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, Ville).

Tomorrow morning Daniel and Andrew fly back home, Ville and Paul’s
family return to California on Sunday, and the return crew (Paul, John,
Phil, and one more person TBD) prepare for the trip back. There is a
weather seminar tomorrow, followed by a meeting to generally discuss the
return trip. Some boats have already left under sail, some have been
loaded for transport on a ship, some will be stored in Hawaii for a
while, and others will be leaving over the next several weeks, via Kauai
in some cases.

We plan to leave early next week and sail directly to San Francisco.
“Directly” means first sailing north to get around the western edge of
the Pacific High, then turning right and heading for the West Coast. We
may end up motoring through the northern portion of the Pacific High, or
we may get favorable winds early enough so we can sail. The tradewinds
near Hawaii are a bit confused right now, but are expected to return to
a more normal pattern in the next few days. If necessary, we will wait
to leave until the winds are favorable for a departure. We will
continue to update the blog once we are under way.

Aloha,
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 deep the water needs to be for VALIS to float), and which of two channels we preferred to take to get to where we were going to tie up.  We chose the “Sanpan Channel”, shich is shallower, but much shorter than the main shipping channel.

VHF radio (short-range) check-in at 5 miles, to update ETA

While this is going on, we are still offshore of Kaneohe Bay, looking at the many lights and other features, trying to reconcile what we see with the electronic charts, our paper chart, and our compasses.  It was a bit confusing until Ville spotted one particular flashing light that we hadn’t been able to find.  Once this was identified, everything else snapped into place, and all navigation information cross-checked.  This was important, because Kaneohe Bay is protected by reefs, with only two small channels leading into the inner harbors.  Also, of course, we wanted to cross the finish line, which was about one mile wide.

A couple of minutes before we crossed the line, we illuminated our sails to the committee boat could identify us.  As we crossed, we blew our horn, and radioed in on VHF that we had finished, and our version of the finish time.

A power boat, crewed by yacht club volunteers, met us at the finish line, and after waiting for us to furl our sails, led us through the channel to the Kaneohe Yacht Club.  There, two volunteers in a skiff helped guide us to our spot, and a large crew on shore caught our lines and helped make VALIS secure.  Once we were tied up, the crew of VALIS were given flower leis, a ceremonial kiss, and a tray of Mai-Tais, amongst resounding cheers of “Congratulations” and “Aloha”.  A very civilized welcome!

More to follow in a day or so…

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 ETA to the Kaneohe Bay race HQ station. We will radio them again when we cross the “25 mile” point, and again at the “5 mile” point, then finally as we cross the finish line. This advance notice lets the Kaneohe Yacht Club send out the “Follow Me” boat, which will meet us at the finish line and escort us to our space in the harbor. We expect to cross the finish line at about 9:00 PM Hawaii Time (give or take, depending on the winds between here and there).
Last night we had been sailing slowly, directly downwnd towards the finish line. One of the boats in the fleet, a nominally smaller and slower boat had come into view astern the day before, and was now fading from sight in ahead of us. This goaded us into playing with the spinnaker and wind angles, trying to find the optimum balance between our ‘directly to the destination but slow” strategy, and the “sail off course but faster” strategy. During the night we sailed significantly of-course,and made several “all hands on deck” sail changes, but the extra speed more than made up for it. Come morning, the wind held steady, and it continues even now, giving us a good run to the finish.
This morning as we were reporting in, we saw two other boats on the horizon behind us. These were two sailboats in the “doublehanded” division. We can only try to imagine how they must be feeling by now! We have now pulled ahead of them to where they are no longer visible over the horizon (they are smaller boats, and they will certainly beat us on corrected time). Still, it feels good to sail faster than *someone*.
We have eaten sandwiches for lunch, and are catnapping in turns to get ready for the big finish. Once we cross the line, we will have to sail or motor several miles to the marina where we will tie up, celebrate, find a shower, celebrate, and rest (in that order). Did I mention celebrate?
The attached Google Earth file shous our recent progress, including last night’s speed-optimizing course changes.
Aloha,
The crew of VALIS

valis-jul18.kmz

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 were moving! During the middle watch, Ville noticed a large “moonbow”, which is a rainbow but with the moon, rather than the sun, providing the light. Paul and Ville admired the faint colors for many minutes until it finally faded.
At about 7:00 AM today (July 17), the spinnaker halyard (her line that pulls the top of the spinnaker to the top of the mast) broke, sending the big sail into the water and under the boat. Daniel and Andrew managed to drag the waterlogged sail back on board, and spent the next couple of hours inspecting the sail for damage and stuffing it back into it’s sleeve, all without managing to wake either Paul or Ville. You can see in our google earth track file (attached) where we slowed way down during this operation.
About 9:30 all was ready, so we re-hoisted the sail on our spare halyard, both to sail with it and to dry it off. The winds haven’t fallen off after sunrise today as much as the previous two days, and the asymmetrical spinnaker provided good drive throughout the rest of the morning. With this sail, however, we can’t go as directly downwind as we wanted to (the wind was shifting throughout the afternoon), so rather than continue to sail south of our goal, we dropped the asymmetrical and put up the big symmetrical spinnaker. This spinnaker, with it’s big spinnaker pole, is letting us head directly towards Kaneohe Bay.
A milestone of sorts occured yesterday evening, when we crossed the Tropic of Cancer (Latitude 23deg 26.5 min N). It’s not the equator, so we didn’t have the ritual humiliation that is part of an equator-crossing ceremony, but we will take what we can get to mark the otherwise identical days (but of course, every day is different in so many ways).
We are now within 200 miles of the finish line, and expect to cross it late Tuesday or sometime Wednesday. It all depends on the wind. If we are too slow, we will gat caught in some very light winds (even lighter and more confused that we have been having). but we expect to beat this disturbance into port.
Our current position is Latitude 22deg 42min N, Longitude 154deg 42min W. We are sailing southwest at a bit over five knots.
Aloha,
The crew of VALIS

valis-jul17.kmz

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 picked up around sunset and held throughout the night, and we certainly hope to get an increase in windspeed again this evening. Our evening radio net indicated that everyone in our vicinity was having an equally slow day.
Last night wewere passed by two freighters, one going to Honolulu, and the other going to Long Beach. They were about five miles off at their closest approach. Early AM today, Ville saw a bright green/blue flare off in the distance. We later learned that another boat in the Pacific Cup fleet saw this and reported it to the Coast Guard. It turned out to be from military operations in the area. Someone mentioned that a green flare was used to signal a surfacing submarine.
We have been flying the new light-weight asymmetrical spinnaker for the past 24 hours, and while it has spent some time drooping lifelessly, it is less likely to foul in the rigging than is the symmetrical spinnaker.
All in all, a pretty lazy day. Daniel and Paul did repair the big spinnaker again, as a portion of the tape we had applied over the earlier rip had pulled off. We are still waiting for the opportunity to fly this sail again.
See attached Google Earth file of the day’s track.
Until tomorrow,
The crew of VALIS

valis-jul16.kmz

July 15, 2006
Latitude 24deg 19min, Longitude 150deg 43min
Course 210deg magnetic, Speed 5 knots
VALIS doesn’t have a “park” gear, but for most of today it felt like it. Yesterday’s winds continued through the night, and gradually lightened after sunrise. They finally dropped to less that five knots, with no discrenable direction. We spent most of the day slatting back and forth, only making acouple of knots or less towards Hawaii. There were intervals of promising winds, but as soon as we put up the spinnaker to take advantage of them they disappeared, leaving the huge lightweight sail hanging limply and threatening to tangle in the rigging as the swells caused us to rock and roll. The day was an exercise in sail change. From what we could tell in the radio net, others in our general area were experiencing the same frustrating conditions.
We now have decent 10 knot winds from the northwest, and we are moving much more nicely.
We are now running the engine (in neutral) to charge VALIS’ batteries. We have been using the electronic/hydraulic autopilot a lot, and it consumes a lot of power. We have had a lot of cloud cover on this trip, and this cuts down on our solar panel output (although today was pretty sunny). Bottom line, we need to run the engine two to three hours a day to keep the batteries charged. Fortunatey, we have enough fuel so that this is not a problem. Unfortunately, it is noisy and smelly.
Danile is preparing dinner now; tuna curry over rice. Paul and Ville have the early and late watches tonight, and Daniel and Andrew have the middle one.
See the attached Google Earth file for today’s track.
Aloha,
The crew of VALIS

valis-jul15.kmz

Good evening from VALIS, and a rather tired crew. Last night, due to strong winds (where did *they* come from?!?) we dropped the spinnaker and put up the white sails (Main and Genoa). We made fairly good time, but it was a challenge keeping them filled because of high swells and a poor wind direction.
This morning conditions were good for spinnaker again, so down came the genoa, and up went the big rainbow-color sail. We spent the afternoon on the edge of control, learning to sail under these conditions (actually, Andrew and Daniel were driving, with Paul and Ville standing by to work the lines). We finally decided that with squalls coming up, and the previous sail repair starting to come undone, it was time to drop the spinnaker.
So, now we have moved the whisker poke to the mast, stowed the spinnaker on deck, and are running with a poled-out genoa. This isn’t quite as fast as the spinnaker, but it is easier to keep under control. We plan to keep this configuration until morning, at least unless the conditions truly call for a change.
*** Fire Drill ***
We just had to partially furl the mainsail in order to re-insert a batten that was sliding out of the pocket. This involves pointing more-or-less into the wind, while we struggle with the batten, then re-hoisting the main and resuming our course. All went well, but this hardly increases our speed.
Our current position is Latitude 25deg 10min N, Longitude 148deg 41min W. Now that we have the high-wind sail in place, of course the wind has dropped, so we are sailing slowly towards Hawaii at 6 knots. We are in moderate but confused seas.
Dinner last night was cheese tortollini with olive maranara sauce. Breakfast was whatever you could scrounge. Lunch was more of the same. Last night Daniel and Andrew had the 1:00AM to 5:00AM watch, while Ville and Paul had the 9:00PM to 1:00AM, and the 5:00AM to 9:00AM watches.
Must sleep. Too tired to continue. Getting delerious. Are we there yet?
Aloha,
Valis and her groggy crew.
p.s. – attached google-earth file of previous 24-or-so hours.
p.p.s. — speed now up ro 7 knots.

valis-jul14.kmz

(With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby)
Actually, it’s still just the four of us onboard VALIS, but we are rolling along pretty well ourselves.
Right now (July 13, 3:42PM PDT) we are at latitude 25deg 59min N, longitude 145deg 38min W. We are sailing 255deg true, at over 7 knots directly towards Oahu.
Today we have seen hundreds of flying fish, many in large schools. They take off in front of VALIS, and glide for up to a hundred feet, sometimes dipping into the water briefly and then flying off again.
The wind has definitely picked up, and our daily runs show it. Here are the 9:00AM to 9:00AM totals for VALIS:
July-05 – 156 NM (this is a less-than-24 hour run)
July-06 – 180 NM (our fastest day so far)
July-07 – 161 NM
July-08 – 162 NM
July-09 – 179 NM
July-10 – 157 NM
July-11 – 110 NM
July-12 – 107 NM (our slowest day so far)
July-13 – 153 NM
If the curent conditions hold, the July 14th run will be very nice. It is starting to look like we will be arriving in Oahu within 5 days (July 18).
Yesterday we saw a large ship on the horizon, but it never came close enough for identification. We have passed floating barrels, buckets, plastic fishing floats,a telephone pole (?!) and various unidentifiable junk. He haven’t hit any of it, though. We did pass a large red “X” floating on the surface, and we are wondering what spot it was marking. We noted the position, in case we want to check it out later.
Our squall training is continuing. We watch them approach, and depending on which side of they will pass we either get lots of wind, or we get a lot less wind. In any case, the wind usually shifts, and we often get rain as well. The humidity and temperature are both rising as we approach Hawaii, and with the rain we are having a hard time drying anything we have washed.
For dinner last night we had salad and chicken “enchiladas” (in quotes, because they are only marginally like traditional enchiladas). They were declared quite tasty, in any case.
See our recent track with the attached google-earth trackfile.
Aloha,
VALIS and her slightly damp crew.

valis-jul13.kmz

Finally, some wind! We are sailing towards our destination with wind at 17 knots, and a boatspeed of 8 knots. This is a big improvement over the last couple of days.
Our position as of 5:40 PM is 26deg 52 min N, 143deg 09min W. We have dropped one position in our race division, but have maintained our overall position in the combined fleet. Whatever — we just like sailing!
Yesterday we all signed and launched a message in a bottle, commemerating our passing the halfway point in this race. We had to drink a *whole* *bottle* of white wine with dinner to do this, but we decided that the sacrifice was worth it. Of course we chilled the wine before serving it.
Today Paul and Ville had the 5:00AM to 9:00 AM watch (and the 9:00PM to 1:00AM watch before), and while this is the more tiring watch, it has the advantage of letting us watch the sunrise. This morning, we had just sailed out of a rain shower as the sun came up. The attached photo shows the clouds in front of us being lit by the sun, rising behind us.
Later in the day we had some clear skies so some of us did a little laundry. The attached photo was taken before a large squall required that the laundry be brought in prematurely. On the bright side, VALIS herself finally received a much-needed fresh-water rinse.
Dinner last night: chili over rice. Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with sausage, and pancakes (thanks, Daniel!). Dinner tonight: ???
Aloha,
VALIS and her crew