Berkana Trip Log Vancouver to Hawaii

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Saturday, 30 May 2008 - "Are you nuts?"

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I woke up at 5.00am with nervous anticipation, checked my packing list one more time to ensure I had everything. Did not forgot anything. Only because I had packed everything I own into 4 bags!

I got a ride to Coal Harbour with Bill, arriving at 8.00am. Met Steve and Jim at the dock, they were just heading for breakfast, so I dumped my stuff on the boat and Bill and I joined them.

For breakfast we all had greasy eggs & bacon and coffee. Pouring scorn on the rule number one and two of seasickness:

1. Do not eat greasy food
2. Do not take caffeine


We may live to regret this bravado!

We had a good crowd come down to wish us “Bon Voyage”, including Doug, Laura and the dog. Deb’s flight was on time so Deb, Morgan, Cate and Cheryl arrived at 10.30. Gayle we know you were here in spirit.

Friends and family all took the opportunity to look over Brekana, all emerged saying “where are you all going to sleep”. I must admit it did look a bit cramp, as we had not yet stored our belongings. A common comment was “you guys are nuts!”.

By 10.50 we were ready to cast off. Don read “For the Traveler” by John O’Donohue. A fitting way to to bless our voyage.

We cast off at 1100 with Don at the helm. This is definitely a different experience, you find yourself staring at the faces as they fade in the distance, knowing it will be a while before you see them again and wanting to carry that last image with you.

"Farewell and adieu unto you Spanish ladies,

Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain;

For we've received orders for to sail for old Canada,

But we hope very soon we shall see you again."

So with a puff of white smoke from the diesel, the much anticipated voyage begins................

It is a perfect day, the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze as we exited first narrows.

Don shared the card his son had given him (that’s where the squirrel picture came from). The note says what all the others on shore were thinking!

Jim is breaking us in gently, our destination today is Gangies, on Saltspring Island a leisurely 30 miles away. Bob’s friend Rene owns Calvin's Restaurant there, so we will eat ashore tonight. Challenge will be not to break sea sickness rule #3:

3. Avoid alcohol the night before going to sea!

We had no winds, so we had to motor all the way! Don and Bob managed to get a nice nap. An, as per Gayle's pre-trip prediction, Steve did not wear any sun screen and is already well tanned!

Crew all getting along well. There has been no going round the table and asking “why are you here”, each of us knowing that if we had to ask that question we would not be here.

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Sunday, 1st June 2008 - The quiet before the storm!



"For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously."

~George Gissing, Winter, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, 1903

I was able to update the first days blog via WiFi in Ganges, so Cate got a day off. She did however send me an e-mail saying "a satellite phone is not an excuse for bad grammar!" Cate, I have never needed any excuse for bad grammar, it comes to me naturally!

We had a good really dinner at Calvin's last night. Rene's portions were of sufficient size that we should not need to eat again until we get to Hawaii. We did not risk sea sickness rule number 3 (see yesterdays blog) and were tucked up in bed by 10.30 pm. This was the only night during our passage where everyone will sleep at the same time, once we are underway there will always be one or two on watch.

So Don took the aft Cabin, Bob the starboard side bunk, Steve and I on the double on the port side (safely separated by a board!) and Jim on the floor. There was some pretty loud snoring going on all night. Names withheld to protect the innocent, forgive them for they no not what a racket the make while they sleep. Despite the growling we managed to get a pretty good night's sleep.

A quick breakfast and then Jim gave us a bit of an orientation on what we might expect as we head out towards Juan de Fuca and a demonstration on how to set-up the spinnaker pole. We also did some last minute checks, securing down the dingy and the sails on deck. We cast off at 0940.

On the way we enjoyed the ginger cookies that Morgan's had baked. There was little glitch in the cooking process, Morgan mixed up the ingredients and put the cookies in the oven. After they baked for a few minutes she remembered that she had forgotten to put the baking powder in. So the cookies were taken out of the oven and the baking powder mixed in and then they were returned to the oven. As a result of this they were pretty hard, very good but very hard. We now know what hardtack is. But dipped in tea they were perfect, and all that ginger is good for seasickness prevention. Thanks Morgan.

We motored around to Tsehum Harbour, arriving at 1215. Here we filled the fuel and the water tanks. We cast-off one last time, destination Hawaii!

The weather forecast is for pretty strong Westerly winds in Juan de Fuca, I.E. perfectly normal!

I put on a seasickness patch. Apparently the can cause illusions I.E. again, perfectly normal!

Right now as we exit Tsehum it is all quiet, but we are prepared to get knocked about a bit as we work our way out of the straight. So we are getting some rest and hydrating while we can. Bob says he is determined to win round two with Juan, last time they fought it was a knockout for Juan. But like Rocky before him, Bob has trained hard and is back to claim his victory.

We carved out our first watch schedule, we will run with two people on watch at a time until we get into open ocean and all of us become familiar with the boat. So it will be 4 hours on 4 hours off, with a two hour "dog watch" around mid-day. These are to ensure one pair does not get stuck with two night watches every day.

I'm liking Berkana, she is a proud and strong girl. Now that we have our gear stowed, she feels a bit more generous in her proportions.

I have not said too much about our skipper Jim as yet. Those who saw him would have recognized him immediate as an old salt. For those who did not, picture in your minds what a sailor should look like and you will see him. He is an excellent teacher, passionate about sailing and the sea. I'm already learning how much I do not know! His pipe rarely leaves his mouth, reminding me of Popeye. Steve mentioned yesterday that we have eight cans of spinach on board. The only other person I know who eats canned spinach is, yes Popeye. Case closed!

I was an avid Popeye fan as a kid and can vividly remember asking my Mum to get me some canned spinach as I was so impressed by what power it had. Remember Mum? Don't think I ever got any! May explain why my grammar is what it is!

At 1400 we have enough wind to raise the sails, so we hoist the main and the 110% Genoa and we are off. So nice to turn the motor off and listen to the sound of silence. Don and I took the first shift (1400 to 1600). The wind picks up steadily through the afternoon and by 1600 when Steve and Bob take over we have a nice 20 knot wind and are making 6.5 to 7 knots, heading for Juan de Fuca. We all savour the calm before the storm.

As predicted the winds did pick-up to 25, 30, with gusts to 32 knots. It was getting bumpy! We put a reef in the main, took down the Genoa and put up the Yankee, a high cut foresail. This made for a more comfortable sail, almost enough to allow Don and I to get some sleep.

At 2000 Don and I took our first four hour watch and we continued to hammer along under bumpy conditions. Jim cooked up some salmon, rice and some roast peppers. This went down very well, And much more importantly, it stayed down!

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Monday 2nd June 2008

Steve and Bob took over for the mid-night to 0400 shift. During that shift the wind and waves eased a bit and Don and I were able to get some sleep.

We were woken by Bob and Steve at 0350, offering us a hot drink, as is the tradition on the late night watches. That warm drink makes a huge difference.

The weather continued to cooperate and we cruised down Juan de Fuca in nice a nice 15 knot NW breeze and some help from the tide. This allowed us to make 6-8 knots and we only needed about 6 tacks to claw our way up the straight.

By 1000 we were at Neah Bay, a protected anchorage on the US side at the head of the Straight. We enjoyed a fast relatively comfortable passage of the dreaded Juan de Fuca. Nobody puked and we even got some sleep. Our only conclusion is that this was reward for our combined years of clean living! Bob (Rocky) 1; Juan 1!

The forecast is calling for rain and heavy winds from the south, caused by a front passing through. Given that we want to go south, we have decided to stay at Neah Bay until the front passed. We figure there will be lots of time to get cold wet and uncomfortable, so why go chasing it! Following the front the winds are forecast to be from the West, perfect for our run down the coast.

This also allows us to get a bit more sleep and a good feed. We will set off sometime between 9.00pm and midnight.

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Tuesday 3nd June 2008

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast,
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast.
- Allan Cunningham, A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea

Well I thought our blog was finished for Sunday night. At the last update, our plan was to depart Neah Bay between 2100 and 2400 on Monday. When we rechecked the weather we thought we would be better to delay our departure until 0400 Tuesday, this would allow the front to pass and the Westerly winds to build. So we had dinner with a glass of Champagne to celebrate our successful passage of Juan de Fuca and turned in at 2230.

We were just getting to sleep around 2300 when all hell broke loose outside there was a large boat beside us with spotlights bearing down on us. When we looked outside we saw big US coastguard cutter bearing down on us with lights ablaze! They pulled up close enough to holler through the wind and the rain "Has your Emergency Position Indicating Beacon gone off?" Jim said "I do not think so, but let me check!" Jim went below and dug out the EPIRB and sure enough it had gone off. He explained to the coastguard that he had repacked our emergency ditch ship bag and in doing so he must have pulled the protective tape off the EPIRB. Then something must have bumped it and it went off. Sending a distress signal with our ID and position to the rescue. The Coastguard were amazingly polite and simply said "Thank you." They pulled away, they returned a couple of minutes later and asked for the ships registration number and the EPIRB serial number. With that, they took off at high speed. The signal had gone off 5 hours before, the rescue co-ordination centre contacted Jim's wife, fortunately she stayed cool and called Jim on his cell, just after the Coastguard departed. The rescue centre asked us to register the satellite phone number with them, which we did. Jim also taped up the switch.

So we had an unexpected bit of excitement. But it was good to know the system works and that test happened while we were still anchored, so we did not initiate a long search and rescue.

We set off at 0500 today under motor with Steve and Bob on duty, while Don and I enjoyed a nice long sleep. The westerly had not yet built so we motored out in light fog. At 0800 it was time for Don and I to take watch. Shortly after we came on deck the westerly appeared so we set the main and the 110% Genoa and soon were under sail at between 7 and 8 knots, with a
maximum over 9. I was really impressed with how the boat performs, it was effortless to hold a straight course, even in the swells. This was in contrast to the Jeneau that I sailed in the British Virgin Islands earlier this year, which was pushed off course by every wave. So our patience was rewarded. Jim, Bob and Steve went bellow for a sleep.

The next reward came in the form of a large pod of Humpback Whales. We could see waterspouts all around as they came up for air. Then they started breaching. The first whale coming all the way out of the water up to his tail, before landing with a splash! Another seven breaches followed. Pure magic.

To cap it off a whale passed 50 feet in front of our bow and then one came along side us only 20 feet away. This is why we are here, for once in a lifetime moments like this.

The rest of the day was quite uneventful day under clouds and an easy 3 or 4 foot swell. We continued to enjoy 15 to 20 knot west wind for the rest of the day and our average speed under sail was over 7 knots. We set the wind vane self steering and Berkana did her stuff. A great start.

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Wednesday 4th June 2008

The wind was kind to us all night so we continue to make steady progress southward. By 10.00 am the sun came out and the wind dropped, slowing us to 4 knots. Time to break-out the cruising spinnaker. With this set we were immediately back up to 7 1/2 knots.

We are starting to get into a bit of a routine and find our sea legs. The swell has eased off today, allowing me to type this. It is too hard to type with even a 3 or 4 foot swell, especially if it is confused swell and wind waves.

The crew is in good spirits eating well and getting good sleep. We are all looking forward to getting down south to warmer climbs for our first salt water shower. We have decided this will be when the water hits 16.5C, when we left it was 10.5C and today we are up to 11.5. At this rate we should get a shower in a week or so!

At 1200 we looked at our progress over the last 24 hours, we had covered 160 miles. A good start and we all say, "we will be in Hawaii in no time at this speed". But of course as soon as we said this the wind dropped and our speed dropped to a couple of knots. Time to take the spinnaker down. Should be easy but we had a wee problem with the halyard, so Steve had to go to the top of the 50 foot mast to free it. When he came back down we asked him, "how was the view up there?" He replied "I did not look!"

So we bobbed about in the swells for a few hours. A school of Dolphins came by and circled the boat a few times before deciding that our bow wave was not too exciting and moved off. A little later strange music started do do....do do ...do do ...d d d d d and a large f in broke the surface. It turned out to be a large Tuna no a shark, but it was too late Don had already set the dynamite! We have not yet tried any fishing, we plan to run down our fresh supplies. That Tuna looked like he could feed us for a month!

Later in the evening the wind started to pick-up and we were on our way again. We downloaded a weather plot and it showed Southerly winds developing, strong at 35 near the coast and lighter 15 - 20 knots further offshore. This would last for 12 hours before the westerly winds returned. Of course we want to go south so we do not want to be in a strong southerly wind so we used the wind we had to get further offshore. By 8.00 pm the winds were back at 10 -15 knots from the west.

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Thursday, 05 June 2008

No one but Night, with tears on her dark face, watches beside me in this windy place.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay

By 0400 Thursday the winds started to blow from the south as predicted, we had 20 - 25 knots.

The following Video shows sailing up Juan de Fuca and heading offshore.

We kept heading west at 8 knots to reach the west wind that would take us south. By 0800 the west wind came on as promised and started blowing at 20 - 35 knots. We put up the Yankee foresail and a reef in the main. The wind continued to rise and we were seeing gusts of 35 knots, so we put a second reef on the main sail. By this time there were 5 or 6 feet swells. Changing sails in a 30 knot wind, six foot swell and waves breaking over the bow is quite exciting.

Don and I were on watch when we heard a ping, I noticed one of the mast inner stays was sitting on deck. So we eased the main called for Jim and stopped the boat by bring it hoved to. When we went up to see the damage it the deck coupling for one of the two starboard inner stays had broken. Fortunately, Berkana is rigged with a head stay, two inner stays and a extra stay to support the storm jib, so our breakage was not serious. We re-rigged and were back under way within 30 minutes.

It is interesting to be on the night watch. It has been cloudy most evenings, but there is always enough light to keep a look out. You have to do a 360 on the horizon every 15 minutes to make sure there is no commercial traffic bearing down on you. The Automatic Identification System works really well. All commercial vessels are required to carry them. The broadcast the vessel name, size, speed, direction and destination. We pick those up and they are displayed on the chart plotter, just like an air traffic control system.

Up in the cabin you have to stay under the bimini, to avoid the splash from the waves hitting the bow and come right over the boat

The good news is we continue to make good speed of 7 to 8 knots. And we broke our earlier maximum, hitting 11.1 knots!

In these conditions there is a lot of motion in the boat and tackling the simplest of tasks, like putting your boots on, drinking a tea, or typing a blog is challenge! I'm typing this between swells. Occasionally the boat falls off the back a wave with a bone jarring thud. At these times I need one and to hold me down and another to stop the PC from flying away!

Close to shore there were always lots of other boats in sight, fishing boats, container ships and cruise ships. We had to alter course to avoid one container ship and one cruise ship. But as we have got further out it is very quite. We have not seen a single boat in the last 48 hours.

For dinner tonight we had a great beef stew that Jim's wife Barbra made for us. It went down really well. Thanks Barbra!

The wind continued to blow from the west at 20-35 knots , and the swells build to 8 feet. We plough on in good spirits, enjoying a great sail and thinking of you all as we go.

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Friday, 6th June 2008

"There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind." ~Annie Dillard

We continue to enjoy great sailing in the strong westerly winds, covered 180 miles in the last 24 hours. It is great for sailing but not good for much else. We are rocking around a lot on 8-10 foot swell and a fair bit of spray coming over the cockpit. I was sitting in the cockpit when a particularly large wave came over the side, filling my pants with water and washing Bob's coffee mug overboard. If it shows up on Kit's beach can you have it shipped here, Bob was quite attached to that mug! We are harnessed in but our coffee cups are not!

Around 1400 the sun finally came out and the winds eased to 18 knots. Eighteen knots seems very tame after enduring winds of 35 knots for the last little couple of days.

Having the sun out is a good boost for us all, We can now read or relax on the deck. We are at 42N latitude (San Francisco is 39N) so we expect to catch the trades tomorrow and head west.

We have not seen another boat for three days now. This is a big pond!

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Saturday, 7th June 2008

I had thought I would lose weight during this voyage, but we have been eating well. Jim had Donna and Rob of "The Pampered Bosun" provision the boat. The quality of the food has been excellent. We have enjoyed, penne with Italian sausage, poached salmon, chicken in white wine sauce and pork tenderloin. These were served with rice, new potatoes and fresh vegetables. Jim has taken care of cooking the first five nights as it was a bit "bouncy" in the galley. Last night Don and I cooked up steak, mushrooms, mashed potatoes and neeps. Turned out well and judging by the clean plates I think the rest of the crew enjoyed it. From a culinary point of view this feels more like a "Carnival Cruise" than a hard sail, all that is missing is the dancing girls!
Tonight we enjoy a Tot of Rum (again thanks to Donna and Rob for the gift of a bottle of Old Navy Dark Rum) to celebrate the first 500 mile under sail milestone, we should enjoy 4 more of these before we get to Hawaii. It went down so well that the crew is considering doing a few figure of eights to rack up a few more miles and claim an extra tot or two!


We have been downloading weather faxes daily via weatherfax software on Jim's PC and they show a nice 1035 mb high has developed offshore. The winds rotate clockwise round a high pressure system. We want to stay on the edge of this, follow an isobar down the high and get catapulted into the trades. We want to avoid running into the calm at the middle of the high. So we check the barometer every couple of hours and try to stay on a 1028 mb isobar. During the night the barometer rises and the winds start to ease, at 0200, Bob and Steve change tacks, taking us on a SSE course in order to avoid driving into the high.

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Sunday, 8th June 2008

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

At 0800 it is time for another sail change. We change to a starboard tack, drop the foresail, fly the spinnaker and drop the main. We are now running down in a 15 knot wind on a SSW course. We have been making heavy use of the wind vane steering the last week. It is a beautifully simple piece of engineering, keeping us on track without a single transistor or line of code! On our current heading we don't have enough apparent wind for the wind vane to operate, so we must hand steer. The winds are a little bit finicky, so it requires a lot of concentration to keep the spinnaker from collapsing.

Over the last week it has been cool and cloudy with only brief glimpses of sunshine. Last night was the first clear night we had so we enjoyed a sunset that looked like the horizon was on fire, followed by a moonlit sky full of stars. As the sun rose Venus continued to shine bright in the sky. Star gazing is a great way to pass a four hour watch. With no light pollution it is a magnificent sight. We practically had to drag Bob off watch at 0400 this morning, he had seen two shooting stars and was hanging on to make another wish.

When the sun came up we had a glorious morning and were able to shake off the foul weather gear and sit in the cockpit. For breakfast I fried up eggs, potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes. I dug out the plunger to make coffee and it was broken, a casualty of the rough weather a few days ago. I managed to make one pot of coffee with the remnants of the pot and then sadly we had to bury it at sea. This was of course done with full honours. We will be doing coffee "cowboy style" (grinds boiled in a pot) from now on.

The sea has turned an intense blue colour, the likes of which I have never seen. We are happy to simply sit on deck and gaze at the blue rollers as they gently lift out our stern and roll along ahead of us. This is what it is all about.

The water temperature has been increasing steadily, when we left Vancouver it was 10.5C, this morning it is 15C. Just a few more degrees and we will brave a salt water shower. We have not seen sight of another vessel for five days now!

Today, each are in our element, feeling privileged, experiencing the stars, the sun and the vastness of the blue pacific under a bright sun.

Thinking of you all and hoping all is as well on land as it is at sea.

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Monday 9th June 2008

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~Author Unknown

On Sunday night we enjoyed a dinner of seafood chowder and bread. We had hoped to supplement this with some fresh tuna but no luck. We set the line early Sunday afternoon, on Jim's advice setting it about 3o feet out, in the wake of the boat. As yet no Tuna or Mahi mahi, but we did have a couple of Albatross come and take a look. When they would get close we had to pull the line in quickly. Not sure what we would do if we hooked on of these! We have not seen much in the way of wildlife the last few days, there is always an albatross around and a few little brown birds that glide just above the waves.

Don takes advantage of the warm water to wash his hair on deck. When he is finished he leans over and shakes his head vigorously, just like that scene in Flashdance.

We had been running with cruising spinnaker all day and hand steering, taking the helm in 15 minute shifts. It requires a bit of concentration to keep the sail full and if you get distracted by a conversation the sail collapses and the speed drops. It is not practical to keep this up all night so it is time for a sail change. We change to run with two foresails. The 110% Genoa on the port side and the yankee, polled out on the starboard. Under this configuration the wind vane steers well. In fact as we round the high the wind vane follows the wind and brings us on a direct route for Hawaii. We continue to make great progress clocking 150 to 170 miles a day.

Overnight cloud, light rain and fog moved in, reducing visibility somewhat, so the GPS and Automatic, Identification System and Radar were all on. However, there was still no other traffic in sight. That's six days without seeing another boat. When we looked at the weather fax this morning we could see the front that was causing our rain. The good news is that it should pass us quickly and the fax shows the pacific high continues to build, giving us a clear sail to Hawaii (we hope) It also looks like you may be getting some good weather in Vancouver.

We are still on watch in pairs and now that week one is over we it is time to mix up the pairings again. So Don teams with Steve and Bob with me. The rain made the watch feel a bit longer so Bob and I both felt a bit tired at the end of the 4am to 8am watch. But at 8.00am when the watch is over and the sun starts to come up you are wide awake. There is lots of time for an afternoon snooze.

We have the last of the bread for lunch so Jim is making some fresh bread. Hopefully we will have some fresh fish for dinner, but if not we have lots of other goodies to keep us going.

In the afternoon the sun was back and we are all in shorts for the first time. We have a steady 18 knot wind from the North West, veering towards the west as we round the high carrying us directly towards Hawaii.

With the water temperature officially recorded at 17 C, I had a salt water shower on the forward deck. Very refreshing.

Bob and I turned in at 8.00 pm. The winds were about 18 knots and there was a nice following sea with swells in the 6 - 8 foot range. Berkana, under twin head sails, loved this. We were bombing along at 7.5 to 8 knots. We were awoken at 2345 by a lot of commotion; it was clear from the noise that a sail was flying loose. So we pulled on lifejackets and harnesses and headed on deck. The halyard on the yankee had snapped and the was flapping around like crazy. The wind had picked up to 23 knots. Don, at the helm, hoved-to, stopping the boat, Jim and I went forward and pulled down the Yankee and Steve and Bob handled the sheets. Back underway 10 minutes later we had a chance to take stock of the situation. As best as we could tell in the dark, it looked like the shackle on the halyard had given way. So we continued under Genoa alone. This configuration worked fine and we still managed 7 knots.

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Tuesday 10th June 2008

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." ~Rabindranath Tagore


We got an e-mail from Bill today saying , one of the return crew had to pull out due to a family illness. Must be a disappointment.

This means there is an opening for crew on the return trip, so Cheryl I went ahead and signed you up. I think you would enjoy the return trip as it will have more challenging sailing. I managed to get on the web and booked you on AC33, departing Wednesday, July 9th at 9.45pm. I will leave my lifejacket and harness on board. You will need to get some good wet weather gear and lots of Gravol.

The clouds have rolled back in this morning. At the 0800 shift change, Jim decided to try to recover the halyard which was now stuck at the top of the mast. So we hoved-to again. Jim has rigged steps on the mast which makes it "easier". We rigged the Bosun's chair on the spinnaker halyard and Steve took up the slack on a winch. Just as Jim started to climb the winds picked up, gusting to 35 knots, with a 6 foot swell running. The head of the mast was doing some serious rocking! But, Jim scurried up the mast like a teanager, with Steve maintaining tension on the halyard attached to the Bosun's chair. Unfortunately, the line was jammed at the top of the mast so the recovery mission did not succeed. A minor setback as we can use the spinnaker halyard to re-rig the twin headsail configuration. With the fresh winds we decided to just continue to run with just the Genoa. If the wind drops we will rig the spinnaker on the pole.

The Yankee had been rigged on the whisker pole, a heavy 18 foot aluminum pole extended from the mast and held in place with lines secured to the mast and deck. With no sail attached it looks quite exposed, reminding me of the scene from "Fatal Storm" where the stabilizer comes loose and comes crashing through the cabin windows! We re-checked the lines and all is well. No drama expected here as our pole is securely held in place with 4 lines!

We have had no luck with fishing yet so Jim brought out his line, the theory being that a bit of friendly competition might help. So we are now trailing two lines off the stern and are eagerly anticipating some action. A fish today would be perfect as we had the last of the fresh food last night. It will be canned from here on out if we cannot snag a fish.

Despite our minor setbacks our progress continues to be excellent, we are putting in 150+ miles, day after day. If this keeps up we will have a quick crossing.

Don eyes a wave...............

We are starting to get into the bigger and longer Pacific rollers, they are 8 to 10 feet high and traveling about 14 knots. You see a wall of blue water coming at you at eye level and as they crest the sun shines through the top of the wave revealing a beautiful translucent, turquoise blue. It looks like it is going to break right over the stern, but when it gets to the boat it lifts us gently, and rolls under us, continuing its journey to destinations unknown.

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Wednesday 11th June 2008


"Only those in tune with nature seem to pick up on the energy in wind. All sorts of things get swept off in the breeze - ghosts, pieces of soul, voices unsung, thoughts repressed, love uncherished, and a thousand galore of spiritual ether. Wind is an emotional rush because emotions are rushing by." ~Drew Sirtors

Hi Cheryl, hope you were caught out with my jest in yesterdays blog! It was partly true, in that one of the return crew does not think he will be able to make it.

This evening is another milestone we have covered 1000 miles so we get our tot of rum as a reward. Then a dinner of Malaysian Chicken with coconut rice (again courtesy of Barbra). Yum! With the "work" out of the way we relax under a clearing sky.

The winds continue to be very favourable ranging from 20 to 35 knots and coming out of the North East. Occasionally they blow a bit harder with gusts up to 43 knots. The swells continue to build and are now a steady 8 - 10 feet. Most are well behaved, but occasionally you get one with a bit of a side swell on top and it spills over the edge of the boat into the cockpit.

We are flying the Genoa with the wind and waves coming for our stern. This drives us along at an average speed of 7.5 knots, and we hit a new maximum of 10.7 knots. The only challenge is that on the run the boat swings about a lot. Fortunately we all have our see legs so we are comfortable in the swells above or below decks. I have had taken to duct taping my pc to the
chart table to keep it in place! Don just paid me an impromptu visit, he was walking by as the boat lurched, he comes tumbling across and sits on my knee as I typed! Hi Don.

With the favourable conditions we have changed to requiring only one person on watch at a time. Tuesday's night watch was very pleasant with a clear sky filled with stars.

We have not seen any other boats. Nothing after 7 days! Hard to believe, but as I have said before this is a big pond! Bob and Jim saw another unidentified fin swim by last night. We are finding little squid on deck. We assume they must be leaping to avoid predators. So we get excited when anything drifts by. So far there have been half a dozen large fishing floats, two plastic bottles and a piece of cardboard. Not bad for 1000 miles!

I was on the last watch of the night so at 8.00 am I set out the fishing line. It was only out for a couple of minutes before a tuna hit. I started to pull it in but it got off. This was a big disappointment as we had been dragging two lines days and not getting anything. So I let the line out again and as soon as it hit the water another Tuna hit. This time it stayed on the line, Steve came on deck, gaff in hand, and Bob followed with video camera. Steve swung the fish aboard with great gusto, spilling fish blood everywhere. It looked to be about 10 pounds. It was quickly dispatched. Steve, with the hands of a surgeon, and anesthetise Don, quickly turned out five tuna steaks for dinner and a sashimi sampler for breakfast. The catch was perfectly timed as we are getting to the end of Barbra's exquisitely prepared meals.

With the "work" completed again, there was nothing left to do but relax, under the sun.

The water temperature is now 17.6 C. I managed another shower and a shave even. Very nice! I reassure the rest of the crew that the water is warm, but they are sceptical. Eventually Jim braves the salt water and returns with a quite different view on the definition of "warm". Nobody else has ventured to the foredeck.

Don and Steve took to the galley to prepare dinner. We were still in fresh winds and quite a large swell running. Preparing dinner requires you to be both chef and goal tender. They were preparing coleslaw slicing cabbage when the bowl of cabbage shot off the table to the right corner of the goal. Steve stretched out his glove, but the cabbage was too quick for him and there was shredded cabbage in the back of the net. The coach called for a goalie change and Don took up position. As soon as the whistle had gone the swell made another assault, catching the defence off guard. With a low wrist shot the cup of dressing slid off the table and splattered on the floor of the net. After a brief time-out the home team regrouped and managed a brilliant comeback. Playing a flawless third period and delivering seared Tuna, vegetables and a side of coleslaw to a standing ovation from the crowd!

We turned in as usual about 9.00pm. Don was on watch and the rest of us below in the bunks.

We leave the forward hatch open a little bit to keep some fresh air flowing. It is under the dingy, which is strapped upside down on deck. During the night a particularly large wave hit us and came over the boat. Those below were "treated" to a cold water shower! Only a little came in but it was still a rude awakening.

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Thursday, 12 June 2008

"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage." Ralph Waldo Emerson


I love this quote, fitting for me as I look to carve a path in a new direction. Don has received a series of envelopes from Diane, he is to open one each week of the journey. They contain a personal note with a poem or a quote. Don is kind enough to share the poems and quotes with the rest of the crew. So I was both surprised and pleased to hear Don belt out this same quote from the deck.

When the sun came up this morning the air had a different feel, a bit tropical. This is a goodthing. Our progress continues to be spectacular, with 173 miles knocked off yesterday.

The winds have eased a bit now blowing at 20 - 25 knots and the swells have reduced a bit too, running 6 to 8 feet now. A 20 knot wind and a six foot swell feel like nothing. We got a new weather fax download today and the forecast looks great. If this holds we will continue to enjoy similar conditions all the way to Hawaii.

We are now about 1000 miles from Hawaii. Jim arranged a lottery on our arrival time at Hilo. We each put $10 in the pot and the winner would be the one closest to our actual arrival time. The entries were as follows.

Jim - Friday, June 20th at 1400
Bob - Thursday, June 19th at 1200
Don - Thursday, June 19th at 1200
Steve - Friday, June 20th at 1030
Andrew - Thursday, June 19th at 0845

May the best man win!


No fish yet today and still not another ship in sight! The water temperature is up to 19C.

The crew are all thriving and getting along great. Jim is an excellent skipper, we all have great confidence in him. Berkana is as solid as a rock, she seems to love the strong winds and high swell and is very forgiving of our mistakes. Our new best friend is the wind vane. Silently doing its work without the need for praise, rest or rum. We have been following our way round the high on a 1026.5 mb isobar. So the wind vane needs little adjustment, seemingly as intent on hitting Hilo as we are.








With 1000 miles to go, we start our countdown to Hilo!


"Diane - things going very well - as I sais to the crew yesterday, I have developed a complete confidence in the strength and seaworthiness of Berkana, and in the experience and seamenship of skipper Jim, and in the compatability and helpfulness of the rest of the crew - we all work verty well together. You would enjoy the very darek blue of the deep ocean. Love you and miss you, and really enbjoying your cards and notes. -Don"

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Friday, 13th June 2008

"The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides." Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

We had our last pre-cooked meal last night, a delicious lamb stew with couscous. It was another big hit. Squalls moved in overnight, fortunately it is quite warm now so the showers are quite refreshing and as each squall comes through it brings a nice wind. Our winds have held up around 20 knots, gusting to 30 with the squalls. We have been running with Genoa only for the past few days and getting an average boat speed of 7 knots. The only issue with this sail configuration is that it is that the boat tends to roll a bit.


Our great circle course is pretty much dead down wind. In order to keep the sales full we are running 10 degrees off dead down wind. We have to jibe on a daily basis to stay on our great circle course.The winds eased this morning so we jibed and started to put up the Yankee on the whisker pole. Half way through the call went out fish on!The sail change was put on hold. Jim grabbed the line and started to hauling the fish in. This one was a bit bigger so Jim called for gloves to haul in the hand line. He got it into the boat and tried to gaff it but missed. He went to try again, but the gaff was gone. Overboard? With the gaff gone Jim had to haul the fish up into the boat by the line. As he swung it in he felt a jab in his ass. We found the gaff! We had landed a 20 lb yellow fin tuna.


We left the tuna in the cockpit and finished setting the Genoa and Yankee. This gave us an extra half knot of boat speed and stabilised the rolling.I held it down and Don filleted the fish into four huge fillets. We decided to put the rest of the tuna out the back of the boat to try and attract some sharks, Bob stood by with the camera to get our National Geographic recording. No sharks showed up. Maybe not such a bad thing.


I had a dig around the galley and dug up some flour, black pepper, fennel seeds and dill. Perfect ingredients for bite sized seared tuna. Drizzled with a bit of soya and lemon juice they were superb and were requested as an encore for dinner.


Water is now over 20 C, warm enough for me to have a bucket shower on the deck without the use of the solar water heater. Very refreshing! We are using Dawn dishwashing detergent as it lathers in salt water. It is what they use to clean oil of seabirds after an oil spill.

Steve has been quite diligent, taking a sextant reading most days and managing to place us a few miles from our GPS fix. The rest of us plan to have a practice tomorrow.


Don and I have been enjoying a bit of singing, nice having a captive audience. So far nobody has thrown me overboard!

Hey, Don what happened to the audience?


Bob is enjoying his Ipod, I downloaded an audiobook on the Voyages of Magellen. After listening Bob concluded we have not got it so bad here on Brekana. KT, I'm not sure you will ever get your Ipod back.! Thanks for your messages. They are appreciated so please keep them coming.

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Saturday, 14 June 2008

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild..." Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is the perfect quote for today as we got to do all three! So good to tingle all the senses and feel so alive. There is nothing else to do but smile and think fondly of you all.

We continue to eat well! For dinner I rustled up seared tuna, coated with pepper fresh garlic and fresh ginger, deglazing the pan with some white wine to make a sauce. Our fresh vegetables stock is getting depleted, but we managed to dig up some onions, garlic, pepper and potatoes, which were pan roasted. Bob said "This is the best tuna I have ever had". I don't know about that but it was certainly the freshest and probably the biggest portions you will ever have!

The wind dropped to around 12 knots overnight and the boat slowed to 5 knots under the twin headsail. We are continuing our single handed 2 hour watches. There is something magical about being alone on deck under the stars. The watch changes are quite interesting because we have to rotating bunks (3 bunks and 4 people). The bunk you get up from is not the one you return to!

So you stumble of watch, boat rocking back and forth. Feel around in the dark for an empty bunk, try to locate your own sleeping bag and pillow, but after a while just being content to find any sleeping bag and pillow. Carefully extricate yourself from your wet weather gear (it is still quite cool at night), being careful not to fall on someone. And finally crash.

I was on the 0400 to 0600 watch, Jim pops his head up around 0500, just as a ship appears on the horizon. This is the first ship we have seen in eight days! Jim turns on the plotter and AIS and it shows the vessel to be the RJ Pfeffer, bound for Japan is about 10 miles astern and is heading our way! Jim calls her on the VHF, they confirm they have a visual sighting of us but cannot see us on radar. These navigation lights work! She alters course slightly and passes within a mile of our stern. Then later around 0800 another ship appears on the horizon, this one is the Asian Sun, a car transporter bound for Korea to pick up another load of Hyundai cars. She too passed a mile behind us. We guess we have crossed the traffic lane from the Panama Canal to Asia. It is quite strange to not see anything for 8 days and then to have two pass within a mile of you in a 4 hour period.

We do a sail change to try and claw back a bit of boat speed (encouraged by those, like myself, who have an early arrival time in the pool). We set the spinnaker on the whisker pole and that gets us back over 6 knots. The wind vane cannot handle the steering on a downwind run in light air, so we hand steer in 15 minute shifts. The shifts are short as you need a deal of concentration to prevent the wind from collapsing in the swell and variable winds. So far so good!

Over dinner last night Don mentioned that a Swedish friend of his dad's had showed him how to make "Swedish hotcakes". These are regular pancake batter, but you crack an egg in the middle of the pancake as it cooks, ending up with an egg surrounded by pancake batter. Everyone put their order in on the spot! Don rose to the challenge and delivered perfectly formed pancakes with "eggs a centre". Bravo Don! But he did not stop there he then went on to create desert pancakes with peanut butter, yogurt and maplesyrup. Did I mention that we were eating well on this trip?

To continue "this domestication of the male species", Steve is following Barbara's bread recipe, kneading the dough in the galley. Making corny jokes like, "they said I could make a lot of dough on this trip" and "I'm so kneady". I took advantage of the hot oven and baked a lemon cake with some canned fruit in it.

At 1645 the wind dropped and we were becalmed for the first time. We took down the spinnaker and sat there drifting mid-Pacific. Time for a dip! A fender was tied to a line and it was trailed behind the boat.

With a flash of pure white that can only be achieved by spending a winter in Ontario, Steve was first into the water, followed Don and I.




This is Steve red side up!


The water was a perfect 22C and is a deep dark milky blue. After a splash around and a quick wash we clamber back onto Berkana, refreshed. Bob and Jim take to the water with a splash, frolicking like otters with grey whiskers wetted. We were all glad to have the opportunity to swim in the world's biggest and deepest swimming pool.


Shortly after Bob and Jim were back on board our 15 knot wind came back, like it had never stopped. We can only conclude that some higher power had determined that it was bath time. Come to think of it you would not have needed any special power to figure that one out! We hoisted the twin headsails again and were soon cruising along at 6.5 knots.

Today was another big day, we have completed another 500 miles so Jim cracked another bottle of Rum and gave us our reward. Dinner was curried tuna, vegetables and couscous. We still have enough tuna for one more meal.

We knocked off another 150 miles today, only 700 miles to Hilo.

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Sunday, 15th June 2008

"Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance;they make the latitudes and longitudes." Henry David Thoreau


Another poignant quote. We are thinking of you all. You can see how a text message, e-mail or thought sparks an emotion deep within each of us. Know you are loved.

We had a peaceful night with 15 knot winds and light swells. The air now has a warm tropical feel to it, even at night.

Don and Steve prepared fritatta for breakfast with Steve's freshly baked bread and cowboy coffee. Don went forward and came back with a nice six inch long flying fish that had leaped on deck. We have not seen many flying fish, just one other that Steve had seen and this unlucky fellow. We tookfull advantage of his misfortune and enjoyed a fish fry for mid-morning snack.

Jim is giving knot tying lessons today in the open air classroom while the engine hums charging the batteries. Berkana has two solar panels, but we usually run the engine for about an hour a day to keep the batteries toped up. The main drain on the batteries is the fridge/freezer. You really appreciate the silence when the charge cycle is over and the engine is turned off.

By now the boat is well shaken down, we have had no more breakages. It turns out the halyard we lost was due to a line chafing through. We have had to keep adjusting the lines to minimize further chafe.

Sitting at the chart table typing the blog is a great way to observe the goings on. Right now Jim is trying to locate something in the freezer that is smelling (think we can only discern this now, being clean ourselves). Bob was summoned from deck (apparently he has a keen sense of smell) and I'm now looking at Jim and Bob with both of their heads stuck down into the chest fridge!

We are continuing to knock off the miles with remarkable consistency. We are now 640 miles from Hilo, if we can keep up this pace we will be there in 4 days. We are all looking forward to getting there, but know too that we will be disappointed to end the Pacific crossing.

Sorry. Our only excuse is Jim has done this all before. Don, Steve, Bob and I assure you that on our next ocean crossing we too will arrange to have flowers delivered mid way through the voyage. "Your next what!!?" I hear you say.

The happy wanderers.

___________________

Monday, 16th June 2008

"Solitude is impractical and yet society is fatal." Ralph Waldo Emerson


I think Ralph may have got this one a little wrong, evidently he never spent any time on Berkana!

For Sunday night dinner we ordered in Pizza. I knew this satellite phone would be useful! No unfortunately Pizza Hut does not do 600 mile offshore deliveries. So I volunteered to rustle up some pizzas with whatever I could find. I made a big batch of Dough and found some ham, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, tomato sauce and red pepper flakes. Jim spent about an hour trying
to locate some a can of olives that "I know are on board somewhere" but they could not be found. After a day of hand steering the crew were hungry, so made short work of seven pizzas! For desert we had a huge bowl of canned fruit with cream!

The winds had dropped to 12 knots and the swell was still running from the higher winds of the few days before so our progress slowed to 4 or 5 knots. We run under Genoa as the swells and light winds will not hold the spinnaker.

Wake to a glorious and warm morning, air is the warmest yet and the water temp is now 24C. The wind is up a bit and the swell is down. At 0630 we raise the cruising spinnaker and main. The wind is coming round toward the south east, allowing us to go on a broad reach. We are back up at 7 or 8 knots again, giving us a chance to recover the lost ground from yesterday's lights winds. In the lighter winds we only managed 120 miles, our shortest run so far.

We enjoyed a lazy day in the sun between 15 minute shifts at the helm. We have to hand steer as the wind vane could not hold a course on a run in the swell.

The days pass amazingly quickly. You find yourself quite content to simply look out on the ocean. I was expecting that I would spend time meditating or thinking through life's questions, but no, during the day the ocean is relaxing and the sky at night mesmarizes you to the point where there is nothing to think on. You have no problems, "no must get dones" and no worries. You are just here, a part of the big blue. Some might think this "boring", but it not at all. It is a relaxed peaceful high.

Sometimes Jim and Don pretend to read, but I have noticed that they have been on the same page since we left. As soon as they start to read they drift off to sleep. Makes me think there may be a market for a one page novel for sailors. You open it up at page 176 every time, start to read, as you get to the bottom of the page the letters fade away...

We take the cruising spinnaker down at 1830 and set the genoa. On a reach under main and genoa the wind vane can handle the steering. The compromise is that our speed drops by a knot, a fair compromise in order not to have to steer through the night.

Given that we are now 500 miles from Hawaii, Jim treated us to our last shot of rum. Jim bakes tuna with spinach, feta cheese, onions, herbs and garlic. Delicious! And we are finally finished that tuna!

There are a few more flying fish around and also some other fish leaping out of the water. None have had the courtesy to plonk themselves on the deck.

It was a moonlit night and the moonlight was reflecting off the water. Don introduced us to a new word coruscations - the flickering of light of the water.

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Tuesday, 17th June 2008

Wake to yet another glorious morning. It is getting quite hot now. By 0800 the sun is up and hot and we seek some shade. We are all being good with hats and sunscreen, so nobody has got a sun burn.

We are still getting lighter winds, in the 9 to 12 knot range. The cruising spinnaker is raised again. Out technique improves with each raising and lowering, by the time we get to Hawaii we will be a well oiled machine. Under the Genniker and full main we manage 5 or 6 knots. With several days of light winds the swells are right down, not quite a big lake, but getting
close.

With the last of the tuna consumed last night we set the line again. We are all hoping for something other than Tuna. Within a few minutes we have a fish. As Don hauled it in we saw that our change of menu request had been answered. Today, we will be having Mahi mahi for dinner!

The water is now 24.5 C, making the deck bucket shower a pleasure a real change from the first one. The water temperature was 10.5 C off the coast of Vancouver.

We are again alone on the ocean, having not seen any traffic since we saw the two ships a few days ago.

The crew are all healthy and in great spirits. We are 379 miles from Hilo a distance small enough that you make notable progress with each shift change. We are hoping to make Hilo sometime on Friday. Apparently the customs station is not open during the week-end and so to clear customs you have to pay them extra to call them out. But of course we are at the mercy of the winds. So far they have been kind to us, let's hope it continues. And of course, just as I say that we get a rain shower and the wind dies completely.

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Wednesday, 18 June 2008

"There is a ship that sails the sea.
She's loaded deep, as deep can be.
But not as deep as the love I'm in
I know not how I sink, I swim"

The water is wide - derived from 15th century Scottish ballad, Anon

I knew I tempted fate by saying we would arrive Hilo on Friday. The wind dropped on Tuesday afternoon so we dropped the cruising spinnaker. About an hour later it started to come back again so we hauled out the spinnaker again. It collapsed in a heap. We pulled it down again, this time waiting for more substantial proof that it had actually come back. We were doing about 1.5 knots under main. At this speed we would arrive in Hilo a week on Friday! After such a great run and being within 350 miles of our goal, this was a daunting thought. In reality, on a stress scale of 1 to 10 this was a 0.001, but being human we just need a little worry in our life. But the worry was over and our trades returned, we waited again to confirm that this was not just another tease, satisfied we hauled out the spinnaker and were on our way again.

We were out of fresh fish so a couple of lines were put out. Intuitively you would thing that dragging the line 100 feet or more behind the boat would be optimum, but it turns out that trolling in the wake of the boat works best. Within an hour we had a Mahi mahi on each line, each about 12 pounds. Our cleaning skills have greatly improved, our first catch left the cockpit looking like a battle scene from Braveheart! Our latest catch was dispatched with precision, leaving the deck clean and sparkling.

We see a few flying fish, and a lone white bird with a long tail comes by periodically to check-up on us.

Dinner continues to be the highlight of our simple life at sea. It is our opportunity to sit around the cockpit together and discuss nothing in particular. Don filleted one of our fish, we made a spicy tomato sauce and served with rice and carrots. Another success! We have been amazed that we have been able to have fresh food all the way across. I'm been promoted to galley slave, but I'm enjoying cooking for such an appreciative clientele. Just like being at home! We have sufficient potato, carrots and of course fish for what should be our last meal on the open ocean. As is our tradition, desert was peaches and cream, straight from tree and cow we keep in the fridge. It goes down real well at the end of the day. Simple pleasures!

The winds held up overnight. We reduce sail every night, flying main and genoa. The wind vane can handle this configuration so on watch you can relax and enjoy the stars. Tonight was a full moon, bright, it was like daytime.

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Thursday, June 19th 2008

"The true peace of God begins at any spot a 1000 miles from the nearest land" Joseph Conrad.

You wake early each day with a sense of well being. Only breakfast and the wind are on your mind. Corn beef hash, eggs, cowboy coffee and 18 knots from ESE. This will be a good day.

We take the warm sunny days for granted, with a pinch of guilt. Our weather fax shows Vancouver with a series of nasty lows blowing through. I guess summer has not yet arrived for you. Sorry!

We are now 110 miles from Hilo and moving along at 5.8 knots. We have not put up the spinnaker this morning. We want to time our arrival at Halo for first light on Friday. So there is no rush. If this wind keeps up (please) we will have to stand off Halo and wait for dawn.

We start our grooming today. Shower, shave and fresh clothes, knowing the welcoming canoes could appear on the horizon any minute. At least in our "Mutiny on the Bounty" like dreams!

Over breakfast this morning we were discussing things nautical. Started out with when we should expect to see Hawaii. Puu Weiku, the volcano on the big Island of Hawaii, is 13,796 feet high. To calculate how far away you can see an object over the horizon in miles you can use the approximation 1.15 X (square root of your height above sea level + square root of the height of the object above sea level). So we should start to see Puu Weiku's top at a distance of 135 miles. IE Now! We scan the horizon but no sign. Either we took a wrong turn at LA or the formula does not take the clouds into account. Depending on the cloud cover we may not see the island until we are almost atop it.

From there the conversation drifted to the topic of port and starboard and how the definition evolved and was standardized. Starboard originated from the word "steerboard", back in the days when boats had a steering oar hung over the right side of the boat. In the early days the left side was the "larboard", named for the loading side. When wheel steering was introduced these terms became confusing so "port" and "starboard" became standard. We kept pulling on this thread and ended up discussing the Titanic. Then out of the blue, Don casually mentions his mother and grandmother were Titanic survivors! His mother was 13. They were on route from Aberdeen, Scotland (where I went to school) to New York. Don says the most common question asked when he tells this is "Did they survive?"!! Then, "oops!" So we add a little bit of cool history to our already rich experience.

Winds permitting tonight will be our last night on the open ocean. We drift along with AndreaBocelli blasting out for anyone who might be out there to hear.

We are 102 miles from Hilo, sweet dreams of you.....

Nancy, Gayle, Barbra, Diane & Cheryl we will hopefully call you Friday from a land line!

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Thursday, June 19th 2008

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
--Mark Twain

We made it! I feel a great sense of achievement, as I’m sure my crewmates do too. For me, this comes not from the crossing, which was a relatively easy sail, but from the act of following a dream. To celebrate, I decided to end the ocean crossing with the quote I opened with, by way of encouragement to you all to also follow you dreams. Through this will you be energized, live and love to your full potential.

With 80 miles to go we are on the home straight, we drop the main and Run under Genoa alone, allowing us to run downwind on a direct course to Hilo. We have 14 hours to make 80 miles, so we are content with 5 knots.

For dinner we have, you guessed it. Fish! Nobody complains. This is served with an overly generous serving of carrots, potato and cabbage. Generous, as we will have to ditch our left over fresh produce before entering Hawaii. Jim manages to dig out a Mickey of Rum for an aperitif, then canned fruit and Christmas cake for desert. We will miss this luxury!

We start to hear VHF traffic again, the first time in a long time. The Honolulu Coast Guard is putting out a “Pan Pan” about a plane that has gone missing, and another about a red flare that was reported close to our current location.

At 2330, Steve is on watch and a Coast Guard plane circles overhead, and calls us on the vhf “Vessel at position 19^o 49N 154^o 22’W are you in distress?”. Steve calls back “Negative, the sailing vessel at 19^o 49N 154^o 22’W is not in distress.” They call back “Have you seen any flares go up or any other Vessels?” Steve replies “No, we have had a watch all night and have not seen any other vessels or flares.” They reply “Thank you for your help” and fly on. Interesting to be greeted by the Coastguard at our departure and arrival! We have only seen two other ships in 16 days, and they were within a few hours of each other.

At 0330 the lights of Hilo start to show as a glow on the horizon. The rest of the night watch is uneventful under light winds. At 6.00am we are 20 miles from Hilo and the wind drops completely. We fire up the diesel and douse the sail, doing 6 knots under the iron sail. Along the way we affix the anchor, set up the dingy and dispose of our produce.

We pull into Hilo harbour at 0815. Journeys end.


A few stats on the ocean crossing from Neah Bay, Washington State, to Hilo, Hawaii:

- duration 17 days
- Miles logged under sail: 2640
- Average: 157 miles/day (a pretty impressive performance by any standard!)
- Number of 2 hour watches covered: 204!
- Sails used: Main 110% Genoa, Yankee, Cruising Spinnaker, Spinnaker
- Highest winds: 43 knots
- Maximum Speed 11.1 knots (Like Charlie, Brekana don't surf!)
- Biggest Swells: 10-12 feet
- Becalmed: Twice for less than a couple of hours
- Rain: negligible
- Water temp: Rose from 10.5C to 26.5C.
- Ships seen in open Ocean: Two!
- Coast Guard encounters: Two!
- Stars: Infinite
- Breakages: One chainplate and one jib halyard line
- Wildlife: Whales, Dolphins, Tuna, Flying Fish, Mahai mahai, Squid, other unidentified jumping fish, Albatross, small unidentified black birds, unidentified white birds.
- Fish Caught: One Mackerel Tuna, One Blue Fin Tuna and Three Mahai mahai.
- Fresh food: lasted us to the end. A few potato, onions and eggs left.
- Canned Goods: Only canned fruit and a can of spinach consumed. Enough cans left over for another 2 months!
- Liquid motivation: Three bottles of Rum.
- Water: used less than our 140 gallon capacity.
- Crew disagreements or irritations: Zero.
- Dressing down; Lashings, keel hauling, ears removed. All Zero.
- Overall experience: Profound.



There are not a huge number of marinas in Hawaii. The geography is such that the volcanic islands drop quickly to the deep. Hilo is one of the few in the big island. It is a commercial port with a small area for recreational boats. Not the most inspiring place to make landfall, but it has a surface that does not continually move back and forth, customs clearance and a shower. The town of Halo is a short distance away. It is small, but I’m sure it can satisfy the cravings for some fresh fruit, cool drinks and ice cream!


We med tie (drop the anchor in the bay and reverse the boat to tie the stern to the quay. There are only a few other boats here and the two with people on them are both from B.C. One is a family on their way back to the B.C. Sunshine Coast after a two year adventure in the South Pacific. The other is a group of guys who just got here from Powel River, Via San Francisco. It took them 25 days to make it here from San Francisco, as opposed to our 17 from Vancouver. We must have done something right!


We all call home with the news. We arrived! It was a great treat to hear those familiar voices, and here their enthusiasm for our finish.

Jim clears us through customs without any drama and we start the ritual of showers and laundry. It is hot and steamy here and I already miss the cooling ocean breeze.

We plan to spend a couple of days here to get things organized and take care of a few minor repairs.

From here we will make our way slowly to Honolulu on Oahu. I will keep you posted on our progress around Hawaii.


Thanks to all for your support and interest. Comments, questions and suggestions welcome!

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Saturday, June 21st 2008


I got to a wifi connection and noticed that blog updates for 13, 14th and 15th did not get posted, you may want to go back and read them as these were some of our best days.

Hilo really is a working port! We are surrounded by shipping containers. Fortunately, it is the week-end so the It costs only $10 per night to stay here and while the surroundings are industrial the showers are great and the locals are friendly.

First order of business is a shower, then a few repairs. Steve climbs the mast to feed a weighted line down the mast so we can thread a replacement halyard down the mast.

That's him way up there....



We haul my camera up the mast. Here is his view from 50'!

Bob hires a car and we use this to get some fresh provisions. This includes a large stove top coffee percolator, no more cowboy coffee for us.

Steve takes an evening tour of the Volcano, and “saw the lava flows and all that”, toured the back roads of Hawaii and sampled mango picked from the trees at the side of the road.

The rest of us go back into town for another cheese burger dinner. It is Saturday night but the town is pretty sleepy, guess it will wake up when the cruise ship arrive on Tuesday.

We meet the other residents of the marina. The family from the sunshine coast is getting ready to head home. There are three kids and two cats on the boat. Their gear box has packed in so they are waiting for a wind to take them out of the harbour. Not sure I would want to cross the pacific without power!

The other fellow near us has no rudder. It fell off 300 miles from Hilo. He managed to steer the boat into Hilo, by dragging buckets. He has been here for a while and is waiting for an inheritance to come through in November to pay for repairs!

Sunday, 22rd June 2008

Bob, Steve, Jim and Don go for a tour of the black sand beach where turtles come in. I take the opportunity to catch-up on my e-mail. They do not see any turtles but come back with some beautiful lychee.

We cast off at 1500 destination Lahina Maui. The winds are light come out of the harbour so we motor for the first while, passing the engine less family who had left a few hours before us. They are off to a very slow start. Once we are clear of the bay the wind picks up and we are sailing comfortably along under main and genoa. It is a pleasant warm evening and the water is 26.5C.

Monday, 23th June 2008

Our overnight passage was uneventful, good winds and no traffic. We approach Molokini an old volcano crater. The edge forms a crescent and the centre is a protected corral pool, making it a very popular snorkelling location. It was 0800 and we were looking forward to getting there before the tourist boats arrived and having the place to ourselves. So much for that theory! We arrive to find it packed with big tour boats! You can’t anchor here, you have to tie up to one of the mooring buoys. The only catch is the mooring buoys are 10 feet underwater! You have to dive down and retrieve the line! Of course you can only do that if you know where they are. Jim motors along and we all jump overboard to try to find an underwater Buoy. After about 30 minutes we locate one, by which time we have had our swim so we climb back on board and head for Lahina.

The 15 mile sail to Lahina is a slow upwind sail in calm seas. We arrive at Lahina and tie up to a mooring Buoy in outer harbour about half a mile from shore. We launch the Dingy and attach the outboard. The Dingy will only hold three, so Bob ferries Jim and Don to shore. A little while later we see Bob rowing back. The motor had failed! Steve and I climb in and we give the motor another try, it fires. Phew!

We make our way to the Lahina Yacht Club, they have a great spot overlooking the bay, with a bar and restaurant, it is quiet, but the welcome is warm. We have a nice early dinner and on the way back have an ice cream under a big banyan tree.

Tuesday, 24th June 2008

I start the day with a swim from the boat, water temp over 26 C! I treat myself to a bucket of fresh water to rinse off. Then we head back into town for some breakfast and a shower at the yacht club. We spend a lazy day looking around Lahina. It is a full on tourist town, full of shops and restaurants. After an hour I conclude I do not want to be a tourist again!We have an early dinner and head back to the boat and get ready for our overnight run to Honolulu. We sail off our mooring buoy at 1900.

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Wednesday 25th June 2008

We enjoy a very fast passage with good winds that hold up through the night allowing us to keep a steady 7.5 - 8 knots. The run was so good that I took the helm for the first 1 1/2 hours. We were under main and genoa on a broad reach with the wind and waves from astern. It was a great way to end with the occasional surf down the face of the wind alowing us to hit a maximum 10.6 knots. Steve came up from below and said "we need to go down 20 to 30 degrees to clear Diamond Head" I oblidged taking her down a bit, but a wave and a gust said "a bit to far" as clang, the main gybed and then clang as it came back. It was not too violent, but embarasing just the same! So I steered a more conservative course and the wind veared as we aproached the headland allowing us to clear it easily without changing tack.

We pass Diamond Head as the sun comes up at 0600. By 0800 we are tied up at the Hawaii Yacht Club, in the heart of Honolulu. This is a great spot with good facilities and welcoming members.

Thursday, 26th June 2008

Jim heads out early, chain plate in hand. He has a map on how to get to a sheet metal shop an an idea that it takes a bus number 19 or 20 to get there. A man on a mission.

The rest of the crew head out to the shopping mall. No surprize to those who know me, I stay on the boat. My WestJet flight was due to leave on Monday night, meaning I would miss Cate as she departs for his school trip to Japan. I call westjet to try and change my flight but they want $40 to change the ticket + $495 for the fare difference. I paid $200 for the original ticket. I go on line and find Air Canada has a flight tonight for $220. I book it!
It is nice as I get to spend an afternoon with Brekana. After a few hours alone together I reflect on how close we are. Even after my clumsy accidental jibe of yesterday, she still loves me. Suddenly But too soon, Jim returns with sweet words and promises of a new shiny stainless steel chainplate and she is back in his charms forever!
The "mall rats" come back a couple of hours later. Bob with a huge suitcase that looks like a liferaft; Don with new sandals, bleached hair and I-Pod (new surfer dude image); Steve with a new watch and not sure but he may have visited a tanning salon, hard to tell at this point. Plus of course they had zillions of dollars worth of gifts for folks at home (but I'm sworn to secrecy there).
I load up Don's I-pod with an eclectic mix of 400 random songs (A to S only as we run out of space) from my PC.
We have our last dinner together at the Yacht Club and do a round table on our thoughts and reflections on the trip. Easy conversation. All good. Thank you so much Jim, you are a special man, teacher, quiet yet wise philosopher . Thank you crew mates all. Bless you Berkana.
And here is my trip summary:
A new wisdom is born

Decks cleansed with spray
Skies, bathed in stars
You taste salt on your skin
Now you are one

Time relaxes her grip
As if calmed by the rolling sea
Her veil brushes you as it falls
You stand together in nakedness

Milky, deep, dark yet light
Blue, enough for all to share
Penetrating deep into your soul
No shadows remain

Warm soft and strong
Ever knowing but silent
Feeding my body and the sails
Deep breath, fulfilled, let go
I catch a taxi at 8pm an head to the airport........................'Til next time.