Worrall Wind Update - Day 3 to American Samoa

UTC/Local Time: Sunday, September 5 2100/ Sunday, September 5, 1100

Latitude: 13.54.206 S
Longitude: 166.50.783 W

Course Over Ground: 275T @ 5.3 knots
Wind Direction: SE 18 knots
Sea Swell: 1.5-2 meters
Sky: 90% cloud cover
Barometric Pressure: 1018 and rising
Temperature: 86 degrees
Humidity: 74 percent

Update: One year and 7,000 miles under our keel

It is hard to believe that we left San Francisco one year ago today. We could only imagine that we would be somewhere in the South Pacific, and here we are on day three of a passage from Suwarrow to American Samoa. The year seems to have gone by in a flash. We have 7,000 miles under our keel and two children that have gotten married.  In addition to keel miles, we have flown round trip to Italy and back to states, and round trip to and from French Polynesia.

Despite our best efforts to encourage our children to get married before we left on our voyage, both of them chose to marry our first year out the Golden Gate.

Wedding Number One

In the time span from September 5 to September 5, we have traversed the coast of California and Baja California. We took a fabulous detour to Tuscany, Italy in late September for Garyn and Jessica's romantic villa wedding, before heading beyond California.  While in Italy, we visited Florence, Venice, Vicchio, and the Cinqueterra with my brother and Russ's brother and sister-in-laws.  The setting and the adventure of a destination wedding with friends and family that were able to attend was wonderful.

To Mexico

Our friends Clark and Nina joined us as crew on the Baja Ha Ha rally to Cabo. It was fun having them aboard. The 2009 Ha Ha was the biggest rally ever with some of the worst sea conditions on record.  One boat sank after hitting a whale. In retrospect, the weather we experienced on the Baja Ha Ha doesn't seem as challenging as what we have experienced in the South Pacific.

Once in Cabo San Lucas, we turned north into the Sea of Cortez visiting La Paz and northern islands Espiritu and Partida, then across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan. We spent our first Thanksgiving aboard Worrall Wind the night before our first duo crossing. Previous to our 2 night passage to Mazatlan we had always had crew on overnight passages. Getting to the mainland of Mexico was a small victory for our self confidence. While in Mazatlan we were able to meet up with friends and enjoy the city and a trip to the Copper Canyon before heading to Puerta Vallarta.

Abby and our future son-in-law Neal joined us for the season's holidays in Paradise Village where we lounged, whale watched, surfed, and enjoyed many Mexican meals together. We ourselves returned to the states in January and February and planned not to return until the following January and February. But as we prepared for our South Pacific Voyage in Paradise Village, our plans changed as now Abby and Neal announced their engagement in late February, and there were plans for a wedding in July back in California only five months out.

To the South Pacific - French Polynesia

Before leaving Mexico, I ordered my Mother of the Bride gown online and could only hope that it would fit in July. Garyn joined us on March 29, and we left Mexico for the South Pacific on April 8 on the Pacific Puddle Jump Rally. It took us 29 days at sea to reach the Marquesas in early May. We are definitely the "Slowskis"....steady but sure.

Our daughter-in-law Jessica joined us in the Marquesas and traveled with us to the Tuomotus, Moorea, and Tahiti. We had some wonderful and adventurous times together.

 Wedding Number Two

Garyn and Jessica returned to the states from Tahiti the second week in June; we returned with our new Tahitian tattoos late the following week to get ready for and to attend Abby and Neal's wedding at Shinneyboo on the Yuba River near Eagle Lakes trail head the fourth of July weekend. I got my mother of the bride dress two days before the wedding, and it fit perfectly! What fun we had for four days with over 120 family and friends.  Neal and Abby did a remarkable job planning the event.   It couldn't have been more perfect. Even the weather co-operated.  The bride was beautiful and the groom tall and handsome....really, no bias here. 


Back to French Polynesia

Once again, we returned to Tahiti in mid-July and took off for Moorea, Huahine, Raietea, and Tahaa, celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary at the Taravana Yacht Club. We confirmed our reservations for a hurricane trench in Fiji from the end of November 2010 to April of 2011. Unless we have a radical change of heart and some very experienced crew, we think we will forgo the passage in our boat to New Zealand. Some of the weather we have had in these upper latitudes is about as challenging as we are up for. While our boat is snug in the ground, we still plan to go to New Zealand. But as others have said, nothing goes to weather better than a 747. We look forward to buying a used camper van and touring for a couple of months.

Goodbye French Polynesia, Hello Cook Islands and American Samoa

We left for Bora Bora the second week in August and while in Bora, also visited the smaller island of Maupiti to the west. From Bora Bora during the third week in August and waxing moon we left for the Atoll and Islands of Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. It took us six days to get there and we spent 10 days enjoying the simple natural beauty of this remote atoll. Now we are on day three of our passage to American Samoa. We are more than half way there.

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty nice sailing day, once the seas calmed down to 2.5 meters. The winds averaged about 16 knots and the sky was absolutely clear. We had no squalls last night, and we both finished the books we were reading.  This morning started out beautifully, but as the gribs predicted, the winds and seas are picking up again. We have three squalls going. Two strong rainy ones on our starboard downwind side (not worrisome) and one weak one to our windward port side that looks like it will blow in front of us. Because of the cloud cover we are not generating much solar power today, so we may need to turn the engine on in a little while. We expect the next couple of days to be a little more active with 10-14 foot seas.

The sea height is not as important as the direction, steepness, and speed. Unfortunately, our grib files and Clearpoint weather never seem to give us an accurate picture of this important data. So we just keep the sails conservatively reefed and try to take the waves from the stern and stern quarter. So far that has worked well. We have learned a lot this year and met many wonderful cruisers and made new friends.

It's been an exciting and beautiful year between September 5 and September 5. We are wondering how many boats on the Berkeley Yacht Club Labor Day Cruise to Half-Moon Bay took a southerly left this year as we did. We hope more will cast off their bowlines and wish them all well. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 2 to American Samoa

UTC/Local Time: Sunday, September 5 0000/Saturday, September 4 1400

Latitude: 13 59.267 S
Longitude: 165 12.668 W

Course Over Ground: 285 @ 5.3 knots
Wind Direction: ESE 20 knots
Sea Swell: 9 foot cross seas
Sky: 0% clouds
Barometric Pressure: 1017

Update: Day 2 to American Samoa

Last night the seas were restless, and we had a couple of squalls on my watch with winds reaching 35+ knots with rain. There was no moon. We could see intermittent stars between squalls. The cross seas would come from the northeast and southeast often colliding behind and under the boat (which was good, gave us fast ride), on the sides of the boat (which was bad, we would rock and roll from side to side).

We've gotten very comfortable with how Worrall Wind responds in these conditions. She is very responsive and rights herself without fail which gives us great confidence when the winds are howling and the seas very agitated. In these conditions we are triple reefed and have about 1/2 of our jib out. Still we are moving a long at a reasonable (albeit slower speed), but the boat seems balanced and not overly heeled.

We may not be comfortable as it often feels like being in a washing machine, but not too concerned for safety as we are locked down tight and go out tethered up only if absolutely necessary. We do have to stuff towels on the lower part of the sliding doors to keep water from squirting up and in the boat when the water comes over the rail and through the scuppers.

We've also put a hard sponge in front of the sliding hatch so that when we are pitching, it doesn't slam forward as it has done in the past. We have also attached a bungie cord to the hatch handle and the latch on the rim to keep the hatch from sliding backwards to full open. Russ likes to hold on the hatch rim, and I am always concerned that his fingers will get slammed. If we pitch up and the skylight hatch falls all the way back, it requires us to both go outside, pickup the hatch, and put it on its rails to close.

After our first night, we pretty much have figured where all the clinks, groans, and rattles are coming from and quiet them down by stuffing sponges, hand towels, and rolls of paper towels everywhere to stifle the noise. I think the constant noise drives us crazy. There are a few creaks that we simply can't seem to get rid of, but guess that's just part of natural boat noise.

Hydie our windvane steering system is backup and running perfectly. We sure do love her, quiet, efficient, and doesn't gobble up power.  Right now the winds have subsided a bit, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and the seas are slightly more settled than they were earlier in the day. We just gybed because we had gone about 20 miles south of our course line due to the wind direction.

Now we are moving north west back to course. This course over ground with the swells and windwaves is not as comfortable. We plan to cross the course line and then gybe back to the southwest for the night. As of now our estimated arrival calculator is putting us in American Samoa late Tuesday which means we may need to heave to so that we arrive during daylight hours. As we get closer, we will decide to either put the motor on and speed it up to get there earlier on Tuesday or slow it down and get there Wednesday morning.

It's time for nap so I can stay awake on watch tonight. Russ has already taken one and will probably need another in a little while. We are both reading good books which is not conducive to sleep....unless it's our watch. Is Worrall Wind's SPOT working? Family are you getting daily messages and tracking reports? Let us know.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 1, America Samoa Bound

UTC/Local Time: Saturday, September 4, 0430/ Friday, September 3, 2030

Latitude: 13 13.901 S
Longitude: 163.28.918 W

Course Over Ground: 250 @ 6 knots
Wind Direction: ESE 20-25 knots, gusts to 35
Sea Swell: 2.5 -3 meters S and ESE
Sky: 60%
Barometric Pressure: 1014

Update: Day 1, American Samoa Bound

After consulting our grib files one more time, we decided to leave Suwarrow today as planned. It is 445 miles to American Samoa and we hope to arrive there sometime on Tuesday. The seas are a little bigger than we like, but the gribs show that they are going to get bigger by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and the wind is going to become quite light at the same time so we would be bobbing around like a cork if left later.

We arose early and got the boat prepared for sailing, re-installing the hydrovane, lashing everything down, hoisting the dinghy, and closing the ports. I made a big pot of stew and put containers of it in the refrigerator, along with some beef and rice curry, pasta salad, and a half dozen hard boiled eggs. I should be able to just heat things up.

We had a bit of a challenge raising the anchor this morning. We were good and hooked on a piece of coral, but the anchor finally pulled loose and we were on our way by 11:15 or so. We cleared the pass through the barrier reef. The seas were large or larger than we expected. They were right on our bow as we pulled up the sail and triple reefed it. The bow would rise straight up and then plunge into a trough then up again. We were glad to turn WW around and run with the wind and the waves coming from the stern quarter. Every once in a while (every 5-7 minutes), we get some southern rollers that pass under our beam. They are moving quite fast and and do a good job rolling us to starboard.

The sun just set. We expect it will be a very dark night with some squalls. We've already had a few today with winds up to 35 knots. I have first watch until 1:00 a.m. We are thinking of all of you snug in your land beds tonight. Once again, we are checking in nightly with the Pacific Seafarers Net 14300 at 0300 Zulu. If you need or want to get in touch with us and know a ham operator, we check in with this net when we are on a passage. Our call sign is KI6YHE.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Days 6-10 Suwarrow

Update:  Days 6-10 in Paradise


It is Thursday evening, September 2, and we are still in Suwarrow. We had intended on leaving today, but the call of the Perfect Reef captured us for one more day of snorkeling. So we are thinking tomorrow, but the gribs look a little rough for tomorrow, so now it might be Saturday before we leave. The wind in the protected anchorage is blowing 20 knots so it must be really rough outside. Good thing we are not in a big rush. Here's a little back tracking since Monday.

Monday, August 30 - Day 6

Russ and I took the dinghy to shore about 2:45 in the afternoon. With instruction from James we found just the right coconuts to husk for coconut cakes. The coconuts have to have germinated with at least three stems protruding. This means that the inside of the coconut has converted the water into a thick pulpy core as nutrient for the germinating stem.
James shows Russ how to husk the coconuts. The coconuts we get in the grocery store are already husked. To husk the coconut, one has to use a piece of sharp re-bar or a stick to stab the husk and then peel it away from the hard coconut shell. Once the coconut is peeled down to its shell, you take a machete and wack at it across the middle until it breaks in half.

The pulpy center is removed and grated into a large bowl. One cup of grated pulp, one cup of flour (I used a non-gluten flour mix), and 1/4 cup sugar are the proportions. Add enough water to create a batter that holds a mounded shape on a spoon. James heated about an inch of cooking oil in a skillet until it was very hot and then spooned and flattened the coconut mix into the oil to make cakes about four inches across and about 1/2" thick. When the cakes are golden brown on the bottom he flipped them until both sides were golden to dark brown. He removed them from a the frying pan with a slotted spoon and tipped them vertically in a deep dish to drain off excess oil.

These cakes are delicious. I don't even want to think about the fat and cholesterol. As a thank you for showing us how to make the cakes and simply because we know how much he enjoys soda, we made up some cola with our soda machine and took James a liter bottle with ice cubes.

Tuesday, August 31 - Day 7

With Gene and Gloria from Pincoya and Claudia and Brian on Skylight, we took off on an expedition in our dinghies five miles across the lagoon to go snorkeling on a reef close to Motu Taou on the eastern side of Suwarrow. We left at 10:00 and got to the reef an hour later. We took two dinghies with three in each dinghy. There were big swells and and windy conditions as we wove our way through some huge corals heads to the more protected area where we went snorkeling.

The coral heads extended downwards of thirty feet into beautiful blue canyons with white sand. The topography was beautiful. I would float over a submerged coral head two or three feet under the water out over a canyon. It felt as if I was flying. We snorkeled for about an hour enjoying the fish and the coral. As we were approaching our dinghies, there was a school of hundreds of yellow tailed mullets. The average mullet was about 1 foot long. The school let us swim right with them and through them. This was pretty fun until we noticed that we had some reef sharks eying the mullet and because we were right in their midst, it made us a little nervous to see these twitchy sharks moving towards us. Some of the sharks were four and five feet long. We didn't want to get in the middle of feeding frenzy or be a part of the feed.

Our collective minds decided simultaneously to get out of the water. We had lunch in the dinghies, dried off and and started the engines....or at least Brian got his engine started. We had some difficulty getting ours going. Finally, Russ got it going and we didn't have any problems getting back to Anchorage Island, but it reminded us why we didn't come out here all by ourselves in the first place.

Tuesday evening, Gene and several of the more adventurous hunter gathers left at 6:00 p.m. to dinghy to Turtle Island several miles away to hunt lobsters on the exposed reef between the motus. This was difficult walking when we had gone a couple of days before crab hunting during the day. Both Russ and I had gotten some foot wounds on the slippery coral and declined to go lobster hunting. The hunters were going to be out until midnight or longer...far past our bedtime.

Instead, we lay in the hammock with a soft breeze caressing our skin, listening to Master and Commander with our headphone jacks and watched the stars pop out into the night sky. The southern cross was brilliant. We just couldn't think of a better place to be.

Wednesday, September 1 - Day 8

Russ and I spent the morning in the water cleaning the bottom of the boat. I used a snorkel and concentrated on the water line and as far down as I could reach. Russ used the hooka snuba and did the deeper keel work. It took us a couple of hours. While under the water we enjoyed watching the fish gather under the boat as we scrapped off barnacles and other crusty things that the fish seemed to enjoy eating. Where there are fish, there are also sharks. There were a couple that cruised under us, but they didn't swim at us like the ones on the reef and they were only about 3 feet long.
We spent the later part of the afternoon visiting with James and Appii, doing our checkout paperwork. We brought in some more cola and ice and photographs of Suwarrow, us and them. We thought this was a goodbye as we planned to leave Thursday.
Wednesday evening, we had another potluck this time featuring 8 huge lobsters caught the night before. They were sweet and delicious. Right after we said our goodbyes to everyone, we decided to stay one more day. Oscar on Zenitude was telling everyone about the Perfect Reef and his day of snorkeling there. Perfect Reef is about 4 miles south of the anchorage. It is basically a reef within a reef. Shaped like a crescent, it is very shallow on the east side and open on the west although you have to dodge some coral heads to get in. He claimed it was some of the best snorkeling he has ever seen. That did it. We scrapped our plans to leave on Thursday and go snorkeling instead.

Thursday, September 2, Day 9

This time we took three dinghies out to Perfect Reef. Claudia and Brian were taking their diving gear and tanks, so we needed an additional boat. The wind was blowing 15 to 20 knots all day and there was a squall behind us and one in front of us. Fortunately, we were in a patch of sunlight all the way out to Perfect Reef. Unlike our trip to the western side of the island where we surfed down swells coming from the east, we were now moving south and those eastern swells were on our beam, often splashing into the boat. It was a pretty soggy bottom ride.

It took us about an hour to get to Perfect Reef and thread our way in through the coral heads on the eastern side of the crescent. We anchored the dinghies in about 10 feet of water close to the reef edge. Within 2 minutes of being in the water, Russ and I were glad we had decided to come to Perfect Reef. This snorkel went to number 1 in our book. Wow, wow, wow. The living coral of greens, pinks, purples, coral, whites, yellows was amazing. There was apple green brain coral with amber striations, popcorn coral, leaf rosette coral, tree coral, all types and textures.

We saw lots of fish from big parrot fish to the tiniest of little tetras in every color of the rainbow. Huge ruffle lipped clams, big lip-smacking oysters, eels, and puffy pink starfish basked on and in the holes of the coral heads. Claudia and Brian were able to dive down into several of the deep grottos. The water clarity, particularly in the shallow areas was incredibly clear. It didn't look as if there was any water. After an hour, we ate lunch, and after lunch we went back in for another go around. It was spectacular. Best of all...we didn't see one shark!

The wind and clouds were really whipping up when we returned. The ride back seemed wetter than our snorkel. About three quarters of the way back, Gene and Gloria's propeller started to act up and their forward propulsion was almost nil. Gene started to paddle at one point. We all slowed our speed and finally, Brian and Claudia got a hold of the dinghy's painter (bow line) and towed them home. Russ and I had some major de-salting to do of our gear. Everything was soaked in salt water. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and the evening on Pincoya with our snorkeling friends, recounting the day's adventures.

Friday, September 3 - Day 10

We may or may not leave. The wind and seas are higher than we like. If they calm down, we may leave in the afternoon. If they don't, we won't.. Could be Saturday or later before we weigh anchor. I the meantime, we're having fun.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Suwarrow

UTC/Local Time: Monday, August 30

Anchored In Suwarrow
Latitude: 13.149.904 S
Longitude: 163 06.475

Calm Seas, Clear Water, Paradise on Earth

Rough Seas outside the Atoll

We are surrounded by Park Rangers, Appi and James.

Update:  Days 1-6 in Paradise

We have been enjoying Suwwarow for six days now and have no inclination to leave, but know we must be on our way sometime this week. Originally, we planned only a few days. Suwarrow atoll with its motu islands is a very special place on this earth. We are so privileged to be amongst the handful of earthlings to experience this oasis in the sea.

Day 1 - Wednesday, Welcome committee of James and Appi visit our boat. We sleep the afternoon away.

Day 2 - Thursday, All the cruising boats come together to help rebuild the coral/rock jetty. We make an impressive work party. Fishing parties have caught a bounty of fish. Sharks on the east side of the island thrash wildly eating fish parts. James calls them at sunset and they arrive to be fed. We are anchored on the west side. The sharks are being trained to eat away from the crusiers. At 6:30 the 18 cruising boats supplement the fish with a potluck. We are the survivor reality show.

Day 3 - Friday, Russ and I walk around anchorage island during low tide finding beautiful shells, fossilized castings in the coral, boobies, terns, noddies, bosun birds, frigates, warm water pools filled with sea slugs. We take GPS coordinates as we walk the island looking for a place to hide our geocache. A sperm whale and her calf have been spotted in the lagoon along with some female turtles looking to nest.

Day 4 - Saturday, We are going coconut crabbing and trash collecting on Turtle Island. After a 45 minute dinghy ride and a 2 mile trek around three motus and three shallow crossings where the incoming tide flows like a river, we arrive on a petite jungle island where giant coconut grabs live. They scurry backwards, not knowing where they are going, but hope to find a hole to get away from the hunters. The hunters have big sticks that they tease the crabs with. Often the sticks are used to dig the crabs out of their holes. The crab grabs with his giant claw (just on one side) at the stick and holds on sure that he is injuring the predator stick. A second hunter grabs the crab from behind and drops him into a bag.

Throw him back.  He's a Baby!

Gene polks his stick into the ground and disturbs a wasp nests. He and another cruiser get stung. Of course we had left our knap sacks on the beach before trekking into the jungle. A small party without our guide return to the beach for some antihistamine...eventually. Thank goodness it is a small island as we are hopelessly turned around in the thicket. Even though we can hear the surf and know the direction to go, we can't find an easy opening, so we head where there is less growth and wind up on the opposite side of the island, then hike back around the beach.

We return to the dinghies late in the afternoon, laden with crab and trash. We stop on the way back to snorkel on a bommie (raised coral garden). The water is crystal clear. There are purple, aqua, black, and periwinkle lipped clams, plump starfish, and a kaleidoscope of coral and reef fish. Small light blue fish explode from coral heads like fireworks and then flutter aimlessly like snowflakes until the collective brain turns them simultaneously and in a flash they are gone.

Tonight, another shark feeding, crab potluck, bonfire, guitar and singing by Appii, and announcement by the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind that the Treasures of Suwawrrow geocache has been hidden on the island and that the first clue is in the hermit Tom Neal's shelter. There is a scurry of excitement from the children as they want to be the first to find.

Day 5 - Sunday, We take the opportunity in the absolutely still lagoon to work on the boat. The water is glassy smooth. We re-furl the main and repair the hydrovane. We watch geocachers hiking the beach looking for the treasure. The kids from Silver Lining and Kamaya are successful! Late in the day, we snorkel on the bommie close to the anchorage. The moon is slow to rise giving way to brilliant stars in the night sky. A gentle southeast wind rocks the boat and us to sleep.

Day 6 - Monday. The day is young and has yet to unfold, but James, the National Park Ranger,  has offered to show us how to make coconut cakes. 

1.  You have to find a fallen coconut that has only three sprouting leaves.

 

2.  Then you must crack open the hull.  Not and easy task, but my strong husband does it.   We are talking about alot of small coconuts!                        

3. Clean out the pulp....when it has three leaves it easier to do.                                                                    

                                                                                                                              

4. Grate chunks into a pot.                                                                                                                             

Notice the sweat from this exertion!                                                                                                                   

5.  Mix with grated flakes with flour and add coconut milk.                                                                             

                                                                                              

          

6. Heat skill with oil, fry cakes until golden brown, eat hot or store for later and eat at island temperature.                                                                                                                    

There is a lobster catching party tonight and another potluck scheduled for Tuesday.  We'll bring the coconut cakes.  We love it here!

Here  is our poem to Suwarrow.
 

Suwarrow, Suwarrow
Gem of the sea
You provide the weary sailor
Peaceful tranquility.

Inside your protective reef,
Sea tossed sailors get some sleep.

Blue green lagoons
Abound with fishes
Starlit nights inspire wishes.

Our senses glory in the
Coral gardens and
Coconut trees,
Endless sky,
And southeast breeze.

Hospitable rangers and
Fellow cruisers too
Share kindness and fun in
This latitude blue.

Suwarrow, Suwarrow
How hard it will be to leave.
I love thee for
You restore my soul with
Both beauty and humanity.

Calm Waters in the Middle of the Pacific

Paradise

Cruisers Pitch In to Rebuild the Dinghy Jetty

Thank you Suwarrow.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Periodic Position Report - Arrived Suwwarow, Cook Islands

Hello!! Here is a quick position report. For more details, go to WorrallWind.blogspot.com.

UTC/Local Time: Thursday, August 26 0130/Wednesday, August 25 2230

Latitude: 13.149.904 S
Longitude: 163 06.475 W

Update: Arrived in Suwarrow, Cook Islands

We have safely arrived in Suwarrow in the Cook Islands. Overall we got here in 748 nautical miles from Bora Bora. The course line is just short of 700.

This is a tropical oasis right in the middle of the South Pacific. There is a coral reef surrounding the atoll with a several islands on the reef. We are currently in the lagoon anchored in 38 feet of water tucked behind a coconut palm island, and have seen a couple of black tip sharks of five feet swimming around our boat.  Just outside the reef and lagoon, the water is 4,00 feet, the winds are blowing 20 knots, the sea swell is 2 meters. In here, the wind close to the island is so light that our wind generator is not moving and the waters are calm.

Suwarrow is a national park, and we have met the caretakers James and Appi who came aboard this morning to clear us in. They are most hospitable and take yachties crabbing, fishing, diving, birding, shark feeding, etc. Last night there was a coconut crab feed which we hope will be repeated while we are here. I spoke with James today about establishing a geocache here. He is agreeable to watch over it. It will be be a level 5 in difficulty due to the islands in-accessibility to only those in private boats, not to mention that it is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

There are currently 15 other boats anchored with us. Again we are right next to Pincoya. Other boats in here at present to name a few are Pickles, Scream, Kamaya, Endless Summer, Active Transport, and Zenitude, Liquid Courage, Silver Lining, and Skylight.  

Endless Summer is from Emery Cove Marina. We wonder what the odds are of two boats from the same Marina meeting up in Suwwarow? We are looking forward to meeting the other cruisers who are sharing this little place on the planet with us. We will be here for 4 or 5 days before moving on to American Samoa.

All is well on Worrall Wind - From the 2 Sail R's - Russ and Roz

Worrall Wind Update - Day 7 to Suwarrow

UTC/Local Time: Wednesday, August 25 0200/Tuesday, August 24 1600

Latitude: 13 27.081 S
Longitude: 162 01.507 W

Course Over Ground: 285 @ 4 knots
Wind Direction: E 88, <14 knots
Sea Swell: 2 meter swells ENE
Sky: 80%
Barometric Pressure: 1013
Temperature: 85 degrees
Humidity: 68 percent

Update: Day 7 to Suwarrow, 60 miles out

Yesterday was another lovely sailing day. The winds and sea conditions were remarkably calm and pleasant. A couple of squalls passed by to our starboard side a few times helping our speed to accelerate which was a bonus. We had already decided to slow our speed down so as not arrive in Suwarriw until the morning of August 25. But the winds were so light that there were times when our calculator started to estimate an arrival of two days later than that. We wanted slow, but not that slow. Are we never happy?

By dusk, the moon was rising and there were clouds building behind us indicating that we might be in for squally evening. For no apparent reason that we could see, the north east swell was building in size and frequency. The wind was still pretty light which means that the boat with her reduced sail begins to roll more as there is less counter wind pressure to keep her heeled. The Honda generator that had purring along for the afternoon was beginning to need more starts as its kill switch kept doing what it was supposed to. Russ had tried to find and disable the kill switch earlier in the day and finally decided it must be a float in the gas tank, as it was not electronic as he had hoped. Oh well. He is very patient, and each time Honda would die, he would start it up again.

We sat on the bow absorbing the magnificent beauty of the evening sky. The moon cast a golden ribbon of undulating satin from the horizon across the sea right to the stern of our boat. Moonlight sails are absolutely the best. After the nets were over and the sails readied for the night, Russ went to bed. I promised to tend Honda, but am not as patient as Russ. After donning my life jacket, clipping in, making my way to the fan tail, waiting for the seas to calm down, and starting the generator at least 12 time within 1 hour (that's every 5 minutes of big beam rollers), I had enough already! It was almost midnight and Russ would be up in a couple of hours. If it was still rolly and we needed power, we could turn on the motor.

Night watch was uneventful. Russ's was too, with the exception of the continuous rolls. And once Russ was up he started the generator. When I got up, there was a weather front starting to creep up behind us. We could see the grey sky and dark clouds on our starboard side. It took several hours to pass us by. By noon we were clocking winds of 25 knots and were moving between 6 and 7 knots reefed. The rollers didn't seem nearly so bad with wind in our sails. As the afternoon wore on, more blue started to show, the winds died down, and we were back to rocking and rolling. The cloud cover and light winds meant that Honda had to come back on.

Russ is napping and asked that I keep Honda running. He can sit outside for hours starting it every time it stops. He said he propped it up and should stay on. "Ok, but if I have to keep pulling that string more than six times, I'm done." Well, I didn't even last that long. After I had pulled the string 3 times in 10 minutes I was sooo done.   Even propped up on the rolliest of sides, the darn thing just doesn't like working when the boat is rolling, and I could see a train of swells coming for miles. The wind was starting to shift around, and I had other things to tend to like keeping the boat on course and preventing the sails from back winding.

When we get to Suwarrow, Russ hopes to give Hydie a temporary fix until we reach Samoa. He bought some sort of universal bolt material that he used to fix the gooseneck that he thinks might work for Hydie's bottom strut. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that a temporary fix will allow Ray to rest and stop consuming so much energy, and we can put Honda to bed.
We are now only sixty miles from Suwarriw and should arrive sometime tomorrow morning. Gene and Gloria on Pincoya were trying to get there by this afternoon, but after the light and variable winds and rolling seas, they weren't comfortable with their gennaker flying through the night, so they too reduced sail and are planning on arriving tomorrow morning as well. They were about 30 miles ahead of us this morning, so they will most likely heave too outside the for the pre dawn hours.

Tomorrow night, we look forward to being on anchor and getting a full night sleep in our bedroom.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 6 to Suwarrow, Two more days

UTC/Local Time: Tuesday, August 24 0100/Monday, August 23 1500

Latitude: 13 58.150 S
Longitude: 160 32.643 W

Course Over Ground: 4.0 knots
Wind Direction: ESE 14 knots
Sea Swell: 1.5 meters from the east, 2.5 meters from the south
Sky: 30% clouds
Barometric Pressure: 1014

Update: It's another beautiful day. Two more days to go.

If we could maintain a speed of over six knots we could get to Suvorov by late tomorrow, however, this is not the kind of pass we want to come into unless we have good lighting. It is usually advisable to enter waters with coral heads just before noon. In order to time a morning arrival we are slowing our speed down. We cannot get there by tomorrow morning in any case, and we don't want to arrive late tomorrow or in the wee hours of August 25 and heave to until sunrise.

Suvorov or Suwarrow (Lat: 13 14.381 S; Lon: 163 05.921 W) is the Cook Islands' only national park and is reportedly a nature lover's paradise with colonies of seabirds and marine life (including a lot of sharks, so don't know about snorkeling). Originally named Suvorov, after the Russian explorer Lazarov's ship the Suvorov in 1814. When the Cook Islands gained their independence, the name was changed to Suwarrow so that it more closely resembled the sounds of Cook Island language. Most cruisers seem to call it Suvorov. When we pronounced it as Suwarrow, we have been corrected by people who say, "You mean Suvorov?"  If the Cook Islanders don't call it Suvorov, I don't know why cruisers continue to do so.

Other than the two caretakers that seasonally reside here (population of 2), there are no other inhabitants. Suwarrow is an atoll that is 4 sq km of land but 11 miles across (the reefed lagoon) in the middle of the Pacific and is the southern most island of the northern Cooks. Tom Neale, a New Zealander - hermit lived on Suwarrow off and on between 1952-1977. He wrote the book of his experiences in the book An Island to Oneself.

Since this is not an entry port, we will not be subject to New Zealand's rules and regulations regarding food products brought into their agricultural jurisdiction. We understand the meats, produce, flours, grains are confiscated and destroyed. I have a lot of non-gluten flours. grains, and meats (even canned) on board that we are not yet ready to surrender, so we are taking this northern route to Tonga and will bypass the other Cook Islands for now. The trade off will be to visit the islands of American Samoa and Samoa to which we are looking forward.

We have had lovely sailing conditions the last two days and are finally doing some reading, napping, and lounging about. Pretty nice.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 5 to Suwarrow

UTC/Local Time: Monday, August 23 0000/Sunday, August 22 1400

Latitude: 13 54.866 S
Longitude: 158 46.844 W

Course Over Ground: 275 at 6+ knots
Wind Direction: East South East, 18 knots
Sea Swell: 1.5 meter seas, occasional side rollers 2.5 meters
Sky: 20 %
Barometric Pressure: 1014

Update: Day 5 - So Far...a Nice Day!

Sure glad yesterday is over. We weren't the only ones dealing with the rocky rollies, variable winds. When we got on the Sea Farer's Net last night, our friends on Pincoya didn't respond to roll call. They had been behind and below us about 60 miles and we surmised that they were busy managing a squall. There seemed to be more of a squall line in that direction. We were getting a little anxious and listened to the end of the roll call. Finally, Pincoya came on the radio.

Indeed they had been caught in a super squall with 50 knot gusts of wind. Their whisker pole that dropped into the water the day before, broke its internal line collapsing the pole and wrapping the jib. The winds also lifted their staysail off of the deck and unwrapping that too. They had had their hands full. It took them 2 hours to clean up the deck. They are now running their sails a little more conservatively. It only takes a couple of scares like that to double and triple reef when squalls are about.

There was only one small rain squall at 4:00 a.m. this morning. We had run pretty slowly all night with a triple reef and a small jib. Russ was on watch. We changed watches about 2:30 A.M. If I am not too sleepy, I'm trying to let Russ sleep a little longer, and then I sleep a little longer. It's easier for me to sleep a couple hours later in the morning than trying to take a nap in the afternoon. Russ seems to be able to drop off in the afternoon for a power nap.

We tacked northwest all night. I saw one lighted vessel last night on my watch. It wasn't a sailboat, and it didn't have an AIS identification. At first we thought it was one of the other sailing boats with which we left Bora Bora. It seemed to be standing pretty still, so we surmised it was a fishing vessel.

By morning we were about 30 miles above our course line, but it looked like a gybe to the west - southwest would angle us back to our next waypoint. Over the course of the morning, the winds have become a little more constant, and the swells have calmed down a bit. Little by little we have let out more and more jib so we are now running between 6-7 knots. If we can keep up this pace (Ha!) we should get to Suwarrow in two more days. It's been so pleasant, I fixed breakfast burritos this morning and have a hamburger-eggplant stir fry planned for this evening if I can stand still long enough in the galley. Plan B is leftover soup. That's we had last night when the seas were so rough.

We've spent most of the morning listening to Master and Commander. It's been pretty uneventful today. It's about time.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Day 4 to Suwarrow - Half Way There

UTC/Local Time: Sunday, August 22 0100/Saturday, August 21 1500

Latitude: 14 35. 738 S
Longitude: 157 13.908 W

Course Over Ground: 302 T @ 6.5 knots
Wind Direction: East North East 20-30 knots
Sea Swell: 6-9 feet, confused from east, north, north east
Sky: 50% cloud cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014

Update: Half Way There

Yesterday evening, we needed to turn on the engine for awhile to charge out batteries for the night. Our auto pilot was consuming a lot of energy. We had really have not used it much so were not that familiar with the sensitivity settings It was set at 9 out of 10 which means that it was very sensitive to the course degrees we set, so it was working continuously with the strong stern and side swells that were constantly rolling us off the set course. Once Russ turned the sensitivity down to a 3, Ray quieted down, and stopped consuming so much energy, letting us ride a little of course and then gently swinging us back.

We needed to make some water and that also consumes energy, so we ran the engine from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Russ got to bed a little later than we had planned, overlapping my watch which started at 8:00 p.m. I take first watch from 8-1:00 a.m. and Russ 1:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Last night however, I let Russ sleep an extra hour until 2:00 a.m. so he would get at least five hours. I hadn't had a nap all day and was really sleepy, so I turned on my dance music and pranced around trying to stay awake, but also making sure I wasn't kicking anything and breaking toes while I was at it. Russ reciprocated, by being very quiet and allowing me to sleep until 8:30, getting six hours of sleep. I feel so much more refreshed today.

Before we went into dark last night, we set our course and sails for anticipated squalls. There were none so we poked along with sails reefed until mid morning. The seas seemed to calm down a bit, so we each rested peacefully when it was our turn to do so.

Russ had a little repair work to do this morning on the whisker pole that holds our jib out. The pole was rubbing again one of our stays, sawing through the pole (not much, but a warning to do something about it). We also noticed that the topping lift that helps to hold the whisker pole upright had come free. The small line that forms a loop and that goes around the whisker pole and to which the topping lift attaches had worn through and vanished.

When we talked with Gene and Gloria on Pincoya the night before, they too had lost their topping lift off their pole and their pole fell in the water. We weren't sure how they were rigged, but it caused them an hour of angst retrieving their pole from the agitated seas. Russ was pretty sure that our jib would still fly and the and the pole would stay up without the topping lift. At any rate, we would have to wait to do the work and hope everything held together until a lineup of the squalls we expected last night came through this morning.

In between the first two squalls that were somewhat benign and the third which was stronger, we got outside to do the work. Generally, when a squall passes, it sucks the wind out of the air leaving a vacuum and sometimes light swirling winds. These conditions confuse the auto pilot, making it necessary for me to hand steer while Russ took care of the necessary maintenance, by wrapping tape around the pole to prevent sawing and reattached the topping list to the pole.

We unfurled the jib part way and retreated to the pilot house just as the third squall hit. It was much stronger than the first two, but it too wasn't bad in terms of wind although it dropped a little rain. We looked behind us and saw what looked like one more squall. We were so reefed down that in between squalls we were only traveling about 3 knots. We decided to let out the jib completely and keep our triple reef in the main and see what happened. The fourth squall came through with some higher winds, up to 30 knots and we sailed through it just fine.

We expected the vacuum after it passed, and then the wind and seas kicked up again...this time no squall in sight. The wind was shifting all over the place and was variable between a slow 10 knots to 28 knots OK, so this was unexpected, certainly not in the forecast. Once again Ray required close attention. Unlike the hydrovane wind steering system that works with the wind, Ray requires frequent adjustment in shifting winds, particularly as we are running between a beam reach and down-wind run. Shifting winds and swirling seas could easily back wind our sails. We sailed this way for nearly two hours, running almost 7 knots the entire time.

After a couple of strong gusts over thirty knots which coincided with some big rollers dipping our bow low enough to take water over the port toe rails, we decided to pull in some jib. Now we are doing 5.5 - 6.5 knots, still respectable, but a little less of an adrenalin rush. The swells are still quite large. We can tell this when our bow is up in the air and we can see the rollers two feet above the bow. We are taking 90% of the seas on the stern, but a few rollers have slapped the side. We have been very careful to keep the doors shut tight. Russ had left a two inch gap in the starboard door as he ran up to the rear deck to retrieve his book, and of course a wave broke just then on the starboard side sending a couple of buckets into the pilot house soaking the carpets and turning the hardwood floors into slippery mess. At least this time all the ports were shut tight.

Russ had been out earlier to keep our Honda generator working. Honda is lashed on to the back deck. Because the generator has a tip-kill switch, Honda kept knocking itself out with the continuous rolling seas. After 30 attempts at keeping it going he gave it up and will try again later or we'll turn the engine on again.

We are really looking forward to a day when we have about 20 knots of constant wind, mild seas, lots of sun, and no squalls. In the meantime, we're dealing fine with what we have even though it isn't very conducive to relaxation. I keep thinking one of these days it would be nice to pull out my water colors and do a little painting...obviously not this trip. So for now it is audio books. We just started listening to Master and Commander. Seems appropriate enough.

All is well on Worrall Wind.