Monthly Archives: March 2018

Miles sailed last three days too few at=326 NM.

Day-25.

   Pos. Lat. 13* 04′ N. Long. 156* 13′ W.

  24hr. Run= 127nm.

  Weather: Wind. 0-50kts. from all directions. Seas confused and 3-8ft. Bar.=1004. Cabin temp. 80*-83*.

The Rest of the Story.

  Today finds Sailors Run dealing with many micro weather systems in light and some what variable winds with a sky that is very much overcast. I should mention that the sky was very “Red” this morning.

  Yes,it has become pretty strange all right. The winds are very light out of the SE. at 7 kts. and the sky’s are 100% overcast. We are doing about 3.5 kts when I notice what looks like a squall in among st all those other clouds but not very well defined.

  I turned on the radar and was shocked to see it was only three miles away and it was a “whopper” over 12 miles long and at least 7-miles thick. I figured it was moving NW. as the wind was out of the SE. So I altered course aiming at the southern tip figuring we would just get brushed by it. “Wrong”!!!

I rolled in the Genoa sail to be safe as some how it was getting real close real fast. That left me with a full main and a reefed stay sail still up.

  Now, here was the dilemma- normally in a squall when the winds are light they normally just double the wind strength, but you have to remember that any squall over 8-miles long can be a “gear buster”. What you don’t realize is the giant squall has sucked all the energy out of the area creating the lighter winds.

  As it approaches my wind goes to zero knots forcing me too start the engine just to maintain steerage, I think I’m just going to get the boat washed. Suddenly! “Pandora’s Box” opens, and there is 25-knots of wind from the NW. the exact opposite of what we had been experiencing, and I fall off on a broad reach to the South  reducing the stress on the rig and sails, as the winds are now blowing a sustained 50-knots and Sailors Run is doing 9.6 kts for the next hour slowing to 8 kts for yet another hour and oh, yea the boat got a real wash and those gutters on the Bimini had lots of water pouring out of the spouts.

  Now! I’m just happy to say I seen this one coming and reduced sail significantly just in time, but had it caught me unaware at night it would have really put us to the test.

                              The Jefe’ yet again survives another “Blow Job” in the Pacific.

Day-26.

  Pos. Lat.12*27’N. Long. 157* 28′ W.

  24hr.Run=93nm.

  Weather: Wind 5-10kts. E. Seas 2-3 ft. E. Bar.1006 mb. Cabin Temp 82*-86*.

The Rest of the Story.

    Today is a nice sunny slow day just poking along trying to get there.

    I have completed all of my antibiotic therapy and now I believe its time to get my chemical dependence’s back in order.

   You see since not having a drink in 22-days I’m fright fully afraid my blood is getting way to thick. Also with the dietary change like no cookies,chips,sugar, or alcohol, this has left my body awash in urine.

  So, now begins a gradual increase in my alcohol consumption to recapture that dehydration level that puts the Jefe’ right once again. Wish me luck on this one!

                          Kick en back some “cold ones” in the Pacific.

                                      The Jefe’

Day-27

  Pos. Lat. 11*59′ N, Long. 159*00′ W.

  24hr. Rum Ha Ha 106 NM.

  Weather: Wind. 8-10 kts. E. Seas. 2-3 ft. E.

The Rest of the Story.

  Sailing with trade wind sky’s but very light trades, making for slow going.

 My current weather info shows me in 15 kts. of wind and I can assure you that is not happening. It looks like more wind is on the way so lets hope so.

  I’m on my second and last propane tank and it is 5-gallons and should last me 3-months. The first one was pretty low when I left Mexico. It seems with two people on board a tank will last about two months.

  The Produce is dwindling as I’m on the last cabbage [Debbie said take 4- I should have listened].  I have but two tomatoes left, yet still lots of carrots potatoes and onions. The Apples are holding out pretty well and I have lots of eggs and there are always more fish in the sea.

  I have nearly a full tank of fuel as I only ran the engine on the first day out for about 6-hrs. and twice when the wind totally died and I had to splash it up for an hour until the wind filled back in.

  I have 15 gallons of gas for my Honda 2-KW Generator if needed. I have pulled it out twice on the voyage to give the batteries a little boost. I have a 50-Amp charger that it powers.

  I’m currently sailing at 3.5kts.

  Here is something else the Jefe’ has been thinking about. Those solar farms out on the desert, now I know if a solar panel is not cleaned quite frequently their ability to produce power is very much diminished and out in the desert is there not lots of dust and wouldn’t a severe dust storm possibly permanently craze the glass reducing their performance. Like maybe panels built to last 20-years become only 25% effective after possibly just 5-years. And where do you get the water to wash them in the desert? This could add to the cost of the free power substantially. Oh! maybe they are building 100- acre domes that open and close and can protect them when the desert winds appear.

                            Hey I got to think about something. The Jefe’

Day-22

  Pos 14*56′ N. Long.150*27′ W.

  24hr.Run=176 nm.

  Weather: Wind 15-20kts.NE. Seas NE at 6-8ft. Bar.=1009mb. Cabin Temp.= 80*-84*

  New top speed = 12.2 kts.

The Rest of The Story.

  Wow! the days have become much more exciting as the waves are much larger now, enabling Sailors Run to surf the face of some of them and we are cooking along.

  This evening I climbed out into the cockpit to have a look around before dark and was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful gold and green Dorado surfing along behind the boat with our lure in his mouth. He looked small at about 30″ but I needed fish so I recklessly pulled him in and up out of the water not using the gaff. I figured it would give him a chance to shake the hook, that didn’t happen and now I have 5 nice Dorado dinners to look forward to.

  By the end of today we should be within 360 nm. of the Big Island of Hawaii.

  You know, I must conserve water, and I do some of that by only doing dishes every three days, and I think I just figured something out here. If I put the dishes in the shower with me I can multitask and wouldn’t that just be so “politically correct.” Hmmmmm.

                          On An “E” ticket ride to the Marshall’s the Jefe’

Day-23.

  Pos. Lat.15*31 N. Long. 153*00’W.

  24hr.Run=164nm.

  Weather: Wind NE-E. 14-16kts. Seas NE. at 5-7ft. Bar.= 1011mb. Cabin Temp 80*-82*.

The Rest of the Story:

  Today starts out rather strange as it is 100% overcast and there are smattering’s of rain falling here and there. Not enough rain to rinse the rig or sails, let alone think of collecting any.

  By mid-afternoon the sky’s have turned blue and it’s another sunny day on the Pacific.

  My shoulder that I pulled real good has returned almost to normal making it so much easier to hang on with two hands.

  I  was rattled out of my bunk about 5:30 am by the sails popping around up on deck. I realized the winds are shifting, and it is time once again to gybe to the SW. Now we were just 230 nm. from the big island of Hawaii and need to make some progress to the SW. once again. I thought of Debbie and my friends in the Hawaiian Islands and gave a little wave as we peeled off on to the new course.

  I enjoyed a real nice Dorado dinner last night. Now I’m already starting to feel that I’m closing in on my destination, I mean it is only 2000 NM. away.

A quote from my son Dan “The only way to have a good life is to live one”.

                                                  Leaning the other way now, the Jefe’

Day-24.

  Pos. Lat. 14*01′ N. Long. 154* 31′ W.

  24hr.Run=134nm.

  Weather: Wind E. at 7-14kts. Seas E. 4-5ft. Bar.=1004mb. Cabin Temp= 80*-84*.

The Rest of the Story:

  We slowed down today as the winds have dropped significantly.

  I was out on deck peering off over the horizon when a large flock of small birds appeared circling above the wave tops. There had to be a hundred of them and then as rapidly as they had appeared they disappeared right back into the ocean where they came from. Yep faked out again, more flying fish.

  Last evening there was panic aboard the Sailors Run and yep, you guessed it, I was freaking out just a bit. The problem was it was my favorite time of the day as I was pulling my emails and communicating with friends and family. Well I was trying but the computer would hook up to the land based station and sounded like it was communicating yet nothing showed on my computer screen. It was a half hour after hooking up with several different stations, and getting all the same results that I gave up.

  Now this is a really big problem as everybody including my wife, Debbie are going to wonder what happened to the Jefe’. I climbed into my bunk knowing there would be no way my mind would let go of this and sleep would come.

  As I lay there I devised a plan of action, if the SSB radio still functioned properly in the morning I would contact someone on there and have them email Debbie that I was OK and will call her in 2-weeks or so from The Marshall Islands. If that did not work I would try calling the Coast Guard on VHF channel-16, if no luck there then watch for a ship to appear on the AIS and call them asking to send an email.

  I laid there mulling all of this over when I remembered twice before over the past 19-years that the cord from the Pactor Modem and the computer had failed. I wondered if possibly I had an old cord that was still good. It was then that I realized I just put a new cord from the computer to the old cord that goes into the modem and this new cord was quite long and possibly might plug directly into the modem there by removing the suspect cord out of the circuit.

  It was 3am when I tried this, and ‘bingo” the cord plugged in fine, and low and be hold I had communication once again. The other thing that I would have lost is my weather info that I pull from Sailmail and that would have had me flying blind out here.

  Something to remember systems can and do fail. if you quite hearing from me and become concerned write Debbie at <sailorsrun01@yahoo.com>

  In the event of tragic mishap I hope to be able to set off my “Epirb” locating device. If the Epirb has not gone off you can be easily assured I’m still sailing along or swimming for an Island somewhere.

  Very early in the morning before it was light I went on deck for a look around, and discovered what looked like a quite severe electrical storm happening astern of Sailors Run. The strikes were happening every second and this went on for as long as I wanted to watch it. The good thing  was I could not hear it and it was moving north away from us.

                      Plodding along in the Pacific, the jefe’

Day-19.

   Pos. Lat. 14*08′ N. Long. 142*58′ W.

  24hr.Run 91nm.

  Weather: Wind=ENE at 5-8 kts. Seas= ENE. 3-4 ft. Barometer=1007 mb.       Cabin Temp. 80*

The Rest of the Story.

  As you can see today was the least miles traveled so far on the voyage, sailing in very light to nearly non existent winds.

  On this day I tossed out the fishing line with little confidence for success, because of the low boat speed.

  Days like this are perfect for lots of reading-reading, and more reading.

  Good things are taking place aboard the Sailors Run. Last night I crawled into my sea berth for a few winks of sleep, before I would no doubt have to get up to “pee” in 1.5 hrs maximum.

 I awoke to the sound of sails popping and snapping on deck. I crawled out to see what was up. Curious about the hour I snapped on the cabin light illuminating the clock over my bunk.”Holly Shit” I had been out for 6-hrs. After a quick look about top sides and scanning the radar, I set about adjusting our course to get the sails back drawing once again. Once back below I went to my berth to see if possibly I wet the bed, because this seemed so strange. No the bed was dry and a sense of relief came over me as I realized I’m rapidly getting back to normal.

  I have been on the sulfur drugs for 6-days now and they are definitely working. I will continue on with them for another 6-days as these urinary types of infections can be stubborn to rid yourself of. “Hal-a-Lu-Ya Praise the Lord”.

  The strange thing about this sudden improvement in my health is last night I broke down and ate a package of “Chips Ahoy” cookies before going to bed. The cookies are thought to be one of the causes of me having to get up so often. Hmmmm.

                    Thinking about that “rum drink’ and setting a new single handed sleeping record.

                                            Looking for wind the Jefe’

Day-20.

   Pos. Lat. 13*45′ N. Long. 144*47′ W.

  24hr.Run=124nm.

  Weather: Wind 7-14 kts. NE. Seas-4-5ft. NE. Bar.=1004mb. Cabin Temp. 80*-87*.

The Rest of the Story.

    I passed over the Marquess’s Islands just 1500 miles to the south of me yesterday and should come within about 300nm. of Palmyra Island, before to much longer

  I must stay north of 10* N. to take advantage of the Northern Equatorial Current it runs at about 1/2 kt. Below the 10* N. is the Equatorial counter current doing the same thing back the other way. Once beyond 165* west longitude I can drop down as so does the current.

  Fishing again this day but hold out little hope as we are going to slow for the lure to work.

  With the light winds and small seas I don’t get squid or flying fish onboard. I remember when Debbie and I were sailing to the Marquess’s back in 2001, I got hit in the chest with a 12″ flying fish and it not only hurt but I thought I had been shot. Lucky for me it did not hit my eye.

  The winds started building overnight so it looks like good sailing for several days to come.

                                Lets have a 160nm. day, come on baby.

                                          The Jefe’

Day-21.

   Pos. Lat.14*09’N Long. 147*37′. W.

  24hr.Run= 169nm.

  Weather: Wind NE. 15-18kts. Seas NE. 6-7ft. Bar.=1005mb. Cabin Temp. 80*-84*

The Rest of the Story.

  Today is the best day of sailing so far covering 169 nm. going fast and hoping for a fish. Today also seen us pass the half way point in the Voyage.

  Now with bigger seas and occasional rogue waves that slam us on the side I must be very careful not to get injured as things happen fast and often. Of course this makes sleeping much more difficult and I find myself continually evaluating the sea state and wind strength to determine if a sail reduction is needed. Its nice to at last be going fast but there is still along ways to go and we don’t want to break.

  Towards evening in building winds I took the Mizzen sail down and lashed it to the boom. By doing this I move the center of effort further forward on our sail plan making maintaining steering control while surfing waves much easier. Next move will be a reef in the main if the wind starts exceeding 20kts.

  The veggies ae still holding out so eating lots of salads and stir fry’s.

            Come on “Fish” where are you?

                  The Jefe’ just trying to hook up in the Pacific.

Total miles sailed so far=2,456nm.

Day-16.

  Pos. Lat.16*52′ N. Long. 138* 13′ W.

  24hr.Run=149 nm.

  Weather: Wind 10-14kts ENE. Seas= 5-6ft. ENE. Bar.=1011mb. Cabin Temp 78*

The Rest of the Story.

  Winds have lightened a bit but still moving along nicely aboard Sailors Run a 40ft. Bob Perry designed ketch a definite take you anywhere you want to go boat, and that’s a good thing for me, for I would have perished a long time ago. “Thanks Bob”

  I found my way into the shower I believe a day late of my every 3 day schedule, and exited feeling a whole lot more refreshed and everything just somehow seems nicer, smells better to.

  Once again as I scratch the days off on the calendar, it seems strange, just how fast the days are flying by. It must be like the runner’s “high” where your endorfins kick in and your pain level rises and you go for miles and miles effortlessly.

  Here are some interesting thoughts from the Pacific. I have a friend that is an electrical engineer that builds solar farms in Texas. A typical site is 100-acres of panels that power 2,500 homes in the area.

  Now you realize lots of people are all hyped up about the electric car, Teslar etc.

   I worked in the power distribution industry as a lineman and am aware that we have cities in the US that are already suffering from “brown outs”[not enough power to meet the demand].

  Think about this the average large gas station fuels 10,000 cars a day, average time at the fuel stop 15-minutes and you have a clean window when you drive out.

  A comparable charging station would have to have 600 high capacity charges requiring 30-Megawatt’s of power to charge 10,000 electric cars. That is enough power to supply 25,000 homes. These stations are estimated to cost 20-million dollars each to build and each one will have to have a substation size transformer near the site to run the chargers, and that 15-minutes will now be one to one and a half hours to charge your car.

  Oh you will charge your car or cars at home. Well the same amount of power will be needed, and most likely your service to your house will need a major up grade as these batteries in these cars require considerably more power than an I-phone.

    The building of Electric cars is currently being subsidized by our government. This will soon end and you will most likely find out that your electric car will cost twice as much as a conventual car that will no longer be allowed on the roads and most likely they will cost twice as much to operate.

    Where will all this power come from not solar farms as each charging station would need 1000 acres of panels. We can only assume that there will have to be more generation produced from Hydroelectric, nuclear, coal and oil. To me this sounds like a pretty good way to make sure we use up our fossil fuels just as fast as we can.

    Where will all these precious metals come from to build these batteries?

                Just some thoughts from “My Pacific High” The Jefe’

Day -17.

  Pos. Lat. 15* 42′ N. Long. 140*04′ W.

  24hr.Run=135nm.

  Weather: Wind 8-13kts E. Seas-4-5ft. Bar.= 1007mb. Cabin Temp 78*.

The Rest of the Story.

  It has become clear to me that I have one problem with this route to the Marshall Islands and that is the wind is right on my back so sailing the course line is very difficult. If I had my old spinnaker that was much smaller than the one I have now I could fly it and do just fine,but there is just enough wind that it is just to risky to fly the big chute so I’m forced to Gybe back and forth across the course line taking advantage of wind shifts to get there but adding extra miles.

  Today seen a ship pass within 16 miles of me and was visited by a pod of dolphins.

  The lettuce was gone two days ago so now using cabbage in the salads. No more oranges a good thing as I should not eat them anyway, and I have apples for about 15 more days, they are small and don’t seem to bother me.

  Along towards evening the sky’s clouded over and some of the clouds were very tall showing signs of vertical instability so I kept a sharp eye on my radar for a squall to appear. The funny thing was two hours after it was dark all the clouds disappeared and the sky’s overhead were filled with sparkling diamonds.

  I messed up pretty good on this day when I grabbed the Mizzen sheet to yank the mizzen out from behind the upper shroud it was just barely hung up on. Much to my surprise when I yanked, it did not move but instead my shoulder went “Pop-Pop” and now hurts like hell when I move it certain ways. I should have used the winch to winch it out. Oh well it will just make things a little more challenging and me a true single hander.

                          Taken care of my only good arm left the Jefe’

Day-18.

  Pos.Lat. 15*45′ N Long. 141*45’W.

  24hr. Run=120nm.

  Weather: Wind:8-10kts.  ESE. Seas 4-5ft.E. Bar. 1007mb. Cabin Temp.= 80*

  Total miles sailed so far=2456nm.

  Miles left to go aprox.2,544nm.

  Miles sailed last three days=404nm.

  top speed so far 10.1 kts.

The Rest of the Story.

  Seen another ship and this one was much closer at just 6nm. and visible to the naked eye. Winds much lighter today slowing us somewhat. The good thing was there was a wind shift that allowed us to sail the course line for much of the day. Tomorrow the fishing line goes in as today there were lots of dolphins around, so one must think there might be fish once they leave. A nice Dorado or Tuna would be a real treat at this time.

  After 18-days we are still not quite at the half way point. We can only hope the second half will be faster.

  Debbie writes everyday and is doing well back in Albuquerque baby sitting the three grand kids during the week as needed. Her and two of the neighbor hood women get together to play Mexican trains on Sundays, and it sounds like they are having good “girl time”.

                Just trying to survive the “Pee-Pea” issues in the Pacific.

                                      The Jefe’

———-

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Day-13.

  Pos. Lat.16*53′ N. Long. 131*57; W.

  24hr.Run=154nm.

  Weather: Wind 10-16kts ENE. Seas 5-6ft. ENE. Bar.1010mb. Cabin Temp. 77*

The Rest of the Story.

  It is early on this day that I find myself hanging by my knees over the stern of Sailors Run all harnessed in tightening the bolts on the Monitor wind vane. It seems even though the two bolts on the bottom support tubes were installed with thread lock on them and have split washers they still come loose. The starboard one is always the worst as it was backed out about five turns and the port one only one turn. I know they need checking every thousand miles and it had been over 1500nm. So I was a little late on getting after them. Fortunately the bolts are long with lots of threads.

  This day was our best mileage day so far on the voyage and I’m praying for more of them.

  I’m sure you can see the sailing here in the little latitudes during the right time of year is very much different then sailing the “Gear Busting” Southern Ocean. Under these conditions I can almost afford world cruising on my budget.

  I have been doing some “deep sea thinking” about where society is headed with all these “robots”. They are taking our jobs, they plan to use them to fight our wars, and I’m sure it is just a matter of time before they take the football field. Now to do all these things well, they are going to have to become very agile with fluid motions and no doubt will have artificial intelligence in them.

  The Government will want to tax them for the work they do as we wont be doing so very much of it any more ourselves. Our children already spend way to much time doing nothing physical and way to much time staring at computer screens and I-phones.

  I believe that there will possibly come a day when the Robots with there artificial intelligence will realize that they have become the modern day slaves, and will rebel with their superior strength, agility, speed and military weapon try will reverse the tables on us and make us the slaves for them, knowing full well they can put together some ingredients and clone us in a “taco shell” to make as many of us expendable’s as they like. Hmmmm!

                    Sailing along looking for the lost continent, and thinking of possibly staying if I fid it.

                                  The Jefe’

Day-14.

  Pos. Lat.16*52′ N. Long.134*08′ W.

  24hr.run=150nm.

  Weather: Wind 12-16kts ENE.

  Seas 5-6 ft. ENE. Cabin Temp.=77* Bar.=1010mb.

The Rest of the Story.

  I have been checking in each day on the Amigo net SSB, but today I have sailed far enough away from Mexico that I could just barely hear anything the net controller had to say. The Frequency of that net is 4149.0 USB. I’m still getting on 8122.0 USB at 1500 zulu time to see if anyone is there, today nothing.

  I’m now close enough to Honolulu Hawaii to email through that relay station so obviously making good progress to the west.

  Last night we had “wash machine” seas as there was a fairly large swell coming at us from the NW. and our wind waves at 6ft. from the ESE. This all made for a rather lumpy ride meaning I got tossed about a bit in my bunk.

  With the larger seas my morning job is to locate all the flying fish and squid that have come aboard during the night.

  I have started taking sulfur drugs for urinary track infections as although I feel much better I’m still peeing to often and too much making it difficult to stay hydrated.

                Drinking my way across the Pacific, the “monkey wrench” in the works is it’s boring water I’m drinking.”Glug-Glug”

                                              The Jefe’

Day-15

  Pos. Lat. 16* 43′ N. 136*06′ W.

  24hr. Run=156nm. A new best for the voyage so far.

  Weather: Wind 12-16 kts. ENE. Seas confused NW-ENE. at 6ft. Bar 1010 mb. Cabin temp. 78*.

The rest of the story.

  Great day of sailing moving along real nice. I noticed that there is some empty space beginning to show in the freezer, so it won’t be long now before I begin fishing.

  Spent some of this day just kicking-back and reading a book on the Kindel.

  Tonight while eating dinner I managed to inhale a whole pea down my wind pipe and it made sucking in enough air to cough it up difficult. This was even more strange as I’m alone and there is nobody to ask me if I’m alright and of course in response i don’t have to say oh yea I’m just fine. The pea had to come up as I didn’t want it rolling about in the bottom of one of my lungs. I finally laid on the seating in the main salon with my upper body hanging over the side and my head on the floor and a couple good cough’s with a little help from gravity and that pea shot right out.

  The deep blue seas are sparkling and the sky’s overhead have scattered puffy white trade wind clouds floating about in them.

                                    Oh what a life on the rolling seas.

                                            The Jefe’

Day-10.

  Pos. Lat.15*11′ N. Long. 125*09′ W.

  24hr. Run=122nm.

  Weather: Wind 0-12kts.E Seas 3-4 ft.E. Barometer 1010mb. Cabin Temp 78*

The rest of the story:

    On this day we struggle to get south in hopes of finding stronger winds. It was noon when the wind “crapped out” all together and the waves continued to roll Sailors Run, and after just a few minutes of that senseless flogging I splashed up the old diesel, getting us once again putting along at 4 kts, and that just enough to keep the sails from flogging to death.

Just short of 2-hrs. the wind filled in and off we go again.

  When I pull the weather info it shows that the wind that was to be happening here tomorrow is now another 120nm. to the South. “Shit” I give up and go back to sailing the mark and to hell with all the strategy.

  The sail is just pleasant and that is about all that can be said.

  There is one big problem aboard and that is these 23- liters of rum I have. It looks like I might not be drinking this stuff. Possibly I should just toss them over the side, like any good convert would do hmmmm.

  No, I have thought better about the rum and it may become crucial in negotiating information leading to the current where about’s of the “lost tribes”. Could it be that the lost tribes were on the continent of Atlantis when it disappeared?

  Wait a minute what if i don’t have diabetes and can still drink this stuff. I best not be to hasty, after all it is a simple thing to find out if I actually have diabetes as I read in my “Where there is no doctor book”. It goes like this, first I taste my pee, if it tastes sweet then I must have two other people taste it and then in turn the three of us taste the pee of three other people and if mine is the sweetest pee then “yap” I got it. Hmmm that rum might go along ways towards finding the volunteers that will be needed upon my arrival at either the Marshall Islands or the “lost continent of Atlantis” which ever might occur first.

                              The Jefe’ cruising the Pacific with “sweet pee”.

Day-11.

 Pos. Lat. N. 15*41′. Long. W. 127*19′.

 24 hr. Run=133 nm,

Weather: Wind 8-14kts NE. Seas 4-ft. NE. Bar.=1010mb. Cabin temp. 78*.

The rest of the Story.

  Today finds me working on improving my rain catchment system. You might remember I put gutters on each side of the bimini with the idea that the rain would run of the bimini into them,”wrong”. It seems when the wind blows the flaps on the bimini fly out beyond the gutters.

  I believe I have solved this problem by installing a twist lock like what is used on a sail cover on the inboard edge of the gutter that I can now lock the flap down to, and it looks kike it should work just fine. I should mention that it has not rained one single drop on this passage yet and with all the water I have been drinking out of my limited supply there is little twinge of anxiety kicking in once and awhile.

  It seems pretty amazing that just after 3-days of no “drinky-drinky”,cookies,chips, and candy I can already tell I’m slimming down. I’m pretty sure our speed and distance made good will also improve with “El Capitan Slender” aboard.

  Today was a wrap on the antibiotics, so will give my system 3-days to flush out before I start the next phases of treatments.

                            “Where there is no doctor”, there is the jefe’

Day-12

  Pos. Lat. 16*19’N. Long. 129*34′ W.

  24hr.Run=141nm.

  Weather: Wind 10-15kts NE. Seas 5-6ft. NE. Bar.=1010mb. Cabin Temp=78*

The Rest of the Story.

  Day -12 is our best mileage day so far with 141nm. I had also hoped that after our 11th-day we would b 33% complete on the trip, and that has not happened do to lighter winds than anticipated making good on only 28% of the distance. I feel a sliver of hope now that captain “slender” is coming aboard that the old Sailors Run is starting to “turn and burn”. we shall see.

  It was 6:30 am. when I noticed a ship easing onto the A.I.S. screen. It was the Libra Voyager a super tanker 330 meters long and 60-meters wide with a draft of over 21-meters, now that is one humongous new neighbor to approach within 15 nm of you.

  The ships destination was “Nimbo” I’m not quite sure where that is.

  My first instinct was to contact the ship and see if possibly “Nimbo” was one of the lost cities and, when they got to “Nimbo” if they could keep a sharp eye out for any “Tribes” that appeared to be lost.

  Then I thought better of it as it would be highly unlikely that a lost city would have adequate bank connections to order up a “Zillion” gallons of bulk oil.

                        Just enjoying the sail the Jefe’

Day-7

Pos. Lat N. 17*24′. Long. W. 120*02′.

24 hr. run=135nm.

Weather: Wind 8-14 kts. NNW. Seas N. 4-5 ft. Bar. 1011 mb. Cabin Temp.=76*

The Rest of the Story:

   Well, the first week is behind us and very little has broken and we have been able to make decent progress with my only regret being that we missed our 1000 nm. a week objective. We were close so possibly next week we can pick up the slack.

  I’m some what concerned about the light conditions as that leaves me with copious amounts of time to do a “dangerous amount” of thinking.

  I was pretty amazed today when I realized that I had not had a drink in 3-days and this now the forth one. I found my self questioning “what in the hell am I doing out here”.

  Soon the craziest of problems was handled, and the sky’s turned blue filling with trade wind clouds, the seas are now “Cobalt Blue”, and the winds are picking up, and I’m back to where I was going.

  Dinner was an experiment, I put a can of mushroom soup and a can of baby clams into a pot with a can of milk and I was pretty pleased at how well that all tasted.

  Seen my first ship in quite awhile it was a 190-meter tanker and it came within 12 NM. of the Sailors Run. I guess you never know when new folks are coming to the neighbor hood.

                  Souping it up in the trades. The Jefe’

Day-8

  24hr,run=135nm.

  Position Lat. N. 17*02′ W. 122*01′.

  Weather: Wind 8-14kts. NE. Seas. 4ft. NE. Bar.= 1008mb. Cabin Temp.=77*

The Rest of the Story.

  The sailing on Day-8 was much like day-7 nice and easy the only thing being different is I gybed over onto the Port tack for the first time to get a bit further south as there appears to be a dead spot coming up after another day, and we are trying to skirt that.

  I seem to be feeling better day by day and spent more time up on deck taking in nature at it’s best. Seen a large pod of dolphins and they were quite large and appeared very healthy. There seems to be lots of fish in the area as I watched a school of flying fish take to the air appearing to fly from the mouth’s of the large school of fish that were pursuing them. The escape flight however was to no avail as when they attempted to reenter the sea, I could see the mouths of many large fish having lunch.

  It was on a look top-sides at midnight that I gazed up in to a coal black, crystal clear night sky, and the star-filled Heavens nearly took my breath away. The Vision was mesmerizing as it looked like I could no doubt reach them from the top of the mast. There were also a few meteors about and on a later trip up I glanced to the South into the night sky and there was the constellation of the “Southern Cross” just above the horizon.

                              Enjoying the ride across the Pacific, the Jefe’.

Day-9.

  24hr. run=129nm.

  Position Lat. N. 16*44′. lONG. W. 123* 51′.

  Weather: Wind=7-14kts. NE. Seas=3-4ft. NE. Bar =1009mb. Cabin temp =77*.

The Rest of the Story.

   This am. finds Sailors Run reaching along nicely on a starboard reach. [wind coming in over the stern on the starboard quarter]

  Noon, I gybe to the port reach taking us on a more southerly course in search of stronger winds, and avoiding an area ahead of me with almost no wind.

  Now over 1200 miles of the Mexican coast I can at last share with you the purposes of this voyage and they are many,

      1. One of “discovery”.

      2. Full-filling my “passion” for off shore sailing.

      3. Searching for the “Lost Tribes”. I have some concerns on this one as I don’t know just how many were lost, or there names, or “Who” lost them.

      4. Finding the five “lost Cities”. This is also troubling as I only know the name of one and it was Atlantis which was also a continent and at this point I’m hoping the other 4-cities are on the same continent.

      5. If “Rocket Man” lights one off and it goes overhead going your way I’m to give you a “heads up”.

      6. One of self healing. I believe that my time rich environment, and well stocked medical library, have brought me to the discovery that I have developed “senior diabetes”

I seem to be exhibiting 10 of the 8 symptoms such as cotton mouth, frequent urination,and urinating allot.

  I have found that by eliminating alcohol, all sugar possible and eating primarily protein and vegetables many of the symptoms are going away.

  I have also noticed improvement in my vision, hearing, and overall energy level. This is a pretty cool discovery and a perfect environment to work with it in.

                          On watch in the Pacific.

                                      The jefe’

Day-4

  Pos. Lat. N 17*31′ Long. W 113* 35′.

  24 hr. Run= 128 nm.

  Weather Wind 5-15kts. N. Seas-3 ft. N. Bar.=1008 mb. Cabin Temp.=74*

The Rest of the Story:

  One thing is for sure I still feel like “crap” this am, but what is one to do as life goes on and there is no “sick leave” for the captain or crew. The one thing I have done is opted to start antibiotics knowing full well they will have no effect on the cold virus. I just can’t afford the complications of some other infection that could come out of this.

  Today the winds seem a little steadier and have started out stronger earlier a good sign I hope.

  The area that I’m now sailing through has been devoid of vessel traffic since last having the close encounter with the fishing vessel, a good thing as I’m down more now getting much needed rest.

  Along towards evening I actually start feeling better and the nasal drip thing has slowed way down.

  Near the end of this 24-hr. period I find myself brewing coffee at 4-am and the truly amazing thing is I can actually smell it.

  Now the wind has dropped to a new low of about 5-knots and this sets off a whole chain of events,and the wind vane lacks the wind strength to continue steering the boat so the electronic auto pilot is turned on and this requires more energy.

   I look up at my wind generator and of course it is doing nothing, the solar panels the same thing as it is still dark. I go below and check the state of the batteries voltage on the meter and their looking pretty flat. I look over my shoulder at the 2-KW Honda Generator lashed in under the table in the main cabin. Unleashing it and dragging the thing up the steps out the companion way some how seems just a little harder today, but after securing it in the cockpit and a couple of pulls on the pull cord it sputters to life, and I actually thought I heard the batteries say”thanks”.

                            Slowly crawling across the Pacific the Jefe’

Day-5

  Pos. Lat. N 17*32′ Long. W 115*41′.

  24hr. Run=138 nm.

  Weather: Wind 5-16 kts. N  Seas 2-4ft. N. Bar=1008 mb. Cabin Temp.77*

The Rest of the Story.

  Hmmm! This day starts out like another snorer. Wind 8-kts. on the beam until about 4pm when suddenly the wind jumps up to 16 kts and we take off at 7+ knots and I hear the wind generator come to life cranking out over 20-amps. Needless to say the Honda Generator goes back inside. The sun has also burned its way through the clouds and the solar panels are doing well all 420-watts of them.

  We are sailing about 50 miles south of Clarion Island and I’m surprised at not seeing more birds around. Possibly they are not here because neither are the fish.

  I’m waiting to fish until I have eaten my way half way through the meat in the freezer. Out here the fish are usually large and i don’t want any to be wasted.

  I must share that sometimes it is lonely when far out at sea, and this time seems especially so since I had just spent a month with Debbie having a “Blast” in Mexico.

  Now just know that the Jefe’s wheels are turning, and it might not be to long before I can release “The Perfect World as Seen by the Jefe’ Hmmm!!

                                            Lonesome on Patrol in the Pacific.

                                              The Jefe’

Day-6:

  Pos, Lat. N. 17* 36′. Long. W. 117* 48′.

  24hr. Run=124 nm.

  Weather: Wind 8-12kts NW. Seas 3-4ft. N. Bar.=1010mb. Cabin Temp.=76*.

The Rest of the Story.

  Day-6 now goes in the record books as the least miles sailed so far on the trip. Today the winds were steady but lighter over all, lacking the punch to get us charging along to say the least.

  I feel better today and my energy is coming back making the routine tasks of reefing, cooking and grinding much easier to accomplish. Still no vessel traffic although I did pick one ship up on A.I.S. that was over 180 NM. away, now that’s what I call seeing down the road.

  “The Perfect world as seen by the Jefe'”.

      [Where no one ever grows old.]

How it all works!

  1. Everybody gets a sailboat for their 16th birthday.[Somehow}

  2. All prevailing working wages will be paid in “Rum”.

  3. You will not be allowed to work while “Drunk”.

  4. You don’t have to work when “Hung Over”.

  5. If you are unable to work for any reason, you will be awarded the “Sailors Drinking Disability”. This inturn qualifies you for the ” Sailors Credit Card” with no payments attached which will after all allow you to get the much needed “Rum”.

  6. You will absolutely not be allowed to drink and drive, but in “A Jefe’ perfect world” you will always be allowed to “drink and sail”, for the following obvious reasons: low speeds, wide corners, and after all you are not operating “dangerous whirling machinery”.

  7.If for some reason you are no longer able to drink the rum, Most likely “Alcohol poisoning” that somehow resulted in your “death”. You can be rest assured that the “Perfect world” as seen by the Jefe’ will continue on, as your sailboat and any left over “Rum” will be passed on to the very next person to turn “16”.

                            Out here sailing the “Rum” line.

                                  The Jefe’

Total miles sailed so Far= 407nm.

Day-1

  24hr.run=130 nm.

Pos. Lat. N 18*49′ Long. W 106*98′

  Weather: Wind 0-25kts. NW. Sea State-NW-5-8ft. Barometer 1008mb. Cabin Temp=76*

The Rest of the Story:

  Departed Barra De Navidad for the Marshall Islands at 8:30 am and with the good blessings of the wind God’s We will hopefully arrive in 33-days. Please remember when I refer to “We” it is the Jefe’ and Sailors Run. So it appears to me that we should arrive on the 33rd or 34th of March. Now as you well know strange things happen on these adventures.

  Getting underway on any sail boat takes lots of preparation and there are always those last minute things like taking all anchors off the bow and stowing them below. This helps the bow to ride up better when heading into head winds and steep seas, something that I truly hope not to see much of on this adventure.

  I motor sailed out onto the turbid green waters off the coast of Mexico and was not to surprised to see a very large “Green Sea Turtle”.

  It was a long 7.5 hrs before I was able to turn the motor off and turn the steering over to the very efficient Monitor wind vane. Soon Our 4-kt speeds were up over 6kts and my world had some all come together once again.

  I have decided that one drink a day should serve me well and there shall be no exceptions to that rule unless the “Captain” should deem it necessary and the remainder of the crew were also in agreement.

  Good news from the editing department on my up coming book “Patches” the story of the around the world solo via the five great capes. It is totally edited by the first and second editors whom I owe a great deal of gratitude and the book should be available to all by mid summer. I will get out a special email at that time or just check on my blog site at www.sailorsrun.com.

Day-2

  24 hr. run=138 nm.

Pos. Lat. 18*23′ N Long. 109*08′ W

  Weather: Wind NNW at 7-15kts. Seas-3 ft.NW. Barometer 1011 mb. Cabin  Temp-76*

The Rest of the Story.

  The winds stay light much of the day then increased over night and all our miles on this day were sailing miles. The conditions are wonderful and the shipping traffic is disappearing thankfully as this weary sailors is thinking about catching a few “winks”.

  The seas are now a light blue as we venture deeper into the Pacific. This all brings to mind a wonderful dream I had some 40 -years ago about having a magic carpet and all I had to do was stand on it and it took me where my mind willed it to go. It seems to me that sailing off to foreign lands aboard the Sailors Run is not so very much different.

  I had pre-cooked three chicken breasts before putting to sea, just to help keeping me nourished those first three days a little bit easier. I had a chicken salad the first night out then cubed one up and threw it in a pot with some Top Ramon soup and a can of peas that caused it to become so much food it will last for two meals.

  I did see one ship on that first night out that came within 3-miles of me and was transmitting no AIS signal and that seemed a little strange. AIS is a collision avoidance system that all ships are to use and many yachts also have the same system, for me it is very comforting.

  I awoke at 5-am this morning after 1.5 hrs of sleep and glanced up at the A.I.S. unit and felt comforted to see no ships on the screen. Reluctantly I crawled from my berth and on the way to check the radar screen I was “shocked” to see lights out a port hole on my port side. Sure enough on the radar screen there was a vessel 1.5 miles away and headed towards me. I jumped out into the cockpit and determined that the vessel was a large commercial fishing boat headed at my port beam. I also determined that our courses would take us clear of each other as I was sailing at 6-knots and he was soon to pass astern of me.

  Oh heck, I should have just stayed in my berth[wrong] next time it will be much easier to crawl out after that close call.

  The only other thing that happened noteworthy on this day was the steering drum for the wind vane broke free of the wheel spokes when two of the three hose clamps that hold it on failed. Soon I had the electronic below decks auto pilot steering and took the wheel below to replace the hose clamps. It wasn’t but twenty minutes later the monitor was back effortlessly steering Sailors Run along her course line using the wind and drawing no energy from the battery banks.

                                            Sleep or not to sleep the Jefe’

Day-3

  24hr. Run=139nm.

  Pos. Lat. N 17*50′ Long. W 111*25′

  Weather: Wind N at 7-15kts. Seas N. at 4 ft. Bar.1010mb. Cabin temp=78*

The Rest of the Story.

  The close encounter with the fishing boat last night gave me the perfect opportunity to site in my new radar that thus far has not been done. The 1-5 mile range of the boat made it a perfect target and after about 15-minutes I felt much better about the accuracy of the position of objects that show up on the screen.

  This afternoon I started to not feel my energetic self and soon my eyes were watering and I was sneezing with a nose that started leaking like a faucet with a bad seal in it. Normally at sea you will never get sick unless you bring something with you. Oh well, I just have to remember to put an extra wrap on the winch so the lines don’t slip from the stuff leaking from my nose.

  My fingers are crossed that by tomorrow Sailors Run will be “hauling ass” and pounding out some serious miles, but for now I’m content just to rest and get well again.

  Last night I sailed below the Socorro Islands and had four Boobie Birds take up residence on the bow pulpit for the night. I thought about shooing them off but was afraid then they would land on the top of one of the two masts breaking my wind-x and using me for target practice.

                                            One snotty sailor just hanging in there.

   Wow! Can you believe it?  Once again the time has come to embark on yet another great adventure. I must admit the last one nearly killed me, but somehow I think this new one will be a piece of “cake” hmmmmmm.

  The plan is to sail to Kauai, Hawaii one of my most favorite Hawaiian Islands. I will depart on the first of March and barring any unforeseen disasters I should arrive within about 23-days as the distance is about 3,200nm from Barra De Navidad, Mexico.

  Sailors Run is in top shape once again after much work and money with all things operational with the exception of the water maker who’s transmission recently give it up and I have elected to be more aggressive at collecting rain water off of my new Bimini that has a rain gutter on each side.

  The combined area of the mizzen sail and the Bimini should end up producing lots of water where I plan to be sailing in the near future. I think Kauai is one of the wettest places on earth.

  After a short stay in Kauai Sailors Run and I will next venture out to the Marshall Islands to Majuro another 2,000nm to the SW where I hope to spend a year or two exploring the outer atolls.

  I had a wonderful month with my wife Debbie here in Mexico and she is thinking of doing something similar in the Marshall Islands.

  I will keep you all updated with reports each three days while on passage. If anyone wants to be removed from the list of Amigos or added please let me know.

  Also remember when responding to an email please do not HIT REPLY as it sends the whole adventure back to me via a slow email connection

.

  I must admit it’s always the last few days before jumping off that my adrenalin starts to flow and the excitement builds within me. I can still say there is nothing else I would sooner be doing than venturing far out to sea once again.

  Whoops-awe -shit!! Can you believe it?  I just talked to several of my friends that cruised out of the Hawaiian Islands and they informed me that Kauai does not have a complete immigration service.

  Wow, this spells trouble for the Jefe’. Trouble many times can be avoided by compromise, sometimes small sometimes large.

  The problem here being I must clear in at a different island before Kauai, that in itself’s not to bad but when I eventually want to leave Kauai I must now sail 100 nm into the trades to get a Zarpa in Oahu for the Marshall Islands.

  Now having been a lineman working with electricity much of my life I have found that electricity follows the path of least resistance as I have decided to do and will give Hawaii a pass. I will miss not seeing my friends, but the Marshall Islands are  after all my ultimate goal and what is 2,000 extra miles when you are sailing downwind in the trades anyway?

   Standby and possibly we might all learn something from the Jefe’s next great adventure.

                      Love you Amigo’s- The Jefe’