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May 23 Arrived in Victoria Tuesday
afternoon and the last few miles we had great winds. After being inspected
by customs took a berth for the night at Victoria inner harbor. Our crew
scattered like normal as the call of the land and hot showers is to
strong.
Ken was picked up by his waiting wife and daughters. Roger had a bus to
catch. Mike checked into a hotel and left Wednesday morning. So we
proceeded at noon Wednesday and had a unusual very good sail all the way
to Clam bay and dropped the hook for the night.
Arrived Thursday in Nanaimo and are now at anchor in Mark bay. Will not
keep the log up this summer as it is a lot of work and we have a busy
schedule. Drop us a line if you are wondering what is happening. May 20 Made landfall overnight. The winds
left us 25 out from Juliet alpha buoy and the seas where very rough. So to
save the equipment we motored for a few hours off and on. The wind picked
up a few times and we have been busy adjusting sails and taken them in.
Right now we are sailing South of Sooke with the tide just turning in our
favor.
We expect to Victoria in a few hours. Crew all exited and ready to jump
ship. Thoughts about unlimited hot showers are filling the pilot house.
The poor inn keeper who has to put up with them tonight. They will not
make any money as expenses for hot water will far exceed any money
received.
But then like all sailors who been at sea for weeks they may spend it on
other things. Shipping has changed but sailors are still the same.
May 19 Yesterday afternoon the ocean
changed from a oily calm with a few cat paws here and there to a more even
darker surface with a even ripple.
Slowly the winds increased and like always start speeding up and make very
good progress in freshening wind. This is because when the breeze start
blowing there is a delay till the sea build up enough to slow the boat
down. Overnight the winds build to 25 Kts from the SSE. We had to reef
down a bit and now are single reefed main with a double reefed Genoa. The
sea are now 6-7' and rapidly building.
It looks like we may make landfall overnight at Cape flattery and should
be
in Victoria tomorrow (Tuesday).
105 Nm to go in building seas on a close reach at 7 Kts +.
May 18 The last two days have been very
slow. We have been becalmed a few times. Last night we motored for one
hour and overnight for another 4. Right now we are sailing again around
2.5 - 3 Kts.
The swell has gone down to a very low long period and we are having very
little motion. The water has been flat calm at time with once in a while a
ripple. The water surface is a smooth as a pond with a few cats paws. This
is the beginning of some wind setting in normally but we have now been
fooled many times. The sky was clear yesterday morning but slowly clouds
from the West have overtaken us indicating the approaching low. The
weather grip files are promising but so far things on paper look better
than in real life.
Just need a little wind and if we decide to motor the rest in we probably
just stay ahead of the front thus missing the wind all together. So we try
to hang in there. The wind should come to us.
It is getting a lot longer light. Yesterday had a close encounter with a
sea lion. This is not the first time but we always are amazed how far they
are offshore sometimes.
We are getting closer and onc in a while the radio crackles to life. Heard
a few time the coast guard as early as a few days ago at least 600 nm
away. Matter of fact picked up the weather forecast two days a go.
(atmospheric duck thing.)
We caught a pink Salmon two days ago and Roger cleaned it on the aft deck.
Very good as the meat was very firm.
239 nm to go to Cape Flattery.
May 16 It is foggy and cold. The wind has
dropped and we are now just crawling along. Over night we kept the boat
going in diminishing winds. The ocean is gentle right now and despite a
long swell. The trick is to keep just enough wind in the sail to keep the
sails from slamming. If the motion is gentle this is easy. If the seas are
rough the wind needed to keep the sail full need to be stronger.
We just tacked and we are now almost heading South. Not good and we are
watching for a half hour or so see what the winds is going to do before
probably going to tack again. Do not want to wear our crew out.
The grip files show a low approaching in 48 hours. This is the one that
should blow us in.
GPS say 376 NM to go May 15 The Gale peaked at 35 Kts with
seas of 19'. Last night winds started to lay down and we steadily
increased sail area. Now we are under full sail in light S Easterlies. The
sea are far apart 15 sec but still look impressive. The sun is out but it
is cool. Today we will go on deck and clean up and do a throughout check
on the equipment. Time to clean the cabins etc as we did not do to much
the last few days.
Yesterday we managed to do showers. It was time.
480 Nm to go but do not expect us to arrive to soon as the weather
forecast looks bad with no winds. So we could drift around for a bit but
are optimistic. We all look forward to landfall. May 14 Same Same from yesterday. The
winds have been steady from the SSW while the storm is still raging on to
the NW of us. We made good progress thundering through the big waves under
triple reefed main and a single reefed Genoa.
We have to hold on as we get thrown around a bit and the best place to
relax is our bunks. Despite all this no one is complaining. Joanne manages
to still cook great meals and bake bread. Our crew stand their watches and
hang out in the pilot house when off duty or in theirbunks.
We expect to run into light winds ahead so try to make the best of this
wind. Western Grace makes 7.5 to 8.5 Kts with the decks almost awash at
times. A steady row of heavy rollers like marching soldier coming our way.
Once in a while we have a great wave colliding with our hull making a low
thud sound and vibrating the whole vessel. Other times when we have a big
sea lifting our transom and pushing us around otto von helm corrects
easily and we are sliding off a wave looking down in the next trough.
This is sailing. Warm in the pilot house, seas every where and just
plowing ahead at 8 Kts.
633 Nm to go to Juan De Fuca Strait. May 13 Blustery today. The large storm to
our WNW is giving us a great ride. We just gibed and are now heading
strait North as the weather forecast predicts a large no wind hole
developing closer to shore in a few days. So we are trying to make our
Northing in the trough of the depression. The weather faxes look
interesting.
After breakfast all hands on deck and we did do our gybe. In 30 Kts we
have to be careful so it took a little while.
We reduced the main to a triple reef and furled the Genoa. Then gibe the
main and reset preventer and running backstay. Unfurl the Genoa and we are
underway again. The ride is not as nice but we are not complaining. Right
now we are making 175 Nm per day in gale conditions.
Crew are all on deck making spectacular pictures and videos. Yesterday we
saw a large floating tank a few hundred yards off our Port. Makes you
think as hitting something like that with a plastic boat could be a
disasters. Glad to be on a steel hull vessel.
764 nm to go.
------------------------------------------------- May 12 Overnight we got the winds in the
low 30 Kts. Made some good progress but a little below our course line to
Juan De Fuca. The deep low NW of us is far enough a way we are not going
to see very high winds.
Our days run is a respectable 164 nm in 23 hours. We change the clock
today and we are now 9 hours + GMT. Our crew is being about the deck this
morning looking at the waves and checking the rigging. Everything is
holding well and we are blessed by a lot less sail banging than on the
trip to Hawaii.
The fishing line is out again. We hope for a Albacore tuna. 900 nm to go
to Cape Flattery. May 11 Finally we are
getting our winds. A large 980 mb low NW of us is now starting to
influence us. The barometer is slowly dropping and we expect good sailing
the next few days. Yesterday we where becalmed a few times laying
still for a few minutes and then a puff of wind moving us along again.
We still have all the sails up but thinking about reefing mainly to try to
sail a bit deeper. Our course is due East with the wind on the SB quarter.
It is cooling down. We are now sleeping with sleeping bags and the cabin
temp is down to 68f in the morning. The engine room feels cool and the
fridge is getting very cold.
Only 1061 nm to go to Cape Flattery. May 9 The weather had been nice the last
few days with light winds. The high is close and resulting in light winds.
We making slow progress.
Last night the winds picked up and made decent speed over night well over
6kts. This morning the sky is overcast and it is raining. The barometer is
slowly dropping from its high of 1032 and is now 1028.
A large storm system is North of us but we are not being affected so far.
Looks like in 48 hrs we may get some more wind.
Everyone is doing well and keep busy sleeping eating watching videos and
watch keeping. No major excitement other than loosing a fish 2 days ago.
We are all looking forward to some more winds but not too much. Our
strategy is to stay relative close to the high and avoid the track of the
lows if possible. May 6 As we sailed in the SW quadrant of
the high following it on its NE path another high blocked our way and is
now merging with the previous one. This means no or little wind. It has
been getting lighter the last two days but we managed sailing till last
night. Than the winds got so light and the swell making us roll we could
no keep the sail going any longer. So around 1900 hrs we dropped all sails
and let the boat drift. The rolling was bad and we tried to set our drogue
to make it lay in a bit better angle to the swell but to no avail. So we
where truly rattled, mixed and shaken.
We hard sheeted the staysail to try to help the rolling but not much help
either. Around midnight the winds freshened to 5 Kts and we are now
underway under Genoa alone. To light to set the main.
Yesterday morning Joanne saw a glass ball floating by and we did a quick
man overboard to get it. 2 minutes to get the zodiac underway from totally
stored and secured. Not bad. A large 14" ball with the net around it. We
took turns making pictures from the boat underway in sizable swells from
the zodiac.
All did a swim/shower on the transom and much to our surprise when looking
in the crystal clear water under the transom saw a 12' tropical fish
swimming with us. Another strange thing what looked like a dead hagfish
draped over the rudder heel.
So earlier hopes at a quick passage are now being rolled away. So see you
all a bit later.
May 3 What a great sail. The winds are
light but we are still ghosting along at 5 Kts on a very smooth sea.
It has been sunny and we are making good progress. A high is to the NE of
us and we are hoping it will move a bit more East so we get in the
stronger winds. Yesterday we caught a Mahi Mahi and had fish for dinner.
This morning we had another one but let it go as we have enough fish and
the freezer is still too full to freeze more.
Our crew is a good mix (like usual) and are doing morning chores in the
warm sunshine. We have a lot of fruit and it is a battle to stay ahead of
it. This morning we found a deteriorating pine apple putting every one in
gear to check the fruit better.
Yesterday talked to a fish boat we never seen out here fishing for yellow
eye tuna. This morning we crossed paths with a large freighter underway to
the orient. Other than that is very quiet. May 1 Still good progress. The winds have
laid down a bit but still a solid 15 Kts and the forecast looks good. The
ride is a bit more comfortable than yesterday as we heel a bit less.
Everyone is feeling good and appetites are back to normal. Yesterday we
got thrown around a bit and the silverware drawer got emptied on the
galley floor just missing Joanne.
Today it is sunny with mild temperatures. The water is still warm. There
have been talk about trying to shower although we like to have the boat a
bit more stable before exposing our aging crew to such adventure. Last
thing we want is broken bones.
Roger had a fish first day out a small yellow fin tuna. Nothing since.
The Sirius radio start to work again as we are getting more North. Still
amazing we get this good of a coverage this far out.
Ken is trying today to get a noon shot. Mike is looking at the SB running
light and all are doing morning shores. Washing ss, checking tank levels
and checking vegetables and fruit.
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