May 1

Written by:
5/1/2010 8:34 AM 

Morning April 29th, 2010 Weighed anchor at 13:00 hours yesterday. Eight knots in the anchorage, but found rain and 25 knots outside. Not fun, but it blew out fast and am now looking for wind today. Favorable current helping to push me in the right directions at 1.5 knots, but winds are a steady 6.5 knots and I can’t decide on a sail plan. All normal sail flogs so much as the boat rolls in the swell that I can hardly stand to leave it up at all. Problem is that to set the spinnaker I need to douse the Main sail and the Jib, but the spinnaker really needs 7 – 8 knots to stay full.

In Santa Cruz I found one of my 100 amp 12v deep cycle batteries was totally dead. Can’t buy deep cycle batteries in Galapagos so dropped in a 12v cranking battery in its place. Works for the engine, but the bank is dying. Will have to replace the whole lot in Papeete or maybe I can nurse them along to New Zealand. Will try to equalize today or tomorrow off the alternator regulator. Still having problems with the prop lock. Just a badly designed system. Will also be thinking of a way to eliminate that system or find a suitable replacement in Tahiti/NZ.

Feels good to be moving again. Parted with Coconut. Safe sailing guys. 2830 miles to go.

April 30th, 2010 What a wonderful day to be sailing. I woke again at 7:00 a.m. and found the sun streaming in the cabin through the East facing companionway. Climbing on deck I found all sail pulling hard in 12 knots of wind making 6 – 8 knots over ground in a swell that could be no more than 3 – 5 feet with a gentle 8 second period. This is in stark contrast to yesterday.

It seemed that the only good winds I was to have yesterday were attached at the tail end of several squalls. Nothing severe, but they wore me out anyways as I was trying to keep up my speed in the lulls by flying the cruising spinnaker. I could never keep it up for more than an hour before another squall would show itself on the horizon and I’d have to douse everything all over again. Eventually I gave in and luckily, after one last squall around 8:00 p.m. yesterday I’ve had beautiful sailing in 8 – 15 knots of breeze.

It feels a bit like I am implementing a New Years Resolution today. After coffee I have one or two minor boat projects to knock out. After those I’ll fill the day with a simple workout, a French lesson, ukulele practice, and fill the gaps by reading whatever I have at hand. Currently, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. I think I can get used to this.

May 1st, 2010 Strong black coffee, smoked beef steak, fried potato, green pepper, onion, two eggs. Not a bad start to a 34th birthday. I would have had toast with butter and marmite as well, but my loaf and a half from Galapagos has gone green with mold. Oh well, I can bake a nicer loaf anyway.

I am afraid to hope the rest of this passage will go so smoothly as the first three days. The winds and sea are settled making sailing easy. Starting my third full day at sea I have my sea legs back and can settle into the business of making small repairs, adjustments, and tending to the boat as needed. That along with peaceful sleeping and wide open spaces makes it a restful voyage so far. I’ve not had a single contact with another ship since I left Galapagos.

The batteries are still a problem as running the masthead light alone draws the batteries down to nearly 40% overnight. To use the windvane instead of the autopilot took a bit of work. Jargo has a hydraulic transmission which means I cannot lock it in gear while sailing to keep it from spinning. As the water rushes past the propeller it spins and induces friction and drag that slow the boat, wear out the gears, and creates turbulence where the Sailomat needs laminar flow to provide good steerage. My only solution was to engage the proplock then crawl into the engine compartment and tighten down the brake caliper to the point the prop shaft cannot move at all. In the trades I shouldn’t need to motor for some time. However, when the lock is engaged it disconnects the starter circuit for the engine which I still need to run to charge my failing batteries. So, snip, snip and I’ve rewired the starter circuit. Prop locked, engine can be started, and Jargo steering under wind power alone. Now, where’d I put that book?

I am wishing I had more reading material on board. I am going through a full read every 36 – 48 hours. As I’ve been settling in I haven’t been able to bring myself to start French lessons yet, but I should do so soon. Jeannette, a friend on Isla Isabella gave me gigs worth of WNYC’s Radio Lab which is a fantastic podcast I’d highly recommend for anyone with an inquisitive mind.

For a birthday dinner I am thinking one of the three strip steaks buried in the bottom of my freezer should do nicely. I was going to make it a dry passage, as it has been so far, but I think turning 34 at sea and a steak deserves opening one of the few bottles of wine I have on board. Red wine, not from a box, is a rare treat. 2514 Miles to go.

From the Sat Phone: Maria – Always good to hear and thinking of you often as well. Have had birds circling the boat every evening since I departed Isabela.

Nick Jaffe! Thanks brother. Wx always appreciated. Was trying to recall your route. Did you get much of this coconut milk run sailing in coming down from HI? Remember you having a harder go of it and later in the season too. One question, I can’t get a S2T message out. Everything up on that end?

Ben Perez – Got that blue footed booby pic Ben, but no wifi to get it posted in Galapagos. Thx for the wishes brother and hope to grab a beer with you and the rest of the crew in Funky town soon.

Biker Dude – David, right? Names don’t always come through on the sat phone. Thanks for the B-day wishes. Was tempted to turn around the s/v Coconut and head back to Kemah just so I could grab a beer with everyone back there.

Mom & Dad - Thanks! Glad you got the post card. Mailed from Santa Cruz weeks ago. Wondered how long it would take.