News

Saturday April 24 2004
Smooth sailing all day long. I have the genoa goosewinged with the spinnaker pole on the starboard side, and the main on the port
side. The boom is supported by the boom preventer. Wing on wing. We are sailing on a run. The seas are as it should be, the hills and
the valleys! Running with the wind is not always comfortable. I have lowered the centerboard to slow down the rolling. Hopefully the
wind will shift soon, so we can sail on a beam or broad reach again. In strong wind IT performs very well, the swells lifting us up from
behind and we surf at speeds of up to 8.5 knots for brief moments while the swells pass underneath us. It is like a see-saw ride. But
with the winds dwindling the rolling starts to increase. I must say I enjoyed the ride in winds up to 20 knts! Still no ships. Just endless
blue water and white horses here and there. Thunderstorm clouds on the horizon. Fresh water will be a welcome sight again. Spent
most of the day reading Bryce Courtney's novel "Tommo and Hawk" No dirty hands and oil stains today !! Position at 1730 hrs 8-30 S
119-52 W Cog 250 Sog 6 kt wind 9 kt wind from the East

Saturday April 24 2004
3 weeks in the Pacific Position at 0730 Texas time 8-11 S 118-56 W Cog 250 Sog 6 kt Wind 12 kt Wind from the ESE

Friday April 23 2004
Still sailing same course, same wind, same speed !! Going great !
Had granola bars for breakfast and sardines for lunch. Too hot to cook anything. I just eat it straight out of the can !!
Managed to get one alternator up and running, pushing out 14.6 volts. There are still some cobwebs I gotta get rid of and am working
on it. So far, so good.
Have spent most of the day getting the tools back into the toolboxes and organized, cleaning up the oil stains. One day I am going to
design an engine that is oil free !!! It is always such a mess if your engine is 30 years old or older.
Have not seen anything, absolutely no ships, no nothing, just zip.
We are sailing on a broad reach to a run. I have tied the spinnaker pole to the genoa, so it won't flap so much on the run and it also
stops it from rolling itself around the front stay. It is working wonders and much more comfortable too.

Position at 1700 hrs
7-42 S
117-33 W
Cog 245
Sog 7.2 knts
Wind 13 kts
Wind from SSE
Temp 88

Friday April 23 2004
Position at 0800hrs Texas time
7-26 S
116-35 W
Cog 255
Sog 7.5 knts
Wind 16 knts
wind from SSE

Thursday April 22 2004
Position at 1730 hrs
6-49 S
115-15 W
COG 255
SOG 6 knts
Wind 8 knts
Wind from SSE

Sailing on a broad reach to run, port tack.
This morning, when I plotted my position, I noticed I had the longest run in 24 hrs since leaving Texas. A whopping 185 nautical miles!
Another quiet day. Tried to fly the spinnaker, but Willie could not keep a straight course and ended up almost losing the spinnaker.
Took me one hour to fish it out of the water!

Thursday April 22 2004
6-46 S
114-10 W
Cog 260
Sog 7.5 knts
Wind 12 knts
Wind from the SSE

Wed April 21 2004
Position at 1700
6-38 S
112-26 W
COG 250
SOG 6 knts
Wind 12 knts
Wind from ESE

Went through 3 squalls last night, winds up tp 32 knts. Tried to roll up genoa. Roller furling system broke. Let genoa flap loose all
night long. This morning untangled genoa from roller furling system, then installed new bolts. Rolled genoa up and have been sailing
all day on a run with main only. Seas up to 15 feet with a lot of white horses.
Wind speed all day around 20 knts, going down now.
Tried to restore power in batteries, alternators giving me a hard time.

Wednesday April 21 2004
POS 6 28 S 111 22 W 0745 HRS

Tuesday April 20 2004
Another quiet day for me. Wind is a little off, causing us to sail off course. Staying on a beam reach.The heat is playing on my nerves
and I hope for some rain soon. Read the book about alternators today, trying to find a way to increase the charge rate.
My tri-color light uses a lot of energy, but it is safer than using the lower running lights.
Position at 1700hrs
5-53 S
109-51 W
Cog 225
Sog 7 knts
Wind 13 knts
Wind from NNW
Temp 91

Tuesday April 20 2004
Position at 0700 hrs
5- 31 S
108-55
Cog 260
Sog 5 knts
Wind 8 knts
Wind from SSW

Monday April 19 2004
Since last night, still sailing on a beam reach. Spent the evening watching the stars and the millions of shining plankton particles in
the water as IT skims through it.
We are sailing in 4000 meters of water (12000')
This morning the wind died down and shifted, blowing from the east. First I tried to goosewing the genoa, but after a while I got the
pole down and changed direction, bearing 110 degrees.The wind was too light to run with it, just 7 knots and the waves are creating
havoc at such slow speed. Wind has increased and shifted since, new bearing is 235 degrees, wind speed up to 10 knts.
Spent most of the day reading of course !!!
Position at 1700 hrs
5-16 S
107-48 W
Cog 235
Sog 5.8 knts

Monday morning April 19 2004
Position at 0700 hrs
4-46 S
107-6 W
Cog 246
Sog 5 knts
Wind 7 knts
Wind from the SE

Sunday April 18 2004
A quiet night and day for me. Last night I cooked a bag of rice mixed with brown gravy and corned beef!
Tried to fix Andy, but her motor gears are shot. Willie is still steering, trusty old fellow !
Took video footage of kamikaze flying fish and squid that littered the deck. I cleaned it up, the squid left dark brown stains on the
gel-coat. Have been sailing all night on a beam and broad reach, hitting speeds over ground a whopping 8.2 knts!
I estimate the current at 1.8 knts.
Started the engine for the first time in 4 days to charge the batteries. Ran it for one hour.
Spent most of the time sitting in the companionway reading the "Altman Code" and Storm Tactics for sailboats.
I have since changed course and entered new waypoints on my GPS. I plan to sail south past the Marquesas Islands, close as
possible in case I need to stop. Then on to the north of French Polynesia, just north of the atolls, then head straight for American
Samoa (Pago Pago Harbor).
It is still a very long way and I can change everything again, it all depends on the winds.

Position at 1715 hrs
4-15 S
105-39 W
Cog 241
Sog 7.6 knts
Wind 13 knts
Wind from the South
Temp 83

Sun Morning April 18 2004
Position at 0700 hrs
3-54 S
104-31 W
COG 247
SOG 7 knts
Wind 10 knts
Wind from SE
Temp 79

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