Greetings! We have been making good time since yesterday, and are sailing at 7.5 knots under asymmetrical spinnaker on a course of 120 deg true (this is more south than we would prefer, but we will make up for it later). Our current position, as of 3:30 PM PDT, is latitude 40deg 18min, longitude 145deg 59min. See the attached Google Earth trackfile for our recent wanderings.
Yesterday we launched a bottle, containing our “halfway home” message. We wonder if it will ever be found.
The big event yesterday was splitting the light-air asymmetrical spinnaker (sob!). This trusty sail had served us well, but in the afternoon we hooked a fish (a small tuna), and we decided to slow down the boat to help in bringing our catch aboard. The spinnaker started to flog violently, and it ripped in a complicated vertical tear, much larger than we can patch with the repair kit we have aboard. Oh yes, the fish slipped off the hook.
Fortunately, we still have the heavier symmetrical spinnaker, so we hoisted that and since the winds have picked up it is flying well.
Dinner was a spicy “Blackened Mahi-mahi” over rice, followed by an after-sunset screening (with popcorn!) of John Carpenter’s “They Live”. This may very well be the world’s first viewing of this film 1100 miles west of Mendocino. As the sun was going down, Phil spotted a sail in the west. We turned on the VHF radio and had a nice chat with “Patience”, a Westsail 32, 14 days out of Hanele Bay,and heading for Oregon. Her crew was one man and his dog.
During his 1:00 – 4:00AM watch, Paul spotted a light on the horizon, heading west. We could never see more than the single light, and could not raise the vessel on the radio.
Today the skies are overcast and there is an occasional drizzle. The wind is 15 knots from the west, and the swells are larger — about three or four feet. The Monitor windvane doesn’t like to steer in these downwind conditions, so we are either using the B&G electronic/hydraulic autopilot (this does a little better), or hand-steering.
Until tomorrow,
VALIS

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Today around 1:30 PM PDT we passed the halfway point in our voyage home: 1250 miles from Kaneohe Bay, and 1250 miles to the Golden Gate Bridge! At this point we are about as far north as we plan to sail, and our course will be essentially a straight line to San Francisco. We still have a day or two of light winds as we cross through the top of the Pacific High, but in general the winds should be favorable from here on. In commeration of this milestone we composed a message in a bottle and cast it into the sea. Who will find it?
Yesterday after dinner the wind started to return, so we shut down the engine (we had been motoring since mid-morning), and we hoisted all “plain sail”. Shortly afterwards we set the light-air asymmetrical spinnaker flying, and we were sailing to the east in fine style. We have been flying this colorful sail continuously since then, and it has been serving us well.
Dinner was chicken enchiladas and salad. The skies were clear, and the light clouds on the horizon augmented a glorious sunset. Once it darkened we all retired to the cockpit where we watched “Fargo” on the laptop (set in the companionway, with the cockpit speakers giving us the sound). All that was missing was the popcorn, an omission we will remedy on our next “movie night”.
The night watches went smoothly and the “A-Sail” (asymmetrical spinnaker) pulled us smoothly through to dawn. This morning we prepared our “Halfway Message”, and we have been making good speed and course since then.
Our current position is latitude 40deg 58 min, longitude 149deg 05min. Speed is 6.8 knots at 100 deg true. Winds is 7 knots from the south.
Attached photo: John’s Sunrise Watch
Regards,
VALIS

(some missing time, sorry)

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Here is the Aug 4 Google Earth trackfile.

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Our position now (Aug 4, 2:45PM PDT) is latitude 40deg 37min N, longitude 151deg 58min W. We are motorsailing at about 6 knots on a course of 070deg True (a little north of due east).
As far as I’m concerned, we have pierced into the heart of the Pacific High. Close enough, anyway, that the wind has dropped to below 4 knots. Our instruments don’t measure well at these low wind speeds because the rocking of the mast-top (where the anenometer is) creates more “wind” than there actually is. By looking at the ripples on the water we know there is *some* wind, but not enough to sail with.
So, since around 10:00AM we have been motorsailing. There is occasionally enough wind to fill the sails and give us an extra push, and when there isn’t enough wind the sails help keep us from rocking in the swells. We are flying the main and staysail, but have furled the genoa, which was hanging limply. The battens in the main help it hold a shape, and the staysail can be sheeted toight to keep it stretched.
The forecasts show us getting more wind than we have, but this is hardly an exact science (as we know all too well). We will sail when we can, and motor when we must.
We do have company, though. Several types of birds visit us from time to time, and one small dark one landed in the cockpit last knight and kept Davey company for several hours. We also had a small school of dolphins swim by for a while this morning. These were larger than yesterday’s, but there were only perhaps four in the school. They lest us after a few minutes. We haven’t seen any “alien space spore jellyfish things” today, but in there place are millions (literally!) of “By The Wind Sailors”, a small jellyfish-kind-of-thing with a sail. They dot the ocean as far as the eye can see, sometimes densely and other times sparsely.
Newsflash! 3:00 PM PDT: John has sighted a ship on the horizon to the north. It is black, with a white superstructure, Our AIS receiver (don’t ask, unless you want a long and boring dissertation from Paul) indicates that we are on roughly parallel courses, it is travelling at 12 kts, and she will pass us in about 35 minutes at a distance of six or seven miles. Her name is “Lady Madonna”, fron Japan and heading to Cedros Island, Mexico, for a cargo of soap (?). We just spoke with her on the VHF to say hello (and to make sure she saw us).
The temperature continues to get cooler. During the day we are still in shorts and t-shirts (or no shirt — just lifejacket), but for evening watch the recommended attire includes long pants.
Dinner last night was Mahi-Mahi Teriyaki over jasmine rice. The previous evening we had spaghetti with sausages sliced into the sauce. Tonight, Paul has threatened to make chicken enchiladas. Breakfast today was scrambled eggs with sausage. We intend to reach port with all food consumed, which means we will have to eat a *lot* of rice.

Until Tomorrow,
VALIS
Attached photos: A Dolphin escort, Buzzed by a Bird, and a “By The Wind Sailor”

Another afternoon, evening, and morning goes by, and what do you know, it’s afternoon again! (although VALIS is on California time and we are physically several time zones to the west, so it feels like mid-morning). The wind has calmed a little, but we are still making good time in the right direction. Phil is preparing chicken curry salad for lunch, but after we eat we may put up the asymmetric spinnaker, since the wind direction has shifted aft enough to let us fly this big sail.
In yesterday’s exciting episode of drama and hi-jinks on the high seas, we mentioned the strange floating jellyfish(?) We still have no photos, but did work on many theories — most involving mutant space spores and their inevitable domination of humanity. Given this chilling possibility, we are reluctant to attempt the capture of one of these seemingly innocuous creatures, but John may eventually “volunteer” for this hazardous mission.
Before sunset yesterday, since the wind angle was favorable we put up the staysail, along with the genoa and main. Under “all plain sail” we picked up at least a half-knot, and with the calm seas we were gliding along our planned path very nicely. Soon after this we sighted a freighter to the north of us, heading south-west. As we were heading north-east we remained at some distance until we sailed out of sight. We attempted to hail the ship on our VHF radio, but got no answer. If only we could have called them in time to warn them about the mutant space spores! Now, no doubt, the ship is fully-laden with it’s deadly cargo of spores and once-human zombies, and on-course for a deadly rendevouz in an unsuspecting far-eastern port.
At least the birds seem to be unaffected by this scourge. We have been seeing albatross, floating and flying, and other smaller birds as well. Since we are currently about as far from land as it is possible to be on this planet, it is pretty impressive that they seem so at-home out here.
Last night Davey had the first watch, and soon after midnight, while Paul was below on the radio with the Pacific Cup return fleet, Davey called down “Dolphins!”. We all came up to watch our escort of about six small dolphins playing in our bow-wave, and streaking from port to starboard, then back again. They stayed with us for about an hour, and returned again during Phil’s 7:00AM watch for a while.
We have just finished lunch — another delicious Phil creation — of chicken curry over lettuce, and are planning on having Teriyaki-Mahi-mahi for dinner.
Attached is our google-earth trackfile. There is a mysterious three hour gap in the record. There is no obvious explanation, but Paul is acting kind of funny, and John is muttering something about blood tests.
-VALIS

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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 more from the west, and we are on course. Our latitude is 37deg 49min N (the same as the Golden Gate Bridge!), and our longitude is 156deg 49min W (1,628 nautical miles west of the GG Bridge). We will be sailing still further north in order to get through/around the Pacific High, but from this point our course is at least as much east as it is north.
With conditions sunny and pleasant, we have been spending more time on-deck. We have seen several albatrosses, dark and with a six-foot wingspan, flying and floating near by. We are puzzled by another object we often see floating by. This looks like a grapefruit with stubby tentacles, or perhaps like a large flower with eght to ten petals. The round central body floats partially out of the water, with the short tentacles hanging below. It is probably a jellyfish or something similar, but we haven’t seen anything like it before. It has proven difficult to get a recognizable photo of this, but we keep trying.
Last night we had the first of our Mahi-Mahi for dinner, baked and served over rice. This morning Phil made pancakes. We may not lose as much weight as we had anticipated on this trip!
Attached is a photo of VALIS, sailing this morning over calm seas and under sunny skies, and with laundry drying on our special vertical clothesline (otherwise known as a flag halyard).
Regards,
VALIS

Attached is the Google Earth trackfile for the last day’s run.

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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.

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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 gave it a drink of rum, and then Phil sliced it into many fillets (now in the refrigerator, until dinner). Afterwards, John and Phil swabbed down the cockpit with salt water, removing all the incriminating evidence (or did they?).
In comparison, the events of the previous 24 hours are fairly uneventful. After completing the genoa furling line replacement yesterday, at the start of his 10:00PM evening watch Paul noticed new chafing on the new furling line. We quickly brought in the sail, avoiding the mayhem that would have been caused had the furling line broken. We sailed (slowly) all night on the staysail again, while pondering potential solutions to the line problem, since we had no more spare line of the appropriate length and diameter (having used it all in the previous repair). In hindsight, we should have determined what had been causing the chafe, but we have our reasons/rationalizations.
At first light, we looked at the furling line, saw where the chafe was happening, and discovered that while the cover of the new line was chafed badly, the core (which carries the load) was still in decent shape. We were able to slide the cover to overlap in the chafed area, and siezed (with a needle and sail thread) the repair. This created a small lump in the line, but it was still able to travel through the blocks (pulleys) that lead the line from the cockpit to the bow. By noon we had the genoa flying, and an inspection revealed no obvious chafe-points. The increased boat-speed was a welcome change, at least until we were reeling in the fish — we slowed down by easing sails and pointing into the wind for that operation.
Our current position (2:20 PM PDT, Aug 1) is latitude 35deg 53min N, longitude 158deg 34min W. We are sailing at 5+ knots, heading 27 degrees true (towards the northeast). The weather forecasts continue to look good for our passage through the northern edge of the Pacific High and towards home. Winds are about 10 knots from the east-north-east.
Until tomorrow,
VALIS