July 31, 2010 Impressions and A Light in the Distance

Leaving the dock in Hawaii with my family and friends was hard. To be heading out into the solitude of the ocean for 15 to 20 days.

I ate a sandwich on the way out the channel, but that didn't last long once we were in the seas with the sails up. The first 3 days were pretty bad with lack of initiative from the seasickness. Fortunately our sail combination of a reefed main and the 110% jib has been pretty robust.


Almost got run over one of those nights:
I noticed a small light off in the East. A while later it was getting bigger. I shined a light in their general direction, no response. A bit later, it was getting brighter. I shined my light in that direction, and on my sail to try to help make sure they could see us. It was a big light. I am thinking it might be a big container ship, or maybe a war ship. The next time I looked, the light had risen to the clouds to follow the lunar path. We almost got run over by the moon.

What do you think of from 2AM to 6 AM?
2000 miles divided 5 knots of VMG is 400 hours, divided by 24 hours is approximately 16 days.
2000 miles divided 6 knots of VMG is 333 hours, divided by 24 hours is approximately 13 days.
2000 miles divided 7 knots of VMG is 300 hours, divided by 24 hours is approximately 12 days.
2000 miles divided 4 knots of VMG is 500 hours, divided by 24 hours is approximately 21 days. (Ugh!)

We have been keeping VMG above 5, so hopefully we will get there in 16 to 18 days. VMG is starting to drop as we are headed more North these days. Occasionally we can't get any East direction, but not for long.

At today's check in, we are at:
28 00 x 157 36
1670 miles to go.
Wind is 14 knots out of 060 degrees.
Our heading is 010
Speed is about 6 knots. 4.5 VMG

Some of the other boats have reported returning to Hawaii because of fuel injectors leaking into the bilge.
Another boat is getting a battery delivered. That was attempted this AM, we will find out if it was successful during the radio net. They say they are reporting returning boats positions at the Pacific Cup web site.

On Spellbound we have had a few issues:
The battery had a low voltage cut out at -110 AH. Previous low voltage cut out was at -145 AH. I suspect there may be an issue with one of the MiniBMS modules, and have removed the suspected module. Hopefully that will help with the battery.
The valve we replaced as the waste selector is leaking. I have not had the resolve to work on that. I wonder if it needed grease installed before installation...

The GPS quit working. The connector to the antenna came apart. I was able to screw that back together, and that is working again.


SO A STRING WALKS ONTO MY BOAT
And asks if he can drive. I say sure. The string drives straighter and faster than I do. Unfortunately, string doesn't do so well when the wind changes direction and velocity during a squall. And at the same time the apparent wind indicator fell off, and we lost the top batten (again).

Over all, we are moving the boat, and counting down the miles to SF. We are also figuring out how and what to eat. The Manderin oranges are a big hit, being refreshing and tasty.

Thanks,
Bob