Last night VALIS received a request for assistance from Pac Cup boat Sweet Okole. We were about 30 miles away we were both sailing towards Kaneohe Bay, so we plotted an intercept course and reached their location in the early morning. We were unable to establish radio contact until 9:30AM. At that point they confirmed their need for assistance (they had a broken rudder, and were using an emergency rudder, and were low on fuel) and we then sailed to their location.
Neither of us had any jerry cans, but VALIS did have two one-gallon water jugs which we filled, very slowly, with diesel fuel using the engine’s fuel return line. I had a mesh bag with 150 ft of floating poly line so we put the jugs in the bag, attached a fender to it, and streamed it back so that the other boat could snag it and remove the contents. Careful boat-handling at both ends was required. Once the bag was empty, we retrieved it and repeated the process. This way we delivered four gallons of fuel, and our own emergency rudder which they thought could be a back-up.
Although the wind and waves were significant, the transfers went surprisingly smoothly.
At 12:45 PM PDT the boats parted ways and are continuing to Kaneohe. We had been looking at Monday afternoon arrival, but now Tuesday looks more likely. We have 85 miles to go and the crew is happy!
Best, Paul / VALIS