Day Eleven - 7N 124W - The Land of Tradewinds, Flying Fish, and Squalls.

The wind has finally become more consistent from the Northeast.

When the boat is moving fast, such as during the day, with the big spinnaker pulling it, the wave action is not too bad and the tripled-up rogue waves don't slam us, much.

However, it is not really safe to leave the spinnaker up at night because it is not a fast and easy thing to raise or lower in the dark if conditions change. So we put out the jib with a preventer line which keeps if from backwinding up against the mast and spreaders if the wind should shift. The jib is smaller and we don't go as fast. No big deal in calm seas, but the waves have been building for the past few days and the rogue wave slamming is fierce at times. The boat is handling it better than the crew. Last night we only got a few naps between us.

Since you can't change external events, our only control exists over things on or in the boat. So today we have shifted all the gear out of the aft cabin and we are moving in there for the rest of out time underway.

The slamming will continue, it just won't be coming from below us. (The engine room is beneath the aft cabin)

Cheers, Dave and Booker

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Day Nine - The Giant Whirlpool at 12N116W

Last night, we ran into a hundred mile wide whirlpool with arms extending out 300 miles.
I knew something was up when the waves were getting all peaked up as I described in the prior post.
Then we started to lose speed on the GPS even though the speed through the water was normal.
Then the winds picked up to around 20 kts and the seas built like we haven't seen since the Atlantic.
We were getting bounced all over the place, wave slapped, and going nowhere.
What happened was that we ran into the north flow from a giant clockwise rotating current.

When the winds, which were from the north, oppose the current, it pushes the waves together and they get high, steep, and closely spaced. This is what happens to the Gulfstream in the Florida Straights with a north wind. Nobody goes out there.

I tried to download the ocean current chart prior to leaving Mexico but didn't get the attachment. Too busy to investigate. However, I now needing this information badly. I checked emails and found out the error was "Filesize too Large".
So I trimmed it down and resent it. It was still a big file but it came through.

We had several options. Continue Southwest, Go West, or Go South.
After plotting, setting sail, trying headings and speeds, and doing calculations, None of the options were going to be pleasant.

After getting beaten up trying Plan C, at 1AM, we put up all sails, started the engines, and headed East. Directly into the middle of this giant whirlpool. Our angle to the wind was better than expected and we came out the bottom of it around 9 AM.

Except for costing us some diesel, sleep, and geting smacked around alot we are no worse for the wear and glad we're not 100 miles further to the west. Will post the file when we get internet.
Cheers, Dave & Booker



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Day Eight - Wind, Waves, and Exercise

12 37.9 N 116 31.6 W

The wind is back with a vengeance and so are the waves. The waves are really not nice and even rolling things. They are more like 6 ft hills, thousands of them. When we have wind, the boat slices through them and it is quite comfortable. When the winds go away, they forget to tell the waves, and now we don't slice through anything, they bounce us randomly around. You end up using every muscle in your body just to sit still. I am sore from just sitting. This could be the next workout craze. Booker brought a yoga book to work out on this passage. I don't think we need it.

1847 Miles to go to the Marquesas.

Cheers, Bave and Booker



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Day Seven - 14 06 N 115 08 W - Moving Again

Had a good spinnaker run yesterday. We're down to 1966 miles to go.
We've listened to 30 hours of Comedy Central standup. and now we are down to Audiobooks. Hope we can stay awake. They are so boring. We saw nothing yesterday. Just sky, ocean, clouds, and what are these birds doing way out here?
Cheers, Dave & Booker



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Day Six - Passed by a Sea Turtle 15 20N 113 36 W

We have had no wind for 2 days. It has been nice for sleeping but it's really not getting us to our goal very fast.
If we were within striking range of a marina, the engines would have been on and we would have been moving. Instead, we still have 2080 miles to go and 600 miles of doldrums to cross. Then once we get to French Polynesia, fuel is not so easy to come by.

Yesterday we were passed by a sea turtle. We were doing about a knot and saw him floating in the distance. We turned to head/drift in his direction. When he saw us, he started swimming. But, he was swimming the same direction as we were, and beating us. Can't really blame him since he probably thought we were sitting still. The water was so clear that we saw his whole escape. Then he figured out that we got farther away if he turned, and off he went behind us.

That was the excitement for the day except the Boobie Birds that keep trying to hitch a ride and use the boat as a bathroom.

At 1AM last night, the wind picked up, so hope it continues.
Cheers, Dave and Booker



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Day Five - Slow Going

We have had light wind last two night and yesterday. It looks light until Sunday night. Then we will be far enough south for the tradewinds to kick in and they should be around 15. I hope.
The boat is doing well. Boat speed is usually 50% of wind speed.

The AIS is an excellent thing. We have crossed all the Panama Canal shipping lanes and now there is nobody to ping. We can still see them 200 miles behind us with it. Watch standing is now every 2 hours, pop your head out to see if anything is going on, and go back to sleep. We saw nothing today all day. Just a few birds, sky, and ocean.

Ran the little Honda generator. Works great. Charged batteries and made water for 3 hours. Real quiet when lightly loaded but sounds like a lawnmower when pulling 90 amps out of it. Still quieter than the Westerbeke.
Will let you know when we get some wind.

Cheers, Dave and Booker


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Day Four - Fast Days - Slow Nights

We left Socorro Island and picked up some great winds. We cranked out almost 100 miles at sunset but then the wind died and we didn't do much during the night. The boat was rolling alot but the waves weren't slamming the hull so we did get some good sleep. A few Chinese freighters passed us in the night. Hoping for fast days to return today.
Cheers, Dave and Booker



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