Batts @ 12.50v, 72% charged…fuel on board, 12 gals in #2 tank, 72 gals in #1 tank, 30 gals in gerry cans for a total of 114 gals of fuel for battery charging and motorsailing.
We are 645 nm from the Strait…we’ve made 82 nm since 0600 this morning and 168 nm for the last 24 hours.
Position at present is 43*42′N 136*47′W…Hdg 045*m…SOG 7 knots…winds 21 knots from the NW, seas moderate with swells from the port quarter…sailing on a beam reach sliding off the waves.
Sunny skies mostly today. Good opportunity to dry out our gear after the wet night and early morning on VALIS. All good. Crew rested. Chili and chips for dinner. Gourmet chocolate for dessert.
Some tonnage passed our way today, but nothing close.
We haven’t talked much about the marine debris survey since the floating ball island was encountered a week ago. Nothing to say about the survey because we are encountering very little debris. Plenty of vellela though.
Also, not much has been said about one of the crew having trouble sleeping. He could seem to get comfy in his sleep sack. Turns out he had it going sideways in his sleep area. He was wondering why his banky was so wide, but so very short
That is all.
VALIS, out…

Batts 12.70v, 73% charged Position 42*58′N 138*27′W…Hdg 045*m…SOG 7.5 knots…winds 18 kts from 233*m…sea state moderate, trailing and a heck of a lot better than most of the night.
We are 727 nm from the Strait. Made 86 nm since 1800 last night and 177 nm for the past 24 hrs.
Some kind of ugly night. Raining, windy and lumpy. We gybed at 0300 and fired up the engine for 2.5 hours to recoup the amps used by the auto helm that worked very hard for the crew last night. We also ran the watermaker, so the forward tank is full again.
The latest GRIB shows the front departing our neighborhood and reaching winds on port tack the rest of the way to Strait, with things getting pretty light in a day and a half…let’s hope not too light. VALIS is anxious to get home.
Ship traffic continues to be heavy. Closest encounter last night was 2.5 nm across our stern. Right now the Hyundai Tokyo is 30 miles, bearing 309*m, and will cross our bow 6nm ahead of us in about 2 hours.
That is all.
VALIS, out.

Batts at 12.60v, 78% charged VALIS is at 42*30′N 140*27′W…Hdg 058*m…SOG 8.1 knots…Winds 21 knots from 115*m…Sea state very confused but nothing VALIS can’t handle. Swell mostly off the stbd quarter. Wind wave from everywhere. Gybe point in approx. 7 hours according to the latest GRIB, which for now has us running pretty much along the great circle line in a couple days.
We are 813 nm from the entrance to the Strait. That’s 81 nm since today’s AM report and 157 nm for the past 24 hours.
Not much has changed since the AM report, except things have gotten more stormy-like. Very confused and rough sea state…100% overcast…lots of water splashing into the cockpit. Nothing VALIS hasn’t seen before and handled well. Genoa and main double reefed. Crew in foulies. Now we are really sailing.
Fantastic brunch today…Sylvain made eggs benedict. Wait until you see the photos. For dinner, Erik whipped up a mashed potato surprise…yummy.
Getting ready for an interesting next few days, with winds up and down and perhaps some motoring here and there. That’s otay…we have 6 full gerry cans on board, a full #1 fuel tank and the #2 tank is 7/8 full…Paul, remind us, how much fuel does the #1 and #2 tanks hold?
Lots of shipping traffic out here now. Several ship in our neighborhood today. None closer than 6.5 nm. They come from the NW and SE and are traveling mostly to and from Central America and Asia (Hong Kong, Korea, etc.).
That is all.
VALIS, out…

Ahoy VALIS fans…
It’s been a lumpy, rocking and rolling last 12 hours. The winds have been steady in the 25 knot range, but the ocean is anything but steady. Waves this way and that…not big, just confused. Actually more than confused, crazy would be a more apt description. But the boat and the crew are handling things well.
Batts are at 12.45v, 67% charged. Our position is 41*48′N 142*18′W…Heading 023*m…SOG is 7.5 knots with double reefed main and genoa…winds are right now at 22 knots from 141*m. Skies are thinly overcast 80% and temps are very cool. Crew wore foulies, gloves and boots last night.
Rigging news…the genoa sheet loves to get caught under the shroud chain plate on stbd. Last night a ship crossing our stern (by less than 3 miles) asked VALIS to please turn on her running lights because it was hard to get a visual on our masthead light. Well, VALIS doesn’t have it’s temporary bow running light array installed as yet so crew stood on the bow for a few minutes holding the temporary bow light for the 554′ cargo ship, Poavosa Wisdom VIII.
We are 904 nm from the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We made 76 nm since 18:00 last night and 172 nm over the past 24 hours. The new GRIB calls for us to change our heading from 022*m to 048*m…winds remain more or less the same, with a gybe coming in a day or so.
That is all.
VALIS out…

Batts 12.65 v @ 83% charged…ran engine for 2 hours off tank #2 (5 hours total) Position is 40*53′N 143*28′W…Hdg 032*m…SOG 7.8 knots…winds 24 knots from 147*m 980 nm from the Strait of Juan De Fuca…96 nm since 0600 this AM…another 187 nm for 24 hours. (Can that be right? Yep, double checked the math
Not all is peachy on the good ship VALIS. At 11:37, Erik and the helmsman (guess who) got nuked by a sneaker wave slamming the stbd quarter of the boat. But then at 12:00, Sylvain served nachos and chicken wraps that were delicioso. The winds have been from 20-30 knots all day. We put a second reef in the genoa at 16:30 and will be putting a second reef in the main as soon as this log is sent off. Seas are still following but confused and the swell has increased to 6-8′ with wind waves still around 1-2′.
Spent time telling jokes and planning menus in the cockpit. Erik day-bood his new bib foulies…very nice. Jim has donned his bibs and boots. We think it’s getting to be that time. Weather still nice, but much cooler and the cloud cover is now at about 50%. Hopefully we’ll get clear skies for the meteor shower and super moon.
VALIS is rolling right along. One late breaking development…a vessel 24 nm off our port bow is expected to cross our bow within 2 nm at present courses and speed. We will contact the other vessel via VHF to make sure we know each others intentions. It’s doing 11 knots. We’re guessing it’s a return Vic Maui boat.
That is all.
VALIS, out…

Batts 12.35v, 61% charged VALIS @ 39*50′N 144*58′W…Hdg 037*m…SOG 7.5 knots…winds 19 knots @ 160*m Sailing wing and wing with a reef in both the main and genoa Following seas with4-6′ swells topped with 1-2′ wind waves.
The VALIS crew partied hardy last night. Half way point was reached at 19:45. The festivities began with a solo by Tiki Drummer, followed by gift-giving and then a toast. The gifts included Chuck Wagon Surprise fudge for the crew, plus a special re-gifting to the Sylvain and Erik who crew on a boat called Raven back home. The regifting was a special tin of Edgar Allen Poe bandages with the sayng “Quoth the Raven, sores no more!” on the label. Oh, and what’s Chuck Wagon Surprise fudge, you ask? Well, it beer, bacon and Spam flavored of course.
We did 91 nm since 1800 last night. That makes it 183 nm for the past 24 hours. We are moving. But we are being cautious. Threw a reef in the main @ 0300 this morning when the winds remained consistent around the 23-27 knot range.
BTW, thank you Paul for the info about the moon phase and upcoming meteor shower(s).
Right now, at a point in the early morning hours, the moon is directly aft of VALIS on our current heading. It’s like a big truck tailgating us with its high beams on.
Got a pretty good sprinkling of rain for about 5 minutes this morning. Salt mostly gone from the deck now.
That is all.
VALIS, out…

1168 nm to the Strait of Juan De Fuca for the sailing vessel VALIS. That puts us 13 nm from what we consider our halfway point. Party time in few hours.
Get this race fans…VALIS made 96, yes 96 nm since 0600 this morning. That adds up to 163 nm for the past 24 hours. We are zooming along in 15-20 knots of wind under spinnaker, clear skies and following seas having an easy time of it sail like we stole the boat
Right now, VALIS is at 38*50′N 146*30′W..heading 030*m…SOG 8.9 knots…winds 18 knots @167*m
We’ve had a lot of fun sailing fast today. Tonight we have the headsail poled out to the first reef point and are sailing wing and wing at a mere 7.5-8 knots, mostly.
Chop suey for dinner. Deli sandwiches continue on the lunch menu. Our Copernicus-like crew, Sylvain, is going to do his sextant work without a calculator tonight. I remain vexed by the logic puzzlehe gave to me a few days ago. Erik has been sucked into the challenge. Jim somehow has remained a safe distance from the vexation. All I can say is Sylvain may know math, but I knew Lou Thez.
News on the evening check-in…Humdinger hit part of a floating dock at 36*15′N 147*31′W…no apparent damage. And Tiki Blue sailed into a large debris field and had to spend part of the day at 38*00′N 140*35′W cutting away net and lines from the keel and rudder. And then there’s Swazick…landed 3 glass floats today…one for each crew.
That is all,
VALIS, out…

VALIS is 1263 nm from the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We have covered 63 nm since 1800 last night, and 140 nm since this time yesterday morning.
We are currently at 37*44′N 148*03′W on a heading of 036*m, doing 7 knots in 16 knots of wind from 153*m.
Battery status is 12.50v, 66% charged.
We sailed under spinnaker all night. Perfect sailing conditions. Winds stayed in double digits, wandering from DDW to a broad reach. The sea state is calm, skies clear except for one little squall that misted us for about 5 minutes and moved the salt crystals around on the deck a bit. The crew is rested, looking forward to an uneventful day. Sylvain’s sextant work is progressing nicely. His last reading was within 1.3 miles of our actual position. Today, I think we’ll hide his calculator so he has to do everything by hand.
Today looks like a good day to catch up on our reading.
That is all,
VALIS, out…

VALIS is 1263 nm from the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We have covered 63 nm since 1800 last night, and 140 nm since this time yesterday morning.
We are currently at 37*44′N 148*03′W on a heading of 036*m, doing 7 knots in 16 knots of wind from 153*m.
Battery status is 12.50v, 66% charged.
We sailed under spinnaker all night. Perfect sailing conditions. Winds stayed in double digits, wandering from DDW to a broad reach. The sea state is calm, skies clear except for one little squall that misted us for about 5 minutes and moved the salt crystals around on the deck a bit. The crew is rested, looking forward to an uneventful day. Sylvain’s sextant work is progressing nicely. His last reading was within 1.3 miles of our actual position. Today, I think we’ll hide his calculator so he has to do everything by hand.
Today looks like a good day to catch up on our reading.
Took a look at the new GRIB. Looks like we have a new gybe mark set for about 5 days from now. Fun weather ahead to navigate. For now we continue on our straight shot on a heading of 035*-040*m.
That is all,
VALIS, out…

Ahoy, VALIS here…
We’re at 36*59′N 149*17′W…hdg 032*m…SOG 5.8 knots…wind 12 knots on or about our right hip.
Batteries at 12.7v, 89% charged.
What a day. It started off normal enough. Started the watermaker and the engine to charge the batteries at 07:10, launched the spinnaker at 07:30, switched the fuel tanks from #1 to #2 at 08:10…then…after running for awhile the engine shut down. We thought it was the fuel supply from tank #2. Changed all the fuel filters, primed the system, did this and that all morning, no luck. Ever hear of Occam’s(sp?) Razor? The simplest thing is usually the thing? We we found the #2 fuel line valve in the off position at the tank under the port settee cushion. Opened that, and…”Bob’s your uncle!”
After spending the morning on an engine and fuel system learning experience, we now have a full water supply, charged batteries, full tummies (deli sandwiches for lunch, salad and pasta for dinner) and now we are settling into our night time routine with a slight change. We flipped the watch sked to help crew with sleep and with sunset and sunrise sextant sightings.
Weather continues in the near perfect realm. Cooler, but very sunny and nothing on the horizon suggests change. We did have a little bit of lightning far off to the NE last night, but that about it We’re moving along nicely right now and will keep the spinnaker up as long as things stay as is. First sign of change and the kite will come down in favor of white sails or motoring if we don’t like the winds.
That’s all for now,
VALIS, out…