all came to a stop.
We hit the Doldrums. The water is like glass. There is no wind. The sun is directly overhead and it is hot hot hot. You sweat just sitting in the shade. It is just like in the old-time sailing ship movies where they becalmed for weeks.
This is why we saved our diesel. We knew this was coming so after the sails became useless, we started the engines and headed directly south. We were going 5kts but the current was against us at 1-1.5kts so we just crawled along all day and night into the current, knowing that the shortest path to better wind was not in the direction we really wanted to go.
Running the engines allowed us to charge the batteries and make water. I also tested out and preserved the membrane in the emergency watermaker.
This has really been the land of extremes.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
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After the best sailing day so far, it all came to a stop.
We hit the Doldrums. The water is like glass. There is no wind. The sun is directly overhead and it is hot hot hot. You sweat just sitting in the shade. It is just like in the old-time sailing ship movies where they becalmed for weeks.
This is why we saved our diesel. We knew this was coming so after the sails became useless, we started the engines and headed directly south. We were going 5kts but the current was against us at 1-1.5kts so we just crawled along all day and night into the current, knowing that the shortest path to better wind was not in the direction we really wanted to go.
Running the engines allowed us to charge the batteries and make water. I also tested out and preserved the membrane in the emergency watermaker.
This has really been the land of extremes.
Cheers, Dave & Booker
----------
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Day 15 - 3N to 1.5N - The best sailing yet
Once we got south of the ITCZ, the skies were blue with scattered clouds. There was almost no humidity. The wind was steady between 10 and 12 knots, the seas were flat except from a very long swell, and we were moving along at 5-6 under full sail.
Could not ask for a better day. Incredibly peaceful especially considering what we had just been through. The perfect day.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
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Could not ask for a better day. Incredibly peaceful especially considering what we had just been through. The perfect day.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
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Monday, April 1, 2013
Days 12-14 - Lost some battles but won the war
We haven't posted for the past few days because we have been totally exhausted and sleep deprived from fighting the weather.
There is an area just described by NOAA as "SCATTERED MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG". What they are talking about is storms.
There is a region called the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) close to the equator where warm moist air from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet and gets lifted into the air and forms clouds. Here is how the forecasters described what we just went through:
ITCZ AXIS 05N77W TO 03N84W TO 05N108W TO 01N125W. SCATTERED
MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG WITHIN 120 NM N AND 90 NM S OF AXIS
FROM 105W TO 120W.
Sometimes during the day, downpours occur but mostly at night, when the air cools, the air can't support the weight of this moisture and squalls form. A squall is a rain shower with a serious amount of rain and wind coming out the bottom.
Our first afternoon had some squalls which we turned to avoid. Then in the black night at 8PM, another came. We turned to let it pass but we were like a trailer park to a tornado, it just kept following us and getting bigger. The winds picked up and so did the rain. Another one formed behind it. We were staying to it's right but the wind was so strong and we were going so fast it looked like we might even pass it. But we weren't diverging from it very fast. It kept pushing us forward and we kept trying to go as far right as possible but the winds were close to 50kts and the waves were 15 ft. All you can do is keep heading with the wind. Then on the radar we see a squall line to our right and these two on our left are pushing us in to it.
They would soon come together into a 'V' with us in the middle and squeeze us into the middle of this huge storm. The only way out was back so I started the engines, turned the boat, but the wind was so strong, even at full power, the boat would not stay pointed into the wind.
One last tactic was to trail warps to slow us down. Warps are long lengths of rope in a loop trailed behind the boat. They create drag and keep the boat from accelerating down the waves. In the stinging sideways wind driven rain, we got the warps deployed, the boat speed slowed as expected and the 'V' continued off to the west. It was now midnight. 4 hours of fighting this beast and we were exhausted.
We headed back on our original course and set the radar to watch for more squalls. Yes more came, and kept coming. For the next 48 hours we battled these things almost continuously. We had our tactics down and Booker was getting good at tracking them on the radar. One would show up 20 miles out as a little speck and by the time it got near us, there were 3 full blown squalls. We had the drill down by now: Bathing suit, Jacket, Life Vest, and Tether. Reduce sail and start an engine. Booker stands watch at the radar and I am at the helm. We turn, replot the storm's new course, over and over, until it has passed.
Sunday afternoon there was another line toward the south but there was a gap in it. We plotted the course for the gap and got south of that line with 10 gallons of fresh rainwater collected from our roof.
We made it through one more line that evening and we saw the stars for the first time in days. Then the moon came up and we could see all the storms to the north in the distance.
What a great feeling. We are below the ITCZ, finally. We won.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
----------
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There is an area just described by NOAA as "SCATTERED MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG". What they are talking about is storms.
There is a region called the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) close to the equator where warm moist air from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet and gets lifted into the air and forms clouds. Here is how the forecasters described what we just went through:
ITCZ AXIS 05N77W TO 03N84W TO 05N108W TO 01N125W. SCATTERED
MODERATE ISOLATED STRONG WITHIN 120 NM N AND 90 NM S OF AXIS
FROM 105W TO 120W.
Sometimes during the day, downpours occur but mostly at night, when the air cools, the air can't support the weight of this moisture and squalls form. A squall is a rain shower with a serious amount of rain and wind coming out the bottom.
Our first afternoon had some squalls which we turned to avoid. Then in the black night at 8PM, another came. We turned to let it pass but we were like a trailer park to a tornado, it just kept following us and getting bigger. The winds picked up and so did the rain. Another one formed behind it. We were staying to it's right but the wind was so strong and we were going so fast it looked like we might even pass it. But we weren't diverging from it very fast. It kept pushing us forward and we kept trying to go as far right as possible but the winds were close to 50kts and the waves were 15 ft. All you can do is keep heading with the wind. Then on the radar we see a squall line to our right and these two on our left are pushing us in to it.
They would soon come together into a 'V' with us in the middle and squeeze us into the middle of this huge storm. The only way out was back so I started the engines, turned the boat, but the wind was so strong, even at full power, the boat would not stay pointed into the wind.
One last tactic was to trail warps to slow us down. Warps are long lengths of rope in a loop trailed behind the boat. They create drag and keep the boat from accelerating down the waves. In the stinging sideways wind driven rain, we got the warps deployed, the boat speed slowed as expected and the 'V' continued off to the west. It was now midnight. 4 hours of fighting this beast and we were exhausted.
We headed back on our original course and set the radar to watch for more squalls. Yes more came, and kept coming. For the next 48 hours we battled these things almost continuously. We had our tactics down and Booker was getting good at tracking them on the radar. One would show up 20 miles out as a little speck and by the time it got near us, there were 3 full blown squalls. We had the drill down by now: Bathing suit, Jacket, Life Vest, and Tether. Reduce sail and start an engine. Booker stands watch at the radar and I am at the helm. We turn, replot the storm's new course, over and over, until it has passed.
Sunday afternoon there was another line toward the south but there was a gap in it. We plotted the course for the gap and got south of that line with 10 gallons of fresh rainwater collected from our roof.
We made it through one more line that evening and we saw the stars for the first time in days. Then the moon came up and we could see all the storms to the north in the distance.
What a great feeling. We are below the ITCZ, finally. We won.
Cheers, Dave and Booker
----------
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