Sunday 2nd September 2012 - report from Gibsons over Labour Day weekend...

Photos of the seal mother and pup on rocks near to 'Nereida' at the dock in Canoe Cove..

 and also a photo showing why the genoa tracks had to be lifted and re-bedded - leaks galore showing on inside of coachroof....!

Went walking and blackberry picking around friends' place here on Sunday - beautiful sunny weather continues - lovely!

Thinking work would be more advanced than it's turned out to be, I'd decided to take a couple of days off from boatwork to see friends on the mainland - ferry from Schwartz Bay (close to Canoe Cove) across Strait of Georgia to Tsawwassen, then bus into Vancouver, with changeover at old Hotel Vancouver (impressive foyer and restaurant/lounge areas)  to get final bus over to N. Vancouver across the high First Narrows bridge towards the second ferry of the day over to Gibsons from Horseshoe Bay - lovely views over the water with lots of islands nearby and mountains in the distance.

On the way through N. Vancouver, caught up with John Curry of Hydrovane, to discuss installation on 'Nereida', and had coffee with friends both there and, later, at Horseshoe Bay - good to catch up with people I've not seen for 3-4 years!

Before leaving Canoe Cove, Lance (of Trotac) came by with a plankton filter and holder and a newly-serviced watermaker motor - now working fine, although the pump that had been with it was badly corroded by seawater .... so I've a new one now in my spares, to go with the motor.  The watermaker has two pumps, optionally with one or both working in line, so with one new motor and pump, new hoses in place and fresh filters, it should be good.  Lance gave me a lift to the ferry terminal and picked up sails to take to 'Carlotta' - a boat taking part in the Victoria Classic Boat Festival this weekend and headed to Pt Townsend on Tuesday, so delivering the sails to the Hasse loft for repair.

The liferaft was taken in to Victoria by Glenn and delivered to the freight office for transport to a service centre in Richmond, Surrey (in B.C., not England!)

Work on deck is virtually complete - the poles are both better and working well - hoisting the large one, in particular, will be a great deal easier than it has been up to now.  The gas locker's propane tank stowage is waiting to be finished but that has been looked at in detail so shouldn't take much longer to do and then the lids need a water-tight seal around their underside.

Down below, there's still a lot more to be done than I'd expected by this point in time - watermaker, new batteries & battery box positioning are all waiting to be finished with, along with leaking chain plates and windlass to be re-caulked.

Once all that work is completed there are plenty of other, smaller jobs needing to be done - including tidying up so I can decide where/how to stow certain items.  Provisioning needs quite a bit of thought still and other jobs are sure to turn up.

I'm giving a talk at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival on Friday and Saturday (7/8th Sept) and then flying to the UK the following week to see family and for the Southampton Boat Show - hoping also to get some items repaired while there and other items bought to bring back out to 'Nereida' that can't be sourced here.

Friday 17th August 2012  (Do look back if you'd like to see photos of my arrival that I added recently to my last log entry)

I'm sitting here in sunny, warm Canoe Cove, having had a late, full breakfast, listening to people complaining about the heat overnight...   I'm not complaining at all...  it's lovely!

Used up the last of a 3-part anti-rust system paint canister on a full 9kg (20lb) propane tank this morning - had it refilled in Tahiti but it was looking rather rusty on the outside- the usual 'seawater effect' from being stowed on deck.

Glenn W has been great since I arrived here, helping me to deal with preventing leaks in various places (particularly the genoa tracks, which are both being lifted and re-bedded... with GREATEST of difficulty accessing nuts on the ends of the through-deck bolts from below :-(     Not much sealant was used originally.

....and Brent and Seamus of Blackline rigging are having to replace nearly ALL sheaves on mast and boom - the plastic used was far too soft for the job and aluminium pins have worn a large oval in what should be a round hole -- in the case of those taking the 2nd & 3rd reef lines at the aft end of the boom, this is after just over 7 months total sailing time from Ushuaia to here.    Genoa sheave in use now is already showing signs of wear after just six weeks in relatively easy conditions to here from Tahiti where I swapped the old halyard (nearly chafed through) for a back-up halyard which was lead over an unused sheave in the double genoa sheave box.

           

 The photo shows how the original large genoa sheave,  and also a mast fitting taking the main halyard sheave, had very badly worn holes where the sheave rotates on a pin.    The practical side of poling out the headsails is also being improved by Blackline - nice to make use of Brent's expertise & knowledge of what bits and pieces are available to help make small but useful changes.

Another major leak is into the forepeak via the windlass area - yet to be looked at, but in exploring that last week, several wiring connections in that area clearly also need to be cleaned up and possibly remade...

The gas locker is being reorganised to take a third propane tank and two more will be stowed in the nearby lazarette on the stbd side - basically, that will give me 5 x 10lb, plus the 20lb, in tanks - hopefully plenty for seeing me around in 7-8 months of sailing.  I also have an emergency back up of a little camping stove using small disposable cartridges - while still in Simon's Town, S. Africa, Baden had made a clamp to hold the kettle firmly in place on that, with dehydrated food in mind.

In accessing the port side genoa track bolts and nuts, above the galley area, I had to remove items from some lockers there - so I'm presently into cleaning out all the galley lockers completely and making an inventory of all food items stowed there and elsewhere - something I've been intending to do anyway, so I know what I need to add, in readiness for my next venture...   Having sailed in the Southern Ocean as much as I have recently, I now know how I react and what I actually need food-wise in those cold, rough conditions...

I was pleased to discover, once I had onshore Internet access to see the exact dimensions of what was available, that I could fit 5 AGM 128Ah Surrette batteries in place of the present four 130Ah (with a 'slight adjustment' of one side of the larger of the two battery boxes!) so capacity will be well up.  Surrette have kindly helped on contributing to the cost and I hope to be receiving those next week - they have to travel across Canada to get here from Nova Scotia and they're not exactly light items...!  Once in place, the easy part is connecting them up!   I hear from almost everyone here, just how good the Surrette batteries are, compared with other batteries.   A friend down in Florida refuses to fit anything but theirs.

The watermaker needs attention and I'll be dealing with that over the next few days, in between sorting out those food lists - hopefully, using Excel on my laptop.

Friends are collecting me early this evening to drive into Victoria for a small celebration at the 'Sticky Wicket' (!!) pub near Empress Dock and with wi-fi Internet & Skype access here, I've received birthday greetings from friends all over the world - literally!  Last night, I spoke by text msg to friend Judy near Cape Town (Good luck with Lipton Cup races, Judy!) and straight afterwards to David, in Gosport, near Portsmouth... Great to have such easy access!

So after posting this, I'll bike down (lovely to have the use of my fold-up bike once more!) to the dock, with a lovely view from 'Nereida' over rocky, wooded islets and shoreline nearby (and to the passage out in the direction of Active Pass), where I'll do a little more, fairly relaxed work in the bright sunshine up to teatime...  I'm taking it easy today!!  (Tomorrow will be another work day)
         

Entering Victoria Harbour 1st August, after fast sail along Strait of Juan de Fuca:

        
(Photos Ken Pfister)

Saturday-Thursday 4-9th August 2012

Over the weekend, sailed on to a baking hot Friday Hbr to clear US Customs (charged $19, to my surprise! I'm sure now that was wrong, in view of my Cruising Permit...) & met Sue and Jim Corenman (who run Sailmail for cruisers) who sailed out to accompany me in - a lovely gesture!

After an enjoyable dinner with them, I met up with a friendly group of boaters from Canoe Cove (nr Sidney) and Cypress Mt (nr Vancouver), celebrating the imminent wedding of one of their number, Mike (on a lovely old wooden boat 'Moonbeam' that he'd renovated).

On Sunday, I was collected by Brad to be driven around for a short tour of San Juan Island & then over to his house in a forested area for lunch with his wife, who then took me on to Roche Hbr to meet friends Laurie and Warren for an evening meal and chat... lots to catch up on!

Finally arrived in Port Townsend on Monday 6th August to 'complete the circle' RTW to/from there - had a warm welcome from several people who came to greet me on arrival in Pt Hudson:

- nice to meet up with old friends again and had a meal with some later.  (Flags got slightly tangled on being hoisted, so had to climb mast to sort them out.)   Met Penelope who's organizing the renovation of the 'Felicity Ann' which was the boat sailed solo by Ann Davidson across the Atlantic from Britain quite a time ago. She's using it as a 'vehicle' for helping young at-risk teenage girls and teaching interested women basic boatbuilding skills. (She kindly invited me to use her landline for two 'Breakfast Show' telephone inteviews the next morning - had to get up at 5.30am to keep to the CBC radio presenters' schedule!)

Was pleased not to have sailed over on Tuesday - thick fog in Puget Sound area for most of the day!

Saw Carol Hasse about mainsail repair & servicing and Brian Toss wandered over, keen to check my rig tension and mast shape - generously gave me an early 'Christmas present' of a nice Harken block for the furling line lead - felt it would ease my effort a lot when furling if I had a decent block close to the drum. Friend Dianna helped clean up around my Lexan washboard edges and nearby woodwork after removing the duct tape that I'd used to prevent water getting below should we be pooped on passage from Tasmania. (Getting over that fixed, high washboard has been a definite hurdle for several of the people visiting me down below!) Had interviews with local reporters for publication in Wednesday's papers and met up with Rob who's kindly been storing boat items not needed for a nonstop RTW attempt - left most of them with him until my return next year but thinking about possibly taking dinghy & outboard with me in October.

Headed back over to B.C. on Wednesday morning in weak sunshine, initially making good use of a helpful ebb tide, across a near-deserted Strait of Juan de Fuca towards Haro Strait and then Sidney, arriving well before sunset. An enjoyable, relaxing passage past San Juan Island and a variety of smaller islands with lots of seals and seabirds around - little black and white murres, in particular, are everywhere - there's lovely, gentle cruising to be had in the San Juans and Gulf Islands around here.

No wind until near to the marina, when it really got up and made berthing difficult - good to have friendly boaters nearby (twice over) to help... Had to stop at the Customs Dock to clear Customs into Canada by phone (!) and then on to my allocated berth where I finally made good use of my bowthruster a couple of times - I normally refuse to use it on principle (or even totally forget I have it!!), feeling I should be able to manoeuvre my boat without such things... Hoisted my celebratory courtesy flags again, as well as 'dressing' 'Nereida' overall - she deserves it! She looks great - especially in the bright sunshine of Thursday morning. On Friday I'll be sailing a short distance around to nearby Canoe Cove to see Brent of Blackline - another excellent rigger who'll be checking over the rig in detail. He already came up with several thoughts on upgrading below-par/worn blocks and sheaves & other items on deck when visiting the boat in Victoria very soon after my arrival. (Several sheaves are totally worn and need replacing - not up to Southern Ocean use!) I'll also be trying to sort out my battery replacement and getting on with a whole host of other jobs on board. It'll be a busy time!

Wednesday-Friday 1st-3rd August 2012

 (Photo: MaryLou Wakefield)

We crossed our outbound path under full canvas to complete this circumnavigation at about 0915GMT(0215PDT) at 48 21'N, 125 19.5'W, on Wednesday 1st August (Day 20 from Hawaii), while sailing at 6 kt towards Tatoosh Island at the W entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Canada and the USA..

Lots of shipping around but we were well clear of it, although Tofino Radio informing me they couldn't see our AIS signal, nor a radar signal, was not welcome - so very little sleep was had overnight.. We struggled to make way with strong, swirling, ebb tidal current, while passing Tatoosh Island and on to Neah Bay, under overcast skies.

However, on reaching Pillar Pt, skies cleared completely and wind increased to well over 20 knots, so by 2pm we were enjoying a lovely, fast sail towards Victoria in bright sunshine, under a clear blue sky, with no shipping in sight, carrying a strong flood tide!! Fabulous!

I had to phone Ken , who was planning to take photos from the breakwater as I sailed through Victoria Harbour entrance, to ask him to let others know also that my ETA was being brought well forward ...We were making 9.6-10.4 kt SOG, with two reefs in, and just 20 mls to go! What a glorious finish!

After entering the breakwater, I downed the sails and made my way carefully alongside the float-plane take-off path to arrive at Ship Point, not far from the Empress Hotel and in sight of the Parliament building, just before 5pm PDT, to be greeted by friends, happy to see me back safely.... Lovely to see them also, but I first had to wait for officials to arrive so as to clear Customs before we could properly celebrate my landfall! Chek News TV camera was there, along with 'Times Colonist' reporter - so I made the evening news and next day's papers...! Everyone around has been very kind and I've had lots of good wishes and congratulations, so the last few days have been very pleasant - helped by continuing bright sunshine. I dressed 'Nereida' overall in gaily-coloured code flags and also hoisted lots of courtesy flags - a 'traditional' way to celebrate the completion of a circumnavigation!

Unfortunately, due to a 'technical hitch', the telephone interview by Sir Robin Kox-Johnson on BBC Radio Solent Friday evening didn't take place - disappointing, but it's expected to be re-scheduled for later this month.

There's a festive air i n Victoria - Monday is B.C. Day, making for a long holiday weekend, which includes a Symphony Concert in the Harbour on Sunday - so the Victoria Harbour area is full of boats and people enjoying the warm days and entertainers on the waterfront.

Tuesday 31st July 2012 (Day 19)

11am
Sunshine .... although weak - but better than rainclouds! Land in sight on my AIS screen! .... Nootka Sound to Barkley Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island... great scenery.... quiet, anchorages.... I've sailed in both, on way S from Alaska in 2006.

Just over 120 miles to Tatoosh Island and Cape Flattery LH (that's the photo at the head of my website Home page!), 180 miles to Victoria and landfall...
I'm definitely feeling quite excited - need to string together those code flags and courtesy flags if I'm to hoist them in celebration tomorrow!

6pm
60 ml from Vancouver Island (Ucluelet Inlet), 77 ml from Tatoosh Island and Cape Flattery LH - they should be quite close by dawn tomorrow!

About to top up fuel tank a little , not that I think there's a problem - but I'd hate to be proved wrong!

Gentle motor-sailing all day with W-WNW wind mostly 9-11kt. Apparent wind usually from abaft the beam, occasionally slightly forward of the beam when the wind dropped or veered slightly. If I didn't want to avoid a night time transit of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, I could have sailed slowly without the motor but using motor just a touch ensures a daylight arrival at Tatoosh Island and on through the Strait to Victoria. Big deadheads in the water are not easy to see in the daytime - and impossible at night!

ETA at Victoria Hbr tomorrow is looking like 5pm onward - I hope the weather stays fine! (Daylight lasts until near 10pm, just now) Ken Pfister has very kindly agreed to take some photos of 'Nereida' arriving at the harbour entrance - hopefully sailing until well inside the harbour breakwater..! That will be a nice memento.

I've adjusted my clock to local time: PDT = GMT-7hrs = Pacific Daylight Time which, during the summer months of 'daylight saving', is one hour ahead of PST = Pacific Standard Time = GMT - 8hrs (confusing use of 'S' for Brits, who are presently in BST = British Summer Time, one hour ahead of GMT!!)

I heard today that friends had hoped to accompany me in their boat through the Harbour entrance tomorrow - but then found their engine overheating so they couldn't make it down in time - a lovely thought, though. And another friend, who would have done the same, has his boat on the hard just now, with mast unstepped ..... He had accompanied me out through the entrance in the pouring rain at the start of my RTW, in October 2010 , which was also a very kind gesture!!

Had an email from the BBC today. They want to interview me 'live' on their sailing programme this Friday evening. Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, who I met in January when he presented me with an award from the Cruising Association, will interview me at 2030 BST on Solent Radio - 'streamed' on the BBC website, I believe.... That should be fun!

10pm
Lovely!! We're finally sailing nicely under full canvas at 6.5 kt in WNW4-5 (14-18 kt) on a beam reach... peaceful and gentle! I'll be having a very broken sleep tonight - with fishing boats near and land ahead, I must be very careful - but tomorrow night, I'll sleep well!

1am
Seems our AIS signal is not being transmitted - according to Tofino Traffic, we're not 'visible' - neither on radar nor on AIS - and there are lots of big tnkers and other ships around - worrying!! Not much sleep tonight, I think!!

Sunday/Monday 29/30th July 2012 (Days 17/18)

Managing with difficulty to keep on target for early evening Wed 1st August arrival at Ship Point in Victoria Hbr, close to Empress Dock Causeway - but with mostly light , fickle W winds, use of 'iron sail' has been essential to keep up our speed, with frequent motorsailing to avoid both night landfall and also night passage through the Strait of Juan de Fuca - never a very good idea in view of the possible hazard of big logs or tree trunks in the water (a general hazard throughout B.C. waters) added into possible tugs with long log tows, big ships headed to Seattle or Vancouver and fishing vessels passing through on their way to the coast.

Have kept the pole up - mostly with the genoa poled out on it, goosewinged with the mains'l, but at times the genoa has been taken off the pole and over to starboard, as the wind has veered slightly under a raincloud- and then usually increased for a short while so often I was able to cut the engine for some peace and quiet under sail alone.

With the light winds, swell has become minimal so moving about the boat has been a lot easier. Sea temperature has actually increased slightly - clearly we've moved out of the colder S-flowing Alaska current and into slightly warmer inshore waters.

Tonight, occasionally, the rainclouds have cleared to give a lovely view of the near-full moon shining on the relatively calm sea... but no starry skies... Last night, I was out on deck frequently, dealing with the sails but had no need of a torch or headlamp with the bright moonlight being diffused through the thin cloud layer.

Lots of emails to answer or compose again - both congratulatory ones, being so close to finishing now, and ones dealing with boat problems or arrangements to deal with problems. It doesn't help that radio communication is often poor just now - so getting a connection to send/receive emails has often been time-consuming.

Had another go at contacting Tofino Radio - being only just over 200 ml away, I thought it might be easier... I knew what to do this time, after calling on 2182 and 4125 kHz to no avail ... Called up COMSTA Kodiak on 6215 and they relayed my message to Tofino (by phone?). Eventually heard Tofino calling on 4MHz but they couldn't hear me. There was nothing heard on 2MHz. So we still haven't communicated. Close to the Strait, I should be able to use VHF to talk to them - maybe!!

'Charisma' has been on passage for several days from Honolulu now, headed to Seattle, so we've had a regular 'sched' and it's been good to chat for a time most evenings - just as when we both sailed from Tahiti to Hawaii. They've had a problem with water collecting in the bilges - something the pump is coping with just now but clearly a job for when they get in! Chris and Alexis' son Seth has been busy with schoolwork whilst on passage - it still has to be done, ready for September! It was the same for Doug and Susan's three children on 'Long Shot II' - presently on passage from Fanning Island to Penrhyn - schoolwork has to take place most days if they're not to be behind when they return to Canada next year.

DMG: Sunday: 141 n.ml. ; Monday: 138 n.ml. - would be nice if we'd been able consistently to keep up the 7kt or more we had under a cloud for a time over last night!!

Distance to Tatoosh Island/Cape Flattery (Mon 1700PDT/Tues 0000 GMT) : 232 n.ml.

Friday/Saturday 27/28th July 2012 (Days 15/16)

Very mixed sailing - excellent yesterday afternoon and overnight as a passing Low and Cold Front gave good wind - we were consistently making around 7.4kt. Eventually, around midnight, in fine rain, I took in the first reef, being clearly over-canvassed in winds of 18 kt ...and we still made the same speed! Early this morning, the wind suddenly dropped and veered, increasing again, not long afterward - I gybed the mains'l.. in drizzle. Later found we were heading DDW, in slightly backed wind, so I poled out the genoa - took the usual long time...! It's stayed poled-out all day and into tonight.

Thought I should try to contact Tofino Radio last night to let them know I'm single-handing and soon to get close to the shippping lanes of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and also expecting to make landfall in Victoria, Canada , from Hawaii, USA, so needing to inform Immigration and Customs. Should have been simple enough - just call on the Distrass and Calling HF channels, which they should be keeping watch on, and then move to their working channel once contact made.... Simple...? No way!

I called on each of the dedicated channels several times, but got no response from Tofino. Made excellent contact with New Zealand on 12 and 9 MHz though - Taupo Coast Radio heard my boat name and came up to find out who I was trying to contact... They knew me, of course, from my twice-daily reporting-in from NZ waters all the way to Tahiti and he commented - "Not far to go now!"... Then Kodiak (Alaska) joined the party - COMSTA Kodiak (don't know that that stands for!) came up to ask whether I had a problem and eventually relayed lots of info about the boat to Tofino who had a problem copying me - from 650 mls away...!!

I couldn't figure out why we couldn't talk on another, better frequency, rather than 'COMSTA Kodiak' having continually to relay my information... If I could speak to Alaska and New Zealand, surely I should have been able to speak directly to Tofino? Anyway, I ended up with a Transit number - U150, I was told. Presumably for their paperwork and to quote at officials when I land. Tofino will now keep an eye out for any shipping in my vicinity that might cause me a problem (or vice versa) - and hopefully warn us of each other's presence. AIS isn't infallible - especiallly when fishing vessels and barges with long log tows are around.

I found a packet of ANZAC bicuits when I looked for some fresh ones to have with my tea - from Australia, of course. I was in Tasmania on Anzac Day and all the shops were selling stacks of 'Anzac biscuits'... Turns out that 40% of the selling price goes to RSL (Returning Services League) to help support Veterans, their families and the wider community - seemed a good way to raise funds!. The RSL was started in 1916 for support after the bloodshed at Gallipoli - which Anzac Day originally commemorated, with so many Aus and NZ soldiers in action (and killed) there.

I heard the London Olympics opening ceremony was last night - I'm missing the Games totally.... Will have lots of catching up to do on landfall! Hope our sailors do as well this time in Portland as 4 yrs ago in Qingdao - they did supremely well there!

DMG Friday: 128 n.ml.; Saturday: 147 n.ml. Distance toTatoosh Island : 511 n.ml.

Thursday 26th July 2012 (Day 14)

Not long after writing yesterday's report - fog came down and stayed for quite a time... not too surprising, in view of the far cooler sea temperatures seen lately... then suddenly, before sunset, it lifted, but grey cloud persisted, along with occasional light rain - continuing over today...

The wind, as expected, had veered into the WNW later yesterday, so the genoa pole had to be taken down and the mains'l gybed - took a time, as usual, and before going up to do all that, I'd donned foul weather gear, ready for the dripping wet foggy conditions on deck - first time foulies have been needed since sitting out helming in torrential rain overnight passing through the Southern Cooks, at 20.5S, nearly 8 weeks ago. (Fog wasn't too dense, in fact, although visibility was very restricted.)

Overnight, we kept on making good speed., as the wind slowly veered into NW, but by this morning, it had dropped, and continued slowly to drop more over the day, so we've been motor-sailing ..... presently, in 4-5 kts from well abaft the beam. With the good sailing overnight, and motor-sailing from later this morning to keep a better speed, DMG looks pretty reasonable, at 144 n.ml.

It's noticeably colder - I finally gave in and donned socks and warm fleece top! Sea temp has dropped further - now 15C.

Still spending a lot of time getting ready for 'boat projects' after landfall - lots to think about and organize from a distance by email, trying to prepare the boat for October.

Tonight I finished the last of the Tasmanian never-chilled, free-range eggs - the ones that have lasted best were small but very thick-shelled. Onion omelette with potato - and I added in some asparagus - decadent... but very nice!

These light winds are set to continue for several days, it seems - bad news for my hoped-for ETA of 1st August... It wouldn't make any difference were we further north, either. Don't have enough fuel to motor fast, only at low revs, hoping to motorsail gently in the increased apparent wind it causes - but not much help just now, with the wind looking as though it's starting to back - we'll have to gybe back onto starboard tack, that means... I'd hoped to avoid a final overnight of sailing up the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the need for almost no sleep, being so close to shipping lanes and shore.... We'll see how the timing works out, this time next week!

Monday/Tuesday 23rd/24th July 2012 (Days 11/12)

Amazing how just a little bit of 'tweaking' can increase boat speed by over half a knot... Wind is from SSW --> SW slowly, but varies at times, and with the true wind being very light and from well abaft the beam, the 'iron sail' is gently providing apparent wind from more forward than otherwise, so it's worth keeping a good eye on the sails and wind direction to make the best speed possible.... i want to get in a.s.a.p. but I'm keeping a careful eye on fuel, to make sure consumption is minimal, as expected!!

My 'smiley' chart plotter keeps tellling me my ETA is 1st August - but only if I can keep up an average speed of 6 kt or more... We're very close to the centre of the High - but that's moving off slightly to the SW and a small Low is forecast to come by to our N soon - giving increased wind for a day but, in general, winds are expected to be light for several days, so we'll be motor-sailing for a bit yet. That's not someting I'll have the luxury of being able to do next time I come this way (hopefully!) since then it'll be a case of 'Sails alone all the way' with no use of motor except out of gear for charging, if needed. If that were the case this time around, I'd either have gone further N, hoping to keep stronger wind, or I'd have just accepted that I'd be sailing a lot more slowly but keeping position in relation to the High's centre, to avoid the wind from heading us ....

I can't get used to this gentle sailing in bright sunshine under full canvas in minimal swell .... very pleasant! I'm so used to being reefed down in big swell - having difficulty moving about down below due to being heeled over and lurching around a lot... Life is very easy just now!

Tsunami debris - very little seen, although I did rush up on deck early yesterday evening after hearing a big 'clonk' on the hull - saw something floating away astern but couldn't see what it was... could well have been a log, ... but who knows?

Cresent moon is waxing nicely now - weird effect early last night when it suddenly appeared, partly hidden, from behind broken clouds low in the W...

Spending a lot of time thinking ahead to work needed and making arrangements in general for after landfall (emails galore!) - thinking in particular about rigging, batteries and a lot of other small but important jobs I want to get done. My whiteboard above the chart table is so full of notes to myself, I've run out of space!

it's nice to have a couple of friends helping me from onshore - I have no Internet or telephone directories here, so I appreciate that a lot. I've even started organizing fresh, free-range, unchilled eggs for October, already! A Winlink sysop got into contact with me via my website (Jean Claude, VE7AXY) and it turned out that he and his wife have laying hens on their small farm between Comox and Campbell River - not enough to supply all my needs but they have a friend....!! (I fried two of my Tasmanian eggs last night - still OK from last week of April - go figure!)

I'm also delighted that Thora Brooks, of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, has managed to find me a berth on Ship Pt for 1-3 August, despite the busy weekend - thanks for that, Thora! It's nice to know I'll have somewhere to tie up to on arrival... I'm thinking of getting out all my code flags, burgees and courtesy flags from all over the world - so I can 'dress overall' on arrival - might not be the right flags in the proper order (yes - there's a 'proper', traditional way of ordering just the code flags!) - but it would be a fun way to celebrate my completion on arrival!! I hope I don't arrive in the dark of night....

DMG Monday: 141 n.ml. Tuesday: 133 n.ml. - helped by calm seas and 'iron sail'.

Distance to Tatoosh Island Tues 2pm LT: 1065 n.ml.

Sunday 22nd July 2012 (Day 10)

A day of mixed sunshine and cloud - but no rain.. Quite a lot of sunny skies, interspersed with extensive overcast - which this morning led to the wind almost disappearing, only to come back again nicely once the cloud cover had moved away.

Pair of storm petrels have been seen regularly - they seem to have adopted us! There was a twittering noise after sunset , as dusk fell, as they fluttered around on fast-beating wings...

I caught sight of something leaping out of the water this afternoon - a dolphin! I rushed up on deck to see lots of them headed this way, many leaping up into the air - several played around our bow for a time, before they all made off..... Always such a pleasure to see them...

11pm Just downloading some more weatherfaxes and a satpic - showing just light cloud cover over Vancouver Island and the Pacific NW of the US..... so hopefully, they're getting some summer weather there at last!

I've just been up on deck in the dark to trim the sails - makes all the difference to our speed, of course, when they're trimmed correctly. The wind is slowly veering as I sail around the N.Pacific High, so I need to trim quite often .

We've made good progress - DMG today was 156 n.ml.- but we're definitely slowing down now and expect light winds for quite a time - possibly all the way to the coast. I'd been following the Great Circle route to Cape Flattery since yesterday, when the wind veered to SE, but decided this evening to do a 'jiggle' more to the NE for a bit to avoid getting too close to the High's centre over the next couple of days or so, in the hope of keeping some wind, rather than very little!

Saturday 21st July 2012 (Day 9)

8:30am A light, misty, broken overcast -with light drizzle at times. Edge of the cloud clearly seen on W-NW horizon. Wind had veered after heavy raincloud earlier, but then backed slightly in the drizzle.. Then more drizzle and sky completely overcast. Wind was very light and rather variable yesterday, overnight & this morning - mainly NNE-NE, so we were struggling to maintain even a Northerly course.

Downloading weatherfaxes - present & forecast plus satpic - all very useful. Getting more complicated, now we're out of the NE Trades and close to the High pressure centre - which keeps moving around...

2pm - Sunny sky - clouds gone away - lovely sailing in SE wind and 1m seas. Looks as though we might have 'turned the corner' at last!! Fingers crossed....! Full canvas since late yesterday. A nice change after last night's and this morning's rainy/cloudy conditions ...

4pm When you see 7.2kt on the display (and that's SOG, with boat speed shown as more) and we're bouncing along under a blue sky so smoothly - you know things are going well!!!

A lot more plastic debris seen this afternoon- from tiny bits of polystyrene (I guess, from the way it floats so high in the water) to bottles and slightly larger pieces around 15cm square - but nothing very large so far, except for a bright yellow buoy seen from 1-2 miles away, a much smaller black buoy this evening with lots of growth below the water surface but shiny clean on top (I guess that's been floating around here for quite a time!) and, yesterday, the bottom part of a tree trunk - 4-5ft long.
I'm noting lat/long and time of sighting for the University of Hawaii who posted forms in Honolulu for that purpose to cruisers like myself making passage north through the area of the N.Pacific High.

Got a bit cloudy before sunset but it all cleared away again, leaving a slender, crescent moon shining brightly above the salmon-pink sky in the W. Still making 7.0kt SOG under full canvas in the relatively calm sea - waves and swell 1-1.5m maximum.

Seeing occasional ships on AIS - all well off - we're crossing major shipping routes to and from West Coast US ports to ports in Asia. One is crossing our path ahead now - but his closest approach will be over 8 ml in 45 minutes' time, my screen tells me... We 'passed' San Francisco yesterday and will shortly be 'passing' Cape Mendocino (at 40d 26'N) - both 1500 ml, or more, to our East!!

Time for food... and then a 'blitz' on emails - too many waiting to be written.... 'holiday' over....

DMG today: 124 n.ml - result of the variable wind under clouds, veering and backing, often dropping ..... and a very 'wobbly' path as a result, despite some good speeds at times!
Distance to Strait of Juan de Fuca: 1491 n.ml.___________________________________________________________________
Link to NEREIDA's recent track: http://www.exactearth.com/media-centre/recent-ship-tracks/tracking-nereida/ See 'Travels' page on website, also.

Friday 20th July 2012 (Day 8)

What a lovely, relaxed day it's been, with relatively calm seas for a change!

A few clouds overnight and this morning gave wind gusts and lulls, so highly varying boat speeds (2.5-6.5kt!)... but most of today it's been sunny, with broken light cloud and good sailing.

Now (just after sunset, at 2020 LT), we're creaming along at 5.5-6 kt in 10 kt of E-ESE wind, with very little swell, making 020-040T - our course varying with wind direction, but it's good to be heading roughly NNE and excellent if we head NE! We just came under an extensive layer of low, grey cloud, so no star-gazing expected for the time being.

The centre of the High is just to our NE - not so far way - and expected to move off ENE to give SE winds tomorrow, veering to S soon after, .... so I'm hoping we can keep this heading, or better.

I decided to have a 'day off' emails today and relaxed with my book instead, in between sitting in the cockpit after sail trimming to 'enjoy the moment'. For lunch, I made some ham sandwiches using sliced bread bought in Tahiti - 'de longue duration'...!! Not the kind of bread I'd normally buy, being very soft, white bread - but it's made a welcome change and I was interested to try it. (I was interested to hear from the Czech single-hander Petr, on 'Singa', when we chatted on HF radio at the end of March near Tasmania, that he had provisioned with bread specially baked for him and then vacuum-packed in nitrogen, for his nonstop RTW attempt. That would certainly prevent mould growth!)

A few bits of small plastic debris have been spotted, including one blue rectangular bowl with plenty of growth on its edges - possibly, but not necessarily, from Japan, as a result of the tsunami. Unless I see Japanese writing on it, there's no way of telling! I'm hoping not to come into contact with any of the larger pieces of debris that are supposed to lie on my present path north - could be nasty.... A bit of a worry, to be honest!

At 1400LT - DMG: 121 n.ml. To Strait of Juan de Fuca entrance (N of Tatoosh Island): 1589 n.ml.

Tuesday -Thursday 17-19th July 2012 (Days 5-7)

Busy trying to orgainize things for landfall and after - all meaning lots of emails dealing with possible berthing & work on board - rigging, computer system, sails, batteries, leaks, watermaker, instruments ...and lots more... all taking up a lot of time - so log reports have got slightly behind!

All that in between trying to keep up a decent speed and course - keeping an eye on weather and the position of the Pacific High via weatherfaxes and gribs to help decide which way to head. Actually fairly easy just now since wind is sending us a bit to W of our N-NNE course so it's simply a matter of making the best close-hauled course possible to make the best of the situation until we get to just W of the High's centre at which point we can start heading for the Strait of J de F more directly... The only 'minor' complication in all that being that the High's centre is never stationary - it keeps moving so it becomes a bit of a guessing game in trying to sail around it!

Tuesday started out cloudy but by midday we were sailing in pleasant sunny conditions and making very good speed at times - and over Wednesday also. Lovely sailing under mainly blue skies... so pleasant in fact that I decided at one point to relax and picked up Barbara McDougall's "The Rum 'uns" to read some more Tasmanian light-hearted tales . The occasional large cloud mass caused the increasing wind to veer, with accompanying heeling and acceleration ...and then often the wind finally died right away..... NO! Don't unfurl more or shake out a reef !... Patience... ! The wind always came back up again!! Today has been grey and gusty with frequent wind shifts - not a fast day, being slightly more close-hauled this afternoon so as not to be pushed too far off course by the NE wind.

Dawn - a bright Venus, still in company with Jupiter (and Aldebaran still close by as well, I think).

I finally tied in the 2nd reef on Wednesday night..... we were heeling way too much and life was getting decidedly uncomfortable... but then I just had to stop in the cockpit to enjoy the amazingly bright stars and Milky Way ... Leo was prancing away low in the W...a low-orbiting satellite (communications?) passed N to S overhead... and then a flash and streak of light as a meteorite ended its days by burning up.

A Sooty Shearwater has come by over the last two days - a large dark bird. They migrate north for the summer here but breed on the islands of the southern hemisphere - where I last saw one.

I found a good-sized flying fish in the cockpit this morning - such a sacrifice was not to be ignored, so I had a nice lunch -fried in green olive oil after de-scaling, cleaning and rinsing it in seawater - lots of fine bones to be careful of, but very tasty!

DMG: Tues: 136 n.ml. ; Wed: 148 n.ml. ; Thurs: 138 n.ml. Distance to Strait of Juan de Fuca entrance (N of Tatoosh Island) on Thursday: 1655 n.ml.

Sea Temp is down to 28C from the 30's of recent times and air is around 25C. With the overcast skies, I finally covered my arms and legs today ... it's feeling cooler!

Monday 16th July 2012

Last night I had an omelette with eggs, potatoes and onions - all from Tasmania! Fresh-laid, unchilled, farm eggs still OK after fairly regular turning, although I had to throw some away - not turned quite as often as I should have done...

We were not making very good speed - I was rather loathe to unfurl too much genoa overnight after the previous night's sudden squalls and we were fairly close-hauled and banging into the occasional larger swell, so only making 4-5 knots in E wind of 13-14kt - that felt really slow!! Finally unfurled enough to get us up to 5 kt or more.... and there were no squalls overnight!

Beautiful morning - hardly any cloud . Listened in to SHTP at their 0400Z sched time - but too much noise to copy well - so no contact. Within an hour, sky was full of grey showery clouds - but nothing much except wind veered, backed and became light for a time... Then it was back to lovely sailing under blue sky... When we're bouncing along smoothly, I know we're 'in the groove' and making a good speed!

It was a very relaxing morning - I've been busy looking ahead, trying to think of who I need to contact in an effort to organize boat work soon after I get in - difficult! There seems to be so little time to do so much!

Every so often, after midday,I'd realize things were getting 'bumpy' - I'd find us under a really big cloud, with the wind having strengthened and veered- and we'd be careering off to the NE at a rate of knots - over 7, to be precise!! After a short while, the wind dies and backs again and things calm down... It's getting to be a regular pattern and I'm constantly having to adjust Fred and keep an eye on our course... Eventually, I reduced the genoa with the squally cloudy conditions continuing, with wind regularly over 20kt. We've made good progress with speeds often 6-7 kt, but it's been really variable.

I'm having to put on a jacket now when I go on deck - especially at night... We're no longer in the Tropics!

DMG today: 128 n.ml ; 1961 n.ml. to Strait of Juan de Fuca entrance (N of Tatoosh Island)

For the next 2-3 days, the centre of the N. Pacific High is nicely positioned but then it ridges and will give possible headwinds, although they might be light enough to motor through... We'll see, as we get nearer to Wed/Thurs, how it develops.

Note from Australian Winlink sysop Phil, VK3PG, today about radio propagation getting difficult maybe : "08:55 UTC Solar storm hitting Earth - this one could be a bad one (Northern Lights are shining brightly)."
Certainly propagation has been bad today and I was unable to have my usual daily chats with 'Holy Grail' (on passage to Alaska) and the SHTP racers -the bands were far too noisy.

Time to think of evening meal - pasta maybe ... sun is close to setting .. sky is full of grey clouds and the sea has become rough with the stronger winds this afternoon ....

Thursday 12th - Sunday 15th July 2012

Happy 'Quatorze Juillet' of yesterday to any French friends reading this!

We're presently in an area of squally clouds as we head N on Day 3 towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the lovely Hawaiian island of Kauai. From Hanalei Bay, to be precise, with 'Puff the Magic Dragon' looking out to sea, clearly formed by the hilly slopes on the W side of the Bay, a red-earth landslip forming an eye behind his clear snout & his body,with a foreleg and paw sticking out, curving around behind the bay further along - the song was written here!

The biennial Single-Handed TransPac race from San Francisco has had boats arriving since last week and expected up to the end of this coming week. Since Friday evening, after leaving Hanalei mid-afternoon, I've been in contact by radio with some of the racers still on their way - a few I know from previous races, so it was nice to chat to them.

I'd left Honolulu around sunset on Wednesday to arrive in Hanalei Bay Thursday mid-afternoon after a lovely sail around the N of Kauai. As I dropped the mains'l and prepared to anchor, I was greeted by 'Young Mitch' who came to take me ashore to meet up with friends Rob, LaDonna and Robbie of the Race Cttee, who were fortuitously holding an evening get-together at their condo on the heights overlooking the Bay, from where they timed the SHTP boats over the 'virtual' Finish line.

Anchoring got a bit fraught when the chain got jammed under a pile that had shifted in my travels - there wasn't enough chain down not to drift perilously close to a boat moored nearby as I frantically tried to clear the chain out of the way... "Reverse, reverse!" yelled Mitch... close thing! But the good news was that the windlass was working - fixed with help just before leaving Honolulu - good thing I'd checked that item out in readiness before leaving there! Once finally well-anchored in good holding, Mitch and I celebrated my return to Hanalei after a trip around the world via all Five Gt Capes of the Southern Ocean (and a few others!) - with a 'Longboard' beer made in Hawaii! His father, 'Big Mitch', had seen me off from near the same spot two years ago as I left to head N after making landfall from New Zealand a few days earlier - they're a true Hawaiian family of surfers and boat people and know the waters around really well.

Raising the anchor on Friday also gave a problem - it came up OK but was twisted around on its shackle so needed me to lean out over the bow to get it orientated so it would stow in the bow roller properly ... all with lots of boats around and a gusty wind... Took a few tries, in between diving back to the wheel several times to steer us to safety!

The beginning of the 3-week sail north from Kauai is always rough, banging into short seas, beating into the NE Trades, on a close reach in winds of 15-20kt, but by later in the day yesterday it felt a bit calmer and was quite pleasant, fast sailing under sunny skies. During the night, we came under a squall cloud a couple of times - with sudden heeling and acceleration as the wind increased rapidly from 14 to 20 kts .... and then we were well over-canvassed!! Earlier, I'd been enjoying spotting the familiar Northern hemisphere stars - haven't seen Cassiopoeia, nor Delphinus, and definitely not the Pole Star, for ages!

Just now we're ambling along under a big patch of blue sky at around 5.5-6 kt, having left a band of clouds behind but still with plenty of big clouds around - so there's sure to be more excitement with squalls from time to time... No record-breaking DMGs I think (just 122 n.ml. during first 24hrs out)... Our speed is varying with the wind - which often backs and drops after a squall to around 10 kt or less, having veered in the squall... Last night, before the first big squall came by, I'd unfurled most of the genoa in lighter wind around sunset to keep up a decent speed... to regret it when the squall came along in the dark of night and I finally had to furl a lot back in again, we were heeling so much.

Time for lunch - I've several fresh avocadoes, apples and bananas, so that's easy!

Wednesday 11th July 2012

It was a pleasure to meet Randy, KH6RC, and wife Lynn in Kona last Friday, having spoken to him so many times on the Pacific Seafarers Net over several years. Customs officials Jonathan and Tiffany had come by earlier, before 8am, and had made the Clearance procedure very painless and pleasant, with a minimum of fuss and time taken - a nice surprise!

After a quick visit to nearby Costco & Walmart to look for a replacement, small, cheap PC (we managed a cellphone but no PC), we returned to the boat and I got underway by 3.25pm for the overnight sail to Honolulu. With thick cloud and haze over the island, I didn't even get a glimpse of the high mountains and volcanoes!! Initially there was no wind, but once finally away from the lee of the island, the wind rapidly got up to around 30 kt from NE, with correspondingly rough seas for the crossing over to past Maui and Laina - until dawn, when it dropped to ~12 kt, with occasional gusts up to 28kt...

Once past the islands with their high mountains and big wind shadow, we were back into solid wind and rough seas until close to Oahu and the approach to Honolulu with its high-rise hotels behind Waikiki beach - even I have heard of that surfing Mecca! The swell was still big and the wind up as we entered the channel cut into the reef - coral right alongside - and surfers too!! I was headed for the Hawaii Y.C. who were expecting me.

I'd furled in the headsails and lowered the mains'l well before getting too close to the entrance to Ala Wai Boat Hbr but had left putting out fenders and mooring lines until in the protection of the big area inside, near to the fuel dock and HYC - with rocky shallows bedside the park area on one side.... In strong gusts, I kept having to manoeuvre the boat in between hanging out fenders and preparing the lines - Ron the Port Capt and one or two other people waiting for me got quite worried and I heard a loud bell clangng as I drifted near to the shallows a couple of times (my eyes were constantly on the depth display and the water's edge when close - "It gets shallow suddenly," they said later - "and some one went aground there very recently and damaged his rudder badly.")

I was finally able to come gently alongside the Canadian 43' Hans Christian 'Long Shot II' (built 1882!) and had a good welcome. It was nice to relax as I met with the Commodore Ron, friend Kirk ('Silk Purse') and neighbours Doug and Susan with their youngsters Charlie, Riley and little Saylor - proudly parading in one of her many dresses! It was good to be among friendly cruisers again!

I'd previously contacted Jerry Zak about the Raymarine work he was due to help me with and he duly turned up, as promised , before midday on Sunday. The job took far longer than expected - he just couldn't get the system properly bled, after replacing the pump/motor assembly with new, until eventually we replaced the ram which was clearly faulty - and finally the system was behaving OK - TG I had a spare ram...! The faulty one had been serviced in Cape Town but it seems the bushing inside, and/or the seal, must have gone on the way from Tasmania, past New Zealand when I first realized i had a problem....

Sunday evening was first of several sociable evenings on board 'Long Shot II' and arrangements were made with Paul, crew on 'Misty' wit h a loaned truck, to go out to a Mall to look for my PC while he and others did a general 'shop' in Costco there... I finally got my little Notebook PC in Best Buy - for $263! - but only next day, from Pearl City Mall (close to Pearl Hbr), after a car ride out there - and a long $1 bus ride back via China Town in Honolulu - the bus ride took me through parts of town I would not otherwise have seen - a good tourist trip!!

Daytimes, apart from trips out for the PC, have been spent dealing with boat jobs, trying to prepare to leave, and the Y.C. Internet was finally made use of to upload software onto the new PC . Doug gave me a helping hand several times - in particular on Wednesday, when I checked out my windlass, ready for anchoring in Hanalei Bay soon. It worked fine dropping the chain - but not raising it! He tracked the cause to corrosion in a wire where the plastic cover had been nicked in the boatyard while joining two wires when installing a foot button switch on deck... carelessness!!

After refuellling, with lots of helping hands from several keen sailing youngsters (and father Ray), I was finally ready to leave for Kauai just before sunset and expect to arrive in Hanalei Bay Thursday afternoon - just in time, I hear, for an evening get-together with LaDonna and Rob (R.C.) and other Single-handed Sailing Society members. (The first of the SHTP racers came in on Monday -beat the existing record from San Francisco by two-and-a-half days - sailing conditions have been good!)

Distance from Honolulu to Hanalei Bay: 115 n.ml.

Thursday 5th July

Grey sky, rainy, cooler air ... Bands of rainshowers and gusty clouds with patchy blue sky from time to time in between. Wind stronger....

Email from Raymarine Hawaiian agent in Honolulu didn't make me happy this morning - but after an email from me in reply, he's making a big effort - and coming to fix the replacment pump on Sunday...!

2pm - Certainly knew we were getting near high land even though I couldn't see it for cloud - wind well over 30knots and rough seas..!! Tied in 3rd reef and reduced genoa - a lot!! Wind direction changed by the land rather, so now from E which makes it more of a following wind so feels more comfortable - until a big wave catches us on the beam and tosses us on our ears...!. We're approaching the S.Cape (Ka Lae) of Hawai'i - 'the Big Island' they call it, to distinguish it from the other smaller Hawaiian islands nearby.

By 5pm we were rounding the SW of Hawaii and getting into the lee of the land slowly - seas down to 2m from the oough 3.5-4m seas of just before and wind down to 25 from 30+ kt. Still making good speed but very little seen of the land - too much grey cloud, with a long plume of cloud downwind from the high mountain (volcano) in the middle of the island.

3 hrs later, as we passed Puu Nahaha (!!), the wind dropped quickly - from 13 to 11 ...to 7 .. and not long after that - to 3knots -which it remained at for the duration. A bright moon finally made it out from behind the clouds. I tried motor-sailing but that didn't work so regretfully furled away headsails, centred the main - and turned on the 'iron sail'

During the Pacific Seafarers Net, Randy (KH6RC), who lives on the island, went over the mooring options and the entry into Kona Hbr, and Howard, on 'Holy Grail', also gave me some useful tips. The hope was that someone would already be tied to the fuel dock and all I'd have to do would be to raft up to him, rather than having to pick up a flimsy mooring buoy. The method here is a 'Med-moor' i.e. pick up a stern buoy & tie off to it and then head for shore and tie off the bow with lines there as well (or bow to buoy and stern to shore - is more usual) Since I was expecting to arrive after midnight, when everyone would be fast asleep, so no helping hands available, the rafting-up option sounded far preferable - only problem was not being sure if a boat would be there - and which side I'd be able to tie up to.

In the event, after a highly cautious approach to the narrow entry channel, not finding the lights quite as expected, I found a boat at the fuel dock - so rafted up. (I had lines and fenders on both side ready.... having heard a comment about 'not much space inside' I'd done that out in deep water!)

So here we are - ready for sleep at the end of our passage from Tahiti - just under 19 days in all and over 2560 n.ml... It's 2.30 am and Customs are due first thing to do paperwork... Good night!

PS We made DMG of 169 n.ml. up to 2pm today!! Not bad, eh?

Wednesday 4th July 2012

Greetings to my US friends - hope you've had a good Fourth July!

Posting here the lovely photo mentioned on Day 11 (27th June) which a friend took recently, showing Venus before dawn, with Jupiter above and Aldebaran below... Looking over River Derwent, just S of Hobart... (Courtesy John Gardner):

I forgot to mention yesterday all the flying fish I keep finding on deck each morning - unfortunately none quite big enough to cook...!

Overnight, and into today, grey rainclouds gathered ... None too dark or threatening.... mainly with wind gusting up to just over 20 kt and a quick shower, but sky hasn't been as sunny as I've got used to! In fact, overnight, I had to cover myself with the sleeping bag to keep warm...! Clouds have now cleared away so might be sunnier tomorrow - if so, solar panels will give up to 16A or so - excellent input, adding in to wind generator input to batteries.

Still making good speed - I've got used to seeing 7.3-7.6 kt SOG displayed and start looking for ways to increase it if speed drops for long! DMG today slightly down with overnight lesser wind and genoa furled in a bit due to gusty conditions .... so 'only' 157 n.ml. - still a respectable distance over the 24 hrs! Wind has been fairly consistent around 18kt from ENE. Windsteering is going well - Fred is happily in charge, steering a good course most of the time, with just the occasionsal tweaking needed as wind varies a little.... On a longer passage, wouldn't be needed so much but I want to get in as soon as possible, so a tighter course is required.

PC is continuing to test my patience ... Have missed several weatherfaxes because it has decided bluetooth needs to be disabled... Each time I re-boot, after uninstalling the bluetooth, the Com Port number shoots up - we've now reached 48!!! But at least the precious bluetooth icon reappears, giving radio communication again ...

We're making for Kona on the 'big island' of Hawaii to clear Customs and Quarantine and obtain US Cruising Permit - ETA is very early Friday morning... Have emailed 'Dept of Homeland Security' (what a title!!) to let them know in advance. Shouldn't take long to do paperwork, since airport is quite close and that's where officials are based. Then I'll make for Honolulu (140 ml away - about a day's sail) - either immediately or early Saturday, depending on paperwork, sleep and whether friend living close by is available to catch up with.

Tuesday 3rd July 2012

Into yet another glorious day of fabulous sailing in the NE Trades - and still no squalls in sight!! I could get used to this! So unlike the sailing I've got used to in the Southern Ocean...

Midday
Just got back down below after an hour on deck in bright sunshine - hot, sticky & salty.... Finally decided it was relatively calm enough to lower pole and stow it - always a bit of a struggle in the swell with no-one else to stand either in the bow or at the mast - so some to-ing and fro-ing needed... (and always with a few curses!) Had already unfurled remaining genoa and trimmed all sails .... all prompted by seeing speed down to (only!) around 6 kt .... so action was needed to get it up again. Wind is definitely down a bit now, though - 14-17 kt, rather than the 18-20kt we've been seeing over the last few days.

Have persuaded PC to behave for time being - think I might have conquered its quirks & know what to do when it turns sulky! So back to emails/weatherfaxes - although for quite a time yesterday, Honolulu was NOT transmitting - as confirmed when chatting to 'Charisma' later in the day.

The SHTP racers are finishing their Day 3 now. They started around noon on Saturday and are headed to Kauai. Looks as though conditions are set for a fast race with the High in a good position for their sail down from San Francisco - unlike when I did it in '06 when we went N to Pt Reyes looking for wind - and got becalmed...!! (The High was playing all sorts of tricks that year...)

Last time I headed up to Hawaii (from New Zealand in 2010), I managed to meet up with them all in Hanalei Bay on their Awards Night - Friday 9th July - last official day of the race ... and party night! It was good to see them all again! This year, my timing has worked out similar, but the 3-week Race will unfortunately be finishing too late for me to wait around for it - I need to get N to prepare for October... (My original plan, before weather and repairs got in the way from Cape Town on, was to be in SF for the start of the race...! "The best laid plans o' mice and men..." ?!)

DMG at 2pm LT was 161 n.ml.! Distance to Kona: 400ml; Honolulu: 533ml

Lovely moon again tonight... Just let out more genoa to keep up speed- wind still down a bit...

Monday 2nd July 2012

Before dawn .... Bright Venus like a spotlight in the E sky with Jupiter above and Aldebaran lined up below ... a great sight!

10am 'Bluetooth USB Adapter' in Device Manager:- "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" Just great! Meaning no possible use of Pactor modem bluetooth for sending/receiving emails and weather info... grrr!!! Had re-started computer because it was giving error messages when tried to connect to radio to download wxfax this morning... Device Manager showed problems... Updating driver and disabling/enablng doesn't help... Spent a good hour on the problem.... Means I have to get into back of modem (behind instrument panel at chart table) to make a hard connection with PC using USB cable.... Oh well ... and it seemed such a lovely day ... Think I'll get my breakfast first...after adjusting Fred...! At least there's blue sky and not a grey cloud in sight... We're sailing well in ENE5 wind.

2pm Found PC closing itself down - and when I re-booted it - the bluetooth icon was sitting there quite happily... So tried bluetooth radio connection - worked fine .... grrr!! Glad I hadn`t started taking instrument panel to pieces... So now I can relax !

Later: Still playing up - sometimes there, sometimes not... Keep having to re-boot it.. Need a solid, enclosed, salt-in-air-proof computer... with chip/motherboard that doesn't heat up and can take tropical temperatures without complaining...

DMG - Unbelievably - it's up again! ... 166 n.ml. over the 24hr period to 2pm! And it`s still not due to fair current - display tells me boat speed is even higher!!
Distance to Honolulu: 694 n.ml.

Computer apart, it's been another lovely sailing day - good wind, excellent speed .... and not too many bigger waves to knock us on our ears...!
And tonight is just beautiful - full moon - so bright it's lighting up clouds, sea and boat.. a time to sit out in the cockpit and simply enjoy the moment.