Jan's Paint By Words Sunday, June 8, 2008

Hi Dawna, Thanks for the funny joke! and happy half-way birthdays to us (birthday music playing . . .) Hi Gary, thanks for the garden update. Sorry about your corn. Now I don't feel so bad that I didn't plant mine yet! I bet my peas are growing like weeds! Hi Todd & Sherry, thanks for the good wishes.
Today was shower day. Not much wind. I did manage to squeak 4 knots of speed from 4 knots of wind, but most of the morning we were doing 2-3 knots or less. The ocean was so calm, Tina suggested shower time! Bill and Dan hooked up a salt water hose up on the bow deck. We all donned our swim suits and took turns. A bottle of fresh water for a final rinse and we were all squeaky clean!
After the first couple of days, appetites picked up. (I no longer carry a zippy in my pocket.) Tina did a super job provisioning the boat. what an overwhelming task! Food, drink and snacks for five people for 21 days in limited space and refrigeration.
Dan make the most delicious French toast and scrambled eggs with fruit for breakfast, several mornings. I don't know how he managed because I was at the helm and the seas were rough and we were heeled way over. We also have fresh French Pressed coffee!
Lunches have been mostly sandwiches and salads.
Some of the dinners have been scrumptious pork chops, tastiest meat loaf and lasagna. We all gather in the cockpit for dinner and lively conversation. Bill always has interesting stories to tell as the sun goes down. Story example: (short version) The earth turns 1 degree every 4 minutes. The sun is 1/2 degree in diameter. Therefore when the sun touches the horizon, it takes 2 minutes for it to sizzle out of sight. 'The green flash' is the very tippy top of the sun, right before it blinks out of sight, it sometimes turns green. It's not really a 'flash'. We have seen it twice!!!

writing from Chuck:
All I can see from horizon to horizon is water.
The sky comes down from the heavens to meet the water.
Days from land and all that surrounds us is water.
On a little boat that is blown by the wind, across the water.

Monday morning (again), 9 June 2008

0600, 9 June 2008, 36N15 145W34 C042M S6.0 APP WND 008 8.1

Motoring with furled jib and full main. Gone 1091, 1109 to go. Went 122 Nm in the last 24 hours.

I was pleased to see that my deliberately introduced error in the last blog elicited so many responses. Got to keep you guys on your toes.

What a great day. Since we were still worried about the cutlass bearing we sort of drifted to a stop yesterday morning at about 0830 when the wind died again. A cry went up for showers (we could have gone swimming). So we rigged the salt water system and had an hour long showering session (one at a time) on the fore deck. Fantastic. Lifted everyone's spirits.

Afterwards I decided to cautiously try putting the prop in gear while running the engine to charge the batteries. It seemed to work ok, so we motored for awhile until a little breeze picked up. Maybe the noise the other day was the folding prop jammed at a funny angle.

When we quit motoring Cirrus did her usual number in these light airs. At one point we were reaching at about 6 knots in an apparent wind of 5.3

Passed the 1000 Nm point at about 1400.

I had been doing my usual number on the crew about the "optimum" track from Hawaii to SF being marked with black balls about a foot in diameter. Sure enough, today we passed one after another (some close aboard) for the entire afternoon. More myths.
This morning the color of the balls changed from black to white. Probably because we are passing the halfway point.

Just before dinner we spotted a large number of dolphins about a quarter mile away. There were a dozen at a time leaping out of the water.

At 1600 yesterday we had been underway exactly one week. At 1017 Nm. that's a 6 knot, 145 Nm./day average.

As the sun came up this morning it revealed another freighter approaching from our port quarter. Big sign on the side said "Gearbulk". We picked this one up way off in the distance because of the morning sun and calm conditions. He agreed to change course to port in order to pass well ahead of us. (Freighter whisperer.) Otherwise he was pretty terse. It seems like the ships were a lot more chatty last year. (When Lindsey was making the calls.)

Tina's Two Cents

I love this boat. Cirrus is as happy to be at sea as I am. Donna Austin's description that Cirrus just lays over and goes is PERFECT. This boat even does 5 knots in only 8 knots of wind, which I think is remarkable for such a heavy displacement boat. Cirrus goes to weather so ladylike, no pounding or fussing. It's a joy to be aboard.
Tonight in 10 knots of wind, making dinner was very comfortable down below. Again thanks to Donna and her amazing daughter Lindsey, we feasted on CostCo's finest - pot roast, noodles, & green beans. Their expertise on provisioning and galley management has been invaluable. We are all very grateful for Donna and Lindsey's four solid days of hard work spent shopping, hauling, packing, freezing, stowing so that we can eat this well. They are so generous with their time and energy.
Bill and I are already discussing how to reprovision the boat for the race. I suggested just flying Donna and Lindsey over San Francisco to help. I don't think he's going for it.(Let them eat Spam?)
We saw the fabled Green Flash tonight at sunset. This night's watch promises a starry sky with Cheshire cat smile of a moon. Love to all, Tina

Monday [Sunday, actually, ulli] morning, 8 June 2008

0600, 8 June 2008, 35N08 147W53 C053M S5.3 APP WND 050 9.2

We have gone 129 Nm in the last 24 hours, which is not bad considering a lot of light (or no) air.
The GPS computer still says 9 days to SFO

Yesterday morning I thought we were punching into the long awaited HIGH that precedes the sled ride down into SFO. Nope. Not yet. The wind came back, then faded, then came back .........

So we decided to run the motor for a couple days and just push our way across. Noisy, but what the heck. Maybe we could get there in 13-14 days and impress everyone. After all, The boat is loaded down with a ton of fuel. (Enough for 6-7 days of continuous motoring.) Up until now we have hardly used any fuel. Even when charging the batteries, we were often going too fast to engage the prop.

Well, "push through" was not to be. After about 3-4 hours a bad vibration set in that I'm pretty sure is a shot cutlass bearing. (Last replaced 2 years ago at Swenson's.) So, it's back to sailing and hope for the best on getting across the high. It's so close. Wonder if we can go up and over?

Besides, it is after all an ocean racer. We don't need no stinking engine.

0600, Saturday, 7 June 2008

33N47, 150W10, C039M, S6.3, motor sailing

San Francisco 1366 Nm, Kaneohe 840 Nm
136 Nm in the last 24 hours

More than 1/3 of the way.

Yesterday was absolutely glorious. All morning we charged along (as usual) with Cirrus feeling like the old work horse that knows it's headed for the barn at the end of the day. The wind still steady at 20 but clocking down more and more toward San Francisco. I happened to glance at the GPS "Time to Go" and "Oh my God!" we were in single digits. The computer was predicting that we would be in San Francisco in 9 days.

Then, around noon, the wind started to fall off and by 1400 we were down to about 15 knots. We cracked off a little. and Cirrus (true to form) was still doing 7.6 knots. (And the TTG is still 9 days.)

In the lighter wind the seas dropped to 1-2 ft, the clouds (what there were) all went away. What a glorious day.

This morning at 0400 the wind reversed direction a couple times (causing the auto pilot to have a fit) and then died. So now we are motoring with the apparent wind from ahead at the same speed as the boat speed. As I'm typing this the wind just kicked back in. That's probably going to be the story for the rest of the morning.

Jan' Paint by Words Friday, June 6, 2008

Hello to all my friends, in laws, out laws, sister (Dawna), daughters with other halves (Christina & Desere and Julie & Josh), brother (Curtis), and everyone reading! It's very special for us on board to receive your messages. Thank you Steve, Dawna, (several times, especially the last one. You were in my thoughts during that first watch too), Todd & Sherry, Kris, and Karen. So everyone, please write! If you want to send something private and personal, go ahead - no one will read it . . . except any one who reads these blogs!
Monica (Chuck' niece), I thought about you last night during my watch. It was very dark; everyone was in their bunks. The ten hundred ka-trillion and one (seems like there are more every night) stars were out. The 2-day new moon was low on the horizon, sending a freeway wide river of moon reflection on the ocean from its self to the boat. I was standing on the bench behind the helm, just to starboard side, holding the back stay with my left hand, and my right hand was balancing in the wind. Cirrus was slicing thru the waves at 7.5 knots and heeled over just the same as we were when you were driving 'Wind Watcher' (Chuck's and my boat). Monica, you were in your element the and were really enjoying it. I felt like it wasn't the auto pilot steering, but your spirit was here steering. Master Of The High Seas!!!!
In case any one was wondering, I went my whole morning watch without getting splashed in the face. Yeah!

Pacific Cup website mirrors the Cirrus blog

The Pacific Cup website mirrors the Cirrus blog in their "From our Racers" column. Cirrus is the only boat being shown there. Where are the others?

Does anyone know about other boats being en-route, and if they blog do you know their blog address?

Ulli

0600, 6 June 2008

31N38, 152W05, C016M, S7.2, sailing with one reef still in and 115% jib. Apparent wind 20 kt at about 50 deg. apparent.

San Francisco 1502 Nm, Kaneohe 681 Nm

More than 1/4 of the way. By virtue of a 169 Nm day yesterday we have increased our average speed to 148 Nm per day for the first four days. Not bad for close reaching into 20 kt winds.

For people new to sailing it must seem strange to be reading all this bragging about going 7-8 knots. That's about 8-9 mph. You could go faster on a bicycle. Trust me. For us it is a big deal. For other sailors, like us, considering a similar trip it is interesting to note that we basically have not changed course or speed or point of sail or, for that matter, wind conditions, since we set out 5-6 days ago. Another point is that my original plan of going without a dodger was a really bad idea. I'm so glad we put the frame back on at the last minute. The protection we jury rigged out of a storm sail, on the way out the Sampan Channel, is not perfect, but it's a big help.

The health benefits might not be the first thing you think about when considering an ocean crossing in a small boat, but they are considerable. Just about everyone on the boat can probably expect to be more fit at the end of this voyage than they have ever been in their lives. Think about it. Six hours (watch) of aerobics a day, and the rest of the day spent in a small room lunging about at a 20 deg. angle. Even while sleeping. I'm a good example. At age 72 I've been (for the last year) waking up each morning with an ache in my lower back that goes away with some stretching exercises and a cup of coffee. On this trip the problem simply disappeared.

Jan's Painting By Words: 3

During my watch last night, the sun sizzled out at 7:11 pm. The first stars twinkled on at 7:49 pm. By 8:20 pm, the stars were out in all their glory! When the sun sizzled into the ocean, it made such a huge hole that an hour and a half later the new moon fell right into it!
Not all of the waves are out to get me. Most of them just pass by, waving merrily. (I guess that's why they are called 'waves'). It is really interesting to watch how Cirrus handles each wave. Each one is different and Cirrus knows exactly what to do and she does it so smoothly! What a great boat!
This morning on my watch, one wave took its job seriously. It slammed the starboard hull and made a boom, loud enough to get Bill's attention. He came up the companion way and asked if the shrouds and the sails were ok, of which they were, because that wave was only after me. I did manage to duck, but I swear, that wave dumped a whole 5 gallon bucket of water on my head!
If you have a queasy stomach, you might want to stop reading here. I'm going to talk about sea-sick-ness. Are you still reading? Well . . . I warned you!
Bill and Dan don't seem to have any problems, but Tina, Chuck and I have had our spells. We aren't 'sick as dogs', but we have our moments.
Throwing up on a boat that is constantly moving and heeled to port at 20 to 40 degrees is indeed a challenge.
In my opinion, the hardest way is to throw up is over the boat side. For sure, not over the starboard side - the wind would blow it back and I'd much rather have a wave in my face, for sure, for sure.
Now, port side is a little easier. One practically has to lay down for it. With the body more or less straight, it gives more power for the previously consumed escapees and they get projected quite a ways out into the ocean. There is also quite an echo of all the accompanying belching music.
Cup-of-Soups are quite tasty and really hit the spot going down. When they don't stay down very long, they taste exactly the same coming up!
I was sitting in the cockpit one morning when Chuck came up the companion way carrying a whole serving of chicken noodle cup-of-soup in a Ziploc baggy. I asked him why he made his soup in a zippy? He just looked at me and proceeded to pour it overboard. It appears that the best way to throw up on a constantly moving boat is into a zippy!
I hope I didn't gross anyone out too much, but, after all, I warned you.

From Chuck number 1.

I saw a gorgeous rainbow. I didn't have my camera and everyone was below deck, so you just have to take my word for it. I have the mid afternoon watch from 3 until 6. The rainbow started on the horizon and arced up about 30 degrees. A moment later it stretched from horizon to horizon, a full arc. It was very vivid and then became a double rainbow. Soon, the heavens opened up and I was drenched in seconds. I guess you just have to take the good with the bad.

Chuck

Another freighter photo.

It was a little bumpy.

The Morning Team

0600, 5 June 2008, 29N13, 153W19, C000M, S7.1, sailing with one reef still in and 115% jib. Apparent wind 20 kt.

San Francisco 1621 Nm, Kaneohe 522 Nm

More than 1/5 of the way. Average of 141 Nm per day for the first three days. Not bad for close reaching into 20 kt winds.

Bright sunny faces greet the dawn. (See photo above.) Chuck is on watch 0300-0600 and is relieved by Jan who stands the 0600-0900. The other watch standers are Dan at 0000-0300 and Tina at 0900-1200. PM is just a repeat of AM. The skipper is on 24/7.

The crew is finally starting to eat something and Kim Ickler's pork chops were a big hit last night. Later in the evening Chuck discovered a huge jar of jelly beans that he was willing to share. There are still some left.

Tonight it's probably Valerie's meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner and a big salad for lunch. I seem to be thinking a lot about food.

Yesterday after our freighter encounter there was mumbling among the crew along the lines of: "The skipper just spoke firmly to them and they changed course to avoid us." The story will improve with retelling. This is how myths are born.

Jan's Painting By Words:

Thank you everyone for your blogs! I will respond to them within a few days, and also see if I can figure out how to post photos.

The second night's sunset was as wonderful as the first. Little poofs of clouds, one at a time, floated past the sun during its descent. One cloud, bigger than the rest and composed of (about) 78 fluffy cotton balls, paused in front of the sun. This created sun beams in all directions. Breathtaking! Then, it was back to the little poofs of clouds, when POOF! The sun was gone! (I guess that's what little poof of clouds do.)
At this time of night I seem to notice the horizon line changing. Somehow, it is more pronounced, a contrast between ocean and sky. Surprisingly, it doesn't look flat, like I've visualized it before. Sitting in the princess chair, it is a slight curve and my eyes can follow it all around the boat, back to the beginning. The seas have gotten darker. It feels like a huge watery circle with us in the middle. We aren't moving, but the HUGE water disk is transporting us to San Francisco.
By the way, there were millions of stars in the second night.
I'm getting better at avoiding these waves splashing in my face! This particularly aggressive wave sent a huge splash. I turned my face away just in time for it to land, wasted, on the backside of my hooded 'REI Arc'teryx Gortex' waterproof jacket. I shook my fist at the wave and shouted, "You tried your best! I'm in control now! Bring it on!" BIG MISTAKE!!! No sooner had I turned around, the next wave got me! Drenched my face, glasses and all down the inside front of my jacket. Now, waves do talk, because I surely heard it laugh as it rolled out of sight, "Ha Ha Ha . . . ha ha ha . . . ha-a-a-aaaa!"

Lunch time excitement.

Just as I was sitting down to a four course lunch, and before I'd even had a chance to sample the elegantly simple chilled tomato-celery soup, a cry went up, "Freighter on the port beam collision course!"

Well, if it isn't one thing it's another. In the course of a chat with the watch officer on the freighter he suggested that he could change course and pass behind us. To which I readily agreed. They were, at the time, only about a mile away. It is really bumpy and even at that short distance the ship would sometimes disappear behind a wave. So, it was nice to know they were looking out for us.

On another subject. Comments to the blog come to us by email but we are not able to answer back with another comment. To reply we have to look up your email address and send a separate reply. Conditions being what they are, beating to weather in winds often over 20 kt., we do not always get around to replying. But, but, but.....We love to hear from you and encouragement is always welcome.

A routing dilemma - what to do now?

Today offers some particularly nice insight into some of the problems they are facing on Cirrus: Where to go - above the High or below? You can see it laid out on the Cirrugator-Demo page.

Look at the weather faxes first: The Pacific Surface Analysis (left picture) shows a High (32N/142W) with the note 'STNRY' (stationary) next to it, and the 2 day forecast (right picture) confirms stationarity for even 2 days later! The High isn't moving any time soon. If they were sailing-only, with no option for motoring (as in a race), they could go either below the High and face 10+ days of close hauled misery, or go above the High, and go comfortably but almost 2 days longer. The many colored routes in the first, topmost graph represent all the options. The second graph shows that they can go fast (red diamonds, with speeds into 8 knots!) but in misery (blue filled circles for Apparent Windangle).

Now in delivery they can take advantage of the engine and go through the center of the High as a compromise, but that would require a lot of diesel fuel. And to decide on this in the early part of the trip is also no good option; they might regret this dearly later on.

This is a situation we would like to have during the race, going the other direction, but not now. So what to do now? Stay tuned to see how Bill will decide.

Ulli

04 JUN 08

0600, 4 June 2008, 26N51, 154W33, C030M, S6.2, sailing with one reef still in and 115% jib. Apparent wind 19 kt.

San Francisco 1746 Nm, Kaneohe 367 Nm

Boy, talk about classic squall activity. Somewhere around midnight, with Tina on watch, the wind ramped up from it's background value of 20 kt to just over 30 with pounding rain. That will get your attention!

Then the wind dropped under 10 kt, almost tempting us to start the engine, before settling back to 20 kt. Cirrus, of course, took it all in stride.

That's about it. The crew was treated to another in the on going series of mini celestial navigation by the skipper. No one fell asleep this time.

Morning report - Tuesday June 3

0600, 3 June 2008, 24N49, 156W13, C016M, S7.4, one reef still in and 115% jib.

Covered about 140 Nm in the last 24 hours. Moving along.

Yesterday was a typical Cirrus day. Close reaching into 18-20 kt wind. About noon the boom brake fell off. The pin had come out of the shackle. The shackle itself was still hanging from the boom, the brake was on the deck and the shackle pin was resting against the leeward toe rail. A quarter in from the ocean. So, we put it back together. We'll keep an eye on it.

As I write this, today's adventure is already behind us (I hope). When I started the engine this morning to charge the batteries (and computer and palm pilot and backup battery and ipod)the engine belt driving the alternator slipped and started to melt filling the cabin with smoke. (Practice fire drill.) Installed a new belt. Those of you out there thinking of replacing your wimpy alternator with something bigger take note.
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Jan's Painting By Words:

Lucky me! I had the first full watch! It was Monday, departure day, and my watch was from 6 pm to 9 pm. Chuck stayed with me until after sunset, then he went below. I was all by myself!
Currus was clipping along at about 7 knots. The wind was 22-25 knots off starboard bow. The swells were, gee, it was hard to know, about 5-6 feet? A few were above the horizon line as seen from the princess seat (stern rail seat). We were heeled over so far, the port toe rail consistently dipped in the water. Every so often a wave would break over the bow, sending a splash of water directly at my face. SOME of these, I managed to avoid. Mmm, salty!
Our first sunset was beautiful. The sun slowly played peek-a-boo between the little puffy clouds as it lowered in the sky until it sizzled into the ocean, and then it was gone.
But, the sun's job wasn't done yet. Its colorful rays gave life to the little clouds and they became my friends, as they marched across the sky, morphing into animal and fish shapes. I took their pictures so I could always remember them. Too soon it was dark, and my new friends faded into the night.
Now I had new friends! The stars twinkled on, one by one, until there were thousands! The Big Dipper was right above us and the Southern Cross was (duh) on the Southern horizon.
My 3 hour watch came to an end. I was tired, but Cirrus was still going strong and steady at 6.5 to 7 knots, using the constant 20 to 22 knot wind.
It was a perfect first watch!

We are on our way

0600, 2 June 2008, 22N35, 157W15, C024M, S6.6, motor sailing with one reef still in and 115% jib.

Started out yesterday, exactly on schedule, at 1600. Put a reef in and started motor sailing hard to weather in 20 knots of wind. Shut down the engine and unfurled the jib about an hour later and were making 6-7 knots close hauled into 18-20 knots of wind. Wind really erratic. Ran into a little zero wind hole around midnight.

Looks like we've covered about 76 KM so far.

Jan Saukko

My husband, Chuck and I live in Everett, Washington, on our Catalina 42, 'Wind Watcher' which we purchased in May 2004. I lived with him on his 35 wooden sloop 'Entropy' for about 4 years. We had our honeymoon on a 3 masted sailing ship crusing the South Indies. We love to cruise the Puget Sound & San Juan Islands. We usually anchor out for New Year's Eve, and 2 years in a row came home thru a gale! I enjoy fishing, and crabbing. Chuck and I are certified SCUBA divers, have our ham licenses, have first aid cards, and have taken the 'primo' sail repair class from Carol Hasse in Port Townsend. In 2 to 3 years, we plan to retire, cut the dock lines and head south, see where the wind blows us. I am looking forward to crewing on the 'Cirrus'. It will be my first ocean crossing and I plan to be a sponge to soak up every bit of education and experience that I can.