Blog #4 - Aug 5th
Half Way - 1,162 miles from Maui
Yesterday marked an interesting point in our journey: We were 1,100 nautical miles, or more than 2,000 kilometers from any point of land. In fact the closest point of land was straight down, some 5,000 meters to the seabed. There are not many points on earth where one can be farther away from land. Point Nemo in the South Pacific, the point farthest from land on earth, is only a little bit more isolated than that.
The day started well with a comfortable temperatures and a moderate breeze. After a morning coffee and a hearty breakfast we hoisted the spinnaker and made good progress on our course to Vancouver. However, Neptun had different plans and after three hours we had to replac the colorful sail with the iron spinnaker and continued our journey under engine.
Later in the morning a big squall chasef down String Theory and we raised the sails in anticipation of some stronger wind. Slowly the black cloud mass moved over our boat and then it was like heaven opened its gates: A deluge of water, so heavy we could barely see a hundred meters drenched us all. Heavy rain drops splashed into the sea, turning its color from royal blue to grey. The water running off our mainsail would have filled all our tanks in minutes. Not wanting to waste it completely I took a shower, shampooed and washed my hair under the torrent of water running off of a fold in the sail. The water was lukewarm and it felt good standing in the cockpit, being hosed down by fresh water.
Later in the day the sky cleared up, the sun poked through and we dried our soaked cloths and shoes.
John and Marie prepared a gourmet dinner to celebrate half way point: Lamb roast, potatoes, vegetables, red wine and fresh baked brownies for desert. A heavenly meal. We all congregated in the cockpit, listened to the Eagles, watched the sun disappearing behind a curtain of clouds before splitting again into our respective watches.
As we settle in for the night, the engine is humming happily. Looking at the weather charts we start to think about our fuel reserve though. The next Esso station is about a thousand miles away and we simply wont get there without some help by mother nature. It appears that we are perhaps too far east and possibly a more northerly route early on would have kept us in stronger winds. The distance to be sailed would have been considerable more though, so who knows. For know we hope for the low pressure system northwest of us to squeeze the high south and east and giving us a much hoped push to fill String Theories sails once again.
Aloha from String Theory.
Half Way - 1,162 miles from Maui
Yesterday marked an interesting point in our journey: We were 1,100 nautical miles, or more than 2,000 kilometers from any point of land. In fact the closest point of land was straight down, some 5,000 meters to the seabed. There are not many points on earth where one can be farther away from land. Point Nemo in the South Pacific, the point farthest from land on earth, is only a little bit more isolated than that.
The day started well with a comfortable temperatures and a moderate breeze. After a morning coffee and a hearty breakfast we hoisted the spinnaker and made good progress on our course to Vancouver. However, Neptun had different plans and after three hours we had to replac the colorful sail with the iron spinnaker and continued our journey under engine.
Later in the morning a big squall chasef down String Theory and we raised the sails in anticipation of some stronger wind. Slowly the black cloud mass moved over our boat and then it was like heaven opened its gates: A deluge of water, so heavy we could barely see a hundred meters drenched us all. Heavy rain drops splashed into the sea, turning its color from royal blue to grey. The water running off our mainsail would have filled all our tanks in minutes. Not wanting to waste it completely I took a shower, shampooed and washed my hair under the torrent of water running off of a fold in the sail. The water was lukewarm and it felt good standing in the cockpit, being hosed down by fresh water.
Later in the day the sky cleared up, the sun poked through and we dried our soaked cloths and shoes.
John and Marie prepared a gourmet dinner to celebrate half way point: Lamb roast, potatoes, vegetables, red wine and fresh baked brownies for desert. A heavenly meal. We all congregated in the cockpit, listened to the Eagles, watched the sun disappearing behind a curtain of clouds before splitting again into our respective watches.
As we settle in for the night, the engine is humming happily. Looking at the weather charts we start to think about our fuel reserve though. The next Esso station is about a thousand miles away and we simply wont get there without some help by mother nature. It appears that we are perhaps too far east and possibly a more northerly route early on would have kept us in stronger winds. The distance to be sailed would have been considerable more though, so who knows. For know we hope for the low pressure system northwest of us to squeeze the high south and east and giving us a much hoped push to fill String Theories sails once again.
Aloha from String Theory.