Category: Passages

Rough Passage

We left Maupiti en route to Penrhyn in the Cook Islands on a beautiful day with perfect wind. Penrhyn is northwest of Maupiti and the eastern trade winds put the wind just aft of the beam. If the wind stayed this way the whole passage, we were in for an easy, fast, four day sail.

We got into passage mode pretty quickly, alternating our shifts overnight. We had consistent wind and hardly any squalls. I had pre-made food that made dinners easy to prepare. And, our average boat speed was pretty good for this old boat. It had all the makings of a great passage.

That all changed after a couple of days. As I was on watch, suddenly the mainsail came sliding down the mast and I hollered out to Mike as loud as I could to wake him up. We had lost the main halyard. (For non-sailors, that is the line that is used to raise our mainsail.) Mike came out and looked at me like I must have been joking until he turned around and saw the sail falling off the boom and onto the deck. I think there were a few expletives coming out of his mouth at that point.

A month earlier back in Tahiti we had noticed some chaff on the line just above where the line attaches to the sail. Mike went up the mast and thought he could see where it was chaffing at the top of the mast and came up with what he thought would fix the problem. At this point we realized that it didn’t work. We didn’t have a way to run another main halyard while at sea. In order to do that, Mike would have to climb to the top of the mast and figure out a way to run a line inside the mast that I could fish out of a hole toward the bottom. We had close to 20 kts of wind and at least a 2 meter swell that would make that impossible to do here.

We started brainstorming what we could do to try and use our mainsail. If we couldn’t use the sail, we would be sailing with just our jib which would slow us down at least a day and make it a rolly, uncomfortable ride. We have a spinnaker halyard that comes off the top of the mast, but the front of the mast, not the rear like the main halyard. Mike decided we could try and use that, but he would have to go up the mast to the spreaders to move it. I watched below helping hold the line while he put his harness on and climbed up the mast in the rolling, pitching sea.

Because the line came out the mast at the front and would have to wrap around to the rear, we weren’t going to be able to pull the mainsail to its full height. So, we got it up to the second reef point and turned back toward Penrhyn.

A day later the winds started to back off, and with our reefed mainsail we just weren’t getting enough speed. We wanted to make it to Penrhyn in daylight on Thursday. If we didn’t make it in before the sun was down, we would have to wait at sea overnight to go in through the pass on Friday morning. We were both pretty motivated to get there at this point.

Mike looked at the spinnaker halyard and thought we might be able to get the sail up to the first reef point, which would get us more sail and help us move a bit faster. We turned up into the wind and raised the sail, tightening down the first reef line. When we had turned back the direction we needed to go, we realized the foot of the sail looked a bit baggy. We don’t use the first reef point very often and decided the car needed to be moved back a bit to get a better sail shape. To get the most power out of your sail, you’ve got to have the shape of the sail right.

So, a plan was made to turn back up into the wind, release the reef line, move the car back, re-reef and then head back in the right direction. When we reef the mainsail on Adagio, we have to tie the excess sail down to the boom so it doesn’t hang down on the deck. When we turned back into the wind to fix the baggy foot of the sail, Mike released the reef line before taking the sail ties off the excess sail being held down to the boom. This was a big no-no as immediately two large tears opened up in our mainsail.

Mike realized his mistake immediately. He knows better, but mistakes can happen when you’re trying to do a bunch of things at once on a moving, rolling boat. We both screamed out when it happened, a bit in shock. Our sails are only a little over three years old and to rip big tears in them is a bit heartbreaking. Feeling a bit dejected, we put the mainsail back at the second reef point and headed toward Penrhyn.

Now, were were really ready to get there, both of us in a bit of a foul mood about the passage. We headed more up wind to try and get more speed and made it to Penrhyn just before sundown on Thursday. Luckily, after we arrived in Penrhyn, we had numerous friends offer to help us with the repairs. The main halyard was easily rerun through the mast, and we had friends on other boats willing to give us sail cloth to repair the tears in the sail.

Locals in one of the villages gave us a big, covered space we could spread the sail out to repair it. Two of our friends from other boats, Ken and Tuomo had experience repairing sails. Tuomo even worked for a sail maker in Finland. We lugged our sewing machine, sail and generator to shore and four of us worked for several hours to patch and sew the sail. I never thought I’d be sitting on a dirt floor with my sewing machine on the ground, sitting sideways so one foot could work the pedal, and be sewing a giant sail! It took all four of us to work the sail through the machine, but afterwards our sail looked good as new. The patches are hardly noticeable and really strong. Afterward, we all celebrated back on Adagio with a cold beer. Whew! Time to have some fun!

~katie

Provisions, Provisions…

How do you buy enough food and supplies for two people of at least a month? This has been our recent challenge as we prepare to head across the Pacific from Ecuador to the Marquesas on what will be our longest passage by far. We’re estimating the crossing will take us 25-30 days at sea. As we’ve learned from previous passages, your body is always working even if you don’t realize it. So, getting lots of calories and good nutrients is essential. On top of that, we’ve been reading up on what items are difficult or impossible to find or extremely expensive in French Polynesia, so we have to stock up on those items as well. For example, apparently it is difficult to find peanut butter, and mayonnaise and honey are really expensive. Who knew?

Our boat was pretty empty of food when we started. When we pulled the boat out of the water in October, we pulled all food out to either eat it or toss if it was old. That means, we didn’t even have dry/canned food or condiments and had to start over. We also need to stock up on things like shampoo and toothpaste.

Going to the store is quite a process. There’s a store about a mile from the Marina we can walk to. But, to get it back to the boat, we take a $2 taxi ride. Then we have to haul all the bags down the ramp to the boat, get them inside and find a place to store everything. We didn’t want to be too overwhelmed by the shopping, so we decided once a cart was completely full, we were done shopping for the day. We’ve done about 4 runs and have one left to go for all our fresh fruits and veggies.

Not even half of it…

We are always worried about bugs on the boat (especially cucarachas, yuck!) that can come in the groceries. We dispose of all cardboard packaging immediately. I rinse banana stalks and pineapples in salt water. And, I take each can, write the contents in a sharpie on top, remove the label and rinse in water with bleach. Apparently bugs like to lay eggs in the glue that holds the labels on. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

On our last passage, i also premade a bunch of dinners and froze them which were perfect to easily heat up when we encountered rough weather and it was difficult to b in the galley for very long. I did the same this time. I spent the last few days cooking chili, pasta with meat sauce, red curry beef stew, and chicken veggie quinoa. I can get 2-3 dinners out of each. We also frozen chicken, pork chops, etc. that we can cook while underway. And, hopefully we will catch some fish! If we run out of fresh items, we now have enough canned and dried food to feed an army!

Our preparations for the Pacific crossing haven’t just been about food. The boat went back in the water about a month ago with fresh bottom paint, and since then we have been ticking off a laundry list of boat maintenance items. Most were just little items, but we did replace the lower shrouds. We also checked all the sails and halyards for wear and chafe, but everything looked good. There is definitely peace of mind in checking that everything is in good order!

Adagio going back in the water…

We have had a little fun this month in addition to all the hard work. We’re planning to go to the Tuamotus this year, where one of the fun activities you can do (because of the consistent wind) is kitesurfing! But, neither of us have been kitesurfing before or have gear. We started searching online and found out that there is kitesurfing in Ecuador in a beach town called Santa Marianita where they have kitesurfing schools. Unfortunately the windy season was over, so there was no more kitesurfing until May. But, one of the instructors we found, Javier, had used gear for sale that was only a year or so old. They buy new gear for their students each year and were happy to unload last year’s kites that were still in good shape. Javier even offered to let us stay at his house for free.

So, Mike, Dan, Amy and I hopped on a 4 hr bus ride to go learn about kitesurfing. The town was getting ready for Carnival, so there were lots of people at the beach and preparations for the party. Even though there wasn’t enough wind to learn how to kitesurf in the water, Javier gave us some technical lessons on the sand. Now, we’re just going to have to find someone in the Tuamotus to really teach us how to get up using our new kitesurfing gear!

We got back to Salinas just in time for Carnival. Monday and Tuesday leading up to Ash Wednesday are holidays here, so everyone was at the beach during the day. We headed into town Tuesday night to have dinner and see the craziness. The young people have some pretty hilarious traditions for Carnival. Everyone has water squirt guns and cans of spray foam. Kids sit in the back of pickups and spray people walking on the sidewalk as you walk by. And, some people take paint and run up to you smearing it all over your face.

Amy and I both got smudged with paint by random people on the street. We started running from the people with spray foam cans, but Dan had his own spray foam and started instigating spray foam attacks. At one point we were sitting ducks in the back of a taxi with the window down and got drenched in foam. Thanks, Dan…

So, I think we’re ready to go! The officials are coming to check us out tomorrow. We’ll likely leave Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. We plan to update our Facebook page during the crossing with tweets via sat phone. We will be checking in at least once a day if you want to follow our progress. And, I will plan to do more substantial updates on the blog a few times during the crossing. Other than the sat phone, we would be able to respond to anyone until we reach Nuku Hiva. Wish us luck!

Katie

Passage to Ecuador – Part 4

34 miles to go…

We’re almost there! I know we must sound nuts after my last couple of posts. We do the best we can to plan given all of the weather information we can acquire, but the ocean can still be a formidable opponent that does not bend to the will of men in sailboats!

I woke up yesterday morning just before dawn to the sound of our engine starting. My watch started at 6am, so it must have been around 5:30. After finally rousing myself from what must have been a dead sleep, I came out in the cockpit to find the ocean transformed. Gone were the towering swells, and the wind had stopped howling. Had Mike not started the engine, we would probably have been bobbing around in the calm for quite some time.

We had purposely reserved enough fuel so that we had almost 2 full days we could motor if need be. If we could maintain a speed between 5-6 kts, we could make it into port Saturday afternoon before sunset.

As morning turned into afternoon we realized we were finally approaching the equator. Crossing the equator in a boat is a rite of passage among sailors. You go from pollywog to shellback. I’d say we are earned our shellback status on this passage.

Many of our friends who have made the equator crossing have done elaborate rituals, dressed in costumes, made up a song or dance, and given their tribute to Neptune. After the last week at sea, I can’t say that we really had the energy to be that creative. But, we did want to take note of this special and unique experience. You only cross the equator for the first time once in your life. So, we wrapped some bandanas around our heads, pulled out the favorite rum, gave a tribute to Neptune and celebrated our new shellback status.

We motor sailed through the night taking advantage of what light winds there were the get some lift and improve our speed. As we began to get closer to the coast, we’ve had to watch out for local fishing traffic. This morning a panga approached us as I was on watch. They wanted something to drink and cigarettes. We gave them juice, but they were a little disappointed that we don’t smoke. They had probably been on the water all night. Four hardy and rough looking guys in a little panga. These guys seriously work had to make out a living fishing.

We’re excited to arrive at our new destination, and I will be very happy to get the boat cleaned up. Every set of sheets and towels and most of our clothes need to be washed. Anything that got salt on it needs to be washed. And then, we are going to start making arrangements to pull the boat out of the water to do the serious work. Another chapter will have begun in our adventure…

Katie

Passage to Ecuador – Part 3

227 miles to go…

The last two days have been really rough. We expected an increase in wind on Wednesday, but the forecasts looked like we would be south of the strongest winds and wouldn’t see over 20-25 kts. Weatherman total fail.

Starting Tuesday afternoon the winds started blowing 40 kts out of nowhere. The already big seas built to at least 20 feet with short periods creating some really steep waves. Those are not conditions a sailboat ever wants to see. And, it lasted for 36 hrs!

We shortened sail as much as we could with a triple reef in the main and just a tiny bit of the jib out. That was enough to keep the boat balanced and stable, let the Hydrovane steer, and keep us from being tossed around in the waves like a toy. We were moving southeast at 2 kts, which was the only direction we could sail. We hunkered down in the cabin to wait it out, not knowing how long it would last.

Thank God we had the Hydrovane, because hand steering through those waves would have been exhausting. Most of the time we would go up and over the swell, but occasionally we would get broad sided by a wave, or bury the nose in a wave, or rise up over a wave and slam down in the trough on the other side. One time I was in the cockpit and saw a wall of water coming out of the corner of my eye that just pooped the cockpit drenching me and leaving a pool in the cockpit that took several minutes to drain. We also discovered that our hatch over the salon table, which doesn’t usually leak, is not waterproof when it is buried by a wave. We ended up with water raining down in the salon.

We’re exhausted and every muscle in our bodies is sore. It takes considerable effort just to stand and not get tossed around. We’ve both fallen a couple of times. This is one of those times that we don’t go out without the life vests and harnesses on. But, through it all we are still maintaining good spirits and trying not to let frustration take hold. I think we’re doing everything we can given the circumstances.

Finally at 6 am this morning the wind started to back off to a more manageable 15-20 kts. The seas are still a mess but not quite as big. We were finally able to tack to head more westerly, as we were getting pushed east toward the Colombia and Ecuador border. We still need to make it around the point at Esmeraldas.

We’re still hoping for a Saturday arrival, but it really depends on what happens with the weather. We are both looking forward to a long shower and cold drink. At least we will have a story to tell about this one…

Katie

Passage to Ecuador – Part 2

309 miles to go…

My fingers are pruned and I have wet curls stuck to my forehead. Not a good look. It has been raining for over 48 hours and no amount of foul weather gear or raincoats can keep us dry. Everything in the boat is wet.

But, we are making some slow progress. We’ve been running the engine sparingly and sailing when we can. We’ve had to tack quite a bit to get us to our destination, rather than sail a straight line, which is adding some miles. Still slogging through the big swells which is also keeping the pace down. I’d say we’re averaging around 4 or 4.5 kts. That’s not going to win any races but we’ll get there eventually.

We’re a bit tired of being wet though, so I’m really hoping the rain lets up by tomorrow. We’re trying to have a sense of humor about it and have commented that we are not going to soon forget this trip!

Despite the rain, the wind has generally been in the 15-20 kts range. We had a few hours yesterday with hardly any wind, and then had some squalls bring us some brief 30+ kts to add to the excitement and keep us on our toes.

Yesterday afternoon I was on watch and motor-sailing in about 5 kts of wind with some light rain. We use the electric autopilot when we motor, but it tends to over correct when we hit big swells making it very noisy and annoying. So, I was hand steering the boat when suddenly the wind went from 5 to over 30 kts. And, the rain started coming down in buckets pelting me in the face. I even put my sunglasses on at one point to try and keep the rain out of my eyes. There wasn’t much we could do sailwise. We only had the double reefed main up and were basically dead into the wind. Mike was sleeping, so I just plowed through it for a few hours.

Of course the wind and rain backed off right before Mike got up. He popped up in the companionway to ask me how it was going. I must have looked like a drowned rat because he offered to heat up dinner for me. I peeled my soggy clothes off and shivering finally realized how cold I was. Despite the fact that my foul weather pants and jacket are supposed to be waterproof, I was soaked through to my underwear. Mike had heated up a bowl of hot chili for me which tasted awesome and warmed me up immensely.

As I was standing at the sink washing my chili bowl, I realized how tired my legs were. I felt like I had been doing squats for the last 4 hours, which I basically had while standing at the helm trying to stand upright and steer us through that mess. I crashed for the next 4 hours which was the first solid block of sleep I’d had in 3 days.

There have been some funny moments the last couple of days. One night, just as I was about to crawl into bed leaving Mike on watch in the rain, I heard him yelp. I jumped up to see what happened and found him holding a flying fish which had flown up onto the boat and wacked Mike in the arm. Stowaway.

We’re keeping an eye on the weather, but we are more than half way there. We will just have to deal with whatever Mother Nature decides to throw our way. I might sleep for a week when we get there though…

Will keep you posted.
Katie

Passage to Ecuador – Part 1

547 miles to go…

I’m laying in my bunk writing this as I have wedged myself in diagonally to keep from falling out of bed with each swell we go over. We have had an eventful last 24 hours.

We left Panama City Friday morning to head directly West to Vista Mar to fill up on fuel and water. We decided to spend Friday night at the dock as we poured over the various weather forecasts we had downloaded. The predictions were that the next few days were going to be a bit rough with winds in the 20’s and large seas. But, the conditions were going to get worse near the Panamanian coast later in the week with winds over 35 kts! So, we had a choice to make. Either we left now and tried to get as far south as possible as quickly as possible to avoid the coming weather, or we wait out the winds and seas in Panama for at least another week. After much discussion, we decided to go. If it got too rough, we could always turn around and run back. It is a lot easier to handle the wind and seas if they are from behind, which is what would happen if we had to turn around.

We left Vista Mar Saturday morning to head south toward Punta Mala. The wind was almost directly on the nose with confused seas. Because we knew we had to get south and outside Punta Mala, we decided to motor-sail for 12 hours and just bash through the seas. We finally cut the engine south of Punta Mala. We had roughly 20 kts of wind as projected. The wind was not an issue, but the big swells kept slowing us down as the bow of the boat continuously buried in the waves. Unfortunately, that meant a great deal of seawater was getting into the anchor locker and down into the bilge. Our dutiful bilge pump kept kicking on to pump it out.

Adagio has handled the wind and seas beautifully. We have a double reef in the main, the staysail is out and just a piece of the jib. With the boat balanced properly, the Hydrovane is steering easily, and we are making a lot of southward progress. Although the boat sails just fine, it is definitely a bumpy ride! Just getting up and down the companionway stairs is a challenge. And, if you need to use the toilet, you better hang on! So, needless to say, neither of us have had too much sleep. I’ve been eating a lot of ginger to keep from being too queasy.

This morning has been much of the same with the occasional squall coming through. At least the rain and clouds are keeping things pretty cool on the boat. We did have some other excitement today. Mike had one trolling line out in his continued quest to catch a yellowfin tuna. The line screamed out and we knew we had a big fish. Mike saw the fish jump and thought it was a marlin. We worried for a moment that we were going to get spooled. But, Mike worked hard to get the fish up to the boat. It wasn’t a marlin, but we’re not sure what it was. It looked like a sailfish but with a short bill, not a long one like a marlin. It was brownish in color but had purple vertical stripes on it.  We let the fish go, and I told Mike he was done fishing for the day. It is way to rough to be dealing with a fish.

What the heck is this fish???

The new forecast today looks a bit better than what we saw on Friday. It looks like if we get through the next 24 hrs of rough conditions, we should be far enough south that things will start to smooth out. Let’s hope so!

Will keep you posted.
Katie