Pacific Voyage

Back in Moshi

2010-03-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

YESTERDAY WAS LNG AND PAINFL. HRS AND HRS OF DWN HILL. NOW BACK AT HOTEL.

On TOP!!

2010-03-21T19:38:00.001-07:00

ON TOP VERY TIRD AND PAINFL

Before Summit

2010-03-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

LEAVE IN 4 HRS FOR SMT PUSH! WILL BE RLY COLD. SHLD BE ON SMT 12 HRS FROM NOW

Justin Sleeping Bag

2010-03-20T22:43:00.001-07:00

INSTEAD OF WINTER BAG LINER. HE IS SLPN IN JACKET! ALL IS GOOD

6th day on Mtn.

2010-03-20T22:40:00.001-07:00

DAY 6 ON MTN. FLN GOOD. LEROY FMLY WOULD BE PROUD. THINK OF PRFSR KLUMP AND AFRKN FOOD. JSTN BRT DESSERT ASSULT SLPN BAG INSTEAD

4th day on Mtn.

2010-03-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

4TH DAY ON MTN. SAW SMT WAS BTFL. HAVING GRT TIME. JUSTN SML HDACHE BUT OK WANT TO GO TOP!

2nd day on Mtn.

2010-03-17T07:50:00.001-07:00

2ND DAY ON MTN. ALL IS WELL. BEAUTIFL. LOOKN FWD TO BE ON TOP.

In moshi

2010-03-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the most dangerous days ever. We took a bus from Nairobi to Moshi in Tanzania. The bus driver was terrible. He was driving so fast, passing cars and trucks on blind turns, hills, driving about 80 MPH maybe more. It was a big full sized bus but we were driving off road through bumps pot holes everything you can and can't imagine.

We finally got to moshi which is a town near the base of kilomanjaro. Finally we had some good coffee. It is hotter and more humid here.

Had a brief of our trip with our expedition leader, a guy named Richard. Seemsike a good guy. Leaving for the mountain tomorrow.

送信元: Sent from my phone

In moshi

2010-03-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

We finally got to moshi which is a town near the base of kilomanjaro.
Finally we had some good coffee. It is hotter and more humid here.

Had a brief of our trip with our expedition leader, a guy named
Richard. Seemsike a good guy. Leaving for the mountain tomorrow.

送信元: Sent from my phone

SMS from 881641497095@msg.iridium.com

2010-03-13T08:28:00.001-08:00

WE DROVE 5 HOURS TO MASAI MARA NAT PRK. AMAZING!! ELEPHNT LION GIR ZBR GREAT!

SMS from 881641497095@msg.iridium.com

2010-03-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

JUSTIN ARRIVED. NOW LEAVING FOR SAFARI NOW

City tour and coffee plantation

2010-03-12T05:32:00.001-08:00

JUST DID A TOUR OF A COFFEE PLANTATION

Kaneohe Bay at night

2010-01-09T01:12:00.000-08:00

We sailed into Kaneohe bay at 10pm tonight. It is on the east side of Oahu. We planned on going to molokai but there was not enough wind so we re-routed. We are pleasantly anchored and all in bed now. All is well.

Best star gazing on the planet

2010-01-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

Great trip on the big island. We arrived on Wednesday on big island having only two and a half hous sleep the night before. We arrived with lots of excitment, as we could tell immediatly that our surroundings were different than those on Oahu. First of al it was quite cold when we arrived. We planned on going to the top of The Mauna Kea peak so we packed warm cloths, and immediatly packed into these upon arrival. The air felt different and we even thought Hilo may be at a high altitude, but quickly realized when driving to the hotel that we were right by the beach.

We could not check into the hotel at 6am so we jumped in the car drove to a diner, killed some time then head off to a nearby waterfall. We were extremely underwhelmed by the waterfall in town, so drove north to Akaka galls where we did a short hike inti absolutely beautiful waterfalls. The surroundings were also amazing and one could not ask for better weather.

Later we drove hours to the south and hiked through the forest then through the base of a crater which is still emitting steam and smoke. We jumped in the car and drove further to a black sand beach which is also a hatching area for sea turtles. we saw a couple which was nice.

We again jumped in the car then drove a couple hours to the lava flow. We were very unlucky in the sense that the lava had stopes flowing just a couple of days before. Apparently it flows and stops pretty regularily. That night we were so tired we crashed out at about 8:30pm.

Yesterday we started the day out with the pacific tsunami museum, then to the planitarium for a movie and tour of the exhibits. We then fueled up the car and started our drive up Mauna Kea, the almost 14,000 foot peak cover with billions of dollars of massive telescopes. It was a real trek to drive up there and the last section was restricted to 4wd vehicles, although I think you could probably get up there in a 2wd. The sunset was spectacular. Just breathtaking. But the temperature was shocking. It was in the low 40's bit with the wind chill it must have been in the 20's. We were supposed to go down after dark, but ended up staying up there at least 1.5 hours. The stars were like nothing one could imagine. The milky way, the colors, the number of stars. It made the whole trip worth it. We then drove to the visitors center at 9000 feet and used the telescopes they had for public use.

Today we are flying back to Oahu hoping to do some sailing.

The big island

2010-01-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

With the weather conditions yesterday we decided to rent a car and drive around the island. The north shore had large waves but no surfers. The shape of the waves was not good, due to strong winds. After that we drove down the east side of the island admiring the beautiful shorline. Because of the poor weather forecast and due to us having spent so much time in Waikiki, we booked tickets to Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. But in our trip down the east coast I realized the forecast for the east shore was totally inaccurate. The sea was completely calm with only light winds. We could have easily sailed over to the east side and camped out. For that matter we could have easily sailed to one of the other islands. Winds were also perfect for going to another island.

We already had purchased tickets for the big island so we got up at 3am to catch our flight to Hilo. We are very excited to see the erupting volcano and lava flows. All is well and having a good time.

Back in Hawaii

2010-01-05T10:10:00.002-08:00

It has surely been a while since I've posted anything on my sailing blog. Since my pacific crossing, I have actually been back to Hawaii several times and been sailing with friends.

This trip has been very nice. Arrived on Dec. 28th with my brother Justin then two more friends arrived over the next two days. On the 29th we brought my boat from Ko'olina to Waikiki and on the way saw two whales. What a beautiful sight. Since then we've basically just been hanging out in Honolulu, going out to bars, surfing and hitting the beach. Rough winter in Hawaii :=)

We wanted to head out and go to Maui, but there are small craft advisories and high surf warnings issued for basically the entire state. The current pressure system is showing 38 foot waves north of Hawaii right now and 35 foot breaking waves across the west and north shores of Oahu. Our sailing adventure is not looking good.....

I'll keep the blog updated.

From Japan

2008-06-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

I just made it back to Japan (by airplane). Somehow I kept thinking this blog was only for my sailing trip, so I did not really update it while I was in Hawaii. But there have been several requests for updates so here we go....

First let me start my back-in-Japan post to a very special company here in Japan: Patagonia. Patagonia, thank you very much. Patagonia was not an "official sponsor" but they did send us two big boxes of gear for our trip. Your thermals are unbeatable. Your rain gear kept us dry, your jackets kept us warm. Thank you so much for this kind of support. This kind of "giving" to people who adventure really is appreciated. Patagonia is the kind of company not only that has absolutely excellent products, but has the kind of environmental commitment and dedication to the users of its' products which elicit great thanks and appreciation. Thanks so much.

As for my plans. Well, I was enjoying Hawaii so much I thought it would be too short to just pick up and head off to California without thoroughly surfing several points, swimming with turtles, taking super-man flying-leaps off rope swings, hiking the beautiful coasts and enjoying the concerts and nightlife of Waikiki. So, I was forced to pay the $10 a day fee and be trapped right in front of one of the most sought after real-estate locations on the planet: waikiki. Wow, what a rough life (hey!! It's pretty cool being back in the US because I get to use sarcasm! Cool! Culturally Japan does not get/use/or understand sarcasm at all so this is pretty cool!)

So I was enjoying all that, but I had to come back to Japan for a couple of weeks. I just arrived a couple of days ago. Soon I will be off to Paris for 2 weeks, then back to Japan. Couple weeks after that I'm back to Hawaii to endure the grueling sun.

For now I'm enjoying hot-springs, sushi and good friends back in Japan.

After-thoughts from Dad...

2008-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Dear pac-blog trackers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~It is appropriate that I offer some end of voyage comments of gratitude and appreciation, as well as, apologies for all the worries and concerns many of you were dealing with during this passage of myself and two sons Darshaun and Luke~. Thank you for your prayers and for holding us in the positive healing currents of love and protection~. Our crossing the Pacific Ocean was a slippery sliding adventure across the fluid skin of Mother ocean ~ what an incredible journey for each of us in our own unique way and certainly this will be much more articulated once the skeletal notes in my journal are unpacked~. Darshaun was able to write his perceptions and report via the blog as we traveled - Luke and I journaled by pen~. The voyage stands as a passage, an initiation into a deeper work for each of us ---- Luke at 21 years, Darshaun at 34 and me quickly cruising through 62 ---- four and a half years out of cancer moving into over-time play in the passage through life's learning curriculum into the Mystery of awakening~. Each of us at a different phase of life and truly being absorbed into an initiatory process to help bring us to new understanding~. Certainly, for me aging, healing and consciously deepening my spiritual journey, as well as, strengthening my resolve for walking the path that has been lighted~.

~ For me the voyage was one of incredible joy, even in the midst of nausea and physical challenges. The joy of being with and observing the absolute beauty and innocence of two of my children, as well as, their gift of honoring and including 'ol Dad, or "Faja" as Luke often calls me~made every moment worthwhile. All three of us noted many many times the absence of Justin on this gnarly passage ~~ of course he is still very much in the throes of concluding his own personal rite of passage and initiation work - next time Justy... Also, the realization that we are all in the perfect place albeit perhaps all illusion. Certainly, attendant thoughts of my daughters Taj & Noelle --- seven grandchildren and one great child were woven in both the emotional and at times reflective tapestry of family, community and inner woven circle of friends -- all of us connected as one~.

~ Yep, I was sick as a sea dog for all 30 days of sailing from Shimoda, Japan to Kaua'i, Hawaii but the lessons learned during cancer (practicing dis-identifying with the physical body) prevailed and my spirits were continually high; my inner process seriously connected to the deeper spirit that holds us all~. For me the metaphor of the ocean being the unconscious substrate from which we are mostly driven and the tiny boat upon which we float as what we perceive as reality~was a constant backdrop for our adventure. I was emptied out - literally and fully (I pray) purging and puking (3-P's) daily as I reviewed my entire life under the light of forgiveness~. This voyage with my sons was a serious blessing in many ways and from the standpoint of a parent I'd like to offer a glimpse of the valuable insights I experienced: Being with them for approximately a two month period of time afforded me many observations and reflections about my own life - certainly, seeing myself at 21 (Luke) and 34 (Darshaun) offer several stark contrasts about life's progression of stages, interests, perspectives and perception~. I am still having realizations and insights as I continue to unpack this amazing journey~. One of my insights around perception that I will share is that I realized that as a protective parent I did not always allow or validate their perception about the experiences they were holding and I erred often by correction rather then allowing them to see their own lessons in the light of their perspective~. So, now some of that is coming back to haunt me while at the same time allowing me insight and improvement now~. This is where the practice of forgiveness comes into play as it truly is the key to releasing guilt and finding happiness and freedom in the present~.

~ Another great relief (freedom) I experienced was in the deeper realization that we are all students and teachers for each other~. So much of the attitudinal healing work coming to light. Darshaun's technical skill vastly surpass mine and Luke's strengths and personal qualities offer much for me to learn from~. In the letting go of my roll as a parent and presuming I ALWAYS know what is best, there is freedom to be found in the joining with them as life adventurers and as spirits sharing experiences and exploring i.e. giving and receiving are the same among equals~. So, this is but a piece of the insight I received as I crossed into new waters both on the surface reality and the below the surface, as what has been unconscious in the inner realm has now surfaced~. We neither saw nor heard any Sirens but certainly my ego was dashed upon the rocks along the way. With the constant lurching, banging and thrashing around, change was always present, even during dream consciousness the ever present Now was demanding more awareness from me --- the ghostly creaking voices we all heard seemed to be saying to me "give it up, surrender, let go..." and more~. With each wrenching purge I made my offering to the Mystery willingly. "Yes, take it all, all that no longer serves me or anyone else, clean me out ~ what else can I give...?" With the purging and sea sickness came many realizations - most I hold within my self for now and write in my journal ~ observations of shadow work - personal & family pass-me-downs. In many ways I managed to find the reset button in my life and with this, 98% of the post cancer side effects in my feet and legs are gone ~ Wow~! a major barnacle washing~!

~ And NOW - ahhhh, Kaua'i, Hawaii with Toni who I met at the airport the morning after we landed~. She arranged for the MOST incredible jungle hideout with a river in back yard that we kayak to the beach with each day~. Believe me, she is sharing fully in the recovery of this passage as well ~ we are all here - D & L upstairs in a separate apartment - how amazing and perfect it all is ---- the decision to go for the IV at the local hospital was a good one so that I could get on my feet a.s.a.p. and it did not take long ~~~ I'm back and so looking forward to touching Mendonesia soil and resuming our work at Spirit House Center for Attitudinal Healing. What an incredible gift I have received from my sons~. I feel we have all grown to the next level and I'm very curious where that will lead in learning the lessons of life that lead to healing and the presence of inner peace and Love~.

One last thought about children I'll share that came to me in the passage about a 1,000 miles away from Kauai is (in part) from Kahlil Gibran on Children: "You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. (And) You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far."

w/Love & Healing, ~Barnacle Ron (aka Faja)

P.S. Note to all my children --- I'm working on a new word "YES"!

Q&A Session

2008-05-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

amul muzz:
What do you guys do for exercise out there?

A: Not much. I'm sure I got the most exercise but that was just a matter moving around the deck a lot. Other than that, the most intense work out is cranking the winches. Cranking on those will give you a serious pump. (Winches are the big steel drums with handles on the top which you crank to pull in lines/ropes)

Have you given up on fishing then?

A: Although we were a small crew, we all had somewhat specific responsibilities (which also pretty much went out the door because they were so sick), but Luke was responsible for fishing. I've never been much of a fisherman and honestly taking care of all the other stuff was enough responsibility on my plate. So I basically left it to chef Louie. I'm guessing he became discouraged and stopped throwing the lines in so yes, we pretty much gave up on fishing.

Taj:
How does a squid get on deck?

A: I'm assuming it is from waves. When pounding through seas several feet of thick blue water can come over the decks at times so I would guess they come up when the wave comes over.

What's with the Yankees hat?!! Hello...Where are your Cal hats?

A. As you know, I don't even know if it's baseball season. Dave gave me that hat. It fits perfect and feels good. And it's from Dave! I don't have a Cal hat.

Cal Ryan said...
Is flying fish any good eating?

A: I don't know, but I know their eggs are delicious. Their eggs are the orange glow in the dark looking ones you see on Sushi rolls. The eggs are called "tobiko" which basically just means flying fish eggs.

I can understand how they got there but what about the squid? They crawl up on the side and are too lazy to go off the edge to save themselves? or did a bigger fish chase it out of the sea?

A: See answer above.

Blogger Andrew Le Lievre said...
Do you have fuel to get to the next whether system? Or will you chill out for a while?

A: I have a 170 liter tank (about 45 gallons) so really the answer is no. Others may motor for a while, but I error on the conservative side so at this point in the journey there was no way I was going to start our engine.

Paul
Food stores:
How did you plan it?

A: I used on of my best friends in the world: Excel. I made formulas with number of people, days, etc. Then put the weight of the food. That gave me a rough idea of what we would need. I also put certain food types in the abandon ship bag. So when my dad and Luke arrived in Japan we went through the responsibilities and split them up. It was planned that dad would be totally responsible for food and the kitchen on the trip. I gave him my excel list and reasoning and tried to explain it to him. But he is the "creative" type, so he is more like a bunch of this, a bunch of that, some more of those and we'll be good.

But really. Here is what it was. Canned soup, tons and tons of dried fruit (which was NOT a hit). Tons and tons of random bags of cookies and snack foods. Mac and cheese. Curry mix (popular in Japan- and was also a big hit on our trip). Noodles (terrible. They have some kind of flavor packets which I think have some kind of gelatin and also msg. Really was terrible on the tummy). Lots of bins of nuts from Costco.

But in the end basically all I would eat was a few cookies for breakfast. Then around late afternoon or around dinner chef Louie would make a big batch of mac and cheese or pasta or whatever and that was it for the day.

Where do you keep it? Refrigerator? Dehydrated?

A: My boat has pretty good storage so we just tucked everything in cupboards. The fridge was not on so we just used them for food storage.

How do you cook on a boat with all the motion?

A. It is not easy. But you surely get used to it. Solis has a gimbled stove which means the entire stove/oven swing on hinges. It works pretty well. There is also a strap, like a belt, you put around your waist and clip into the wall so you don't get tossed all over.

Water....are you filtering?

A. I have a water maker (turn sea water into drinking water), but it is low capacity and in the abandon ship bag. So the boat carries 100 gallons of water and is fed throughout through pumps, etc. So we use this water for washing, etc. For drinking we packed 60 or so 2 liter bottles.

Is there anything that you're craving? Or anything, like the beer, that is collecting dust?

A. The wine and champagne also collected dust. The chines noodles and the ramen were just bad for reasons I mentioned above. As for the craving, I think that became clear in later blogs.

Peach....how good would a nice juicy peach go down about now?

A. Fresh fruit and veggies would have been great.

Equipment:
What have the key pieces been? Sounds like the Monitor wind vane is a good one.

A. I really thought about that a lot on the trip. Before we left on the trip I spent almost 3 months solid preparing for the trip. I completely equip Solis for offshore passage making. Key items where obviously the Monitor self steering gear, the wind generator which cranked our our charging power, solar panels, and oh yeah, the radar. The radar saved us. We had originally planned on doing watch, but with the radar we were able to all sleep while setting the radar to "guard" so that an alarm would go off when it picked anything up.

How have they performed so far?

A. Great!

What has failed?

A. I would not say any particular thing, but just a lot of maintenance items. I was constantly checking, pulling, jerking on things to see if screws, bolts, etc. had come loose. It really is amazing how much maintenance does occur out there. My biggest disappointment was my internet connection. It was infuriating. The connectivity was absolutely terrible. It would not stay connected for longer than 30 seconds to 1 minute, so it was extremely difficult to send and receive mail and get weather.

What do you wish you had brought?

A. Paper plates and bowls. More canned/pickled veggies and beef jerkey or other dried meats.

What should you have left behind?

A. The beer. But I was not going to bring it anyway. Luke wanted it. And blankets. They were terrible. We had sleeping bags so I thought that was enough, but dad insisted that we bring blankets. In the first two days they got totally wet and soggy, then molded and smelled absolutely terrible for the entire trip. We never used them.

Senses:
What does it sound like in the middle of the Pacific at 2am?

A. It depends on the weather of course. But it did not seem that different far out as it does close to shore. But it is strange when you cannot see anything at all but you can hear waves coming. That can be a bit nerve racking in the beginning.

Do you get whiffs of anything on a breeze, or does it smell like the ocean all the time?

A. Smells like the ocean all the time.

Aside from the steering wheel, what do you find in your hands during the day/night? Tools, books, fishing pole?

A. I think it is mostly just hanging on.

How do you feel about the space? Small bit of cramped real estate set in a wide open area? Cabin fever?

A. Oh yeah. This is a major thing I never really went into before. Solis has three cabins. The bow for dad, the side for Luke and the captains cabin in the back. The second day out that all changed. Dad's room had a leak and he was deathly ill so I told him to take my room. Luke said his bed was too uncomfortable so he wanted to drop down the table in the living room area and turn it into a bed. That left me somewhat empty handed so I slept on the floor by the entrance for about the first 12 days of the trip. Then Luke and I switched off for about 10 days where I slept on the converted table and Luke slept on the floor. The sleeping arrangements were kind of a bummer for me, but like they say, you deal with the hand you are dealt. And also I am thankful because just switching up sleeping places is not that big a deal. I always think that things could have been much worse.

Routine:
What the hell do you guys do all day now that it's not so, "white knuckle" at every moment? Reading, fishing, or constant attention to the duties of piloting and navigating?

A. Dad was lying down all day in bed or sitting on deck (later in the trip). Luke spent nearly the entire trip lying down reading. I only read 1 book. Other than that my time was split up between navigation, repairs, sail trim, or just sitting on deck talking to dad or thinking.

We want to know the basic stuff too, like how do you shower?

A. Baby wipes. I had already thought about that one before we left. Lots of baby wipes.

Do you have an onboard head (capacity issues?) or are you squatting the plank in 10' swells each morning?

A. Two nice bathrooms.

tokyoace
What and when was the scariest part of the trip?

A. Getting out of Japan in the begining was surely the most difficult/scariest part. Continuous waves breaking over the boat at night was pretty intense.

Did you guys end up catching any fish at all?

A. Nope. I really wanted to and by the end I was hinting to Luke that maybe we should, but by that time we were so close to Hawaii we decided to just wait.

What type of life jackets are you wearing?

A. You can probably see them in the pictures. They are auto-inflate type so that if you fall in they blow up. They also have a thick/strong strap that goes around with two metal eyes on the front so you can clip a tether into them.

Is there a GPS unit or transponder attached in case you get thrown overboard at night?

A. Nope. Apparently that was one of my dads' and Lukes' biggest fears. They would hear me out there in the middle of the night on deck in the conditions. I laughed and thought they were not so worried about "me" going overboard, but worried that if I went overboard they would not be able to sail the boat. hahaha!!

Did you see any other boats or ships out there?

A. I thought we would see a lot of boats. I have heard from others that they see a lot of boats. Here is the tally of human life out there: I think it was only 7 boats for the entire trip. When we left Japan on day two or so we say an airplane. The morning we were approaching Hawaii we saw two more airplanes...I was amazed. At least I thought we would see jets in the sky, but nope....

michelle
Could the way from Hii to Ca be as rough as the way out of Japan?

A. I think so. I have always heard getting out of Japan is the hardest part.

How many days is that trip?

A. Out to California should be about another 20 days, so that would make the total close to 50 days.

Will you be ok w/ just Luke?

A. News flash!!! Luke is taking a plane home next week as well. I'm considering my options at this point...I had originally considered doing the Japan to Hawaii trip alone so that may be a possibility.

You said to ask questions.....now that you've had all this experience, and other than adding paper plates to the voyage, would you do anything different to the boat, like adding more equipment?

A. The boat performed flawlessly and brilliantly. The major problem was my sat. phone which had absolutely terrible connectivity. I should have installed an SSB radio (high frequency radio which works all across the radio for both reception and transmission and internet).

Did the boat hold well after the trip?

A. The boat was great. Only maintenance issues and some minor repairs. More like needing a tune up after a long trip.

Sails were not ripped?

A. My main sail ripped in multiple places. But I was using a very old mainsail which was in poor condition to begin with. 3 days out from Hawaii I actually changed my mainsail to a nice one I had below.

Tokyoace asked a pretty good one; did you catch any fish? did you prepare sushi?

A. See above.

If you think that was difficult...

2008-05-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight, for the first time I was able to read the blog. I really wish we were able to read it while out at sea. So if you think sailing across the Pacific ocean is difficult now put yourself in my shoes for the next challenge ahead...the challenge being a new "blog post" which somehow begins to express my thanks, gratitude, appreciation and love to all of you who supported us. Sitting here begining to type, I somehow feel honestly really transmitting these feelings through the written word may be an even bigger challenge. So I hope that through simply sharing some last stories, posting some pictures and continuously simply writing "thank you" over and over I can at least begin to express my "thanks" to all of you.

It must have been just two nights before we arrived, but I saw the moon in a way I've never seen it before. The funny thing is that it was the "new moon". Which I think normally means when the moon begins it's new cycle which means there is "no moon" in the sky. It was just after sunset and some stars began to appear. Toward the end of the trip dad started to "get" that being on deck helped more than anything, so for the last 5 to 10 days he would hang out on deck for sometime after sunset with me. It was pretty much my routine for the entire trip to hang out on deck for 1 to 2 hours after sunset, unless chef Louie had another round of coconut milk mac and cheese ready. Anyway, on that evening it was dad and I out on deck. I noticed what at first I thought was a star but after watching it I noticed that it was oblong, looking something like 3 or 4 stars bunched together in a line. I just could not figure it out. It was just above a cloud so I began to think that since we were so close to Hawaii that maybe there was an airplane with a powerful light projecting forward through the cloud and that possibly that is what I was seeing. But the illumination persisted in one single location.

After more consideration I think it came to me in a holler out loud to dad, "I think that's the moon!". I think he had been watching it as well and had also come to the same conclusion. It was the smallest spec of moon I had ever seen. That in itself is probably not the most interesting observation to be sharing, but what began to transpire in the 30 minutes that followed was amazing to us. The small sliver we realized, was the bottom side of the moon because it had the smallest arc of, as I mentioned, only about 3 or 4 stars wide. In my experience, whenever I have seen the moon in the past, it did not change shapes on me...if there is a small sliver, then that is what you have for the evening, if you have a big sliver, that's what you've got, a half moon, a full moon, whatever, that's what you've got for that day. But that evening after we saw the spec of light we noticed that it moved. And then it got a bit larger. And as it got darker I thought I could see the opposite side. Not full light, but a glow. About 1 hour after sunset what began as the tiniest sliver turned into the equivalent of seeing a full moon glow through fog. But there was no fog and there were no clouds to obstruct our view. The earth had a made an absolutely perfect shadow covering the moon just so right as to make it so the entire moon would glow, full size, into what really looked like an eclipse. And the sliver of moon we could see, would ever so slightly move to different locations as time persisted. The simplest things become so interesting out there.

For the last couple of days the anticipation of our tropical arrival was absolutely killing me. The joy, the excitement and all of the thoughts going through my head. For the sailing world the title of our voyage may read something like "some more guys cross the Pacific", as if it's a routine occurrence, but the headlines in my own mind read simply "You did it! You did it!". After finally being able to read the blog last night, I read Dave's description of me as being "thorough". Funny he wrote that because the last two days of the trip were going to be "smooth sailing". And as I wrote, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation in the air. As captain it was of utmost importance to me that we make the last couple of nice sailing weather "safe". There are just too many stories of things happening on the last leg. The people who go on the road trip around the country only to get in an accident within miles of their home on their return. Or some may remember the accident in northern California last year. There were 3 professional boat delivers with lots of experience had been hired to bring a sailboat from South Africa to Seattle. After coming all the way past San Francisco, they perished somewhere around Eureka California just short of their destination. Us humans tend to get a little over-excited at times with certain things. So I told my self internally and told the crew that for the last couple of days it would be pertinent that all procedures up to this point remain: life-jackets AND tether worn at all times while on deck. Also, just keep extra safety conscious for the last leg. That all proved to be a good practice as the worst injury of the trip was Luke's broken toe. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell everyone about that. As mean as it may sound, it makes me giggle to remember the details of this story so I better make a new paragraph for this one.

We're creatures of habit and we all have them. One of Luke's resembles that of rats coming out in the middle of night. Probably on almost every night of the trip there would be the crumpling and rummaging sound crackling from the kitchen. Sometimes it was quick, but other times, like a heat seeking missle, when chef Louies sweet-seeking 3AM snack attack could not locate the target (cookies, chocolate, etc.) the rumbling of cupboard doors opening and closing would persist until the target was hit. Well only about a week ago the rummaging sound was drowned at by a 3AM quick machine gun fire of "son of a b$#ch!" and other related terminology. I think I had just come down 30 minutes before from a round of sail tuning on deck, so unless his leg was cut off I was too tired to inquire as to what had happened. After all those miles of rough seas and challenges, chef Louie managed to break his toe in his own kitchen under mild ocean conditions!!! Below the sink are two foot pedals for pumping water and apparently after it was a mission accomplished for the cookie hunt he made a mad dash to the deck to devour his treasure and have a smoke that he stubbed his toe and broke it. The next day it was black and blue and apparently throbbed. We put it in a brace and taped it up for the rest of the trip.

The final night on the boat....we had a visitor. I had spoke of the albatross that were with us for the entire trip. Once we turned south about 5 days or so out from Hawaii, they very quickly disappeared and were replaced by completely different birds which we could not identify. They were smaller, about the size of a seagull, but much different than albatross or seagulls. They were so sleek and beautiful. They were a very clean white and almost had a black trim around their tail feathers. The tops of their heads had a hint of tropical yellow and their thin long beaks were blue. I really liked these birds. Well on the last night one kept coming so very close to the boat. The albatross would be near the boat and I think they were looking in the water for anything being stirred up by Solis, but these white birds were different. This one in particular took a genuine interest in us....so I thought. It kept sweeping down close to deck. Then it was flying high, just around the top of the mast. I absolutely could not believe it, but it was trying to land on the top of the mast, as it swung and jerked and lurched as we pounced through the waves. It was sunset when all of this was going on and I wondered why it took such an interest in us at that time. After it gave up on the mast-landing, it took numerous swoops down toward deck. One time it was within 10 feet of me. And after some time it was trying to land on deck. Finally, he swooped down literally so close to me that I could have reached out and grabbed it, but it landed on top of the railing just feet from where I was sitting. At first it was checking me out with some reluctance, but after some minutes it quickly began cleaning itself thoroughly. I gave it some thought and realized it must just sleep/bob around in the ocean every night, then hunt during the day. Having a spot to land and clean itself must be somewhat of a great treat. After about 15 minutes of cleaning it managed to cling to the single wire railing, turned its' head backward and tuck its' beak under its feathers for a nights sleep. The level of trust of this bird was amazing. I'm sure I could have just walked over to it and grabbed it without its knowing if I wanted. I thought maybe it would be there in the morning, but after my usual rise at sunrise I did not see it. Must have taken off before sunrise for an early morning hunt. It felt kind of special having the little web footed visitor.

My anticipation for the final day was overwhelming. What it must be like to spot land...when I got up at sunrise to do the normal trimming of sails, I thoroughly scanned the horizon as a hunter must do for prey. I kept thinking I was seeing outlines but realized it was my mind making islands out of early morning clouds in the distance. So it was back to bed. By about 10AM I was out and about on deck, dad and Luke were too. I could see on the charts and GPS that we were so close and I know from experience sailing the islands in Japan about how far out you can see land on the horizon. We were beginning to be within reach but still no land. Of course I was confident it was out there, but some crazy hint of doubt was somewhere in the back of my mind saying "maybe you didn't navigate correctly and just maybe you have made a mistake...". Funny how the mind can play tricks on us sometimes. Anyway, I couldn't stand it anymore so I took my harness and clipped into a high place where I could climb up on the mast a bit and get a better viewpoint. It was about 11:30AM when I saw something. Unlike my sunrise experience where I quickly jumped to the confident place of "I an see it" only to find it was a cloud, this time I saw something, watched and waited before I became confident about it and especially before I made any announcement to the guys below who may be even more disappointed if I called "land" only to find it was a cloud. So I watched and waited...is it moving like a cloud? No. is it staying steady? Yes. My confidence meter climbed like mercury on a hot day....up to boiling point where I finally burst out and exclaimed "land!! It's land!!!!". Dad and Luke, already on deck sprang to their feet, clung onto something and locked their site on the horizon where they also confirmed my observation. It was such an exciting moment.

Some time later Luke went below to grab his normal US cell phone and attempted to make some calls. We were all amazed that he was getting reception. He began a flurry of calls to friends and family and had the biggest smile on his face. We had planned on coming into Nawiliwili harbor on the east side, but because of weather we hit Port Allen on the south side. We pulled in at 7:30 PM on the 7th. There were several boats coming in with tourists and we tied up close to them. And it was lucky we did. When we got off the boat dad could not walk. He took a few steps and could go no further. He had been very sick again just the day before so was still so very weak. The last 3 days he hardly consumed any food at all and we were extremely concerned. The guys that we met driving the tourist boats were extremely helpful. They gave us a ride to the emergency room where dad had 4 liters (over 1 whole gallon) of IV solution pumped into his arm. In addition, he was given some kind of nutritional jellies which he quickly consumed.

A nurse who got off work gave us a ride back to the boat. We are on what they call the sleepy side of the island, meaning there is really not much going on and not much open at all. We made an immediate shot from the boat to the hospital so although dad had a nutritional 1 gallon IV snack, Luke and I were still deprived. We were so hungry and had barely eaten all day. So what was open? Nothing we were told. No grocery stores, nothing. But the secretary that worked at the hospital coincidentally used to work at McDonalds. I asked if it was open, but she said we would not make it as it closed at 12. Anyway, she still had friends that worked there so she called and we actually ordered big macs and double cheeseburgers. Luke and I inhaled them before you could even say the words "big-mac". It tasted great, but I have to admit that after 28 days of altered diet my body had a middle of the night reaction and I had the strangest most terrible taste in my mouth. Very strange. But the real treat was the next morning when we took dad up to the bus stop. We stopped in this local breakfast diner with one of the greatest meals I've ever had. It was an amazing treat.

The next day Luke and I on one of the greatest "accomplishment highs" ever, took Solis up around to Nawiliwili. Solis, like us, was dying for a good shower and cleaning so we spent from 10AM until about 6PM cleaning and scrubbing. There are a actually a lot of places on the charts which say "toxic dump site" pointing probably to the days when they threw materials in certain parts of the island. I think we should have had that sign over the entrance to the boat. If you try hard enough you can probably make yourself sick just by imagining what the inside of the boat was like after 28 days with three guys. And quite honestly cleaning things was not on my prioritiy list, not on dads "ability" list and not on Luke's list of things he felt like doing so basically no cleaning occurred for basically the entire trip. (HUGE note to self: all paper plates and bowls for the next trip!!!!!)

Just a couple more things before I close this entry out. I have spent the last day and a half basically just sleeping. I didn't realize how tired out I was. We are now in a place which I would like to describe as a small paradise. Note to self: if I were to ever get married, remember this place for a honeymoon. The layout of the house is amazing. Decks all around the house, great kitchen, great bedroom and the surroundings. From the back deck lies the most majestic view of the mountains. I'm so used to seeing peaks which are only rock. But somehow here in Kauai there is an almost florescent beautiful green vegetation which covers the mountains. And it's all for me to enjoy now. It's an A-frame house with tile floors and all around are banana trees, out back is a small river and very often flocks of beautiful white birds fly by in formation. It is simply magical. Luke has been out with friends since he got here and dad and Toni are down below so I have basically had this three bedroom paradise all to myself. But I have surely needed the quiet and the rest.

So what's next? I am contemplating the next steps. Crossing from Hawaii back to California was the original plan. Give me a week or so to think about that one...I would love to do a big Q&A. But only if there are questions. I noticed throughout the blog people were asking me questions. I will hopefully be able to go through tomorrow, format and answer all of those. If anyone has additional questions, please fire away. I think it would be fun to have a dialogue about anything people are wondering about the trip.

And closing thoughts. In the next couple of days dad, Luke and I will put down our closing thoughts for the completion of this part of the journey.

For now let me again just say thank you so much to everyone for all of your support.

Happy Sailors in Hawaii!!! - May 8

2008-05-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 21 53'59N 159 35'23W

Yesterday we safely arrived in Port Allen on the south side of Kauai. It was a tremendous feeling getting off the boat and tying up to shore. There really is a lot to write about and many many details, pictures, video, etc. to follow. But it has already proven to be a busy day. Customs, immigration and because of a few complications with our location, we (Luke and I) will be moving the boat today from Port Allen to Nawiliwili on the east side of the island. Dad will be taking a bus...For now I just wanted to say that I was personally surprised about my personal state when I arrived. I called my sister Taj (who graciously volunteered to manage the English blog) when we arrived to say we arrived safely. I was feeling great. Strong, the invincible captain!!!....but then, I could hear some emotions on the other end of the line and I could feel a few tears falling on the other end. And the invincible captain began to melt and tears began to fall. It was more of an emotional experience than I originally anticipated. Anyway, so much to write, but so little time today. Please expect a major post from me in the next couple of days. A few more pretty good stories to come as well....and pictures and hopefully some video clips. So until my next post, thanks so much for everything!!!

10 Hours To Go - May 7

2008-05-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 22 14'54N 160 21'09W

Darshaun called at 2:45 P. M. California time today to let me know they are 40 miles NW of Kauai. The island is within their sight. Because of wind conditions they are not landing in Nawili Harbor in Lihue but will go to Port Allen on the SW side of the island. Darshaun estimates they will be there within 10 hours.
Ron is very sick again. This has been a constant challenge on the trip and an additional weight of worry and concern Luke and Darshaun have carried. The adamant advice of the family is get him to an emergency room as soon as possible, get an IV started to rehydrate and a preliminary evaluation. Darshaun says that they will insist with Ron on this one.
Regardless of the time Darshaun will call me when they are on land. I will leave a message in the morning....

Happy Days!

shannon

Hunza, Amir, here are the missing coordinates from past posts.
May 2 "99 and counting":
28 44'55N 164 50'31W

May 3 "dead in the water":
28 16'07N 163 4832W

last stretch - May 6

2008-05-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 23 44'36N 161 15'06W

This is the last stretch. I want to write more, but tied down with various tasks. Expect a good blog and pictures when we arrive. Hopefully we'll arrive sometime tomorrow.

Screaming along - May 5

2008-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 25 31'38N 162 10'56W

Last night I was up a lot steering. The wind would blow, stop, change directions, blow, stop. It was beyond irritating. This morning it started to blow steady at about 7:30. I got up and have been steering since. The wind is now at about 25 knots, we're screaming along. If this holds we'll be there to Kauai in 37 hours. The seas are picking up and we're getting banged around a bit, but nothing to worry about.

Marlin attack - May 4

2008-05-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 27 16'19N 163 01'29W

Yesterday was an amazing experience. There has not been wind really at all. Our batteries get primarily charged from our wind generator, which has not been spinning. Our batteries were so low I had to charge them up. My options for charging are the generator or the main engine which has a generator attached to it. Since both engines get almost the same gas mileage (per hour) I decided to power up the main engine and motor forward as we charged our batteries.

We were going about 45 minutes when suddenly we hit something very hard. I looked behind the boat and it looked like some kind of submerged ball of garbage or something, although I really could not make it out. I spun the boat around to check it out, but we could not find it. Whatever it was, it felt like we struck it very hard with the keel.

We continued on our course, when about 15 minutes later we struck something again. It seemed identical to the first thing. I looked back and saw some kind of blue/yellow ball shape thing. I was just about to spin the boat around to check it out, when only seconds later we hit another something! This time it seemed to be yellow/blue with red on the top. All objects seemed to be about 3 feet in diameter. Luke and dad went up to the bow as I spun the boat around to check it out, when both of them started screaming "shark" "shark" "it's a shark". Dad gave lots of warning not to get any limbs too close or be careful not to fall over. I was at the stern, when the thing came up. I looked and it really did not look like a shark to me, although it was surely large. It came within feet of the boat and I looked and identified it as a sword fish/marlin about 10 to 12 feet long. Absolutely amazing. It had vertical tiger stripes all up along its' body but where almost a florescent blue. It primarily just hung around the stern of the boat. It was swimming around and around. It was there so long I had time to go below and grab the video camera. Luke and I both got good footage. We stared in amazement. We were so close that you could almost gaff it, although I don't think there is a human strong enough to hold on to a probably 500 pound flopping fish. We were tempted to throw in some fishing gear, but thought what a huge waste it would be as we would only get a couple of meals out it.

So the big question remains; what did we hit? Dad's theory is that a school of marlins were attacking the propeller. This seemed absurd at first, but in giving it some thought I guess it is probable. Out in the middle of the ocean like this, what is the chance of hitting submerged objects just a keel level? And hitting three of them within an hour? Strange. I was thinking that maybe the marlin had caught something and were eating it when we hit whatever they were eating. Just very strange. The objects always looked to be about 3 feet in diameter. If we were hitting marlin, wouldn't they look bigger when we turned around to see them? All very strange.

Anyway, I have read a lot of sailing books. And there is always talk of people getting really frustrated, depressed, agitated when there is no wind. Well, that applies here. We are just sitting out here. Day after day after day of just sitting, bobbing around. It is beyond irritating to have crossed over 3000 miles to now be only 350 miles from Hawaii and just be sitting here day after day after day. Please pray for wind.....

dead in the water - May 3

2008-05-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today we are again absolutely dead in the water. Right now we are drifting in the opposite direction. Dead still, water flat, no wind. I think I'm going to drop the sails to help reduce the banging noise. We were skirting the edge of two weak pressure systems and the prediction was that we would make it on the edge today. But in checking the weather (and the obvious observation) we are now between the two systems caught in the calm.
I think it was 8 days ago that I said something like "no more than 8 days to go!"...that was 9 days ago. Looking at the weather, it says we should not have any wind for another 17 hours. Then it supposed to be a head wind. With that delay, we're looking at another 4 to 5 days from now.

OK, thats all for today.

99 and counting.....-May 2

2008-05-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

My hand held GPS automatically calculates estimated time of arrival once you break the 99 hour mark. Starting today, it is finally displaying ETA in Kauai. Because our speed fluctuates, the ETA on the GPS also fluctuates between 75 and 99 hours. I figure it will be somewhere between there that we arrive.

It has been a great trip, but I know that all three of us are ready to arrive. Looking forward to some good times on the island. We were discussing today and I think we will spend about a week in Kauai. Dad will be heading back to California after that and I think Luke and I will take the boat down to Honolulu and spend about a week there as well. After that it is undecided. I'm really looking forward to seeing some friends in Hawaii though.

Glow in the Dark - May 1

2008-05-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 30 48'29N 167 59'23W

Yesterday was the slowest day yet (except for the day we got blown backwards because of the storm). At least it started blowing about 6AM this morning, so we covered about 60 miles yesterday. But from 6AM this morning we're plugging along at about 5to 6 knots again. Not record breaking speed, but the equivalent of pinning your speedometer at 55 on the freeway (while driving a Mercedes) if you were driving a car.
Yesterday was so still we leaned over the side and looked into the water at all the life. There is actually so much life down there. When the ocean is that still you can see that the surface is covered with something that looks like hair. Literally!There are little tiny strands everywhere. I think they are single strand life forms. They almost look like tiny little tentacles of jellyfish or something. Down deeper are little blue things that illuminate in the light. We could not figure out what they were.

Last night it was so still we sat on the deck and watched the sunset. After dark it was so still we sat and talked on deck. It was wonderful. We would shine our flashlights down and we could see that something was glowing in the dark. I think it was the little blue flakes that we saw. So we shine our light, then everything glows for about 5 seconds.

When we left, we were warned that men on the same boat start stabbing each other to solve problems after 10 days of being at sea. We joked and said we're lucky we're family so we'll probably just punch each other instead of stabbing. We're doing pretty good. Of course the family differences come out at times, but we're having a great time.

blue fish - April 30

2008-04-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

Solis Log: 31 11'42N 169 08'32W

From about 4AM this morning, there was basically no wind at all. By 7AM the ocean was totally flat. Like a lake. Amazing. You can see down who knows how far. There were two blue fish with yellow tails which were so close to the boat you could practically reach out and grab them. Luke actually put the gaff in the water to try and snag one. They must have followed the boat for about 2 miles. We were going slowing than a walking pace, but it was funny that they were just near the surface just at the stern of the boat. Luke put in various lures but they would not bite. We wanted fish for lunch, but no luck.

The water is so clear it is really amazing. But again frustrating that we are so close to the destination, but not hardly moving at all.

all is well - April 29

2008-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 31 35'40N 170 59'30W

All is well. Not much to report except for the fact that we are still almost just sitting out here, sails flopping around. I've recalculated our eta given our new slower average speed and it says 6.5 days from now...same as yesterday unfortunately.

the trade offs - April 28

2008-04-29T06:05:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 31 59'41N 172 09'25

The trade-offs we have out here. It seems that there are definitelytrade offｓ　when it comes to weather. From before sun-up this morning the wind almost stopped. But again, beautiful warm sunny day. Finally the wind picked up a little, but so light the sails are flopping and making a tremendous noise above. I'm ready for some wind! But not too much.....
Yesterday we broke the 1000 miles to Kauai. Just a little while ago we broke the 900 mile mark. Getting closer everyday...but these last days are really slow. Warm sunny days just bobbing around and us mulling around inside. Luke and I have taken to becoming strict with dad. For some reason he does not see the pattern, but Luke and I do. Things that keep him well: being on deck, laying down horizontally below. Things that make him sick: sitting, moving around, anything other than lying horizontally below, and phone calls. Whenever there is a phone call, it does not matter where he is or what he is doing. He gets sick. So for some reason he just tends to disagree with Luke and my observation of this. So Luke and I have teamed up to tell him to lay down or get on deck when he begins mulling around below or sitting below reading a book. We sure love him and are just trying to take care of him. We've been quite worried about him, although today he ate two pancakes, kit-kats, peanuts, pickles and some other snacks. These smooth seas are surely good for him, although it only prolongs our time at sea.

Today we've had the spinnaker up all day, but like I said, it has mostly just been flopping around. Luke is still thumping through books at a mad pace. He'll have nearly every book on board read by the time we get there! I tend to still somehow chew up my days with little repairs, fiddling with sail adjustments, downloading weather reports, plotting course and that kind of thing.

Our average of the last 4 days has dropped to 137 miles per day. There are just about 900 miles left, so if our current average continues we will arrive in Kauai in 6.5 days. Here is the funny thing. Our current average for the 137 mile per day streak is 5.7 miles per hour. You would think that 1.8 miles per hour difference was not a big deal. But if we were going just a little more at 7.5 miles per hour we would arrive in 5 days. So 1.8 mile hour difference means a difference of 1.5 days of the course of 900 miles. If you average 1.8 miles per hour faster for the entire trip, it is a difference of over 6 days! Sailing is kind of amazing like that. You cover a lot of distance over a long period of time, so tiny fractions of speed add up to days in the end.

I'm trying to squeeze out everything we've got right now, but thats a challenge when the sails are just dangling from lines and flopping from left to right.

Let's sing it together... - April 27

2008-04-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 32 56'38N 175 21'03W

It goes something like this..."3 flying fish, 2 purple squid, 2 white albatross and a partridge in a pair tree". Stupid joke but thats what were up to. I come up to deck in the morning to find them. This morning was the third time for me to find a dead flying fish on deck. Two of them were in exactly the same spot. Right bow. Two purple squid have come up too. Funny thing is, they were both in exactly the same spot too: left aft cockpit. The other flying fish was not coordinating with his buddies, he was up on the left aft deck.

Well the weather. I'm guessing that because were out here in the middle of the pacific, the updates can be slightly off. Anyway, our no wind situation turned into an excellent tail wind at around sunset. It was a funny thing. There was very little wind yesterday so I had up about all the sail we could put up. At around sunset there was a lightning storm building on the horizon, moving towards us. There was supposed to be a cold front in front of us today, but did not specifically show it crossing over our heads in the report. Well, it crossed right over our heads. When the sun went down and we had all that sail up, the wind suddenly started to pick up. But not much. Then it started to sprinkle and I thought, that big nasty lightning and cumulonimbus cloud formation is going to hammer us. Forget about the weather report, I better get up there and drop some sail before it gets nasty. As I was putting on my foul weather the wind and rain rapidly began to build. By the time I got on deck it was pouring rain and the wind was blowing harder. The waves also started picking up. The wind was to our back. With that much sail out the self steering wind vane was just about to have its' capacity exceeded. Yesterday was so nice Dad had gotten some strength back so it was one of the first times on this trip he made an attempt to help with "sailing" Solis. My gosh. By the time I was on the foredeck we were punching through waves with water almost up to my knees. I was pointing with my headlight screaming commands to loosen, tighten, release, lock, etc. It was exhilarating, actually really the kind of stuff I like :=)
As soon as we got the spinnaker pole down (a 5 inch in diameter probably close to 20 long 50+ pound aluminum pole) dad went back down below. I probably spent the next 20 minutes fiddling and tuning the rig for the night. When I came down Luke had prepared one of our favorites for this trip: mac and cheese with coconut milk and doused in Tabasco.

So much for that lull in the wind for 5 days. It's blowing quite nicely today and the weather is warm and sunny. The best combination! Today we will start heading a little more south (I know I said that before, but I think I mean it this time) and try and ride this south west wind for the next 4 days.

First day - April 26

2008-04-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 32 54'48N 177 53'50W

Today is really the first day the ocean is this flat and no wind. It is totally calm out here. It is the first day for us to be in shorts and no shirts. We pulled up all the wet blankets, rugs, and other nastiness which was fermenting down below. Luke has the stereo going and the ocean is absolutely clear and beautiful. It is a nice break, but at the same time quite disappointing. We have been on the bottom side of a low for the last 6 days being carried at an average rate of about 170 miles per day. Now we are literally bobbing around. The sails are flopping and we are just sitting. Everyday of sitting enjoying the weather just means one more day of enjoying the weather on the boat, not on the nice beaches of Hawaii.

The weather forecast has changed a lot from yesterday. The low has shifted more abruptly north than predicted yesterday, leaving us to the mercy of the currents. Disappointing enough, I just check the report and it said it may be calm like this for the next 5 days. That would obviously just add another 5 days to our trip. Not looking forward to sitting here for days on end.

My personal feeling is that a lot of Dads sickness is mentally related. He says definitely not but Luke and I notice that whenever there is a phone call to the outside world that Dad is sicker than ever for at least a day or two. I think he misses being back on land with all his loved ones. But who knows, those are just my thoughts. It is so calm today, almost flat. I would think he would feel better in these conditions, but still not well.

Lets everyone pray for wind for us...and someone eat an avocado, ham and swiss cheese sandwich for me!!! Oh, that reminds me. When we were in Hachijo island. There is a great pub called Anchor Pub. If you ever go to the island, you've got to check it out. The owner is great. Extremely helpful with things to do on the island, etc. And they have a great burger! Check it out: http://www.hachijo.net

The turn off - April 25

2008-04-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 33 15'42N 179 59'15W

We just crossed the international date line! Yippie! Now we get to have today all over again...it was the 26th just a little while ago, now it's the 25th again. Too bad it wasn't my birthday, everyone would owe me a second round of cake and ice cream as I enjoy my birthday one more time. This is also significant for us as we now start counting longitude down getting closer and closer to our Hawaiian destination. I think we have our arrival all planned out. It will be out to eat sandwiches, then burgers, then a salad bar then desert, then start the whole cycle again until we have at least gained back all the weight we lost. On that note I was again dreaming last night about food, this time I was at an all you can eat salad bar. It was great!
Dad report: still not in good shape. Really calm seas today, but still very sick. Luke spends almost 90% of his waking hours reading books. He has already read through and entire stack. Amazing. I'm usually up 5 or 6 times a night. I have to admit that I have been a bit grumpy at times on this trip, because waking up to sails flogging or the boat tipping over because of too much sail, or whatever the case may be, I have to jump to it. Last night the wind picked up pretty strong and it was just pouring down rain. I was awoken from my soggy sleeping-bag slumber to the boat with the toe rail dipping too deep into the ocean so I had to go out and drop sail. But it was interesting last night being out there in the rain at who knows what hour that was. Last night was the darkest night of the trip. You could not see half way down the boat it was so dark out. When I went out into the storm last night I heard something. To my absolute surprise and amazement I heard birds. They must have seen my flashlight. I could just hear them making, well, bird sounds. Not a chirp, not a screech, but something in between. They followed with me for some time but then soon diminished. I never did get a look at what they were. For the most part all we see are albatross. They have been flying around the boat everyday for the entire trip. But I have never heard them make any sounds at all. It really makes me wonder what kind of birds those were last night.
It reminded me of my first night sailing trip to an island south of Shimoda. My buddy and I were sailing at night. It was a beautiful night and quiet, but good wind. Suddenly I heard what sounded like breathing around me. It startled me and scared me but when I turned on my flashlight and looked around I found that we were surrounded my dolphins. It was wonderful.
So getting to the title of my blog today. The turn off. When to make the turn off. Hawaii is around 22 degrees, we are currently at 33, so when to make that turn. We're getting close so I'm really starting to watch the weather to try and time it right so we can have good winds to get us the rest of the way. I've been watching for some time and it seems that the timing may be difficult. We could be nailed by a head wind for the last couple of days which may make things a bit rough. Anyway, for now I'm going to throw a shake of south into our eastern course as it seems the winds may be at our backs for the next 3 or 4 days if we do so.

Rainy days - April 24

2008-04-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 33 19'04N 176 10'04E

Today the seas have picked up again a little, but nothing too much.About 6 foot chop with white caps here and there. We're taking them from the side so the boat is rolling around a bit, but nothing dangerous or even too uncomfortable. The rain picked up this morning and is coming down at a medium pace.Since the swell picked up Dad is again totally out of it. Every once in awhile he makes a mad-dash sprint up onto deck to take care ofbusiness. Luke and I really feel bad for him and only wish there was really something we could do. I think Dad would have enjoyed the tropical Hawaiian island hopping tour a lot more than the one of the holy grails of sailing: crossing the Pacific ocean. It is definitely beginning to take its toll. There are a lot of sailors out there and for them, this trip would really not be that big of a deal. I'm not saying we're dealing with conditions like going around the horn or anything. But given that my biggest sailing experience of my life prior to this trip was a 20 hour shot from Shimoda to one of the islands, there is a lot more I know now than before I left. I guess the main thing for me is food. We're barely eating any protein or fat at all. Almost pure carbs for every meal. Dried meats would have been key. And catching a damn fish would have helped...I really don't know what we are doing wrong in that department.Luke and I have been talking about our favorite sandwich shops. Burgers, fries, chips, and big salads. Were going to have a ball when we arrive in Hawaii. This has been such a great trip to spend time with my family. It is just really too bad that Dad has been almost totally incapacitated the entire trip. I don't think I've actually had more than a couple of conversations with him. But Luke and I have been laughing, telling stories and having a good time together.

UPDATE - APRIL 23

2008-04-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 33 40'18N 173 43'20E

Things are going well. We're holding steady between 8 and 10 knots. Nothing too special to report. Out on deck pretty much all day today. Just hanging out talking with Dad, who managed to keep himself up there all day as well. Luke made an amazing dinner. Corn bread and chili. What a treat.

As for fishing....we were so excited about fishing. A good friend of mine put together this great fishing kit for us. Luke has been a great fisherman so I assumed we would be catching fish like crazy. Well, nothing to report....we've used every lure, every combination of weight, no weight, everything...we've left different combinations of lures out there for days at a time...but nothing. Just birds try and grab our lures. Hopefully Hawaii will be better for grabbing some protein.

The day after tomorrow we will be crossing the International date line. That is kind of exciting. Even now wehave changed our watches a couple of times, jumping zones.

That one almost hit us...

2008-04-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Solis log: 33 32'38N 169 22'42E

This morning I was on deck trimming sails. Dad was sick again this morning so he had come out on deck to get some fresh air. I looked at him to say something and just off the bow of the boat about 15 feet away was a big splash. It surprised me and actually kind of frightened me as it resembled a wave hitting a rock more than the splash of a wave just breaking over. And then the sound....the unmistakable sound of a massive exhale then a breath. At that moment Dad turned around and saw it too. I hollered "whale!!". It was not swimming with us, but had come almost at 90 degrees toward the bow of the boat and must have just barely tucked itself down low enough that we did not hit it with the keel of the boat when we went over it. Luke was sleeping but sprang out of bed to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Dad questioned me as to whether or not it was actually a whale or not. It was small (for a whale), at probably 20 feet or so. And then as we watched, another one appeared. This time there were two small ones swimming with us in the same direction, just at the surface. It was so exciting. We were just talking about how small they were when suddenly even closer, just 20 feet from the boat a large whale appeared, probably about the same size as my boat, about 50 feet. They played only momentarily with us and I feared a ramming...I don't know how common it is but a friend of mine was rammed and I often read about it in the sailing magazines. They started going their own way and within just a couple of minutes they were gone. We watched the horizon for some time, then off about half mile we saw multiple spouts in a cluster. Probably 5 to 8 of them. And that was it.
I wish I knew what type they were. They had very smooth looking skin, a dark gray almost black color. Around their blow hole it was built up almost resembling the rim of a crater. Their dorsal fins were so small it seemed out of proportion in relation to the size of its' body. I did not get a good glimpse of its' tail fin or flippers.
What a morning treat...another treat was that Luke made English tea and served cookies for breakfast. On the topic of food it has been quite an interesting ride. My appetite is in full swing, but there are still certain things that seem so strange to me. I'm a coffee lover. I usually have coffee three or so times per day. I have for years...but it's the strangest thing. In the beginning of the trip when I was not feeling so hot none of us wanted to even drink coffee, let alone try and negotiate hot water and a swinging stove in rough conditions. But since things have calmed down, the thought of coffee is one thing that will actually get me moving in the nauseous direction. Luke and I tried a cup a couple of days ago. It was awful. I could barely drink it. The coffee wasn't so bad, but it just doesn't sit right with us out here. All three of us are coffee lovers so we loaded up with pounds of grounds before the trip...I think we'll still arrive in Hawaii with pounds of rounds. Luke was also paranoid about running out of beer on the trip. He loaded up with four 24 packs of beers before the trip...we're on our 13th day and no-one has popped open a single can. When Luke was sick he was also down to smoking only 1 cigarette a day. That was at the time he said "nicotine is about the only thing I can keep down". Well, we've had smooth sailing for days now. We're following a pressure zone which is beautifully carrying us perfectly east across the ocean. Yesterday was the first sunny day of the entire trip and today is awesome as well. We're now averaging somewhere around 175 miles per day so I suspect we'll be into Hawaii in about 12 days.

Connection trouble - APRIL 21, 2nd post

2008-04-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Solis Log:
33 19'11N 166 12'50E

This is a note for you guys to let you know where we actually are today.

COLD GROUND IS MY BED AND ROCK IS MY PILLOW - APRIL 21

2008-04-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

Solis log:
33 02'43N 164 04'45E

There is a Bob Marley song with lyrics that go something like that. A bit blunt, but poetically paints a picture of a poor man in a shanty town. Let me make a crack at it Bob....I am a nail and the ocean is a hammer....no, a jack-hammer....lets all hum it together now....hmmm, well maybe I'm not a poet after all...

But I do think I have put a few things together. I love sailing. I have dreampt about sailing since I was a small child. But this last week...what was that? I really did begin to question myself. Is this really what I love? Maybe I have stumbled onto the realization that I "love" coastal and island sailing and maybe I'm not cut out to be an "ocean passage maker". Not because an inability to make the passage, but because it just plain sucked so bad. It just was not fun. The banging, the cracking, the hammering on the hull, the waves slamming over the side....Luke and I talked about the sound of breaking waves before they hit the boat. The kind of fear and anticipation of hearing it outside...tsuuu tsuu tsuu (thinking how terrible is this one going to be) and then the bang. You would be surprised, I was, that the sound of a wave hitting a boat is literally a absolute "bang" a "thud" as if someone has hit the boat with a huge sledge hammer. It was different than I expected...But now...let me explain "now" in the next paragraph...

Now it is different. And let me back up to some helpful hints and things I was told before I left Japan. Before we left, I was told by several Japanese who had sailing or deep ocean experience, that getting away from Japan would be the most difficult and challenging part of the trip. There is a book which in some ways seems to be the bible of sailing routes around the world written by Jimmy Cornell. It says that the wind can blow from any point on the compass. My Japanese friends and acquaintances with ocean experience also said that getting out of Japan would be the most challenging point. Apparently this year, because of El Nino, global warming or whatever, is causing low pressure systems to come through like rapid machine gun fire. The system that slammed us was 980mb and before that a system came through that dropped to 955mb. Because of this, we too experienced wind from about every point on the compass in just a short period of time. They said to get past 160 degrees longitude and you will be out of Typhoon alley...well, the last three days have been wonderful. The ocean totally mellowed out. We have lost most of the waves and everything has turned into very long cycle swells. The wind has been blowing perfectly steady from the south-east for 2+ days straight. Tonight is the most amazing thing. I went out on my regular night check before bed and noticed how incredible everything looked. As far as my eye could see was darkness on the horizon, but closer in the reflection of the ocean light. And my boat...oh my wonderful boat Solis. She is in perfect tune. My new best friend (Monitor wind vane) is steering Solis on a perfect course. Dad has FINALLY come out of his cave for the first time on the entire trip to hang out in the living room area, eat dinner, drink some tea, tell a few stories and have a few laughs. Although Dad is still getting sick in these incredibly flat conditions, tonight he was finally able to come out with us. Since we've hit these nice conditions, Luke has also been up and about and making an effort in the kitchen which is so appreciated by me. Before we left I had skillfully layed out "watch" rotation under normal conditions, storm conditions, etc. (watch is keeping a guy on deck to drive the boat, trim the sails, steer away from waves, watch for ships, etc), but that has been totally completely thrown out the window. Here is a challenge for all the single hand sailboat racers of the world, single hand the boat, do the navigation AND wash dishes make meals and take care of two sick people...but again, I'm so thankful that now that Luke is feeling better He is trying to make efforts in the culinary department. Dads daily schedule on the other hand consists of waking up at 4AM, reading or writing for an hour or so, then back to bed until about 9AM, he pokes his head out of the cabin and looks outside for about 5 minutes, then back to bed until dinner time. Has a little soup, then back to sleep until 4AM. Wow, that is a hell of a lot of sleeping for almost 10 days straight. So for me, this has finally been my chance to realize that yes, I do like this passage now. The first week literally seems like a dream to me now. I have a hard time remembering what was what, what was day or night, food or water, up or down. It has to be one of the most stamina challenging experiences of my life. But for the last 3 days, I have been sleeping and eating, resting. What a relief. Also for these three days it has been extremely dense fog. The interesting thing is that the wind is still blowing, but the fog is so dense. And the dolphins!
Wow, yesterday suddenly dolphins came from every direction to come and play. They were jumping and were so close to the boat you could literally reach out and almost touch them. They were gray with a white stomach. Just amazing and really brought light to our foggy ocean day.
Well things now are really nothing but good to report. Team moral is up, dad is not "better" but he is getting better. Luke is cranking out meals, the ocean is beautiful and winds are favorable. We're now cranking out close to 200 miles per day! (compared to our terrible record of last week where even had one day of minus miles).Thanks for all the support, we can surely feel it.

Phone Call on April 19th

2008-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Friends of Pacific Sailors,

The most current information on Pacific Voyage can be found in the "comments" section of the last post of April 18th.

Generally the only information that will be posted here will be from Darshaun. It's a good idea to check the "comments" section of the last post to see if there are any further updates. Darshaun is also using a satellite phone to make calls home. There is a consistent and pre-planned system of communication in place. So if you were worried, all is well.....

Shannon

32 38'15N 153 48'48E - APRIL 18

2008-04-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Hove to at 32"

Solis log:
Hove to is a technique used in sailing for various things, which I will
not get into them all, but today we're using it as a stall technique.
This is where we back the jib sail (the sail in the front) then spin the
wheel over and force the boat into a stall. Kind of like stalling an
airplane. One sail and the rudder are trying to do one thing and the
other sail is trying to do the exact opposite.
For the last two days the wind has been coming at us head on from the
east. Well, for that matter we have had a due east wind for almost this
whole damn trip. We are going to Hawaii! So we need wind from the west.
This is beyond irritating, frustrating, just plain maddening!!! My boat
is of good quality and is "capable" of close haul sailing about 37
degrees from the wind. In simple terms it means that if you take where
the wind is coming from, draw an arch of 37 degrees to either side, the
boat can "climb" towards the oncoming wind at about angle. I have done
this many times, as close haul is normal. What I have quickly learned in
my trials hundreds of miles out to sea is that when the wind is coming
dead on at 25 to 35 knots and the ocean is kicking up waves 10 to 20+
feet high, is that I can just completely throw out my 37 degree rule.
For the last two days (and before that) we have been at this point of
sail. With the sails reefed down (making the sails smaller to handle the
stronger winds) and the waves, I have found that the best we can do is a
little better than a right angle to the wind.

We have been banging down hard on waves with the boat heeled over
fighting this head wind and it seems that we have done only 110 miles in
two days!!! That is terrible....awful...If we had a crew (currently it
is still a 1 man crew: me) we could do better. But I am only human and
do need sleep, so I set the self steering gear and lay down for the
night...or day...or whenever it is that I can't bare to be awake
anymore. Lets compare this 110 miles to our first day. The first day out
of Japan we did about 210 miles in 24 hours.....we were screaming.
Back to the hove to at 32 situation. The weather says that in about 12
hours the wind will shift and come from the south (a good thing) then in
about 24 hours shift and come from the west (a great thing). Rather than
bang our heads any longer in the close haul position and barely gain
ground, I've decided to stall us out (and actually we are currently
drifting west, the wrong direction, at about 1.5 knots) so that we can
try and get a rest and wait for the wind. But "getting a rest" is the
equivalent of putting a small toy-boat in a bathtub then slamming your
fist vigorously over and over and over until the water is all turbulent
and sloppy, then looking at the little boat saying to the little action
figures inside "get some rest guys"....with a little chuckle from the
pacific ocean gods.
I can really deal with pretty much everything that is going on. But the
thing that is really getting to me is this wind. It's blowing the wrong
way. I've bought all the books and all the guides, we're in the best
season to do this. And we're in the season when there are NOT supposed
to be any typhoons and in the season when the wind should be steadily
blowing from the east to west. What I see going on here though is an
early typhoon season. What we say when we were still in port was in
every single way a typhoon. Getting over 70 knots of wind inside a port
with 30 to 40 foot fortified concrete walls is not a spring squall or
little front. The zone we are trying to work through is really a
typhoon. I may stand to be corrected, but I recently did see something
on TV that said the average number of typhoons Japan has been hit by per
year is something like 6. In recent years we have been nailed by
something close to 30 per year. Some crazy stuff going on in the weather
world. Anyway, all I'm saying is that we did everything correctly as far
as season, course, etc. but we are just getting hammered storm after
storm after storm.

Last comment of the day.
Yesterday Luke got some energy and came out on
deck to do some fishing. Even though we are 700 miles or so away from
land, there are quite a few albatross birds. They are beautiful. They
fly around the boat, they check us out, we check them out, what a joy to
see them spread their wings and skim the water with grace. We were so
very excited yesterday when something hit out fishing lure. Luke and I
started shouting with excitement and for the first time in days dad
actually was able to at least poke his head out to see what the
excitement was all about. We caught something! We got a big fish! It's
sushi tonight. We were so excited. As we reeled it in it looked stranger
and stranger. Wow, it has some kind of huge fin. What is that thing.
Some kind of bizarre fish. And it's big! As it got closer something
resembled a wing rather than a fin. And the closer it got we began to
realize that an albatross dove down and bit onto our lure. We felt so
terrible as we pulled is lifeless body up. It must have struggled to get
free but finally been dragged down. I didn't say anything to the guys,
but I had hoped it's not bad luck or something.
Episode 2. We thought that maybe the fish would bite at night and at the
same time the albatross would not be able to see the lure at night so we
threw the lure overboard at sunset. This morning I got up at sunrise to
check sails, etc. When I went out on deck there were three albatross
flying around the lure. I decided I had better just real it in before
another one bits the lure and dies. As I was preparing, I looked back
and it seemed one had bit onto the hook again! I felt so terrible. I
could see it wings spread wide apart doing everything to get lift-off,
but being drug down by the line. I thought, not this time, and I
immediately dropped sails in an attempt to stop the boat to at least
give him a fighting chance. And if necessary I would real him in, throw
a shirt on his head and try and remove the hook for him. By the time I
had dropped the sails I could see he was still alive, but was starting
to go underwater. The wind was blowing around 20 knots so the boat still
drifts at about 2 knots or so, still pulling the line. Just as I was
about to begin pulling in the line, I suddenly saw him disappear under
the surface. In that instant I knew it was too late. I was still on deck
alone, dad and Luke were down sleeping. I reeled him to the deck, what a
magnificent creature. I tried removing the hook without actually
touching him, not out of fear to touch a dead animal, but somehow I felt
the guilt. I could not remove the hook. The ocean here is some what
cold, but when I reached out and clinched his neck just below his head I
was amazed at the warmth of the creature. Around his neck did not feel
like feathers, but rather something so soft and pleasant. Only 2 minutes
ago he was still struggling for his life, now he lie floating on the
surface with his legs extended to sky. Two more albatross hovered above
his floating body as to give him their regards and their good-byes.
Are the lives of us too so fragile? That we might be tempted by some
lure to be dead only minutes later? Yes I thought, life is that fragile.
It made me reconsider our safety procedures and precautions.

32 34'25N 153 38'38 E - APRIL 17

2008-04-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

were fine.

32 51'37 N 152 12'55 E - APRIL 16

2008-04-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Solis Log:
The lack of sleep is really painful. Luke is finally up and about today.
He and I have regained our appetites. Dad is still in bed but at least
he is eating in bed now. Today he's been able to keep everything down.

I really wish I could write more in these logs, but looking at the
computer just makes me so nauseous. The swells today are about 20 feet,
maybe more. But no breaking waves so all is well. Luke is actually
trying to catch some fish.

These guys have got to get over this sickness so I can get some good
rest....

I also had this dream. I dreamt that a large retaining pin had come
loose on the mast. When I remembered the dream I was sitting in the
cockpit of the boat. I looked up and was amazed to see the pin about to
fall out. It holds the lower shroud (lower support wire on the mast). I
climbed the mast and did a repair. It is not perfect and I pray it
holds. If it breaks the mast could break, which would obviously be
terrible.

Remember the sailing movies where the guys are catching fish, drinking
wine and enjoying the beautiful ocean? That's not the movie your seeing
this time. If you want to experience what we are going through, spin
around so many times your so dizzy that you start to throw up, then
stand in a cold shower with a fan blowing on you. Oh yeah, and don't eat
anything for days. You will get a rough approximation of what is
occuring here.

Looking forward to better winds and brighter days...

32 55'25N 149 25'41E - APRIL 14

2008-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Ships log:
It's been a horrendous several days. Even today Luke and Dad are still sick. Luke made it through yesterday without throwing up, but dad is in bad shape. None of us have hardly been able to eat anything for the last 4 days or so. Luke and Dad are so weak they can barely stand or walk around the boat. Except for a few short trips to deck, both have been comatose in bed since the second day out.
The weather has been terrible. Especially yesterday. It was stormy and breaking seas all day long. We had a 20 to 35 knot head wind all day yesterday which made for a terrible fight against the sea. Last night was hideous. I was out on deck fighting the storm but I ran out of energy. I have been without adequate food, water or rest for 3 or 4 days so I tried to just get the boat to come to a stand still so that I could go down and sleep. It was terrible. Big waves were hammering us, breaking over the boat. I finally completely gave up trying to put on my foul weather gear and life jacket everytime I went up on deck. It seemed that I had to just keep going up there so I just left my boots, foul weather gear and life jacket on even down below. I would just pass out on the floor to try and sleep until the next change of weather or waves beckoned me back on deck.
There is so much more but I can't stand to be down below much longer. It makes me ill. But today we have wonderful conditions. Wind from the north. We're screaming along at 10 knots due east. It's warm and sunny. Not like yesterday where it was pounding rain. Luke managed to come on deck and was even able to make soup for Dad. But he quickly went back to bed so he would not eat lunch twice. Dad is just down. I'm worried about him. Even a glass of water makes him throw up. The two of them have pounding headaches from dehydration. I'm just praying for more good weather like we have today. That will do us all good.

33 02'58N 145 46'25E - APRIL 13

2008-04-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

we're OK. Bad weather. Bad conditions. Still all sick. Big waves.

32 16'47.47N 144 07'20E - APRIL 12

2008-04-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ships log:
The seas were pretty messed up after that storm. We left and did about
200 miles in our first day out. Yesterday the seas gradually began to
calm down, but the wind completely died. The compass said we were
heading East but the GPS said west. We were being carried by the
current. Crew is totally sick. Dad says he does not think he can survive
the trip if he continues feeling this way. He can't keep anything down
and Luke can't either. I'm borderline and still have not slept or eaten
much in the last two days because I've been out in cold holding watch
all night.
The front hatch has a serious leak so a lot of sea water came into the
front berth. Dads bed is soaked, blankets all wet and his
books/journals, etc. have taken a lot of sea water as well. Yesterday
while the two of them were incapacitated I mustered up the energy to
open the hatch and take the caulking gun to it injecting rediculous
amounts of silicon. New rule for front hatch: DON'T OPEN THE DAMN THING
OR IT WILL LEAK!!! Issue two. It was raining and my port window was not
completely sealed. A small leak developed and rain water ran across the
ceiling to the other side of my room. Lots of water started dripping
down....right onto my spare laptop. Guess what...my spare laptop is
fried. Now I only have this laptop to make the trip. This is for weather
and communication, so I've got to take care of it...
Thanks to the "Monitor" self steering gear I installed we all can have a
break from steering the boat all the time. First time for me to use this
thing and man is it great.

32 48'N 143 26E - APRIL 11th

2008-04-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

were fine. long night with no food and little sleep. we all feel sick

and we're off!!!

2008-04-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ships log:

Tomorrow is Friday the 11th of April....tonight we are experiencing another low pressure, but nothing like we did the other day. It looks as though the wind will be favorable for us in the morning....so.....we will be off!!! We have a planned departure of 5AM tomorrow morning. I'll be checking the weather again in the morning, but all is well we'll be Hawaii bound!

Luke's log:

I can not wait to be on are way hawaii then back to cal all has ben well. Very good times in japan and more good times to come on the ocean and in hawaii. Spirits are hight and we are all pumped up to git on are way yea!!!!!!!!!!

Barnacle Ron's Log ~

You heard it above - we are leaving Hachijo-jima Is. and the shadow of the volcano into the

shadowed remnants of the past fierce storm - it will take us a couple of days to cross the infamous

"Black Current" into the rolling praries of the deep blue ---- thoughts of family, community,

all of life and deeper meaning ride with us ----- Love, Peace, Healing & Forgiveness ~ ...ah freedom

with Spirit ~~~~~Ron

So what is a Typhoon anyway?

2008-04-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

After experiencing this last storm, I really began to wonder about the textbook definition of a Typhoon. I’ve lived in Japan for 11 years, so I’ve experienced a lot of “Typhoons”. But this time….what was this thing? This ranks in the top weather situations I’ve ever witnessed in my life. I’m sure that us being on the boat, really “in the weather” made a huge difference, but still, this thing was huge.

Oh, let me back up a bit. We are currently on an island called Hachijo-jima about 100 NM (Nautical Miles 1NM= about 1.2 statute miles) miles south of mainland Japan. We had hoped to leave early in the week, but forecast said there was a low pressure zone coming, predicting 40 knot winds (1 knot= about 1.2 statute miles). Normally 40 knots of wind would be strong, but not unbearable. But we are in “Kuro-shio”, which translated to English is “The black current”. This is a beautiful band of clear blue water that runs up the coast of Japan, starting somewhere south even below Taiwan. But this band of current really gets ripping round here. At places it can rip at up for 5 or 6 knots. Combined with areas of shallow water, the seas are reportedly some of the worst in the world. All my Japanese friends with sailing experience say that in going to Hawaii, leaving Japan is the toughest part. In all the books I read, they say the same.

So getting back to this low pressure situation….we decided to wait until this “little storm” blew over so that we could have a Wed. the 9th departure. Well, that little low pressure turned into something that every local I’ve talked is calling a storm worst than most Typhoons that roll through. I will not exaggerate here when I say we were fighting for the life of Solis (the name of my boat). Inside the harbor we saw that wind speed was 68 knots (about 82 miles per hour) and that is inside the harbor!!! The waves inside the harbor were so large they were coming up on deck. The boat was being thrown around violently. Over the last 2 days I had minimal sleep because we were on deck in the middle of the night increasing our tie-down lines, lashing things to the deck, etc. etc. If I had not tied off additional lines I’m am most sure that Solis may have sunk yesterday. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Even the locals were all down yesterday frantically tying down and securing their vessels.

Now for the scary part. The boat is tied up away from the tie-up wall so that we do not get thrashed against it. During the storm, two lines broke, both were just under 1 inch lines. I had to increase our tie down lines just to survive the storm, so I dove into the water, swam to shore and for the next 2 hours or so Dad and Luke were throwing me lines. After we finally got everything tied down, I counted and we have 23 ropes securing us. Multiple lines around the mast, all of the tie-down cleats, attached to winches, etc. So here is the scary thing I was mentioning. When I got to shore, I ran down the dock a little ways so that I could see the entrance to the harbor. From where we are there is about a 20 foot concrete wall separating us, not from the ocean, but from the other side of the harbor where the entrance is. When I went over there I saw something that ran a deeper kind of fear through me. Only for about 10 or 20 seconds or so witnessed it, but I could see the ocean. There is a massive concrete wall at the entrance which stands about 35 feet above sea level. On top of it is a small light-house. The swell of the sea…not breaking waves, but the swell were going OVER the wall and covering the base of the lighthouse. The deep blue color of the sea was beautiful, but the site was a pure an adrenaline injection. Close to the boat is another concrete wall. Standing again probably 35 or 40 feet. On the other side of this wall is the ocean. Since last night, water has been coming over this wall into the main part of the harbor directly where Solis lies. These are breaking waves hitting the wall, they must be 35 to 50 feet.

So getting back to my beginning thoughts….if this isn’t a Typhoon, what in the hell is it? With the airport closed in Tokyo, flooding and landslides on the mainland, multiple distress cries from crippled fishing boats and tankers everyone I’ve talked to says this is “more” than a Typhoon.

So team Nadeau is doing great. No injuries, were all feeling good, safe, warm and keeping our stomachs full with lots of coffee and beans.

So it is Wed. the 9th and the tail end of the storm is still hitting us. Were still holding at about 30+ knots of wind (INSIDE THE HARBOR!!) and the waves are STILL coming over the wall. No departure for us today….and there are reports of another storm coming in two days from now…..I’ll keep you posted…

First post

2008-04-05T01:33:00.001-07:00

This is the first test post to our blog for our Pacific Voyage from Japan back to California.