Day 15–Thurs. May 26th

Aloha all-

Whew! Almost too tired to write….a little delirious from constant,
fast motion & trying NOT to be flung about. I’ve learned to hang on with
my toes and my teeth. We’re making great time still; 163 miles in the
past 24 hours. More squalls today, which we sailed through unscathed,
albeit a little more battered. (Us, not the boat). Hope you had a
beautiful day.

Love,
Darla

Hi Everyone

I keep being blown away by the beauty around me. The sea is a beautiful
mistress with her moods of nice loving constant trade winds but
interspersed with minuetes of wind and rain and fury just to remind you
who’s game your playing. It’s always interesting trying to discover what
her rules are.

need to add engine oil.

love
jim

Day 14-Wed. May 25th

Aloha everyone-

We’ve been continuing to make very good time using the spinnaker. John &
I got our first ‘good taste’ of a REAL squall today! (Those other ones
were weanies, compared to this one). It came up so suddenly that a huge
blast of wind knocked our boat over. Needless to say, I was SCARED.
Captain Jim took quick action while simultaneously remaining cool, calm
& collected (which helped me a LOT–I was quaking in my boots for a
little while). He quickly righted Intention & John & he went to work to
assess our damages. John was unshaken & did a fantastic job under Jim’s
excellent direction. (He’s STILL out there working his butt off, even as
I write). I’ll let Jim give you the details of our ‘breakage’ & what
they’re doing about it. We’re gonna be SOME tired puppies tonight.

Sweet dreams,
Darla

Great exciting day for all the crew in this sailing adventure

When the squall hit us on the port windward beam with torrents of wind
and with rain falling so thick allowing only 50 feet visibility it
folded the spinnaker pole in half and heeled the boat enough to have the
water coming over the cockpit coamming into the cockpit. Exciting. Darla
quickly released the sheet on my command and INTENTION magically righted
herself. The 40 knot or so winds did not allow the spinnaker snuffer to
snuff it so I lowered the sail as John with great effort pulled it
aboard out of the ocean. Good work and coordination by the whole crew.

Oh, we did over 150 miles for our days run today which that much closer
to our destination.

Tonight’s sunset was another one of god’s special gifts

Love
Jim

Day 13-Tues. May 24th

Howdy-HI, friends & neighbors-

Oops….got this started (and almost finished) last night, but the cyber
pirates came & took it away & I was too tired to start all over again.
My little ‘bed’ was beckoning & since I had 1 AM-4 AM watch, I finally
succumbed. Then…

Full moon rising in eastern sky
Rolls out her carpet of rippled light
Across deep seas to meet our boat
Fleeting dark form darts overhead, me thinks
Did I just…was that–?……NAAAAAHHHH
Night eyes wide in wonderment
Drinking in this luscious, surrealistic scene
Then, YES…she speaks to me first
Before showing me again
Her mystical, dark form
She calls & calls
While darting back & forth
Staying with our boat
Speaking to me in her bird-talk talk
I return her call
Assuring her I’m happy to be
Sharing this magical night with her
Tick-tock, the moon just waxed
Only to begin her wane
Thank-you, Universe, for the gift
Of being here again

We’ve been jammin’ for a couple of days at 6-7 knots, practically
non-stop, while heeling heavily to starboard side. We’re making most
efficient use of winds by using the spinnaker. If I didn’t ‘run around’
so much, my right leg would be longer than my left by now. It’s
weary-making keeping this pace, but it’s worth it, given the ‘doldrum
alternative’. We’re hoping to create our own winds RIGHT ON through the
equator!

Love you all!
Darla

Hi you all

Woke everyone up to watch the sunrise and just about a full moonset the
beauty of which I am unable to really describe. The colors, pinks.
purples, blues, yellows and everything else were awesome. Imagine a
pink-yellow sunrise off the port side and a blue-green moonset on the
starboard bow. I wish you able to be here to share this special moment.

For the last 10 hours we have been making good time with the asymetrical
spinacker poled out to windward and hopefully set our miles per day
record which is about 134 miles per 24 hour day. I think you can follow
our position through a link on the Paul’s web site at
sailvalis.com/intention/

Love
Jim

Day 12-Monday May 23nd

Hi to all friends and family:
I apologize for not writing something each day and will promise to do it
more regularly. I do do a position report each day and you can see it on
the web at sailvalis.com/intention/ It also has pictures of all of us
and our departure so check it out if you get a chance. Today, being the
12th day, we each took turns taking a salt water shower outside on port
side deck while INTENTION was sailing along at about 5 to 6 kts using an
asymmetrical spinnaker and a full main on a course of 200T.

I’d like to describe just how unusual it is to continually have a 360
degree view of the horizon. Seeing the blueness of the water,
white-capped waves, the light blue color of the sky, the billowing white
clouds, or the long, dark ones. Sometimes, you can see 5 or 6 rain
squalls, (little dark patches of sky, containing wind & rain), to be
avoided OR enjoyed for the refreshing, fresh water wash-down of us and
the salt-encrusted surfaces of the boat.

Now I want to describe some of the sights on my 10PM-1AM watch last
night. The most profound was the warm, soft breeze of the night, which
reminds me of a woman’s loving touch. The almost-full moon was
peek-a-booing in and out among the white, puffy clouds. It also had a
bright halo shining through white, wispy clouds, lighting the seas &
creating a runway of flashing lights, just off the tops of the waves, as
they rolled past the boat. Another spectacular moment on night-watch.

Love to all,
Jim

WOW…Mother Nature outdoes herself once again on this gorgeous night
(last night), the moon being just a few hours short of full.
Intention loves me, as I love her
I stand in barefoot gratitude upon her bow
Under warm cotton candy skies
Which cannot conceal
Full moon from on high
At 2 AM, as the rest of the world sleeps
Water stars grace
Someone else’s bow tonight
_______________________________________________

Today was a day of many squalls, which sent John & Jim scrambling up top
to quickly change course, pull the spinnaker down, put it back up, etc.
A warm, comfortable, mostly-cloudy day.

Loving aloha,
Darla

Day 11-Sunday May 22nd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARILYN!! (We hope you had a blast–love you). Today was
sunny all day, with good winds most of the day. I think we covered some
serious seas again today. Jim & John fixed the steering cable (YAY!).
Another beautiful day on the deep blue Pacific. As of this morning, we
were at approximately the same latitude as the Big Island of Hawaii. The
other day we ‘passed’ my home (Kauai). We’re over a third of our way
there!

Love,
Darla

Day 10-Sat. May 21st

Hey…did Saturday happen?? We must have sailed into a time warp. I
think we missed ‘blogging’ yesterday, ’cause we went out to change the
sails (wing-to-wing, so as to change course) late in the day, had a late
dinner, then crashed. It was cloudy most of the day & we had good winds;
made good time. Then winds died off in the evening, warranting sail
changes. All-in-all, a good day.

Love to all,
Darla

Day 9–Fri. May 20th

Aloha everyone-

Thanks for the powerful prayers…the winds are back (YEAH!). Winds
picked up considerably yesterday evening, so we’ve been jammin’ all
night & dsy. We just got done bringing down the spinnaker & putting up
the jib, staysail & a double-reefed main. We’re still rippin’ right
along & feeling a little more secure. It was a beautiful day, starting
out cloudy & fairly warm, then clearing off somewhat for a sunny late
afternoon & evening. Chances are we’ll have another gorgeous sunset.
Thanks all, for sharing our adventure with us.

Much love,
Darla

Hi

I must say the crew of Darla and John are training this boat owner and
supposed skipper into a pretty good sailing team. It is amazing how much
I learn about myself when I listen closely to my crew. It is interesting
how more effective the boat runs when I get out of the way. I may add
some technical skill and a little experience now and then. They know
much more than the think they do. I am watching myself step back to let
them start seeing what is necessary before it’s needed or requested. I’m
learning more and more about myself each day. Being and doing is my
teacher. I thank them for being my teacher as sometimes I am not a very
good pupil.

Love
Jim

Day 8–Thurs. May 19th

Aloha everyone-

Winds picked up a little, so we killed the engine last night & put the
smaller spinnaker back up. Ahhhhh, what a RELIEF! Late today, winds are
back down again, so Jim just started the engine. Oh well, it’s just the
way it is. At this rate, I think we deserve to skip the doldrums, so
everyone please help us manifest WINDS (but not too much), so we can
skate quickly through the equator! We had a sweet, peaceful day with
plenty of time for each of us to do a little work & lots of reading. It
was cloudy all day & the Weatherwoman gave us PERFECTLY comfortable
temperatures. Until tomorrow…….

Sweet dreams,
Darla

Wed. May 18th–Day 8

Greetings from ‘On Pacific Pond’:

Are we there yet?? Wow…I didn’t know the ocean ever DID this! Seas
were so calm last night that it felt like we were floating on a small
pond. I sat on the bow at 4:30 AM watching the eastern sky slowly light
up. The sail rigging kept fooling me into thinking I heard crickets
and/or frogs (Oregon flash-back). We motored all night (as well as all
day today), due to extremely light winds. I wanted so badly to kill the
engine, so as to fully experience this deep calm on the ocean. Please
pray for wind (thank-you)!

Love to all,
Darla
P.S.–25 years ago today Mount St. Helens erupted (remember that??). I
was in northern Idaho & experienced a good inch or so of ash fall. Quite
amazing!

Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 7:07 PM

I just got a message from Jim – he has fixed the alternator problem, and
they now have full battery-charging capability. I should have known
that Jim would figure it out!
-Paul Elliott