Broken out of the ITCZ zone at 10N after two days of harsh relentless squall's & heavy rain, now heading 300M straight for Hilo bay on big Island Hawaii, clear blue sky, 17 knots on a beam reach.. perfect sailing conditions.. presently being escorted by a group of dolphins..
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heading 342M.. amazing cloud formations & the wind has moved round to the south, expecting the wind to fall away around N7 to N10.. still on schedule.
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We crossed the equator at 141 53 209W.. & that make Simon a "Shellback!!" now heading NW & we've covered exactly 715 mile's to date!! Presently to lining up for the ITZ zone (convergence zone) which starts at around N7 to N11 ( which we should hit in 24 hours), unfortunately it's become "active" (that's not very attractive), since our departure on the 16th.. so we're being very cautious in finding the exact entrance to weave through the condensed Low's -(lightning & squall's).. However the weather to date has been amazing - Clear sunny sky's good SE trades, occasional squall at night.. but fast sailing, we've found two other 45' sloop's out ( Soggy Paws & Infini) here both are behind us at around 50 miles & 75 miles but we all speak on the radio every morning & evening checking each other progress & weather..both boats seem incredibility nice company out here & are also heading home to Hawaii from FP..
after crossing the equator the winds have lightened to around 10 knots,from ESE, the pressure is still stable & high
we expect to arrive in Hawaii (big Island) on or around 1st Oct, IF Apple (dog) is cleared, which she should be within the next few days as we've sent all here papers well in advance.. Finally I have my sat phone doing all our e-mails so the SSB has become a back-up which is amazing.. we're all really well, Simon has acclimated into the ocean very well & is now at the helm.. we're all doing 3 hour watches & Veronica has become a fully accomplished sailor who decides the watches & can now run apple (yacht ) single handed!! I think the anti-Cyclone really gave her confidence in her ability to control the whole situation.. we now preparing for the ITZ zone.. weather in the North Pacific after the ITZ looks good, so hopefully make good ground..
not really sure how long it'll be in Hawaii or whether it'll continue through to San Francisco in Oct..
"RICK" LIMERICK..Are you in Hawaii? BIG ISLAND?? if so sat text me !!..
CREW WANTED>>> Anyone want to crew Hawaii to Los Angeles? sat text me.. sat number is this site..
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Fakarava to Nuka Hiva, WHAT a complete nightmare, we always knew this 700 mile crossing was going to be a challenge, but nothing prepared us for the 5 day battle we unwittingly undertook... I'd checked the weather everyday for two week's in advance, looking for a shift in the SE trade winds, the SE trade winds actually blow from NE which was our heading, however at certain time's the wind shift's East to South east & this would allow us the opportunity to set sail NE for the Marquesas....
finally after 11 days we got the wind shift we'd been waiting for...
so we pulled anchor & set sail... hoping to arrive within 5 days of our departure, unfortunately unbeknown to us, or the local weather reports, an anti-cyclone was developing NE of the Marquesas.. on top of this, our wind shift, flipped back after only 24 hours of our departure, & now this huge high pressure that was heading our way.. on the second day we were literally bashing into 4M waves breaking over our bow... the winds raised from 20 to 33knots NE.. straight on our nose..during the escalating intensity of the situation on day 3 & totally confused with the weather system, I satellite phoned a weather router in Hawaii & it was then we were told what had happened!!
His advise was to run with the waves, which would take us NW literally 100's of miles out of our way.. Veronica & myself were exhausted So I put Apple to heave Too ( stall the yacht beam- on to the breaking waves) a technique that has worked for hundreds of years & allow time to rest during storm situations.. However after 5 hour of heaving too, the waves grew so high that we were in fear of a capsize..& thus Veronica & self began a none stop up mountain battle hand steering every inch for 36 hour with no sleep, no food.. fighting for every inch of ocean up the ever mounting sea's.. Veronica was incredibly brave & took the helm every consecutive 2 hours enabling me to rest from the fatigue...
We finally made in to Nuka Hiva, where we've been resting & preparing for the next leg,,
Simon a close friend has now joined us & we're presently on route to Hawaii, Simon first pacific crossing.. were now preparing to cross the ITZ zone where we might encounter a little thunder..
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