In the last twenty-four hours, we have not had anything break! Since yesterday afternoon we have had full main and genoa flying, and even though the winds have remained moderate our speed has been considerably higher than in the previous two days. Seas continue to flatten, the winds are coming less from the north and […]

Attached is the Google Earth trackfile for the last day’s run. valis-aug02.kmz

Here is the trackfile for our noon-to-noon run, up ’til noon today, Aug 1. Again, we fixed the genoa furler (the second time) just before noon. As you can see, the winds are shifting, allowing us to finally sail to the east. valis-aug01.kmz

We finally caught our fish for the return trip. This morning, after the genoa furling line repair (more on this follows) at Phil’s urging Davey put out the cedar-wood lure. Within fifteen minutes we had a bite! Davey and Phil struggled manfully to reel in the 44-inch Mahi-Mahi, but get it on-board they did. We […]

Let me get right to the interesting part: Yesterday we saw crew friction, if not dissention, and outright violence. It seems that Phil and John were preparing our dinner of baked beans and sliced hot dogs, and the question was raised of how many hot dogs to use. John suggested that five be cut up, […]

Seas, squalls, and not much sun — that has been the situation the last few days, and yesterday was no exception. Nothing major, but enough to have us reefed down and not sailing as fast as we could if the swells were smaller. Our course continues to be west of due north (see attached Google […]

One day is pretty much like another here in VALIS. We continue to sail north, at about 6 knots (sometimes less, sometimes more), with 15-20 knot winds and 6-8 ft seas. Our current position, at 1:12 PM PDT, is latitude 30deg 10 min N, longitude 156deg 58min west. Now that we have made it north […]

Good afternoon from VALIS! We are at latitude 23deg 09min N, longitude 157deg 16min W, sailing at about 6.5 kts on a course of 15 degrees magnetic (mostly north, a bit to the east). Last night we reefed down twice as some moderate squalls moved over us. We had heavy rain and winds up to […]

Today we continue to sail just a little west of due north, towards the Pacific High (a moving target to be sure). Our speed is typically 6+ knots, and the seas have calmed from yesterday. Our position at 1:40 PM PDT is latitude 25deg 45min N, longitude 158deg 18min W. Last night we reefed the […]

Here is the Google Earth trackfile for the previous 24 hours or so (through noon today). valis-jul27.kmz