Made our departure target yesterday right on. Ken moved onboard in the morning and then of with the passports to customs to get clearance for Victoria. The last few items stowed and the water tanks filled.

Departed 1200 noon after getting permission from the coast guard to transfer the security zone. Motored out of the breakwater and set sails 30 minutes later in light NE winds. Soon they picked up and by mid afternoon where making 5 Kts. By nightfall got into 25 Kts and making 8 Kts under reefed main and Genoa.

Made excellent progress during the night in 9' seas. Once in a while a big wave sweeping the deck. Every ones is feeling ok and did their watches overnight.

Weather forecast looks good for the next few days at least with good Easterlies.

Apr 28

After our arrival in Hilo all our crew disembarked for home or a hotel the land of lots of showers and water. Mike had to fly out the same day and Leigh, Tricia and John stayed for a few days on the island.

We have been busy. Firsts the paperwork and then renting a car as without one here in Hilo we can do nothing. The main engine oil was changed again and checked over and the be given a clean bill of health. The genset oil changed the batteries checked. The faulty heart freedom 30 inverter was brought to Chip's Marine in Kona. A nice ride and we combined it with a Costco run to make the most of the day. He also had spare part for the autopilot. Then the main sail repaired as good as we could. Has to hang in till we reach Vancouver Island as a new one is waiting for us.

Scraped the hull and cleaned and Joanne did 20 loads of laundry. These trips are hard on crew and equipment.

The weather has been ideal. A bit overcast in the afternoon so it is not to hot.    

Today we are getting ready for sea and plan to depart at 1200 hrs. Roger boarded a few days ago, Mike last night and Ken is due to this morning.
Today still need to get clearance from US customs and get the ship in order. Provisioning is done and we still have at least 1500 liters of fuel.
So mainly cleaning the hull and stowing and securing everything. Getting the jacklines set up and safety briefing.
 

Apr 23

We are now approaching Hilo. 15 NM to the west of us. The last few days we had big swells and light winds and this morning after a small front passing through the winds went very light. So our earlier predicted arrival will be a little later and we expect to be at anchor later tonight.  We are all a bit disappointed by this as we where looking forward to a nigh ashore with the crew. Mike has to leave tomorrow.

Looks like a 221/2 day passage for this sailing fuel tanker

Apr 19

All is well. Winds are steady and the seas are big. Sunny the last few days and better winds than we expected from the weather fax. Last night was the first night we did not have to much squalls. These pestering little system are a pain in this area and normally give a little boost than a wind shift some rain and the worst is the light zone after it has passed. Leaving us waddling in  light winds in big swells.

Anyway last night went well and we had a magic night with almost a full moon illuminating the sky like daylight. Fishing still is not good. Loosing gear but no fish to account for.

Yesterday Tricia was sunbathing in the cockpit and got drenched by a wad of spray coming over the transom. We had another one like that just after midnight a fortnight ago. This one actual send some water in the companion way, making the crew scramble to soak up the mess.

We all looking forward to landfall. We got tossed around a bit lately and the thought of getting a good night sleep without holding  on looks very good indeed. 362 Nm to go but we are gybing down on it so a few more miles than that to sail. We keep the seas on the quarter to keep the motion in check and keeping the sails full.

Apr 16

All is well. Getting thrown around a bit as the seas have build.
Yesterday auto von Helm gave us a scare as it stopped working. The crew hand steered for a few hours while the skipper was taking auto apart. It was actual a minor problem as the brushes had to be replaced. Found some in our  amount of stuff and although not exactly the right one it is working.
What a scare as no one was really looking forward to tricks at the wheel around the clock. You can see we are a very pampered crew on Western Grace. Doing watches in the pilot house in the captains chair. Well we like it that way.

Our main gave us trouble again. A rip developed after we gibed. We repaired it with a glue patch. We have a new one coming in BC as we could not get it ready for Hawaii. Will have to give it a service in Hilo to make one more trip out of it. The offshore passages are hard on sails.

Yesterday had a small tuna but lost it. no other fish prospect yet. Must be the crew.

Apr 15

All is well. We are making consistent Westing although not as fast as we hoped. The winds have been around 15 Kts most of the week and the seas have been benign. So it takes not to much to move.

We are probably the only fuel tanker under sail right now. Still have about 1600 liters or so as we did not need to use any other than the genset. The heart inverter is putting out only 1/2 its potential and the spare is broken down as well. So we have to get that on on shore in Kona to get repaired.

The crew is doing well but we are looking forward to land fall. Last night had a small tuna but lost it landing it. John M is doing noon sights and yesterday was relatively close. So he is making up for dousing the cabin.

Seas and winds are building since this afternoon. We have come way up from out earlier track and are contemplating gybing on a Port tack. The optimal track is  between 18 and 19 N according to Don on Summer passage.

 939 Nm to go.

Apr 10

All is well. Still making steady Westing in the trades. The seas are rough and once in a while we take a deep roll as a big sea comes in on the quarter. Decks are dry but we have all hatches closed.

We just changed our clocks back one hour for the second time this passage. So this day has 25 hours. The crew likes it because we can sleep in a bit longer. Only the wheel watch has to do a hour longer.

Yesterday afternoon we got a bit of a sea on deck and some of it made it up the poop deck just as we took a big roll. John M was in the aft cabin and had his hatch slightly open just for 10 minutes to get some air.(despite orders) Leigh was on deck trying to close it in time but did not make it. Some water made there way in and John was laying asleep right under it. Need less to say he got drenched and the bedding all got soaked. Had to get the vacuum cleaner out to suck the water up and moved the mattress on deck. Issued clean bedding and after a few hours all was dry and under control. The air was full of humidity and humility. We hope John's ego will recover soon. He still tries to convince us all it was a rouge wave.

Still no fish. Yesterday sighted some whales very close jumping clear out of the water just 100 yards away. The sun came through yesterday but today we are back to overcast skies. Today will mark the half way point. At noon 1515 NM to go.
 

Apr 9

Western Grace is now earnestly settling her bows in the increasing swells. Winds at time are 25 Kts and we still are under full sail. Last night at times thundering through the waves and the SB running light illuminating the flying spray. Under these conditions she feels at home and despite the swell thing are comfortable. Auto Von Helm has a easy go of it with the new GPS compass.

Apr 8

All is well. We continue to make good progress and now our course is mainly due West. The last few night we have encountered lighter winds but by heading up have kept the boat going. The first week we made almost 1000 nm not bad. We expect the winds to slowly increase the next few days West of 125 W.

Our crew is doing well. All contribute and we have a great time. Time flies and there is not enough time to hear all the stories. John has been replaced as fishing master by Leigh but so far it has not helped anything. Changing lures to  pink is not helping.  Hope we get some fish soon.

It has been cloudy the last few days and  some what cool for being this far South. The sea water is warm though. We are close to the ITC where convection is taking place and we feel the effects of it in wind direction at night.

Crew is busy right now. John is wiping the SS rails. Mike is doing rig inspection. Tricia is washing windows and Leigh is cleaning the cockpit. After that is done we have our midmorning coffee and we discuss whatever to make it a learning experience. In the afternoon we are off for most part expect the wheel watch. Than every one finds a place to nap or read a book. Then many a tall story is being told. John M  seems to have a unending supply and we all enjoying it.

Our celestial noon positions are still way out and need more practice.

1857 NM to go according to the GPS

Apr 5

We are continue to have good winds mainly North so our original plan to make our main Westing at N 18 has been changed and now we will try for N 15. Normally the winds are already more NE down here making going WSW harder. But as the boats sail so easy at this course we figure we may as well put some Southing in the bank. This we can later use when the winds turn more East and are closer to hawaii to keep the winds on the quarter.

We keep busy with all kinds of things and the days are flying by. Our days are filled with telling of tales and stories. All contribute and in a few more days there will be no more secrets in any bodies live.
Leigh has gotten some email and is all exited about getting them.

The seas have slowly been getting bigger and we now look at 8-10' swells. A nice ride and we made 157 NM ending Friday noon. John M is appointed fishing master but sofar nothing to show for. Last night showed him some video about what kind of fish we are have caught in the past maybe this helps. So expectation are high.
Yesterday did some small repair on the foot of the main as a small tear developed right beside a small patch. Ones in a while the sail slaps putting enormous loads on it.

Still sunny everyday with warm temp. 2269 Nm to go.

Apr 4
All is well. Made good progress yesterday (133NM) and this noon coming up we do better. Seas are now 7-8' and since yesterday afternoon around 20 Kts Matter of fact last night we set a reef in the main as auto was complaining indicating to much sail up. Later during the night John & Tricia shook it out as things settled down.

Everyone doing there watches and we have a great time. Matter of fact we wonder where the day went yesterday. In the morning we do shipboard chores from rigging inspection, to some cleaning etc. Than we spend some time on covering subjects from MOB to ships systems to whatever. All contribute to our discussions and these are real learning moments. Not a hint of motion sickness as we all have our sea legs.

Last night we had some rough seas with some rolling and this morning things are a bit better. Yesterday we sighted Socoro Island 39 NM to the North. We have Clarion to pass at W 115 then all open ocean to Hawaii.
 

Apr 2
Good going overnight with boat speed up to 6 Kts or better at times. By daybreak winds go light and fluky but we are still moving so no complaints.
John came up this morning and said  I am getting my fish so we though he new we are tailing a fish on our line as we observer earlier. Little did he know we had a fish and was quit delighted we had a small tunny, but let it go as it was very small. 
Don of Summer Passage radio is now saying that the La Nina is dying down and conditions are now considered neutral. Latest is a large high is going to form over the Easter Pacific in a week or so. We are setting tracks South of Socoro Island and our target is Highway 18 West. (meaning west on the 18th parallel)
Everyone feels good this morning. Leigh is doing vegetable inspection, Tricia is cleaning etc. John is in charge of water and tank levels etc and Mike is doing rigging checks.

Apr 1
We kept steady going during the night. Despite the light winds predicted made 107 nm by noon on day 1. Very calm conditions with light NW winds and low NW Swells. The night sky was beautiful and the Alo Verde lights up the waters green on our bows and leaving a lighting trail. It does not get much better than this. All crew up and about and doing fine.

Mike got hit by bird doo just as he was going for a bath on the transom. We can do daily baths with very little water if we wash with salt water and rinse off with fresh. Water temp is 70F just right to feel refreshed. Had a issue with the main sail right at the head. Several small holes visible right at the fold. We took it down and taped it with sail tape. Hope she will hang in there as we going to get a new one when we are back in BC.
Several ships crossing our tracks and in late afternoon had a close encounter. Called the ship and he acknowledged we where going to be close and was going to alter. Nothing happened and he kept going making us uncomfortable and called again. Then he alter course and passed on our stern. Had several more crossing during the night as we are on the main track from Panama to Cabo. Crew standing their watches like they have done this for a long time.