Report from Sailing Vessel VALIS
Noon July 24 to Noon July 25

Current position: Lat 21deg 46.22min, Lon 153deg 13.18min Heading 263 deg magnetic, speed 6.5 knots under spinnaker (7 knots through the water). Distance run Noon to Noon: 157 nautical miles over the ground. The winds are blowing about 15 knots, from the east.

We still have the spinnaker flying on the port side, running with the B&G autopilot. We are approaching the point where we will want to jibe the spinnaker over to starboard, to be able to point closer to our waypoint at the northwest end of Maui. From there, we will sail southwest between Maui and Molokai, then southeast between Maui and Lanai, until we reach Lahaina. Since the Lahaina anchorage is going to be very crowded (a fishing contest is going on), we plan to anchor about a half-mile north near the Mala Wharf. The bottom there is supposed to have better holding as well.

No boats sighted, but we have seen some vapor trails from the airliners heading to Hawaii. Birds are becoming regular visitors now, with at least three different kinds spotted. boobie The evening luminescence in our wake is still beautiful, and as the waning moon rises later and later, we have had some clear dark nights ideal for stargazing (in between the clouds).

For dinner, we had a new dish: chicken, cooked with sun-dried tomatoes, and picante sauce, served over rice. During dinner, we were discussing the space program, so the film for the evening was “Apollo 13″. Andrew had first watch.

The winds remain generally good, but with spells of light air. We now have just over 200 nautical miles to go, but we will no doubt sail a bit farther than that as we tack and jibe to maintain favorable wind angles. At the current rate, we should arrive in Lahaina the evening of July 26, or very earily hours the next morning.

Best Wishes,
Andrew, Daniel, Jim, Paul