Sailors Run’s 5-Star Day 5/17/2014

Every once in awhile it just happens you have a great day and May-17th was just such a day. Now that’s not to say that the days leading up to the 17th were nearly so shiny.

I had been in San Francisco with my son Daniel for the past ten days trying to finalize the book, ”Cape Horn: Ahead or Behind Forever on My Mind.” Dan had figured 4-hard days more of work and the book would be finalized. “Wrong”, the 4-days had soon turned into ten and one of them involved me being on the computer for 18+hrs. We had trouble with my computer and decided to buy a new one. Buying the new computer was a total waste of time as the new windows -8 program would not stay connected to the internet as the program wanted a new 150-dollar router. Dan & I made three trips to the store exchanging computers thinking we would get this issue resolved and never did.

Dan somehow supped up the old computer so it would operate at about 5 times the speed it had been operating at. Once operational we spent those ten-days either in his office on his 65-foot sailboat or at several different libraries to get the book wrapped up.

The 5-star day happened when we drove from San Francisco to Gig Harbor, Washington where he has a home. The first thing that happened was we got free coffee at Star Bucks because we had to wait for them to make new coffee. When we turned on our computers, after arriving in Gig Harbor, suddenly we realized all our effort had paid off as the Book was now available on Amazon.com and also the Kindle Version was out.

Now after over two- years of putting together, writing and rewriting, editing and reediting by Debbie, Candace our first editor, myself and Daniel its available for all of you to get your hands on.

Cover   I’m sure you are all going to love this epic adventure and here is the best way to get it. Use one of the following link:

Paperback book

http://www.amazon.com/Cape-Horn-Behind-Forever-Around/dp/1499535597/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400428149&sr=1-15&keywords=cape+horn

Kindle Version

http://www.amazon.com/Cape-Horn-Behind-Forever-Around-ebook/dp/B00KEMAIN8/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400428223&sr=1-3&keywords=cape+horn+southern+ocean

Some other great news, we are up and live in the blogosphere and will be frequently adding post and pictures (not previously an option with my adventure update platform) to our new site. You can find us and follow us much more closely now by visiting us at: www.sailorsrun.com.

Please remember not only are you going to have an exciting fun read with photos; you will also be helping fund the next epic adventure “Around the world nonstop, solo, sailing south of the five great capes”.

Also it would be a great help to me if you could please take the time to rate the book at Amazon.com expressing what you enjoyed most about the book and rating it 1-5 stars.

Making this book a reality has been a long journey and I can’t express my gratitude enough for all you guys have done to support me along the way. From the little well wishes of good luck, to the hang in theirs, to the big butt saving favors it really means a lot and doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. So from the bottom of our hearts, Thank You!

Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie

Old Technology Prevails Over New Technology 5-9-2014

New tech photoI have to admit that I’m a late bloomer to the computer age, but putting that aside I decided to take a quantum leap into the future.  So I decide my windows 98 program has to go and lets have that windows #8.

I slipped down to the local Best Buy snapping up the obvious Best Buy a HP computer running windows-8 at the alarmingly low price of  329$.I was now feeling smug and proud of this great cruiser friendly price and my quantum leap ahead into the new technology. My son Dan and I headed back to his 65 ft yacht on San Francisco Bay to forge ahead on the new blog site.

Oh yes I was concerned about using the new #8 program but with my sons help was sure it would all be “Golden”. Wrong; it seems windows 8 would not stay connected to the internet on his older router. Our first thought was that we had gotten a lemon by mistake and thoughts of an Apple were dancing through my head.

Once back at Best Buy we were comforted by the fine service and we came away with computer #2 feeling that at last we could forge ahead. “Wrong” as this one was no different; refusing to stay hooked up once again. On this one we even read the instructions and called on tech-support for both the router and the new computer. The end result was we needed to upgrade the router for about 150$ which wasn’t in the budget so back we went to Best Buy To get a full refund on computer # 2 which they were very accommodating about.

Once back on the yacht my son Dan opened up my old Toshiba computer and made some adjustments that got it flying along on the internet as good as if not better than the new computer and its unfriendly to routers #8 program, and I came away feeling like I had just made 425 dollars.

Your Amigos Jeff& Debbie

Sailors Run’s Medical Emergency – 5-1-2014

Debbie and I had been just enjoying the heck out of all the wonderful attributes of Santiago bay as the days just seemed to be slipping away. Santiago is not just a great anchorage but has one of the best beaches in all of Mexico. Shopping for provisions is easy as there are great stores like Mega, Commercial and WalMart just a short bus ride away, and if you purchase a lot you can get a taxi right to your dinghy.

We had one very scary night here when at about midnight I thought I was having the “Big One”. Debbie was pretty animated as she tried to get help on the radio. All I knew is that I had a huge pain in my chest and could hardly breathe. After chewing some aspirin we climb into the dinghy and went to a friend’s boat who was a vet. She, armed with her stethoscope decided that she could not hear my heart or feel a pulse??? Her husband said he didn’t think it was a heart attack as I was doing too well.

Debbie and I piled back in the Dinghy and headed for shore going to find a cab to get us to the hospital. Dragging the dingy ashore was no easy task in my condition even with Debbie being all fired up. Debbie runs down the beach and starts yelling at this house that has lights on and there are about 6-people in plain sight, four guys and two girls. They stare out there wall of windows at us like several “aliens” had just arrived at there fenced in yard. Immediately they sprang into action as all four guys grabbed cell phones and disappeared out of site leaving the two girls sitting at the table alone. Soon the four guys came back and tried to hear what we were saying through the glass. Finally they understood we needed a cab and called one, and then they even tried to come out but could not unlock the door. Eventually a fifth guy shows up with a key and opens the door. We had been standing out there for about 15-minutes at that point.

Finally they lead us through the house as they say the cab has arrived, but not really, they actually lead us to the security guard that they had called. Debbie explained that I was having a heart attack and wanted to go to the hospital; at that point our hosts offered up water and said the cab would be there soon.

Once in the cab we got the hospital ride you might expect when you are having a heart attack, for just 6 dollars he flashed the lights and ran every red light at excessive speed all the way there. I wasn’t sure if the heart attack would kill me before the cab driver did; it was obviously going to be close.

We lucked out at the hospital, it being a very small one, as the cardiologist had been summoned for an earlier heart patient and was still there and seen me right away. They gave me an EKG, and x-rayed my chest as I was complaining that my left side was giving me great pain as I tried to breath. The doctor reviewed the x-ray and EKG; he also checked the oxygen level in my blood and found it to be very high which was good. He took my blood pressure and it was a little elevated but fine under the pain I was experiencing.

Bottom line the Doctor said no Heart or lung issues and believes it is pulled muscles in the ribs and mentioned that I had some arthritis going on with my skeletal joints like most everyone else.

The good news is the whole hospital visit only cost about $58-dollars. We called the same cab for the ride home and he drove very civil this time.

It was now 3:30 am and launching the dinghy said it all, as I tried to lift it once again the pain became so intense in my chest that I had to turn loose of the dinghy;poor Debbie had to drag the dinghy to the water by herself and I yanked the outboard to life with a great deal of pain and was barely able to breath the rest of the way back to the boat.

Over the next couple of days I started to once again breathe deeply without pain and within about five days was back to running once again.

A couple of things we learned from this, is to keep our vhf radio on at night as you never know when you or someone else might need help, and when you plan to stay in an area for awhile it’s good to get a phone number to call if you do have such an emergency.

Debbie and I had a rather uneventful three day passage back up to Mazatlan from Barra De Navidad, as the winds were light and we had to motor sail all of it except about 10-hrs when the winds piped up a little.

Now I will fly to San Francisco to see my son then on up to Washington to be with the rest of family and friends. Debbie is going first to New Mexico to see family and friends then up to Washington to visit more family and friends.

I should be back on Sailors Run by June, 3rd. and will head up into the Sea of Cortez for the summer. Debbie will rejoin me in November in Mexico to work our way south once again.

The book “Cape Horn Ahead or Behind Forever on My Mind” by Jeff Hartjoy will be available soon and I will let you know once that happens.

My projects have all taken on much more meaning as the upcoming “Solo Non Stop Circumnavigation” steadily draws nearer. So far the main boom is being rebuilt and several chain plates have been pulled for replacement. I also replaced the steering cables and they needed it.

Well that’s it for now and I would like to mention that if anyone is receiving these emails and would like not to please just let me know and we will take you off the list?

Please remember when responding to this email please don’t hit reply as it sends the entire adventure back through our rather slow long range radio connection.

Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie

Sailors Run on the hook in Santiago Bay, Manzanillo 2-1-2014  

This is just a quick update on the three hundred plus boats that were being held in several of the Marinas by the Mexican-IRS. It seems that now many of the boats have been released as they had committed no foul and are now free to move about Mexico. There are still 100 boats being held at this time

Debbie and I spent over a month in Barra de Navidad and enjoyed the time there very much, watching The Super bowl, especially since our SeaHawks from Washington State won it. It was an exciting time sharing it with many local friends we have met, especially at the restaurant-Abuela’s where Deb got involved with a Kindergarten fundraiser to help build a new wall, as the old one fell down & the kids cannot go out & play. The school had the children dance Mexican style & the teachers made a menu of many wonderful dishes. We also established a one hour work out program on the roads that run through the 27-hole world class golf course. We jogged and walked the 5- mile course daily and both made good headway on kicking our “butts” back into shape.[not an easy thing to do at our age].

Ice Cream Amyone!While here in Santiago on the hook we are enjoying the beautiful beaches, sitting under the umbrellas at the Palapas, now having met a great couple from Colorado, who own a restaurant in La Junta, called Hogsbreath Saloon.

One day while at one of the beach bars, Deb  had 2 margaritas, they said their drinks were to die for!! Well, seems one of the drinks was drugged as Deb started acting drunk with slurred speech after only 1 drink, we had to eventually carry her back to the dinghy thru the surf and back out to the boat, which she doesn’t even remember. She later came to and became deathly sick as well, the next day we went to talk to the owner to let them know what had happened. The owner said he was gone that day and was truly sorry that it happened but had no idea who might have done it or why. I suggested possibly someone was trying out his date rape medicine to see how effective it was????

SO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON WHO IS SERVING YOUR DRINKS!!

NOW, I have also come up with my next great adventure that I will share with you now. I believe I have used sober judgment in deciding to do this; however there are not too many of those days available to me anymore. HA-HA!!.

Large waves brushing across our stern.It is with sound mind and great prudence that I have decided to take on a SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE WORLD-NON-STOP- West to East taking all 5-great capes to Port. This adventure will require some upgrades to Sailors Run and over a year to get the boat in position to do it. The Plan is to Circumnavigate from Bahia Caraquez, Ecuador West to East and returning there some 5-months later. The intended starting date is November -1-2015. This will give me time to ready the boat and ”live a little longer”.

Yes I’m getting a little older now nearly 68 but I feel “F’N Great”. So why not??? I have finished my first book “The Horn: Ahead or Behind, Forever on My Mind”. It should be published within the next 30-days, and I will let you know the source where it will be available at.

Debbie and our cruising life is undergoing changes, ”All Good I Think.  She has given me 15 great years of fun cruising together and there is no more I can ask of her. “But I Might “!!!

“Debbie’s nesting Instincts” are kicking in and her need to be around the grand kids and be a bigger part of their life is real. I must try to understand and I will.

The new plan is Debbie plans to spend 6-months with family and grand kids and 6-months with me. I plan to continue doing what I truly love “Sailing”.

The really tough part for us is we can comfortably afford to live our lives out together on the boat. Now it would appear that we must get creative and get Debbie a Condo Ashore and all that comes with it.

I plan to develop a blog site where all my friends can ride along with me on that solo circumnavigation which should really be exciting as you can live the adventure real time as it happens. I will also do something that I never before would have considered. I will make it a monetary site where anyone that might wish to contribute financially to the adventure and my life style will have the opportunity. Please understand that this is not necessary but if you have the desire it will be greatly appreciated and help enable the “Dream to stay alive”.

Debbie and I will fly home in early May to be with family and friends and hope to see some of you then.

Debbie will stay in the U.S and I will return to spend six months in the Sea of Cortez trying not to get too Roasted over the summer. As always I will keep you all posted as to what is going on with us.

Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013 FROM SAILORS RUN!! 12-1-2013

12-1-2013 Christmas on Sailors RunDebbie and I want to wish all our family and friends the best through the Christmas season and we hope you all get lots of what you want.  As for us we are hanging on the hook in Chamela a magical place here in Mexico, as the song goes by Jimmy Buffett” A Sailors spends his Christmas in a Harbor on the hook :

Debbie and I returned to Mexico after seven years and wondered how the country and people might have changed. To sum it up in a few words “It’s All Good”.

After a fast sail across the Sea of Cortez we landed in Marina Mazatlan for a full month. The Marina itself has changed little and the prices are reasonable. The thing that has really changed is the number of restaurants in the immediate area of the Marina, they number-5 with a great variety of food and reasonable prices. We were totally blown away with “Christies the new sports bar where they have -20 TVs to watch the games on and a happy hour that lasts from 11am-6pm, where you can buy 12 oz mugs of Negro Modelo beer for just 6-pesos or about 60-cents US. It was a good thing the beer was cheap as they struggled to produce anything good to eat, with the exception of the supreme chicken nachos that were quite good. There is a first class mall with a 16-plex theater where the movies on Wednesday are just 2-dollars per person also within walking distance is a Wall Mart all of which makes Marina Mazatlan a great place to stop.

There has been a lot of concern about safety in Mazatlan, but as far as we could see it is really very safe and for anyone that wants to commit a crime Mazatlan is not the place, as there are police and military everywhere and they are heavily armed. We were in a bank and there were armed guards both inside and out and every military person that entered the bank to do business was “packing”, and guess what no one was concerned nor did anyone get shot. “Huh Imagine that”!!!

The cruise ships are once again returning to Mazatlan after avoiding the place for several years.

Debbie took line dancing lessons three times a week and we trained and ran a 5-k race that was ran as part of the Mazatlan Marathon, a world class event where one million dollars is paid to anyone that can break the Mazatlan record time. This year the Kenyans came one- two- three but could not beat the record.

We watched the best fireworks display we have ever seen on the Malecon (a walkway along the beach in the city) where they were set off from seven different locations all about 100-yrds apart. We were within 50-feet of one of the launch sites, “Scary” at times. They actually had fireworks that shot up then came down and entered the ocean then immediately shot back up into the night sky as we all looked on in disbelief, they even went as far as 3 miles high, lasting a good30 minutes. A must to see if in Mazatlan

We enjoyed the wonderful company of old friends as well as many new ones and the month flew by. Soon it was time to sail south to Puerto Vallarta where we stayed just over a week and once again had an amazing visit with many of our old friends in La Cruz. One very special day was our visit to Lupe’s magical place Los Arroyos Verdes. The hotel grounds are Botanical Gardens the likes of which we have never seen. The site is 25-acres of Gardens and art works that are world class. Lupe’s home defies description, you would have to be there to try and drink it all in. Lupe is a sailing friend from 1999 and she owned the Guadalajara water company and has invested heavily in this remarkable Shangri-La. The band played from an Island in the middle of a huge swimming pool. You can stay there for 1200-1500 dollars a month all utilities included or if you want buy one of her Condos for 250k. We just enjoyed one fabulous day trying to soak it all in.

The Christmas Tree decorating party at Casa Lori owned by Russell & Lori was a fun time meeting new friends as well as the seeing the ones we met 15yrs ago, Debbie again sang a beautiful Christmas song that had us all in tears.

Just a quick note; it appears that the Mexican government is cracking down on boats that do not have current temporary import permits. Not only must you have the permit but if you have your boat in a marina the Marina must have a copy on file. So far they have impounded 338 yachts. One of these yachts is Profligate belonging to the owners of Latitude 38. We are unsure how this will all turn out but it sounds like it may be 3-months before the government will release these boats after the owners have paid restitution.

We will spend about 5 days here in Chamela then sail further south to Barra De Navidad where we will spend a month on the hook.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year,your Amigos Jeff& Debbie

Sailors Run’s Americas Cup Experience. 9-1-2013

The new hard dodger was on and looking great and Debbie had returned from her visit with family, friends and grand kids. We had planned to sail south straight away but with moorage costs on the rise we decided to take up anchorage off Sausalito and enjoy The Americas Cup that was now happening right of our stern.

As mono hull sailors our desire to get excited about catamaran’s going at it for the cup was slightly tainted. The fact that Team Oracle had been penalized two races meaning they had to win 11 to retain the cup against the very strong Kiwi team was looking somewhat like a lose-lose  scenario. Now as far as corporate America funding Oracle through Larry Ellison and The Kiwis funded by the Arabs and the four million Kiwi tax payers made little difference to us after all racing is about winning. Granted there was but two Americans on the American boat and one of them was going to be pulled based upon questionable tactical calls during several of the earlier races.

Debbie and I were fortunate to be able to view several of the races from a friends of ours, Catamaran owned by Paddy and Queeny. On one such occasion team Oracle was hanging out near us prior to the start of a race when suddenly they trimmed in that all “Powerful” wing sail and went from a dead stand still to about 20-knots as they accelerated  past us missing us by a mere three feet. All of us on the Cat were in shock and awe as to where sailing has gone in the past six years. We seen these high bread foiling racing machines hit 58 mph in about 20-knots of breeze; now if you don’t think that is exciting I’m not sure where your senses are. We spent many days walking across the Golden gate bridge from Sausalito  to a  favored viewing spot up above the starting line on the south side of the bridge; we made that hike no less than 8 times and it was 6-miles each way; sometimes we rode the bus back.

In our crowd of American fans with our American flags flying & being one of the people who had the VHF radio to listen to the race, we met  a Kiwi who now resides in California & who is a well known solo Transpac multi hull sailor-Peter Hogg, Debbie kept telling him he could partake of our Champagne after Team U.S.A  won, he imbibed with us a toast  to team Oracle; all in good fun.

Many people watched as Team Oracle with the “Cocky” Australian Spithill as skipper pull off the greatest comeback in History; being down 8 to 1 and the Kiwis needing but one more win to take the cup away, Spithill sailed on with his mighty crew to take 8 straight  races and retained the cup as well as the hearts of many cheering Americans; many that never even knew what a sailboat was until they just happened to glance out on the race course and seen two boats come screaming at each other each doing forty knots for a dangerously close pass, and suddenly became immediate fans of the sport. Yes, even the news media woke up to the fact that sailing had become truly exciting.

Debbie and I became great fans of the Australian skipper Spithill when listening to a news broadcasters interview after a  huge loss for Team Oracle. When Spithill was asked what happened out there; he simply stated well “Mate” one day you are the “Rooster and the next a feather duster”!. The skipper never seemed to give up on the idea of winning and I think we all could benefit from some of that faith. Deb and I sailed south to Half moon bay then on to Morro Bay where we were greeted by long time friends Patrick and Lindy of the sailing vessel Laughter. Our time there was just a few days but with the help of our friends we were able to do a nice Costco re provisioning for Sailors Run and had a great visit. Thanks Patrick & Lindy!!

We are currently anchored at Cat Harbor on Catalina Island for Buccaneer (pirate )Days. We are being blasted by some Santa Anna winds gusting to 30 plus knots in the anchorage. Last night we got involved in the rescue of a 60 ft ketch that drug out of the harbor while the crew was on the shore sharing in the fun . Debbie spotted the boat begin to drag and I hopped in the dinghy and went to the boat verifying no one was on board and seeing that it was floating out of the harbor clear of all obstructions and I also realized that alone there was no way to pull the boat back and get it anchored again in the darkness in an overcrowded anchorage so did the next best thing went in search of the owners who had a small three year old girl with them. I notified the coast guard and harbor master and they responded by going out to retrieve the drifting vessel. I never found the owners but when I returned to our boat Debbie was babysitting the small girl “Helen” and Debbie had pointed the parents  in the direction of their departing boat.

Soon the large replica of Irving Johnsons Yankee came powering back into the Harbor with two very lucky owners onboard and the harbor patrol that had taken the drifting vessel into tow were now guiding them to a much needed sanctuary of one of their moorings. We reunited the daughter with her much relieved parents and the drama was over. “We all get by with a little help from our friends”.

It now only cools to 70* at night a most comfortable temperature  as Debbie and I are enjoying the heat, were now heading south  to San Diego get ready for the Baja Ha Ha Race.

Thinking Of you, You’re Amigos Jeff & Debbie

Sailors Run’s Passage from Kauai to San Francisco 6-30-2013

The Stats: Day-1 24hr. Run= 171NM. Pos.=Lat. 24*49’N. Long.159*04’W.  A sunny day with wind from ENE at 25kts. Seas 10-12ft. from  the east. Course sailed 005*-045*T Day-2 24hr.Run=142NM. Pos.=Lat. 26*44’N.  Long. 157*43’W. Sunny day wind from east 10-15kts. Seas from east at 6ft. Course sailed 010*-050*T Day-3 24hr.Run=129NM. Pos.=Lat.28*40’N. Long.156*57’W. Sunny Day wind from ESE at 8-12kts. Seas from east at 5ft. Course sailed 015*-043*T The rest of the story. Debbie and I survived our 8-mile race here on Kauai and the celebration that followed, neither of which was easy. The anchorage here at Hanalei had been unusually flat for the past week and only just recently had the trade winds intensified. The morning of our first day Debbie and I waved goodbye to our friends Thor and Tanya,Tristan & Sienna who were staying aboard their trimaran and our friends Alvin and Sally aboard their 27′ Vancouver sailboat. Saying goodbye, is very difficult for Debbie as she just doesn’t want to do it. Now me on the other hand  I had an ocean passage to look forward to something I truly enjoy. Debbie steered Sailors Run into the wind under reefed mizzen as I stowed the 60lb. CQR anchor aft taking some weight off the bow knowing that most of this trip was going to be against the wind. We pulled up the main sail with one reef in it and hoisted the staysail forward and rolled out the Genoa and slowly sailed clear of the serene anchorage. Wow!!  I must admit Debbie and I were both shocked at just how rough and close together the seas were just outside the bay. The 12ft. seas were so close together that we no more come off one wave and crashed square into the nearly vertical face of the next. Each time that occurred our deck submerged and rose heaving all that rushing sea water on deck all the way over the entire rest of Sailors Run dousing all out in the cock pit. It was at this point Debbie became very animated and started yelling take me back I have the money for the flight to the mainland!!  Its times just like this that every good skipper’s metal is tested. Yes, steep waves and mutinous crew is never taken lightly. Things continued to evolve and now I was stupid for having so much sail up. I explained that it was just quite possible she was right and would she mind releasing the Genoa sheet ever so gently that I might begin to roll the “Fucking” thing in, and oh! by the way 25kts and 12 ft seas don’t turn this crew “Back”. I also assured her that things would soon improve and when she arrived at the main land she will still have her air fare in her possession a way better thing. Once the Genoa was trimmed in and only half the size, catching wind the ride started to improve and just 30-minutes later as we sailed clear of the island the seas rounded off and we were off on an exhilarating sail over the next 24hrs Days 2-3- After day 1 we saw a large buoy 4 foot by 3 foot diameter , upside down gallon bucket,& soccer ball thinking it is part of the Japanese Tsunami that happened 2 yrs ago. Also we had our radio on & heard the broadcast warning about the earthquake off of the Big Island of Hawaii, but no tsunami. These 2 days were a pleasant sail in much diminished winds and lots of sun. Our Monitor wind vane is doing all the steering as we are sailing on a close reach and going where the wind takes us. The high is small and NE of us and were sailing in its exterior wind attempting to cross north of it, so far so good Your Amigos, Sailing the “Rum” line.   Sailors Run’s Hanalei,Kauai to San Francisco Days 4-5-6.   “Quick note” We love hearing from you all but please don’t hit the reply button on your computer when responding as it sends the entire adventure back to us through a slow long range radio communication. “Thank You”.   The stats: Day-4- 24hr.Run=127NM. Pos. Lat.30*30’N  Long. 155*40’W  Course 015*-060* Winds east to ESE 10-15kts. Partly cloudy with some small squalls. Day-5-24hr. Run=125NM. Pos. Lat 32*21’N  Long. 15*48’W  Course 010*-030* Winds east-ENE. 5-15kts. Partly cloudy with a few squalls about. Day-6-24hr. Run=112NM. Pos.34*19’N Long.154*35’W. Course 005*-025*True.Winds East to ENE. 5-15kts. Partly Cloudy with a few squalls.   Total hours of motoring so far=10hrs.   Top speed of trip so far happened on day-1 of 8.9knots.   Total miles sailed so far=806NM.   Estimated total miles to be sailed aprox.-2500NM.????   Estimated duration of passage=19+days??? It took 23 days last time we did it in 2006. Debris spotted the last 3-days. One 5-gallon Propane tank,  one thirty gallon plastic water tank, one 3’x4′ wooden crate, and various other small floats and debris.   The rest of the story. Debbie and I have pretty well settled into the passage making routine. Things are comfortable aboard as the winds have been light and the seas about 5 ft. after the first two days. Our watches are of no specific hourly pattern other than someone is always on watch. I tend to do more watches and Debbie spends more time in the Galley something that I enjoy “Very much” as esposa  is un Buena  cook. Hows that for Spanglish!! We both love playing BA HA Rummy so most afternoons we have a game lasting one to three hours. It was on day five during our game that I went on deck to scan the horizon for ship traffic something we do every twenty minutes. I was a little startled by what I seen. There on our starboard beam was a large ship bearing down on us. Now the first thing that rushed through my mind is that a small ship very close or a large one much further away. Debbie fired up the radar and I put out a security call on the VHF radio on channel 16. I stated my position and asked that the ship bearing down on me from the east come back to sailors Run. It was but a few long seconds and the radio crackled to life and the captain of the New Hampton ship reassured me that he had us in sight and would alter course to pass astern of us not to come any closer than two miles and bid us smooth sailing. I thanked him and Debbie reported that she had the ship on radar at a distance of 6-miles away. It was just a few seconds after clearing off the radio we got a call back from the ship inquiring about our destination. I explained even though it might not look like it we were headed for san Francisco and then I mentioned that my wife and I had been out cruising for the past 14-years and had covered some 74,000 NM. The skipper seemed truly amazed and wished all the best for the future and once again we cleared off. Ya, know you just don’t know when or where you might find “New Friends”. We also encountered three long line fishing boats on the night of our third day and seem to see at least one or two ships per day that appear either headed for California or away from there. The sail from the Hawaiian Islands to San Francisco is kind of a crap shoot as you can not just point the boat that way and go. The main reason being is the trade winds and current are dead against you. So our plan is sail north on starboard tack until we can lay San Francisco on any tack. Generally this happens up around 40*North Latitude, were hoping!!! Sailing the “Rum” line Your Amigos, Jeff& Debbie     Sailors Run’s Passage Kauai to San Francisco.    Days-7-8-9 June 2013.   The Stats:   Day-7-24hr. Run=126NM.- Pos. Lat 36*27’N. Long.  153*50’W. Wind ENE at 5-15kts. Skys partly cloudy. Waves 6-8ft. from ENE.   Day-8-24hr. Run=146NM.- Pos. Lat38* 18’N.Long.  152*41’W. Wind ESE 12-17 kts. Skys  partly cloudy during the day and some light drizzle at night. Waves 4-8ft. from east.   Day-9-24hr.Run=158NM. Pos. Lat.39*15’N. Long. 149*51’W. Wind ESE 15-17kts. Skys gray overcast 50% of the time, clearing at night. Waves from south at 3ft.   Total miles sailed so far=1166NM.   Fastest speed so far=8.9   Total engine hrs.  for passage=10.5 hrs.   Cabin temp on departure- June-3rd=84*F & Water temp. = 73*   Cabin Temp at 38*N-66*F. Water temp .  58*F.   No ship traffic nor debris  spotted the past 3-days     The rest of the story. All is well on board the Sailors Run. In some cases, maybe to good, especially when it comes to food. Lots of cruisers lose weight when on passage, unfortunately, we don’t suffer from that problem. We can’t figure out who to blame on this one!!  Yes,I must admit I go crazy shopping at Costco, it’s like there’s someone telling me to keep the boat totally provisioned, for at least 6-months. Not sure what that is all about? Now on the other hand Debbie loves to prepare great meals and these meals would stuff a ravenous “Viking in heat”. We also hate having left over’s as that just means more dishes and room taken up in the fridge. Yes ,we have a small freezer and an ice machine made by “KoldFront”. For now we are not fishing as we have no place to put the fish until we eat down into the freezer a bit. Just a quick explanation on how we meet our electrical needs while on passage. Now the equation to figure this out depends upon how much electricity you use. We have the fridge/freezer. several radios, two GPS units, computer, running lights at night, cabin lights at night,  radar, and a electric auto pilot that we seldom use except in light winds when we are motoring. The rest of the time the boat is steered by a Monitor wind vane that requires only wind to make it work. Now, that’s our needs and our sources of energy are two 55-watt solar panels, one 400 watt Air X wind generator, one 2000 watt Honda generator, and a 65 amp alternator on the main engine. So far on this passage the wind generator has been supplying about 70% of our needs as it produces day and night as long as you have ten knots of apparent wind or more. The solar adds to our power grid except at night or during cloudy weather or when shaded by the sails. Over the past nine days We have only ran the Honda generator for two hours and the engine for 10.5 hours  when the winds had dropped too low to maintain 2-3 kts. of boat speed. We are now playing the “Barometer Soup game” trying to achieve our destination, San Francisco. Day- 7, found us pretty much just going North and we are 1500+ miles off shore due east from San Francisco. On day 8 the winds strengthened as a low pressure system moved in just NW of us and started turning the trade winds so they had a southerly component to them and low and behold the escalator is fired up. Yes! we are turning to the east still on the same starboard  tack and it just gets better as the adverse current of about  1/2knot has gone away at 36*N and is actually with us now coming in from the west at nearly 1/2kt. We may just luck out as it appears we are going to have those winds going to the SW at 15+kts and they will be with us for several more days and were hoping they get us to the 140 degree latitude, where we can pick up the northerly gale normally found along that part of the California coast. “Knock on Wood”. Cruising the “Rum” line”: Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie   Sailors Run’s passage from Hanalai to San Francisco days 10-11-12. June 2013.   The Stats: Day-10- 24hr. Run=126NM. Pos. Lat. 39*39’N  Long. 147* 02’W. Weather- sunny wind SSW. 10-14kts. Seas from the south 3-4ft.   Day-11.-24hr. Run=159NM. Pos. Lat. 39*31’N. Long.143*52’W. Weather- cold front approaches from west. 90* wind shift SW to NW. 10-15+knots. Seas-4-5ft. SW to NW.     Day-12-24hr. Run =146 NM.  Pos . Lat.39*43’N. Long. 139*59’W Weather lots of squalls but not much water in them all from the NW.The winds are NW 10-15+ skys are 100% cloud cover and it seems cold. Swell is NW about 5ft.   Miles sailed so far=1667 NM.   Total engine hours= 11.5hrs.   Top speed so far= 9.4kts.   Miles left to go=Aprox. 880 NM.   The Rest of the Story: The sailing on Day-10 was some of the nicest of the trip so far. We had clear blue sky’s all day and a night time sky that was chucked full of “Diamonds”. Now, if we could just get the temperature back up into the 80’s it would be perfect . We are knocking on wood as I write this but nothing has broken so far with the exception of the flush control knob on the head(toilet) and that was easily permanently fixed with a longer bolt and some epoxy glue. Day-11 became more interesting as a cold front that we had seen coming on our weather fax approached. I explained to Debbie that we would most likely get hit with a sudden wind shift when the front hit us and to be sure and have everything secured as we could possibly take a sudden Jibe and be knocked over a bit!!  And what makes it worse is it was going to happen at night and she might be on watch. You know, sometimes you wish you had said nothing as now Debbie had all her senses on High Alert and was getting “Somewhat” anxious. I ran her through what we would have to do once more but. that only got her a little tenser. It was at about 10PM on my watch when suddenly Sailors run was hit with a blast of wind that pushed her far over and it had come with a roar, yet there was still no wind shift Debbie was up peering out into the obscure darkness saying “IT’S COMING!” I know it, should I get my foul weather gear on? I said I don’t think so as it will not take us long to set the boat right once it hits. It was every few minutes now we were getting these intermittent snorting gusts. Suddenly the gusts turned into one gradual wind increase that layed us over on the port side as the wind vane steered to keep up with the clocking winds. Deb and I both scramble outside into the cockpit and I look at the compass and we are now heading south and we want to go east. The wind is up over 20kts and we have lots of sail up. I start the engine as I have decided a CHICKEN JIBE was in order. I release the preventer on the main boom as Debbie gets ready to let the sail sheet fly. I use the motor just to make sure we get through the eye of the wind with the bow as both main and mizzen are slacked out and won’t have to be pulled in and out again to get on the port tack. In just a few short minutes the genoa moves across the deck and Debbie sheets it home on the new tack. Debbie turns to me, is that “it”. I assure her were good and she scampers below to get out of the wind and rain. I shut down the motor and reset the wind vane on the new tack. Once I’m back below Debbie starts explaining, how she saw it was. She said: it was just like there were these two big Winds snorting and blowing at each other until finally the NW wind defeated the SW wind. Day 12 was to be very different from the past 11-days. I now realize when you say “knock on wood” you best be doing it.” I forgot”. During the day we saw two ships and lots of debris in the water. It was about three in the afternoon that I noticed the servo rudder on the monitor had kicked up and was floating around on the surface rather than down in the set position steering the boat. We surmised something must have hit it causing it to release. Later about 9pm I notice the boat was way off course and a quick check on the monitor and it is apparent what is wrong. The servo rudder has now broken clear off and is being towed by the safety line behind the boat. I drag it aboard and two hours later Debbie and I reinstall it. You do this with a safety harness on dangling over the back of the boat more off the boat then on. Well that was a pretty easy fix as I had spare pipe. At 6-AM I was making some coffee as Debbie was sleeping and suddenly Debbie says “what’s that”?. She is hearing a very strange rubbing noise. Debbie ventures top sides and says you better get up here the main boom is broke and rubbing away on the mast. “Holly shit” what next. I secure the end of the boom by lashing it hard into the track in the mast then step back and study this one. The aluminum fitting on the end of the boom has broken off letting it drop out of the goose neck fitting. Now we still have a ways to go and we desperately need that main and we may very well be in a gale on approach to San Francisco. Suddenly I see the fix all I have to do is drill a new hole below where the other one broke out of and cut a couple of corners off the goose neck fitting that we might get the pin back in. This project took both of us three hours and lots of muscle on a rolling boat to make the repair. Now “Please let that be all”. After all it is Debbie and my 28th year Wedding Anniversary and if that isn’t amazing enough half of those years have been spent on this “Holiday” as we are in our 14th year of cruising. So now the party begins and let’s hope the only thing that pops is the cork out of the “Champagne bottle”. Trying to keepit together along the “Rum” line. You’re Amigos Jeff & Debbie     Sailors run’s Passage from Hanalei to San Francisco. Days 13-14-15. June 2013. The Stats: Day-13-24hr. Run=139 NM. Pos. Lat.39*52’N. Long.138*10’W. Weather-wind 14-15kts NW. Seas 6-10 ft. from the NW. A mostly sunny day. Day-14-24hr.Run= 175 NM. Pos. Lat 40*35’N Long.135*03’W. Weather- wind NW at 18-25kts. Seas 8-10 ft. from NW. Sunny trade wind skys. Day-15-24hr. Run= 168 NM.   Total miles sailed so far= Top speed so far= Lowest cabin temp=62*f Approx. miles left to go= The Rest of the story. On Day 13 Our anniversary turned out to be a good day at sea and Debbie cooked up “tender juicy Steaks” with baked potato sour cream and all. She also made cold slaw with mandarins, apples and carrots,Yum! Oh yea,couple of drinks Day -14 started off on the verge of disaster.  Debbie had just bundled up in a bunch of blanket with her hot water bottle  in her sea berth after being on watch for 3 hrs. The  62*f temperature is feeling really cold to us now. As I was taking over the watch I noticed a faint blip on the radar about ten miles out. I said “Debbie did you see this ship” and her reply was” no there was nothing there last time I looked at it”. I went outside into the early morning stiff breeze looking for the ship. I was unable to see it until it was only about 8-miles away passing astern of us. Going back below I turned off the radar as it was daylight now & I must admit I had gotten caught  up in reading my book and missed taking a look outside until I was 5-minutes late on our normal 15-20 minute schedule. As I climbed out into the cockpit I noticed that the ship that was astern of us had already disappeared over the horizon. When I swung around to look forward I was shocked to see a huge car carrying ship just 1.5 miles away and our boat, Sailors Run had just had a small squall passing over it. The wind direction had changed about 30* and we were sailing out directly into the path of the ship. I dove for the wheel fumbling nervously unlocking the wheel to gain control back from the wind vane steering system. Spinning the wheel hard to starboard we bared off to sail clear of the path of the ship. I watched the ship closely in case they had altered course in the direction we had headed. The ship steamed on by at about 16 knots missing us by about ¼ mile. Once the ship was past I went below and fessed up on my screw up to Debbie, all the time having a sick feeling in my stomach as that had been way to close. We have no idea if the ship had seen us as it had not called on radio channel 16 as they should have, nor was there any sign of them altering course; what might have happened is they had seen us and were passing close by when our wind vane was hit by a gust of wind and turned us to go under their bow. In hind sight I should have been up there at least 5-minutes sooner and since the seas were up 8-10ft. making seeing a ship any closer than eight miles most difficult to see and also knowing we are headed for a major shipping port I have decided we must run the radar all day and all night to be safe. WHeeeW!!! Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie     Sailors Run’s Passage from Hanalei to San Francisco days 16-17-18. June 2013.   NOTE: Please don’t hit reply when responding to this email. “Thanks”.   Stats: Day-16-24hr.Run=178 NM. Pos. Lat: 40*33’N  Long. 128*7’W. Weather -squally some sun, wind 15kts.NW,  seas 8-10ft.NW.   Day-17-24hr. Run=149 NM. Lat: 39*47’N. Long. 126*18’W. Weather-sunny with wind from WNW 0-12kts. Seas,4 ft. from the west. Day-18-24hr. Run=   Total miles sailed so far=   Top speed so far =   Distance left to go=   The rest of the story. Day 16-was a squally day that helped us along our way making good speed in the squalls. We are now having some kind radio transmission problem and I ended up sending the adventure twice as the modem didn’t record that it had already been sent.”Sorry about that”. We aren’t at all sure if we can get this one out so we will see what happens. The Faucet in the bathroom [head], is leaking wasting precious water so I’m trying to fix that. Day 17- our winds start going light and it actually warms up enough to hang out outside. Around 9am we put the spinnaker up in dying winds and sailed dead down wind with the Spinnaker and Genoa both poled out giving us a pretty good turn of speed. The center of the high is overtaking us and at 3pm we have to splash up the diesel to maintain steerage and try and get to the wind that is blowing good along the coast.  Debbie likes the “motor boat ride”. As for me “no thank you” as it is slow as we only motor at half throttle doing about 4.5kts. We can almost smell the land as we are truly drawing near and it is at this point that I actually start to look forward to it. Day 18

Ecuador to Hawaii 10-12-2012.

Ecuador to Hawaii days  1-2-3- 2012

 

The Statistics:

Day-1 October=12  Position lat.=00*15” S Long.=82*28 W.- 24 hour run=131 nautical miles. Wind=west south west 12-15kts skies sunny Temp-77* Seas -4-5ft.from WSW.

Day-2  Oct.13 Position 00* 16”S Long.84* 53”W-2 4hr. run=151 NM. Wind SW 12-20kts. Skies cloudy with light mist at times. Temp-74 at night 77-day seas 6-8ft. SW

Day-3 Oct.14 Position Lat.=00*32”S Long.=87*10”-24hr.run=143NM.Wind S 10-15kts.Temp-day76-night 74. Seas -4-5ft. from south.

Total miles sailed past 3-days = 425NM.

The Rest of the story.

It was the morning of departure  from Bahia Caraquez, Ecuador.  The night before had been wonderful as Magie had given Debbie and I a going away party with finger food and some drinks for us.  Many of the couples off the cruising boats  here showed up as well and many of our  local friends. So this morning was just a little groggy from the night before but it felt good.

Debbie was scurrying about securing all the loose ends below and I was walking the deck making sure Sailors Run was ready to go sailing, After all was ship shape we called the launch to go ashore for our final time and receive our Zarpe for departure. Debbie and I said goodbye to all the staff and there were lots of hugs and some tears as we have become very fond of all the staff as well as the owners Tripp and Maye.  It even goes much further than that as there are many locals in the community that we also are good friends with making leaving more than just a little sad.

Pedro our pilot for crossing the bar showed up just before noon and we slipped the mooring lines and swung around for our final look at Puerto Amistad. Once again there were tears in our eyes and joy in our hearts as the whole crew of Puerto Amistad lined the ramp and dingy dock with all their arms waving. I could see Bibiana waving from up inside the restaurant.

Pedro did a fine job of finding the deepest water out across the bar. I saw less than two feet under our keel on many occasions getting clear of the mouth of the river. Soon it was time to hug Pedro goodbye and we watched as the launch took him back in safely across the bar.

Wow we were free again to sail the Pacific on what appeared to be a perfect day. The sun was out and we had about 12kts of breeze.

 

Our overall goal is to try and average about 140 NM, per day; sailing through the Galapagos islands then alter course for the Hawaiian Islands a voyage of nearly 5000 NM.

On Day-1 we found ourselves about 30-degrees off course sailing a much too northerly   route against a knot of current. We were not concerned as the wind direction is different   in close to shore and would become more favorable over the next 12-hours.

During the night the winds shifted and we were able to head more south towards the Galapagos Islands, We had seen several ships during the day and Debbie awoke me when she saw lights at night on her watch. She was concerned as the lights were getting closer and nothing was showing on the radar. At last we made out what it was a dow rigged local wooden fishing boat apparently hove too fishing some 75-miles off shore. The sail was up but just luffing in the 12 knot winds.

Day-2 was more boisterous as the winds built to twenty knots and the seas started to build until they were running 6-8 feet, It was just our second day and sailing pretty close to the wind things became somewhat uncomfortable below. I noticed that my Admiral was using a very much different vocabulary and saying not nice things about our beloved “Sailors Run”. Debbie even talked about skipping sailing through the Galapagos and falling off the wind. I the Captain found myself making promises that this was all soon to end and that it would all get better. I also fell off the wind a little trying to keep peace below decks. ”Damn I Think this Boat is Shrinking”!!

I discovered some advantages of pounding through the waves as during a morning look about on deck there were two flying fish and two squid lying on the deck. It appears it would be most difficult to starve out here .   Although we like the free fish ,  the black ink on the genoa sail where it was hit by six squid  after they had  jettisoned from a wave was not  nearly such a wonderful sight.

Day-3 we found ourselves sailing comfortably along nearly on a beam reach[wind coming in at 90-degrees to the boat].We were also back on course for the Galapagos and Debbie was chipper once again and we played cards while the wind vane steered the boat.

The wind Generator is supplying all the electricity for the batteries with little help from the 110 watts of solar that are clouded out. We always reef the main once the winds are above 15 knots and the mizzen always has one reef when going to weather  [wind coming ahead of the beam] beam [side of boat]. The Monitor wind vane does all the steering when at sea away from land if we have 8+knots of wind or more.

We are currently 122 NM, from the Galapagos and hope to get there within the next 24 hrs. However the winds are becoming much lighter 10-kts.

You might recall I always like to have a beer a day while on passage and really dislike running short and this problem is greatly compounded when there are two aboard; so stay tuned for my solution to the shortage problem.

Debbie and I love to hear from you all out there but must remind you not to hit Reply when responding to this “Radio” email as we get our whole email back and that eats up precious radio minutes and we are allowed but twenty each day and we already have read the adventure.”Thanks”

Your Amigos -Jeff & Debbie

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days-4-5-6.  2012

Statistics:

Day-4 Pos.=Lat.00*59’S Long.=89*53’W. 24hr. run=155 NM. Wind south at 14 kts. Skies partly cloudy Temp=74*-76*.

Day-5 Pos.=00*09N Long.=91*16’W. 24hr. Run=136 NM. Wind 8-12kts from the south. Mostly sunny Temp 74*-78*.

Day-6 Pos.=Lat.00*53’N Long.93*11’W 24 hr. run=128NM. Wind south at 6-10kts sunny skies Temp 74*-80*

Total mileage after 6-days=844 NM. Top speed achieved on day -2=8.8 kts.

The Rest of the story.

On day 4 of the voyage after just 3-days and 14 hours we found ourselves aboard Sailors Run sailing in to the Galapagos [Spanish for large Tortoises] Islands. The sea around us changed from cobalt blue to the bluish gray green fertile seas that surround these remote volcanic Islands that now are home to some 6,000 Ecuadorians with a few “Gringos thrown in for variety.[currently no more foreigners can buy land here].

Debbie and I were pleased to have a warm sunny weather to sail in amongst the archipelago. The islands are young geologically speaking having risen from the sea within the last 1 to 9-million years. The islands appear very barren with many volcanic cones visible and very little foliage to be seen on most Islands. The Island of Isla San Cristobal did appear to have some small trees about half way up its southern slope that became barren once again as you reached the upper elevation of what must be nearly 2,000 feet.

The thought of exploring these islands leads you to conclude that boats and helicopters would be the best due to the barren terrain and distances that must be covered, Isla Isabela the largest island measures in at a whopping 74miles by 45miles. We sailed along the 74 mile north shore of Isabela in very calm seas and light winds through the night with a canopy of stars sparkling like diamonds overhead. The stars  appeared  to be within reach of our hands if we could just climb to the summit of one of Isabela’s volcanoes bolting  from the shore straight up into the sky nearly 4,000 feet.

Our 5th day concluded our 36 hrs spent in the Galapagos and it was a brilliant sunny day, the best of the trip so far. Debbie and I toasted King Neptune & launched a” message in bottle “as we crossed the equator for our Tenth time over the past 14-years and this location just 12 miles north of Isla Isabela was the first time we were ever in sight of land while crossing the equator making it even more special.

Yes, we certainly have our regrets about not stopping and taking advantage of the tame wild life that shows no fear of mankind here in these islands. I believe I had the most regrets as in my mind I had imagined sailing for Hawaii with a huge tortoise turned upside down and lashed under the salon table with a pad under that hardened shell to keep it from scaring up the teak cabin sole. It would have also been nice to have a “6-pack of Penguins on ice” in the freezer for Thanks giving just in case for some reason we were unable to reach Hawaii by Thanksgiving. I prefer Turkey but “what the hell they are both birds”!

It would seem with so much sailing experience between the two of us that there should be no problem getting happily along to Hawaii which brings us back to the beer issue. I like one beer a day for medicinal purposes and Debbie a true sailor prefers her rum. Deb and I put our heads together on this one and came up with a compromise. We decided to take just one medicine on the voyage and that would be rum. We at last came down to figuring on just how much we should take. The Voyage is estimated to take 33-days by the Captain and the Admiral thinks two drinks each per day should be plenty unless we should become becalmed[no wind] making it necessary to “party up some wind”. Men generally better at math than women it seemed that it would be the Captains turn to step up and decide upon the quantity of spirits for the ships rum stores. I added, subtracted then multiplied at last arriving at a safe amount “SIXTY BOTTLES”. I insured Debbie that should be most sufficient if we used some self discipline which I’m happy to report we might be good at.

Day six we watched the Galapagos Islands disappear over the stern rail as we sailed along under spinnaker in diminishing winds. It appears that our mileage for this day will suffer.

Your Hawaii bound Amigos, Jefferrum and Debbierum

PS. No creatures of nature were harmed in any way in the writing of this adventure “Cheers”.

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 7-8-9. 2012

The Statistics:

Day-7 Pos. Lat-01*43’N Long.-95*50’W. 24hr, Run=177 NM. Wind-10-15kts. From south. Temp 79* Under sunny skies.

Day-8 Pos.-Lat,02*N Long99*03W. 24hr. Run=170NM. Wind south at 10-15kts. Temp=82* partly cloudy skies.

Day-9 Pos. Lat. 03*24’N Long. 100* 57’W. 24hr. Run=170 NM. Wind from south 10-15kts Temp.=82* Partly cloudy skies Seas 5-6 feet.

New maximum speed=9.4kts.

Total miles Run so far=1357 NM.

The rest of the story.

Day 7

I had discovered two broken slides on  the mainsail when it was down so sewed two new ones on as once one goes they start to come off like” clothes pins”.

The sailing has been as good as it gets , a steady breeze on the beam and seas under 6ft. The Monitor wind vane is doing all the steering so far.

In the morning I was looking at the electronic charts looking for anything that might lie along our course line when I right clicked on the information icon on my chart. I was surprised to read that it was two paragraphs on how no foreign vessels are to come within 200 miles of the Galapagos Islands without risking being fined!  I measured and we were now 150 miles away from the Islands and as we had seen no vessels in or around the Islands when we sailed thru I figured we had lucked out.

Debbie and I were below playing Baja Ha Rummy when I heard a rapid thumping sound only made by helicopters. We climbed out into the cockpit and watched as an orange helicopter with floats on it swooped down and circled Sailors Run. Debbie said something to the effect we are so “busted”.  There were two guys in the chopper and they were giving us hand signals. I thought they wanted me to drop the sails. Soon they were hovering ten feet off the water on our starboard side facing us and going along with the boat while hovering just 100 feet  down wind of us. The two guys were smiling .Deb and I held our hands out like “What’s up” and then they gave us a thumbs up which we returned and off they flew. Now Debbie and I were just all kinds of giddy having a hard time believing what just had happened here. We also felt truly sorry that we had not grabbed the camera as the shot we could have gotten would have been truly magical.

We later decided that the helicopter had to be searching for tuna for the tuna fleet we had noticed the lights  from the night before, way off on the distant horizon.

Day-8

It was during the night and I was off watch sleeping when Debbie heard a rather loud clunk on deck. Debbie armed with her high powered spot light went topside to see what was going on. Glancing around everything seemed normal, two masts three sails up and trimmed yet there on the deck lay a complete shackle and a shackle, screw in type pin.

I awake from a very deep sleep to a woman’s voice hollering for me on deck. It takes awhile but finally I’m topside and looking at this one inch tiny little clevis pin and the Admiral wants to know what it is for? I assure her it cannot be too important as it is so small; then she shows me the larger shackle and explains that stuff is following off our rig and we need to find out what it is for. I look closely at the small pin and somehow it seemed familiar but where did this crap come from.

We go back below and Debbie is sitting in the corner of the cabin eyeballing me as I stare at the pieces in my hand. ‘Suddenly the lights come on and I realize these pieces are part of the topping lift for the main boom which is not in use while the sail is up and yes, we are lucky they didn’t bounce over the side. Fixed!

It must be said Debbie is doing a great job of preparing interesting meals while under way and of course I’m eating the heck out of whatever she comes up with.

Day-9

Today Debbie has decided she is wasting 33-days of her life making this passage as when she sails she is not where she wants to be and with me it is just the opposite so I try to put her mind at ease.

OK “Babe” think about this.  You are spending 33 days to take your home from one part of “Paradise” to another “Hawaii”. Once there you will enjoy 6-months in the Islands operating from the comfort and convenience of your “very own home”. Now do you realize that many people work all year to go on vacation pack up all there needed belongings and fly two just one Island for one to two weeks and stay in a hotel without cooking facilities and if the Island doesn’t have an airport they most likely will never see it. I rest my case “Admiral”.

Debbie thought about it!

Thoughts  from the “Pacific Punch Bowl”.

I guess it’s because we have been traveling some of the same areas as Charles Darwin traveled aboard the “Beagle”,  that the theory of evolution has been messing with my mind. We have all come to agree that penguins were once birds that flew in the skies. Then if you consider how large a ‘Monitor Penguin is, standing over three feet tall and weighing in at 60-lbs. That would have been one “Huge Ass Duck”.

Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie on patrol in the Pacific.

 

Ecuador to Hawaii days 10-11-12  2012.

Statistics:

Day-10 Oct,21. Pos,-04*21’N  Long.-103*08’W. 24hr. Run=143 NM. Weather=Sunny, confused seas 6-8ft. wind and waves from SSW wind 6-15kts. Temp. 80-84*.

Day-11 Oct.22 Pos.-05*07’N Long.-104*46’W. 24hr, Run=106 NM. Weather=Mostly cloudy seas 6-8ft. wind 12-20 kts. From SW. Temp-80-84*.

Day-12 Oct 23 Pos. 06* N Long.106*48’W. 24hr. Run=130 NM. Weather partly cloudy seas 6-8ft. Wind SSW at 15-20kts. Temp 80-84*.

Total Miles sailed so far=1736 NM with aprox,3000 NM. to go.

The rest of the story.

Day-10 was our day for fishing. First let me remind you our 24hr. day is from noon to noon .

Debbie and I have been dragging a meat line off the stern for 3-full days and not a strike. Feeling somewhat desperate to catch a fish I sharpen the filleting knife thinking that maybe somehow being more ready might help. Debbie wants to try a different lure but the tackle box is put far away so we pass on that idea. On the evening of day-10 I notice we have a small fish on the line. Debbie gets the gaff and I start pulling the fish in hand over hand. Soon it is obvious there is no need for the gaff as the fish is just a small 3-lb. Spanish mackerel. They are good eating much like a tuna so we keep it and figure we now have two fish dinners.

The next morning I toss our trusty blue and purple squid over the stern to try for something a little bigger; after all this is the biggest ocean in the world we are fishing in.

Deb and I had just finished a great fish omelet breakfast that she had prepared so I go top sides to scan the horizon for ship traffic something we do every twenty minutes or less. I glance over the stern to check on the fishing line and to my surprise the bungee cord on the fishing line is stretched taught and our line is leading out to one side of the boat rather than directly behind the boat. I yell “Fish On” and Debbie grabs the gaff joining me top side. We must slow the boat that is currently doing over 7kts. So we role in the head sail on the furling and the boat starts slowing immediately.

I grab the thick monofilament line and start tugging in what appears to be a very large fish. Debbie is dealing with the excess line as it comes aboard. The fish is a beautiful blue- green Dorado and has lots of fight left in him, taking to the air on several occasions and burning my hands as the line is pulled from my grasp. Now Debbie joins in the fight and pretty soon both of us are getting our hands” smoked”. Debbie realizes she needs gloves and slides on a pair of leather gloves. Ten minutes later the fish is alongside the boat and I try to gaff him. I fail miserably as the fish keeps darting under the boat out of my reach. After many tries the gaff is driven home and the beautiful Dorado is hauled aboard.

Debbie and I cheer as now we have a full freezer and many days of fish dinners and for those of you that have never tasted Dorado I can only say it is one of our favorites. The fish was four feet long and has renewed our faith in fishing the Pacific.

Day- 11 we found our boat speed decreasing rapidly as we encountered the ‘Equatorial Counter Current”. We are losing about 50-miles a day to this adverse current. And it will take several days to sail clear of it.

Day-12 Conditions have deteriorated aboard sailors run as we are forced to sail on a close reach [pretty close to wind]. The winds are up to twenty knots and we have confused seas running 8-feet at times. We must stay south as the winds to the north of us are less favorable in direction and stronger. The bad thing about staying south is we are staying in the grasp of the current longer than we would like but we feel it is the lesser of the two evils. We are also somewhat reluctant to go north of ten degrees as it is still Hurricane season up there until November.

Slugging it out south of ten degrees. Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie

Evolution of terminology stemming from the voyage.

Term:” Snap”

To take a “Snap” is similar to a “Nap” except shorter never more than 20 minutes and is performed while on watch.  The egg timer is set to wake you or worst case scenario being woken earlier from  a  collision with “Huge Ship”.

 

 

Ecuador to Hawaii days 10-11-12  2012.

Statistics:

Day-10 Oct,21. Pos,-04*21’N  Long.-103*08’W. 24hr. Run=143 NM. Weather=Sunny, confused seas 6-8ft. wind and waves from SSW wind 6-15kts. Temp. 80-84*.

Day-11 Oct.22 Pos.-05*07’N Long.-104*46’W. 24hr, Run=106 NM. Weather=Mostly cloudy seas 6-8ft. wind 12-20 kts. From SW. Temp-80-84*.

Day-12 Oct 23 Pos. 06* N Long.106*48’W. 24hr. Run=130 NM. Weather partly cloudy seas 6-8ft. Wind SSW at 15-20kts. Temp 80-84*.

Total Miles sailed so far=1736 NM with aprox,3000 NM. to go.

The rest of the story.

Day-10 was our day for fishing. First let me remind you our 24hr. day is from noon to noon .

Debbie and I have been dragging a meat line off the stern for 3-full days and not a strike. Feeling somewhat desperate to catch a fish I sharpen the filleting knife thinking that maybe somehow being more ready might help. Debbie wants to try a different lure but the tackle box is put far away so we pass on that idea. On the evening of day-10  I notice we have a small fish on the line. Debbie gets the gaff and I start pulling the fish in hand over hand. Soon it is obvious there is no need for the gaff as the fish is just a small 3-lb. Spanish mackerel. They are good eating much like a tuna so we keep it and figure we now have two fish dinners.

The next morning I toss our trusty blue and purple squid over the stern to try for something a little bigger; after all this is the biggest ocean in the world we are fishing in.

Deb and I had just finished a great fish omelet breakfast that she had prepared so I go top sides to scan the horizon for ship traffic something we do every twenty minutes or less. I glance over the stern to check on the fishing line and to my surprise the bungee cord on the fishing line is stretched taught and our line is leading out to one side of the boat rather than directly behind the boat. I yell “Fish On” and Debbie grabs the gaff joining me top side. We must slow the boat that is currently doing over 7kts. So we role in the head sail on the furling and the boat starts slowing immediately.

I grab the thick monofilament line and start tugging in what appears to be a very large fish. Debbie is dealing with the excess line as it comes aboard. The fish is a beautiful blue- green Dorado and has lots of fight left in him, taking to the air on several occasions and burning my hands as the line is pulled from my grasp. Now Debbie joins in the fight and pretty soon both of us are getting our hands” smoked”. Debbie realizes she needs gloves and slides on a pair of leather gloves. Ten minutes later the fish is alongside the boat and I try to gaff him. I fail miserably as the fish keeps darting under the boat out of my reach. After many tries the gaff is driven home and the beautiful Dorado is hauled aboard.

Debbie and I cheer as now we have a full freezer and many days of fish dinners and for those of you that have never tasted Dorado I can only say it is one of our favorites. The fish was four feet long and  has renewed our faith in fishing the Pacific..

Day- 11 we found our boat speed decreasing rapidly as we encountered the ‘Equatorial Counter Current”. We are losing about 50-miles a day to this adverse current. And it will take several days to sail clear of it.

Day-12 Conditions have deteriorated aboard sailors run as we are forced to sail on a close reach [pretty close to wind]. The winds are up to twenty knots and we have confused seas running 8-feet at times. We must stay south as the winds to the north of us are less favorable in direction and stronger. The bad thing about staying south is we are staying in the grasp of the current longer than we would like but we feel it is the lesser of the two evils. We are also somewhat reluctant to go north of ten degrees as it is still Hurricane  season up there until November.

Slugging it out south of ten degrees. Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie

Evolution of terminology stemming from the voyage.

Term:” Snap”

To take a “Snap” is similar to a “Nap” except shorter never more than 20 minutes and is performed while on watch.  The egg timer is set to wake you or worst case scenario being woken earlier from  a  collision with “Huge Ship”.

 

 

Ecuador to Hawaii days 10-11-12  2012.

Statistics:

Day-10 Oct,21. Pos,-04*21’N  Long.-103*08’W. 24hr. Run=143 NM. Weather=Sunny, confused seas 6-8ft. wind and waves from SSW wind 6-15kts. Temp. 80-84*.

Day-11 Oct.22 Pos.-05*07’N Long.-104*46’W. 24hr, Run=106 NM. Weather=Mostly cloudy seas 6-8ft. wind 12-20 kts. From SW. Temp-80-84*.

Day-12 Oct 23 Pos. 06* N Long.106*48’W. 24hr. Run=130 NM. Weather partly cloudy seas 6-8ft. Wind SSW at 15-20kts. Temp 80-84*.

Total Miles sailed so far=1736 NM with aprox,3000 NM. to go.

The rest of the story.

Day-10 was our day for fishing. First let me remind you our 24hr. day is from noon to noon .

Debbie and I have been dragging a meat line off the stern for 3-full days and not a strike. Feeling somewhat desperate to catch a fish I sharpen the filleting knife thinking that maybe somehow being more ready might help. Debbie wants to try a different lure but the tackle box is put far away so we pass on that idea. On the evening of day-10  I notice we have a small fish on the line. Debbie gets the gaff and I start pulling the fish in hand over hand. Soon it is obvious there is no need for the gaff as the fish is just a small 3-lb. Spanish mackerel. They are good eating much like a tuna so we keep it and figure we now have two fish dinners.

The next morning I toss our trusty blue and purple squid over the stern to try for something a little bigger; after all this is the biggest ocean in the world we are fishing in.

Deb and I had just finished a great fish omelet breakfast that she had prepared so I go top sides to scan the horizon for ship traffic something we do every twenty minutes or less. I glance over the stern to check on the fishing line and to my surprise the bungee cord on the fishing line is stretched taught and our line is leading out to one side of the boat rather than directly behind the boat. I yell “Fish On” and Debbie grabs the gaff joining me top side. We must slow the boat that is currently doing over 7kts. So we role in the head sail on the furling and the boat starts slowing immediately.

I grab the thick monofilament line and start tugging in what appears to be a very large fish. Debbie is dealing with the excess line as it comes aboard. The fish is a beautiful blue- green Dorado and has lots of fight left in him, taking to the air on several occasions and burning my hands as the line is pulled from my grasp. Now Debbie joins in the fight and pretty soon both of us are getting our hands” smoked”. Debbie realizes she needs gloves and slides on a pair of leather gloves. Ten minutes later the fish is alongside the boat and I try to gaff him. I fail miserably as the fish keeps darting under the boat out of my reach. After many tries the gaff is driven home and the beautiful Dorado is hauled aboard.

Debbie and I cheer as now we have a full freezer and many days of fish dinners and for those of you that have never tasted Dorado I can only say it is one of our favorites. The fish was four feet long and  has renewed our faith in fishing the Pacific..

Day- 11 we found our boat speed decreasing rapidly as we encountered the ‘Equatorial Counter Current”. We are losing about 50-miles a day to this adverse current. And it will take several days to sail clear of it.

Day-12 Conditions have deteriorated aboard sailors run as we are forced to sail on a close reach [pretty close to wind]. The winds are up to twenty knots and we have confused seas running 8-feet at times. We must stay south as the winds to the north of us are less favorable in direction and stronger. The bad thing about staying south is we are staying in the grasp of the current longer than we would like but we feel it is the lesser of the two evils. We are also somewhat reluctant to go north of ten degrees as it is still Hurricane  season up there until November.

Slugging it out south of ten degrees. Your Amigos, Jeff & Debbie

Evolution of terminology stemming from the voyage.

Term:” Snap”

To take a “Snap” is similar to a “Nap” except shorter never more than 20 minutes and is performed while on watch.  The egg timer is set to wake you or worst case scenario being woken earlier from a  collision with “Huge Ship”.

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 13-14-15  2012

Statistics:

Day-13  Oct.25th Pos.06*51’N long.109*06’W, 24hr. Run=156 NM. Wind SW at15kts. Seas 5-6ft. Temp 82-84*. Mostly Sunny.

Day-14 Pos.08*03’N Long.111*07’ W 24hr.Run=144 NM. Wind squally 15-25 from SW-W. Clouds and rain.  Temp.83-85*

Day-15 Pos. 09*32’N Long. 112*18’ W 24hr. Run=122NM. Wind 6-15kts;squalls from various directions. Temp.82*-83* cloudy rainy

Total miles so far= 2158NM almost 46% of the way there.

The Rest of the Story.

Day 14 Sailors Run sails clear of most of the adverse current and the sailing was good.

Day 15 Finds us nearing the monsoon trough a band of witches brew weather that runs west to east near the 10* north latitude. This band of clouds and moisture is about 60-160 miles wide. The winds here tend to be lighter around 10kts. With squalls that can more than double that. The wind direction changes dramatically, making sailing very challenging and lots of work. The Monsoon trough is also the breeding grounds for the Hurricanes that occur here in the Eastern Pacific. We have been watching our weather faxes and there have been no lows in the trough; not one for the past two weeks but guess what? my latest fax shows four of them spaced out all along the trough from 90*W to 140*W. Now to make it worse the lowest low is just 2’ east or within 120NM. of us, and less than one degree north.

We have never been inside a Hurricane when it formed before but this could be a first. Now if this isn’t bad enough our winds have gone west on us forcing us to sail a much more northerly route.

Here is the plan we pray no hurricane will form????? We are going to get through this trough by whatever means necessary; yes motor if need be. Once clear of the witches brew around 12’ north we should pick up the NE trades and be able to sail west staying along the 12 or just above until we are sure none of the for mentioned lows have developed before turning WNW for  the “Big Island of Hawaii”. It seems there is something very interesting about playing “cat and mouse” when you realize you are the “mouse”!

It was on this day we experienced the effects of the combining of wave patterns from the south and the north. This created small haystack seas about 6-8ft high causing lots of bouncing around aboard Sailors Run. The effects were severe enough to launch our silverware drawer  not just once but twice dumping all of its contents all over  the galley floor. Now when this happens and you are off watch and sort of asleep it sounds like you have just collided with a train and might not want to wake up.,./;’.Son of a<><:”?>. Sailing is not always serenity? “ Come on you must be kidding”.

Day 15- finds us dealing with lots of squalls and the calms that follow them. It was after one of these squalls when our sails were flogging that a shackle broke on the mizzen sheet [control line]. Once aware that the mizzen was flailing around back and forth I went out to secure it. Once the mizzen sheet was secured I noticed that the marlex goose neck fitting had come out and I  had to put that thing back together. It’s less than perfect but operational.

Debbie says today is a good day as winds are light and we are motor sailing making water. We have used 75 gallons of water the first two weeks so are on our last 75 gallons so it is time to make water; might as well as the engine is running anyway.

Your early hurricane monitoring Amigos, Jeff & Debbie

PS, Please don’t push reply when responding to this email as it sends the entire message back.

THANK YOU

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 16-17-18  2012

Statistics :

Day 16 October-28th.  Pos.lat.=10*37’ N Long.=113*40’W 2hr. Run=112 NM. Weather  squally winds 15 gusting 25kts..Temp=81-85*;

Day 17 Pos Lat.11* 54’ N, Long. 114* 49’W. 24 hr. Run=109 NM Weather continues to deteriorate winds SW 20 gusting 35kts. Temp.84-86*

Day 18 Pos. Lat. 12*53’N Long.116*08’W 24hr.Run=99NM Weather: winds SW at 25 gusting 40 kts. Temp. 84-86*

Total miles sailed so far =2,478 NM.

The rest of the story.

On day-16 I decided not to go up to the 12* North latitude as it would put us to close to the low that may become a Hurricane so we sail as close to the wind as possible still on the port tack. There is a current against us at 1-2kts. Out of the west making our daily runs suffer.

Day 17 seems somehow special as we have reached the half way point of the passage and Debbie “Screams Ya Hoooo”.

The weather continues to deteriorate with the winds increasing and we reef Sailors Run down even more. We have a double reef in the main and one in the Mizzen. The staysail is up and Genoa just barely rolled out about 15%.

We study the weather faxes and realize we are between a rock and a hard spot. The low that is forecaste  to possibly become the Hurricane is just 90-miles north of us and is moving parallel to our course line kind of .NW at about the same speed. We could turn south and sail clear of everything but don/t want to give up our ground made good. So we are taking  a beating in wash machine seas that are 7-10 feet.

Day 18 weather is worse 25 Kts.  gusting 40 kts. The rains are with us all the time now a true “Monsoon” experience. The other two lows appear to be filling and might soon go away but the worst one is still holding steady at 1006 MB,

We have put a second reef in the mizzen and furled the Genoa all the way in; slowing the boat to just 4-kts over the bottom as we are trying to reduce the force that we bash into these steep waves. The worst case scenario is, that the low does crank up, and stays put for any length of time; if that happens we will heave to under the the “Sea Anchor our 18ft parachute .batten down the hatches and wait for that “Bad Girl” to mosey off.

I was trying to perk up a pot of coffee this morning on our gimbaled stove and watch the weather faxes come in all at the same time. Sailors Run had just risen to the crest of a very large steep wave when she fell off to starboard coming down  hard on her starboard side submerging that side of the boat completely and that sent the eight cups of half percolated coffee all over the galley grounds and all.  Debbie was awakened to a bunch of strange noises and goings on from where she had been trying to sleep in her sea birth. I was real glad that I hadn’t been in the galley when it became awash with scalding coffee and now set about trying to clean up what mess had nor escaped into the bilges.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Debbie making the sign of the cross across her chest with a less than cheery look on her face. Once the mess was pretty much cleaned up I went over beside her birth and started singing a verse to the song “Sea Cruise” ooheee , oohee Baby won’t you let me take you on a “sea cruise” oohee oohee baby. It was then that I seen a smile start at the corners of her mouth and spread all over her face. Deb reached up and hugged me and I knew she was going to be all right.

Trying to sail clear of the “Crap” Your amigos Jeff& Debbie

 

Sailors Run’s Tropical Storm up date.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN-TRICK OR TREAT!!!!!

Debbie and I decided when the low became Tropical storm Rosa that we were already in it and since the storm is not expected to become a cyclone and winds should not exceed 50-knots that we could use it to our advantage Hmmmmm ????. Since we were already beating into 35kts sailing about 280’ and were being forced right  into the storm’s center the other tack of  180’ looked unproductive as well so we turned due north as the storm center was just above us to the NE about 60 miles away  and moving 275’ at 4  Kts.  The storm it is believed  will come back south in two days. So we figure we can sail down wind going north and use it like a sling once we get to the top of the revolving storm we will have following winds going to the west.

Today Halloween the 31st of October at 2:50 PM Central time in the US we are sailing 318’ true at 8+ knots with just a reefed staysail up in 50kts. Sustained and seas running up to twenty feet. The water looks like smoke as the spray is flying and stinging my face as I sort things out on deck that are going bad ,like the bimini supports are coming apart. T he reef in the staysail keeps coming untied and trying to self destruct .A huge wave came in and broke over the boat on the starboard side shifting our dinghy around. The main and Mizzen  sails needed extra lines on them so they would stay on the booms. I was getting all my clothes soaked [underwear and T-shirts]. I tried the nude thing but in 50kts!! That stings like “Hell”. We seem to be doing ok and it might not be but a day before we can turn the corner and go west.

The boat below  decks has become very  wet as water continues to come in  places we hadn’t expected, Debbie is overwhelmed but doing a great job keeping things comfortable .  I kind of feel like I’m working a storm for the power company and it feels “kind of good”.

Debbie has come to the conclusion that she just has to” ride it out” .Although I’m singing “I got You Babe” and Debbie is singing “Please Release Me let me go.”.

The hatches are battened down and we will weather this one out and write more in a couple of days.

Sailing with “TS, Rosa”: your Amigos Jeff & Debbie

 

We are going to stand on the gas pedal and see what Sailors Run can do. We still have two reefs in the mizzen and one in the main and a spinnaker itching for some lighter winds,

“ Merrily Barreling along”, Your Amigos Jeff & Debbie singing, “Oh, Happy Days!” J

 

.

Ecuador to Hawaii days 19 -20-21  2012

Statistics:

Day-19  Oct.31st.(Halloween} Pos. Lat.14*12’N. Long.116*38’W  24hr. Run=107NM. Weather: TS “Rosa” 30-50Kts. SSW. Seas 14-20ft. Temp 83- 84*

Weather: TS. “Rosa” 35-50kts. South –East Seas 1

Day-20 Pos. Lat.15*54’ N. Lpng. 117*50’W. 24 hr. Run=128 NM. Weather: TS. “Rosa”30-50kts.S to E wind direction. Seas 14-20 ft. Temp . 80*

Day-21 Pos. Lat. 16*36’ N Long. 120*13 W. 24hr. Run=149 NM. Weather winds from NE 15-20Kts.Trade wind sky’s, sunny Seas 6-8ft from NE, Temp 80*

NEW TOP SPEED=11.4 kts.

Total miles sailed so far=2,666 NM

Miles left to go=2,100 NM

The Rest of the Story.

We are safe and all is well aboard “Sailors Run”. First we want to thank all our friends and family for writing to us as well as your concern, information, prayers and encouragement as it meant a lot to us.

On day-19, We implemented the go North plan along the eastern winds of the storm. Yes, this was not totally Prudent considering late season storm tracks are somewhat hard to predict. Our route promised to be in winds not to exceed 30-kts, if storm acted as predicted and it behaved very well.

It was when the winds were a sustained 50kts. And seas built rapidly to 14-20ft. and a 5-second time interval between crests that doubt entered my mind about the plan. Where are these winds coming from as we are not that close to the storm center? It was about noon and the sky was so dark that it seemed the sun was setting.

The rain was coming in torrents and the air was filled with pelting rain that stung my face as I struggled to stay on deck while better securing sails lashed to booms and the reef in the staysail that refused to stay rolled up in place. I will never forget while sliding around on the heaving foredeck this  woman’s voice I could hear wanting to know if there was anything she could do to help and to hang on . I don’t hear that well and couldn’t figure where the voice was coming from. It wasn’t until later when I asked Debbie that she told me she had opened the forward small cabin window where she had been watching out for me .

Once secure back below with storm board in place I assured Debbie we were good and we just had to run North under reefed staysail alone until we felt the winds start to ease and come around to the east. It would be then that we would start turning the corner over the top of the storm.

We were slammed on the beam with a huge breaking wave that engulfed the boat filling the cock pit and pressing water below through any place that would allow it, window seals butterfly hatch and forward hatch, not to mention dorad ventilators . The amount of water was small yet seemed like a huge invasion to our sanctuary below decks. We were pumping the bilges regularly and always finding some water there. The 50 kts. of wind became 40 after about 4 hrs. and 30kts after 4 more hours.

With 30 kts we were happy and as the adrenalin dissipated we come to realize how drained we both were. I felt like Debbie, that my muscles had been totally stretched out just trying to hang on. Its times like these that you wish you had a tail to hang on with to free your hands for the tasks at hand.

Day-20, The sun reappeared and the sky even had some blue in it,Yahoo!  Sailors Run had faired very well with only minor damage. A couple of hanks had broken on the stay sail that attached  it to the inner stay. There was some scuffing of the wood on the hatch cove where the dingy had been moving about and one preventer line on the main boom that had nearly chaffed through.

Some of you have wondered how this compared to a storm off “Cape Horn”. A storm anywhere is bad that they have in common. The major difference is the waves. In the tropical storm the waves are much closer together and 14-20ft.In the Southern Ocean the waves are 15ft.before the storm comes and rise rapidly to 40ft. yet are more comfortable to ride as they are spaced further apart. Of course bigger waves propose a much greater threat to a yacht as they are so much more powerful and can capsize your yacht. The other major difference is in this storm we had a choice whether to get involved, sailing around The Horn there is but one way to sail there from the Pacific and a storm is common every three days at the Horn.

Day-21, We sailed easy and rested in good conditions. The Storm Rosa has taken us 450 NM. north of our rumb line course to Hawaii. We have added about 200 miles to our route and now we will need big mileage days to get in within our 33-day estimated time for the trip.

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 22-23-24  2012

Statiistics:

Day-22-  Nov.-3rd  Pos. Lat.16*50’N Long.122*50’ 24hr. Run=164 NM. Weather: Sunny NE Trades 18-22kts. Temp79-80*.

Day-23- Pos. Lat.17*05’N Long. 125*16’W. 24 hr. Run=144 NM. Weather: NE Trades 12-15kts. Temp 77-78*

Day-24- Pos. Lat.17*26’N Long.127*27’W 24hr, Run=122 NM. Weather:  sunny Trade winds light at 10-12kts NNE. Temp 77-80*.

Total miles  sailed so far “Whoops” made error last time in calculation of 200 Nm it should have been 2866 NM.

New Total miles sailed so far3236 NM.

Miles left to go= 1683 NM.

The Rest of the Story:

Day-22, We sailed onward in strong trades having one of those big days that we hope to see more of.

Now there is this funny feeling of let down and things aboard seem almost too normal after going through a storm where our“Pucker factor” had been way up. Debbie says she is all right with it but I feel just kind of zoned out.

We are anxious to fish again but have to eat our way into the freezer to make some room for our next “catch of the day”.

Day-23

Winds are dropping off and we watch as our speed also drops.  Soon I shake out all the reefs and manage to get the speed back up for a few more hours. Overnight the winds went light. The sky tonight was amazing causing one to just stare deep into the twinkling mass of stars  as the boat rolled nicely along in the warm gentle breezes.

We are amazed that we have not seen one ship since those we saw on our first day off the coast of Ecuador. There was the fishing fleet after the Galapagos but no huge freighters. I’m thinking the Panama Canal is “broken”.

Day-24

Debbie sounds the alarm that the shower sump keeps filling up and on further investigation we find water in the bilge from where the sump had over flowed .  Debbie gets the flash light and finds the head waters on Sailors Run. It seems that the sink in the head has a thru hull valve and that is leaking and there seems no way to further tighten it. I make a temporary fix on the valve by stretching Teflon sealer tape real thin and working it into the slop on valve cut a piece of rubber and then hose clamp it over the Teflon tape. At first it seems to still drip but after several hours the leak stops completely and we are sure that we can wait until port for the proper fix.

It was 3 AM on my watch and the boat had slowed to 4 kts in less than 10 kts. of breeze. It was definitely spinnaker time so up went the chute. That caused the speed to go back up to a comfortable 5+kts.  I thought I had done really well getting the spinnaker up but took a little “heat” from Debbie for not waking  her up to watch out for me while hoisting it. OK!! OK!!

We are down to one tomato, two cucumbers and one head of cabbage, Look out Costco here we come J

On election patrol in the Pacific, & Happy  to be nicely making way-Your amigos ,Jeff & Debbie

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 25-26-27 2012

 

Statistics:

Day 25- Pos. Lat.17*50’N , Long.129*09’W. -24hr, Run=104 NM. Weather, sunny, wind NNE at 6-8kts. Temp 78-80*.

Day 26- Pos. Lat. 18*03’N, Long.131*11’W -24hr. Run=109 NM. Weather: sunny, Wind NNE at 8-12kts. Temp 79-82*.

Day 27- Pos. Lat. 18*31’N Long.133*38’W 24hr. Run= 150NM.Weather: partly cloudy ,wind NNE at 15-18kts. Temp 78-82*

Total miles sailed so far=3,597NM.

Total miles left to go=1,362NM

The rest of the story:

The winds have gone really light and we struggled under Spinnaker on Days 25-26 trying to get at least 100 miles a day. Aboard Sailors Run we sail unless the speed drops below three knots.

I was thinking about the storm Rosa and how important it is to have radar both out in the cockpit and below decks. Let’s face it the less time you spend topsides in a storm the better off you are and Radar becomes your eyes when below decks. The radar is also a good place to display your speed and course. Now we only have one radar screen but it is on a swing arm that allows it to be outside or inside.

The other thing that is very important is a good auto pilot and or wind vane that can steer in a storm this allows you to sail shorthanded and spend less time on deck.

Debbie and I have come to love our ice machine. It’s small about 18”x18”x10” and starts producing ice in just 12-minutes and then about every 5-minutes after that. Now we not only have ice but don’t have to take up valuable room in our freezer. Ours is a Sears –Kold Front and cost 130 dollars. It uses very little electricity and is only on for a short time when ice is needed.

Day 27, the winds filled in and we are making good progress towards Hawaii. The spinnaker came down after 53hrs.and we are back under Main, Mizzen & Genoa.

The fishing line is back out but so far nothing.

Getting anxious, your amigos Jeff & Debbie

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 28-29-30,2012

Statistics:

Day 28= Nov.9th. Pos Lat. 19*04’N. Long.136*13’ W. 24hr. Run=155NM, Weather: Wind NNE at 12-18kts. Partly cloudy Temp.=76-80*.

Day 29 =Pos. Lat.19*33’N. Long. 138*36’W. 24hr. Run=142NM, Weather: Wind NNE at 12-18kts.shifting to east 15-18kts.Cloudy. Temp.=75-77*.

Day 30 Pos, Lat.20*03’N.Long.140*02’W.24hr, run=120NM. ,Weather: Wind  East at 12-18kts. Sunny Temp.76-78*

Total miles sailed so far=4,014NM.

Miles left to go=922NM.

The rest of the story:

Day 28-Was fast sailing in nice trades. We are fishing and apparently had a “strike” as our little purple squid is gone and its wire leader appears to have pulled apart where it was crimped back on its self. It is times like this that you wonder if the manufacture knows that the crimp job is no good just so you must buy more lures. ”NOOOOOOO “ of course not that would be dishonest!!

Day 29- We get a wind shift to the east and suddenly we have the wind right on our backs ,one of our least favorite points of sail while in confused seas as we tend to roll around like a “Bee Bee” in a box car. We stay sailing on a broad reach a much more comfortable sail but are very unhappy with our course that is now taking us north of the big Island. The spinnaker would be great but ours is very large and the winds are too strong to fly it, so we run dead downwind with the main on one side and the mizzen on the other. The genoa just keeps popping and snapping because of the roll even on the pole.  I am frustrated and Debbie’s mood is just as well, as rolling & heaving gets to be abit much!

Day 30- The winds go lighter and back to the NNE eventually. It was on one of my trips topside I noticed the fishing line no longer trailing behind. Hmmmm!  Soon the not so bad problem is discovered a fish has taken our line down and wrapped it up on the wind vane steering. I “shout fish on” and free the line from the wind vane then roll in the headsail to slow the boat. Debbie appears with the gaff and I put on the gloves and start hauling the fish in. When the fish breaks the surface it is a beautiful blue Dorado [Mahi Mahi].It doesn’t take team “Sailors Run” long to haul our catch aboard. Wow this is like going shopping without spending the money.  It’s less than one hour later we once again have a full freezer thanks to ‘Mr. 44 “ Dorado and the careful packaging of Debbie.

We should be into Honokahou  harbor on the big Island within a week, crossing our fingers.

For those of you wondering about our future plans it goes kind of like this. Six months on the Islands aprox.  Two months on Big Island of Hawaii , two months on Oahu and two months in Kauai.  In May we sail for San Francisco & go to Las Vegas to replenish the cruising kitty J. Fly home to be with family then sail south for San Diego to do another BA HA-HA Race  to Mexico where we plan to just “CHILL” for a whole bunch of time.

Thanks to all for your emails, they add much enjoyment to our days

Please remember do not -HIT REPLY- when writing us as it takes time to receive our adventure back and we already have a copy.”Thanks”

After “30 days at Sea”, still Rolling Along, Your amigos Jeff &

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 28-29-30,2012

Statistics:

Day 28= Nov.9th. Pos Lat. 19*04’N. Long.136*13’ W. 24hr. Run=155NM, Weather: Wind NNE at 12-18kts. Partly cloudy Temp.=76-80*.

Day 29 =Pos. Lat.19*33’N. Long. 138*36’W. 24hr. Run=142NM, Weather: Wind NNE at 12-18kts.shifting to east 15-18kts.Cloudy. Temp.=75-77*.

Day 30 Pos, Lat.20*03’N.Long.140*02’W.24hr, run=120NM. ,Weather: Wind  East at 12-18kts. Sunny Temp.76-78*

Total miles sailed so far=4,014NM.

Miles left to go=922NM.

The rest of the story:

Day 28-Was fast sailing in nice trades. We are fishing and apparently had a “strike” as our little purple squid is gone and its wire leader appears to have pulled apart where it was crimped back on its self. It is times like this that you wonder if the manufacture knows that the crimp job is no good just so you must buy more lures. ”NOOOOOOO “ of course not that would be dishonest!!

Day 29- We get a wind shift to the east and suddenly we have the wind right on our backs ,one of our least favorite points of sail while in confused seas as we tend to roll around like a “Bee Bee” in a box car. We stay sailing on a broad reach a much more comfortable sail but are very unhappy with our course that is now taking us north of the big Island. The spinnaker would be great but ours is very large and the winds are too strong to fly it, so we run dead downwind with the main on one side and the mizzen on the other. The genoa just keeps popping and snapping because of the roll even on the pole.  I am frustrated and Debbie’s mood is just as well, as rolling & heaving gets to be abit much!

Day 30- The winds go lighter and back to the NNE eventually. It was on one of my trips topside I noticed the fishing line no longer trailing behind. Hmmmm!  Soon the not so bad problem is discovered a fish has taken our line down and wrapped it up on the wind vane steering. I “shout fish on” and free the line from the wind vane then roll in the headsail to slow the boat. Debbie appears with the gaff and I put on the gloves and start hauling the fish in. When the fish breaks the surface it is a beautiful blue Dorado [Mahi Mahi].It doesn’t take team “Sailors Run” long to haul our catch aboard. Wow this is like going shopping without spending the money.  It’s less than one hour later we once again have a full freezer thanks to ‘Mr. 44 “ Dorado and the careful packaging of Debbie.

We should be into Honokahou  harbor on the big Island within a week, crossing our fingers.

For those of you wondering about our future plans it goes kind of like this. Six months on the Islands aprox.  Two months on Big Island of Hawaii , two months on Oahu and two months in Kauai.  In May we sail for San Francisco & go to Las Vegas to replenish the cruising kitty J. Fly home to be with family then sail south for San Diego to do another BA HA-HA  Race  to Mexico where we plan to just “CHILL” for a whole bunch of time.

Thanks to all for your emails, they add much enjoyment to our days

Please remember do not -HIT REPLY- when writing us as it takes time to receive our adventure back and we already have a copy.”Thanks”

After “30 days at Sea”, still Rolling Along, Your amigos Jeff &

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days , 31-32-33, 2012.

 

Statistics:

Day-31- November 12th.  Pos. Lat.20*36’N, Long. 142*58’W. 24hr. Run=129NM Weather: Wind ENE at 12-15kts.Temp. 75-79*.

Day-32.- Pos. Lat. 20*28’N Long. 145*08’W. 24hr. run=115NM. Weather: Wind 10-12kts from East sunny,trade wind sky’s. Temp. 75-77*.

Day-33.- Pos. Lat. 20*07’.N. Long.  147*22’W. 24hr. Run=123NM. Weather: Wind NNE at 10-12kts. Temp. 76-80*.

Total miles sailed so far=4,651NM.

Miles left to go=544NM.

The rest of the story:

Day 31-Veteran’s Day- It was good sailing in seas that have become more uniform and less confused making life more comfortable aboard Sailors Run. It was towards the end of that day that I had decided to put the spinnaker back up as the winds were going light once again. It was when I leaned on the starboard life line to adjust the block on deck when the boat rolled to starboard and the life line suddenly gave way. Fortunately, it had held through the worst of the roll and I was just able to grasp the life line stanchion keeping  me on deck. Yes, my life jacket and tether were on and attached however being trolled along the side of the boat at 5-knots would be absolutely no fun.

The life lines are 13-years old and two have already been replaced and now it is obvious the rest must also be replaced. Most sailors know that life lines can also be death lines and ours have reached that point.

Day 32- Was the best sailing so far of the trip. We were not breaking any mileage barriers but under spinnaker in light air with low seas it was almost like not even being on the boat. Debbie was baking brownies in the oven and I was dreaming about eating them. We played cards and didn’t have them sliding all over the cushions like usual. We both rested better and things generally looked brighter.

Debbie spotted our first ship since leaving the coast of Ecuador, a large freighter that came within two miles. It appeared that he actually altered course a few degrees just to get a better look at us. Deb also seen  fishing boat lights just over the horizon on one of her night watches.

Day33 -Still under spinnaker and right on course for the south end of the big Island. We have seen no whales out here and there have been no sea birds for the past three days. We get lots of flying fish on deck and toss them of daily a morning ritual. Debbie and I have seen two green flashes at sunset so far and a few shooting stars at night.

We have been at sea 33 days now and I figured we would be arriving on this day but the storm Rosa took us out of that game plan and now it looks like we will make port at Honokahau on Sunday afternoon.

Our clocks are still on Ecuador time 5 hrs ahead of Hawaii so we have some real day light savings going on. It stays light almost until eleven at night and the sun doesn’t rise until about 11AM. We keep the Ecuador time just so we can keep track of all our radio times for getting weather etc.

Just “four more nights”, Your Amigos, Jeff& Debbie

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days ,31-32-33, 2012.

 

Statistics:

Day-31- November 12th.  Pos. Lat.20*36’N, Long. 142*58’W. 24hr. Run=129NM Weather: Wind ENE at 12-15kts.Temp. 75-79*.

Day-32.- Pos. Lat. 20*28’N Long. 145*08’W. 24hr. run=115NM. Weather: Wind 10-12kts from East sunny,trade wind sky’s. Temp. 75-77*.

Day-33.- Pos. Lat. 20*07’.N. Long.  147*22’W. 24hr. Run=123NM. Weather: Wind NNE at 10-12kts. Temp. 76-80*.

Total miles sailed so far=4,651NM.

Miles left to go=544NM.

The rest of the story:

Day 31-Veteran’s Day- It was good sailing in seas that have become more uniform and less confused making life more comfortable aboard Sailors Run. It was towards the end of that day that I had decided to put the spinnaker back up as the winds were going light once again. It was when I leaned on the starboard life line to adjust the block on deck when the boat rolled to starboard and the life line suddenly gave way. Fortunately, it had held through the worst of the roll and I was just able to grasp the life line stanchion keeping  me on deck. Yes, my life jacket and tether were on and attached however being trolled along the side of the boat at 5-knots would be absolutely no fun.

The life lines are 13-years old and two have already been replaced and now it is obvious the rest must also be replaced. Most sailors know that life lines can also be death lines and ours have reached that point.

Day 32- Was the best sailing so far of the trip. We were not breaking any mileage barriers but under spinnaker in light air with low seas it was almost like not even being on the boat. Debbie was baking brownies in the oven and I was dreaming about eating them. We played cards and didn’t have them sliding all over the cushions like usual. We both rested better and things generally looked brighter.

Debbie spotted our first ship since leaving the coast of Ecuador, a large freighter that came within two miles. It appeared that he actually altered course a few degrees just to get a better look at us. Deb also seen  fishing boat lights just over the horizon on one of her night watches.

Day33 -Still under spinnaker and right on course for the south end of the big Island. We have seen no whales out here and there have been no sea birds for the past three days. We get lots of flying fish on deck and toss them of daily a morning ritual. Debbie and I have seen two green flashes at sunset so far and a few shooting stars at night.

We have been at sea 33 days now and I figured we would be arriving on this day but the storm Rosa took us out of that game plan and now it looks like we will make port at Honokahau on Sunday afternoon.

Our clocks are still on Ecuador time 5 hrs ahead of Hawaii so we have some real day light savings going on. It stays light almost until eleven at night and the sun doesn’t rise until about 11AM. We keep the Ecuador time just so we can keep track of all our radio times for getting weather etc.

Just “four more nights”, Your Amigos, Jeff& Debbie

 

Ecuador to Hawaii Days 34-35-36,2012.

Statistics:

Day-34 Nov.15th Pos. Lat.19*45’N. Long. 19*43’W. 24hr. Run=130NM. Weather: Wind NNE-10-12kts.some squalls. Temp.=75-76*

Day-35 Pos. Lat.19*35’N. Long.152*01’W. 24hr. Run=128NM. Weather: Wind NNE at 10-12kts.Squalls and some rain.Temp.76-80*

Day-36 Pos.19*12’N long.153*41’W. 24hr. Run=118NM. Weather: wind NNE at 10-15kts.Some squalls

Temp.76-77*.

Total miles sailed so far=5,027NM.

Miles left to go 178 NM.

The rest of the story:

Day 34- Found Sailors Run under Spinnaker much of the time trying to keep our speed up. We tossed our red feather lure out and within about two hours hauled in a nice 36”Dorado(mahi mahi) and once again retired the lure.  The seas are uncomfortable as we try to hold our nearly dead downwind course.

Day 35- Was spinnaker once again along towards evening as the winds died down. We also caught another Dorado this one is about 40 inches long. The freezer is looking real full now.

It was about one in the morning and I was awoken to the sound of the spinnaker popping and Debbie was on watch and said that it appears a squall is forming right on top of us. I climbed into the cockpit and adjusted the steering to allow for the change in wind direction. Suddenly the wind went from 12kts to 25kts in just seconds. Sailors Run heeled Dramatically trying to dump the force of the wind. Normally that would work but with a spinnaker it does not dump it just broaches the boat [heels the boat broad side to the wind]. I watch as the boat fights to get back up and the huge strains are placed on everything. Debbie is below screaming as she watches water start to poor in through two small windows we had open & preparing to be laying down flat on the wall hanging on, I grab the spinnaker sheet(line) and turn it loose from the winch and Sailors Run pops back up. Debbie throws me my life jacket and harness as she also dawns hers. Soon we are on the fore deck rolling around trying to stay put as we pull the sock down over the “raging popping  spinnaker  whose sheet line now has huge knots in it threatening to knock the “hell” out of whatever it came in contact with. It only took about 5-minutes to get the spinnaker snuffed but I must admit no task for the faint of heart!!

We rolled the genoa back out after the squall had passed and found dry  clothes  below. Once again Debbie had done everything that needed to be done and fortunately not that much water got in through the open ports.

Day36- Finds two sailors getting pretty excited to be closing on the Hawaiian Islands. We are both singing “One More Night” and thanks to being on Ecuador time we get an extra 5hrs of day light to get in . We are praying for Sunday afternoon “Yahoo”!!!

We will let you all know about our safe arrival and the final statistics:  Ever wonder about that “Rum”????  I must assure you it is one of the things we have not ran out of.

“Looking for Land”, Your Amigo’s, Jeff & Debbie

 

PLEASE DO NOT PUSH REPLY J THANK YOU

Ecuador to Hawaii 2012 Day 37+9.5hrs.

Statistics:

Day37- Nov.18th. Pos. Lat.18* 57’N Long. 155*51’W. 24hr.Run=139NM. Weather:Wind  NE at 12-25kts.Cloudy with a few squalls. Temp 77-80*

Last 9.5hrs.Pos.Honokohau  Harbor  Island, Hawaii Lat 19*40’N Long.156*01’W.Weather overcast with light breeze from NW. Temp 80*

Total miles sailed on the passage= 5217NM average boat speed =5.8kts. Average 24hr. run=139NM. Total Diesel consumed 20-gallons; miles per gallon=260 NM.per gallon

The end of the story:

The last day and a half we were out, was time spent with lots of mixed feelings and emotions. The biggest thing was the voyage was rapidly coming to a close and we both felt “It’s about time”!!  We are both very tired of rolling around in confused seas all the time having to deal with the elements. I don’t think we will be doing any day sails any time soon around Hawaii. So many days at sea tends to gradually grind you down making the simple tasks seem very trying at times.

We caught a nice football sized tuna on our 37th day and retired the fishing gear for the voyage. Debbie  had baked it in the oven,& in the rolling seas, while taking the pan out, the pan touched her forearm & she got a burnt, luckily not bad. She had said she had been very careful this whole trip on not getting hurt & damn! On the last day!!

Our sail around the south end of the big Island was exhilarating hitting speeds over eight knots and all in the sight of that mystical thing called ”LAND”. We both had tears in our eyes as deb shouts-LAND,LAND!!

We were met by our friend Mikie & John Nunn from the yacht La Duena who have lived on the Island for quit sometime & we has spent time with them 7 yrs ago while here, it was great to see a happy ,familiar face at the fuel dock and they took our bow lines securing us once again to the land. They produced a cold 6-pack of Longboard beer, two humongous cheese burgers in paradise from  the  local restaurant and a bottle of champagne. “Wow” how cool was that. Funny, they sat on the dock & we sat on our boat eating our dinners & visiting as were not allowed to get off the boat as yet,J

We called customs to get checked in, but they did not answer our messages.  Hopefully today we get checked in as it would be nice to finally do some land walking. Needless to say, we both slept like ROCKS in our boat that was setting so still on the water..

Thanks to all of you that rode along with us on this adventure and stayed in touch by email. The communication coming in while at sea is so very special.

“ALOHA and HAPPY THANKSGIVING  to you all , Your Amigos safely tied to the shore J, Jeff & Debbie

1 17 18 19