Worrall Wind - Land Ho! Marquesas Arrival

Day 30 - Thursday, May 6, 2010

Whoo Hoo! 30 days and over 3,000 miles, Worrall Wind and crew have safely arrived in the Marquesas. I spotted Fatu Hiva during dawn watch on our radar this morning at 5:00 a.m. within my 20 mile range circle. So nice to see something other than a squall or passing ship. By 5:30 a.m. in a star filled sky lit with a waning crescent moon, I thought I could see a dark smudge on the horizon. Was it yet another squall? My imagination or Fatu HIva? 1430 UT, we had a visual. and decided spending one night in the Bay of Virgins before heading 45 miles downwind to Autona, Hiva Oa.

Worrall Wind Update 29 - Marquesas Bound

Day 29 - Wednesday, May 5, 2010

UTC/Local -8: 2130/0130

Latitude: 09 23.593 S
Longitude: 137 46.789 W

Conditions: We are 80 miles from Fatu Hiva, traveling a course over ground of 220 degrees, 5.7 knots. The wind is blowing about 16 knots from the east and there is a partially cloudy. We are on a broad reach with one reef in the main, no mizzen and a reefed jib, a remnant from our last 20 hours of countless squalls and steep seas pounding us from the east. At a our present pace we should make landfall in the Bay of Virgins on Fatu Hiva tomorrow morning. Yes!

Since our first sneaker squall hit us yesterday, we have encountered one squall after another. After the first one, we didn't reef thinking that it was an unusual occurrence. After the second one which lasted for an hour of gusting 27 knot winds, we hunkered down for a long night. We put in one reef in the main, had about 1/3 of the jib flying, trimmed the sails for a broad reach, and helped Hydie with course correction.

After that second squall, the winds dropped to 3 knots and we basically watched the windex spin in circles in the squalls vaccuum. Then came another and another with lots of rain and steepening seas (9-12 feet about 7 seconds apart)slapping our port side or lifting us over and dropping in us in a trough, rolling us to port as the water broke out from under the boat in a frothing rush. Each time a squall passed we would be windless and unable to direct the boat out from the squall line.

Needless to say, none of us got much rest last night. Somehow, we just didn't think the last 150 miles would be this dramatic. After going through the ITCZ with few and light squalls, we thought we were clear..nope! Anyway, the sun has finally come out this afternoon and the squall line is no longer hanging on top of us.

We were all so distracted and tired this morning, we missed the morning Puddle Jump Net. We will check in tonight. It will be our last check in with the net for a while. And we may not be able to get a radio signal out from the Bay of Virgins because of the tall mountains to let you know of our landfall. If we can, we will, but don't be alarmed if you don't hear from us tomorrow. Just know that we will be enjoying the earth beneath our feet.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 28 - Tuesday, May 4, 2010

UTC/Local -8 2200/0200

Latitude: 08 15.550 S
Longitude: 136 51.910 W

Conditions: Garyn and Russ had watch last night, nothing remarkable other than a fairly constant wind. Once the sun came up the wind has been variable, primarily due to a 100% cloud cover and an active squall line on our southeast side. As a squall gets closer our wind speed goes up. As it passes by, the wind speed goes down. Even with ups and downs we are only experiencing gusts of 19 knots on a fairly constant 14.5 knots, sea swells of 2 meters on a course of 209 degrees, just a few white caps and no rain. It is 82 degrees out, 74 percent humidity, and our barometric pressure is 1014 and rising. The wind variability has slowed our forward progress. Our boat speed varies from 3 knots to 6 knots. It is now looking like landfall will be on May 6 instead of May 5. Russ was net control for the Puddle Jump Net this morning. There were only 3 other boats checking in. He'll run the net again this evening which is the prime time net. There is usually a few more boats in the evening. It will be the last time

1800/1000 a.m. We started a new audio book last night, Longshot by Dick Francis. The winds stablized yesterday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. and we were able to relax the hand steering. The variability of the winds this morning means we are back to hand steering to give Hydie a hand. Garyn and Russ are discussing whether we would be better with the auto pilot on. Right now, Russ wants to be at the helm.

We have not had the Honda or Lehman on since crossing the equator. With the solar panels and the water turbine, we have been producing enough amps to take care of all of our electrical needs, staying close to 100% battery charge. With the cloud cover today, we may be producing a little less. We also need to use more today because we should make some water and that takes some additional energy.

2100/0100
After spending the morning under clouds and dodging rainstorms, we are now heading 220 degrees and the wind being incredibly variable, light and capricious. We are probably averaging less than 4 knots per hour. We now have a mostly cloudy sky with the sun breaking through patches of blue directly overhead. We just finished lunch. I made tuna salad using up the last little bit of iceberg lettuce. We still have some potatoes, 1 tomato, 1 head of romane lettue, 1 jicama, 2 lemons, 1 red onion and 1 apple left of our perishable produce, and these are still in pretty good shape considering I bought them 30 days ago.

We finally decided to give Hydie (hydrovane steering) a rest (she is currently in neutral) and are employing Ray (auto pilot). The wind is still on the variable side and the auto pilot is also having difficulty maintaining a course heading, particularly when the wind dies and a large swell from the east slams our fore quarter and pushes us off the wind.

We are 175 miles from Fatu Hiva and 150 miles from Hiva Oa. Strangely, the last two days both Garyn and I have been sneezing. I jokingly said it was the coconut pollen, finding it's way north. Hmmm??

Holy &#$%! We just went from 9 knots of wind and less than 4 knots of boat speed on a broad reach to gusts of 28 knots from our port quarter! A sneaker squall just caught us heeling us to the point that our starboard rail was underwater. The boat sped up to over 8 knots. Russ was at the helm. Garyn put on his vest and went topside to ease out the main and pull in the jib. That helped considerably and eased the heel as Worrall Wind flew through the water. By the time Garyn got back to the pilot house, he was soaking wet from the rain. At the same time the wind kicked up, the swells went from 2 meters to 4 meters. Big suckers! Within a very long 10 minutes, the squall passed us by.

2200/0200 There is now considerably more blue sky ahead of us, but the squall line is still on our port quarter. We've tightened up on the main, re-employed Hydie, and are keeping a watch out for any more sneakers. We are currently experiencing variable winds and traveling at 4 knots. Seems to be a feast or famine day.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update 27 - Marquesas Bound

Day 27 - Monday, May 3, 2010

UTC/Local -8:

Latitude: 06 41.970 S
Longitude: 135.36.137 W

Conditions:

1024/0224 It is early in the morning of May 3. The moon is waning, but nevertheless, it lights up the horizon as a friend in the night. We are now on a beam reach having gone far enough south and the winds are east, southeast. These pre-dawn winds are variable between 9 and 15 knots, nothing holds constant for more than a few minutes. As the wind recedes, we are on a beam reach. As the wind increases, Hydie rounds us up to a closer reach, but generally no more than 60 degrees. The swells are coming from the east south east as well. We are on less of a heel and there is more side to side wallowing on this tack.

I enjoy the night watch on a stable night when everyone else is sleeping. We have all gotten along well and enjoy each other's company, but it's nice in small living quarters to have some alone time. I think Russ and Garyn enjoy the time as well. In between recording positions and paying attention to course and sail, we enjoy the rhythm and sounds of the sea, listen to podcasts, audio books, and music, read, write and study topics of personal interest.

As we are now withng 400 miles of land, we are beginning to notice more sea birds. There were boobies with us until the full day of rain we had on April 20, one week ago at latitude 03 N. Since that time and yesterday, we hadn't seen any birds. Now we have seen some white birds in the distance. We have also begun to have some ship traffic. A large freighter crossed our course line 25 miles in front of usk around midnight.

1200/0400 As it turned out, night watch was active and there was no time for any relaxation. The winds started to gust up to 20 miles an hour and not from the same direction as the primary breeze. We had Hydie set up to be on a beam to broad reach with the primary wind coming from our stern quarter, east south east. If the wind held steady this was a good sail and courseline. Unfortunately, our 15 knot wind would die down to 8, and with the large eastern swell, we had to be vigilant not to gybe as the wind would die down and Hydie would fall off with the wind directly behind us. Then every 3-5 minutes we would get a strong cross wind gusting up to 21 knots coming from the southeast rounding us up and heelig us over so quickly that we heel quik qnd hard. Hydie struggles when the wind is so variable, so it means that the sailors on board actually need to man the helm and give her some help with the big rudder. This back and forth was tedious. At 4:00 a.m. one of the gusts heeled us so quickly that a few things went flying. it woke up Russ. He came up to adjust Hydie and slept the rest of my watch on the settee behind me.

By 7:00 a.m. I was happy to hand over the helm to Russ and Garyn I took a nap from 9:00 -10:00 then was back at the helm until lunch. Russ took a little snooze too. We keep hoping the wind will settle in one drection, and the 9 foot swells often slamming us from the side will subside.

1500/0700 Sunrise was just 40 minutes ago. Once again, we will need to turn the clock back for our local time Zulu -9. That will mean instead of 7:00 a.m. in the morning, we will have to be with our readings by 6:00 a.m., but at least it will be light. We will probably take care of this detail Cinqo de Mayo.

By 7:00 a.m. I was happy to hand over the helm to Russ and Garyn I took a nap from 9:00 -10:00 then was back at the helm until lunch. Russ took a little snooze too. We keep hoping the wind will settle in one drection, and the 9 foot swells often slamming us from the side will also subside. We are less than 300 miles from landfall, and we are all ready for a little terra firma.

2200/0200
We are still hand steering, the wind seems a little more constant, but those gusts are still coming from a different direction than the primary. The sun is out and we are currently traveling at 6 knots. We got an email from friends who are now in the Marquesas. We have not heard from them for a while, the reason...apparently some of the anchorages are radio holes, can't get a good signal. After our landfall, I will not be writing an update every day and for sure it sounds like I will only be able to send sporadically when we are able.

Hope everyone at home and sailing friends are doing well. We are thinking of you.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 26 - Sunday, May 2, 2010

UTC/Local -8: 1900/1100

Latitude: 04 50.947 S
Longitude: 134 05.638 W

Conditions: We awoke to another beautiful day, 82 degrees, 72 percent humidity. We have a 2 meter southeast swell every 10 seconds with 2 foot wind waves. We are on a course of 219, contemplating landfall in Fatu Hiva instead of Hiva Oa. We'll see if the winds are favorable and we can get there by early May 5, three days away. If we go to Fatu Hiva, we would spend two nights, sailing to Hiva Oa on May 7. Jessica is coming in on May 8 to Atuona. The wind is 15-16 knots and we are now traveling about 6 + knots per hour, still fairly close hauled to stay on a course of 219. If we decide not to go to Fatu Hiva, we will fall off for Hiva Oa directly and not be so heeled.

The constant heel is unbelievably tiring and irritating. Doing simple boat chores takes 4 times the time it would ordinarily take as we hang on, bump into everything, and position and reposition that what has just shifted or flown across the boat often making a mess bigger than the one we were originally trying to clean up. I'm hoping that I am using up 4 times the calories as most of our exercise is isometric and not aerobic. I need to reframe my mind to look at this as a challenge not an irritation, and chant my mantra, "It's about the journey, it's about the journey."

We continue to listen to Jack London's Sea Wolf. It seems more interesting now, and we are grateful to be on Worrall Wind and not on the Ghost. We are really looking forward to seeing land and making landfall. In an email from Abby, she said SPOT has not been working for a couple of weeks. I turned it off yesterday, changed the batteries, and turned it back on. Now that we are closing in on the Marquesas we may be out of the sattellte dead zone. Please let us know when you first notice that Spot is working again.

2200/1400
We just finished Sea Wolf. Another lazy afternoon passes us by. The wind has eased off a bit to 10 knots and boat has leveled up a little bit. What a relief. The downside of the this, is we are now moving slower. Hopefully this is just a fluke although it feels so much more restful.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 25 - Saturday, May 1, 2010 - May Day in a good way!

UTC/ Locl -8 0140/1740

Latitude: 03 37.307 S
Longitude: 133 06.592 W

Conditions: Sun is shining, had about 40% cloud cover earlier, now it's down to 10%. The swells have subsided a bit to 1.5 meters. The wind is fairly steady at 14 knots. We are still on a close reach as the wind is coming from the south southeast. If it would shift a little more to the southeast as it shows on the gribs, we would be happier because we could stay on course or just a little below. Right now we are working hard to stay close hauled and at 220 degrees south at 5 knots. When the wind slows down we fall off going closer to 232. Hiva Oa is 220 on our current path. It's 84 degrees and about 74 percent humidity. According to our navigation software, at this pace we will reach Hiva Oa on May 5 or 6.

Last night was my night off. I slept sideways in our bed, head on the leeward side, feet on the windward side, a good heel for natural foot elevation. Of course, I also had to have a few pillows under my head to prevent blood rush to the brain! Woke this morning with no toe or foot pain, good news. I heard Russ turn on the radio at a few minutes before 1500 Zulu, now 7:00 a.m. local time. No one seemed to know who was the net control for this morning. The schedule is pretty loose out here as boats head further and further south. Between Russ and another boat Blue Bottle, they were able to muster a half dozen checkins. We are starting to get checkins now from some of the earlier boats that are leaving the Marquesas and making passage to the Tuomotus.

Russ has been dragging our bowlines this morning to see if we can't coax some of the barnacles off our waterline. The bowline on the leeward side is snaking alongside the boat. Not sure it is actually making contact with hull. The upwind side bowline drag seems to be a little more effective. It's amazing that barnacles can find a boat and attach themselves. We've got quite a crop growing, many of them quite a ways above the water line that attached when we were on a starboard tack and heeled to port. Neither of the bowlines extend past the pilot house doors, so we will have some measure of success if we have fewer barnacles in front of the doors.

1930/1130 am Garyn has been looking forward to a sat phone call to Jessica. Today's the day! Jess is in Colfax delivering Cat Balou to Grandma and Grandpa for cat sitting while she joins us in the Marquesas next weekend. We are all looking forward to her joining us.

2030/1230 pm We took some noonsite readings with the sextant. Russ's calculations place us with in 5 miles of our gps location.

0130/1730 pm The wind has piped up to 16 knots this afternoon and the swell has increased to 10-12 feet. We are bounding at 6.3 knots and have finally dropped south of our course line which will give us some leeway to ease off the sails. For right now we are still on a close reach. Every once in a while our ship's bell clangs. At rest the clacker is on a 45 degree angle almost touching the side of the bell. When we lunge through a wave, it doesn't take much for the bell to ring.

We are making good progress today, having traveled 86 miles since midnight.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 24 - Friday, April 30, 2010

UTC/Local -8: 0000/4:00 p.m.

Latitude: 02 01.731 S
Longitude: 131 43.645 W

Conditions: Picking up speed in sun filled days and moonlit nights.

1200 Zulu/4:00 a.m.: As we have dropped into 01 degree south, our southeast trades have filled in to 14, sometimes up to 18 knots. Our course over ground varies between 211 and 220 degrees southwest, boat speed now between 5-6 knots. Would be faster and more comfortable if we were not so close to the wind angle, but it is what it is. Our starboard rail is only a foot or so off the water and we are bracing our bodies at a 45 degree angle to port to stand upright. It's an exhilarating bound now!

1300 Zulu/5:00 a.m.: I started to get sleepy and decided it was time to get up from my seat, turn on my exercise music and do some exercise. I could just see the sky beginning to light up in the east. Unfortunately, my morning routine met with an accident. On one of my leg kicks, my foot struck the companion way threshold going from the pilot house down to the lower saloon, putting quite a gash under my two outside toes on my right foot. I think I may have dislocated the toes as well as they seemed to be pointing sideways. I didn't want to wake everyone up so I stifled the scream, stopped the bleeding, and sat in the captain's chair with my leg propped up across the steering station. Stupid. Stupid. I'd kick myself, but it would hurt too much.

1430 Zulu/6:30 a.m.: Garyn and Russ rolled out of bed. We took the morning readings for the net. Garyn checked the rigging and let out some of the jib that we had pulled in during the night. Russ got out the first aid kit, cleaned up my foot, disinfected the cut, put gauze between my toes and wrapped toes so they were at least pointing in the right direction. I've been keeping my foot elevated. It's a pretty good ouch. I'm glad I will have tonight off and keep the weight off my foot.

1600 Zulu/8:00 a.m.: All around our 360 degree view of sea and sky, clouds fringe the horizon. This morning they look a little closer and darker. Nothing shows on the gribs, but it looks like we could get some showers later today.

2200 Zulu/2:00 a.m.: We listened to Sea Wolf from breakfast to lunch. I drifted in and out of sleep. Sea Wolf is an interesting character study, but not exactly riveting. We all tried to stay as comfortable as possible as Worrall Wind continues to bound forward on a close reach through 6 foot wells about 9 seconds apart almost on our nose. With the swells 30 degrees off our forward reach, our speed has been slowed as we lunge through sending out a continuous white water wake on our starboard side. Russ is outside reading. Garyn is taking a nap. Me....foot up, reading and writing.

2400 Zulu/4:00 p.m. So far on day 24 since midnight we have traveled 73 miles. If we stay on this pace we should break 109 miles. We only have 630 miles to go (6-7 more days). We'll get there faster if the wind shifts a little more east and the sea swell lessens.

All is well....with the exception of some toes, on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 23 - April 29, 2010 We're in the South Pacific!

UTC/Local 21:12/13:12

Latitude: 00 23.885 S
Longitude: 130.36.684 W

After traveling 1,937 miles from Mexico and 750 miles from Hiva Oa, we crossed the equator this morning at 1155 Zulu and 0355 local time. Garyn was on watch, Russ and I were sleeping. About 15 minutes before reaching
the equator, we were awakened from our sleep with Michael Jackson's Thriller. We quickly got out of bed. The wind was blowing about 12 knots, we were traveling at 4:00 knots, with all of our sails (main, mizzen, cutter, and jib), on a close reach port tack. A south pacific breeze filled the cabin. The full moon was still high on our starboard side shining through the sails on to the foredeck and shimmering across the sea and illuminating the white foam on the leeward side as Worrall Wind cut through the 1 meter swells at the equator.

We captured the moment with a print screen of our navigation software. How sweet to see all zeroes in the latitude line. Earlier in the evening, we sacrificed Russ's silver locks to Neptune. Now it was time to give him a sip of Dom Perignon, Vintage 1990 champaign. We paid our ritual respects to the god of the sea with the first glass of the chilled bubbly. We each dipped our hands into the sea from the leeward side of the boat (foregoing the swim), licked the salt from our fingers and enjoyed the rest of the bottle with Neptune, sending the bottle to the bottom of the sea. We are sure it is in good company. It is a special memory we will have forever. And it was an excellent champaign. I guess now we are considered shellbacks. Not sure what that means exactly. Maybe somebody can look it up and let us know the origin of this word. Sounds like a sea turtle to us.

We stayed up until 5:00 a.m. enjoying the equatorial moon and dawn with Garyn. I went back to sleep until the morning net at 7:00 a.m. (1500 Zulu). Today, we are on a course of 200 degrees, still on a close reach. The wind has been constant but not strong. We hope it will pickup and shift around so that we can be on more of a beam and travel a little faster. We are getting anxious to reach land after 23 days at sea and probably another week. We are looking forward to our daughter-in-law Jessica joining us in the Marquesas. She will be flying into Atuona on Saturday, May 8.

We've been reading, listening to Sea Wolf, relaxing and adjusting to a port tack. We have decided that Worrall Wind is better suited for starboard tack. On that tack we are pushed back into the settee seats, the hot food on the stove is away from the cook, we're not falling off the toilet seat, and the shower drains like it is supposed to. On the port tack, it feels like an uphill walk to everything we need to do and our achilles tendons are getting constantly stretched as we cant forward.

It's 79 degrees this afternoon, very pleasant. We're just lopping along. It seems as if we may have a counter current to our direction as our speed over ground has dropped to under 4 knots. We may need to fire up Lehman and Ray here in a bit. But in the meantime this is pretty darn nice!

All is well on Worrall Wind

Just crossed the equator! Marquesas Bound.

We are Marquesas Bound (750 more miles!) and just crossed the equator! Go to WorrallWind.blogspot.com for details.

UTC 1155
Latitude: 00 00.000
Longitude: 130 15.364

Full moon, full sail on a close reach, 78 degrees, 96 percent humidity. We have clear sky, 11 knots of wind from the south east. boat speed of 4 knots. course over ground 219 degrees true in a 1 meter swell. The water is warm. We didn't go swimming but all stuck our hands in the water, licked the salt off our fingers, and enjoyed a 1990 vintage bottle of Dom Perignon Champaign. We gave Neptue a few drops and sank the bottle. It couldn't have been more perfect. I guess we are now officially shellbacks.

Russ, Roz, and Garyn aboard the sailing vessel Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 22 - Wednesday, April 24, 2020

UTC/Local 22:42/14:42

Latitude: 00 33.9 N
Longitude: 129 33.7 W

Conditions:

Today is our 22nd day at sea. We are 52 miles from the equator (the distance from our home in Colfax to the California Department of Education in Sacramento- 1 hour by car in heavy traffic). It will still take us approximately 12 or more hours to reach the equator and no traffic with the exception of flying fish.

We are headed about 215 degrees but our course over ground due to sail slip and current is more like 235. Yesterday, I was one day ahead of myself in reporting a possible morning crossing of the equator. It's hard to keep the days straight particularly when I post in the evening it is already the next day UTC time. We will probably cross the equator just as Garyn and I are changing shifts. Given the time of our crossing, I doubt whether there will be any swimming. But we do have the wonderful bottle of champaign friend and colleague Irv Howard gave to me when I retired on ice and ready to go!

We are also just a little over 800 miles from Hiva Oa. By the time we reach the Marquesas we will need to turn the clock back another 1.5 hours. The Marquesans are kind of inbetween 1-2 hours so they are a half hour set back. We are currently on Alaska 129 longitude time. That's UTC time -8 hours.

Last night once the net was over, we motored all night. Garyn had early watch, Russ second watch, Roz no watch. When we reported to the Pacific Puddle Jump Net at 1500 UTC:, we were still motoring with the wind speed still under 10 knots on our nose. By 1600 UTC, one hour later the wind had shifted a little more to the southeast and filled into 14 knots. There was just enough encouragement for us to put out the jib and cutter. We turned off the motor and have been sailing since 8:00 a.m.with Hydie (hydrovane) at the helm. Lehman (engine) and Ray (auto pilot) are resting.

2255 UTC: We are traveling at 4.8 knots per hour. The wind has been fairly constant 14 knots. The seas have about a 1 meter swell and few white caps. It is 80 degrees out, surprisiingly. We thought it would be warmer. The sun is shining and Russ is grinning from ear to ear because with the sun shining on the solar panels and our water turbine spinning away, we are at 100% battery capacity with amp generation and use, balanced at zero. We just finished listening to Treasure Island. While the engine is on, it is too noisey to listen. Listening to audio books is best done under sail when the only sound is the water swishing past the hull. Our next book is going to be Sea Wolf by Jack London.

0246 UTC April 29, 2010
Russ just got a buzz cut in anticipation of going across the equator tomorrow in the early hours of the morning. He looks really good, 10 years younger. He was beginning to look like the Old Man of the Sea. The sailing conditions today have been absolutely delightful. The sun just set. I'm off to take a nap before my 8:00 p.m. watch.

All is well on Worrall Wind