Destination Reached -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 25

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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