Crossing Panama-Hawaii, Arrival

Date: June 6th, 2013, 13h00 Honolulu time
Position in front of Hilo: 19°43,810'N 155°03,721'w
Number of days at sea: 61
Miles since Panama: 5410 NM
Average miles per day: 88 NM

We had to work for this one all the way to the end! It started off well, at least for the first two days when a wind pushed us away from the Panama coast. But after that, light to no winds for the next 50 days. It is always hard to see the boat drift and hear the awful noise from the sails whipping from lack of wind. You get the impression that they will rip or that something will break in the mast. Even with the wind coming from the back, we needed to do lots of sail changing exercise: Raise the main sail, lower the main sail, bring up the spinnaker, bring it back down, set the sails on one side, nope on the other side, no more wind, bring the spinnaker back up, ... However, the scenery with its clouds of cotton, its water of an indescribable blue and its sunny sky made us want to sing the Club Med theme song. For the last 12 days, our speed was much greater. After the dull drum was passed, we had a steadier 15 to 20 knot wind from the ENE with higher gusts. But where they really passed? We were crossed by one stormy cloud after another for the rest of the way. The wind being more at our side, when the gusts would come we would head too much north and when they would die down, too much to the south. We had to constantly adjust our course. No more Club Med weather. We hid inside to avoid the crashing waves and the rain. What has been the most frustrating is that the weather information we were getting didn't reflect reality. The more wind they were saying we were going to get, the less we had. How are we supposed to know where to go to find the wind when the tools are incorrect? Furthermore, the pilot chart for the North Pacific shows that for this time of the year, there is only a 1% chance of running out of wind. Lucky us to be in the 1% in 99% of the time! The weather maps also didn't show the disturbances more to the north. Nonetheless, I'd like to thank all who provided us with information during the crossing; the Réseau du Capitaine trio: Nicole, Pierre and André, Claude (VE2AXY), Gaston's sisters and their husbands: Danielle, André, Nicole and Marcel.
Most of the time, the mood on board was good but we had a couple of crises moments. One night, out of discouragement, we lowered everything and we both went to sleep. We slept so well that we missed our radio contact the next morning. You might ask: What about other boats? What other boats? Except for one night where we ended up surrounded by fifteen Japanese fishing boats, we barely notice the existence of any other vessels. We mostly take turns to stay awake so we can adjust the sails. We did however have the visit of a nice big shark, a dozen dolphin whales, a huge heard of dolphins and some rainbow coloured Mahi-Mahis swam next to the hull. For another 24 hours, we headed for the Marquises. Totally fed up of not having any wind for 40 days, we decided to give up. But then the wind came back and we saw a window to cross the dull drum. We also figured we couldn't let all that hard work go to waste. The mistake we often make is to have a schedule. If we only had to get to Hawaii, we wouldn't care that it takes 60 days to get there. However, if we need to get to Hawaii, visit, get the boat ready and leave again to get to Alaska before July to avoid the typhoon season knowing that there isn't much of a point in going to Hawaii if we can't get to Alaska then it's another story. It adds more stress to the situation and makes the dull drum much harder to take. Our stay in Hawaii will be a short one.
The good news is that we have suffered no injuries, diseases or any major breaking of equipment. Our radar has been working on and off. We are in contact with a supplier in Honolulu to get replacement parts. It wasn't needed for this crossing but will be very useful close to the Alaska coasts because of a high risk of frequent fog. Right after leaving the dull drum, we had to sponge out the water in the hold every hour. We discovered three water entries. The first is a recurring issue and is the propeller shaft seal. It's not an ideal installation and we will look into changing the system shortly. In the mean time, Gaston did a bit of acrobatics to change it. Good thing we had an extra one on the shaft. We discovered that a vent on the hold pump circuit would leak when we list on the port side (we don't often apparently). To avoid any further leaking we simply clogged it since the circuit exit already has a vented loop. Finally, a hose clamp on a pipe of the pump that empties the kitchen sink was broken and has been replaced. The hold has been dry ever since. The barnacles which we have renamed the ta-barnacles (in reference to the French Canadian swear word "Tabernak") have from lack of Bidule moving at the speed of light, stuck themselves to our hull. Not only do they reduce our speed but they are clogging all of our through hulls. The intake for the toilet is particularly hard to pump. This is despite a recent coat of anti-fowling paint. Gaston declared war and attacked them using a scraper tied to the gaffe but they are stronger than him.
We had plenty of electricity. Our wind generator can be transformed into a hydro generator so we put that in the water. With the wind in our back, it is more efficient in the water with only 3 knots of speed. Combined with our solar panels, we had enough juice to make juice... I mean water. Our small fresh water maker gives us enough for our daily use if we stay in economy mode which means that bodies, dishes and clothes are washed in salt water. Since we don't completely trust this machine because brook once on the way to Brazil from Senegal, we also hid bottles of mineral water a bit everywhere. We carried so much food on board before leaving that our floating line went down. We haven't had anything fresh in many weeks but we still have food left. Worst off, we could of opened the lift raft to get to the sea biscuits. The fish didn't bit except for one at the beginning. We were going so slowly that they had time to check out the lure and start laughing. Gaston, the super hunter, harpooned three of the Mahi-Mahi that where swimming on the side of the hull. For the diesel, it's not complicated, we don't have any left. We used some up to go get some wind at the beginning of the crossing. Then, we tried a first attempt to cross the dull drum close to 130?W but the zone changed to stretch more north while we were crossing and counter current combined with the barnacles reduced our speed to 3.5 knots so we gave up and headed west. Finally, we saw another opportunity to cross the dull drum which turned out to be the good one. We let the engine take us as far as it could before it choked. We kept our 4 gallon spare jerry can for the port entry only.
Above, I tried to answer all the questions we received via email during the crossing but I kept my favourite for last. This one was addressed to Gaston and they wanted to know how he managed to convince me to sail the more than 5000 miles to get to Hawaii. I have a little secret to share; going to Alaska was my idea. I wouldn't be in a good position to complain that it is taking too long now! I love the sea and feel comfortable on it. I don't have much merit anyway because I don't seem to suffer from the same issues that many women on boats have told me they have: sea sickness, fear and boredom. For me, a light sea sickness only happens the first couple days if the sea is agitated. After that it disappears completely. So I prepare enough meals in advance so I just have to warm them up and take a couple of pills. I get anxious or worried but I don't fear sailing. It's not as dangerous as taking a car and going to work. I like to know that we have prepared as best we can before leaving and then trust in the work we have done. Furthermore, I have an ace repair man and sea man on board to take care of the boat. I don't see how I could get bored. The other day, I measured a cup of lentils for a soup and before I had time to finish taking off the lid, a nasty wave came crashing on the boat sending the lentils everywhere. I had hours of fun picking up each one out of the cracks on the floor. Seriously, since I don't get sea sick, I can stand on my head if that is what I feel like doing. Just taking care of the food with the pots flying all over the place takes up most of my day.
The beer on the terrace will be soooo good!!! If we can stand up! (Before or after?)
PS If you have heard a rumour that Gaston may have put a pair of my underwear up on the mast in the hopes of exciting the god of wind Eole into blowing harder, it's true. I have pictures. That is what happens when doing only 2000 nautical miles in 30 days.