Time: 2021/08/30 00:01:01
Latitude: 59-21.88N
Longitude: 144-32.88W
Speed: 4.5
Course: 105T
We left our last anchorage yesterday in glorious sunshine. Our first goal as we began this 400nm passage was to aim for a spot at the mouth of Snug Harbor where all the commercial fishing boats seemed to prefer to work. As we were leaving there was not a fishing boat in sight so it was perfect, we slowed Maple down and trolled through what we assumed must be a prime fishing spot. And sure enough it seems within minutes the reel was running. We pulled in a gorgeous Coho salmon, enough for two generous meals. So this passage is off to a perfect start.
As we were leaving Montague Pass, a HUGE tree floated by a few boat lengths from us. It is the biggest tree we have seen yet in the water and gives us some idea of what we are in for when we reach BC waters. I mumbled something about how we better not hit one during this passage. And D gave his usual response of, it is a big ocean, what are the chances....
Our goal was to maintain 5kn of boat speed with the engine(s) but once out in the Gulf of Alaska, the winds had a different plan for us. The seas could not be better with a gentle, following swell, but the wind was square on the nose and although light winds it was definitely impeding our boat speed. So all night we ran both engines to try to maintain 4.5kn of speed, but we don't have enough fuel to run both engines the whole way so we will see how we manage over the next day or so to determine our destination.
For our first night, D and I got into our usual watch and sleep schedule. I am on watch from 6pm to 9pm, which is lovely as I have daylight for the full shift. And then I am back on watch from 12am to 3am, with a half moon it meant I did have some light to work with. However, moonlight is still not great for being able to actually see anything in the water. You do see where I am going with this, right?!
Sure enough at 1am, I hear something bump hard along one of the hulls. I immediately notice that our boat speed starts to plummet from the 4 to 4.5kn we had been doing to rapidly decline to 3kn. I quickly check the transoms and see some kelp, but the boat was behaving differently than previous kelp encounters. By the time I woke up D and he is upstairs, our boat speed is decreasing quickly to 2kn, eventually the port engine cuts out. With the boat hook, D struggles to pull up a root bulb of a tree, but the trunk is clearly snagged on the rudder and/or the propellor. It got to a point D figured he was going to have to swim on this one as no matter which way he tried to pull the tree free, it would not budge. Eventually we got smart and turned off the starboard engine, stopping all forward speed. This did the trick. D was finally able to pull the trunk free. Obviously this one was not as big as the tree we saw when leaving Prince William Sound, but it was still far more tree than I would ever like to encounter again with Maple.
The port engine turned back on without a hitch and there is no indication of any issues with the saildrive, propellor or rudder. Today the sunshine, blue skies and gentle seas continue, as do the light winds, We are now down to running one engine and trying our best to maintain 4kn of boat speed. Our goal destination is still Elfin Cove, but we will see what the forecast holds for us and have a stop in Yakutat as our Plan B if needed. Here's hoping we can avoid anymore tree encounters, suddenly kelp doesn't seem so bad.
Sunday, 29 August 2021
Monday, 26 July 2021
The End
Current Location
Lat: 57-46.6776N
Long: 152-24.6745W
This now concludes the "Guide on What Not to Do When Sailing from Tahiti to Alaska". Some of the highlights this guide offered our readers were:
- Everything on your boat is broken, you just don't know it yet.
- The curse of the NE wind when trying to sail to the NE.
- Birds are free loaders who try to catch a free ride or terrify you if given the opportunity.
- Kelp likes rudders.
- And of course the favourite by our readers, how to strangle yourself with your own life jacket.
Yes, it is finally true. We have arrived in Kodiak, AK. Some fun facts by numbers of our passages since departing Tahiti on May 18:
- Days spent at sea: 52 (FP to HI = 27 days; HI to AK = 25 days)
- Miles sailed: 5,100 (FP to HI = 2350; HI to AK = 2750) To be honest, we really didn't track our mileage so this is a very rough guess at best.
- Days spent fishing: Zero
- Teeth lost: 3, and a fourth hanging by a thread. Yes, we will soon need to puree all of Iris's food!
- Screen time hours for the girls: x = hours awake * days at sea
- Broken/Repaired Stuff: 20 Although, I am probably forgetting something and I did not double count those things that needed multiple repairs.
For those interested in this kind of stuff, here are the details of what broke and/or repaired since leaving Tahiti in no particular order:
- replaced tiller arms x 2 after one broke 500nm SW of Hawaii;
- creating various renditions of a block to stop the rudder from bashing itself against the hull after the tiller arm broke. It felt like hours D spent contorted, upside down in the engine room trying in vain at times to secure the rudder while precariously kneeling on the back transom step being swamped continuously by waves.;
- welder fixed emergency tiller, which was damaged when it was used as our first attempt for securing the flapping rudder;
- torn spinnaker not yet repaired;
- replaced chaffed spinnaker halyard;
- replaced chaffed furling line;
- attended to the unhappy BMS x 3;
- replaced alternator;
- changed fuel filters after troubleshooting why the starboard engine lost power;
- water tank sprung a leak just days into our first passage losing us 400L of water, this will not be repaired;
- life jackets x 2 which need either a new cartridge or replaced altogether;
- patched main sail tear;
- sewed up shredded sail bag which is on its last legs;
- reset inverter when it wouldn't turn on the very first morning after leaving Tahiti. Mind you if that had not been fixed, it would have saved the girls from the incalculable mind-numbing screen time, although it also would have meant we would have not been able to use our computer for staying connected with everyone. You can determine whether this fix was a win or not.;
- re-bedded a leaking thru-hull;
- re-bedded a leaking deck fitting;
- replaced shorted out solar panel wiring;
- shortened main sheet due to chaff x 2;
- re-secured ceiling panels that were falling on the girls' heads in their cabins x 2;
- troubleshoot and fixed a faulty temperature warning light on the port engine.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for my ever resourceful, persistent, resilient, rarely complaining husband!!! Your ability to troubleshoot and fix problems never ceases to amaze me. Plus became a baker extraordinaire with our warm-up-the-boat breakfasts.
We are thrilled to finally reach our destination after so much planning and anticipation. Feels like the start of a whole new adventure for the Maple crew, which involves more clothing. Thank you so much for following along and putting up with my whining throughout. Many of you provided some perfectly timed words of encouragement, so thank you!!
A special thank you to Shaun who tolerated my random emails of "The weather sucks...give me some good news.". Shaun was invaluable throughout from buying us the parts needed before our arrival in Hawaii and being our weather guru, thank you so much!! No doubt you are equally relieved about our arrival; I am sure you did not anticipate what you were taking on when you agreed to be our go-to guy.
Now let the fun part finally begin...exploring the natural beauty of what I have heard Alaska offers in spades!! The fact that we have already motored past the cutest sea otter just floating on its back in that adorable way that they do, I feel confident we made the right decision to make the effort to sail to Alaska.
Lat: 57-46.6776N
Long: 152-24.6745W
This now concludes the "Guide on What Not to Do When Sailing from Tahiti to Alaska". Some of the highlights this guide offered our readers were:
- Everything on your boat is broken, you just don't know it yet.
- The curse of the NE wind when trying to sail to the NE.
- Birds are free loaders who try to catch a free ride or terrify you if given the opportunity.
- Kelp likes rudders.
- And of course the favourite by our readers, how to strangle yourself with your own life jacket.
Yes, it is finally true. We have arrived in Kodiak, AK. Some fun facts by numbers of our passages since departing Tahiti on May 18:
- Days spent at sea: 52 (FP to HI = 27 days; HI to AK = 25 days)
- Miles sailed: 5,100 (FP to HI = 2350; HI to AK = 2750) To be honest, we really didn't track our mileage so this is a very rough guess at best.
- Days spent fishing: Zero
- Teeth lost: 3, and a fourth hanging by a thread. Yes, we will soon need to puree all of Iris's food!
- Screen time hours for the girls: x = hours awake * days at sea
- Broken/Repaired Stuff: 20 Although, I am probably forgetting something and I did not double count those things that needed multiple repairs.
For those interested in this kind of stuff, here are the details of what broke and/or repaired since leaving Tahiti in no particular order:
- replaced tiller arms x 2 after one broke 500nm SW of Hawaii;
- creating various renditions of a block to stop the rudder from bashing itself against the hull after the tiller arm broke. It felt like hours D spent contorted, upside down in the engine room trying in vain at times to secure the rudder while precariously kneeling on the back transom step being swamped continuously by waves.;
- welder fixed emergency tiller, which was damaged when it was used as our first attempt for securing the flapping rudder;
- torn spinnaker not yet repaired;
- replaced chaffed spinnaker halyard;
- replaced chaffed furling line;
- attended to the unhappy BMS x 3;
- replaced alternator;
- changed fuel filters after troubleshooting why the starboard engine lost power;
- water tank sprung a leak just days into our first passage losing us 400L of water, this will not be repaired;
- life jackets x 2 which need either a new cartridge or replaced altogether;
- patched main sail tear;
- sewed up shredded sail bag which is on its last legs;
- reset inverter when it wouldn't turn on the very first morning after leaving Tahiti. Mind you if that had not been fixed, it would have saved the girls from the incalculable mind-numbing screen time, although it also would have meant we would have not been able to use our computer for staying connected with everyone. You can determine whether this fix was a win or not.;
- re-bedded a leaking thru-hull;
- re-bedded a leaking deck fitting;
- replaced shorted out solar panel wiring;
- shortened main sheet due to chaff x 2;
- re-secured ceiling panels that were falling on the girls' heads in their cabins x 2;
- troubleshoot and fixed a faulty temperature warning light on the port engine.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for my ever resourceful, persistent, resilient, rarely complaining husband!!! Your ability to troubleshoot and fix problems never ceases to amaze me. Plus became a baker extraordinaire with our warm-up-the-boat breakfasts.
We are thrilled to finally reach our destination after so much planning and anticipation. Feels like the start of a whole new adventure for the Maple crew, which involves more clothing. Thank you so much for following along and putting up with my whining throughout. Many of you provided some perfectly timed words of encouragement, so thank you!!
A special thank you to Shaun who tolerated my random emails of "The weather sucks...give me some good news.". Shaun was invaluable throughout from buying us the parts needed before our arrival in Hawaii and being our weather guru, thank you so much!! No doubt you are equally relieved about our arrival; I am sure you did not anticipate what you were taking on when you agreed to be our go-to guy.
Now let the fun part finally begin...exploring the natural beauty of what I have heard Alaska offers in spades!! The fact that we have already motored past the cutest sea otter just floating on its back in that adorable way that they do, I feel confident we made the right decision to make the effort to sail to Alaska.
Land & Puffins
Current location: 57-26.475N and 152-06.420W
We have continued to motorsail all night. Today we changed our clocks on board to Alaska time, so now just one hour behind BC and two hours ahead of Tahiti. I love how long the days are here. Still light in the sky until 11pm and the sky already starts to brighten by 3am. May work to our advantage in when we arrive, but still not making guesses on when that will be as the boat speed continues to fluctuate and has been decreasing from the lovely 4kt to averaging more 3kt now.
This morning the clouds cleared well enough on the horizon to finally see land!! And D had the pleasure of seeing both dolphins and Puffin birds this morning!!! Yes, yet more birds, but hey these ones were PUFFINS....how cool is that?!?!
We are presently sitting at 28nm left to Kodiak. Continue to stay tuned, I know everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats.
We have continued to motorsail all night. Today we changed our clocks on board to Alaska time, so now just one hour behind BC and two hours ahead of Tahiti. I love how long the days are here. Still light in the sky until 11pm and the sky already starts to brighten by 3am. May work to our advantage in when we arrive, but still not making guesses on when that will be as the boat speed continues to fluctuate and has been decreasing from the lovely 4kt to averaging more 3kt now.
This morning the clouds cleared well enough on the horizon to finally see land!! And D had the pleasure of seeing both dolphins and Puffin birds this morning!!! Yes, yet more birds, but hey these ones were PUFFINS....how cool is that?!?!
We are presently sitting at 28nm left to Kodiak. Continue to stay tuned, I know everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats.
Sunday, 25 July 2021
Glorious sunshine how I love you!!!
Time: 2021/07/26 04:10:20
Latitude: 56-32.56N
Longitude: 152-25.82W
Speed: 4.1
Course: 10T
Wind_Speed: 4
Wind_Dir: NE
Barometer: 1020
Clouds: 10%
Visibility: 10
Air_Temp: 18C
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: The wind died down a bit overnight so we began to motorsail, slowly towards Kodiak. After several hours of 2kt progress the wind shifted slightly to the NE and we were able to tack (back to Starboard) and head more N with improved speed. We have been making progress to our destination since this morning at 3kt or better and things are looking good for an arrival that doesn't involve us buying diesel from passing fishing boats. [Side bar from Janet: We have not seen any fishing boats, so who knows how long we would have to bob around out here if that was what we needed to rely on to get ourselves to land.] We dare not suggest an arrival time or day but we have less than 100NM to go.
Today was a much better day!! We all had showers. The sun shone brightly for us. We even were able to take off layers of clothing as it felt downright warm inside at 20C, with 18C outside. We have been asked whether we feel like we are starting to acclimatize to the cooler weather. I am not sure whether to be happy or depressed about the fact that I believe I have started to officially acclimatize. Today while wearing only a tank top, a pair of pants and no socks, I needed to crack open the door a little as I was feeling a little too warm. For perspective, up until yesterday, I was wearing three tops, one pair of pants and two pairs of wool socks, plus would cuddle a hot water bottle under a blanket all day. I think the fact that there is barely a lick of wind out here and the sun is shining did not hurt to help me feel warmer. So things are starting to look up for us here on Maple. Perhaps we have not made a terrible mistake after all. Now if we can just get the fuel supply to last for us so we can one day reach land, then life will be excellent!!
While we have friends during the course of their passage to Seattle have seen at least three varieties of whales, multiple times. What have we seen?! Birds, birds and more birds. For the last two days we have had a flock of some sort of huge sea bird that I have not seen before following us. I don't think they are albatrosses as I don't think they are quite that big, but they are a good size. I get the feeling that they are hoping we are fishing and will share our catch with them as they like to congregate behind Maple. And since we are barely moving, they will let us get maybe 10 or 20 meters away from them before they barely flap their wings and mostly run across the water to catch back up with us again. Yes, we are moving so slowly that the birds just need to walk on water to keep up. Anyway, that is the extent of the wildlife encounters for us recently. No whales, no dolphins, nothing else other than birds...oh and let's not forget the kelp.
Who knows what tomorrow's update will hold, stay tuned....
Latitude: 56-32.56N
Longitude: 152-25.82W
Speed: 4.1
Course: 10T
Wind_Speed: 4
Wind_Dir: NE
Barometer: 1020
Clouds: 10%
Visibility: 10
Air_Temp: 18C
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: The wind died down a bit overnight so we began to motorsail, slowly towards Kodiak. After several hours of 2kt progress the wind shifted slightly to the NE and we were able to tack (back to Starboard) and head more N with improved speed. We have been making progress to our destination since this morning at 3kt or better and things are looking good for an arrival that doesn't involve us buying diesel from passing fishing boats. [Side bar from Janet: We have not seen any fishing boats, so who knows how long we would have to bob around out here if that was what we needed to rely on to get ourselves to land.] We dare not suggest an arrival time or day but we have less than 100NM to go.
Today was a much better day!! We all had showers. The sun shone brightly for us. We even were able to take off layers of clothing as it felt downright warm inside at 20C, with 18C outside. We have been asked whether we feel like we are starting to acclimatize to the cooler weather. I am not sure whether to be happy or depressed about the fact that I believe I have started to officially acclimatize. Today while wearing only a tank top, a pair of pants and no socks, I needed to crack open the door a little as I was feeling a little too warm. For perspective, up until yesterday, I was wearing three tops, one pair of pants and two pairs of wool socks, plus would cuddle a hot water bottle under a blanket all day. I think the fact that there is barely a lick of wind out here and the sun is shining did not hurt to help me feel warmer. So things are starting to look up for us here on Maple. Perhaps we have not made a terrible mistake after all. Now if we can just get the fuel supply to last for us so we can one day reach land, then life will be excellent!!
While we have friends during the course of their passage to Seattle have seen at least three varieties of whales, multiple times. What have we seen?! Birds, birds and more birds. For the last two days we have had a flock of some sort of huge sea bird that I have not seen before following us. I don't think they are albatrosses as I don't think they are quite that big, but they are a good size. I get the feeling that they are hoping we are fishing and will share our catch with them as they like to congregate behind Maple. And since we are barely moving, they will let us get maybe 10 or 20 meters away from them before they barely flap their wings and mostly run across the water to catch back up with us again. Yes, we are moving so slowly that the birds just need to walk on water to keep up. Anyway, that is the extent of the wildlife encounters for us recently. No whales, no dolphins, nothing else other than birds...oh and let's not forget the kelp.
Who knows what tomorrow's update will hold, stay tuned....
Saturday, 24 July 2021
The Fun Continues
Time: 2021/07/25 03:58:15
Latitude: 55-55.69N
Longitude: 153-8.94W
Speed: 3.0
Course: 83T
Wind_Speed: 12
Wind_Dir: N
Barometer: 1020
Clouds: 100%
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 1M
Wave_Dir: N
Comment: So close yet so far. We are fighting headwinds and a current to get to Kodiak. Motoring into the wind gives us a speed over ground of just 1kt - with more than 140 miles to go this is no good, We are down to our last 200L of fuel (best guess) so have about 60 hrs or so of motoring ability, meaning we need to do better than 2 knots under power to make this a good choice. So we sail - East, or slightly SE at 2 kt. The winds are forecast to die down to below 5 kt, hopefully the seas will moderate as well and we can try motoring again, otherwise we're going to have to wait for favourable winds to make the last push to land. Just when we thought we had the end in sight.
Well there you have it, the Maple crew is having to dig deep for patience. It feels like deja vu as we had the exact same thing happen on our last couple hundred miles to Hawaii where we could not motor more than 1kt into the winds and seas. This time, we don't have the same abundance of fuel remaining so patience will have to be our game plan now.
Well enough about weather, here's a new fun story to share. Last night during our shift change at midnight, D was heading off to bed, when the starboard engine that was running at the time dropped in RPMs and just shut off. Ooh, um, that isn't good, is it?! My first thought was another darn kelp that this time found its way around the prop. But we have had prop wraps before and in those cases the engine just cuts out immediately. This time it was just like when the outboard runs out of fuel, it basically sputters and dies. Okay, game plan is to wait until daylight to evaluate the issue. So on goes the port engine and we are set for an easy evening of motorsailing...and yes, at that time we were pointing directly for our destination in more pleasant seas.
Since the starboard fuel tank is located beneath our bed, D had to wait until I was awake to get troubleshooting. So while I enjoyed coffee and freshly baked bread, D got to work...not a bad arrangement I say. So first course of action was to check the fuel tank to make sure there actually was fuel in there. The fuel gauge indicated we had about a third of a tank, but we have previously replaced the fuel sender in that tank so perhaps it was not functioning again and we were in fact out of fuel. Nope, there is still fuel in there.
Second step, check the fuel filters. D did check them quickly when the engine first shut down, and he suspected this was likely the problem. When I asked D when the last time the fuel filters were changed, I sort of just got a blank look and I think he temporarily was unable to hear the pitch of my voice. I took that to mean it had been awhile. It turns out the filters were in pretty bad shape and fairly full of gunk. I wonder if it would have perhaps been a more enjoyable task to do in a lovely calm anchorage than in rolling seas hitting us on the bow, which means we do a lovely hobby-horse type action resulting in seas splashing up over the back transom step where D has to knee to work on the engine. Anyway, without complaint as always, D go the job done. And yup, that was the problem. Starboard engine is back in service again.
As for when we might arrive in Kodiak is now really anyone's guess. The waiting game continues and we are confident that one day we will step foot on land again.
Latitude: 55-55.69N
Longitude: 153-8.94W
Speed: 3.0
Course: 83T
Wind_Speed: 12
Wind_Dir: N
Barometer: 1020
Clouds: 100%
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 1M
Wave_Dir: N
Comment: So close yet so far. We are fighting headwinds and a current to get to Kodiak. Motoring into the wind gives us a speed over ground of just 1kt - with more than 140 miles to go this is no good, We are down to our last 200L of fuel (best guess) so have about 60 hrs or so of motoring ability, meaning we need to do better than 2 knots under power to make this a good choice. So we sail - East, or slightly SE at 2 kt. The winds are forecast to die down to below 5 kt, hopefully the seas will moderate as well and we can try motoring again, otherwise we're going to have to wait for favourable winds to make the last push to land. Just when we thought we had the end in sight.
Well there you have it, the Maple crew is having to dig deep for patience. It feels like deja vu as we had the exact same thing happen on our last couple hundred miles to Hawaii where we could not motor more than 1kt into the winds and seas. This time, we don't have the same abundance of fuel remaining so patience will have to be our game plan now.
Well enough about weather, here's a new fun story to share. Last night during our shift change at midnight, D was heading off to bed, when the starboard engine that was running at the time dropped in RPMs and just shut off. Ooh, um, that isn't good, is it?! My first thought was another darn kelp that this time found its way around the prop. But we have had prop wraps before and in those cases the engine just cuts out immediately. This time it was just like when the outboard runs out of fuel, it basically sputters and dies. Okay, game plan is to wait until daylight to evaluate the issue. So on goes the port engine and we are set for an easy evening of motorsailing...and yes, at that time we were pointing directly for our destination in more pleasant seas.
Since the starboard fuel tank is located beneath our bed, D had to wait until I was awake to get troubleshooting. So while I enjoyed coffee and freshly baked bread, D got to work...not a bad arrangement I say. So first course of action was to check the fuel tank to make sure there actually was fuel in there. The fuel gauge indicated we had about a third of a tank, but we have previously replaced the fuel sender in that tank so perhaps it was not functioning again and we were in fact out of fuel. Nope, there is still fuel in there.
Second step, check the fuel filters. D did check them quickly when the engine first shut down, and he suspected this was likely the problem. When I asked D when the last time the fuel filters were changed, I sort of just got a blank look and I think he temporarily was unable to hear the pitch of my voice. I took that to mean it had been awhile. It turns out the filters were in pretty bad shape and fairly full of gunk. I wonder if it would have perhaps been a more enjoyable task to do in a lovely calm anchorage than in rolling seas hitting us on the bow, which means we do a lovely hobby-horse type action resulting in seas splashing up over the back transom step where D has to knee to work on the engine. Anyway, without complaint as always, D go the job done. And yup, that was the problem. Starboard engine is back in service again.
As for when we might arrive in Kodiak is now really anyone's guess. The waiting game continues and we are confident that one day we will step foot on land again.
Friday, 23 July 2021
Upwind...as usual
Time: 2021/07/24 04:29:32
Latitude: 54-59.85N
Longitude: 154-53.72W
Speed: 4.4
Course: 60T
Wind_Speed: 17
Wind_Dir: NNW
Barometer: 1011
Clouds: 80%
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 1.5M
Wave_Dir: NW
Comment: Currently struggling to head N in NW winds. Waiting for winds and seas to decrease to then point N and motorsail to Kodiak. Perhaps a Monday arrival is possible but really not making any commitments yet based on the variable winds and uncomfortable seas we have been experiencing.
So I am determined to stay positive for this update. I am sure everyone is tired of the pity party emails from me. All is well with the crew on board. I wanted to share what our amazing Captain has been doing for the last week. In an attempt to warm up the salon for when the girls wake up and eventually me, D has been baking something every morning whether it is a loaf of bread, coffee cake, baked oatmeal, waffles or this morning was a freshly baked pie and yes, he makes his own crust. I mean how amazing is this guy!!! The ladies on Maple are very, very spoiled indeed. I think in a way we might be disappointed when we arrive for I don't anticipate this routine continuing, after all we are trying to be optimistic it won't feel quite so cold on board once we are near land again.
The reality is the four of us are more than ready to get there. Our poor extrovert Iris is starting to not be happy to be limited to seeing the same three faces every day. As for Ella, since recently finishing her shawl, she has already knitted a cowl for D and ear warmers for me. The girl is going to run out of wool eventually here and the four of us are going to be covered from head to toe in various knitted accessories. With just 200+ miles to go, we feel we can finally cautiously start a bit of a countdown to our arrival, which is pretty darn exciting for all of us. And I am sure equally exciting for all of you to finally be able to stop reading me whine about this passage.
PS: Yes, Mark and Shaun, we will attempt to re-create the inflated life jacket on D so we can get a picture for your viewing pleasure.
Latitude: 54-59.85N
Longitude: 154-53.72W
Speed: 4.4
Course: 60T
Wind_Speed: 17
Wind_Dir: NNW
Barometer: 1011
Clouds: 80%
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 1.5M
Wave_Dir: NW
Comment: Currently struggling to head N in NW winds. Waiting for winds and seas to decrease to then point N and motorsail to Kodiak. Perhaps a Monday arrival is possible but really not making any commitments yet based on the variable winds and uncomfortable seas we have been experiencing.
So I am determined to stay positive for this update. I am sure everyone is tired of the pity party emails from me. All is well with the crew on board. I wanted to share what our amazing Captain has been doing for the last week. In an attempt to warm up the salon for when the girls wake up and eventually me, D has been baking something every morning whether it is a loaf of bread, coffee cake, baked oatmeal, waffles or this morning was a freshly baked pie and yes, he makes his own crust. I mean how amazing is this guy!!! The ladies on Maple are very, very spoiled indeed. I think in a way we might be disappointed when we arrive for I don't anticipate this routine continuing, after all we are trying to be optimistic it won't feel quite so cold on board once we are near land again.
The reality is the four of us are more than ready to get there. Our poor extrovert Iris is starting to not be happy to be limited to seeing the same three faces every day. As for Ella, since recently finishing her shawl, she has already knitted a cowl for D and ear warmers for me. The girl is going to run out of wool eventually here and the four of us are going to be covered from head to toe in various knitted accessories. With just 200+ miles to go, we feel we can finally cautiously start a bit of a countdown to our arrival, which is pretty darn exciting for all of us. And I am sure equally exciting for all of you to finally be able to stop reading me whine about this passage.
PS: Yes, Mark and Shaun, we will attempt to re-create the inflated life jacket on D so we can get a picture for your viewing pleasure.
Thursday, 22 July 2021
Good Fun That Is Funny
Time: 2021/07/23 03:39:46
Latitude: 53-51.00N
Longitude: 157-30.04W
Speed: 5.0
Course: 51T
Wind_Speed: 21
Wind_Dir: WNW
Barometer: 1010
Clouds: 30%
Visibility: 10
Air_Temp: 12C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Comment: Waves from multiple directions with relatively short period is making for a bumpy ride, but we are heading the right direction at a decent speed so we don't complain too much. The sun and blue sky made an appearance through most of the day and is still up which improves spirits. Amazing what 10 days of oppresive fog and visibility under 1 mille will do to your mood. Just over 300 miles to go.
The fun on board Maple just keeps getting better. And yes, it is still not as fun as getting a hole in our bow, I do concede that we have friends who have won top prize for that level of fun. However, today for the crew of Maple we had our own kind of fun.
I am trying to figure out what is the appropriate amount of back story, so bare with me. Yesterday during my 6pm to 9pm watch, I noticed that there was something streaming off the port stern, parallel to our tow generator line. Huh?! What is that!? Upon closer inspection I discovered we were dragging a long root of kelp that was clearly wedged between the hull and top of the rudder. Right, of course. This giant ocean and we managed to snag kelp 400 miles from land. Can someone calculate the probability of that happening? I feel like I should be buying a lottery ticket to be that lucky. I tried half-heartedly to get it off using the gaff with no success in dislodging it. So when D got up for his shift, he of course easily removed it and the girls were quite excited to check it out up close. They have no memory of seeing kelp before, although I am certain they did at some point on the beaches in BC. Anyway, there is no chance we could be this lucky twice is there?!
As an aside, which I promise is relevant, when we were in Honolulu spending what was left of our life savings, I suggested to D we might want to consider buying new life jackets to replace our very tired ones. He figured it was not necessary yet and so we walked away from spending an additional $500. Well wouldn't you know it, a few days ago D's life jacket broke and is no longer functional to auto-inflate. Ok, no worries. We have two other auto-inflating jackets we had bought for Jeff and Sandra when they joined us for our Atlantic crossing. We had been graduating the girls to those ones but Iris still has her old jacket so if D uses one we still have enough life jackets for everyone. An easy fix for once, life is good...until this morning.
It seems the most fun we like to have is in the morning when this crew member is still sleeping. Such as the spinnaker losing its head. Well this morning was truly my worst nightmare. I woke up to the most terrifying, screeching of alarms. There is only one thing that makes that sound. Yup, the man over board (MOB) alarm was going off. (Insert all possible profanity here.) D and I have individual MOB devices attached to our life jackets. So if one of us falls in the water, the life jacket inflates triggering the MOB, which activates an emergency AIS signal on our chart plotter so we can see exactly where they are, and to ensure immediate action can be taken, it sets off the most horrendous of alarms.
I obviously come tearing out of bed, up the stairs to be greeted at the companionway door to the sight of D standing there getting strangled by his fully inflated life jacket. With no ability to move his head and the life jacket obscuring all peripheral vision, he could not figure out how to deflate the jacket or undo it. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to silence the blaring alarm. Needless to say it was a bit of a gong show, but thankfully no man overboard procedures were actually required. D said he briefly had the image of the scene of Chris Farley struggling to put on a little jacket from the movie, Tommy Boy, flash through his mind. Once the alarm was cleared, D extricated from the life jacket and my blood pressure had returned to its normal level, we are all now regretting not stopping a moment in the frenzy to take a picture of D with a life jacket wrapped firmly around his head. It is a memory I will not soon forget.
Now what caused all of this excitement?! Well it turns out that we can be lucky twice. A second kelp root had wedged itself on the starboard rudder this time. And while D, tethered to the boat of course, was trying to clear this second entangled kelp, he got swamped by one of the monster waves we have had the pleasure of riding out for the last 24 hours. Apparently it was enough water for the life jacket to feel it warranted setting itself off while D was still safely on deck. So now in a matter of days, we are down a second life jacket for our crew of four and as such we had to dig out of the front locker one of those awesome, old school PFDs for one of us to use in case of an emergency. With around 300+ miles to go, it is finally starting to feel like we might see the end to this passage, but perhaps like The Cat in the Hat, we will find more "good fun that is funny" before we make landfall.
Latitude: 53-51.00N
Longitude: 157-30.04W
Speed: 5.0
Course: 51T
Wind_Speed: 21
Wind_Dir: WNW
Barometer: 1010
Clouds: 30%
Visibility: 10
Air_Temp: 12C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Comment: Waves from multiple directions with relatively short period is making for a bumpy ride, but we are heading the right direction at a decent speed so we don't complain too much. The sun and blue sky made an appearance through most of the day and is still up which improves spirits. Amazing what 10 days of oppresive fog and visibility under 1 mille will do to your mood. Just over 300 miles to go.
The fun on board Maple just keeps getting better. And yes, it is still not as fun as getting a hole in our bow, I do concede that we have friends who have won top prize for that level of fun. However, today for the crew of Maple we had our own kind of fun.
I am trying to figure out what is the appropriate amount of back story, so bare with me. Yesterday during my 6pm to 9pm watch, I noticed that there was something streaming off the port stern, parallel to our tow generator line. Huh?! What is that!? Upon closer inspection I discovered we were dragging a long root of kelp that was clearly wedged between the hull and top of the rudder. Right, of course. This giant ocean and we managed to snag kelp 400 miles from land. Can someone calculate the probability of that happening? I feel like I should be buying a lottery ticket to be that lucky. I tried half-heartedly to get it off using the gaff with no success in dislodging it. So when D got up for his shift, he of course easily removed it and the girls were quite excited to check it out up close. They have no memory of seeing kelp before, although I am certain they did at some point on the beaches in BC. Anyway, there is no chance we could be this lucky twice is there?!
As an aside, which I promise is relevant, when we were in Honolulu spending what was left of our life savings, I suggested to D we might want to consider buying new life jackets to replace our very tired ones. He figured it was not necessary yet and so we walked away from spending an additional $500. Well wouldn't you know it, a few days ago D's life jacket broke and is no longer functional to auto-inflate. Ok, no worries. We have two other auto-inflating jackets we had bought for Jeff and Sandra when they joined us for our Atlantic crossing. We had been graduating the girls to those ones but Iris still has her old jacket so if D uses one we still have enough life jackets for everyone. An easy fix for once, life is good...until this morning.
It seems the most fun we like to have is in the morning when this crew member is still sleeping. Such as the spinnaker losing its head. Well this morning was truly my worst nightmare. I woke up to the most terrifying, screeching of alarms. There is only one thing that makes that sound. Yup, the man over board (MOB) alarm was going off. (Insert all possible profanity here.) D and I have individual MOB devices attached to our life jackets. So if one of us falls in the water, the life jacket inflates triggering the MOB, which activates an emergency AIS signal on our chart plotter so we can see exactly where they are, and to ensure immediate action can be taken, it sets off the most horrendous of alarms.
I obviously come tearing out of bed, up the stairs to be greeted at the companionway door to the sight of D standing there getting strangled by his fully inflated life jacket. With no ability to move his head and the life jacket obscuring all peripheral vision, he could not figure out how to deflate the jacket or undo it. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to silence the blaring alarm. Needless to say it was a bit of a gong show, but thankfully no man overboard procedures were actually required. D said he briefly had the image of the scene of Chris Farley struggling to put on a little jacket from the movie, Tommy Boy, flash through his mind. Once the alarm was cleared, D extricated from the life jacket and my blood pressure had returned to its normal level, we are all now regretting not stopping a moment in the frenzy to take a picture of D with a life jacket wrapped firmly around his head. It is a memory I will not soon forget.
Now what caused all of this excitement?! Well it turns out that we can be lucky twice. A second kelp root had wedged itself on the starboard rudder this time. And while D, tethered to the boat of course, was trying to clear this second entangled kelp, he got swamped by one of the monster waves we have had the pleasure of riding out for the last 24 hours. Apparently it was enough water for the life jacket to feel it warranted setting itself off while D was still safely on deck. So now in a matter of days, we are down a second life jacket for our crew of four and as such we had to dig out of the front locker one of those awesome, old school PFDs for one of us to use in case of an emergency. With around 300+ miles to go, it is finally starting to feel like we might see the end to this passage, but perhaps like The Cat in the Hat, we will find more "good fun that is funny" before we make landfall.
Tuesday, 20 July 2021
A better day
Time: 2021/07/21 03:11:43
Latitude: 50-46.56N
Longitude: 161-40.60W
Speed: 6.2
Course: 35T
Wind_Speed: 23
Wind_Dir: SW
Barometer: 1022
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: SW
Comment: Sailing well with 20kt wind at 130 degrees apparent. Strength higher than forecast but not awful as long as it does not climb too much. Seas are confused and lumpy, could be more comfortable. Period seems short with larger swell interspersed with smaller waves causing a bit of rolling onboard. Currently trying to make as much N as possible in anticipation of forecast NW winds in the next few days. Just over 500 miles to go.
Thank you so much to those of you who emailed us!! So love hearing from people and really appreciated and clearly needed the words of encouragement. Last night around 1am local time the winds filled in and were coming from a great angle allowing us to finally sail at a decent speed. As the day progressed obviously the waves have built as the winds have increased. But hey, we are FINALLY on a port tack!!! Took us long enough. Despite being heavily reefed with three reefs in the main and one reef in the headsail, we are consistently sailing between 5.5 and 6.5 knots. So a much different day than we have had recently sailing-wise.
It is starting to get to a point where we can start to discuss possible arrival days, but I won't say it out loud just yet because who knows what will happen over the next 500+ miles to go. Still very overcast/foggy, but we managed to see an unfamiliar, glowing ball of light in the sky a couple of times today. In the end, we are maintaining perspective that we are safe, healthy and together as a family, so life is good!!
Thank you again for those of you who reached out!! So grateful for all of you!! <3
Latitude: 50-46.56N
Longitude: 161-40.60W
Speed: 6.2
Course: 35T
Wind_Speed: 23
Wind_Dir: SW
Barometer: 1022
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: SW
Comment: Sailing well with 20kt wind at 130 degrees apparent. Strength higher than forecast but not awful as long as it does not climb too much. Seas are confused and lumpy, could be more comfortable. Period seems short with larger swell interspersed with smaller waves causing a bit of rolling onboard. Currently trying to make as much N as possible in anticipation of forecast NW winds in the next few days. Just over 500 miles to go.
Thank you so much to those of you who emailed us!! So love hearing from people and really appreciated and clearly needed the words of encouragement. Last night around 1am local time the winds filled in and were coming from a great angle allowing us to finally sail at a decent speed. As the day progressed obviously the waves have built as the winds have increased. But hey, we are FINALLY on a port tack!!! Took us long enough. Despite being heavily reefed with three reefs in the main and one reef in the headsail, we are consistently sailing between 5.5 and 6.5 knots. So a much different day than we have had recently sailing-wise.
It is starting to get to a point where we can start to discuss possible arrival days, but I won't say it out loud just yet because who knows what will happen over the next 500+ miles to go. Still very overcast/foggy, but we managed to see an unfamiliar, glowing ball of light in the sky a couple of times today. In the end, we are maintaining perspective that we are safe, healthy and together as a family, so life is good!!
Thank you again for those of you who reached out!! So grateful for all of you!! <3
Monday, 19 July 2021
Decapitated
Time: 2021/07/20 03:30:49
Latitude: 48-51.54N
Longitude: 162-55.20W
Speed: 3.6
Course: 27T
Wind_Speed: 11
Wind_Dir: SSW
Barometer: 1030
Air_Temp: 12C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: This is the passage that never ends. Crew morale is suffering somewhat due to cold and light winds impeding progress. I hate to wish for more wind as inevitably that comes back to bite you, but we don't sail well in less than 10kt apparent and dead downwind can be a challenge...
Sailing dead downwind should be a breeze for us as long as the winds are light. We have this awesome spinnaker for just that purpose. The whole point of a spinnaker is they fly with wind filling them from downwind and we enjoy a lovely, blissful slide down one wave after the other. It honestly at times feels like we are not even moving, the movement is so gentle and yet the boat can be going 5 or 6 knots without seeming any effort. The winds since yesterday have been perfect for the spinnaker and so we were happy to oblige and take full advantage. But sometimes $hit happens!
There are occasional times when our trusty autopilot likes to take a break without any warning. No beep to let us know it is deciding to turn itself off. Just the next thing you know Maple is veering very much off course. Now on the rare times this has happened before, we have the usual jib and main sails up so when the autopilot turns itself off, the boat starts turning upwind, the sails start luffing, which is when we notice and jump to action to steer ourselves back on course, reset the autopilot, no harm done. Well in the spirit of celebrating...hmmm, in this case, let's say acknowledging...all the "milestones" and "countless firsts" for us on Maple, this morning we had the unpleasant experience of the first time the autopilot deciding to take that break when the spinnaker was flying. Spinnakers are not meant to have wind coming from too far upwind as it causes them to swiftly move to the beam and start to thrash itself into oblivion. Best case, we can quickly steer ourselves back on course and the sail refills and life is good again. Worst case, rigging can break. In our case, the rigging held up just fine so we will call that a win. But our spinnaker paid the price for our autopilot's inconvenient timing for a rest. The head (top) of the sail tore completely off and subsequently the vast majority of the sail swiftly fell into the water. We were able to recover the sail, no problem, but that was the end to our blissful downwind sailing.
Well that is how I started my day!!! So here we are down a lightwind sail and still very much in lightwinds. We spent the day slowly sailing with the jib and main wing on wing, not nearly as efficient as the spinnaker but we were making some progress. But honestly as the day progressed and the boat speed continued to slide, morale for D and I were depleting quickly. The clouds have been oppressively thick today without any sunshine coming in so it never really warmed up inside. The batteries decided to give us more trouble again. To put it simply, we are not loving this sailing thing at the moment. This evening at dinner, we discussed with the girls how we are feeling and they are such amazing kids telling us all kinds of things we could do to cheer ourselves up. It was very much an unusual role reversal for our family. In the end, Iris resorted to quoting one of her favourite shows, "Parks & Recreation", when the character, Anne, didn't want solutions to her complaints, just validation, and with perfect comedic timing, Iris patted D on the shoulder and said "That sucks".
Latitude: 48-51.54N
Longitude: 162-55.20W
Speed: 3.6
Course: 27T
Wind_Speed: 11
Wind_Dir: SSW
Barometer: 1030
Air_Temp: 12C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: This is the passage that never ends. Crew morale is suffering somewhat due to cold and light winds impeding progress. I hate to wish for more wind as inevitably that comes back to bite you, but we don't sail well in less than 10kt apparent and dead downwind can be a challenge...
Sailing dead downwind should be a breeze for us as long as the winds are light. We have this awesome spinnaker for just that purpose. The whole point of a spinnaker is they fly with wind filling them from downwind and we enjoy a lovely, blissful slide down one wave after the other. It honestly at times feels like we are not even moving, the movement is so gentle and yet the boat can be going 5 or 6 knots without seeming any effort. The winds since yesterday have been perfect for the spinnaker and so we were happy to oblige and take full advantage. But sometimes $hit happens!
There are occasional times when our trusty autopilot likes to take a break without any warning. No beep to let us know it is deciding to turn itself off. Just the next thing you know Maple is veering very much off course. Now on the rare times this has happened before, we have the usual jib and main sails up so when the autopilot turns itself off, the boat starts turning upwind, the sails start luffing, which is when we notice and jump to action to steer ourselves back on course, reset the autopilot, no harm done. Well in the spirit of celebrating...hmmm, in this case, let's say acknowledging...all the "milestones" and "countless firsts" for us on Maple, this morning we had the unpleasant experience of the first time the autopilot deciding to take that break when the spinnaker was flying. Spinnakers are not meant to have wind coming from too far upwind as it causes them to swiftly move to the beam and start to thrash itself into oblivion. Best case, we can quickly steer ourselves back on course and the sail refills and life is good again. Worst case, rigging can break. In our case, the rigging held up just fine so we will call that a win. But our spinnaker paid the price for our autopilot's inconvenient timing for a rest. The head (top) of the sail tore completely off and subsequently the vast majority of the sail swiftly fell into the water. We were able to recover the sail, no problem, but that was the end to our blissful downwind sailing.
Well that is how I started my day!!! So here we are down a lightwind sail and still very much in lightwinds. We spent the day slowly sailing with the jib and main wing on wing, not nearly as efficient as the spinnaker but we were making some progress. But honestly as the day progressed and the boat speed continued to slide, morale for D and I were depleting quickly. The clouds have been oppressively thick today without any sunshine coming in so it never really warmed up inside. The batteries decided to give us more trouble again. To put it simply, we are not loving this sailing thing at the moment. This evening at dinner, we discussed with the girls how we are feeling and they are such amazing kids telling us all kinds of things we could do to cheer ourselves up. It was very much an unusual role reversal for our family. In the end, Iris resorted to quoting one of her favourite shows, "Parks & Recreation", when the character, Anne, didn't want solutions to her complaints, just validation, and with perfect comedic timing, Iris patted D on the shoulder and said "That sucks".
Sunday, 18 July 2021
Still cold...
Time: 2021/07/19 02:02:58
Latitude: 47-10.59N
Longitude: 164-16.30W
Speed: 5.0
Course: 32T
Wind_Speed: 12
Wind_Dir: SSW
Barometer: 1035
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker is up again as of about 1000 local. Winds are predicted to be light through to tomorrow afternoon so we should be good to fly it for a little while. Nice to be sailing again. Fog has lifted somewhat, clouds remain and visibility is still less than 10 NM. It is still colder than we would like but we are managing.
There is nothing quite like getting up for my watch at midnight and seeing D with his head buried in the battery box. Still wiping the sleep out of my eyes and having a pity party for how cold it is, the flashing from the battery monitoring system (BMS) catches my eye. Oh no...this is not good. The BMS is responsible for monitoring the charging and discharging of our house battery bank. This is not the first time the BMS has given us problems. During the Pacific crossing, the BMS shut down our batteries due to wrong information the BMS was producing. Fortunately D was able to find a bypass to ensure that we still were able to use our battery bank. This time the issue is the BMS has stopped reading the sense boards that are attached to the lithium batteries and in turn we are getting very wrong voltage and temperature readings from the 20 lithium cells that we rely on to power everything on this boat. Basically if the BMS was to be believed, the batteries were well and truly dead with negative voltage and below freezing temperatures. So just like a computer when all else fails, power it off and turn it back on, that is sort of what D had to do. He disconnected the sense boards and then one group of cells at a time, he reconnected them and miraculously it fixed the problem. The batteries themselves are rockstars and are not the problem. The problem is the BMS that we bought to monitor the charging of the cells, basically it is a piece of $hit. Our conclusion for this most recent mishap is perhaps the BMS was expressing its displeasue about the cold.
On the plus side, we have some systems on the boat that are loving the cold!!! We have had the fridge/freezer turned off all day today and everything is still frozen solid. Yesterday, we had to turn it off when we discovered the fridge was actually freezing what little is left of our fresh produce. I had no idea this fridge could actually be so efficient even without a lick of insulation on this thing. Then there is our watermaker!! We have never had such low TDS readings, which is the number that tells us how much salt is in the fresh water the watermaker is producing. Apparently tropical waters are not to our watermaker's taste.
As for me, I am not loving the cold. I have so many blankets on my bed that it is hard to turn over they are so heavy, and my darn feet are still cold!! Even D was trying to map out a route today that took us through Alaska as quickly as possible to try to get us south to warmer temps. We are trying to be hopeful that once we are closer to land it will feel warmer. I have no doubt once we see the amazing scenery and wildlife that Alaska has to offer, we will change our tune. But for now, surrounded by nothing but grey skies and grey water, it is hard to be enthusiastic about the cold.
Latitude: 47-10.59N
Longitude: 164-16.30W
Speed: 5.0
Course: 32T
Wind_Speed: 12
Wind_Dir: SSW
Barometer: 1035
Air_Temp: 14C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker is up again as of about 1000 local. Winds are predicted to be light through to tomorrow afternoon so we should be good to fly it for a little while. Nice to be sailing again. Fog has lifted somewhat, clouds remain and visibility is still less than 10 NM. It is still colder than we would like but we are managing.
There is nothing quite like getting up for my watch at midnight and seeing D with his head buried in the battery box. Still wiping the sleep out of my eyes and having a pity party for how cold it is, the flashing from the battery monitoring system (BMS) catches my eye. Oh no...this is not good. The BMS is responsible for monitoring the charging and discharging of our house battery bank. This is not the first time the BMS has given us problems. During the Pacific crossing, the BMS shut down our batteries due to wrong information the BMS was producing. Fortunately D was able to find a bypass to ensure that we still were able to use our battery bank. This time the issue is the BMS has stopped reading the sense boards that are attached to the lithium batteries and in turn we are getting very wrong voltage and temperature readings from the 20 lithium cells that we rely on to power everything on this boat. Basically if the BMS was to be believed, the batteries were well and truly dead with negative voltage and below freezing temperatures. So just like a computer when all else fails, power it off and turn it back on, that is sort of what D had to do. He disconnected the sense boards and then one group of cells at a time, he reconnected them and miraculously it fixed the problem. The batteries themselves are rockstars and are not the problem. The problem is the BMS that we bought to monitor the charging of the cells, basically it is a piece of $hit. Our conclusion for this most recent mishap is perhaps the BMS was expressing its displeasue about the cold.
On the plus side, we have some systems on the boat that are loving the cold!!! We have had the fridge/freezer turned off all day today and everything is still frozen solid. Yesterday, we had to turn it off when we discovered the fridge was actually freezing what little is left of our fresh produce. I had no idea this fridge could actually be so efficient even without a lick of insulation on this thing. Then there is our watermaker!! We have never had such low TDS readings, which is the number that tells us how much salt is in the fresh water the watermaker is producing. Apparently tropical waters are not to our watermaker's taste.
As for me, I am not loving the cold. I have so many blankets on my bed that it is hard to turn over they are so heavy, and my darn feet are still cold!! Even D was trying to map out a route today that took us through Alaska as quickly as possible to try to get us south to warmer temps. We are trying to be hopeful that once we are closer to land it will feel warmer. I have no doubt once we see the amazing scenery and wildlife that Alaska has to offer, we will change our tune. But for now, surrounded by nothing but grey skies and grey water, it is hard to be enthusiastic about the cold.
Saturday, 17 July 2021
Venice
Time: 2021/07/18 02:38:49
Latitude: 45-51.92N
Longitude: 165-39.77E
Speed: 4.4
Course: 38T
Wind_Speed: 2.5
Wind_Dir: S
Barometer: 1032
Air_Temp: 12.5C
Wave_Ht: 0M
Swell_Ht: 0M
Comment: We are continuing to motor sail through another high pressure area. So far this has not been our best passage for sailing weather but we are still making progress to our goal so we'll take it. Flat calm seas with barely a ripple, the fog has lifted to become low clouds and it did not warm up much today. Winds should fill in overnight or tomorrow to allow us to sail properly towards Kodiak, even if we have to hoist the spinnaker again.
D and I love traveling. It is the main motivator for why we are out here. Neither of us have a passion for sailing, but love how sailing has enabled us to get out and explore the world.
My love for travel started in 1995 with a Grade 11 school trip to Italy. It was one of those typical whirlwind package bus tours where you move at a breakneck pace trying to squeeze in as much as possible. To put it in perspective over just 10 days, we traveled from Milan to Rome!!! Despite not getting a lot of time to really appreciate the country, Italy is by far one of my favourites, and as touristy as it is, Venice is my favourite city!! Even just the brief glimpse I got on this trip, I fell in love with it. I just loved the maze of pedestrian only streets. The bridges. The canals. The history. Everything. Even the wall to wall tourists. We all were in awe of this magnificent city.
In 2007, D and I traveled for six weeks through Italy with Ella at 6 months old. We started that trip in Venice and again it did not disappoint. I still felt such a love for that city and could not believe I had a second opportunity to visit. I even had enough time to start to feel like I would not get lost in the maze of streets.
Then unbelievably in 2015, 20 years after that first trip, less than two months after moving onto Maple, we sailed into Venice!!! We spent a month there and I have so much gratitude when I think of how amazing the experience was to be there for a third time. We were able to explore the canals in our own dinghy, we had such a blast, even when being yelled at by a gondolier. We were still very much in the honeymoon phase of our time on Maple, feeling more like just a vacation. The girls memories of Venice are gelato and mosquitos. It is where we started our first year of boat schooling. Wow, does that ever feel like a lifetime ago.
Anyway, this is a long segue to share that today marks a new milestone for Maple and her crew! Just took us an extra day than anticipated. Venice was the furthest north we ever sailed with Maple, until today. As Ella said this morning, this is a very different climate than Venice was very nearly six years ago, but still all part of this amazing adventure of countless firsts for our little crew of explorers.
Latitude: 45-51.92N
Longitude: 165-39.77E
Speed: 4.4
Course: 38T
Wind_Speed: 2.5
Wind_Dir: S
Barometer: 1032
Air_Temp: 12.5C
Wave_Ht: 0M
Swell_Ht: 0M
Comment: We are continuing to motor sail through another high pressure area. So far this has not been our best passage for sailing weather but we are still making progress to our goal so we'll take it. Flat calm seas with barely a ripple, the fog has lifted to become low clouds and it did not warm up much today. Winds should fill in overnight or tomorrow to allow us to sail properly towards Kodiak, even if we have to hoist the spinnaker again.
D and I love traveling. It is the main motivator for why we are out here. Neither of us have a passion for sailing, but love how sailing has enabled us to get out and explore the world.
My love for travel started in 1995 with a Grade 11 school trip to Italy. It was one of those typical whirlwind package bus tours where you move at a breakneck pace trying to squeeze in as much as possible. To put it in perspective over just 10 days, we traveled from Milan to Rome!!! Despite not getting a lot of time to really appreciate the country, Italy is by far one of my favourites, and as touristy as it is, Venice is my favourite city!! Even just the brief glimpse I got on this trip, I fell in love with it. I just loved the maze of pedestrian only streets. The bridges. The canals. The history. Everything. Even the wall to wall tourists. We all were in awe of this magnificent city.
In 2007, D and I traveled for six weeks through Italy with Ella at 6 months old. We started that trip in Venice and again it did not disappoint. I still felt such a love for that city and could not believe I had a second opportunity to visit. I even had enough time to start to feel like I would not get lost in the maze of streets.
Then unbelievably in 2015, 20 years after that first trip, less than two months after moving onto Maple, we sailed into Venice!!! We spent a month there and I have so much gratitude when I think of how amazing the experience was to be there for a third time. We were able to explore the canals in our own dinghy, we had such a blast, even when being yelled at by a gondolier. We were still very much in the honeymoon phase of our time on Maple, feeling more like just a vacation. The girls memories of Venice are gelato and mosquitos. It is where we started our first year of boat schooling. Wow, does that ever feel like a lifetime ago.
Anyway, this is a long segue to share that today marks a new milestone for Maple and her crew! Just took us an extra day than anticipated. Venice was the furthest north we ever sailed with Maple, until today. As Ella said this morning, this is a very different climate than Venice was very nearly six years ago, but still all part of this amazing adventure of countless firsts for our little crew of explorers.
Friday, 16 July 2021
Fog, fog, go away...
Time: 2021/07/17 03:43:37
Latitude: 44-46.63N
Longitude: 167-25.01E
Speed: 3.6
Course: 73T
Wind_Speed: 7
Wind_Dir: NNE
Air_Temp: 16C
Wave_Ht: .5M
Wave_Dir: NNE
Comment: Slow progress today. Dropped the spinnaker around midnight as wind was decreasing, Motored through the night. Between midnight and 6AM the wind shifted around from the SW to the NE slowing progress, in addition we are fighting a slight current from the N. Winds should turn again to the S sometime overnight or early tomorrow we hope but will be light still for a few days, we may be able to fly the spinnaker again, otherwise we will motorsail until wind strength allows decent progress. Plenty of fuel on board for now, though we'd like to not burn it all. Tired of not having favourable winds and ready to be there...9-10 days to go...
Well here we are still in this grey fog, still no sunshine in sight. Would be nice to see the sky again. The silver lining is the rain stopped!! Since the engine is back on, it means we have hot water again and so that means shower day!!! The girls and I were very excited to have hot showers. D is apparently going for the crusty, salty sailor feel. We have figured out a solution for Ella's solid state monoi oil conundrum. We put the bottle on the floor of the shower and Ella showers last. By shower number three, her oil was suitably liquid again for her use. I know you were all most concerned about how Ella would manage this crisis, so figured I would update you all.
During the day, with the body heat of four of us in the salon and occasional use of the stove and oven, the temperature inside is pleasant, even a little too warm at times. The baking of the bread first thing in the morning did the trick with taking the chill off for when the girls woke up this morning. So we are all set for a repeat loaf tomorrow morning. But during my night watch from 12am to 4am, I am FREEZING!! I tried that gel fuel thing and it was useless unless my hands were immediately above it and warming my hands over an open flame doesn't super excite me. D bought two boxes of those air activated "HotHands" hand warmers. They do work well and I get that they are meant for my hands in my pockets or inside my gloves, but do they make blankets that use the same chemistry?! I would really like one of those please shipped to: SV Maple - Middle of the North Pacific. D also bought hot water bottles and the girls are loving those! The girls are now sharing Ella's cabin and they throw their hot water bottles into their bed before they go down so that was a good buy. You see, we did anticipate it getting cold and have found some small ways to manage, but I tell you, I am really looking forward to the day we have an actual heater installed!!
D mentioned that we dropped the spinnaker last night, but he failed to mention that he was attacked by a bird!! I know...what is with us and birds?! He figures he disrupted it resting somewhere on the spreaders of the mast or something. Anyway, down it came and fluttered right in his face. From the helm, I could not see the bird just hear D hollering and see him throwing his arms around. It was quite humourous from a safe distance. The bird came to a disoriented stop on the trampoline before it recovered its senses and flew off. Speaking of birds, for about a week now, we have had an albatross that comes and swoops past us every once in awhile. It is such a huge, beautiful bird!! To clarify, it was a much smaller bird that startled D. Who says nothing fun happens out in the middle of the ocean.
The curse of the NE wind continues to haunt me!! We had hoped to achieve a new milestone on Maple today but with the wind not cooperating it means having to put off that achievement for another day. I know all of you are on pins and needles wanting to know what I am talking about, but you will just have to wait for a future installment to our "Endless Passage to Alaska" Saga. ;)
Latitude: 44-46.63N
Longitude: 167-25.01E
Speed: 3.6
Course: 73T
Wind_Speed: 7
Wind_Dir: NNE
Air_Temp: 16C
Wave_Ht: .5M
Wave_Dir: NNE
Comment: Slow progress today. Dropped the spinnaker around midnight as wind was decreasing, Motored through the night. Between midnight and 6AM the wind shifted around from the SW to the NE slowing progress, in addition we are fighting a slight current from the N. Winds should turn again to the S sometime overnight or early tomorrow we hope but will be light still for a few days, we may be able to fly the spinnaker again, otherwise we will motorsail until wind strength allows decent progress. Plenty of fuel on board for now, though we'd like to not burn it all. Tired of not having favourable winds and ready to be there...9-10 days to go...
Well here we are still in this grey fog, still no sunshine in sight. Would be nice to see the sky again. The silver lining is the rain stopped!! Since the engine is back on, it means we have hot water again and so that means shower day!!! The girls and I were very excited to have hot showers. D is apparently going for the crusty, salty sailor feel. We have figured out a solution for Ella's solid state monoi oil conundrum. We put the bottle on the floor of the shower and Ella showers last. By shower number three, her oil was suitably liquid again for her use. I know you were all most concerned about how Ella would manage this crisis, so figured I would update you all.
During the day, with the body heat of four of us in the salon and occasional use of the stove and oven, the temperature inside is pleasant, even a little too warm at times. The baking of the bread first thing in the morning did the trick with taking the chill off for when the girls woke up this morning. So we are all set for a repeat loaf tomorrow morning. But during my night watch from 12am to 4am, I am FREEZING!! I tried that gel fuel thing and it was useless unless my hands were immediately above it and warming my hands over an open flame doesn't super excite me. D bought two boxes of those air activated "HotHands" hand warmers. They do work well and I get that they are meant for my hands in my pockets or inside my gloves, but do they make blankets that use the same chemistry?! I would really like one of those please shipped to: SV Maple - Middle of the North Pacific. D also bought hot water bottles and the girls are loving those! The girls are now sharing Ella's cabin and they throw their hot water bottles into their bed before they go down so that was a good buy. You see, we did anticipate it getting cold and have found some small ways to manage, but I tell you, I am really looking forward to the day we have an actual heater installed!!
D mentioned that we dropped the spinnaker last night, but he failed to mention that he was attacked by a bird!! I know...what is with us and birds?! He figures he disrupted it resting somewhere on the spreaders of the mast or something. Anyway, down it came and fluttered right in his face. From the helm, I could not see the bird just hear D hollering and see him throwing his arms around. It was quite humourous from a safe distance. The bird came to a disoriented stop on the trampoline before it recovered its senses and flew off. Speaking of birds, for about a week now, we have had an albatross that comes and swoops past us every once in awhile. It is such a huge, beautiful bird!! To clarify, it was a much smaller bird that startled D. Who says nothing fun happens out in the middle of the ocean.
The curse of the NE wind continues to haunt me!! We had hoped to achieve a new milestone on Maple today but with the wind not cooperating it means having to put off that achievement for another day. I know all of you are on pins and needles wanting to know what I am talking about, but you will just have to wait for a future installment to our "Endless Passage to Alaska" Saga. ;)
Thursday, 15 July 2021
Cold & Wet
Time: 2021/07/16 03:04:59
Latitude: 43-44.42N
Longitude: 169-17.80W
Speed: 5.1
Course: 40T
Wind_Speed: 15
Wind_Dir: SSW
Air_Temp: 16C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker is still flying. Rainy and drizzly. Low clouds have settled in and visibility is probably less than 1 mile. A tanker passed last night within 1.2 miles and I never saw its lights, just the signal on AIS. Hopefully they can see us too. Passed through a Japanese fishing fleet last night around midnight, huge bright lights on outriggers, all of the boats had AIS and were loitering at less than 1kt. Super interesting given the distance from any land.
Wow, it is so crazy to spend the day sailing along in fog. We have not had the experience before and it is as eerie as you would expect. We were hopeful some rays of sunshine would eventually work their way through, but nope, not a drop of sunlight or blue sky was bestowed upon Maple's decks today. I know there is generally not much to see out here but I prefer a much further horizon than what this fog is currently offering us. We are now meal planning based on what will warm up the boat. The plan is to make bread dough tonight to rise and bake it in the morning to warm up the cabin because this morning was a record low of 16C inside, 14C outside. Awhile ago I was following this crazy Canuck who was sailing solo non-stop around all five capes and he mentioned using those gel fuel sources used to keep chafing dishes warm as a way to provide some heat inside his boat. Thinking we were sailing to Japan in January, D thought this was a brilliant idea so he managed to buy six in Tahiti and they have rattled around in our cupboard ever since. Well this morning, we cracked one open and lit it to see if it would offer us some much sought after warmth. Not sure if it worked or if it was the kettle being constantly on serving up hot drinks, either way, the temperature inside the boat eventually got up to a balmly 20C, which felt positively tropical after shivering at 16.
There is little desire to keep watch outside as the rain has been a constant drizzle all day. But this is the beauty of the catamaran. We have 360 degree view from inside and don't need to step outside other than to periodically check on the instruments to make sure we are still on the right course. The self-tacking spinnaker is brilliantly just pulling us along our merry way on more or less a direct course for Kodiak. We still have a little over 1000nm to go, but with the relaxed following seas and gentle breeze perfectly filling the sail, I could go on like this forever.
D already mentioned the fishing fleet from last night. Why is it that we only ever see fishing boats at night?! It isn't like they go home to port during the day. These were the first fishing vessels we have seen since leaving Hawaii. We have not been blessed with any moonlight really on this leg of the passage, but who needs the moon when you have the craziest of bright lights from a multitude of boats scattered all around the horizon. So of course it was during my shift that I had to play Frogger around these guys, but I persevered and eventually got through to the other side.
All is well with Maple and her crew. I am confident we are adjusting back to our Canadian roots and will be acclimatized to the colder weather before we know it. Becki, I promise I will have no further need for your patio heater when I visit you next summer.
Latitude: 43-44.42N
Longitude: 169-17.80W
Speed: 5.1
Course: 40T
Wind_Speed: 15
Wind_Dir: SSW
Air_Temp: 16C
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker is still flying. Rainy and drizzly. Low clouds have settled in and visibility is probably less than 1 mile. A tanker passed last night within 1.2 miles and I never saw its lights, just the signal on AIS. Hopefully they can see us too. Passed through a Japanese fishing fleet last night around midnight, huge bright lights on outriggers, all of the boats had AIS and were loitering at less than 1kt. Super interesting given the distance from any land.
Wow, it is so crazy to spend the day sailing along in fog. We have not had the experience before and it is as eerie as you would expect. We were hopeful some rays of sunshine would eventually work their way through, but nope, not a drop of sunlight or blue sky was bestowed upon Maple's decks today. I know there is generally not much to see out here but I prefer a much further horizon than what this fog is currently offering us. We are now meal planning based on what will warm up the boat. The plan is to make bread dough tonight to rise and bake it in the morning to warm up the cabin because this morning was a record low of 16C inside, 14C outside. Awhile ago I was following this crazy Canuck who was sailing solo non-stop around all five capes and he mentioned using those gel fuel sources used to keep chafing dishes warm as a way to provide some heat inside his boat. Thinking we were sailing to Japan in January, D thought this was a brilliant idea so he managed to buy six in Tahiti and they have rattled around in our cupboard ever since. Well this morning, we cracked one open and lit it to see if it would offer us some much sought after warmth. Not sure if it worked or if it was the kettle being constantly on serving up hot drinks, either way, the temperature inside the boat eventually got up to a balmly 20C, which felt positively tropical after shivering at 16.
There is little desire to keep watch outside as the rain has been a constant drizzle all day. But this is the beauty of the catamaran. We have 360 degree view from inside and don't need to step outside other than to periodically check on the instruments to make sure we are still on the right course. The self-tacking spinnaker is brilliantly just pulling us along our merry way on more or less a direct course for Kodiak. We still have a little over 1000nm to go, but with the relaxed following seas and gentle breeze perfectly filling the sail, I could go on like this forever.
D already mentioned the fishing fleet from last night. Why is it that we only ever see fishing boats at night?! It isn't like they go home to port during the day. These were the first fishing vessels we have seen since leaving Hawaii. We have not been blessed with any moonlight really on this leg of the passage, but who needs the moon when you have the craziest of bright lights from a multitude of boats scattered all around the horizon. So of course it was during my shift that I had to play Frogger around these guys, but I persevered and eventually got through to the other side.
All is well with Maple and her crew. I am confident we are adjusting back to our Canadian roots and will be acclimatized to the colder weather before we know it. Becki, I promise I will have no further need for your patio heater when I visit you next summer.
Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Sailing again!!!
Time: 2021/07/15 03:47:02
Latitude: 42-7.92N
Longitude: 171-9.05W
Speed: 6.0
Course: 45T
Wind_Speed: 15
Wind_Dir: SSW
Wave_Ht: .5M
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker went up at 1000 local, flew all day despite it being a drizzly, wet overcast afternoon. Winds are forecast to be consistently low so we will take a chance and fly the big sail overnight.
The spinnaker is flying!!! It is such a beautiful sight. We have not had the opportunity to use this sail very much in the last few years so it is awesome to get it flying again. And even better to no longer have the on going drone of the engine. Just peacefully coasting gently down the waves and only the sound of our wake. It is a super dismal day. Very poor visibility with low cloud and drizzly rain on and off. But no complaints here, we are sailing again and actually pointing in the right direction, so all around another winning day on the North Pacific.
Further I have to give props to Silke who changed our lives with an awesome tip to waterproof our helm cover. As anyone who has seen Maple knows she has a very exposed helm. Not much protection from the weather. However, we do have a cloth cover over our heads, which is great as long as the rain is coming straight down and we all know that is not reality when sailing. We had a lot more rain on the first part of this passage to Hawaii. The helm cover was entirely useless because the second it got wet, it developed the best leak right over top of our laps. And so even after the rain has stopped, we still had this persistent drip that lasted long after any rain clouds had moved on. So one of the million things D did while in Honolulu was waterproof the helm cover. It can be the smallest things that make life comfortable out here and that one is a winner with these drizzly days we have had recently!!!
Ella inspired me to finally start knitting a shawl that I had planned to also knit while on this passage. Needless to say, Ella did not get her goal-driven quality from me. Anyway, after many failed attempts today, I moth-balled that project back to the shelf again. Tell me my knitting friends, does anyone successfully knit with lace weight yarn!?!? While I appreciate I have nothing but time out here, I tell you my patience was not up to that task today.
Tonight at 1am Maple time, we get our third bag of candy on this second half of the passage. That is right, we have finally completed 1500nm since leaving Hawaii!! Little by little we are making progress.
Latitude: 42-7.92N
Longitude: 171-9.05W
Speed: 6.0
Course: 45T
Wind_Speed: 15
Wind_Dir: SSW
Wave_Ht: .5M
Wave_Dir: SSW
Comment: Spinnaker went up at 1000 local, flew all day despite it being a drizzly, wet overcast afternoon. Winds are forecast to be consistently low so we will take a chance and fly the big sail overnight.
The spinnaker is flying!!! It is such a beautiful sight. We have not had the opportunity to use this sail very much in the last few years so it is awesome to get it flying again. And even better to no longer have the on going drone of the engine. Just peacefully coasting gently down the waves and only the sound of our wake. It is a super dismal day. Very poor visibility with low cloud and drizzly rain on and off. But no complaints here, we are sailing again and actually pointing in the right direction, so all around another winning day on the North Pacific.
Further I have to give props to Silke who changed our lives with an awesome tip to waterproof our helm cover. As anyone who has seen Maple knows she has a very exposed helm. Not much protection from the weather. However, we do have a cloth cover over our heads, which is great as long as the rain is coming straight down and we all know that is not reality when sailing. We had a lot more rain on the first part of this passage to Hawaii. The helm cover was entirely useless because the second it got wet, it developed the best leak right over top of our laps. And so even after the rain has stopped, we still had this persistent drip that lasted long after any rain clouds had moved on. So one of the million things D did while in Honolulu was waterproof the helm cover. It can be the smallest things that make life comfortable out here and that one is a winner with these drizzly days we have had recently!!!
Ella inspired me to finally start knitting a shawl that I had planned to also knit while on this passage. Needless to say, Ella did not get her goal-driven quality from me. Anyway, after many failed attempts today, I moth-balled that project back to the shelf again. Tell me my knitting friends, does anyone successfully knit with lace weight yarn!?!? While I appreciate I have nothing but time out here, I tell you my patience was not up to that task today.
Tonight at 1am Maple time, we get our third bag of candy on this second half of the passage. That is right, we have finally completed 1500nm since leaving Hawaii!! Little by little we are making progress.
Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Glassy Seas cont'd...
Time: 2021/07/14 03:33:06
Latitude: 40-24.59N
Longitude: 172-25.66W
Speed: 4.3
Course: 27T
The calms seas and lack of wind continues for another day. We would like to see the wind fill in eventually and get the engine turned off, but I will admit the crew are enjoying the relaxed conditions while they last. I was told on good authority by someone in the know that we were in for sunny skies today. So I set my heart on doing a load of laundry as clean underwear is getting scarce. But when I dragged myself out of bed this morning I was greeted with overcast skies and drizzle. I decided to chance it and put on a load with the optimism that by the time the cycle was finished the sun will make an appearance. My optimism did not pan out. So we strung up the laundry in the port hull between the two cabin doors and directed a ceiling fan on to them. Not nearly as efficient as the tropical sun and warm breeze. How much more solar do we need to run a clothes dryer?!
Last night with the daylight fading fast, D noticed that there was a small-ish tear on the main sail below the second reef. We knew that we were pushing our luck by keeping this very tired sail for the passage to Alaska, but we really wanted to put off the expense of a new main so decided to chance it. It is why we rarely put the sail up fully or even at the first reef, we are keenly aware we are on borrowed time with this sail. So D knew that sail repair was on his agenda for today. Despite the drizzly morning, he clipped himself onto the boom and worked with some frustration from the slight roll of the boat to tape up and stitch the various areas that had chaffed from a reefing line. So now our main has more patches added to her canvas. I know she will get us to Alaska!!
The last of the news today is from our goal-driven eldest child. Ella had set a goal in Tahiti to knit a shawl during this passage. The pattern for this shawl was a gift for her 12th birthday in Guatemala from our knitting extraordinaire cruising friend, Kaiwen. Kaiwen is a gifted knitter with the patience of a saint. She spent countless hours patiently correcting mistakes Ella and I would make in our knitting during our time with her in Bonaire, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. The yarn Ella used was alpalca wool from our trip to Peru that D and I gave her for that same birthday. Basically Ella decided she really wanted to make this shawl prior to her 15th birthday in October so she decided the long passage to Alaska was the perfect opportunity. This girl shows some serious commitment when she sets herself a goal. She finished binding off the shawl today and we will try to find a truly sunny day to block it so she can be wearing it by the time we reach Alaska. Kaiwen, you would be so proud of how accomplished she is getting at knitting and even correcting her mistakes!!!
Oh and I almost forgot that we had another pod of dolphins come and play with Maple for awhile. Our reference materials on board for types of dolphins are not great, but I realize they are not bottlenose, but perhaps white-sided dolphins?! So here is hoping that our next update will include that we are finally back to sailing again!
Latitude: 40-24.59N
Longitude: 172-25.66W
Speed: 4.3
Course: 27T
The calms seas and lack of wind continues for another day. We would like to see the wind fill in eventually and get the engine turned off, but I will admit the crew are enjoying the relaxed conditions while they last. I was told on good authority by someone in the know that we were in for sunny skies today. So I set my heart on doing a load of laundry as clean underwear is getting scarce. But when I dragged myself out of bed this morning I was greeted with overcast skies and drizzle. I decided to chance it and put on a load with the optimism that by the time the cycle was finished the sun will make an appearance. My optimism did not pan out. So we strung up the laundry in the port hull between the two cabin doors and directed a ceiling fan on to them. Not nearly as efficient as the tropical sun and warm breeze. How much more solar do we need to run a clothes dryer?!
Last night with the daylight fading fast, D noticed that there was a small-ish tear on the main sail below the second reef. We knew that we were pushing our luck by keeping this very tired sail for the passage to Alaska, but we really wanted to put off the expense of a new main so decided to chance it. It is why we rarely put the sail up fully or even at the first reef, we are keenly aware we are on borrowed time with this sail. So D knew that sail repair was on his agenda for today. Despite the drizzly morning, he clipped himself onto the boom and worked with some frustration from the slight roll of the boat to tape up and stitch the various areas that had chaffed from a reefing line. So now our main has more patches added to her canvas. I know she will get us to Alaska!!
The last of the news today is from our goal-driven eldest child. Ella had set a goal in Tahiti to knit a shawl during this passage. The pattern for this shawl was a gift for her 12th birthday in Guatemala from our knitting extraordinaire cruising friend, Kaiwen. Kaiwen is a gifted knitter with the patience of a saint. She spent countless hours patiently correcting mistakes Ella and I would make in our knitting during our time with her in Bonaire, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. The yarn Ella used was alpalca wool from our trip to Peru that D and I gave her for that same birthday. Basically Ella decided she really wanted to make this shawl prior to her 15th birthday in October so she decided the long passage to Alaska was the perfect opportunity. This girl shows some serious commitment when she sets herself a goal. She finished binding off the shawl today and we will try to find a truly sunny day to block it so she can be wearing it by the time we reach Alaska. Kaiwen, you would be so proud of how accomplished she is getting at knitting and even correcting her mistakes!!!
Oh and I almost forgot that we had another pod of dolphins come and play with Maple for awhile. Our reference materials on board for types of dolphins are not great, but I realize they are not bottlenose, but perhaps white-sided dolphins?! So here is hoping that our next update will include that we are finally back to sailing again!
Monday, 12 July 2021
Glassy Seas
Time: 2021/07/13 03:02:45
Latitude: 39-5.64N
Longitude: 173-54.90W
COG: 034T
Speed: 4.8kt
Winds: 5kt from ESE
Comment: We had great sailing yesterday evening, closehauled but with less than 1M seas made for the most comfortable upwind sailing we've done in the last 6 years. Winds died off at about 1AM, we've been motorsailing through the edge of the high pressure since then. The seas died off as well so now we have just a gentle swell from the E as we putter along. Wind should pick up again sometime tomorrow and allow us to sail again. The good news is we've stopped heading W and are now heading NE almost on a direct course for Kodiak. The direct course will change, depending on weather, but it's nice to be going in the right direction. 1300 miles to go give or take - should be there before the end of the month.
Wait?! What?! "Should be there before the end of the month"!!!! We better be there before the end of the month. I was reflecting today about how we left Tahiti on May 18, that is just shy of two months ago. That feels like a lifetime ago since I was sobbing as we bid farewell to Tahiti. Am I ever grateful for the convenient location of Hawaii as it really was the best respite I could have asked for to break up this trip. Today was the most relaxed at sea since leaving Tahiti. The sea is outragelously calm. It blows my mind that we are in the middle of the ocean and there is only the slightest, most gentle swell. Sure, the constant noise of the engine is not the most pleasant of background sounds, but for us to finally have a day where we are not constantly bracing ourselves while trying to do anything, even sitting, was pure bliss. To prepare dinner without having to figure out exactly what part of the counter to rest my hip that will brace me well enough to avoid getting pitched forward at random intervals in an attempt to prevent an accidental lose of a finger was such a highlight for me today. I even felt like cleaning....I know, when does that happen spontaneously for me!!! It was a good day. Hopefully the winds do eventually fill in a little so we can get back to the sailing, but I am grateful for today.
Latitude: 39-5.64N
Longitude: 173-54.90W
COG: 034T
Speed: 4.8kt
Winds: 5kt from ESE
Comment: We had great sailing yesterday evening, closehauled but with less than 1M seas made for the most comfortable upwind sailing we've done in the last 6 years. Winds died off at about 1AM, we've been motorsailing through the edge of the high pressure since then. The seas died off as well so now we have just a gentle swell from the E as we putter along. Wind should pick up again sometime tomorrow and allow us to sail again. The good news is we've stopped heading W and are now heading NE almost on a direct course for Kodiak. The direct course will change, depending on weather, but it's nice to be going in the right direction. 1300 miles to go give or take - should be there before the end of the month.
Wait?! What?! "Should be there before the end of the month"!!!! We better be there before the end of the month. I was reflecting today about how we left Tahiti on May 18, that is just shy of two months ago. That feels like a lifetime ago since I was sobbing as we bid farewell to Tahiti. Am I ever grateful for the convenient location of Hawaii as it really was the best respite I could have asked for to break up this trip. Today was the most relaxed at sea since leaving Tahiti. The sea is outragelously calm. It blows my mind that we are in the middle of the ocean and there is only the slightest, most gentle swell. Sure, the constant noise of the engine is not the most pleasant of background sounds, but for us to finally have a day where we are not constantly bracing ourselves while trying to do anything, even sitting, was pure bliss. To prepare dinner without having to figure out exactly what part of the counter to rest my hip that will brace me well enough to avoid getting pitched forward at random intervals in an attempt to prevent an accidental lose of a finger was such a highlight for me today. I even felt like cleaning....I know, when does that happen spontaneously for me!!! It was a good day. Hopefully the winds do eventually fill in a little so we can get back to the sailing, but I am grateful for today.
Sunday, 11 July 2021
Day 10 Excitement
Time: 2021/07/12 03:56:48
Latitude: 37-29.99N
Longitude: 174-39.00W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 343T
Comment: Winds dropped early this morning so we motorsailed, almost due N. By noon the wind had filled in, the engine was off and we were sailing well, still heading slightly NW but getting closer to due N. Here's hoping the high passes to the east and we get some following winds that last another 2 weeks or so to get us all the way to Kodiak.
Here we are having now completed ten days since we left Hawaii. It was a big day!! As D already mentioned we finally are pointing more north than we have in a long time. We still would like to be pointing more NE, but I guess we will take what we can get. The seas were also fantastic today with barely half a meter of waves, all made perfect sailing conditions once we turned the engine off. Even determined that we could still raise the main sail above the third reef. So many firsts for Day 10 on this leg of the trip!!!
Speaking of firsts, since we were running the engine today we had our first hot showers on Maple. I truly can't recall the last time we used the inside shower. I was uncertain if the shower head or the plumbing would even still work, but work it did and it was fantastic!!! Personally I am not a fan of the mess of using the inside shower, but our days of jumping in the water to shower are behind us, So I guess I will have to get used to new routines, just as I have adapted to wearing multiple layers of clothing, I know I can do this!!
The other highlight of today was a pod of bottlenose dolphins came to play near Maple just after we finished dinner. It is the only wildlife entertainment we have enjoyed so far on this passage. The volume of floating garbage, including a rusty fridge, have sadly been the only things we have seen in the waters around us, so it was fabulous to finally see some dolphins. They did not stick around long, but the four of us loved the brief distraction.
The other positive about sailing north is the longer days!! I am loving that when my 6pm to 9pm shift ends, there is still daylight. With spending a few years near the equator, I am enjoying the longer days that the summer brings up here. So all in all, Day 10 was a fantastic day on the North Pacific for Maple and her crew!!!
Latitude: 37-29.99N
Longitude: 174-39.00W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 343T
Comment: Winds dropped early this morning so we motorsailed, almost due N. By noon the wind had filled in, the engine was off and we were sailing well, still heading slightly NW but getting closer to due N. Here's hoping the high passes to the east and we get some following winds that last another 2 weeks or so to get us all the way to Kodiak.
Here we are having now completed ten days since we left Hawaii. It was a big day!! As D already mentioned we finally are pointing more north than we have in a long time. We still would like to be pointing more NE, but I guess we will take what we can get. The seas were also fantastic today with barely half a meter of waves, all made perfect sailing conditions once we turned the engine off. Even determined that we could still raise the main sail above the third reef. So many firsts for Day 10 on this leg of the trip!!!
Speaking of firsts, since we were running the engine today we had our first hot showers on Maple. I truly can't recall the last time we used the inside shower. I was uncertain if the shower head or the plumbing would even still work, but work it did and it was fantastic!!! Personally I am not a fan of the mess of using the inside shower, but our days of jumping in the water to shower are behind us, So I guess I will have to get used to new routines, just as I have adapted to wearing multiple layers of clothing, I know I can do this!!
The other highlight of today was a pod of bottlenose dolphins came to play near Maple just after we finished dinner. It is the only wildlife entertainment we have enjoyed so far on this passage. The volume of floating garbage, including a rusty fridge, have sadly been the only things we have seen in the waters around us, so it was fabulous to finally see some dolphins. They did not stick around long, but the four of us loved the brief distraction.
The other positive about sailing north is the longer days!! I am loving that when my 6pm to 9pm shift ends, there is still daylight. With spending a few years near the equator, I am enjoying the longer days that the summer brings up here. So all in all, Day 10 was a fantastic day on the North Pacific for Maple and her crew!!!
Saturday, 10 July 2021
States of Matter
Time: 2021/07/11 03:19:52
Latitude: 35-43.91N
Longitude: 173-43.23W
Speed: 4.6
Course: 325T
Comment: The wind is beginning to turn to the E, allowing us to sail more N than we have since leaving Hawaii. Looks like we won't cross the dateline after all. Spirits improve for each degree to starboard we turn. In a couple of days we should be past the High pressure and have some fine sailing with wind aft of the beam for the remaining 1500NM to Kodiak.
Yesterday as I stood in the galley something horrible caught my eye. A mournful sound escaped my lips as I slowly processed what it was that I was seeing. The family, hearing my pitiful sound, all reacted with a mix of impatience (because they are familiar with my tendency towards dramatics) and worry, "What is wrong?!. They did not yet understand what tragedy had befallen on Maple.
I slowly picked up the offending item and dramatically showed the family the saddness of the previously liquid coconut oil that was now well and truly a solid mass.
[Dramatic pause as this sinks in for all the readers!]
Yes, it is true. We have well and truly left the tropics. If the layers of clothing and blankets were not indication enough, the coconut oil was a beacon of that reality. Ella, in a flash, raced to her bathroom, to discover that her precious monoi oil that she so painstakingly applies to her hair with every wash now sat unobtainable in its bottle.
Is it too late to turn around?! After all, we are nearly about to cross the date line. Fiji is just on the other side of that imaginary line, and just a little over 3000 miles to the south. Perhaps we could make an abrupt turn and head due south as after all we have had no ability to head due north as intended. Clearly the weather gods and the coconut oil are telling us to change course. We are heading the wrong way.
No, no. It is okay. The glaciers, mountain peaks and bears are calling to us for a visit. We will adapt. After all we are hardy born and bred Canadians, surely we can survive this transition from the tropics to the higher latitudes?! After all we have also discovered that our freezer was meant for the higher latitudes. We have never seen our fridge/freezer work so efficiently, despite still being on that pesky starboard tack. Who knew it could keep things frozen so well and have the compressor not run 24/7. Plus the bonus of the much reduced draw on the battieries. It is a miracle.
So with the bad, comes the good. Such is life on the high seas. Maple continues her painfully slow progression NW. Oh how I will forever curse a NE wind. The forecast indicates that we will start to see a favourable turn in the wind in the next day or so. It should mean we can slowly start to pinch Maple's bows further north and ideally even northeast towards Kodiak.
All is well with the crew on Maple. We have recovered from the shock of the cruel realities of the properities of matter and will learn to adapt to scraping the oil out of their bottles when needed.
Latitude: 35-43.91N
Longitude: 173-43.23W
Speed: 4.6
Course: 325T
Comment: The wind is beginning to turn to the E, allowing us to sail more N than we have since leaving Hawaii. Looks like we won't cross the dateline after all. Spirits improve for each degree to starboard we turn. In a couple of days we should be past the High pressure and have some fine sailing with wind aft of the beam for the remaining 1500NM to Kodiak.
Yesterday as I stood in the galley something horrible caught my eye. A mournful sound escaped my lips as I slowly processed what it was that I was seeing. The family, hearing my pitiful sound, all reacted with a mix of impatience (because they are familiar with my tendency towards dramatics) and worry, "What is wrong?!. They did not yet understand what tragedy had befallen on Maple.
I slowly picked up the offending item and dramatically showed the family the saddness of the previously liquid coconut oil that was now well and truly a solid mass.
[Dramatic pause as this sinks in for all the readers!]
Yes, it is true. We have well and truly left the tropics. If the layers of clothing and blankets were not indication enough, the coconut oil was a beacon of that reality. Ella, in a flash, raced to her bathroom, to discover that her precious monoi oil that she so painstakingly applies to her hair with every wash now sat unobtainable in its bottle.
Is it too late to turn around?! After all, we are nearly about to cross the date line. Fiji is just on the other side of that imaginary line, and just a little over 3000 miles to the south. Perhaps we could make an abrupt turn and head due south as after all we have had no ability to head due north as intended. Clearly the weather gods and the coconut oil are telling us to change course. We are heading the wrong way.
No, no. It is okay. The glaciers, mountain peaks and bears are calling to us for a visit. We will adapt. After all we are hardy born and bred Canadians, surely we can survive this transition from the tropics to the higher latitudes?! After all we have also discovered that our freezer was meant for the higher latitudes. We have never seen our fridge/freezer work so efficiently, despite still being on that pesky starboard tack. Who knew it could keep things frozen so well and have the compressor not run 24/7. Plus the bonus of the much reduced draw on the battieries. It is a miracle.
So with the bad, comes the good. Such is life on the high seas. Maple continues her painfully slow progression NW. Oh how I will forever curse a NE wind. The forecast indicates that we will start to see a favourable turn in the wind in the next day or so. It should mean we can slowly start to pinch Maple's bows further north and ideally even northeast towards Kodiak.
All is well with the crew on Maple. We have recovered from the shock of the cruel realities of the properities of matter and will learn to adapt to scraping the oil out of their bottles when needed.
Thursday, 8 July 2021
Reflections
This is not my usual email, not at all sailing related. Today is a tragic anniversary in our family and so I wanted to share my memories and loss with those who may be willing to read them. I must admit that I have discovered sending these updates at sea leaves me feeling very vulnerable so sending this today did not come easy, but the loss of Madeline is too significant to pass unnoticed.
Two years ago my family was changed forever overnight. Two years ago my brother lost his eldest child; my niece and nephew lost their sister; my mom lost her first grandchild; my girls lost their cousin; and I lost my niece. Madeline, your 17 years were far too short. You lived a beautiful life that was full of enthusiasm and energy that immediately lit up a room.
I will be forever grateful for your visit four years ago aboard Maple in Martinique. Your willingness to play with your young cousins. Teaching them ballet on the beach. Playing countless games with them. Constantly braiding their hair. Your willingness to jump in and try new things. Seeing your eyes sparkle as your snorkelled for the first time. Your unbridled awe at the size of the massive Caribbean avocados. Your shrieks of laughter when we unwittingly discovered those spider-like crabs in the mangroves. Your natural ability at driving the dinghy at your first try. Your smile and laughter was always uninhibited and contagious.
Never imagined as I hugged you goodbye when you left to fly home that it would be the last time. What I wouldn't give to have you still here with us. Your death left a huge void in our family, but your spark and tenacity for living your life fully will forever inspire me. Sending my family my love today and always.
Two years ago my family was changed forever overnight. Two years ago my brother lost his eldest child; my niece and nephew lost their sister; my mom lost her first grandchild; my girls lost their cousin; and I lost my niece. Madeline, your 17 years were far too short. You lived a beautiful life that was full of enthusiasm and energy that immediately lit up a room.
I will be forever grateful for your visit four years ago aboard Maple in Martinique. Your willingness to play with your young cousins. Teaching them ballet on the beach. Playing countless games with them. Constantly braiding their hair. Your willingness to jump in and try new things. Seeing your eyes sparkle as your snorkelled for the first time. Your unbridled awe at the size of the massive Caribbean avocados. Your shrieks of laughter when we unwittingly discovered those spider-like crabs in the mangroves. Your natural ability at driving the dinghy at your first try. Your smile and laughter was always uninhibited and contagious.
Never imagined as I hugged you goodbye when you left to fly home that it would be the last time. What I wouldn't give to have you still here with us. Your death left a huge void in our family, but your spark and tenacity for living your life fully will forever inspire me. Sending my family my love today and always.
Wednesday, 7 July 2021
Chill is in the air
Time: 2021/07/08 02:50:29
Latitude: 32-27.63N
Longitude: 167-51.59W
Speed: 5.6
Course: 304T
Comment:
It is official, wool socks and boots have made their debut to accompany my night shift ensemble. No more sitting barefoot at the helm at night for the foreseeable future. And then today, even during the day shorts are no longer being worn by three of the four crew. At 22C inside the salon, only Ella is tough enough to keep wearing short sleeves and shorts. Mind you, she is the one who wore shorts even at 5,000m altitude while trekking in Peru, so I suppose she has demonstrated she is the toughest of the bunch here.
We continue to battle the NE winds and at this stage we have just accepted the reality that we are going to continue to be pushed NW whether we like it or not. The goal now is to do a large loop westward then north to get around this pesky high pressure system that seems to be keeping pace with our NW advance. Theoretically we will eventually see favourable winds that will push us north towards Kodiak. So far the forecast has held true the last 7 days so I am hoping we can continue to trust what the forecast is saying that eventually we will see more pleasant conditions. For my shift of 12am to 3am this morning, I had a fantastic watch. Seas were not awful, winds held consistent. Then D takes over and suddenly he saw winds from all directions, ugly seas and driving rain from squalls marching over and around us. Needless to say, it did not make for pleasant sleeping conditions but honestly I was happy to be down in the warm, dry cabin than up where he was.
The rest of the day, the waves just have not wanted to settle. When I stupidly asked how many days we have been sailing and D said we had just finished up 6 days, I felt like crying a little. We have not had a break from an average of 20 knots of wind and 2+ meter waves since we left Hanalei, I wish I was exaggerated but I am not. On the positive side, we have not had to turn on the engine once, it has been fantastic sailing, just would be more pleasant if at a more agreeable angle and calmer seas please. Further, we have been charging our batteries 100% each day by solar alone so really there are loads of positives. We are trying to keep a good sense of humour as D just said "It is starting to feel comfortable, my molars are not crashing together as much, should I turn us more upwind?!" For those not nautically inclined, more upwind is never more comfortable...well at least not on Maple.
Well that is all from us for now. All is well on board. Really looking forward to getting on a port tack as I feel at this stage we have identified all leaks on the starboard side, so why not test out the port side soon.
Latitude: 32-27.63N
Longitude: 167-51.59W
Speed: 5.6
Course: 304T
Comment:
It is official, wool socks and boots have made their debut to accompany my night shift ensemble. No more sitting barefoot at the helm at night for the foreseeable future. And then today, even during the day shorts are no longer being worn by three of the four crew. At 22C inside the salon, only Ella is tough enough to keep wearing short sleeves and shorts. Mind you, she is the one who wore shorts even at 5,000m altitude while trekking in Peru, so I suppose she has demonstrated she is the toughest of the bunch here.
We continue to battle the NE winds and at this stage we have just accepted the reality that we are going to continue to be pushed NW whether we like it or not. The goal now is to do a large loop westward then north to get around this pesky high pressure system that seems to be keeping pace with our NW advance. Theoretically we will eventually see favourable winds that will push us north towards Kodiak. So far the forecast has held true the last 7 days so I am hoping we can continue to trust what the forecast is saying that eventually we will see more pleasant conditions. For my shift of 12am to 3am this morning, I had a fantastic watch. Seas were not awful, winds held consistent. Then D takes over and suddenly he saw winds from all directions, ugly seas and driving rain from squalls marching over and around us. Needless to say, it did not make for pleasant sleeping conditions but honestly I was happy to be down in the warm, dry cabin than up where he was.
The rest of the day, the waves just have not wanted to settle. When I stupidly asked how many days we have been sailing and D said we had just finished up 6 days, I felt like crying a little. We have not had a break from an average of 20 knots of wind and 2+ meter waves since we left Hanalei, I wish I was exaggerated but I am not. On the positive side, we have not had to turn on the engine once, it has been fantastic sailing, just would be more pleasant if at a more agreeable angle and calmer seas please. Further, we have been charging our batteries 100% each day by solar alone so really there are loads of positives. We are trying to keep a good sense of humour as D just said "It is starting to feel comfortable, my molars are not crashing together as much, should I turn us more upwind?!" For those not nautically inclined, more upwind is never more comfortable...well at least not on Maple.
Well that is all from us for now. All is well on board. Really looking forward to getting on a port tack as I feel at this stage we have identified all leaks on the starboard side, so why not test out the port side soon.
Monday, 5 July 2021
Leaving on a Jetplane
Time: 2021/07/06 02:18:27
Latitude: 29-54.80N
Longitude: 164-1.75W
Speed: 5.5
Course: 313T
Marine: Yes
Wind_Speed: 23
Wind_Dir: NE
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Continuing NW, expect to see wind shift to N in 2 days at which point we will begin to head more E or NE as possible. Seas and wind beginning to calm somewhat compared to yesterday and previous days.
No, it is not what you may think. I did not spend my night watch devising a plan to get airlifted out of here. Today is a special anniversary for the Maple crew. Today marks six years since we boarded a plane in Vancouver bound for Greece to join Maple and start this new path in our lives. What a six years it has been!!
Some of the highlights include: hot air ballooning in Turkey; camel riding in the Sahara Desert in Tunisia; horseback riding in Cuba; ziplining in Guatemala; trekking in Peru; watching penguins swim beneath Maple's hulls in Galapagos; and scuba diving with sharks in French Polynesia.
Of course, much of the six years are not always this utopia of one mind blowing experience after the other. Most of the time, it is just us together as a family. Plenty of nagging to "Clean up your room!!"; "Whose turn is it do the dishes?"; and "Stop annoying your sister!!".
We have no regrets for giving up most of our possessions; walking away from good paying secure jobs; losing the future equity we would have continued to build in our house and instead spending what equity we could get out of the sale over the last six years. We have gained so much more than what we gave up. Sure we might be living in a cardboard box in our old age and our girls likely won't receive much of an inheritance from us, but nothing can take away these incredible years we have had together.
The other day, Ella looked at me, entirely unprompted I promise, and said "I have the best life! Thank you for taking us on this trip." And that is it, this is why we risked everything to take this journey as a family. We wanted to explore new countries and traverse oceans with our girls while we still had their undivided attention. No regrets and excited to see what the future holds for all of us!
Latitude: 29-54.80N
Longitude: 164-1.75W
Speed: 5.5
Course: 313T
Marine: Yes
Wind_Speed: 23
Wind_Dir: NE
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Continuing NW, expect to see wind shift to N in 2 days at which point we will begin to head more E or NE as possible. Seas and wind beginning to calm somewhat compared to yesterday and previous days.
No, it is not what you may think. I did not spend my night watch devising a plan to get airlifted out of here. Today is a special anniversary for the Maple crew. Today marks six years since we boarded a plane in Vancouver bound for Greece to join Maple and start this new path in our lives. What a six years it has been!!
Some of the highlights include: hot air ballooning in Turkey; camel riding in the Sahara Desert in Tunisia; horseback riding in Cuba; ziplining in Guatemala; trekking in Peru; watching penguins swim beneath Maple's hulls in Galapagos; and scuba diving with sharks in French Polynesia.
Of course, much of the six years are not always this utopia of one mind blowing experience after the other. Most of the time, it is just us together as a family. Plenty of nagging to "Clean up your room!!"; "Whose turn is it do the dishes?"; and "Stop annoying your sister!!".
We have no regrets for giving up most of our possessions; walking away from good paying secure jobs; losing the future equity we would have continued to build in our house and instead spending what equity we could get out of the sale over the last six years. We have gained so much more than what we gave up. Sure we might be living in a cardboard box in our old age and our girls likely won't receive much of an inheritance from us, but nothing can take away these incredible years we have had together.
The other day, Ella looked at me, entirely unprompted I promise, and said "I have the best life! Thank you for taking us on this trip." And that is it, this is why we risked everything to take this journey as a family. We wanted to explore new countries and traverse oceans with our girls while we still had their undivided attention. No regrets and excited to see what the future holds for all of us!
Sunday, 4 July 2021
Bound for...Siberia?
Time: 2021/07/05 01:15:03
Latitude: 28-11.96N
Longitude: 162-26.15W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 321T
Wind_Speed: 27
Wind_Dir: NE
Air_Temp: 26C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Wind and waves are forcing us further west than we'd like, but we can make that up once we are out of the tradewinds. Watching the Pacific High and hoping it provides a gap for us to head N as forecast.
So Part 2 of this passage is proving to be about the same as Part 1. Big seas and a strong NE wind that we are fighting to work our way north. The end result as usual for Maple and her crew, we are sailing NW and it appears Siberia is our next port of call. I guess either way we need to install a heater. A couple of days before we left Honolulu while D was fixing yet more random stuff that was spontaneously calling it quits, Ella said "It feels like Maple is telling us we should not go to Alaska." It really does feel that way, but regardless here we are. We will get there eventually even if Maple is rebelling against leaving the tropics.
One of the emails we received yesterday was from friends who have been at sea for the last month and a half since leaving the Marshall Islands bound for BC. Their current air temperature is 6C!?!? Even their dog is stealing blankets from the kids to stay warm. At the start of my 6pm watch yesterday, I was wearing my full foul weather gear with a sweater underneath my jacket, and I was still a little chilly. Any guesses on what the thermometer claims was the temperature?! (For the record, I think the thermometer is wrong...and clearly does not factor in the wind chill!) The air temp was 26C!!! Yes, 26C and I was still chilly. I am not really comprehending how I am going to manage 20 degrees cooler. Tell me again why are we returning to the Great White North?! Further to call me to question our plans, is we received another email from friends who are seriously contemplating buying property in Fiji. Gah...we clearly did not explore all possible future plans when setting a course for north.
Oh well, I am sure one day in the distant, distant future, we will look back on this trip with fond memories of frequent unintended saltwater showers, mopping out the swimming pool that keeps trying to form under the cockpit table (Yes, we are still on that darn starboard tack!) and the constant lumpy seas. For our first 72 hours, we have been averaging around 125nm a day, so at least we are knocking off the miles even if it gets us to Siberia.
Latitude: 28-11.96N
Longitude: 162-26.15W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 321T
Wind_Speed: 27
Wind_Dir: NE
Air_Temp: 26C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Wind and waves are forcing us further west than we'd like, but we can make that up once we are out of the tradewinds. Watching the Pacific High and hoping it provides a gap for us to head N as forecast.
So Part 2 of this passage is proving to be about the same as Part 1. Big seas and a strong NE wind that we are fighting to work our way north. The end result as usual for Maple and her crew, we are sailing NW and it appears Siberia is our next port of call. I guess either way we need to install a heater. A couple of days before we left Honolulu while D was fixing yet more random stuff that was spontaneously calling it quits, Ella said "It feels like Maple is telling us we should not go to Alaska." It really does feel that way, but regardless here we are. We will get there eventually even if Maple is rebelling against leaving the tropics.
One of the emails we received yesterday was from friends who have been at sea for the last month and a half since leaving the Marshall Islands bound for BC. Their current air temperature is 6C!?!? Even their dog is stealing blankets from the kids to stay warm. At the start of my 6pm watch yesterday, I was wearing my full foul weather gear with a sweater underneath my jacket, and I was still a little chilly. Any guesses on what the thermometer claims was the temperature?! (For the record, I think the thermometer is wrong...and clearly does not factor in the wind chill!) The air temp was 26C!!! Yes, 26C and I was still chilly. I am not really comprehending how I am going to manage 20 degrees cooler. Tell me again why are we returning to the Great White North?! Further to call me to question our plans, is we received another email from friends who are seriously contemplating buying property in Fiji. Gah...we clearly did not explore all possible future plans when setting a course for north.
Oh well, I am sure one day in the distant, distant future, we will look back on this trip with fond memories of frequent unintended saltwater showers, mopping out the swimming pool that keeps trying to form under the cockpit table (Yes, we are still on that darn starboard tack!) and the constant lumpy seas. For our first 72 hours, we have been averaging around 125nm a day, so at least we are knocking off the miles even if it gets us to Siberia.
Bound for...Siberia?
Time: 2021/07/05 01:15:03
Latitude: 28-11.96N
Longitude: 162-26.15W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 321T
Wind_Speed: 27
Wind_Dir: NE
Air_Temp: 26C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Wind and waves are forcing us further west than we'd like, but we can make that up once we are out of the tradewinds. Watching the Pacific High and hoping it provides a gap for us to head N as forecast.
So Part 2 of this passage is proving to be about the same as Part 1. Big seas and a strong NE wind that we are fighting to work our way north. The end result as usual for Maple and her crew, we are sailing NW and it appears Siberia is our next port of call. I guess either way we need to install a heater. A couple of days before we left Honolulu while D was fixing yet more random stuff that was spontaneously calling it quits, Ella said "It feels like Maple is telling us we should not go to Alaska." It really does feel that way, but regardless here we are. We will get there eventually even if Maple is rebelling against leaving the tropics.
One of the emails we received yesterday was from friends who have been at sea for the last month and a half since leaving the Marshall Islands bound for BC. Their current air temperature is 6C!?!? Even their dog is stealing blankets from the kids to stay warm. At the start of my 6pm watch yesterday, I was wearing my full foul weather gear with a sweater underneath my jacket, and I was still a little chilly. Any guesses on what the thermometer claims was the temperature?! (For the record, I think the thermometer is wrong...and clearly does not factor in the wind chill!) The air temp was 26C!!! Yes, 26C and I was still chilly. I am not really comprehending how I am going to manage 20 degrees cooler. Tell me again why are we returning to the Great White North?! Further to call me to question our plans, is we received another email from friends who are seriously contemplating buying property in Fiji. Gah...we clearly did not explore all possible future plans when setting a course for north.
Oh well, I am sure one day in the distant, distant future, we will look back on this trip with fond memories of frequent unintended saltwater showers, mopping out the swimming pool that keeps trying to form under the cockpit table (Yes, we are still on that darn starboard tack!) and the constant lumpy seas. For our first 72 hours, we have been averaging around 125nm a day, so at least we are knocking off the miles even if it gets us to Siberia.
Latitude: 28-11.96N
Longitude: 162-26.15W
Speed: 5.4
Course: 321T
Wind_Speed: 27
Wind_Dir: NE
Air_Temp: 26C
Wave_Ht: 2M
Wave_Dir: NE
Comment: Wind and waves are forcing us further west than we'd like, but we can make that up once we are out of the tradewinds. Watching the Pacific High and hoping it provides a gap for us to head N as forecast.
So Part 2 of this passage is proving to be about the same as Part 1. Big seas and a strong NE wind that we are fighting to work our way north. The end result as usual for Maple and her crew, we are sailing NW and it appears Siberia is our next port of call. I guess either way we need to install a heater. A couple of days before we left Honolulu while D was fixing yet more random stuff that was spontaneously calling it quits, Ella said "It feels like Maple is telling us we should not go to Alaska." It really does feel that way, but regardless here we are. We will get there eventually even if Maple is rebelling against leaving the tropics.
One of the emails we received yesterday was from friends who have been at sea for the last month and a half since leaving the Marshall Islands bound for BC. Their current air temperature is 6C!?!? Even their dog is stealing blankets from the kids to stay warm. At the start of my 6pm watch yesterday, I was wearing my full foul weather gear with a sweater underneath my jacket, and I was still a little chilly. Any guesses on what the thermometer claims was the temperature?! (For the record, I think the thermometer is wrong...and clearly does not factor in the wind chill!) The air temp was 26C!!! Yes, 26C and I was still chilly. I am not really comprehending how I am going to manage 20 degrees cooler. Tell me again why are we returning to the Great White North?! Further to call me to question our plans, is we received another email from friends who are seriously contemplating buying property in Fiji. Gah...we clearly did not explore all possible future plans when setting a course for north.
Oh well, I am sure one day in the distant, distant future, we will look back on this trip with fond memories of frequent unintended saltwater showers, mopping out the swimming pool that keeps trying to form under the cockpit table (Yes, we are still on that darn starboard tack!) and the constant lumpy seas. For our first 72 hours, we have been averaging around 125nm a day, so at least we are knocking off the miles even if it gets us to Siberia.
Friday, 2 July 2021
Passage to Alaska Part 2
Time: 2021/07/03 02:00:33
Latitude: 24-28.50N
Longitude: 160-9.00E
Speed: 5.0
Course: 340T
AWA 70 deg
AWS 20 kt
Comment: Some squalls, waves 1.5-2M from the E. Progressing towards 40N/165E but plan to turn E as winds allow.,
Here we go again. We had a fabulous 17 days in Hawaii, mostly spent in Waikiki Yacht Club in Honolulu where we were able to get loads of work done on Maple as well as meet new people, spend too much money on shopping and do a small amount of touristy stuff. We left the marina on June 28 and enjoyed a calm, easy overnight sail to Hanalei Bay at the north end of Kauai. It was lovely to be at anchor again in a stunning anchorage surrounded by lush green mountains. However, our time there was very short lived. We are losing precious days of summer in Alaska so it is time to get moving north again. And so here we are. We left Hanalei on July 1st at 1pm local time and it has been a fast, rollercoaster ride since leaving the shelter of the bay.
I will admit that I was really hoping for a repeat of our overnight sail to Kauai. Clear starry skies and calm seas. But alas, it is not meant to be apparently. We have managed to cover 128nm in the first 24 hours which is speedy for pokey little Maple considering she has three reefs in her main and one reef (at times two or more) in her jib. The seas have only continued to build over those 24 hours and most of the crew have endured more than their share of unwanted saltwater showers as white water crashes repeatedly into the cockpit. Sigh. I will admit that I am kind of over this whole upwind sailing thing. But I am just going to have to put on my big girl panties, grit my teeth and get the next 2100nm sailed regardless of what the weather and seas have to say about it. I am grateful for my new foul weather gear that I was able to buy while in Hawaii, it is already being put to good use.
One of many ways we parted with our money while in Hawaii is we bought a replacement computer for the one that kicked the bucket as we neared Honolulu. To further complicate things, we also switched programs that we use for connecting to the SSB to send email as the previous program was misbehaving. It meant having to import the address book, which to me is always a bit hit and miss if all the info transferred correctly. So here is hoping this email actually sends and is received as intended.
All is well with the crew. We all managed to get our sea legs back much quicker than when we left Tahiti so that is good news. We always love hearing from people, just a reminder to please either start a new email or be sure to erase my original email before sending a reply. And I know many of you have already found out the hard way, but Winlink does have rules against swearing over the public airwaves. I love how many of our friends admitted to getting their knuckles wrapped by Winlink for sending an email with "inappropriate language", clearly we are friends with a lot of sailors or sailors-at-heart. :)
Latitude: 24-28.50N
Longitude: 160-9.00E
Speed: 5.0
Course: 340T
AWA 70 deg
AWS 20 kt
Comment: Some squalls, waves 1.5-2M from the E. Progressing towards 40N/165E but plan to turn E as winds allow.,
Here we go again. We had a fabulous 17 days in Hawaii, mostly spent in Waikiki Yacht Club in Honolulu where we were able to get loads of work done on Maple as well as meet new people, spend too much money on shopping and do a small amount of touristy stuff. We left the marina on June 28 and enjoyed a calm, easy overnight sail to Hanalei Bay at the north end of Kauai. It was lovely to be at anchor again in a stunning anchorage surrounded by lush green mountains. However, our time there was very short lived. We are losing precious days of summer in Alaska so it is time to get moving north again. And so here we are. We left Hanalei on July 1st at 1pm local time and it has been a fast, rollercoaster ride since leaving the shelter of the bay.
I will admit that I was really hoping for a repeat of our overnight sail to Kauai. Clear starry skies and calm seas. But alas, it is not meant to be apparently. We have managed to cover 128nm in the first 24 hours which is speedy for pokey little Maple considering she has three reefs in her main and one reef (at times two or more) in her jib. The seas have only continued to build over those 24 hours and most of the crew have endured more than their share of unwanted saltwater showers as white water crashes repeatedly into the cockpit. Sigh. I will admit that I am kind of over this whole upwind sailing thing. But I am just going to have to put on my big girl panties, grit my teeth and get the next 2100nm sailed regardless of what the weather and seas have to say about it. I am grateful for my new foul weather gear that I was able to buy while in Hawaii, it is already being put to good use.
One of many ways we parted with our money while in Hawaii is we bought a replacement computer for the one that kicked the bucket as we neared Honolulu. To further complicate things, we also switched programs that we use for connecting to the SSB to send email as the previous program was misbehaving. It meant having to import the address book, which to me is always a bit hit and miss if all the info transferred correctly. So here is hoping this email actually sends and is received as intended.
All is well with the crew. We all managed to get our sea legs back much quicker than when we left Tahiti so that is good news. We always love hearing from people, just a reminder to please either start a new email or be sure to erase my original email before sending a reply. And I know many of you have already found out the hard way, but Winlink does have rules against swearing over the public airwaves. I love how many of our friends admitted to getting their knuckles wrapped by Winlink for sending an email with "inappropriate language", clearly we are friends with a lot of sailors or sailors-at-heart. :)
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
We have arrived!!
It seems that this email I sent yesterday was not received, so I am trying to send again to see if I can get it to go through. As of this morning we are officially cleared into the country with the agriculture inspection. All officials were absolutely friendly and welcoming. We have already visited a giant shopping mall...definitely back in the land of plenty! Crew are all happy to be here and to get a bit of a rest before setting off again. Likely will be here for a couple of weeks because the parts we need just shipped today out of South Africa. We now have internet so you are welcome to return to WhatsApp or our gmail to stay in touch with us!
----- Original Message -----
Subject: We have arrived!
Date: 15 Jun 2021 02:25:52 -0000
From: VE7SVM
We are at the dock, surrounded by giant skyscrapers!!! We arrived just shy of exactly 27 days since we left Tahiti. On one hand that feels like forever ago but at the same time it really doesn't feel like that many days have lapsed since May 18. We were welcomed by the beautiful faces of Isabel, Johanna and Steve who helped get Maple in her spot. This is likely a temporary spot as it is situated at the yacht club's working dock, but hopefully now that we are here we can find somewhere we are not in the way for a couple of weeks to get repairs completed.
We have been checked in by a CBP officer who was super friendly, but we are still not allowed to leave the boat until we have seen someone from the Agriculture department who will want to see what food we have on board and remove our garbage. So we can't leave Maple until tomorrow morning, at which time we will be free to wander and explore what Honolulu has to offer. Thrilled to be here and in hindsight perhaps we should have just planned to come here all along.
Thank you for following along with us on this passage. Stay tuned for our next leg to Alaska...
----- End of Original Message -----
----- Original Message -----
Subject: We have arrived!
Date: 15 Jun 2021 02:25:52 -0000
From: VE7SVM
We are at the dock, surrounded by giant skyscrapers!!! We arrived just shy of exactly 27 days since we left Tahiti. On one hand that feels like forever ago but at the same time it really doesn't feel like that many days have lapsed since May 18. We were welcomed by the beautiful faces of Isabel, Johanna and Steve who helped get Maple in her spot. This is likely a temporary spot as it is situated at the yacht club's working dock, but hopefully now that we are here we can find somewhere we are not in the way for a couple of weeks to get repairs completed.
We have been checked in by a CBP officer who was super friendly, but we are still not allowed to leave the boat until we have seen someone from the Agriculture department who will want to see what food we have on board and remove our garbage. So we can't leave Maple until tomorrow morning, at which time we will be free to wander and explore what Honolulu has to offer. Thrilled to be here and in hindsight perhaps we should have just planned to come here all along.
Thank you for following along with us on this passage. Stay tuned for our next leg to Alaska...
----- End of Original Message -----
Sunday, 13 June 2021
LAND-HO!!!!
Okay, I said I would not write again until tomorrow evening, but this is just too exciting not to share!! We have officially spotted Oahu on the horizon at 56nm out just as the sun is about to set. So exciting!! Suddenly these monster waves are not irritating me as much. Based on current speed, we might manage to get to the dock before nightfall tomorrow...stay tuned.
Still here
TIME: 2021/06/14 02:34
LATITUDE: 20-33.79N
LONGITUDE: 158-37.58W
COURSE: 011T
WIND: NE 18
SPEED: 3.5
Distance to Oahu: 61NM
We are still out here. After a lovely 12 hour reprieve yesterday from the wind and waves, they started to return around dinner time last night and have only continued to build since then. We are motor sailing directly into the wind with both engines and averaging 3 to 3.5kn, not great, but at this stage we'll take what we can get. We are very, very tired of slamming into the seas and very, very ready to be sitting still at a dock. Arriving tomorrow is still not totally out of the question, but time will tell.
The only entertainment we have had are four birds sitting on the bow of Maple for hours!! Two of them insisted on sitting perched on the lifelines. I have no clue how they stayed balanced for so long on a tiny wire in bouncy seas with webbed feet. Now that we are back to upwards of 2m seas, they have disappeared. Clearly that is their limit for when they are better off flying.
I really hope that when I write next we are tied to a dock. If it is not obvious, we are done with this passage. You may recall a couple of weeks ago when D suggested we just plan to settle in Hawaii, that is sounding very good right now!!!
LATITUDE: 20-33.79N
LONGITUDE: 158-37.58W
COURSE: 011T
WIND: NE 18
SPEED: 3.5
Distance to Oahu: 61NM
We are still out here. After a lovely 12 hour reprieve yesterday from the wind and waves, they started to return around dinner time last night and have only continued to build since then. We are motor sailing directly into the wind with both engines and averaging 3 to 3.5kn, not great, but at this stage we'll take what we can get. We are very, very tired of slamming into the seas and very, very ready to be sitting still at a dock. Arriving tomorrow is still not totally out of the question, but time will tell.
The only entertainment we have had are four birds sitting on the bow of Maple for hours!! Two of them insisted on sitting perched on the lifelines. I have no clue how they stayed balanced for so long on a tiny wire in bouncy seas with webbed feet. Now that we are back to upwards of 2m seas, they have disappeared. Clearly that is their limit for when they are better off flying.
I really hope that when I write next we are tied to a dock. If it is not obvious, we are done with this passage. You may recall a couple of weeks ago when D suggested we just plan to settle in Hawaii, that is sounding very good right now!!!
Fun never ends....
So funny story...just after I sent the last group message "Two More Sleeps...hopefully" our primary boat computer died. This is the computer that we normally connect to the radio to send these emails. This computer is the only piece of technology that was still original to when we moved onto the boat. So it really had a good run because lets face it, electronics on boats don't last long. And yes, for those who are paying attention it is that computer that crashed to the floor and cracked its screen on basically day one of this passage. So the fact that it kept on trucking for an additional three weeks I suppose is miraculous. However, I am grumpy about it because I am tired of broken s*&t during this passage!!
Anyway, there is some good news. We were smart enough to put the program needed to connect to the radio onto a different computer so we have a backup...because if the lesson has not been learned on this passage for everyone...you should have a backup and probably should have a backup to the backup. I laughed once when I learned of a boat that had a spare rudder on board...who carries a spare rudder?! Well in light of this passage for us, I was very much wrong to laugh, yup, we should have a spare rudder...why not two while we are at it! Anyway, I am off track. Back to the computer issue. So yes, we have the ability to still connect to the radio, whew! What I don't have are any email addresses that were added more recently than when the program was placed on this backup computer. Confused?! It is okay, basically if you have received this email then you are the lucky ones (well perhaps that can be debated depending on whether you have thoroughly lost interest in receiving these emails and have been muttering to yourselves for days "Aren't they there yet?"). And if you have not received it, well, you have no clue and will blissfully no longer be receiving emails from us. However, if for some reason you realize that you have been dumped from this group email, feel free to email me a message as it will still come through to me and I will get you back on here.
On a separate note, it was also shortly after that last message I sent, D broke my heart by saying that it might in fact be three more sleeps before we arrive. The wind has picked up and of course is right on the nose for us so it means we are now only averaging 2kt of boat speed. Sigh. Are we there yet?!...
Anyway, there is some good news. We were smart enough to put the program needed to connect to the radio onto a different computer so we have a backup...because if the lesson has not been learned on this passage for everyone...you should have a backup and probably should have a backup to the backup. I laughed once when I learned of a boat that had a spare rudder on board...who carries a spare rudder?! Well in light of this passage for us, I was very much wrong to laugh, yup, we should have a spare rudder...why not two while we are at it! Anyway, I am off track. Back to the computer issue. So yes, we have the ability to still connect to the radio, whew! What I don't have are any email addresses that were added more recently than when the program was placed on this backup computer. Confused?! It is okay, basically if you have received this email then you are the lucky ones (well perhaps that can be debated depending on whether you have thoroughly lost interest in receiving these emails and have been muttering to yourselves for days "Aren't they there yet?"). And if you have not received it, well, you have no clue and will blissfully no longer be receiving emails from us. However, if for some reason you realize that you have been dumped from this group email, feel free to email me a message as it will still come through to me and I will get you back on here.
On a separate note, it was also shortly after that last message I sent, D broke my heart by saying that it might in fact be three more sleeps before we arrive. The wind has picked up and of course is right on the nose for us so it means we are now only averaging 2kt of boat speed. Sigh. Are we there yet?!...
Saturday, 12 June 2021
Two More Sleeps...hopefully
TIME: 2021/06/13 03:17 UTC
LATITUDE: 19-42.47N
LONGITUDE: 159-12.54W
COURSE: 040T
SPEED: 2.4
WIND_SPEED (T): NNE 6
Waves: NE 1M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 121NM
What a difference a day makes with no wind, calmer seas and lots of sunshine!! Last night we were struggling with trying to figure out which way to point the boat, at times seeing only a single knot of boat speed and that was with an engine on! But eventually we figured something out that allowed us to not head too far away from our destination and not too bouncy but see a mind blowing 2.5kn of boat speed. We are cooking with fire now, look at us go!! Since mid-morning the winds have died out completely and I will say shamelessly happy to be motoring along towards Oahu. We should be able to arrive in harbour on Monday morning, exact time still to be determined. Thankfully nothing else to report...all is well on Maple!
LATITUDE: 19-42.47N
LONGITUDE: 159-12.54W
COURSE: 040T
SPEED: 2.4
WIND_SPEED (T): NNE 6
Waves: NE 1M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 121NM
What a difference a day makes with no wind, calmer seas and lots of sunshine!! Last night we were struggling with trying to figure out which way to point the boat, at times seeing only a single knot of boat speed and that was with an engine on! But eventually we figured something out that allowed us to not head too far away from our destination and not too bouncy but see a mind blowing 2.5kn of boat speed. We are cooking with fire now, look at us go!! Since mid-morning the winds have died out completely and I will say shamelessly happy to be motoring along towards Oahu. We should be able to arrive in harbour on Monday morning, exact time still to be determined. Thankfully nothing else to report...all is well on Maple!
Friday, 11 June 2021
Quick Update
TIME: 2021/06/12 03:12 UTC
LATITUDE: 18-53.09N
LONGITUDE: 159-42.49W
COURSE: 077T
SPEED: 2.7
WIND_SPEED (T): NE 16
Apparent Wind: 50 Deg Port, 20kt
Waves: NE 1-2M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 177NM
COMMENTS: The wind and seas have moderated a bit. The debate we are having is whether to keep sailing but going either too far east or too far west. The decision we have made at the moment is to motor sail as close into the wind and seas as possible with the assistance of one engine to keep fuel consumption lower, hence why our boat speed is currently painfully slow. We will continue to evaluate what course is best for us as we continue our slow progress over the next few days. We could arrive in Oahu as early as Monday morning but we will have to continue to adjust our ETA as the miles pass.
The one amazing piece of news is we have a confirmed marina slip in Waikiki Yacht Club located in Honolulu. This is all thanks to Steve on Chasing Waterfalls, whose family we first briefly met in Galapagos and then had the opportunity to spend a bit more time with in Raiatea after confinement was lifted. Not sure how he pulled it off, but we will just gratefully take this huge win after what has felt like a lot of strikes against us. Oh, and a big thank you to Nat for reaching out to Steve to begin with!! We are just ready to be tied to a dock and endlessly sleep. Then face the long list of repairs and cleanup we have on our hands.
Maple continues to be a rockstar and sail/motor under less than optimal conditions. The crew are tired, but doing well! Trying desperately to eat all meat, eggs, produce and cheese on board, but I have a feeling some will have to be tossed overboard before arrival. Meat lovers pizza with extra cheese is on the menu tonight. :)
LATITUDE: 18-53.09N
LONGITUDE: 159-42.49W
COURSE: 077T
SPEED: 2.7
WIND_SPEED (T): NE 16
Apparent Wind: 50 Deg Port, 20kt
Waves: NE 1-2M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 177NM
COMMENTS: The wind and seas have moderated a bit. The debate we are having is whether to keep sailing but going either too far east or too far west. The decision we have made at the moment is to motor sail as close into the wind and seas as possible with the assistance of one engine to keep fuel consumption lower, hence why our boat speed is currently painfully slow. We will continue to evaluate what course is best for us as we continue our slow progress over the next few days. We could arrive in Oahu as early as Monday morning but we will have to continue to adjust our ETA as the miles pass.
The one amazing piece of news is we have a confirmed marina slip in Waikiki Yacht Club located in Honolulu. This is all thanks to Steve on Chasing Waterfalls, whose family we first briefly met in Galapagos and then had the opportunity to spend a bit more time with in Raiatea after confinement was lifted. Not sure how he pulled it off, but we will just gratefully take this huge win after what has felt like a lot of strikes against us. Oh, and a big thank you to Nat for reaching out to Steve to begin with!! We are just ready to be tied to a dock and endlessly sleep. Then face the long list of repairs and cleanup we have on our hands.
Maple continues to be a rockstar and sail/motor under less than optimal conditions. The crew are tired, but doing well! Trying desperately to eat all meat, eggs, produce and cheese on board, but I have a feeling some will have to be tossed overboard before arrival. Meat lovers pizza with extra cheese is on the menu tonight. :)
Thursday, 10 June 2021
Yet More Gratitude
TIME: 2021/06/11 02:02 UTC
LATITUDE: 17-32.91N
LONGITUDE: 159-45.33W
COURSE: 342T
SPEED: 4.0
WIND_SPEED (T): ENE 20
Apparent Wind: 70 Deg, 20kt
Waves: NE 2-3M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 270NM
Oh no, here comes another sappy email about gratitude!! But how could I not be, less than 48 hours after we lost use of our starboard rudder, we have new parts ordered, the possibility of a marina slip being investigated, and paperwork being completed for permission to arrive in Hawaii. All of this done by the incredible cruising community we have met since we started on this journey with Maple.
First, a huge thank you to Shaun. We first met Shaun and Sherrie and their two girls in Turkey back in 2015. What are the chances of two Vancouver area families spending part of their first year on their respective boats in the same marina in Turkey!?! It was an instant connection that has continued since. Our paths have intersected from time to time, include with Sherrie back in Vancouver a couple of times. They are currently in Vancouver after they were forced to leave their boat behind in Malaysia when they could no longer renew their visas during Covid. Shaun has been sending us daily weather forecasts and routing suggestions since we left Tahiti. Now he is a HUGE lifesaver by ordering for us two new tiller arms from South Africa to be delivered to Hawaii. And he is throwing in a new alternator for us at the same time! Maple will be as good as new with two functioning rudders and two engines capable of charging once all is installed!! Thank you so much, Shaun!!!
Next on the list to thank are Mary Beth and Bill. We first met them in Shelter Bay Marina in Panama in early 2019. (As an aside, that is the last time we have been in a marina!) How could we not meet as we were just two boats down from each other with the exact same boat. Clearly people with good taste!! We also had a chance to meet a couple of times in French Polynesia before they then sailed to Hawaii. I think they managed this trip with breaking a lot less stuff than we have on ours. Anyway, all it took was for me to email them with a few questions since they are currently in Oahu, and they immediately took action. They have inquired with their marina, Ko' Olina, to see if there is any chance of squeezing us in. The jury is still out, but we are still so grateful for their willingness to jump to action when needed. They have generously allowed us to use their address at the marina to ship our parts!!
Last, but certainly not least, we have to thank Mark and Isabel. We first met in Fakarava in French Polynesia back in 2019 and have been fortunate to share many an anchorage with them throughout the country. They are currently on a stopover in Oahu after having a fantastic, smooth trip from the Marquesas. See it is possible to do this trip without breaking stuff!!! It must be because they are on an awesome Aussie built Seawind! :) They have inquired with CBP that we are able to check in to the US in Oahu and are helping us by getting the necessary paperwork started on our behalf!!
Plus we have received countless offers of help and quick answers to questions from other cruisers over the last two days. This community of sailors is truly remarkable. We never cease to be amazed by the generosity that this community will give without any expectation of anything in return. From saving people's drifting dinghies to sharing spare parts when possible to jumping to action when things are not going very smoothly on an ocean crossing.
Thank you so much for everyone's support and good vibes as we try to reach Oahu. The seas and winds continue to be very strong for us so we continue to just make our way north towards Kauai. Hoping the forecast for lighter winds and seas becomes a reality soon. All continues to be well for Maple and her crew!
LATITUDE: 17-32.91N
LONGITUDE: 159-45.33W
COURSE: 342T
SPEED: 4.0
WIND_SPEED (T): ENE 20
Apparent Wind: 70 Deg, 20kt
Waves: NE 2-3M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 270NM
Oh no, here comes another sappy email about gratitude!! But how could I not be, less than 48 hours after we lost use of our starboard rudder, we have new parts ordered, the possibility of a marina slip being investigated, and paperwork being completed for permission to arrive in Hawaii. All of this done by the incredible cruising community we have met since we started on this journey with Maple.
First, a huge thank you to Shaun. We first met Shaun and Sherrie and their two girls in Turkey back in 2015. What are the chances of two Vancouver area families spending part of their first year on their respective boats in the same marina in Turkey!?! It was an instant connection that has continued since. Our paths have intersected from time to time, include with Sherrie back in Vancouver a couple of times. They are currently in Vancouver after they were forced to leave their boat behind in Malaysia when they could no longer renew their visas during Covid. Shaun has been sending us daily weather forecasts and routing suggestions since we left Tahiti. Now he is a HUGE lifesaver by ordering for us two new tiller arms from South Africa to be delivered to Hawaii. And he is throwing in a new alternator for us at the same time! Maple will be as good as new with two functioning rudders and two engines capable of charging once all is installed!! Thank you so much, Shaun!!!
Next on the list to thank are Mary Beth and Bill. We first met them in Shelter Bay Marina in Panama in early 2019. (As an aside, that is the last time we have been in a marina!) How could we not meet as we were just two boats down from each other with the exact same boat. Clearly people with good taste!! We also had a chance to meet a couple of times in French Polynesia before they then sailed to Hawaii. I think they managed this trip with breaking a lot less stuff than we have on ours. Anyway, all it took was for me to email them with a few questions since they are currently in Oahu, and they immediately took action. They have inquired with their marina, Ko' Olina, to see if there is any chance of squeezing us in. The jury is still out, but we are still so grateful for their willingness to jump to action when needed. They have generously allowed us to use their address at the marina to ship our parts!!
Last, but certainly not least, we have to thank Mark and Isabel. We first met in Fakarava in French Polynesia back in 2019 and have been fortunate to share many an anchorage with them throughout the country. They are currently on a stopover in Oahu after having a fantastic, smooth trip from the Marquesas. See it is possible to do this trip without breaking stuff!!! It must be because they are on an awesome Aussie built Seawind! :) They have inquired with CBP that we are able to check in to the US in Oahu and are helping us by getting the necessary paperwork started on our behalf!!
Plus we have received countless offers of help and quick answers to questions from other cruisers over the last two days. This community of sailors is truly remarkable. We never cease to be amazed by the generosity that this community will give without any expectation of anything in return. From saving people's drifting dinghies to sharing spare parts when possible to jumping to action when things are not going very smoothly on an ocean crossing.
Thank you so much for everyone's support and good vibes as we try to reach Oahu. The seas and winds continue to be very strong for us so we continue to just make our way north towards Kauai. Hoping the forecast for lighter winds and seas becomes a reality soon. All continues to be well for Maple and her crew!
Wednesday, 9 June 2021
Change of plans
TIME: 2021/06/10 02:32 UTC
LATITUDE: 15-51.41N
LONGITUDE: 159-23.27W
COURSE: 345T
SPEED: 4.8
WIND_SPEED (T): NE 21
WIND_DIR: 060T
Apparent Wind: 60 Deg, 22kt
Waves: NE 2-3M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 350NM
COMMENT: Very boisterous sailing shall we say. I think Maple is currently two parts salt and one part fiberglass. Everyone has had more than their share of unintentional saltwater showers. Honestly, we would really like a break from these winds and seas...so if anyone could put in a good word for us, we would appreciate it!
Back in 2018 in the Bahamas we encountered an interesting failure on Maple. The issue was that a critical part that moves the rudders had sheered off completely on the starboard side. This meant that the starboard rudder was just flopping back and forth with no ability to control it and in turn offering no assistance in steering the boat. In addition, our autopilot relies on a sensor attached to the starboard rudder to be able to steer the rudders. At that time, we were very close to an island and just hand steered to a safe anchorage where we were able to find a welder to fix the part. We also took the opportunity to reinforce the same part on the port side as it was showing signs of fatigue.
Why do I share this story with you?! Any guesses?! Yes, the exact same thing has happened again. But this time of course we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no nearby safe anchorage to pop into to visit a welder. So it appears that a slight course change is necessary and a stop in Hawaii will, after all, be in our near future.
We are very fortunate to have cruising friends who are available to help out and we know a handful of cruisers who are either currently in Hawaii or have been there who are great resources for us. I know the community will help us where they can. Shaun has already reached out to the the boat's manufacturer to look into arranging new parts to be delivered from South Africa. I have reached out to another cruiser currently in Oahu with the exact same boat as ours to learn about possible aluminum or stainless fabricators who could build us what we need or worst case repair what we already have if shipping from South Africa is not a viable option. Plus friends are reaching out to the authorities in Hawaii to let them know we need to make an unscheduled stop for repairs. We are very fortunate as Canadians that we do not require any prior visas to enter, and are even welcome to stop in Covid times, but prior notice of our arrival is necessary. The only downside is we are not really in a great position to reach Hawaii. Remember all these days with us being pushed west by this persistent NE wind?! Well, we are going to have to undo all that with a lot of upwind bashing to get there. Currently we are sailing as north as we can and as we get closer to the Hawaiian chain we will likely drop the sails and turn into this mess of wind and waves to motor the rest of the way. We have plenty of fuel on board so one way or another we will make it there in hopefully 5 to 7 days.
As for the autopilot, we thankfully now have a backup autopilot on board which we bought back in Florida (after our time in the Bahamas). It is a completely separate system that does not rely on the sensor being attached to the rudder. With me hand steering for just 10 to 15 minutes, D had the backup installed and running. It is working amazingly well and so very grateful we do not need to hand steer to reach Hawaii. All is well on board with all of us. Maple is still sailing beautifully despite all her obstacles of being down a rudder, with a new autohelm in charge, in strong winds of 18-25kn and in large 2-3m seas. We are disappointed to not be able to make it non-stop to Alaska and depending on how long repairs take, we might need to skip Alaska altogether. But this whole adventure for us has been about adapting, staying flexible, and let's face it, perfect passages are not the ones discussed over sundowners. For now the only focus is reaching Hawaii safely and getting Maple patched up.
LATITUDE: 15-51.41N
LONGITUDE: 159-23.27W
COURSE: 345T
SPEED: 4.8
WIND_SPEED (T): NE 21
WIND_DIR: 060T
Apparent Wind: 60 Deg, 22kt
Waves: NE 2-3M
Miles to Oahu, Hawaii: 350NM
COMMENT: Very boisterous sailing shall we say. I think Maple is currently two parts salt and one part fiberglass. Everyone has had more than their share of unintentional saltwater showers. Honestly, we would really like a break from these winds and seas...so if anyone could put in a good word for us, we would appreciate it!
Back in 2018 in the Bahamas we encountered an interesting failure on Maple. The issue was that a critical part that moves the rudders had sheered off completely on the starboard side. This meant that the starboard rudder was just flopping back and forth with no ability to control it and in turn offering no assistance in steering the boat. In addition, our autopilot relies on a sensor attached to the starboard rudder to be able to steer the rudders. At that time, we were very close to an island and just hand steered to a safe anchorage where we were able to find a welder to fix the part. We also took the opportunity to reinforce the same part on the port side as it was showing signs of fatigue.
Why do I share this story with you?! Any guesses?! Yes, the exact same thing has happened again. But this time of course we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no nearby safe anchorage to pop into to visit a welder. So it appears that a slight course change is necessary and a stop in Hawaii will, after all, be in our near future.
We are very fortunate to have cruising friends who are available to help out and we know a handful of cruisers who are either currently in Hawaii or have been there who are great resources for us. I know the community will help us where they can. Shaun has already reached out to the the boat's manufacturer to look into arranging new parts to be delivered from South Africa. I have reached out to another cruiser currently in Oahu with the exact same boat as ours to learn about possible aluminum or stainless fabricators who could build us what we need or worst case repair what we already have if shipping from South Africa is not a viable option. Plus friends are reaching out to the authorities in Hawaii to let them know we need to make an unscheduled stop for repairs. We are very fortunate as Canadians that we do not require any prior visas to enter, and are even welcome to stop in Covid times, but prior notice of our arrival is necessary. The only downside is we are not really in a great position to reach Hawaii. Remember all these days with us being pushed west by this persistent NE wind?! Well, we are going to have to undo all that with a lot of upwind bashing to get there. Currently we are sailing as north as we can and as we get closer to the Hawaiian chain we will likely drop the sails and turn into this mess of wind and waves to motor the rest of the way. We have plenty of fuel on board so one way or another we will make it there in hopefully 5 to 7 days.
As for the autopilot, we thankfully now have a backup autopilot on board which we bought back in Florida (after our time in the Bahamas). It is a completely separate system that does not rely on the sensor being attached to the rudder. With me hand steering for just 10 to 15 minutes, D had the backup installed and running. It is working amazingly well and so very grateful we do not need to hand steer to reach Hawaii. All is well on board with all of us. Maple is still sailing beautifully despite all her obstacles of being down a rudder, with a new autohelm in charge, in strong winds of 18-25kn and in large 2-3m seas. We are disappointed to not be able to make it non-stop to Alaska and depending on how long repairs take, we might need to skip Alaska altogether. But this whole adventure for us has been about adapting, staying flexible, and let's face it, perfect passages are not the ones discussed over sundowners. For now the only focus is reaching Hawaii safely and getting Maple patched up.
Saturday, 5 June 2021
Routine
TIME: 2021/06/05 02:26 UTC
LATITUDE: 09-46.52N
LONGITUDE: 155-42.92W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 307T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 4.5 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 19 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 65 deg
SEA STATE: NE 2M Short period, making dinner prep a balancing act
COMMENTS: No rain today, mostly cloudy with sunny periods. The wind is still too much from the NE to make much progress north. When conditions allow we try to pinch as much upwind as possible.
Sleep, eat, watches...in no particular order, this is the basis of our day. A rotation of these three functions day in, day out. The landscape does not change much so it does not take much for something to catch our attention. We enjoy when a seabird or two occupies space near us, swooping and diving around us. In fact the other night we had a second bird crash land into our cockpit. This one was so small, I can't even begin to imagine how it got this far away from land. It rested with us for a long time but eventually took flight again before sunrise. Another seabird took great interest in our tow generator. It quickly determined it was not a flashing fish for him to eat, but he would bob in the water behind us and continually dip his head into the water to investigate this most bizarre phenomenon. He would let us sail ahead of him and then he would catch back up to us and repeat his investigation.
Yesterday evening as final dinner preparations were underway, the girls were both sitting at the helm when one of them shouted "Dolphins"! We have had only a few, very brief dolphin visits since leaving Tahiti. And for some reason it has been in the worst conditions of steep waves and driving rain that we will see them passing by, never staying for a visit to play in our bow waves. However, last night was different. As I came out to check out the dolphins, I noticed as this torpedo shaped body caught the last of the sunlight, the most beautiful colours!! It was a school of HUGE yellow fin tuna jumping and feeding just meters off our starboard side, going in the opposite direction to us. How amazing is it that out of this massive ocean, we were able to briefly witness these tuna jumping so close to us!! And the answer is no...we did not have the lure out. I was quite content just watching these beautiful fish going about catching their supper.
Here is our reality. One of the reasons we have not been fishing is because our freezer/fridge has not been performing well on a starboard tack. Our freezer and fridge are a set of two drawers and on the starboard tack, the freezer drawer is not staying sealed. The result...it is very difficult to keep our meat consistently frozen. Further to this, the compressor for our fridge is by far the largest energy drain on Maple and so we routinely turn it off to try to reduce the constant drain on the batteries. So it means that our meals have been focused on eating through the meat and fish in the freezer as quickly as possible and as such don't need to add to it by catching a monster tuna. Perhaps once we have an empty freezer and after a week or two of vegetarian meals, I will want to try to catch ourselves a sushi dinner, but for now, the fishing rod remains unused.
All is well with the four of us! Sailing under beautiful conditions with plenty of sunshine. Still hoping for that wind direction to change a little bit for us to start heading more north than we are. Currently we are lining ourselves up perfectly for a stopover in Japan just as we planned for back in January. Perhaps we can check out the Olympics after all, assuming they are still scheduled?! ;)
LATITUDE: 09-46.52N
LONGITUDE: 155-42.92W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 307T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 4.5 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 19 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 65 deg
SEA STATE: NE 2M Short period, making dinner prep a balancing act
COMMENTS: No rain today, mostly cloudy with sunny periods. The wind is still too much from the NE to make much progress north. When conditions allow we try to pinch as much upwind as possible.
Sleep, eat, watches...in no particular order, this is the basis of our day. A rotation of these three functions day in, day out. The landscape does not change much so it does not take much for something to catch our attention. We enjoy when a seabird or two occupies space near us, swooping and diving around us. In fact the other night we had a second bird crash land into our cockpit. This one was so small, I can't even begin to imagine how it got this far away from land. It rested with us for a long time but eventually took flight again before sunrise. Another seabird took great interest in our tow generator. It quickly determined it was not a flashing fish for him to eat, but he would bob in the water behind us and continually dip his head into the water to investigate this most bizarre phenomenon. He would let us sail ahead of him and then he would catch back up to us and repeat his investigation.
Yesterday evening as final dinner preparations were underway, the girls were both sitting at the helm when one of them shouted "Dolphins"! We have had only a few, very brief dolphin visits since leaving Tahiti. And for some reason it has been in the worst conditions of steep waves and driving rain that we will see them passing by, never staying for a visit to play in our bow waves. However, last night was different. As I came out to check out the dolphins, I noticed as this torpedo shaped body caught the last of the sunlight, the most beautiful colours!! It was a school of HUGE yellow fin tuna jumping and feeding just meters off our starboard side, going in the opposite direction to us. How amazing is it that out of this massive ocean, we were able to briefly witness these tuna jumping so close to us!! And the answer is no...we did not have the lure out. I was quite content just watching these beautiful fish going about catching their supper.
Here is our reality. One of the reasons we have not been fishing is because our freezer/fridge has not been performing well on a starboard tack. Our freezer and fridge are a set of two drawers and on the starboard tack, the freezer drawer is not staying sealed. The result...it is very difficult to keep our meat consistently frozen. Further to this, the compressor for our fridge is by far the largest energy drain on Maple and so we routinely turn it off to try to reduce the constant drain on the batteries. So it means that our meals have been focused on eating through the meat and fish in the freezer as quickly as possible and as such don't need to add to it by catching a monster tuna. Perhaps once we have an empty freezer and after a week or two of vegetarian meals, I will want to try to catch ourselves a sushi dinner, but for now, the fishing rod remains unused.
All is well with the four of us! Sailing under beautiful conditions with plenty of sunshine. Still hoping for that wind direction to change a little bit for us to start heading more north than we are. Currently we are lining ourselves up perfectly for a stopover in Japan just as we planned for back in January. Perhaps we can check out the Olympics after all, assuming they are still scheduled?! ;)
Thursday, 3 June 2021
Profound Gratitude
TIME: 2021/06/03 03:12
LATITUDE: 07-10.93N
LONGITUDE: 153-12.78W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 312T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 4.1 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 15 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 70 deg
SEA STATE: NE 1.5M
COMMENTS: Wind picked up and turned to NE overnight, we are sailing again and left the rain behind this morning. Our course is more W than we would like but the wind will clock around to allow us to turn N in time. Passed 1500NM made good today so all on board got another goodie bag of candy.
We have now covered 1500nm since leaving Tahiti and during that time I have been doing loads of reflection about our time in French Polynesia. This is a country that truly changed the course of our lives. A country that provided us with a safe haven during a global pandemic.
Most people know that our dream to sail with the girls was born while D and I vacationed in FP in 2012. Up until then our plan was to work until the usual retirement age when D would have maxed out his work pension, then set sail. This would have been the more financially prudent option. But during our fateful vacation in FP, we hatched the plan to slightly increase the timeline and include the girls. In less than 3 years, we made it happen. Being in the beauty that is French Polynesia, it truly changed how we saw the rest of our lives. We wanted to live more consciously, more fully than we had up to that point.
Less than seven years after that vacation, we returned to the shores of French Polynesia with Maple, anticipating a one year stay before moving on west. Obviously those plans all went to pot when Covid hit. However, there is no downside for us. We had the good fortune to spend TWO YEARS in this paradise, beyond anything we could imagine. The gratitude we feel towards this country that gave us so much is beyond measure.
In those two years we met countless fantastic people. People we are so fortunate to now call friends and I do truly hope our paths can cross again one day. As a result of our time in FP alone we now have endless couch surfing opportunities in so many countries: Norway, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Australia, South Africa; I know this is not an exhaustive list. We had the opportunity to explore islands and atolls that non-sailing tourists don't get to see. We got to dive in her depths and explore the diversity of the underwater world. We got to attend cultural events of a fiercely proud people who made landfall here thousands of years before we did. We got to be tattooed by remarkable artists, masters of their craft, who carry on the traditions and stories of their people.
This country sheltered us while the world changed as we knew it. Other cruisers around the world were being turned away or kicked out from countries, arrested for trying to make an emergency stop, not allowed to get off their boat for months on end. Meanwhile, for us here in French Polynesia, we had our own oasis. Sure we had four weeks of being confined to the boat, but at least we still had the opportunity to go to shore for shopping and exercise. After those four weeks, truly our lives were not really impacted, certainly not compared to much of the world. It is since Covid that we met so many of these new friends. While so many people have been unable to see the people they love, we have been able to freely travel within the country and meet new people. This privilege is not lost on us. And to top all of this, D and I as mere tourists were even able to get fully vaccinated here at no cost.
To say that I was upset when we pulled out of our anchorage in Tahiti on May 18 is a mild understatement. After waving a final goodbye to one of those amazing people we have been so fortunate to meet here, I was a mess. I was ugly crying, barely able to catch my breath. The girls just hugged me as D took Maple through the lagoon for our final exit. In the 30 countries we have visited with Maple, this is the first time I have had this much emotion. I struggle to find the words of how special this country will forever be to me. I left part of my heart there.
Thank you, French Polynesia!! Merci beaucoup!! Maururu!!
LATITUDE: 07-10.93N
LONGITUDE: 153-12.78W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 312T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 4.1 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 15 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 70 deg
SEA STATE: NE 1.5M
COMMENTS: Wind picked up and turned to NE overnight, we are sailing again and left the rain behind this morning. Our course is more W than we would like but the wind will clock around to allow us to turn N in time. Passed 1500NM made good today so all on board got another goodie bag of candy.
We have now covered 1500nm since leaving Tahiti and during that time I have been doing loads of reflection about our time in French Polynesia. This is a country that truly changed the course of our lives. A country that provided us with a safe haven during a global pandemic.
Most people know that our dream to sail with the girls was born while D and I vacationed in FP in 2012. Up until then our plan was to work until the usual retirement age when D would have maxed out his work pension, then set sail. This would have been the more financially prudent option. But during our fateful vacation in FP, we hatched the plan to slightly increase the timeline and include the girls. In less than 3 years, we made it happen. Being in the beauty that is French Polynesia, it truly changed how we saw the rest of our lives. We wanted to live more consciously, more fully than we had up to that point.
Less than seven years after that vacation, we returned to the shores of French Polynesia with Maple, anticipating a one year stay before moving on west. Obviously those plans all went to pot when Covid hit. However, there is no downside for us. We had the good fortune to spend TWO YEARS in this paradise, beyond anything we could imagine. The gratitude we feel towards this country that gave us so much is beyond measure.
In those two years we met countless fantastic people. People we are so fortunate to now call friends and I do truly hope our paths can cross again one day. As a result of our time in FP alone we now have endless couch surfing opportunities in so many countries: Norway, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Australia, South Africa; I know this is not an exhaustive list. We had the opportunity to explore islands and atolls that non-sailing tourists don't get to see. We got to dive in her depths and explore the diversity of the underwater world. We got to attend cultural events of a fiercely proud people who made landfall here thousands of years before we did. We got to be tattooed by remarkable artists, masters of their craft, who carry on the traditions and stories of their people.
This country sheltered us while the world changed as we knew it. Other cruisers around the world were being turned away or kicked out from countries, arrested for trying to make an emergency stop, not allowed to get off their boat for months on end. Meanwhile, for us here in French Polynesia, we had our own oasis. Sure we had four weeks of being confined to the boat, but at least we still had the opportunity to go to shore for shopping and exercise. After those four weeks, truly our lives were not really impacted, certainly not compared to much of the world. It is since Covid that we met so many of these new friends. While so many people have been unable to see the people they love, we have been able to freely travel within the country and meet new people. This privilege is not lost on us. And to top all of this, D and I as mere tourists were even able to get fully vaccinated here at no cost.
To say that I was upset when we pulled out of our anchorage in Tahiti on May 18 is a mild understatement. After waving a final goodbye to one of those amazing people we have been so fortunate to meet here, I was a mess. I was ugly crying, barely able to catch my breath. The girls just hugged me as D took Maple through the lagoon for our final exit. In the 30 countries we have visited with Maple, this is the first time I have had this much emotion. I struggle to find the words of how special this country will forever be to me. I left part of my heart there.
Thank you, French Polynesia!! Merci beaucoup!! Maururu!!
Tuesday, 1 June 2021
The deluge begins...
TIME: 2021/06/01 03:10
LATITUDE: 05-08.33N
LONGITUDE: 152-03.03W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 010T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 2.7 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 6 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 30 degrees
SEA STATE: 0.5m E & 0.5m S Swell, confused, coming from all directions it feels like
COMMENTS: Clearly you can see we are motoring as we can't sail in 6 knots of wind at 30 degrees. Starting around 3:30pm local time today the rain started. It had been quite beautiful up until then. The last rain cloud took all the wind with it. We need to charge the batteries anyway, so have the starboard engine is serving dual purpose. Hopefully we are not motoring all night.
Starboard tack: If the wind is from the starboard, the vessel is on a "starboard tack". (Source: Offline Wiki)
Before we left Tahiti, D received a question from a friend about what tack we will be on for this trip. D and I looked at each other, shrugged and did the only thing one does when stumped by a question...Google. The whole nautical term thing has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Good thing there is not a CYA instructor breathing down my neck every day trying to beat the sailor into me. Believe me, I did that, it was not fun, decided lessons were not for me. As an aside, on those miserable sailing lessons, the positive part of that experience was the other student with us. Shirley made those five days fun!! Speaking of nautical terms, here is another one, lazy jacks. Lazy jacks are the lines which help keep the main sail organized when lowering it. Anyway, Shirley preferred to call them "Idle Johns" so that is what we call them now.
Anyway, back to the starboard tack. That is what we have been on since leaving Tahiti. Non-stop, just a single tack so far. To be clear, we LOVE our Leopard 384. We truly feel we lucked out into buying the perfect boat for us. Now that is not to say the boat is perfect. The people who designed our boat clearly did not anticipate this boat being sailed on a starboard tack with waves being thrown into the cockpit or torrential rain driving into the starboard side of the boat. Why, do you ask?! Oh, because when in such conditions we end up with a swimming pool accumulating under our cockpit table. There is no thru-hull to allow the water to exit. So when waves are crashing over the side like it was the first few days or like today when we are experiencing driving rain, we need to spend a good deal of time mucking out the water out from under table. Because the other key design feature is that our house battery bank is stored under one of the benches around the table. A super convenient spot when needing to access the batteries, but not such a convenient spot when mixed with water. There are a couple of examples where Leopard likes to combine water and electricity in their design. Anyway, every boat no doubt has its questionable design elements and so for the last 14 days we have been able to enjoy the oversight that Leopard put into weather and sea state into their design when on a starboard tack. I have no doubt my instructor, Bob, tried to teach me what a starboard tack is, but now thanks to this trip, I will likely never forget.
LATITUDE: 05-08.33N
LONGITUDE: 152-03.03W
NEXT WAYPOINT: 22N-159W
COURSE (COG): 010T
BOAT SPEED (SOG): 2.7 kn
WIND SPEED (AWS): 6 kn
WIND ANGLE (AWA): 30 degrees
SEA STATE: 0.5m E & 0.5m S Swell, confused, coming from all directions it feels like
COMMENTS: Clearly you can see we are motoring as we can't sail in 6 knots of wind at 30 degrees. Starting around 3:30pm local time today the rain started. It had been quite beautiful up until then. The last rain cloud took all the wind with it. We need to charge the batteries anyway, so have the starboard engine is serving dual purpose. Hopefully we are not motoring all night.
Starboard tack: If the wind is from the starboard, the vessel is on a "starboard tack". (Source: Offline Wiki)
Before we left Tahiti, D received a question from a friend about what tack we will be on for this trip. D and I looked at each other, shrugged and did the only thing one does when stumped by a question...Google. The whole nautical term thing has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Good thing there is not a CYA instructor breathing down my neck every day trying to beat the sailor into me. Believe me, I did that, it was not fun, decided lessons were not for me. As an aside, on those miserable sailing lessons, the positive part of that experience was the other student with us. Shirley made those five days fun!! Speaking of nautical terms, here is another one, lazy jacks. Lazy jacks are the lines which help keep the main sail organized when lowering it. Anyway, Shirley preferred to call them "Idle Johns" so that is what we call them now.
Anyway, back to the starboard tack. That is what we have been on since leaving Tahiti. Non-stop, just a single tack so far. To be clear, we LOVE our Leopard 384. We truly feel we lucked out into buying the perfect boat for us. Now that is not to say the boat is perfect. The people who designed our boat clearly did not anticipate this boat being sailed on a starboard tack with waves being thrown into the cockpit or torrential rain driving into the starboard side of the boat. Why, do you ask?! Oh, because when in such conditions we end up with a swimming pool accumulating under our cockpit table. There is no thru-hull to allow the water to exit. So when waves are crashing over the side like it was the first few days or like today when we are experiencing driving rain, we need to spend a good deal of time mucking out the water out from under table. Because the other key design feature is that our house battery bank is stored under one of the benches around the table. A super convenient spot when needing to access the batteries, but not such a convenient spot when mixed with water. There are a couple of examples where Leopard likes to combine water and electricity in their design. Anyway, every boat no doubt has its questionable design elements and so for the last 14 days we have been able to enjoy the oversight that Leopard put into weather and sea state into their design when on a starboard tack. I have no doubt my instructor, Bob, tried to teach me what a starboard tack is, but now thanks to this trip, I will likely never forget.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)