Ysterday was another day for marine mammals as we continue to sail towards home. On Monday we saw our “sunrise” dolphins, and later that day the whales swam by to see what was going on. Yesterday, a few hours before sunset we were visited by a pod of ten or so dolphins. These playful creatures swam alongside VALIS for perhaps fifteen minutes, jumping and surfing in our bow-wave. They often swam alongside so close we could have touched them. Our entire crew was entranced by these graceful beings.
Last night we made good speed, but running downwind before confused seas on our quarter made for a very “rolly” ride. This made sleep nearly impossible, but we tried anyway. This morning we changed course slightly, modified our sail configuration, and the seas cooperated by becoming more regular (bigger, but well-behaved). We have been able to make up for a bit of that lost sleep, but we are all still pretty lethargic.
Today, now 5:25PM PDT, we are at latitude 35 deg, 01 minutes north, longitude 152 deg, 03 min west. We are sailing at almost 8 kts, on a course of 060 degrees magnatic, in 20-25 kt winds. This points us towards Bodega Bay (near where I live), but our current plan has us sailing as far north as Mendocino, about 40 degrees latitude. We are now about 1500 miles due west of San Luis Obisbo (north of Pt. Conception). Kaneohe Bay is now 870 miles to our south.
-Paul

Yesterday we were motoring, but today we are sailing!
Time: 5:00PM PDT Position: Latitude 32 deg, 21 min north, Longitude 153 deg, 47 min west. Course 35 degrees magnetic, speed 7 kts.
Having run the diesel engine non-stop for about twenty hours, at 5:00AM PDT we finally got the wind we were hoping for and we shut the chugging beast down. We set our sails to starboard in the freshening breeze and have been sailing since then. The wind has been steadily building to the current 15-20 kt strength, where is is forecast to remain for the rest of the day. We are now sailing roughly northeast, planning to sail north of San Francisco and then swing down for our final approach.
Yesterday after our great fish taco lunch we were visited by three large whales. They swam to within a few hundred feet of the boat. spouting and showing their bluff dark heads. As best we could guess they were sperm whales, but we will have to check our photos when we get home to be sure. They stayed with us for about fifteen minutes then went on their way.
After the whale visit, Paul C. put two fishing lines back in the water. Within a few hours, we had a big 41-inch Mahi-mahi on the line. Paul and Oliver wrestled the fish aboard, and soon we had enough Mahi steaks for a great dinner, including salad and wild rice. We decided to watch a DVD out in the cockpit while we were eating, but half an hour into “A Scanner Darkly” the laptop battery gave out (it seems that the power outlet in the cockpit was not delivering power. By then it was time for the midnight radio schedule, so perhaps we will resume our cinematic presentation later.
We continued to motor through the early morning hours, enjoying the stars and the peak of the Pleades meteor shower. A very beautiful night.
-Paul

We have sailed into the heart of the Pacific High. Well, perhaps not *the* High, but it will do for now. The High is actually pretty diffuse at the moment, smeared out over a wide east-west swath. There is no practical way for us to sail around the moderate winds of the western edge, so instead we motor-sail due north through a 100-mile band of extremely light air. We have had the diesel running for seven hours now, starting just after sunrise.
Last night was a great one for stargazing. The sky was mostly clear, and after the moon set the stars shone brightly and with an abundance not seen in the always-lit skies of the city. All night we were treated to meteors, sometimes with two fiery trails overhead at once. The winds were mostly in the 10-knot range, but there were patches of much lighter breeze, and the general trend was towards diminishing windspeed.
At daybreak, Aaron and Paul E were on deck discussing philosophy, morality, humanity, and other such weighty issues when Aaron spotted a pod of perhaps a dozen dolphins swimming and leaping towards the rising sun. They didn’t seem too interested in our boat, but as they passed several would leap from the water in unison – quite a sight!
Shortly after sunrise the wind fell so low that the sails began slatting as the small swells rocked the boat. Time to fire up the engine.
We soon put two lines in the water, and within an hour we had our first fish, a medium Mahi-Mahi (Paul C. found a chewed-off leader when he reeled in his line last night, but we have no idea what type of creature took his bait). Paul C. and Aaron filleted our catch, saving the meat for lunch.
The seas became smoother and smoother, with the occasional wind ripples only accentuating the stillness and the mirror-smooth surface. Every so often, long four-foot swells from far off would sweep under VALIS. Out to the horizon, the calm sea was virtually covered with “By The Wind Sailors” (small jellyfish), and sometimes a school of flying fish would be disturbed by our passage, flying off in all directions.
We also continue to see garbage. Nothing like a floating island, but several times an hour we see a fishing float (plastic), a water bottle, a clump of net or rope, and other unidentifiable junk. We spotted an unusual dark floating object early in the day, so we made a brief detour to investigate. It turned out to be a floating tire. We didn’t get too close, for fear of snagging a net or line that might have been attached. Minutes later we passed another tire.
Just after local noon,the two Pauls prepared Mahi tacos for lunch. We baked the fish with a little garlic and lemon-pepper, heated the corn tortillas, chopped some lettuce and sweet Maui onions, and mixed up the secret ingredient: a sauce whose closely-guarded recipe was handed down from Rich Jones to Paul E. during the Pacific Cup race (mayonnaise, lemon juice, and sweet chili sauce).
We now have another line in the water, hoping to catch dinner, and we continue to motorsail north with the hatches open, letting the fresh air sweep through the cabin. Very nice, but we are eager for some wind. Perhaps tomorrow…
-Paul Elliott

We are sailing slowly into weakening winds and flattening seas. Our boat speed has fallen to about 5-1/2 knots, direction mostly north. We will have another day or two of this, and then we should be able to turn northwest as we begin heading for home. We will be starting the turn further south than in our previous trips home (we will be about the latitude of Santa Barbara when we begin the turn), but the forecast winds should let us sail nicely towards a point north of San Francisco. At least that’s the plan for now!
Our current position is latitude 29deg 39min N, 156deg 34min W (about 500 nm north of Kaneohe Bay, and about 2100 nm west of Baja California). Our midnight-to-midnight run since yesterday was 171 nautical miles. Today’s run will be slower… If our speed under sail drops much below five knots we will probably start motorsailing, but for now it is much more pleasant without the noise, smoke, and heat of the Diesel engine.
The skies are a mixture of perfectly clear, puffy white cumulus clouds, and patches of overcast. When the sun hits the water the deep blue of the mid-Pacific is overwhelming, with the small seas and wind ripples sparkling brilliantly. We have been seeing flying fish since leaving Hawaii, and we are now seeing various jellyfish, including the small “By The Wind Sailor”, of which there must be billions.
We are also seeing the occasional bit of trash, mostly plastic bottles, which we are logging in a special foratm that we will deliver to a University of Hawaii researcher when we reach San Francisco. This data will be used to better understand the extent and nature of the “floating garbage dump” in the North Pacific Gyre.
I am pleased to report that all crewmembers have regained a hearty appetite. Two days at sea is pretty typical for getting accustomed to the motion, but no doubt the smaller seas have helped accelerate the recovery.
At the moment it is 4:40PM PDT, Oliver is on watch, Paul Carson is in the cockpit with him, Aaron is in the foreward berth writing in his journal, and I am typing this while I download the latest weather forecasts. Paul C. is planning to make dinner before his watch starts at 6:00PM. All is well.
-Paul

Since our last entry, we have continued to sail north, and we are now about 350 miles from Kaneohe Bay. We are also about 1830 miles from San Francisco, but unfortunately we can’t sail in a straight line to our destination, so we will have to sail many more miles than that.
Our position as of 7:00PM PDT is lat 27 deg 14 min N, lon 156 deg 41 min W. We are moving ta about 6 kts, the wind having lightened up considerably today. It is now blowing about 13 kts, trending down from the previous day’s 20 kt average. The skies have been a mix of sunny and overcast and the seas are much smaller than they had been for our first two days.
At midnight this morning we reported in to the Pacific Cup return fleet radio net, run by Green Buffalo. VALIS relayed several boat’s positions when they and Green Buffalo could not hear each other. Our midnight-to-midnight run was 160 miles, which isn’t too bad considering the seas we were sailing through.
Early this morning (3:00AM) we saw a brightly-lit ship dead ahead. We sould see from our AIS receiver that her name was “Kilo Moana”, and she was barely moving. We called her on the VHF, and she told us that she was conducting plankton and deep-sea microbe research. We altered course to pass about 1-1/2 miles astern. As we passed, we chatted with the captain, who told us they were doing research for the University of Hawaii, and would be at sea for five days.
After sunrise we had a guest drop in. This was a booby, who perched on our bow pulpit for several hours. Occasionally our sail adjustments would annoy our feathered friend, who took off and circled our boat until things on-board had calmed down to it’s liking.
About noon we let the Monitor windvane steer the boat, saving the power that the hydraulic autopilot had been using. On the way home, we hand-steer as little as possible.
The crew is definitely getting their sea-legs. Paul Carson is currently preparing dinner of baked chicken and salad, which is smelling great. We shall see how this little experiment goes…
-Paul

We are making good progress as we sail north on our way back home. As of 4:45PM PDT, we are at latitude 24 deg 08 min N, longitude 157 deg 10 min W, about 167 nautical miles north of Kaneohe. We are sailing north, at a  speed of 7-8 kts (this varies, of course). The winds are about 20 kts from the east, and the seas are about 6-8 ft. 

Some of our crew have had to adjust to the motion of the blue sea, but they are starting to get their sea legs. There hasn’t been a lot of gourmet cooking so far, the fare being stuff like saltine crackers, granola bars, and lots of liquid. 

Last night we had clear skies in between the squalls. The moon was with us for a while, and after it set the stars and planets shone brilliantly, mirroring the phosphorescent sea creatures in our wake. Several bright meteorites streaked overhead, and we are eagerly anticipating the upcoming Pleades (sp?) shower.

This afternoon we were visited by our friends from the “Skinny Dragons” Orion P-3 squadron, commanded by Jack Thomas. Earlier in the A.M. we emailed them our position, course and speed, and using this they located us about 150 miles north of Kaneohe. They made several low-level passes, then contacted us on our VHF radio. We turned on our radar to give them a chance to practice wirh what we presume to be some top-secret tracking apparatus. This was all very exciting! Thank You, Skinny Dragons.

The day progresses, the squalls disappear, the sun shines, the sea sparkles, and we sail for home.

-Paul

VALIS departed Kaneohe Bay today (Thursday, Aug 7) just before Noon, Hawaii time. Neptune’s Daughter, Dart, and Bequia were on hand to help us cast off, and wave Bon Voyage. Our crew is Paul Carson, Oliver Petzold,  Aaron Guiterrez, and me (Paul Elliott).

We are currently sailing in 15 knots of wind, with swells about five feet.  We are sailing about due North magnetic, with a speed averaging 6.5 kts.  We have a reefed main and genoa, mostly for comfort.

Our position right now (5:34 PM, PDT) is 21deg 40min N, 15deg 46min W.   More to come… 

-Paul

VALIS is preparing for the return passage to San Francisco, tomorrow (Weds, Aug 6) as our likely departure.  We have been cleaning, filling tanks, charging batteries, provisioning, and doing minor repairs, and the work-list is getting pretty small.  Our fourth crewmmember arrives today, and I will be shopping for perishables, so we should be ready to go.

On the way home Green Buffalo will be radio communications boat (she was among the first to leave), and many of the returning Pac Cup fleet will check in with her to report position, course, speed, conditions, etc.  Once Green Buffalo reaches port, VALIS will take over the radio duties.  We will be sending a list of boat positions back to Pacific Cup HQ so they can email anyone interested.

I have finally discovered where the tracking transponder reports are being shown:

http://trackinfo.fistracking.com/2008PCreturns/

Note that this is NOT the original Pac Cup race-tracking page.  VALIS is in the “Return 2″ group (they are grouped alphabetically).

-Paul

(sorry about the sparse postings, we had email blogging problems)

In an exciting photo-finish, VALIS raced Music to the Pacific Cup finish line, with Music beating us by a mere 30 seconds (of course she started a day after we did…)  Our finish time was Sunday, Jul 27, 2008 13:03:38 HST, for an elapsed time of 13 days, 2 hours, 58 minutes, 38 seconds.  Our ranking in the fleet will probably be #36, which doesn’t quite break the “top-half” goal we were aiming for, but we are still proud of our race and we all had a great time.

I will (soon?) be posting photos, and day-by-day journals (which for still-unknown technical reasons never made it to the blog)

-Paul

Hello from VALIS and her crew, as we approach Kaneohe and the finish line. As we get closer, the margin of uncertainty for our arrival time is getting narrower and narrower. Today John took estimates/guesses from each of us and put them on the whiteboard. They range from 11:47 AM PDT, to Midnight, all on Sunday. We’re haven’t decided what the closest answer wins, other than honor and respect – perhaps that’s sufficient.

It’s been pretty uneventful sailing for us today. The skies have been sunny, there have been only mild squalls, the swells small, and our speed good. This morning we put up the second-best daily run in our division (Azure beat us), and we have picked off a few more boats, putting our overall ranking at #35 over all. With luck and good sailing we might place in the top half, which would be a huge improvement over our performance in 2006.

We used the last of the Mahi-Mahi at lunch in some excellent fish tacos, prepared by Rich. Later he produced some fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Michael is now making dinner; salad and Persian Chicken with rice. We are hardly roughing it here!

We have seen very few other vessels these last few days. Last night we saw what was probably a fishing boat on the horizon, but nothing since then. Tomorrow and Sunday we may see more Pacific Cup racers, as we converge on Kaneohe Bay, and we may see some Navy ships that are participating in the RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercises. There will be 35 ships, 6 submarines, 150 aircraft & 20,000 soldiers, Sailors, airmen and Marines from 10 nations: Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, Rep. Of Korea, Singapore, UK & US, taking part in the waters near Oahu. We have been assured by our friend Jack Thomas, XO of the “Skinny Dragons” Orion P3 Squadron based at Kaneohe, that there will be no live ammunition being used in the race area.

Until tomorrow,
-Paul