04/01/2004 - 04/07/2004
There is a lot of ocean behind Whisper and Mexico.
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04/01/2004 - Day 8
- Latitude: 12° 24' N
- Longitude: 119° 47' W
- Miles to go: Around 1800
- Wind Speed/Direction: ENE 15 to 20 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 5 knots
Focus has turned to figuring out what direction to head. Now you are probably saying to yourself, just go southwest. The predominate wind direction is from the northeast which is the direct opposite of southwest. Unfortunately, this is not a great point of sail. So, we tend to head west for a while and then southwest for a while putting us on a broad reach (that will make sense to the sailors in the group). Another big factor is the swell height and direction. Minimizing the roll of the boat adds comfort. At present, winds are from the east northeast. Whisper is headed west southwest on a heading of 240 degrees magnetic. Focusing on comfort and safety resulted in neither of us being seasick (yet).
This booby decided to hitch a ride...
04/02/2004 - Day 9
- Latitude: 11° 57' N
- Longitude: 121° 43' W
- Miles to go: Around 1700
- Wind Speed/Direction: NE 10 to 15 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 5 knots
Last night brought us winds between 18 and 22 knots for most of the night with gusts as high as 28 knots. The seas were between 3 and 7 feet. We stayed on a broad reach with triple reefed main and triple reefed genoa for the night. Whisper behaved well in the conditions.
The excitement of the night was the "Bye Bye Booby" saga. In the past, bobbies (of the bird variety) landed on the top of the mast and hitched a ride. The bummer of this is the potential for them to damage instruments at the top of the mast or leave 'Booby Prizes' on the sails. We've moved into a new state of booby boldness. Around 5 pm, a booby landed on the hatch closest to the cockpit and stared at Duncan. After the booby deposited a prize on the hatch, Duncan shoo-ed him away. But the booby returned and made himself comfortable on the aft deck. After hours of preening, the booby fell asleep. Uh Oh! He wants to stay for the duration. Okay, we let him spend the night, but that is it.
...until he violated the cleanliness rules.
During the night, a flying fish flew into Duncan's back and landed on deck. A bird and a fish on the same boat...the food chain should kick into gear. The bird looks at the fish flopping frantically trying to get off the boat, yet the booby just stares at the fish. Unfortunately for the fish, the flopping eventually deposited the fish at the feet of the booby and the fish became a snack for the boobie. This is one lazy booby.
At dawn, the booby flew off the aft deck. The term 'poop deck' applied to Whisper's aft deck. Out came the fire hose to wash down the deck. Subsequently, the fire hose was used to prevent the return of the booby to the poop deck. No more Mr. Nice Guy. "Bye Bye Booby!"
Aaahh, the excitement is almost unbearable.
Sailing dead down wind with the sails in a wing-on-wing configuration allowed us to head the right direction.
04/03/2004 - Day 10
- Latitude: 11° 02' N
- Longitude: 123° 26' W
- Miles to go: Around 1600
- Wind Speed/Direction: NE 13 to 17 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 6.5 knots
Frustration at zigging and zagging back and forth across our desired course line set in today. With neither of us adept at staying frustrated, we changed the sail configuration to wing-on-wing. Woo Hoo! And, we are headed in the right direction.
Two boats crossed the equator today with their respective crews turning from pollywogs to shellbacks. These boats left about 9 days before us. We are still several days away from the equator, but the excitement is building.
Temperatures at night take us from bathing suits to long pants and light fleeces. Then, squalls motivated us to don our light foul weather gear.
04/04/2004 - Day 11
- Latitude: 09° 49' N
- Longitude: 124° 43' W
- Miles to go: Around 1400
- Wind Speed/Direction: NNE 18 to 20 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 6.5 knots
One of the primary navigation/safety tools used at night is radar. Every ten minutes, whoever is on watch checks the radar for blips indicating other vessels or other shapes indicating land. We have not seen another vessel in several days.
The last two nights brought our first "rain blobs" on the radar. Two nights ago, a little rainstorm moved over us and washed the decks with a 30 minute shower. Last night on watch, Robin noticed a few blobs on the radar moving toward Whisper. The blobs grew in size and moved closer. With the blobs about 2 miles away, Robin woke up Duncan to gave him a quick status and suggested evasive action. We reefed the genoa and the main in preparation for "the blob". If we were doing the Rorschach test, this blob looked like a matador and a bull to both of us. Feel free to analyze this information.
Now, here is the question. As we approach the ITCZ, how do you tell the difference between a squall and a wimpy rainstorm? Is it size? Is it direction? Regardless, we ran away from the blob with only a few drizzles of rain spotting the decks. As we learn more about this squall thing, we will keep you posted.
The upside of rain squalls are the resulting rainbows. Check out this double rainbow.
04/05/2004 - Day 12
- Latitude: 08° 54' N
- Longitude: 126° 41' W
- Miles to go: Around 1300
- Wind Speed/Direction: NE 15 to 18 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 6.2 knots
Lest you think it is all fun and games out here, we do have our moments. As usual, Duncan reported an uneventful watch as he shook Robin awake at 1:30 am. As Robin dressed, Duncan said "You might want to bring up your jacket and waterproof pants. There have been a few sprinkles". Robin settled in up in the cockpit ready to pop on the iPod and listen to a few tunes.
A check of the radar revealed a squall (aka 'rain blob') on the way. No big deal. The squalls typically last about 30 minutes and then everything is back to comfy and dry. Within moments, the squall drenched Robin and the cockpit. Winds reached 25 knots and a bit of hand steering was required. The squall passed as Robin spotted the next squall ready to pounce. The next squall arrived with winds up to 27 knots. That's okay. Robin loves this stuff.
After 2 hours and 15 minutes of squall after squall, Robin let out a squawk of frustration. Yes, squawk...not squall. Startled by the sound coming from the cockpit, Duncan sat up in bed and said "What's wrong?". He peeked into the cockpit to discover Robin looking like a drowned rat. "Will you please take over the last 45 minutes of my watch? I am wet and cold", she said in a pathetic whimper. Duncan jumped into action.
No squalls occurred on Duncan's watch!
One of many flying fish that did not effectively hurdle Whisper
04/06/2004 - Day 13
- Latitude: 08° 07' N
- Longitude: 128° 52' W
- Miles to go: Around 1200
- Wind Speed/Direction: E 4 to 7 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 6.2 knots
You must be asking yourself "How do two people who prefer to eat out every night survive without a restaurant for over 20 days?" We are asking ourselves the same question. If anyone wants to give us an air drop of tasty take out items, we'd appreciate it.
Early on in the planning stages, realization set in that no one but us was going to prepare, serve and cleanup our meals. As we developed the meal plan, the theme focused on simplicity. The thought of preparing elaborate meals while Whisper is heeled at 20 degrees or rolling side to side did not appeal to either of us.
Foot Flattens Flying Fish - say that 3 times fast. We chose not to eat any of this squishy sushi.
So far, our favorite meal is little pizzas. Other favorites include cocktail sssshrimp, salami and cheese, chicken curry and taquitos. Yes, we know these are not very South Beach or Atkins. We keep a snack box in the cockpit filled with nuts, cookies, dried cranberries, crackers and other fun stuff. The biggest treat we brought was a "Cheesecake Factory" cheesecake. We've only enjoyed one delectable piece each, but it sure was good.
We drink lots of water, gatorade and soda. As most of you know, we do love to drink wine and coffee -- not at the same time. However, we are abstaining from all alcohol for the passage except for a toast at the Equator. On the other hand, we wanted to drink coffee during the passage, but the coffee maker does not appear to like being on an angle. We will be finding coffee grounds throughout the boat for the next few years.
Sun starts to rise over the rain clouds of the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
04/07/2004 - Day 14
- Latitude: 05° 51' N
- Longitude: 128° 20' W
- Miles to go: Around 1100
- Wind Speed/Direction: ENE 7 knots
- Current Boat Speed: 6.0 knots
Today brings two big milestones on our journey. First, this is the two week anniversary of our departure. Second, we MAY be through the dreaded ITCZ. Keep your fingers crossed.
Check out a few week two stats for the passage:
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Trip Miles To Date: |
Around 1900 miles |
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Trip Average Speed: |
5.8 knots |
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Trip Engine Hours: |
21.8 hours (all in the last day) |
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Trip Generator Hours: |
47.5 (still using power like we make it) |
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Average Daily Generator Hours: |
3.4 hours |
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Trip Fuel Capacity: |
130 gallons (Fuel Tank: 110 gallons, Jerry Jugs: 20 gallons) |
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Trip Fuel Consumption: |
Approximately 22 gallons |
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Current Time Zone: |
Alaska (Is that really the name of timezone?) |
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Water Temperature: |
82 degrees Fahrenheit |
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Air Temperature: |
88 degrees Fahrenheit |
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Flying Fish Count: |
Bunches |
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Boobies Allowed to Land: |
1 |
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Miles to Equator: |
300 |
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Books Read: |
4 |
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Boats Seen This Week: |
0 |
We are motoring through the what we hope it the end of the ITCZ. Soon, the southeast trades winds should start. Then, we will turn off the engine and turn the corner toward the Marquesas.