Here is our track for the 2010 Pacific Cup. Notice the great-circle path, and below that the rhumbline. The typical track to Hawaii is south of the rhumbline. This was a very strange year indeed! Click on “VALIS – Pac Cup 2010.kmz” for a copy of the Google Earth trackfile. This file contains hourly reports […]

Saturday, August 14, 3:30 PM. Position: 38-01N, 124-03W Speed: 6 kts. Course: 090 magnetic Motoring, 2000 RPM. Other than a pleasant four-hour interval of sailing this morning, we have been motoring. Our fuel supply is good, and we are nearing the Golden Gate. We should arrive in Sausalito by 7:00AM Sunday (give or take). We […]

We have run out of wind. Just as predicted, after an evening of generally good sailing, this morning at 10:00AM the wind stopped. Our boat speed dropped under four knots, and it was impossible to steer a useful direction in the leftover swells. So, also as predicted, we started up the diesel and are now […]

August 12, 2:30 PM PDT Position: 39-02 N, 129-59 W (359 miles to the Golden Gate Bridge) Speed: 7.2 kts, Course: 085 degrees magnetic We are screaming home, with great winds and six-foot seas, and pointed directly towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We expect the wind to drop by tomorrow morning, but we are still […]

Wednesday, August 11, 3:45PM PDT Position: 39-35N, 133-17W Speed: 7 kts, Course: 087 degrees magnetic Today we just sailed. Sailed fast, too. This is on track to be our fastest day yet. perhaps 169 miles in 24 hours (from 8:00PM to 8:00PM). The wind has been a steady 16-20 kts from the north, and the […]

Tuesday, August 10, 11:30 AM PDT Position 40-00N, 137-25W Hove-to for fish cleaning (and cockpit cleaning). Dick was becoming frustrated by the lack of fish. Last night he pulled in the line and found it had snagged a paper towel (probably one of ours), which no doubt had scared off any fish. This morning he […]

Monday, August 9, 4:00PM PDT Yesterday we were motoring. Then we were sailing, Then motoring. Sailing again. This went of for most of the day, then as the sun began to sink in the western sky the wind steadied and we sailed through the night. Still no fish, we had a simple dinner of coleslaw […]

Sunday, August 8, 11:36 PDT Position: 40-05N, 143-23W Wind: less than 5 kts Motoring, 5.5 kts @ 065 degrees magnetic. So, yesterday we were motoring, and hoping for some wind. We didn’t have to wait long, because after 2-1/2 hours of diesel time the wind picked up a bit and we hoisted the genoa. Boatspeed […]

3:15PM PDT Position: 40-11N, 145-447W SOG: 6 kts, COG: 070 degrees magnetic Last night we were sailing smoothly towards the east, with light but usable winds and seas pushing us along at six knots or so. There were occasional interludes where the wind dropped and shifted, and Rich stood watch through a very thorough rain-washing, […]

That uncooperative Pacific High is making trouble again. What the long-range forecasts had shown as a workable route to Puget Sound has now turned into an inpenetrable roadblock. The new (and now presumably more accurate) forecast has the High sliding right over our track, then giving us headwinds after that. We could of course eventually […]