We motored through the night in fog and light wind, avoiding ships revealed by the AIS and following recommendations from Tofino Traffic. At UTC 1515, which is 8:15 AM local time, we arrived at our destination, Neah Bay. We refueled the boat, enjoyed a breakfast at the Warmhouse restaurant, and took showers. Needless to say, we are feeling great!
At UTC 1515, August 6, 2012, we arrived at our destination, 48 22.887 N, 124 35.164 W, after traveling 2660 miles from Port Allen, Kauai, Hawaii.
Tomorrow we plan to be in Port Angeles, the following day Port Townsend and then, finally, on Thursday, August 9, in Seattle.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 24
What a night! Crashing through crazy waves at close to hull speed, I got very little sleep, but had reason to believe, from what recent weather faxes and the now ancient grib told me, that the wind would weaken soon. And in the morning it did. We reached longitude 127 West where the cooperative Vessel Traffic System kicks in and I contacted Tofino Traffic on VHF channel 74. The operator told me that there was dense fog just ahead and that it was hiding a great number of small sport fishing boats, the kind that would not have AIS transmitters. He gave me a course recommendation that might help us to avoid many of them. We followed his suggested course, sailing with full main and yankee, trying to get the most out of the dying wind.
At UTC 2200, August 5, 2012, we are at 48 31.038 N, 126 18.748 W. Our day's run was 117 miles and we are 71 miles from Neah Bay.
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At UTC 2200, August 5, 2012, we are at 48 31.038 N, 126 18.748 W. Our day's run was 117 miles and we are 71 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 23
During the night the wind continued to build until it is now twenty to twenty-five knots from the north-northwest. We are reaching on the port tack, with storm jib and double reefed main. With ten foot waves on the beam, this is rather uncomfortable, but at least we are moving towards our destination at a quick pace.
I cannot praise the performance of my crew, Jon and Jean, enough. In the afternoon, we did a flawless sail change from yankee down to staysail and at daybreak we changed from staysail down to storm jib. Jean is the foredeck hand, Jon works at the mast and I am, quite fittingly, the afterguard. This is not easy, with the wind blowing twenty-five knots and short steep beam seas.
Yesterday was cold and gray, but today we have clear, sunny skies. We haven't had a day like this for awhile, and it is very welcome. On his early watch, Jon was visited by dolphins.
At UTC 2200, August 4, 2012, we are at 48 24.646 N, 129 14.179 W. Our day's run was 129 miles and we are now 188 miles from Neah Bay.
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I cannot praise the performance of my crew, Jon and Jean, enough. In the afternoon, we did a flawless sail change from yankee down to staysail and at daybreak we changed from staysail down to storm jib. Jean is the foredeck hand, Jon works at the mast and I am, quite fittingly, the afterguard. This is not easy, with the wind blowing twenty-five knots and short steep beam seas.
Yesterday was cold and gray, but today we have clear, sunny skies. We haven't had a day like this for awhile, and it is very welcome. On his early watch, Jon was visited by dolphins.
At UTC 2200, August 4, 2012, we are at 48 24.646 N, 129 14.179 W. Our day's run was 129 miles and we are now 188 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 22
We are moving fast now, averaging better than six knots, on port tack and a beam reach, with light (reaching) yankee and single-reefed main. If these are the winds that were predicted, we should enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca in two or three days. We started out the day sailing rather slowly, but during the night the pace picked up and by morning we were seeing the speeds we are enjoying now.
At UTC 2200, August 3, 2012, we are at 48 06.798 N, 132 27.180 W. Our day's run was 109 miles and we are now 317 miles from Neah Bay.
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At UTC 2200, August 3, 2012, we are at 48 06.798 N, 132 27.180 W. Our day's run was 109 miles and we are now 317 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 21
This was a very slow day in terms of wind. So slow, that we motored for more than twelve of the twenty-four hours. I decided to do this because we had only used about a third of our supply of diesel fuel and could afford to use another eight or ten gallons to move us along. This morning we went back to sailing, port tack on a beam reach with full main and yankee, but we are averaging less than four knots with continuing light wind. We have not made radio contact since July 27, hence the grib I am using is old, but it shows good wind tomorrow and for several days to follow, enough to move us briskly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
In the early morning, some dolphins put on a show for us. In familiar dolphin fashion, they cavorted in our bow-wave. These were quite large animals.
At UTC 2200, August 2, 2012, we are at 47 47,129 N, 135 05.600 W. Our day's run was 104 miles and we are now 426 miles from Neah Bay.
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In the early morning, some dolphins put on a show for us. In familiar dolphin fashion, they cavorted in our bow-wave. These were quite large animals.
At UTC 2200, August 2, 2012, we are at 47 47,129 N, 135 05.600 W. Our day's run was 104 miles and we are now 426 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 20
Our strong steady wind on the beam disappeared and was replaced by a weak wind from astern. The last grib that I was able to download is from July 27, and it predicted this wind shift. We could have these light conditions for a couple of days, then the wind is supposed to pick up.
No ship traffic today. Maybe we are out of the shipping lanes for awhile. I do not miss them but I am sure they will be back as we approach Cape Flattery.
We saw more whales. This time they were a comfortable distance from the boat. They surfaced, spouted and dove. They could well have been the same type of whale that we saw a week ago.
At UTC 2200, August 1, 2012, we are at 47 32.057 N, 137 39.577 W. Our day's run was 84 miles and we are 530 miles from Neah Bay.
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No ship traffic today. Maybe we are out of the shipping lanes for awhile. I do not miss them but I am sure they will be back as we approach Cape Flattery.
We saw more whales. This time they were a comfortable distance from the boat. They surfaced, spouted and dove. They could well have been the same type of whale that we saw a week ago.
At UTC 2200, August 1, 2012, we are at 47 32.057 N, 137 39.577 W. Our day's run was 84 miles and we are 530 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 19
Cold, grey, limited visibility, 20 knot southerly wind, beam-reaching on the starboard tack with double-reefed main and yankee, we had another record setting day's run. This morning we shortened sail, trading the staysail for the yankee. That balanced the boat better so that Rangval was able to steer more precisely.
At 2200 UTC, July 31, 2012, we are at 47 49.986 N, 139 49.158 W. Our day's run was 144 miles and we are now 614 miles from Neah Bay.
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At 2200 UTC, July 31, 2012, we are at 47 49.986 N, 139 49.158 W. Our day's run was 144 miles and we are now 614 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 18
For the past six hours we have been on a beam reach on the starboard tack, pretty much on course. During that period, we have averaged just under six knots. For the rest of the day we were moving pretty fast as well, but were headed quite a bit north of course. We have light yankee and double-reefed main up, and Rangval is just managing to keep us on course. If the wind gets stronger, we will have to change down to the staysail, set on the headstay.
The grib shows a weak low passing to the north of us but the barometer has been steady. I suspect that the stronger wind and its southerly direction is due to the low and its proximity to the high just to the south of us. After the low passes, the wind should veer to the west and get weaker. We are enjoying going fast right now, although it is a bit wet and cold.
At UTC 2200, July 30, 2012, we are at 47 15.505 N, 143 16.980 W. Our day's run was 128 miles, a new record for this voyage. We are now 758 miles from Neah Bay.
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The grib shows a weak low passing to the north of us but the barometer has been steady. I suspect that the stronger wind and its southerly direction is due to the low and its proximity to the high just to the south of us. After the low passes, the wind should veer to the west and get weaker. We are enjoying going fast right now, although it is a bit wet and cold.
At UTC 2200, July 30, 2012, we are at 47 15.505 N, 143 16.980 W. Our day's run was 128 miles, a new record for this voyage. We are now 758 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 17
Another day trying to keep the boat moving and as close to the course as possible. Mostly grey, mostly cold, although not quite as cold as yesterday.
We are seeing a lot more cargo vessels. Every day there are four or five of them of which at least a couple come within five miles. We are very grateful for the AIS, which enables these vessels to be displayed on our Garmin 4212 chartplotter. The 4212 computes and continually recomputes the point of closest approach. Yesterday when a Korean container ship was going to come within three miles of us, I attempted to call the bridge with the VHF transceiver, using a feature called digital select calling (DSC) which makes VHF marine communications a bit more certain and more like the telephone. The call was not acknowledged, which is a bit troubling.
The last two days we have been seeing almost no debris. I wonder why we saw so much for the previous few days? Could we have been traversing one of those large circular eddies (gyres) that are said to collect junk?
At UTC 2200, July 29, 2012, we are at 46 02.649 N, 146 00.657 W. Our day's run was 99 miles. We are now 886 miles from Neah Bay.
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We are seeing a lot more cargo vessels. Every day there are four or five of them of which at least a couple come within five miles. We are very grateful for the AIS, which enables these vessels to be displayed on our Garmin 4212 chartplotter. The 4212 computes and continually recomputes the point of closest approach. Yesterday when a Korean container ship was going to come within three miles of us, I attempted to call the bridge with the VHF transceiver, using a feature called digital select calling (DSC) which makes VHF marine communications a bit more certain and more like the telephone. The call was not acknowledged, which is a bit troubling.
The last two days we have been seeing almost no debris. I wonder why we saw so much for the previous few days? Could we have been traversing one of those large circular eddies (gyres) that are said to collect junk?
At UTC 2200, July 29, 2012, we are at 46 02.649 N, 146 00.657 W. Our day's run was 99 miles. We are now 886 miles from Neah Bay.
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Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 16
We are on the home stretch now! Today we crossed 45 degrees north, which appears to me to be the northern extent of the high, most of the time. Now we are headed directly toward Cape Flattery. Today was also a special day in that we had the longest day's run so far in this passage and now we have less than 1000 miles to go. The weather was cold and miserable, however, with the exception of a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon.
Early in the afternoon we sailed wing-on-wing, then the wind veered more to the north and we switched to close reaching on the port tack, single-reefed main and light yankee.
At UTC 2200, July 28, 2012, we are at 45 25.986 N, 148 12.793 W. Our day's run was 121 miles. We are 985 miles from Neah Bay.
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Early in the afternoon we sailed wing-on-wing, then the wind veered more to the north and we switched to close reaching on the port tack, single-reefed main and light yankee.
At UTC 2200, July 28, 2012, we are at 45 25.986 N, 148 12.793 W. Our day's run was 121 miles. We are 985 miles from Neah Bay.
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