Daily Log Page 25

05 Oct 2007  Many miles covered!!  For those of you who don't know, the tropical Pacific currents run from east to west EXCEPT for the equatorial counter current, which flows west to east.  It usually occurs in the area north of the equator from about 5 to 10 degrees north latitude.   We've been getting a wonderful north easterly push for the past day and have been doing 7 knots most of the time with light winds in the 10 to   12 knot range.  Seas are less than 1 meter now and we had to fire up the motor this AM and are now motor~sailing with full jib and main.  720 miles to go at 10:20 AM.  Position 09 deg 34'N, 154 deg 49"W.  We've done about 170 miles in the last 24 hours with about 130 miles VMG to Honolulu.   The ITCZ has a bit of a hole in it convection wise, and if we're lucky, we'll be able to motor~sail through without any big thunderstorms.   The NE trades should kick in in a couple days without too much north in them and mostly east.  For this reason, we will most likely alter our course of 030 to 000 later today or tonight.  We'll be going straight north until we encounter the trades, then crack off to the NW for Hawaii.  With any luck we should be able to arrive at Hawaii Yacht Club on Thursday the 11th of Oct.  Caw!  R

6 Oct 2007  Our good buddy George said, "All things must pass", and they have.  Couldn't expect the current to last forever, but we rode it out as far as we could.  Winds died yesterday afternoon and current started slowing us down, so began motoring on a course of 000 true (due north). Motored all night sometimes as slow as 3 knots, but the current has mellowed this AM.  We had intended to reach the 154 longitude line before turning north but have made it to 154 deg 28 min~close enough.  At 10:00 AM this morning our position is: 11 deg 20'N, 154 deg 28'W steering a course of 006 deg true with a boat speed of 5.7 knots. There is no wind so we just have a double reefed main up for roll control.  We are in the heart of the ITCZ as it sits today and shouldn't complain, because we've seen no squalls, lightening or drama.  The gribs show light ENE winds filing in for a couple days so we plan to keep motor~sailing north until we can start to fall off for Honolulu. We hope to make it to 16-17 degrees N. before we turn. A Thursday arrival at HYC is still imminent. We've got plenty of fuel and Yanmar is purring right along.  Gribs and Nogaps both show NE winds for the weekend so hopefully we are far enough east to have room to fall off and not have to beat too hard on the wind. Ho, that sounds nasty!  625 Miles to go at 10 AM.  Caw! R

7 Oct 2007   485 miles to go at 10:00 AM.  Position 13 deg 52'N, 154 deg 22'W.  Course 357 deg true with a boat speed of 6.5 to 7 knots motor~sailing with staysail and double reefed main.  Seas are up to 2 meters after a night of rain and crud.  Yesterday we sailed all day with full jib and full main under clear skies.  The satellite photos and weather fax maps showed that we were well north of the ITCZ and we thought we had slipped through.  At our 5:00 PM radio sked with Wind Rose, they told us that they were getting 25 knots+ of wind and big rain squalls.  We could see the dark clouds up ahead (they were 30 miles ahead of us at that point) so we put in the double reef and rolled up the jib and unfurled the staysail. We never saw the kind of wind they had last night, but it was lumpy gravy seas.  We did get a great boat wash with the rain. We spoke to Wind Rose this morning on VHF radio since we are only about 10 miles west of them on the same latitude. VHF only has a range of about 20-25 miles so we usually talk on Marine SSB radio.  They left Fanning a day before us and looks like we've caught up.  We are a little more aggressive with our sailing since we have roller furling on both head~sails and can roll 'em up at short notice from the cockpit.  They have hank on sails, and need to harness up and go forward to douse sails and replace with smaller ones. At this point we also don't mind motor~sailing a bit more for extra miles. Cuyler and Ann on Wind Rose are a young couple just starting out but have an amazing amount of wisdom and smarts for their age.  If you ever saw "Fried Green Tomatoes" and remember the scene in the parking lot...our version is " We're older and we have more diesel"!! A few numbers for ya ...  Since we left Hawaii in April 2003 (4 1/2 years ago) we will have covered over 23,000 nautical miles by the time we get back to Honolulu.  Since we left Sydney, Australia on March first of this year (7 1/2 months) we will have covered 7,500  nautical miles by the time we reach Honolulu.  No wonder we're so worn out!  Caw! R

8 Oct 2007  9:30 AM 340 miles to go  Position 16 deg 08'N, 155 deg 14'W Course 333 deg true, boat speed 6.8 knots, wind NE at 16+ knots, Seas NE 2 meters.  Sailed all day yesterday and all night through a lousy area of disturbed weather with squalls, wind speeds up and down and messy seas.  Managed to keep up a good bit of speed with staysail and double~reefed main.  That sail configuration is nicely balanced with the heads of both sails about 2/3 of the way up the mast and symmetrical.  This setup doesn't give much drive, but with the strong and gusty winds it adds comfort level and keeps the boat moving.  This morning we have patchy clouds, lots of sunshine and the grey stuff is behind us. The satellite photo shows clear skies all the way to the Hawaiian Islands.  We're stoked to realize we will almost certainly arrive on Wednesday afternoon/evening unless we have some major changes which aren't forecast.  We're flying a partially rolled Jib this morning with the double~reefed main and driving along at close to 7 knots quite comfortably. Wind Rose is about 37 miles behind to the SE and are looking forward to escaping the cloud bank soon.  We're already salivating with talk of all our favorite places to eat and drink in Honolulu.  Received an email from the Port Captain at Hawaii Yacht Club who said they're holding a slip for us.  Grace is in great form and winging right along to the barn.  Caw! R

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