Hello All,
We have had a great sail today, it has been a little slow due to light winds but the sea is almost flat so we are moving along without the sails banging around. I played with my electric auto pilot today and it works great. There was a few settings I had to play with but all and all I am going to enjoy having that when it gets to calm to sail. This afternoon I started the engine for the first time on the passage so far. With the sun shining on the back side of the main sail I saw some place that had light coming through. They are little wear holes where something had rubbed the sail so I got out my sticky sail patches and we started the engine to keep us moving. We took the sail down to do the small repairs and everything looks good now.
We made another 100 miles today, not very fast but we are getting there. Stephen has an appetite now so I think he will be fine and will have his sea legs in no time. It has been a beautiful day out here, I will miss the tropics on days like this.
That,s all for now and I will talk to you later.
PEACE
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
15 12.77N 143 38.74E
Hello All,
We have been sailing right along since we left Guam. Yesterday the winds were a little strong so I only had up enough sail to keep us moving along. Last night the wind came down to 10 to 12 knots so at first light this morning I got the yankee up also. We have been making good coarse and speed ever since. It has been a beautiful day and the sea is almost flat which is a big help because I am finding my self hard on the wind at the moment. We also made 100 miles in 24 hours so not a bad start. To make this an easy passage the wind needs to be more out of the East but at the moment it has some North in it. I am able to keep the coarse with out issue so far.
Stephen has been feeling a little under the weather, lets just say he has been chumming for tuna from time to time. It looks like he is coming around though, keeping water and food down so I am sure he will be fine in no time.
All is well on board so I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
We have been sailing right along since we left Guam. Yesterday the winds were a little strong so I only had up enough sail to keep us moving along. Last night the wind came down to 10 to 12 knots so at first light this morning I got the yankee up also. We have been making good coarse and speed ever since. It has been a beautiful day and the sea is almost flat which is a big help because I am finding my self hard on the wind at the moment. We also made 100 miles in 24 hours so not a bad start. To make this an easy passage the wind needs to be more out of the East but at the moment it has some North in it. I am able to keep the coarse with out issue so far.
Stephen has been feeling a little under the weather, lets just say he has been chumming for tuna from time to time. It looks like he is coming around though, keeping water and food down so I am sure he will be fine in no time.
All is well on board so I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Underway to Japan
Hello All,
We left Guam at 1330 (Fri. April 13, 2012 in Alaska, Sat. April 14, 2012 in Guam) after finally getting everything ready to leave. The wind has been gusting up to 20 knots so I am only running a single reefed main and the stay sail. We are only moving at 4 knots but it is pretty comfortable and the seas are at 5 feet. The wind is suppose to come down to a steady 15 tomorrow so after going through the night with the 2 sails I will get my head sail up in the morning.
All is well on board and Stephen is doing great so far. It takes a few days for me to get used to the motion and he has never tried sailing so we will see how he does.
That's all for now and I will write you guys a position update tomorrow.
PEACE
We left Guam at 1330 (Fri. April 13, 2012 in Alaska, Sat. April 14, 2012 in Guam) after finally getting everything ready to leave. The wind has been gusting up to 20 knots so I am only running a single reefed main and the stay sail. We are only moving at 4 knots but it is pretty comfortable and the seas are at 5 feet. The wind is suppose to come down to a steady 15 tomorrow so after going through the night with the 2 sails I will get my head sail up in the morning.
All is well on board and Stephen is doing great so far. It takes a few days for me to get used to the motion and he has never tried sailing so we will see how he does.
That's all for now and I will write you guys a position update tomorrow.
PEACE
Friday, April 13, 2012
Japan Bound
Hello All,
We are checked out of Guam with customs and are departing to Japan tomorrow morning. We had a nice dinner at the yacht club tonight and Jane, my friend and the yacht club cook had a going away cake made for me. A few of the members came down for dinner so we had a great time visiting and said our good byes.
We got to take the boat out sailing yesterday in the harbor and had a great sail for the afternoon. I forgot how much fun sailing for a few hours could be. You have to remember when I go sailing it is usually on a passage to get somewhere.
The yacht club has a tradition of making a wooden signs of visiting yachts over the years so in a mad scramble at the last minute I made one to hang up here. I am not much of an artist but with a nice piece of wood I bought and my tools on board I managed to make one in a days time. I meant to do this a month ago but time flies, its done and screwed to the eve of the club house and its not to bad. I took a picture so I will show it to you the next time I get Internet.
As usual its hard to say goodbye and leave another wonderful Pacific Island where the people make all of the difference and to be so kind and Guam is no exception. Japan will be a fast track visit so I wont get to plant roots to deep but I am sure like all of the other places in my travels I will leave a piece of my heart there to.
I will be in touch on the passage and keep you up to date.
Fair winds my friends and I will talk to you out on the water.
PEACE
We are checked out of Guam with customs and are departing to Japan tomorrow morning. We had a nice dinner at the yacht club tonight and Jane, my friend and the yacht club cook had a going away cake made for me. A few of the members came down for dinner so we had a great time visiting and said our good byes.
We got to take the boat out sailing yesterday in the harbor and had a great sail for the afternoon. I forgot how much fun sailing for a few hours could be. You have to remember when I go sailing it is usually on a passage to get somewhere.
The yacht club has a tradition of making a wooden signs of visiting yachts over the years so in a mad scramble at the last minute I made one to hang up here. I am not much of an artist but with a nice piece of wood I bought and my tools on board I managed to make one in a days time. I meant to do this a month ago but time flies, its done and screwed to the eve of the club house and its not to bad. I took a picture so I will show it to you the next time I get Internet.
As usual its hard to say goodbye and leave another wonderful Pacific Island where the people make all of the difference and to be so kind and Guam is no exception. Japan will be a fast track visit so I wont get to plant roots to deep but I am sure like all of the other places in my travels I will leave a piece of my heart there to.
I will be in touch on the passage and keep you up to date.
Fair winds my friends and I will talk to you out on the water.
PEACE
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Easter weekend and seatrials
Hello All,
This last week has been very busy with the boat, Island touring, grocery shopping and getting the boat out in the bay. The driving tour around the south end of the Island was very nice. We had the New Zealand couple along with us and saw all of the sites and the day was beautiful. I have been down there before with my crew I got here with but we only hit the high spots due to lack of time. This time however we stopped at pretty much every look out and every little town and bay. The Spanish were first to settle here in the 1500's so there is some old churches and a Spanish fort that overlooks the whole Pacific Ocean.
Since we took the tour we have stocked up the boat and actually took it out in the bay yesterday. My new electric auto pilot had to be calibrated so we spent a few hours going around in circles and almost out the bay before all systems were dialed in. It works really well and will enjoy not having to steer the boat under engine only. Stephen and I also did a little bottom scrubbing to get the growth off. The propeller was stacked with a half an inch of barnacles, it hasn't turned since I got here 8 weeks ago. We will take it out sailing tomorrow afternoon.
Mark and Pauline on Sari Timur loaned me some Japanese charts to have copied so I can have paper charts of all of the waters that I will be visiting. Mark had a friend sell them hundreds of charts of Japan that he never got to use so I went over to Marks boat today and sorted through them finding the ones I need. They will be visiting Japan and Alaska next season. They have been very good friends and have helped me allot so I will take them to dinner tomorrow night.
Easter weekend was a great time at the Yacht Club, all of the members and there families were here Saturday and Sunday. One of the members is moving off of the Island in a month so Saturday was a party for them. They are big into doing tie dye tee shirts so I brought 2 in to have done. It was heaps of fun and we just rinsed them out tonight and they turned out awesome
.
Tomorrow we are doing laundry with Mark and picking up my copied charts and then we will go for a sail. I hope I remember how to sail the boat, its been a while.
I have met some really good folks here and its been a good place to camp out for a while.
I will write more later so bye for now.
PEACE
This last week has been very busy with the boat, Island touring, grocery shopping and getting the boat out in the bay. The driving tour around the south end of the Island was very nice. We had the New Zealand couple along with us and saw all of the sites and the day was beautiful. I have been down there before with my crew I got here with but we only hit the high spots due to lack of time. This time however we stopped at pretty much every look out and every little town and bay. The Spanish were first to settle here in the 1500's so there is some old churches and a Spanish fort that overlooks the whole Pacific Ocean.
Since we took the tour we have stocked up the boat and actually took it out in the bay yesterday. My new electric auto pilot had to be calibrated so we spent a few hours going around in circles and almost out the bay before all systems were dialed in. It works really well and will enjoy not having to steer the boat under engine only. Stephen and I also did a little bottom scrubbing to get the growth off. The propeller was stacked with a half an inch of barnacles, it hasn't turned since I got here 8 weeks ago. We will take it out sailing tomorrow afternoon.
Mark and Pauline on Sari Timur loaned me some Japanese charts to have copied so I can have paper charts of all of the waters that I will be visiting. Mark had a friend sell them hundreds of charts of Japan that he never got to use so I went over to Marks boat today and sorted through them finding the ones I need. They will be visiting Japan and Alaska next season. They have been very good friends and have helped me allot so I will take them to dinner tomorrow night.
Easter weekend was a great time at the Yacht Club, all of the members and there families were here Saturday and Sunday. One of the members is moving off of the Island in a month so Saturday was a party for them. They are big into doing tie dye tee shirts so I brought 2 in to have done. It was heaps of fun and we just rinsed them out tonight and they turned out awesome
.
Tomorrow we are doing laundry with Mark and picking up my copied charts and then we will go for a sail. I hope I remember how to sail the boat, its been a while.
I have met some really good folks here and its been a good place to camp out for a while.
I will write more later so bye for now.
PEACE
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Crew has arrived
Hello All,
My new crew showed up on the 4th and I went to pick Stephen up with my rented car. He is originally from Saskatatchewan Canada but has been living in London for some time. He has been helping me run arrends and and finish some little projects on the boat. He is a big music fan so we have been having a great time visiting. He has never sailed before but is very keen on learning every thing to make the boat go. I showed him around down town yesterday and tomorrow we will drive down to the south of the island. Jim and Tory , the new Zealand couple that is anchored here will come along with us so they can see some of the Island also. I give the car back on Monday so till then we will use it for getting around.
We will get the boat out sailing next week and I will see how my new auto pilot works and get Stephen used to getting sails up and down.
My new crew showed up on the 4th and I went to pick Stephen up with my rented car. He is originally from Saskatatchewan Canada but has been living in London for some time. He has been helping me run arrends and and finish some little projects on the boat. He is a big music fan so we have been having a great time visiting. He has never sailed before but is very keen on learning every thing to make the boat go. I showed him around down town yesterday and tomorrow we will drive down to the south of the island. Jim and Tory , the new Zealand couple that is anchored here will come along with us so they can see some of the Island also. I give the car back on Monday so till then we will use it for getting around.
We will get the boat out sailing next week and I will see how my new auto pilot works and get Stephen used to getting sails up and down.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Countdown to departure
Hello All,
This last week I have been busy tying up loose ends on the boat, so to speak, and this last weekend I helped a Japanese resident move his boat from a small marina 5 miles south of us up to the Typhoon refuge close to where I am at. Bob the live aboard resident here at the yacht club and Bob that owns the local Culligan water shop, both members of the yacht club, asked if I could give them a hand. The sailboat is 42 feet and what made it a challange is it had no engine. We were towed out of the harbor by the owners 12 foot power boat with a 90 horse power engine. It is a very small marina and not much room for error. We managed to get the boat out the channel, with a story that would be better told in person , and headed north along the protected south shore of the Island. We made it to Apra harbor with out a hitch and got the boat moored in the Ty phone harbor. This is also a place you can haul out and work on the the boat. You have to use a crane because there is no travel lift on the Island. The problem with the boat was the propeller shaft seal was completely worn out and had to be plugged to keep the boat from taking on water.
Yesterday I helped them haul the boat out with a 120 ton crane. The job actually went really well and his boat is now safe and sound on the the hard. He will make the repairs to the shaft and get the boat ready to go sailing again.
My crew arrives on the 4th so I am preparing for company. I will rent a car for a week so I can run arrends and be able to pick him up at the airport.
The rent a car folks are coming out to the yacht club to pick me up in a few so I need to get going. That is what I have been up to this last week.
I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
This last week I have been busy tying up loose ends on the boat, so to speak, and this last weekend I helped a Japanese resident move his boat from a small marina 5 miles south of us up to the Typhoon refuge close to where I am at. Bob the live aboard resident here at the yacht club and Bob that owns the local Culligan water shop, both members of the yacht club, asked if I could give them a hand. The sailboat is 42 feet and what made it a challange is it had no engine. We were towed out of the harbor by the owners 12 foot power boat with a 90 horse power engine. It is a very small marina and not much room for error. We managed to get the boat out the channel, with a story that would be better told in person , and headed north along the protected south shore of the Island. We made it to Apra harbor with out a hitch and got the boat moored in the Ty phone harbor. This is also a place you can haul out and work on the the boat. You have to use a crane because there is no travel lift on the Island. The problem with the boat was the propeller shaft seal was completely worn out and had to be plugged to keep the boat from taking on water.
Yesterday I helped them haul the boat out with a 120 ton crane. The job actually went really well and his boat is now safe and sound on the the hard. He will make the repairs to the shaft and get the boat ready to go sailing again.
My crew arrives on the 4th so I am preparing for company. I will rent a car for a week so I can run arrends and be able to pick him up at the airport.
The rent a car folks are coming out to the yacht club to pick me up in a few so I need to get going. That is what I have been up to this last week.
I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
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