Gary:
We sailors seem to be a superstitious lot. There are all sorts of rules that must be followed while on the sea. No bananas on board, no women, whistling is bad or good (I can't remember) etc. I've never really subscribed to any of them, we have both women and bananas on board... Some times I wonder though....
Despite being a female, Karina has her own rules while on board. No job must ever be declared as easy before being started. In fact nothing must ever be said period, that could be changed a moment later by the sea gods. She of course is now quite angry about my last blog post. I made the fatal mistake of saying that things were quiet on Sea Rover. I think I also said that things were unexciting. In my defense I'm not sure yesterday was all my fault. I believe she sent an email to a colleague stating that she was bored...
Yesterday started off benign enough. We had pleasant winds from a good direction and actually had enough to keep us moving. The only concern I had was making sure we were sailing in a direction that would put us in a good position for the storm that was coming in a few days. This concern actually deprived me us a fair amount of sleep the night before because I was sure that neither Karina nor Nadine were paying enough attention to the sails. I would wake up in a daze, leap up on deck and accuse them of missing the expected wind shift. I would then realize that this accusation was unfounded as nothing had changed and sheepishly slink back into my bunk. The wind shift came mid morning and luckily it combined with light airs. Karina went back to check on our wind steering device (its mounting plates have developed a small crack) and realized we were dragging a 3 inch floating line behind the boat.
We tried a number of proven techniques to dislodge the trapped line but it would not let go so down came the sails and in the water I went to try to sort out what needed to be done to free it. Taking sails down in 1.5 meter seas unfortunately does not stop the boat. You can also imagine that in 1.5 meter seas, as the boat is floating, it also moves 1.5 meters up and down. This makes for tricky maneuvering underwater to avoid being crushed by the hull. My early years of getting towed in various devices behind our powerboat at the cottage prepared me well for this. On went the mask and fins and over the side I went hanging on to a line that would allow me to stay with the boat as she bobbed along at a lazy 1.5 knots. I luckily managed to quickly free the line from the prop and was back on board unscathed. Thoughts of Jaws waiting for me in the depths below didn't occur until after I was out of the water.
We got the sails up and the boat moving again and quickly realized that the wind was now coming from exactly where we wanted to go. Over the next 30 minutes the wind continued to build as did the seas so we now had the swell from the west and the wind waves from the south east making for very very very unpleasant sailing. Karina and I both turned our standard shades of green and settled in for an uncomfortable afternoon. Nadine decided that the movement on the boat called for Naan bread and a spicy Indian dish and spent most of the evening in the kitchen. I am sure despite the amazing food she is providing, I will end up hating Nadine by the end of the trip for her inability to feel any seasickness what so ever. My only consolation is that we have developed a new leak and it is right over her bunk. At least we are all miserable on board...
That was not the end of our adventures yesterday but this post is long and Im going green and starting to sweat again so the remainder of the tale must wait until tomorrow.
In the interest of saving my marriage, this post contains no foreshadowing, forward looking statements or any comment on what the future might hold.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
Leg 3 - Heading to the Promised Land - Day 5
Gary:
For the first time in a long time, the blog posts have been delayed not because of horrible conditions, ugly weather or boat breakage keeping us busy. Really, there just isn't anything to report.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very good thing sailing in this part of the world. Most of my off watch to date has been spent trying to keep the boat pointed towards an area where there are winds to keep her moving. This has been a bit of a challenge because of the rapidly changing conditions and the boat really not wanting to travel in the direction we want it to.
So far we have done well and have stayed with enough wind to keep things marginally comfortable albeit a bit rolly.
In 4 or 5 days we are anticipating our first big low of the passage to pass to the south of us. The associated front will probably nail us no matter where we are, so now the additional task of finding the best place to be when it arrives must be taken on. Timing this is a bit like trying to hop on a bullet train from a galloping horse while crossing a cobblestone bridge.
Our radio friend Peter from the SF bay area forwarded a blog post from another cruiser he worked with doing the same trip as us a few years ago. Their report was similar to ours as they lamented about crazy changes in the forecasts and having to sail off course to avoid a storm with 9 m swells. Another cruising family we met in Mexico actually sailed West (the coast is East for those who are geographically challenged) for 2 days to avoid a low that popped up on them.
Just before we left Easter Island we had an awful reminder of how troublesome this part of the Pacific can be as our radio buddy traveling about a week ahead of us from New Zealand to the Chilean coast was forced to make the extremely difficult decision to abandon his boat. This due to the complete failure of his second rudder (his first failed weeks before) and an approaching low that he just could not get out of the way of. After battling for 2 weeks to keep the boat pointed in the right direction and surviving a couple pretty nasty lows, I can't imagine how he's feeling right now.
We are taking a very conservative approach to the coast and will motor through light airs in order to stay as north as possible hopefully avoiding the worst. Luckily we have lots of weather information available to us on board and 3 outside resources keeping an eye on things as well. Routing this way will take a few days longer and burn some hard to come by dinosaurs but given our recent treaty with Neptune this will keep us from having something exciting to blog about.
So far so good.
1638 NM to go (give or take a few 100 miles :))
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For the first time in a long time, the blog posts have been delayed not because of horrible conditions, ugly weather or boat breakage keeping us busy. Really, there just isn't anything to report.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very good thing sailing in this part of the world. Most of my off watch to date has been spent trying to keep the boat pointed towards an area where there are winds to keep her moving. This has been a bit of a challenge because of the rapidly changing conditions and the boat really not wanting to travel in the direction we want it to.
So far we have done well and have stayed with enough wind to keep things marginally comfortable albeit a bit rolly.
In 4 or 5 days we are anticipating our first big low of the passage to pass to the south of us. The associated front will probably nail us no matter where we are, so now the additional task of finding the best place to be when it arrives must be taken on. Timing this is a bit like trying to hop on a bullet train from a galloping horse while crossing a cobblestone bridge.
Our radio friend Peter from the SF bay area forwarded a blog post from another cruiser he worked with doing the same trip as us a few years ago. Their report was similar to ours as they lamented about crazy changes in the forecasts and having to sail off course to avoid a storm with 9 m swells. Another cruising family we met in Mexico actually sailed West (the coast is East for those who are geographically challenged) for 2 days to avoid a low that popped up on them.
Just before we left Easter Island we had an awful reminder of how troublesome this part of the Pacific can be as our radio buddy traveling about a week ahead of us from New Zealand to the Chilean coast was forced to make the extremely difficult decision to abandon his boat. This due to the complete failure of his second rudder (his first failed weeks before) and an approaching low that he just could not get out of the way of. After battling for 2 weeks to keep the boat pointed in the right direction and surviving a couple pretty nasty lows, I can't imagine how he's feeling right now.
We are taking a very conservative approach to the coast and will motor through light airs in order to stay as north as possible hopefully avoiding the worst. Luckily we have lots of weather information available to us on board and 3 outside resources keeping an eye on things as well. Routing this way will take a few days longer and burn some hard to come by dinosaurs but given our recent treaty with Neptune this will keep us from having something exciting to blog about.
So far so good.
1638 NM to go (give or take a few 100 miles :))
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Saturday, February 24, 2018
Leg 3 - Heading to the promissed land - Day 3
Gary:
Day 1 and 2 were supposed to be fast sails with wind from behind and low seas. As usual the forecast was not quite right and we had low winds and high seas from the side. Oh well. Sea Rover is moving slightly less than she was at anchor so we can't complain too much. We are averaging just under 100 NM per day. At some point we will get into wind and then we'll be complaining about having too much speed. For now we will try to relish the fact that every day we are getting closer to the boat stopping. Yes, in somewhere around 17-18 days we will stop moving for the rest of the season. We will be tied up to a dock. It wont matter what the weather is or how cold the water is, all that we will care about is a full night's sleep with the boat unable to roll from rail to rail.
We can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel yet as there are a few giant hurtles to vault over still... A high that is coming to stop us dead in the water tomorrow and a low that is predicted next week to give us a good spanking. As usual we will take these conditions as they come with nothing else to do but whine about them in the blog.
1864 NM to Mainland.
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Day 1 and 2 were supposed to be fast sails with wind from behind and low seas. As usual the forecast was not quite right and we had low winds and high seas from the side. Oh well. Sea Rover is moving slightly less than she was at anchor so we can't complain too much. We are averaging just under 100 NM per day. At some point we will get into wind and then we'll be complaining about having too much speed. For now we will try to relish the fact that every day we are getting closer to the boat stopping. Yes, in somewhere around 17-18 days we will stop moving for the rest of the season. We will be tied up to a dock. It wont matter what the weather is or how cold the water is, all that we will care about is a full night's sleep with the boat unable to roll from rail to rail.
We can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel yet as there are a few giant hurtles to vault over still... A high that is coming to stop us dead in the water tomorrow and a low that is predicted next week to give us a good spanking. As usual we will take these conditions as they come with nothing else to do but whine about them in the blog.
1864 NM to Mainland.
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Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Easter Island
 |
| Chilean Navy boat where we did our clearance |
We’ve been in Easter Island for five days
now. We arrived in the anchorage outside
of Hanga Roa at the crack of dawn last Thursday, after a 2055 nm (or ~3900 km)
passage that took just under 16 days (15 days, 20 hours, to be exact). We quickly cleaned up the boat and awaited
the “officials”, who of course showed up right when we were eating
breakfast. At least we had
showered! Gary and I were then whisked
onto the very skookum Chilean Armada zodiac to fill out endless amounts of
paperwork. We were interrogated by
officials from Health, Agriculture, Immigration, Police and Navy, while the
navy officials took pictures of all the documentation in our boat docs binder. After 30 minutes of paperwork (I had to do
several forms twice as I made mistakes the first time – apparently you aren’t
allowed to cross things out. What do
they expect from exhausted people??) all
five officials came on board Sea Rover.
We lost a couple of sacrificial limes, but that was it. Overall, it was pretty painless.
 |
| Easter Island Tapati Festival Parade |
We’d manage to arrive during the last few
days of the Easter Island Tapati festival, which occurs the first two weeks of
February every year. It is a big
festival that celebrates the culture of Easter Island. All 8000 inhabitants of the island participate.
The day we arrived was their big parade, so we forewent sleep and went into
town to see the festivities. We’d been
told by numerous people that the parade was supposed to start at 5pm, so we
found a nice place to watch from at about 4:45.
Then we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Island time.
It turns out that 5pm actually means 8pm! But, we met some nice people from the Netherlands
while waiting, and we spent time talking to the crew of s/v Elcie, who we’d met
in the Galapagos and who arrived a couple of days before us. The parade was worth the wait.
 |
| Moai's with Sea Rover II in the background |
As far as we could make out, the parade is
the final event in choosing the Queen of the festival. There are two ‘princesses’ who vie for the
honour, each of whom is supported by their families. Part of the parade is that the families try
to recruit people to join their “camp”.
Each person gets dressed up (or should I say dressed down?) in costumes
made up of corn husks, shells, beads and banana leaves. It is amazing what you can do with natural
ingredients. And did I mention that all
the people get painted in brown paint and body paint designs? What is so amazing is that everyone from the
whole island participates. Everyone from
each “camp” then performs songs and dances during the parade. Incredible.
The ‘camp’ with the most followers wins.
In addition to the singing and dancing, there are a number of floats
with the most amazing wood carvings. I’m
sure the whole parade told a story, which we would have understood if our
Spanish was better, but it was pretty neat as is.
We rented a car for two days over the
weekend to explore the island. I can
safely say that we have now driven every road possible on Easter Island. As the island is basically a triangle of 8 km
x 12 km, this isn’t really hard! But,
when you stop every kilometre or so to look at a cultural site, it takes some
time to make it around the island.
We’ve
now seen Moai’s (the stone statues) that are face down, face up, in rows,
facing the sunset, etc. We also visited
the quarry where all the Moai’s were carved from. What is really neat is that the hillside is
dotted with Moai’s all buried at different levels. Some have only their heads showing, some
their heads and torsos, etc. Apparently
they would do the rough carving of the Moai’s from the rock in the hillside,
then they’d lower them down into holes in the hillside. If they were working on the face, they’d bury
the Moai up to it’s head, and if they were working lower down, they’d leave
more exposed. All in all, it was pretty
incredible to see.
It has been a neat experience being here as
it is such a small place. There are lots
of tourists around (mostly Chilean), but the place doesn’t seem overrun. It is VERY expensive though. Prices are 2-3x higher than in Canada. We took some laundry in to get washed and it
was $5 a kilo. What cost us $12 to get
done in the Galapagos cost us over $50 in Easter Island! Everything is expensive – food, eating out,
goods etc. The only thing that has been
semi reasonable so far was fuel. That
seemed to be about what we pay in Canada.
Also, the anchorage here leaves a bit to be desired. It is a very open roadstead, with absolutely
NO protection from anything. We are
basically being pummelled by waves that come from New Zealand. We didn’t get much sleep the first night as
the boat literally rolled rail to rail.
It was worse than being offshore!
Our poor flopper stoppers basically do nothing. We’ll definitely have to go back to the
drawing board to make some improvements on them this summer. We put out a stern anchor first thing on day
2, which worked really well until this evening last night when the rode decided
to get stuck in a rock. We’ll have to
either rent dive gear today or pay for someone to dive down for us to get it
unstuck. Joy. We’ll get it up, but definitely a pain.
Speaking of offshore, we’ll be leaving here
for the Chilean mainland on Thursday (tomorrow). A weather window is opening that we need to
take advantage of. We’ve decided to hire
a weather router for this leg as the weather looks “dynamic”, to steal a word
from Richard on s/v Elcie. We will be
using renowned weather guru Bob McDavitt from New Zealand to help us get there
safely. So far he is seeing what Gary is
seeing, so that is good. We have also
made a decision on where we will keep the boat over the summer. We managed to get a reservation to haul the
boat out of the water at the Yacht Club in Puerto Montt. So Puerto Montt it is! We’ll try to post to
the blog along the way, but don’t worry if you don’t hear from us for a day or
two ‘– conditions aren’t always conducive to spending long periods (or any
period) of time down below. We’ll keep
the tracker going though, so you can follow us on that. If we disappear briefly, wait 30 minutes and
look again – apparently the satellites don’t always line up perfectly down
there and there can be gaps.
Be well.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Easter Island Is Very Cool
Gary:
So we've now been at anchor off Hanga Roa for the past 4 days. So far we've managed to see an amazing parade and explore much of the island. We even had a great fireworks show last night (Celebration of light quality).
Internet is frustratingly slow so no pictures yet but we've got lots.
After today (another day bombing around the island) we should have some downtime to track down good internet and figure out our next plan.
Stay tuned for a full report.
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So we've now been at anchor off Hanga Roa for the past 4 days. So far we've managed to see an amazing parade and explore much of the island. We even had a great fireworks show last night (Celebration of light quality).
Internet is frustratingly slow so no pictures yet but we've got lots.
After today (another day bombing around the island) we should have some downtime to track down good internet and figure out our next plan.
Stay tuned for a full report.
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Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Last Day
Gary:
Well, we now have 91 NM to go.
Our predicted arrival is sometime in the early morning tomorrow, at which point we will be able to sleep longer than 3 hours if we desire. We will also hopefully able to walk from one part of the boat to the other without using both hands. We might even be able to have a daily shower. Walking on land is a distinct possibility although none of us are sure we can still do that without leaning to port and falling over. Luxuries like being able to sleep in a dry bed or change into pjamas haven't even been contemplated yet.
There are those who love passage making and to a certain extent I can see part of the appeal. Defining your day by 4 events (eating, sleeping, crapping and standing watch) makes things pretty simple. You have time to let your mind wander to places it wouldn't necessarily take the time to go when in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Imagine going a full 14 days without hearing about something stupid that Trump said... There are definitely bonuses to being offshore. Add in days of endless sailing (even if it is up wind), the amazing stars at night, sunrises and sunsets uninhibited by land and good watch mates who you can trust and rely on to keep you safe... Now you'd think I was writing a brochure for an idyllic vacation. Start talking about the fact that all of us have to wear belts to keep our pants up and now Im positive I could sell this as a "holistic getaway" to many of our neighbors in Kits.
For a limited time Sea Rover II is offering a once in a life time, amazing opportunity for you to find (and even talk) to your spirit animal. For just $2000 US we are offering the perfect chance to commune with Nature and remove yourself from all your stresses of life. This 3 week "vacation" will guarantee daily cleansing's, weight loss and a new understanding of what you are capable of. The best part about this offered vacation is that no instructors will be there to bother you in your voyage of understanding...
We of course will be flying to Chile :)
88.8 NM to go.
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Well, we now have 91 NM to go.
Our predicted arrival is sometime in the early morning tomorrow, at which point we will be able to sleep longer than 3 hours if we desire. We will also hopefully able to walk from one part of the boat to the other without using both hands. We might even be able to have a daily shower. Walking on land is a distinct possibility although none of us are sure we can still do that without leaning to port and falling over. Luxuries like being able to sleep in a dry bed or change into pjamas haven't even been contemplated yet.
There are those who love passage making and to a certain extent I can see part of the appeal. Defining your day by 4 events (eating, sleeping, crapping and standing watch) makes things pretty simple. You have time to let your mind wander to places it wouldn't necessarily take the time to go when in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Imagine going a full 14 days without hearing about something stupid that Trump said... There are definitely bonuses to being offshore. Add in days of endless sailing (even if it is up wind), the amazing stars at night, sunrises and sunsets uninhibited by land and good watch mates who you can trust and rely on to keep you safe... Now you'd think I was writing a brochure for an idyllic vacation. Start talking about the fact that all of us have to wear belts to keep our pants up and now Im positive I could sell this as a "holistic getaway" to many of our neighbors in Kits.
For a limited time Sea Rover II is offering a once in a life time, amazing opportunity for you to find (and even talk) to your spirit animal. For just $2000 US we are offering the perfect chance to commune with Nature and remove yourself from all your stresses of life. This 3 week "vacation" will guarantee daily cleansing's, weight loss and a new understanding of what you are capable of. The best part about this offered vacation is that no instructors will be there to bother you in your voyage of understanding...
We of course will be flying to Chile :)
88.8 NM to go.
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Monday, February 12, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - No Idea What Day It Is
Karina:
As Gary said yesterday, the days have blended together. The last 72 hours have been under very squally conditions in VERY big seas. On the first day of squalls I wrote to the blog that the seas were horrendous. It turns out I had a few things to learn. Yesterday had the biggest waves I've seen so far. On the beam. Very exciting. The "two hand rule" suddenly had a whole new meaning. We knew the winds and seas were coming and had prepared for it by putting up our storm staysail. We've been sailing with both our staysail and genoa and have been able to manage all the squalls by pulling in the genoa as required. As the winds fluctuated between 8 and 30 knots on a regular basis, there was a lot of letting sail out, then madly pulling it back in when the winds picked up. We had to keep the boat speed up to at least 5 knots or we just stalled out in the huge seas. Then it was like being a ping pong ball down below. But, we figured out what to do and managed the days pretty well, I think. Nadine even made bacon and eggs yesterday morning, in the huge, huge seas!
Today was much better. We had a lovely afternoon of 15-20 knot winds on the beam, and the seas were definitely down (ie, back to my first definition of 'horrendous' - it is all relative). I actually read my book on my noon to 3pm watch instead of intently watching the wind gauge to figure out when I needed to reduce sail. We all even showered! A momentous day. But, alas, it was too good to be true. We had all met in the cockpit after shower time to discuss our newly clean status, when in the blink of an eye the winds went from the nice gentle 15 knots to 28 knots! After a flurry of activity we had things under control again, but I don't think we are clean anymore. Oh well. All in a day of sailing offshore!
Overall, everything is good. We are all looking forward to arriving at Easter Island on Thursday. 319nm to go.
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As Gary said yesterday, the days have blended together. The last 72 hours have been under very squally conditions in VERY big seas. On the first day of squalls I wrote to the blog that the seas were horrendous. It turns out I had a few things to learn. Yesterday had the biggest waves I've seen so far. On the beam. Very exciting. The "two hand rule" suddenly had a whole new meaning. We knew the winds and seas were coming and had prepared for it by putting up our storm staysail. We've been sailing with both our staysail and genoa and have been able to manage all the squalls by pulling in the genoa as required. As the winds fluctuated between 8 and 30 knots on a regular basis, there was a lot of letting sail out, then madly pulling it back in when the winds picked up. We had to keep the boat speed up to at least 5 knots or we just stalled out in the huge seas. Then it was like being a ping pong ball down below. But, we figured out what to do and managed the days pretty well, I think. Nadine even made bacon and eggs yesterday morning, in the huge, huge seas!
Today was much better. We had a lovely afternoon of 15-20 knot winds on the beam, and the seas were definitely down (ie, back to my first definition of 'horrendous' - it is all relative). I actually read my book on my noon to 3pm watch instead of intently watching the wind gauge to figure out when I needed to reduce sail. We all even showered! A momentous day. But, alas, it was too good to be true. We had all met in the cockpit after shower time to discuss our newly clean status, when in the blink of an eye the winds went from the nice gentle 15 knots to 28 knots! After a flurry of activity we had things under control again, but I don't think we are clean anymore. Oh well. All in a day of sailing offshore!
Overall, everything is good. We are all looking forward to arriving at Easter Island on Thursday. 319nm to go.
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Sunday, February 11, 2018
Leg 2 - Bash to Easter Island - Day something
Well we've officially lost track of all meaning of time. It gets dark, it gets light. We pull sails out, we pull sails in. Sometimes we pull sails out only to pull them right back in. Sea water rinse and repeat. All the while the boat heaves in crazy directions. According to our instruments we are making reasonable distance. This is little consolation given the conditions. All of us on board would be happy to not be moving at all. The gourmet fair has trickled to a stop. The food is still nourishing but we aren't getting fresh Naan Bread any more. I think even Nadine has reached her G force threshold.
Somehow are spirits are still remaining reasonably good. Yes, there are grumbly moments but all grumbling seems directed at the forces we can't control. Tomorrow the seas will calm down... And yes, I said that yesterday and the day before.
469.7 NM to go
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Somehow are spirits are still remaining reasonably good. Yes, there are grumbly moments but all grumbling seems directed at the forces we can't control. Tomorrow the seas will calm down... And yes, I said that yesterday and the day before.
469.7 NM to go
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Thursday, February 8, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Day 9
Nadine: Yesterday was a very special day. We all got to have a shower and change into clean clothes... although there were a few huge splashes into the cockpit after that, so I guess we are not as clean as we had hoped to be. And during my evening shift we hit the half way mark to the Easter Island way point. Hurrah! Gary says only 6-8 days to go. You can probably guess what we are aiming for.
Shower days are ranking very high as my favorite kind of day. And I will never tire of the amazing clear nights where you can see stars all around. Today we are cooking a few things in case the winds pick up over the next couple of days. Good thing for chocolate brownies as a super survival food.
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Shower days are ranking very high as my favorite kind of day. And I will never tire of the amazing clear nights where you can see stars all around. Today we are cooking a few things in case the winds pick up over the next couple of days. Good thing for chocolate brownies as a super survival food.
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Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Day 9
Gary:
Last night as we were hurtling through hyperspace, I spent a bunch of time staring at the stars contemplating how we got to this point. We are now at our half way point distance wise but probably 2/3rds of the way time wise. Galapagos, Easter Island and Chile have always been on my bucket list but if you had asked me if we'd sail to all three places 10 years ago I would have said you were crazy. Many many people are still saying we are crazy even as we are doing it. In fact, I am currently writing this wondering WTF we were thinking...
While offshore, when you aren't complaining about the horrible seas, contrary winds or new bruise on your butt, you have time to think. There is no social media, TV or news to get caught up on. On watch all that exists is you, the boat and your thoughts. Im happy to say that after those 3 hours of words spinning around in my head nothing is any clearer. I didn't come up with the meaning of life, or a solution to world peace. I don't know what we were thinking in undertaking this journey but I am sure it will all become clear once we stop. At that point all the misery will quickly fade away leaving nothing but the amazing moments forever burned in my memory.
This deep thought moment was brought to you by extreme sleep depravation, fermented cabbage that we probably shouldn't have eaten and the letter K.
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Last night as we were hurtling through hyperspace, I spent a bunch of time staring at the stars contemplating how we got to this point. We are now at our half way point distance wise but probably 2/3rds of the way time wise. Galapagos, Easter Island and Chile have always been on my bucket list but if you had asked me if we'd sail to all three places 10 years ago I would have said you were crazy. Many many people are still saying we are crazy even as we are doing it. In fact, I am currently writing this wondering WTF we were thinking...
While offshore, when you aren't complaining about the horrible seas, contrary winds or new bruise on your butt, you have time to think. There is no social media, TV or news to get caught up on. On watch all that exists is you, the boat and your thoughts. Im happy to say that after those 3 hours of words spinning around in my head nothing is any clearer. I didn't come up with the meaning of life, or a solution to world peace. I don't know what we were thinking in undertaking this journey but I am sure it will all become clear once we stop. At that point all the misery will quickly fade away leaving nothing but the amazing moments forever burned in my memory.
This deep thought moment was brought to you by extreme sleep depravation, fermented cabbage that we probably shouldn't have eaten and the letter K.
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Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash To Easter Island - Day 8
Karina:
Ugggg. That pretty much describes it. Day 8 of living on a 15-20 degree heel. Probably 8 more to go. Good times. The seas have been pretty horrendous the last few days making for some pretty wild rides. We've had to change the old saying "one hand for the boat and one for yourself" to "two hands for the boat at all times". As you can imagine, this rule makes some things, like dressing, eating, cooking, using the loo, difficult. But, somehow we are managing. We are all perfecting how to survive what I've termed the "fling - throw". This is where the boat flings you in one direction, and then immediately throws you in the complete opposite direction. This happens quite often, but unfortunately is not predictable! It is keeping us on our toes. Yup, two hands for the boat...or more bruises... On the plus side, the wind has finally (!!!) swung around to the east and so we've been able to crack off to a close reach. It is still uncomfortable as the seas are now directly on the beam, but it is infinitely better than the boat taking air off every second wave and slamming down into the next, which has been our world for the last 3 days.
Gary assures us it will get better in 24 hours...
800 nm down, 1100 nm to go.
PS - the flying fish are very cool
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Ugggg. That pretty much describes it. Day 8 of living on a 15-20 degree heel. Probably 8 more to go. Good times. The seas have been pretty horrendous the last few days making for some pretty wild rides. We've had to change the old saying "one hand for the boat and one for yourself" to "two hands for the boat at all times". As you can imagine, this rule makes some things, like dressing, eating, cooking, using the loo, difficult. But, somehow we are managing. We are all perfecting how to survive what I've termed the "fling - throw". This is where the boat flings you in one direction, and then immediately throws you in the complete opposite direction. This happens quite often, but unfortunately is not predictable! It is keeping us on our toes. Yup, two hands for the boat...or more bruises... On the plus side, the wind has finally (!!!) swung around to the east and so we've been able to crack off to a close reach. It is still uncomfortable as the seas are now directly on the beam, but it is infinitely better than the boat taking air off every second wave and slamming down into the next, which has been our world for the last 3 days.
Gary assures us it will get better in 24 hours...
800 nm down, 1100 nm to go.
PS - the flying fish are very cool
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Monday, February 5, 2018
The roller coaster ride to Easter Island - Day 7
Nadine: This is my first blog post ever... I am currently taking a small break from prepping the peanut chickpea stew and naan bread for dinner. If you had asked me if I was going to be doing this type of thing at a break neck 6-8 knots of boat speed, and 15-20 degree boat heel, I probably would have laughed. Maybe I should have had that afternoon nap... but isn't it popcorn time???
Since we left the Galapagos, it's been an increasing crazy roller coaster ride. It makes almost all the other rides I have ever been on look tame. Way more suspenseful than space mountain where you cannot see what's next... the ocean has been throwing us curve balls left right and center. My bruised leg and butt can attest to the surprise when making contact with a hard surface. It's also quite a production to get around the boat...pretty much have to use both hands or skoot along the wall if it's available or else you are easily thrown around. Makes for interesting sleeping...
There is nothing like the absolutely amazing sun sets and rises, and skies full of stars. Yesterday the moon rise was especially appreciated. Would have been nice to have had that to help me to see the flying fish that almost landed in my lap earlier in the evening. My highlight over the past week was seeing a lone Bryde's whale on my early morning watch on day 2. It came to the then much calmer surface and took several breath by the boat before we sailed away. Maybe when the seas really do settle down as Gary keeps saying will happen in 24-36 hours, we shall see more of these lovely creatures.
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Since we left the Galapagos, it's been an increasing crazy roller coaster ride. It makes almost all the other rides I have ever been on look tame. Way more suspenseful than space mountain where you cannot see what's next... the ocean has been throwing us curve balls left right and center. My bruised leg and butt can attest to the surprise when making contact with a hard surface. It's also quite a production to get around the boat...pretty much have to use both hands or skoot along the wall if it's available or else you are easily thrown around. Makes for interesting sleeping...
There is nothing like the absolutely amazing sun sets and rises, and skies full of stars. Yesterday the moon rise was especially appreciated. Would have been nice to have had that to help me to see the flying fish that almost landed in my lap earlier in the evening. My highlight over the past week was seeing a lone Bryde's whale on my early morning watch on day 2. It came to the then much calmer surface and took several breath by the boat before we sailed away. Maybe when the seas really do settle down as Gary keeps saying will happen in 24-36 hours, we shall see more of these lovely creatures.
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Sunday, February 4, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Day 6
Gary:
Well its now been 6 days at a heal of 15 to 20 degrees. Progress has been pretty darn good. Yes we are having to pump the bilge pretty regularly to stay afloat and yes I've filled up my bucket with stuff other than salt water more than once but we are currently doing 7 knots in more or less the correct direction so life is OK.
Every few hours Karina and I have a private conference to make sure we are understanding each other when it comes to a comfortable boat. I have always felt that faster is better as good things do not come to those who wait. Karina is more inclined to the slower side of life. Somehow we come to a consensus and I go up on deck and put another reef in. The good news now is that there aren't any more reefs to put in so conflict has been minimal over the past few hours. Nadine has done an excellent job of making herself scarce during these lighthearted conversations. If you've ever been on our boat you will understand that this is pretty difficult to do.
Speaking of Nadine, she has also done an amazing job keeping Karina and I fed and the boat clean. Somehow she is unaffected by the heel and bouncy conditions and aside from being thoroughly bruised is somehow full of energy. I on the other hand wish I could be put in a body cast so my muscles would stop firing. A giant tub of jello might work just as well. MMMM jello.... I digress.
Elcie, a 60 foot catamaran that left the Galapagos a day after us is now ahead of us and in contact with us pretty regularly. Last night they reported coming out of the rough seas and being able to crack off and again tonight they reported they are enjoying fast reaching conditions in comfortable seas. This confirms what we can see on the gribs. 100 NM in front of us is a glorious patch of wind and seas that seems to be moving at exactly the same speed (or faster) as us. Having contact with Elcie every night feels like a kid looking through the window of a locked candy store. Maybe tomorrow night we will break through and life will be great.
1365 NM to go till our world might stop moving.
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Well its now been 6 days at a heal of 15 to 20 degrees. Progress has been pretty darn good. Yes we are having to pump the bilge pretty regularly to stay afloat and yes I've filled up my bucket with stuff other than salt water more than once but we are currently doing 7 knots in more or less the correct direction so life is OK.
Every few hours Karina and I have a private conference to make sure we are understanding each other when it comes to a comfortable boat. I have always felt that faster is better as good things do not come to those who wait. Karina is more inclined to the slower side of life. Somehow we come to a consensus and I go up on deck and put another reef in. The good news now is that there aren't any more reefs to put in so conflict has been minimal over the past few hours. Nadine has done an excellent job of making herself scarce during these lighthearted conversations. If you've ever been on our boat you will understand that this is pretty difficult to do.
Speaking of Nadine, she has also done an amazing job keeping Karina and I fed and the boat clean. Somehow she is unaffected by the heel and bouncy conditions and aside from being thoroughly bruised is somehow full of energy. I on the other hand wish I could be put in a body cast so my muscles would stop firing. A giant tub of jello might work just as well. MMMM jello.... I digress.
Elcie, a 60 foot catamaran that left the Galapagos a day after us is now ahead of us and in contact with us pretty regularly. Last night they reported coming out of the rough seas and being able to crack off and again tonight they reported they are enjoying fast reaching conditions in comfortable seas. This confirms what we can see on the gribs. 100 NM in front of us is a glorious patch of wind and seas that seems to be moving at exactly the same speed (or faster) as us. Having contact with Elcie every night feels like a kid looking through the window of a locked candy store. Maybe tomorrow night we will break through and life will be great.
1365 NM to go till our world might stop moving.
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Saturday, February 3, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Day 5
Karina: Day 5 started off much the way day 4 did, and I expect day 6 will as well. We are still beating into the wind and waves at 50 degrees off the wind. But we are making good progress towards Easter Island. According to Jimmy Cornell (the guru on when the best time to sail anywhere in the world is), we were to avoid the area between 3 and 8 degress south (latitude)and 90 and 95 degress west (longitude) as sailors typically report confused seas and squally conditions. Unfortunately there really is NO way to avoid this area when going from the Galapagos to Easter Island. You either have to sail directly east against the 2 knot humbolt current to the mainland coast, or you end up way to far west to easily get to Easter Island. So, we decided to go through it. We are now at 6 degrees 48 minutes south and 93 degress 35 minutes west. So right in the middle of this area. We can now confirm that yes, this are does indeed have big, confused seas and squally conditions.
Yesterday we learned how to make the boat bit more comfortable (ie, reefing etc) and so it is tolerable, even for me. With the reefs in the main and genoa we are galloping across the ocean between 5 and 6 knots. Without the reefs we tend to do 7 or 8 knots and that becomes intolerable... 6 knots is much better. Even the captain agrees, although he just came down to complain about the reef in the main - we are still doing 6 knots...
Today was a special day as we hove-to (ie, for those non-sailors reading, that means you basically stop the boat in a comfortable position) to charge the batteries, make water, and most importantly, to shower!! Yup, it was very very exciting for all of us on Sea Rover. We almost feel human again.
We are all adjusting to living in 3 hour increments. We are rotating through 3 hour watches, so everyone does a 3 hour watch, then has 6 hours off to sleep, stare off into space, stare off into the ocean, etc. Repeat 3 times a day. Gary had a bit of a stomach bug (or sea sickness) and I've been struggling a bit down below so Nadine has been looking after us. We've nicknamed her "Cinderella" as she is doing all the cooking and cleaning while we lie down and give helpful orders and advice. I don't know what we would have done without her on this leg - we certainly would've been a lot hungrier! She is in the kitchen now preparing our dinner... It's wonderful. I'm starting to get my sea legs (yup, day 5) and so hopefully I'll be able to share the cooking a cleaning duties tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
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Yesterday we learned how to make the boat bit more comfortable (ie, reefing etc) and so it is tolerable, even for me. With the reefs in the main and genoa we are galloping across the ocean between 5 and 6 knots. Without the reefs we tend to do 7 or 8 knots and that becomes intolerable... 6 knots is much better. Even the captain agrees, although he just came down to complain about the reef in the main - we are still doing 6 knots...
Today was a special day as we hove-to (ie, for those non-sailors reading, that means you basically stop the boat in a comfortable position) to charge the batteries, make water, and most importantly, to shower!! Yup, it was very very exciting for all of us on Sea Rover. We almost feel human again.
We are all adjusting to living in 3 hour increments. We are rotating through 3 hour watches, so everyone does a 3 hour watch, then has 6 hours off to sleep, stare off into space, stare off into the ocean, etc. Repeat 3 times a day. Gary had a bit of a stomach bug (or sea sickness) and I've been struggling a bit down below so Nadine has been looking after us. We've nicknamed her "Cinderella" as she is doing all the cooking and cleaning while we lie down and give helpful orders and advice. I don't know what we would have done without her on this leg - we certainly would've been a lot hungrier! She is in the kitchen now preparing our dinner... It's wonderful. I'm starting to get my sea legs (yup, day 5) and so hopefully I'll be able to share the cooking a cleaning duties tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
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Friday, February 2, 2018
Leg 2 - The Bash to Easter Island - Days 1-4
Here we are on day 4 of our many day passage to Easter Island. Despite picking a "good" weather window to leave we have been beating our way through huge seas for the last 4 days. While there are lovely easterly winds about 100nm south of us, we are stuck in sucky southerlies. Not helpful when you are trying to go south. This morning we had to crack off to between close hauled and a close reef to give us a bit of relief. The boat and crew are taking a pounding. It looks like we have a few more days of this so I expect blog posts will be few and far between. At least until the boat and crew get some relief from the pounding and heal. Thankfully Nadine is immune to the bashing and can work down below, so she is keeping us well fed. Hopefully at some point we'll be able to start doing our share...
Overall, all is well. More in a day or two. This is my limit for being upright while down below...
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Overall, all is well. More in a day or two. This is my limit for being upright while down below...
----------
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