Day 15 to Alaska-- Are We There Yet?

Noon position 6/28/16: 43 05.6873N 153 45.6452W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 125 nm
Total distance travelled: 1540 nm
Distance to Sitka): 1090 nm

We continue to just move along. We like these good mileage days for sure. We dealt with our low yesterday and though it wasn't comfortable, that was only due to the swell kicked up by the wind. The boat sailed beautifully at 5-6 kts under reefed mizzen and staysail alone. Merlin the windvane performed flawlessly. We hunkered down below and stayed by the heater. Given the boat's motion, neither Tor nor I slept very well, so it's pretty low energy around here today.

Definitely ready to be there, but it doesn't pay to start focusing on that, we've got a long way to go still.

It looks like there are some more higher winds on their way tomorrow, but we will hopefully take advantage of them to make for another good mileage day.

Day 14 to Alaska-- Two weeks and Halfway!

Noon position 6/28/16: 42 14.1589N 156 15.9771W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 113 nm
Total distance travelled: 1415 nm
Distance to Sitka): 1196 nm

Today on the two week mark of our journey, we hit the halfway mark! At 10:05 this morning, our distance from each of the way points in Sitka and Hanalei Bay were both 1206.28 nm. We had a nice celebration courtesy of Kristine and Fynn from Asunto. They gave Lars and Odin each a present to open when we hit the halfway mark. A sweet taste of our time in Hawaii, candy leis!

I do hope the second half takes less time than the first half, and we are definitely on track for that. Having the wind behind us and not having to beat into headwinds should certainly help. Things are pretty rocky and rolly right now, but we are making good time in exactly the direction we want to go.

We started our heater this morning and it was all nice and cozy. Then it quit. Tor found saltwater in the diesel day tank. Ugh. It probably got in the vent for the tank one or several of the probably thousands of times the cockpit was swamped with water in the last 5000 or so miles of sailing. He's draining the water off the tank now, hopefully it works and we can soon be warm and cozy again. A damp 63 degrees feels really, really cold after our time in Mexico and Hawaii!

Day 13 to Alaska-- Mileage!

Noon position 6/28/16: 40 50.0215N 157 48.7635W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 128 nm
Total distance travelled: 1302 nm
Distance to Sitka): 1306 nm

It feels really good to finally put a good mileage day in. The sailing and sea state have been comfortable. We are grateful. It's getting colder though. Since we go out on deck frequently Tor and I are bundled up, but amazingly Lars and Odin hang out below in t-shirts and bare feet. Brrr!!

It looks like tomorrow we get to experience the first of the lows that characterize this part of the passage. It's looking like 25 kts of wind from behind so not too bad, but we do prefer the 15 kts we are seeing now. Not much we can do about it though!

We continue to live in Lego city and Lars and Odin have been really wonderful about making sure Tor and I can get the naps we need during the day. It's usually about 4 hours of parental napping that they have to deal with by playing quietly. They are troopers and the best crew you could imagine.

Day 12 to Alaska-- Hull Speed

Noon position 6/27/16: 39 18.1583N 159 41.5880W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 101 nm
Total distance travelled: 1174 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1432 nm

The highs and lows of voyaging...last night the solenoid for our propane control on our stove quit working. We don't have any spares. Tor and I were both thinking we might have to make the rest of the trip without any ability to cook. Nightmare. Fortunately Tor was able to bypass the solenoid and though we now have to turn the gas off and on up on deck, at least we can cook. What a relief!

For the first time on this trip we've reached hull speed while we are going in the right direction. The first couple of days out of Hanalei bay were fast, but we were going northwest, halfway opposite of where we needed to go. In fact, we haven't yet quite made up the distance west of Hanalei bay we travelled. Wow. Yay for 15 kts of wind on the beam, we are sailing along quickly now and it feels great.

Day 11 to Alaska-- North of The High

Noon position 6/26/16: 38 04.3393N 161 02.5047W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 83 nm
Total distance travelled: 1073 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1529 nm

We spent the rest of yesterday motoring, and around bed time finally got some wind from the NW, though it was very light. We spent the night motorsailing slowly and then at 4:45am I was able to shut off the engine and we've been sailing in light winds since. The winds are currently from the N at 8-10 kts and we are on a course of about 30-35 degrees. Yep, continuing to make eastward progress!

As tough as it was to swallow just how far west we went and how much we fought going further west, I think it did end up being a good thing. From the weather models, it looks like even though we didn't avoid the high completely and spent yesterday motoring, we crossed it at a very skinny spot because we were so far west.

Day 10 to Alaska-- We are in the high!

Noon position 6/25/16: 37 21.5886N 162 29.3614W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 85 nm
Total distance travelled: 990 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1604 nm

We are finally making way to the East! We are slowly motoring now that we are in the high and there are just very light winds on the nose. We are keeping engine RPMs down to conserve fuel and just getting through it. The engine may be loud, but with the engine comes the ability to turn on the little engine driven heater,think heater in a car, that we installed for our last trip to Alaska. With calm seas due to no wind, no heeling and cozy warmth down below, it feels mighty comfortable thank you very much!

Our weather models show that if we continue doing this we will pop out on the other side of the high late tonight or early tomorrow morning and will then have westerly winds perfect for getting us NE to Sitka. We will take it!

We don't have an autopilot, so with motoring comes hand steering. To hand steer we have to be actually out in the cockpit, not hiding under the dodger, so the full warm clothing came out for night watch last night. It definitely feels like we are coming home.

Kauai

I prescheduled this posting. We are currently at sea and am not able to make such elaborate, photo heavy posts. I figured I would break up the string of passage related posts with some of our Hawaii memories.

Oh Kauai how we love thee. Almost 16 (!) years ago Tor and I honeymooned on Kauai, then we returned 11 years ago to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We were very excited to come back and share the island with our boys, so we made sure to budget plenty of time to spend here before leaving on the passage to Alaska. We made the overnight passage from Honolulu to Hanalei bay on the North side of Kauai, the traditional jumping off point for passages to the Northwest. Hanalei Bay also meant reunion with Asunto for a few days before Kolby left with crew to sail the boat to Sitka and Kristine flew home with the kids (they will fly to Sitka to reunite with Kolby and Asunto). 

Kauai has not disappointed. It’s every bit as great as we remembered, maybe even more so because we’ve had more time here to meet locals and we’ve learned the most fun ways to play in Hawaii for our family after spending 6 weeks or so here. For a few days while Asunto was still here, we each rented cars and did some playing and sightseeing together, as well as Costco provisioning (again with the provisioning!)

My best day here? The day Kristine and I took a surfing lesson! The instructor was great, the beach was perfect  for the dads and kids to play on while we were in the water for two hours, and the waves gentle enough for us to comfortably learn and big enough to have fun. I got up a bunch of times and truly had a blast. Kristine said it was her perfect Hawaii day, and I completely agree.

We even met a family actively working toward cruising with their three kids. They invited us up to their house which is on 27 acres in the mountains (they are caretakers) with a pond for swimming and boating, wide expanses of grass for running around in, a trampoline and lots of animals to watch and hold…not to mention the kids to play with. It was heaven for Lars and Odin, and so fun for Tor and me to meet another family on the cruising path.

All in all we couldn’t be happier with our time in Kauai.

Odin happy to get to to Hanalei Bay

The one clear view we got of Waimea Canyon

This is what it mostly looked like at Waimea Canyon

The kids made the best of the foggy wet weather at
Waimea Canyon and found trees to climb in. It felt
distinctly Pacific NW like.

The crews of Yare and Asunto at Hanapepe

Damming the stream at tunnels beach

Lars, Odin and Fynn happy as clams at Tunnels Beach

Surfing lesson with family involvement!

Tor got video of us catching waves, but no still pictures.
Way too fun!

We look professional, no?

The post surfing lesson photo

Rock Quarry Beach where we had our surfing lesson
was perfect for the whole family. Lars was particularly
enamored with the rope swing.

Rainbow shave ice, a necessity!

I had the gourmet ginger and lilikoi shave ice, a sweet
ending to a perfect day of surfing and beach play.

Pre passage chore, haircuts!

Beautiful sunset at Beautiful Hanalei bay.
We saw the green flash for the first time ever!

Photographer Lars catching some evening cockpit time.

Lars and Tor hamming it up

Lars playing 'Tarz-man'

Beautiful Hanalei bay, with a full rainbow. Amazing.

Day 9 to Alaska-- So close to The High!

Noon position 6/24/16: 36 16.0711N 163 22.4375W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 95 nm
Total distance travelled: 905 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1683 nm

The barometer continues to climb, wind velocities have dropped significantly, but since the winds are still coming from the NE, we probably aren't quite there yet. But we want to be so badly, because it's a milestone for this passage! We have all sail up and are sailing quickly, but it's still close hauled (heeled over) and we are having to fight to not go west. We wanna go east!!

Lego play continues in earnest. I've read a couple of books and so has Tor. We are passing the time happily, but we are excited to be getting to Sitka.

Tor and I pulled out the wool socks and boots today, brrr!

Day 8 to Alaska-- Back to Life in a Tilt

Noon position 6/23/16: 34 42.3118N 163 12.5881W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 93 nm
Total distance travelled: 810 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1759 nm

We are actually pointing NE! Can you believe it?! We are excited. We ended up taking a "day off" yesterday and just sailing with reefed mizzen and staysail doing 3 kts or less, letting the windvane steer us in the right direction. The boat motion was good, Tor got caught up on some sleep after our windy, windy night the night before, and we all enjoyed the boat not heeling. It was good to relax our bodies. Then after supper we put the main up and were off like a shot, at a COG of 20 degrees. A rest day was a good call for us.

From our weather models it looks as though we are close to the North Pacific High. Our barometer seems to agree. Crossing over that will be a milestone!

In other news, Lars and Odin feel well enough to finally have gotten the Lego out. We as parents now feel superfluous ;).

Day 7 to Alaska-- One Week

Noon position 6/22/16: 33 11.7562N 163 20.6665W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 100 nm
Total distance travelled: 717 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1840 nm

One week in and another (almost) 100 mile run noon to noon. Every mile counts. Tor woke me up for my night watch last night with a "I'm sorry to wake you up for watch this way, but we need to put a reef in." Hello I'm awake! Then an hour or so later when Tor was asleep I got to return the favor, the wind built and the boat was over powered, and we were out of reefs so we dropped the main. Gotta love a ketch rig! We made good time under reefed mizzen and staysail alone all night and are now motor sailing to charge up batteries. Just ticking off miles.

We had a wow, we are going north experience this morning. Both Tor and I were chilled and it felt like the first cold day of fall. Granted the temperature in the boat was 71 deg F, it wasn't really that cold at all! And you all say, just wait until you see what's coming!

Day 6 to Alaska--keep on truckin'

Noon position 6/21/16: 31 39.2941N 163 11.2172W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 103 nm
Total distance travelled: 617 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1917 nm

Another 100+ mile day! We will take it. Unfortunately we gave up a bit more westward distance, but it's important to be moving. 100 mile days were so short on our last passage, but on this one it feels big. Different sailing in different parts of the ocean. Our current goal is to get out of the NE trades, then through the N Pacific High, then on to Sitka. I'm really hoping our weather models 10-14 days out are really inaccurate...they show basically no wind in the 1200 miles between where the high usually is and Sitka. We have fuel to motor for 400 miles. Ugh. A lot can change in a week, that's what we are counting on. For now, we are moving, getting out of the trades.

Other than that, family life continues on board, albeit at a 20 degree angle, with lots of bouncing around. The boys continue to reside almost exclusively in our bed, though Odin climbed out of bed of his own volition to do some drawing at the chart table. Best part? He can report that none of that made him queasy! We celebrated with a round of peanut M&Ms for the family. His drawing of a rocket was also super cool.

Day 5 to Alaska--slow and sloppy

Noon position 6/20/16: 30 00.5100N 162 42.2350W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 103 nm
Total distance travelled: 514 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 1992 nm

We broke 100 miles for our noon to noon run, whoopee! And we didn't give very much to the west. We are getting there. We are in a situation where in order to have good performance to windward we need to use our jib, but our jib is too big for these conditions, so we are making due with the staysail. It's definitely slow, but we are satisfied that we are at least making progress.

The wind picked up this morning and things got really wet and sloppy. We got a large splash down the companionway hatch right on top of the computer we use for our chart plotting. Ack! Stress! We got it cleaned up and so far it seems to be working, knock on wood! It's not the first splash it has received this trip so far, but it was definitely the most water it's seen. I've taken to keeping it closed and in a large ziplock bag to keep it protected, but I happened to be using it when we got the splash and it was wide open and vulnerable. If the worst happened we do have a spare computer, but we'd rather not need it.

Onward!

Day 4 to Alaska--painfully slow to back on track, also known as going from an ETA of 2018 to sometime later this summer

Noon position 6/19/16: 28 18.7952 N 162 27.5358 W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 76 nm
Total distance travelled: 411 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 2077 nm

Well that was pretty lousy. We got pretty preoccupied with not losing any more ground westward and fought hard to go only northward. Of course we beat our brains out, it was totally uncomfortable and we only averaged about 2.5 kts SOG. I guess it was worth the try, but we both started the morning off very discouraged and grumpy. So we both said screw it, westward isn't so bad, and let's just get this boat moving. Now that we are moving things feel way better and like we will get there sometime this summer. We also discovered we had an adjustment issue on the windvane and it is now working much better. That's why we were going so slow, it had us always pinching too close to the wind and Tor didn't have the mental clarity to realize there was a problem. Bonus: the wind shifted more easterly, so we are back to going basically due north on a reach, Yare loves reaching!

Day 3 to Alaska--we have sea legs, yes we do!

Noon position 6/18/16: 27 05.2211N 162 19.5780W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 73 nm
Total distance travelled: 335 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 2140 nm

Good news! The boys seem to have gotten over their sea sickness. Whoopee! They still aren't eating their usual amounts, but that will come.

We are moving slowly, but we are now moving more directly north than to the northwest. We took a NW course out of Hanalei bay to maximize comfort as everyone was getting used to the motion. The strategy worked fine as far as putting some miles in while everyone was acclimating, but adding mileage by going so far to the west was discouraging, so when the boys started feeling better, we started reassessing the strategy.

We've come to the conclusion we are just going to have a slow trip beating northward the best we can until we can get up and around the North Pacific High (if it has even formed) then we should hopefully have tailwinds to help us to Sitka.

Stay tuned...

Honolulu

I prescheduled this posting. We are currently at sea and am not able to make such elaborate, photo heavy posts. I figured I would break up the string of passage related posts with some of our Hawaii memories.

What an unexpected treat our time in Honolulu was! Initially neither Tor nor I were interested in going there, but when we learned that friends of ours from Seattle on S/V Celestial, as well as two other boats we met in Hilo and wanted to catch up with, S/V Anna Caroline and S/V Terrwyn were there, we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately we just missed Terrwyn as they had already left for their passage back home to Victoria, but we got to catch up with and bid Scott, Donna and Celeste from Celestial farewell as they departed for the passage to Sitka. And happily we got to spend more time with and better get to know Janneke and Wietze from Anna Caroline. We met them in Hilo and were very excited to catch up with them again. Janneke gave each boy a big bear hug as soon as she saw them and I assure you, the feeling is mutual!

Our time in Honolulu was spent provisioning (always with growing boys, goodness!), doing boat projects, hanging out at the most friendly and welcoming Hawaii yacht club, watching the Friday night fireworks at the lagoon between the marina and Waikiki beach, spending a day at the most impressive Bishop museum, and participating in the most amazing public event Tor and I have ever been to. Lantern Floating Hawaii was on Memorial Day at Ala Moana park next to the marina (walking distance, convenient!). Lantern Floating Hawaii is organized and put on by the Shinnyo-en Buddhist temple in Honolulu, and it is a beautiful ceremony to honor the memories of lost loved ones, as well as those who served our country. 6000 lanterns are distributed and something like 50,000 people come to write their remembrances on the lanterns and float them out to sea.  Not only was it incredibly moving to participate in, but the organization was incredible. Both Janneke and I were able to get lanterns for our families, we spent the afternoon at the beach together and floated our lanterns together. It was an intimate and collective experience all wrapped up in one, simply amazing and we are so grateful we were able to experience and fully participate in it.

We stopped at Molokai enroute from Maui to Honolulu.
Kaunakakai was a neat town to visit.

We bought this giant grapefruit relative from a farmer on
Molokai. We forgot what it was called, but
 it had pink firm flesh and was delicious!

We had a fun evening socializing with other cruisers
 on Molokai. The boys even got a ukelele lesson!

The famous Diamond Head of Honolulu from the water.

Odin helping on the bowsprit

Little boat, big city. The marina's location downtown is
primo.

We were only there for 6 nights, but that was long enough
for a bird to make a nest in our radar reflector. We tried
 to respectfully relocate it, but I'm afraid it wasn't
 successful :(. 

Tor up the rig adding chafe protection to the serving on our
shrouds for the upcoming passage.

Our friends Janneke and Wietze

Lars decorating our lantern

So many people!

Our lantern ready to go

Waiting for the signal to begin floating the lanterns

The floating begins with volunteers floating lanterns for
people unable to get to the water to float their own.

Our lantern out to join the others

A stunning sight

At the Bishop museum, they have a hot lava demonstration
where they melt cinders in a 2000 degree furnace making
 lava. Incredibly cool!

In the Science Adventure building at the Bishop Museum

We may have been playing a bit hard...Lars fell asleep on
my lap on the bus!

Day 2 to Alaska--We have sea legs! Oops I guess not

Noon position 6/16/16 25 59.6968N 161 49.8419 W
Noon to noon distance travelled: 139 nm
Total distance travelled: 262 nm
Distance to Sitka (straight line): 2189 nm

Why do they call it sea legs? Shouldn't it be called sea stomach? Whatever it is, we don't have it. I was pretty sure I was going to be able to report that the boys had their sea legs, because they had some yogurt and held it down for quite a long time, then I gave them more and that appears to have been a mistake. Yogurt throw up is terrible. We've had lots of philosophical discussions about what foods and liquids are good for throwing up, yogurt is on the bad list. Odin is back to feeling really lousy. Lars is doing better, but still sequestered in our berth, now eating saltines. I'm ready for this phase of the passage to be over! Tor is feeling okay, but certainly not in top form. He's on deck getting as much fresh air is possible. My three poor dudes!

In other news, well there isn't any. Briefly we were sailing to Japan, but we got back on course. That's about it.

I did have one thought for my Facebook friends: while out at sea, I can't see Facebook, or blogger at all. I post to the blog by sending an email (that takes several minutes to send, especially if it has a photo), and then the post is automatically shared to FB. So, if you post comments to Facebook, I can't see them, but if you post them to the blog, they come to me in email form and I can actually see them, though I can't respond. Not that I'm fishing for comments, just so you know why I'm not responding.

Day 1 to Alaska--sloppy conditions and sea sickness

Noon position: 24 05.8552N 160 26.9289W
Miles travelled since departure 6/15/16 at 14:45 local time: 123 nm

No easing into it for this trip! As soon as we got out of Hanalei bay conditions were lumpy and windy making for fast, sloppy and wet sailing. So we are getting somewhere quickly, but it's not comfortable. As has always happened in the past, the three guys are seasick and feeling lousy. The boys are sequestered in our berth and Tor is on deck which helps with his seasickness, but unfortunately with the conditions, it is really wet for him. At least the water is warm...

We've had 3 large splashes come down the companionway and get the computer wet. That's never happened before. I'm glad I had the foresight to put a plastic bag over the keyboard, so far it seems to be working. Knock on wood.

Fortunately I am not feeling sick, just tired, so I can take care of everyone else. The boat is taking care of herself. I'm already seeing signs in the boys that they are starting to get their sea legs. The sun is shining and we are making good progress, so things are good!

And We're Off!

The food is all stowed, sail covers are off and emotionally we think we are ready for the passage to Alaska! Must be time to go. We expect the passage to Sitka will take 3-4 weeks and I plan to post to the blog daily like I did on the last long passage. For my Facebook friends, I think I figured out a way to automatically post my blog posts to Facebook, so hopefully it will work.

A reminder to all of you...the blog posting is manual and relies on electronic things working as expected. If I goof and miss a day, or our satellite phone dies, a post may not come when you may be expecting. That does not mean we are in trouble, I repeat it does not mean we are in trouble. We have an EPIRB if we need help, it calls the Coast Guard directly if we need it. 

Now for the last task before we go, giving an offering of rum to Neptune. Love to all of you!

Maui with Friends

In Maui we reconnected with our dear friends on Asunto (we originally met them in Mexico and they have the same sailing plans as us, Mexico to Hawaii to Alaska and for them back to Vancouver BC, all in the same time frame as us) and finally got to meet their new crew member, baby Bowen. We had a wonderful time with them, renting an eight passenger van to get us all on the road Hana, up to the top of Haleakala and to help with chores like provisioning and laundry. Travelling with a brand new infant, Bowen was about 4 weeks old at the time, brought it all back for Tor and me (blissfully with none of the responsibility ;)). I’m amazed at Kristine and Kolby’s teamwork, resilience and ability to roll with the punches to make their trip work. It’s hard to do this kind of travelling with two six year olds, but a much different thing to do with a 2 ½ year old and an infant.

Not only did we travel by car with them, but we buddy boated together and snorkeled at Molokini, played at beaches, swam from the boats, enjoyed meals together, celebrated Lars and Odin’s birthday together, and in general just enjoyed our time together. The boys and Fynn their 2 ½ year old became fast friends. All together we did Maui right.

Walking around Lahaina, Lars got a ride from Fynn
( the 2 1/2 year old!)

Sea cave on the road to Hana

Seven Sacred Pools, high water due to all the rain so no
swimming. Bummer!

In Maui Odin 'got' snorkeling. When we anchored off Black Rock
 at Kaanapali all the skills came together and he became our turtle
spotter. So cool!

At Makena Beach anchorage, Odin decided he wanted to swim
 to Asunto which was probably 150 ft away from Yare!
He did it no problem! See that speck in the water? He
was swimming toward Asunto's stern. It was amazing!
Not bad for a kid who couldn't swim when we left on our
trip 8 months before!

Lars recently decided he really liked barrels. So a barrel birthday
cake was requested and achieved!

Happy Barrel boy!

Odin the artist decided he wanted to draw the pirate ship on his cake.

Nice job Odin!

Yare at the dock in Lahaina, tight quarters, no?