Greetings from VALIS, sailing home. Our noon position is latitude 23deg 18min N, longitude 157deg 52min W. We are sailing due north (true north) at a speed of about 6+ knots. The weather is good, with 12 knot winds from the northeast, patchy clouds, and warm temperatures. Last night we got a VHF radio call […]

Good morning from VALIS, heading north. Yesterday we learned that “Mureadritta’s XL”, one of the Pacific Cup sailboats heading home, was sunk by a whale — the crew is all safe and aboard a fishing boat which is taking them back to Hawaii. The sinking took place about 200 miles north and slightly east of […]

———- Original Message ———- To: (valisblog@sailvalis.com) From: Paul Elliott (valis@gmn-usa.com) Subject: Coming Home Date: 7/25/2006 7:54:36p I inadvertantly re-named two of our crew. We are: Paul Elliott, John Clinton, Phil Littman, and Davey Glander Sorry, Phil and Davey, Paul

We are under sail and heading for home. Valis and her crew left Kaneohe Bay Tuesday at 6:45 PM PDT, along with the sailboat “Stray Cat Blues”. We are now about ten miles north of Kaneohe Bay, heading due north (magnetic), under full sail and with the Monitor windvane steering. Stray Cat Blues is heading […]

Tonight we attended the Pacific Cup awards ceremony. We didn’t win anything (except a West Marine goodie bag), but it was nice to see in person all the friends we had made during the race. Here is a photo of the race crew of VALIS, standing on the dock (Left to Right: Andrew, Daniel, Paul, […]

Here is the combined trackfile for our voyage to Vawaii. There ae a few gaps (technical difficulties), and the last few miles before the finish line are missing (more technical difficulties). Aloha, Paul To Hawaii.kmz

VALIS crossed the finish line Tuesday evening, July18, 21:54:41 HST (Hawaii Standard Time).  The finish process went like this:  HF (long-range) radio check-in at 100 miles to report our position and ETA. HF radio check-in at 25 miles to update ETA, tell the race committee how many “souls on board” VALIS carried, the draft (how […]

What a difference a day makes! We are sailing in light seas and glorious winds, heading towards Kaneohe Bay. VALIS is now in the home stretch, having crossed the “100 mile” line. As we sailed within 100 miles of the finish, we noted the time, and our postiion, and then radioed these along with our […]

Yesterday was another slow day. Not our slowest, but still frustrating. We were running under asymmetrical spinnaker and reefed main all day and through the night. For dinner we had chicken, bean, rice and cheese burritos. In the evening the wind picked up, and we had a few heavy rain squalls — at least we […]

Here we are, slowly moving towards Oahu, or sometimes the Big Island, or sometimes Maui, or Kauaii. Generally in the right direction, though. Our position at 6:30 PM PDT is latitude 23deg 28min N, longitude 152deg 43min W. Our speed has been around 3 to 4 knots for most of the afternoon. Yesterday, the winds […]