San Diego to Nuka Hiva Day 19-20

  • Position and Time: S 05-09 by W 138-20 at 2140 UTC May 17, 2574 miles from San Diego
  • Average Speed and Course: 6.3 knots, 199 degrees true, 1600rpm
  • Wind: 15 knots at 300 degrees relative
  • Waves: 3-4 foot swells at 12 seconds, 2-3 foot wind waves.

It is time for some current talk, as in flow of water kind of current. On Tuesday evening our speed magically picked up by about 1.2 knots, which means we have finally escaped the clutches of the evil equatorial countercurrent (translation: where the current goes opposite way of our travel direction near the equator). Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! After 4 whole days of painfully slow speed (low of 4.4 knots), we are singing and dancing in the aisles to celebrate the restoration of our speed. While still keeping Continue reading

San Diego to Nuka Hiva Day 17-18

  • Position and Time: S 00-26 by W 136-26 at 1935 UTC May 15, 2271 miles from San Diego
  • Average Speed and Course: 5.1 knots, 204 degrees true, 1600rpm
  • Wind: 12 knots at 270 degrees relative
  • Waves: 3-4 foot swells at 10 seconds, 2-3 foot wind waves.

We crossed the equator! Yipee! The exciting event occurred at 5:52 am this morning, local time (one hour later than PST). It was still dark outside. It was a rare, clear night with the stars brilliantly shining. The stars are amazing out here. Our wake was sparkling and glowing with specks of bio-luminescence, which is stunning. It was a spectacular setting for our huge milestone. We gathered in the pilot house, watching the countdown on the GPS, then celebrated by Continue reading

San Diego to Nuka Hiva Day 8-9

  • Position and Time: N 16-47 by W 126-45 at 2355 UTC May 6, 1084 miles from San Diego
  • Speed and Course: 6.1 knots, 210 degrees true, 1600rpm
  • Wind: 7 knots at 210 degrees relative
  • Waves: 6-8 foot swells at 10-12 seconds, 3-4 foot wind waves.

The trip meter went over 1000. We are officially arrived to the vicinity of the middle of nowhere! Pretty soon we will be half way, which is still the middle of nowhere.

Yesterday, we deployed the paravane fish. We wanted to see how much it helped with the roll. It helped some, slowed us down, as expected. We decided that the fish didn’t stop enough of the roll to justify the loss of speed, so we put the fish back in their holders after a day. It was a bit tricky to bring them in out of the open ocean, but we did it.

We are still experiencing good size waves from the front at regular intervals, while simultaneously getting Continue reading

San Diego to Nuka Hiva Day 6-7

  • Position and Time: N 20-34 by W 124-24 at 2155 UTC, 818 miles from San Diego
  • Speed and Course: 6.0 knots, 210 degrees true, 1450rpm
  • Wind: 12 knots at 150 degrees relative
  • Waves: 6-8 foot swells at 10-12 seconds, 3-4 foot wind waves.

We are almost one third of the way.

The routine has pretty well set in. Doing watch, eating, sleeping, doing engine room checks, checking communications, etc. The obvious fact that we are about hundreds of miles from the nearest land (Mexico’s Guadalupe Island) occasionally comes to mind. The seas have picked up, and there is no doubt we are on the open ocean. We get a combination of a swell and wind wave about every minute or so gives us some strong roll, even with the stabilizers. We estimate these waves to be about 8 feet or so. Anything requiring moving around takes extra concentration and careful timing between rolls. Continue reading

Day 5 San Diego to Nuka Hiva

  • Position: N 24-27.32, W 121-57.12 at 2322 UTC on May 2, 2007 (549 nautical miles from San Diego).
  • Speed and direction: 5.9 knots, 210 degrees true.
  • Wind: Wind 15 knots 150 degrees relative,
  • Waves: 6 foot swells, 10-12 seconds. Wind waves 1-2 feet. 1016.7mb.

Our route to Nuka Hiva is almost a straight line, but not quite. This morning we altered course slightly to 210 degrees true. Our next way point is N19-30.67 by W 125-04.60, which we expect to reach in about 60 hours. In case you have not noticed Continue reading