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October 30th, 2010: Notes from the first mate:
It's been a while since I wrote anything on this page, We arrived in Washington after 18 1/2 days at sea. It was a tough crossing with either to much wind or not enough. Adelia did very well although there were a few times during the passage I was ready to sell her, but that thought quickly vanished as soon as we reached land. See the attached slideshow for events of our crossing. It takes me weeks to get over those long crossings and between getting Adelia ready to pull out of the water and ourselves ready to leave, left me with very little time to get any writting done. We stopped in Vancouver for a few days then headed towards Alberta for Moms' 80th birthday party. We had a great trip, visited with a lot of my family and friends, stopped in Calgary to attend Geralds' 1rst year Anniversary party at his Dance Energy Studio . We headed south to Ventura then went on to Sun City West to Kip's parents house where we will be staying until after Thanksgiving. We will be moving back to Ventura early December where I will be working for Paradise Chevrolet selling cars.
August 24th, 2009: Departure Port: Oahu Island , 06:30 Aug 3rd, 2010
Port O' call: Neah Bay, Washington 15:30 August 22nd, 2010
Trip:2800 nm / Wind speeds 5 to 30+ / Temp 86 to 65 / Water 84 to 62
The planned route was to head straight north from Oahu to Latitude 40-45, depending on the weather, to make the turn toward the Washington Straight of Juan De Fuca. I anticipated calm weather during our trip but not as early as we encountered a few days within the first 1000 miles. After that the wind picked up and checking the weather, we were heading for a squash zone between 2 high pressure systems. We altered our planned course riding the fringe of the system that saw continuous winds of over 30kts. During that few days we lost our wind instruments and wind generator. Adelia hit speeds of 10kts even though reefed down. We also had our reefed genoa tear with a loud bang which we furled up and used the staysail. The uncomfortable days soon passed and we soon had the spinnaker flying, trying to catch any wind that came along. We monitored our fuel and made it through the high pressure system off the coast of Oregon and Washington with very little wind, to reach the Straight of Juan De Fuca and the fishing port of Neah Bay.
August 3rd, 2010: Notes from the first mate:
After spending a year here on Oahu Hawaii it's time to make a move. We are leaving for Anacortes Washington August 4th. We expect the crossing to take up to 18 days and should be a good one. We've had a great time here, sold a few yachts, while we enjoyed working for Jeannie at Ala Wai Yacht Brokerage . We also enjoyed touring around the island with all our visitors, doing some great snorkeling with some great sea life (see the slide show). We also had an opportunity to take a day trip with our friends Jon & Kathy on a US War Ship the USS Chafee with Commander Heedong Choi & Lt. Sean Nuila who showed us a great time. (see the slide show) . Our first stop on the Chafee was the Ward room which very few people get to see. Commander Choi was very interested in our sailing adventure. It was quite an honor to be on the ship and get to see every part of her. As a thank you we had both of them and their wives join us on Adelia for a day sail. We are now looking forward to spending some time off Adelia and spending with our family and friends. There will be more information and pictures of Hawaii later.
August 30th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
We moved Adelia to the Ko Olina Resort and Marina where she will be docked until we depart for the mainland next year. We're looking forward to exploring Oahu along with some of the other islands. We are enjoying the weather and having a lot of choices of swimming spots within walking distance. The grocery shopping as well as all the major department stores is within five miles, a nice bike ride. We found a great public cove near here where we can swim with the turtles and watch them eat the algae on rocks close to shore. I will let you all know when I post more pictures.
August 15th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
What a thrill to have Adelia back in the United States. Arriving on a Saturday after hours made it a little difficult to enter the country. After many phone calls we received verbal clearance from the Airport Customs Officer and with the help of our friend Terry on Southwind III we got a spot at the Waikiki Yacht Club where we spent two weeks. The Champagne tasted really good and it was time to give Adelia and crew some well needed rest. Monday morning we called Customs who sent two Officers to give us our clearance.
August 9th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
The passage was definitely tough, too rocky for fishing, I was sure happy to have enough prepared dished in the freezer for the days cooking was useless. We did celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary on the 6th with sprite in a wine glass and a short dance to our wedding song "I cross my Heart by George Strait". The short break at Christmas Island was well worth it. Adelia got some TLC and the crew got some well needed rest. It was very refreshing to be able to jump off Adelia into crystal clear water . Christmas Island is a lot bigger than we thought with only two villages located at each end of the island. There wasn't much to see, it is a low lying atoll with plenty of coconut trees. The Islanders are very different from the other Islands we visited, they are not very friendly so no one bothered us at all. We called some fisherman which were putting out nets close to Adelia and Kip gave them some chips and a couple of fishing tools.
August 1rst, 2009: Departure Port: Christmas Island, Kiribati 06:30 Aug 1rst, 2009
Port O' call: Honolulu, Hawaii 16:00 August 9th, 2009
Trip:1216 nm / Wind speeds 15 to 30+ / Temp 86 / Water 84
Dolphins swam in the bay as we prepared to leave. Adelia took off at a speed of over nine kts. at times. Our first few days out was great sailing at top speeds and very comfortable. All that changed changed as we approached the ITCZ ( Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) to squalls all around with calm in the middle until we sailed into what remained of the tropical storm Lana. There was no slowing down as we hurried to keep ahead of Hurricane Felicia which was developing to the south east of us. We are very excited to arrive in Hawaii after a long rough passage.
July 29th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
The start of our crossing to Hawaii was difficult for me, I didn't get much sleep the first few days. Paul & I were excited when Captain Kip decided to make a stop at Christmas Island which is half way to Honolulu. Averaging 6.5 kts sailing most of the way made the trip quite fast. Fishing was pretty much out of the question except for the last day. No luck this time. Seeing the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper in the same sky while close to the Equator is an experience we won't forget. We celebrated our crossing of the equator with a bottle of apple cider which traveled with us the last three years. No wonder it was flat so half of it went to the fish. Christmas Island is a very remote Island, although there are over 7000 people on the Island there is not much for supplies. We did however get some fuel which was a good reason to stop here.
July 20th 2009: Departure Port: Pago Pago American Samoa 11:10 July 20th, 2009
Port O'call: Christmas Island Kiribati 11:00 July 29th, 2009
Trip:1401 nm / Wind speeds 20 to 33 gusts over 40/ Temp 84 / Water 88
After pulling up the two anchors which held very well, we motored out of the bay to the east side of the island. Heading strait east, motor sailing in very light winds for the next two days gave us the easting we needed to make our way to Christmas Island which is part of the Kiribati Island group. We saw a lot of fish boiling along with a quick glimpse at a whale which breached on Adelia's port side, then quickly disappeared. Our celebration crossing the equator a 6:45 pm July 27th. was cut short by strong winds and a large dump of rain. After nine days at sea Christmas Island appeared. We dropped anchor in 30 feet of water next to several large fishing boats.
July 18th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
As we prepare to leave American Samoa, I'm a little sad to think that we're leaving the South Pacific for good. Although I'm happy to be going to Hawaii and be closer to home the South Pacific is truly a sailors paradise. We've enjoyed it a lot and found all the Islands and Islanders to be very welcoming and friendly. It's time for our next adventure. We've done all the provisioning here in Pago Pago for the crossing to Hawaii. It's nice to find American products again. We are certainly spoiled in the US and Canada when it comes to grocery stores. Although we're not looking forward to the long passage to Hawaii we're ready to go. With my brother Paul on board to help and a freezer full of casseroles it's going to be a good crossing.
July 10th 2009: Departure Port: Neiafu, Va'vau, Tonga 09:00 July 08th, 2009
Port O'call: Pago Pago American Samoa 12:00 July 09th, 2009
Trip:366 nm / Wind speeds 15 to 35 / Temp 82 / Water 84
We had another fast sail to Pago Pago. We motored out of the Va'vau Island group and once past the last Island we set the sails and sailed all the way to the mouth of the Pago Pago Harbor in American Samoa. We had rough seas at times and a quite a few rain showers with winds of 30kts as we approached. Passing the International Date Line we gained a day and we are now the same as the U.S. Once in Pago Pago Harbor we hailed the Port Authority and were told to tie up to the new dock which wasn't finished last time we were here. I went to the Customs Office and cleared in the usual way. We spent the night on the quay and the next day anchored with 2 anchors off the bow as we have had problems holding in this bay.
June 24th 2009: Departure Port: Nukualofa, Tongatapu, Tonga 10:00 June 06th, 2009
Port O'call: Neiafu, Va'vau, Tonga 12:00 June 07th, 2009
Trip:181 nm / Wind speeds 15 to 35 / Temp 80 / Water 82
After clearing out of the Port and Customs and stowing the two anchors and lines we had out we were on our way with brisk winds. It was a fast sail but very uncomfortable at times. We had the sails reefed at night and the early mornings we had gust of wind up to 30 kts with very mixed seas as we approached Va'vau. we we're very happy to in the harbor and tied to a mooring ball with very calm waters.
June 19th 2009: Departure Port: Scarborough Marina 06:30 June 03rd, 2009
Port O'call: Island of Tongatapu, Tonga 02:30 June 17th, 2009
Trip:1886 nm / Wind speeds variable / Temp 80 / Water 82
Customs cleared us out at 06:00 so we could take advantage of the high tides. Sailing away from the Australian Coast was the hardest part forcing us south. Once away from the coast we headed as much east as we could towards Norfolk Island before heading north. Surprisingly we had very light winds and we're able to fly the chute and also sail wing on wing for a few days. With the light winds we used more fuel than anticipated so we headed to Nukualofa to re fuel, passing Minerva Reef taking advantage of the good weather we had riding the low pressure system all the way.
May 24th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
It's about time I get back to work on this web site. We've had a wonderful time here in Scarborough Marina and have really enjoyed the surrounding areas. Our main transportation is our folding bikes so it's not surprising we biked over 1400 kilometers around Brisbane and area. We also took some time and went back home for a few months. We are now getting ready for our next adventure and hope to leave Australia by the end of May or soon after that. We are heading to Hawaii via Tonga, Samoa and the Line Islands. See the 2009 planned route. My brother Paul will be arriving from Vancouver Tues May 26th and will crew with us to Hawaii. We really enjoyed this part of Australia and would love to come back. We are looking forward to spending some time in Hawaii and having lots of company.
January 27th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
It's hard to believe were just about a month into 2009. As most of our family and friends are experiencing cool and some very cold weather, here in Australia it's been very hot. Thankfully we are close enough to bike to the beach and take a dip in the ocean. I ride my bike 6 km to Curves every morning and Kip rides about the same distance to a very nice lap pool. We have also taken in a few movies which is something we never had time to do and it's great to sit in an air condition theatre. It's certainly nice to have some sort of a routine, it's something we haven't had in a while and believe or not we miss. We're happy to be able to enjoy this area.
January 12th, 2009: Notes from the first mate:
We just returned from a wonderful trip to Sydney and Parkes NSW where we enjoyed a very well organized and fun Elvis Festival. Those of you who have known me a very long time know that Elvis was and his still my ultimate favorite singer. Enjoy the video Elvis Remembered video and see Elvis come alive in Parkes NSW Australia.