Pacific Passage: Week 1 Log Excerpts

16.03.2014: Day 1 Leaving Ensenada

31⁰ 46’ N

116⁰  49’W

The final days leading up to our departure, we scurried around trying to get all the last minute stuff done.  The fresh food shopping was a doosie. For two people on an estimated 32 day passage we stocked; 40 potatoes, 40 onions, 30 carrots, 30 oranges, a watermelon and a pineapple, 15 apples, 12 avocados, 10 zucchini, 10 capsicums (peppers), 30 tomatoes, 9 beets, 40 limes, 3 jicama, 3 dozen eggs, 4 heads of lettuce and 4 cabbages. That’s all I can remember at this point.  All of it went into various crevices in the boat. No space was spared. Food was stowed under the floors, under the bunks and even the anchor well.  We also had 130 gallons of drinking water and 150 gallons of diesel. Kailani was sitting right on her waterline…. The raised waterline that is!

We had a tearful farewell with our friends from Ensenada.  Thanks David, Mary, Jack, Carla, Fernando and Andy for seeing us off so nicely.  Surprisingly, we pulled out of the dock without hitting anything! There was a lot of finger pointing going on, “you do it”, “no you do it”, but away we went.

 

We departed Ensenada harbor at 10:30. It took us a bit of time to raise the sails since we encountered a few problems. The chart plotter had the wrong map card in it – oops – and one of the Simrad devices failed. It’s the third death in our Simrad family. Needless to say they’re destined to extinction on Kailani and will be replaced with Raymarine devices if we ever find jobs again.  Once the sails were up we headed out only to find the wind  directly on the nose. It took a few tacks to get around the island that marks the entrance of the bay before we could set our course. Two things had to be achieved; we had to clear Guadalupe Island 180 miles SW on our route, and we needed to make some sea room (westing) off the Baja coast since heavy winds were forecasted the next day.  Wind finally shifted enough for us to make some westing (away from the coast) at about 15:00 – so it took us a long time to get away. We just about turned back for a final Tamale!

We had a bit of a catastrophe on the way out. The boat was moving around a lot and while heading into weather with big swells and short chops, a Tupperware filled with rice decided to launch across the saloon and spill its contents all over the floor. It wasn’t a little container either – there was rice everywhere. So the cleanup commenced with head down and bum up, then the sea sickness began. Damn. So early in the trip too!!

 

17.3.2014 Day 2

31⁰  41’ N

117⁰  38’ W

As predicted, the wind speed steadily increased throughout the afternoon to a steady 22-25 knots. Still hadn’t made enough sea room off the coast to allow us to run with it, so we reached across the front of it for the entire night. Bill held long watches through the mess while Carolyn still seasick from the rice debacle the day before, unable to keep any solids or liquids down. Not good.

We took a lot of water over the decks and one particularly large grey beard slopped into the cockpit saturating Bill activating his man overboard strobe light. Too funny.

We had to use the Autohelm during this weather with a little bit of Genoa as we couldn’t get the staysail to set. Probably our unfamiliarity with the boat. Bill is super happy with the Autohelm’s performance and is so glad he put all that effort in last year installing it. It’s fantastically quiet, smooth and effective.

At this point, neither of us able to keep much food down so all we could eat was our pre-prepared meals of soup, bananas and apples.

18.3.2014 Day 3

30⁰  4’ N
119⁰  39’ W

Winds subsided to 18 knots and we were finally able to make better headway. We found ourselves outside Guadalupe Island with plenty of searoom , sailing  comfortably and fast on our course. We started using the Monitor wind vane (aka The Butler) and it is remarkable. It’s like having your own driver that doesn’t require any power, food or a bunk. And it won’t drink all your beer either!

Weather was still very cold, especially at night.  Wearing  several layers of clothing to keep warm. 

Bill had a great idea to prepare a pot of simple boiled potatoes. Carolyn was able to gobble them up and managed to keep them down. She started to come out of her seasick state!

 

19.3.2014 Day 4 – Becalmed

28⁰  31’ N
120⁰  43’ W

After a sloppy night of banging sails and booms resulting in little sleep, we started the iron spinnaker (engine) using some precious diesel. With no fuel stops anywhere between us and the Marquesas, we wanted to preserve all the diesel we could.

The good part about being becalmed is it allowed us to rest. We were both exhausted from the difficult departure from Endsenada followed by sloppy rolling seas and lots of banging noises. We both started to feel more positive even though little forward progress was being made at this point. We set the staysail only with the Butler even though the wind was less than 5 kn. We made 1-3 knots of speed through the night without any banging! Aaaah, relief. Again - impressed by the Butlers performance holding our course even in very light conditions. Today Carolyn  showed signs of life and awoke craving BACON. Had a big breakfast of leftover potatoes, bacon and capsicums topped with a fried egg. Yum.

20.3.2014 Day 5

26⁰  50’ N
121⁰  35’ W

Nice sailing all day, wind steady at 10-15 knots – just how we like it! Boat speed 5-6 knots with the main and the head sails single reefed. We decided early on to baby the boat in that we didn’t want to risk breaking anything given the length of the voyage, so we sailed quite conservatively. We have a big main and a huge head sail that are difficult to reduce when heavy winds are encountered. We were willing to compromise on speed.

Had our first showers in the cockpit despite the cold.  Felt disgusting, definitely time to “freshen up”. Heated ocean water on the stove and placed it in a bucket. The bather sat on the floor in the cockpit and did their business while the other held up a cockpit cushion as a wind break. A rinse in fresh water from the solar shower finished it off. The task of showering wasn’t pleasant, but being clean was well worth it.

Not using fresh water for anything other than a final rinse was necessary despite the water maker. Tried running it on day 4 without success. It would power on and began to produce potable water, then a fault would trigger, then potable water, then another fault…. Felt like we were back at Endress+Hauser trying to debug hardware! We weren’t running the engine when we tried to run it and figured it may have been due to lack of power. Decided to try again next time the engine was running.

Had pancakes for breakfast, BLAT sandwiches for lunch and hamburger, potato and peas for dinner. It’s so good to have the appetite back!

 

22.3.2014 Day 6

25⁰  17’ N
122⁰  35’ W

Pretty cruisey day with winds at 10-15 knots from the NW and a 4’ swell. Finding  the boat to be extremely loud when underway after the wind dies down. Decided to take down the stay sail and tighten its halyard… and presto… more quiet-o !

After a nice breakfast of porridge with apples, cinnamon & brown sugar for breakfast, began doing little tasks. Carolyn spliced a line into a loop for the storm anchor to attach to the anchor fairlead. Thanks Macho Jim for the Fids and the Marlin Spike Sailor!! Made a homemade fishing gaff using a detachable broom handle we had on board. We drilled a hole in the end and bolted and whipped a large double fishing hook in place with the barbs ground off to the end of the handle. We haven’t attempted to catch any fish yet, but when we finally do we’ll be prepared!

Carolyn's spliced loop

Our new homemade gaff !



We put corks on the ends so we don't hook ourselves while sweeping!
It is a broom handle after all :)

Since we haven't fished yet, canned tuna sandwiches with boiled eggs for lunch and spaghetti bolognaise with a salad for dinner. Not bad eating for passage making, eh?

23 March Day 7

24⁰  18’ N

123⁰  32’ W

Spirits low today. Last night, the wind died to a slight breeze right up the chuff. Change course to get a bit more east to avoid overshooting the Marquesas. Waddled around all night and had terrible sleep. Bobbed along at 1-2 knots slopping and banging all night. Bill ran the engine for an hour having to hold the same course…not the direction we needed to go! The ocean doesn’t always cooperate. Had we stayed on course, would toss around even more. Anyway, today was better, raised the main sail and the genoa, maintaining  about 5 knots of speed all day,  at about 240⁰ true. A bit too much west, still have a long way to go so can correct it later.

Another mistake - we forgot to eat. Both felt quite exhausted and fatigued – and even a bit sea sick – then we realized our stomachs were totally empty. Not good. Won’t let that happen again! Did a quick inspection of our fresh food stores – everything is holding up well.

Tried showering again today, but this time in the shower in the head. Still had to use buckets of warmed ocean water with fresh rinses, but we were out of the wind at least. Unfortunately, it didn’t help to lift our spirits much. We’re both wondering why we chose to do this to ourselves! Why not have nice holidays in hotels? I guess we’re gluttons for punishment. I’m sure we’ll feel better after the weather improves (it’s still cold and cloudy and only 70⁰ F) and finally reach the trade winds.

Oh yeah, Carolyn decided to make cornbread. It’s now a hazard to other vessels transiting our path! The darn thing didn’t rise and was hard as a brick and horrible! What a waste of LPG. Bill tossed it overboard and it went straight down!