Acrux Log

July 4 to August 14, 2005

Hawaii to Kodiak (Alaska) via Midway

3,283 nautical miles covered.

(8,828 miles since we left Seattle in 2004)

(So we now have now sailed 9,026 miles since the overhaul)

Previoius logbook: Sailing the Islands of Hawaii.

During our return trip to Alaska, Frankie kept a bit of a diary/logbook. For more logbooks of our sailing adventures, goto the Acrux main page.

Monday, 7/4
On our way. Left Keehi Marina (Honolulu, island of Oahu, Hawaii) mid morning after spending a little time calibrating the autopilot. That sure is nice. Kinda strange though seeing the boat steer itself! Worked great. When its time for a course change all you do is push a button. Hope it keeps working. We're headed to Kauai for a day to scrape the hull then on to Midway and Alaska. Had to motor until late night due to a lack of wind.

Tuesday, 7/5
Arrived at Nawiliwili Harbor around 9:30 this morning. Once we finally got into the trade winds we had good sailing and arrived 3-4 hours ahead of estimates from last night. We were lazy the rest of the day. It was hot. The autopilot works nice. We could leave the cockpit and not worry about going off course. We were doing 4-6 knots with just the jib and mizzen overnight. We really should scrape the hull. Replaced the propane fuse/switch and light. A bird spent the night on the bow. It arrived late afternoon and left at dawn. I just got out the camera to take its picture when it flew away. Camera shy perhaps!

Wednesday, 7/6
Caught a mouse finally late last night. Hopefully it is the last one. They have been infesting the boat ever since we left it in Ko Olina last winter. They probably got aboard by crawling up the dock lines. At least it isn't rats!! Went on a bus into town so we could get parts from NAPA and water. Had lunch at the hotel. Richie played on the beach while I nursed Karen. Two Coast Guard runabouts were practicing in the harbor when we got back (walked) to the dinghy. Ray rowed into a stiff breeze. One of the CG boats slowed nearby just to be sure we were OK. They chatted with us while we unloaded. Ray scraped ont he hull while I worked on the logbook. Then I scraped. Its not finished. The starboard side of the main and inside half of the outriggers are done, but thats all. We need to leave in the morning. Watched a Little House video on the computer before bed.

Thursday, 7/7
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

25/77

26.8,s

22° 07’

159° 14'

Got underway at 6:30. Several showers brought high winds late in the night. Had to motor into the wind until 11 am when we hit the north end of the island and turned west for Midway. Making good time 7-9 knots with the trade winds. All sails up full. I did dishes and cooked spaghetti for dinner. Reefed to first reef point in main at dark then lowered the mizzen around 9 pm. Still sailing good all night.

Friday, 7/8
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

264

176

25/77

27,s

23° 34’

161° 40'

Partly to mostly cloudy with some showers. The autopilot still doing good. If it keeps working it's going to be nice not to have to steer all the way back to Alaska like we did on the way here last summer. Had to sew a hole in the leg of Richie's moose. Record day - 176 knautical miles since yesterday. If we can keep this up we'll be at Midway in 6 more days. Raised the mizzen mid-morning but kept the main reefed. Finished the rainbow sun latch hook kit and my book (Pelican Brief) today. Broke a serving bowl doing dishes.

Saturday, 7/9
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

424

160

26/79

26.6,s

24° 36’

164° 21'

Straightened the deck and rinsed off the rotten pepper early this morning then cleaned the toilet. Richie fell asleep at 7 pm and slept until 7:30 this morning. He spent most of the night on the toy bunk then came to his bed around 5 am. Fruit salad of bananas, oranges and pineapple for breakfst. Read the sextant booklet. I got within 15 miles longitude and 90 miles latitude from what the GPS said we were with my noon sight. Its not that hard, just a bit time consuming but there's not much else to do. Now I know when solar noon is so tomorrow hopeuflly won't take as long. Less wind today so we have all the sails up full.

Partly cloudy. Put one reef in the main sail before dark just in case. Richie was difficult this evening. He didn't take a nap and was hungrey. Finally got him in bed at 8:30. Had to cut and shorten port jib line since it chafed badly.

Sunday, 7/10
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

548

124

26/79

26.5s

25° 22'

166° 28'

Raised the full main before Ray made oatmeal with banana at sift change 8am. Partly cloudy morning turned hot and sunny by afternoon. Wind is even less today making our speed down to 2-3 knots under full sail. Took the noon sight again today. Off overall by 68 miles. Not too bad. 67 off latitude and 21 longitude miles. Ray bailed the outriggers. I started the tiger cub latch hook kit. Richie did school for 45 minutes before bed. He is learning to write.

Monday, 7/11
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

645

26/79

26s

26° 00'

168° 07'

We're about halfway to Midway (that sounds strange). After 4 days of good sailing the wind is now light. The boat shutters each time a gust hits filling the sails. We left all 3 sails up full overnight. There was a good rain after midnight. Cooled it off and washed the salt from the deck.

Karen is getting more used to the motion and is less fussy. She sleeps 8 pm to 4 or 5 am. If I feed her again later she will sleep in more but goes back to sleep easily and I am up on watch anyway. We have been giving her solid foods. She likes green beans, peaches and potato. Ray said she ate more of the otameal with banana yesterday than anything so far. Either she was extra hungry or she really like it. Perhaps both.

Richie is doing good. Every day he says how much he likes sailing. We are doing school a few days a week when he wants to. He is learning to write. We also do matching games. I'm starting to teach him pamc and different and this is challenging for him but he can do it with help. I bought him a preschool curriculum workbook in Honolulu which we also do sometimes. He likes to read and be read to.

Another rainshower is passing. Wish we had some way of catching the water off the sails. It's really pouring and the wind is up. Don't think it will last long. They usually don't. At least it got us going again. I altered course to keep us in the wind better and that helped our speed. It's light out now and I notice serval clips have come off the jib wire. Will need to lower the sail to reattach them. Perhaps if we tie the sail out we can do it then. The wind is still mostly from behind.

Adjusted sails so mizzen and jib are starboard and main on port. The jib is reattached and tied out. That helped. We're still moving this afternoon. Just really slow. When a rainshower comes we zoom along then crawl while we wait for the next one. I couldn't do the noon sight today because it was raining.

We all took bucket baths around 4 this afternoon. That sure was nice. The Pantene shampoo actually worked in salt water with fresh water rinse.

In the morning we started 2 fishing lines, one dragging from the port outrigger and the other from the starboard. Hopefully we'll catch a fish!

Tuesday, 7/12
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

753

108

27/81

26.5s

26° 27'

170° 04'

Kept sails up full all night. Lightning real bright on port around 2 am. More lightning at dawn. Ray called Matt on the phone. I gave Karen a bath. Took the noon sight. Used the watermaker--made 3 gallons of fresh water. The wind is up a bit today and so are the waves. I finally put away the clean laundry. Fried eggs and cornbread muffins for breakfast. Down to the last few fresh tomatoes. Karen and Richie shared one for a mid-morning snack. No sense giver her banana baby food if she can have fresh ones! Made banana bread for dessert. Finished the book about the Whitbread race and started the amature radio text. Less than 300 miles to Midway by this evening so we should be there in another 3 days.

Wednesday, 7/13
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

896

143

27/81

27.5

26° 55'

172° 41'

The wind shifted slightly during the night pushing us 7-8 knots. Decided to lower the jib after getting pushed sideways about 2 am. We got it down and I was headed back to bed when the mizzen backed. The boat didn't want to steer around to re-fill it so we lowered it as well, leaving just the full main up. Still doing 5-7 knots but the motion is more.

Started the watermaker about 8:30 and ran it until 1300, producing 6 gallons of water.

In the mid afternoon a large marlin (4'?) hit the lure with a BANG! Unfortunately it stripped the fishing line right off the boat. We're kinda glad it got away because we have no idea what to do with that much meat.

Raised the mizzen and jib around 2 pm. Went fast--7 to 10 knots--all afternoon. Brought the fish lines in and lowered the jib at dark. Lowered the mizzen at midnight.

I was the closest yet for my noon sight today. Latitude 44 miles and longitude 22 miles off.

Thursday, 7/14
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1034

138

26/79

27s

27° 45'

175° 05'

Raised the mizzen 10 am. Richie didn't sleep well last night and got up early so he was very fussy. He took a 2 hour nap at noon and was much more cheerful and cooperative when he got up. Took the noon sight. The longitude was real close again but the latitude was the worst yet at 99 miles off.

We were playing our third time on Richie's boardgame when Ray checked outside. A FISH! When we pulled it aboard it was a 30-35 pound yellowfin tuna. Very pretty fish. We cut it up on deck, quickly putting some steaks in the over for dinner. Then we cut more small steaks for tomorrow and thin fillets soaking in saltwater to dry. Its a lot of fish. It was around 4 when we got it aboard. Took a few pictures of it. Yum.

Passed Pearl and hermes Reef mid-afternoon We were 2-3 miles out and could see the breakers and sand islets real well. There was a tow-boat towing a power boat. I radioed them. Our first boat traffic all week. They told us the next shoal is 14 fathoms deep. We were worried since its not labeled on our Pacific chart. Next stop - Midway tomorrow!

Karen drank a full bottle of whole milk tonight. It took her awhile to figure out the nipple but once she did, she drank it down (2-3 oz).

Friday, 7/15
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles to

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1154

120

25/77

26.5s

28° 14'

177° 16'

Arrived Midway this morning. Had trouble but finally managed to tie to the mooring ball in the Inner Harbor. After getting secured we went ashore and were met by Fish and Wildlife staff who drove us in a cart to the wildlife office where we met Berry the station manager. We were given a briefing about the island and then left to explore. Most of the albatross have already flown away but there are still plenty around. There is an 8 year old girl, Angela, here. She and Richie played together this afternoon. We ate dinner in the mess hall (Clipper House). Real good food. After dinner Richie went to Angela's to play while I went swimming and Ray watched Karen

Saturday, 7/16
Off to a quick start. We had drug the mooring about 75 feet toward the wall during the night. Ray went in the dinghy to attach another line when the mooring broke free. The chain was badly rusted. I had already radioed Midway to let them know we wanted to move to the pier and they were on the way to help (it is very windy). Several men met us at the pier to help dock and tie us. Ray and I took showers then expored. There is a "Midway Mall" with library open 24 hours, small store, t-shirt shop, barber shop (open on Saturdays). Also All Hands Club, which is a rec center with a Pool hall, movie room and bar. These are air conditioned which is nice. Midway is 1 hour time behind Honolulu. There are many more people here than usual because of the shipwreck on Pearl & Hermes reef. Scheduled transport plan (G1) came tonight. 8 people (including Angela, her mom and grandmom left. 15 new arrivals to work on the shipwreck. Very social occasion. Every time we passed someone today we were told to come greet the plane tonight. We did so it was after 11 when we fianlly got to bed. We just signed the guest register when a new guy came out asking for the Collins family from Fairbanks. It was Ralph - the owner of teh Howling Dong saloon in Fox! He's here to help with the shipwreck.

Sunday, 7/17
Worked around the boat this morning. Ray epoxied cracks while I cleaned the hull. I did the rudder as well but not the keel. Very clear water. We found a key along the road while walking to the beach. I found John (station manager for Chugach) at lunch and gave it to him. He invited us to lunch for free. Pizza! We ate a lot then went to the rec hall to watch Star Wars on the big screen. One of the workers brought us popcorn and cold drinks but she didn't stay to watch. Bought t-shirts and snacks then went bowling. The bowling alley is open Sunday evenings. That was kinda fun. Took some pictures of Richie rolling the ball. Went to the Empire Cafe (internet place) to check e-mail and weather. Kids were tired and fussy. Richie was playing with the chairs. He fell off a stool. We didn't see him fall. He Screamed! We got some ice from the machine and carried him back to the boat. He's in a lot of pain. We wrapped his right ankle with an ace bandage. He slept part of the night ont he bunk with me but was very uncomfortable. We gave him more tylenol and moved him to the floor. That helped some. There was an accident on a freighter wher a man fell down the hold onto his face. They radioed here for help. The doctor will go out as soon as it gets calmer seas.

Monday, 7/18
The tugboat with the doctor and injured man arrived at 7 am beside us. We quickly got up and left the boat for the medical clinic. Richie is still in a lot of pain and can't stand or walk. Nice PA Steve Tull (we'd met him on Friday) and EMT Brian. We were all working on the assumption Richie's ankle was just badly sprained. There is an old x-ray machine here. Took several pictures of his foot and lower leg. Turns out to be a spiral fracture of the lower leg above the ankle. No good splinting supplies for him here and its too soon to cast yet. Went to the rec hall movie room to relax after lunch in the Clipper House. Put ice and temporary splint which helped until late afternoon. Went back to the clinic and re-wrapped it. Had dinner at Clipper House then back to the clinic where a half cast was put on. That hurt to do but seems to help now. Watched Little House before bed. Gave Richie Tylenol and Benedryl to help him sleep. The next flight out isn't until Friday with the return a week later. He needs to have a better cast put on in Honolulu. Small chance the Coast Guard can get him out medavac tomorrow since they will be here flying patrol anyway. If so he could return Friday. Not sure they would consider simple broken leg without complications necessary for it though. Needless to say we aren't sailing away as planned today.

Tuesday, 7/19
He's outta here! Ray went to the clinic this morning. The Coast Guard agreed to medivac Richie tonight on the C-130. After he got back I went to use the phone to call my Dad and Laura for Ray's passport info. I also did a load of laundry. Richie was much better today. He spent the day resting on the floor of the boat. They didn't think Karen should go because the plane is extremely noisy. She and I will stay here on the boat while Ray goes with Richie to Honolulu. They return Friday night. Our friend Brent is out of town so we don't know where they will be staying. The plane arrived at 7:30 pm and took 1.5 hours to unload/load before Ray and Richie boarded. I left Karent in the lounge and went out with them. The Coast Guard took video of him. I got him settled down on the bed and left after taking a few photos. Got a ride back with George (maintenance man from Alaska) to the boat. Fixed a snack and read. Took half an hour to tie a second line to the dinghy. It's very rough tonight. I just about got it on then it would jerk away. Finally got it tied though.

Wednesday, 7/20
Fed Karen and cleaned the boat some this morning. Went to the FWS office to meet Mike Johnson. He's letting me fix bicycles to stay busy. After showing me where the supplies were I was left at the hanger. I fixed 4 bikes. It poured rain so I didn't get lunch. Checked email and called Queens Medical in Honolulu to find out about Richie. Queens had called the station 3 am wanting to know why he came without any writeup. Woke up 3 people here for that. Ugh. He has a 1315 appointment tomorrow with a doctor. Nor sure why they wound up at Queens last night. Plan was to wait until morning then find an ortho doc. Perhaps he had to go to justify the medevac or something happened in flight. Ray notes: the Coast Guard felt we should go to the ER just to make sure there weren't any complications; they felt it was necessary and since they'd provided the medivac I wasn't about to argue! I left word with the doctor's office to be called after the appointment tomorrow. Petted an albatross on the way out of the clinic! These birds sure make it clear we're the ones invading their home. They are everywhere. The don't get out of the way on the road. Someone has to go ahead of the fuel truck to move the birds off the road. You have to walk around them on the paths and sidewalks. I was walking back to the boat when one of the salvage crew gave us a ride in a cart. Spent the evening straightening up and reading. Need to do more laundry (towels and bedding). I did a lot of walking today. Went through a tunnel concrete bunker today. Interesting

Thursday, 7/21
Richie got his cast on this afternoon. He got to choose the color and picked purple. Talked to him and Ray twice (before and after the doctor saw him). He sounded fine. They will be back tomorrow. It was real hot here (32° C). Ate meals at the Clipper House. Fixed a few more bicycles this morning. Karen threw up while I was checking email. One of the FWS guys got me a mop and bucket to clean it up with. After dinner I went with four others to where Laysan ducks have been re-introduced to the island. The ducks hid in the grass. We all went back to the road and played with Karen. As the only child on the island, she's real popular here.

Friday, 7/22
Busy day. Even hotter today. Spent as much time inside as possible. Ate lunch and dinner at Clipper House again. Too hot on the boat to cook. Leona took me around after lunch to see more of the island. We went to check on seals and saw 3 - a mom with a 2 week old pup and another adult. Just about all the albatross have left the island leaving behind lots of small plastic. The adults are in such a hurry to get food for the chicks they pick up anything in the ocean including plastic then feed it to the chicks. When the chicks get ready to fly they regurgitate all undigested food plus the plastic. It is amazing - bottle caps of all sizes, lighters, toothbrushes and combs, any number of broken bits and pieces. Lots of them die because they are so full of plastic they starve. Death by plastic. I met Steve on my way to the library and arranged to meet him at 15:15 to get my laundry. Walked to where the Coast Guard cutter Jarvis was docked. They were just finishing getting fuel (nearly 70,000 gallons!) After they unhooked the hose I walked over and was given a tour. It was then time to meet the doctor and get my laundry. Karen fell asleep in her stroller. He met me and we took the ambulance (an old Chevy van with the seats removed to fit a stretcher in the back). 2 loads: towerls in one and sheets with a few clothes I found laying around in the other. Washed my hat too. Pong (Thailand cook) entertained Karen while I put the wash in the dryer. Went and bought a yellow t-shirt for Richie after dinner. Waited at the library until 8 pm when I walked to the airport. I was the first one there. Watched the sunset while feeding Karen. Wrote a brief postcard to my parents. Plane arrived at 9 pm. I gave Richie the shirt and he gave me a red lea. After loading the plane, FWS Bruce gave us a ride back to the boat. Somewhere Moose fell off the cart. Went back but couldn't find it. Finally got to bed around midnight.

Saturday, 7/23
Slept in a bit then walked to find Moose. Found out it was found last night and taken to Clipper House. Leona took me there. We got Moose. Pong gave me 6 oranges and some fresh strawberries. Yum! Leona let us borow her cart for the morning. I got ice and called my Dad. When I got back to the boat I went for a quick swim then took a shower. Ray left to check email and make phone calls. While I was gone, the manager John stopped by with our bill. It was only $600. They didn't charge for yesterday's flight! It would've been another $750 for that. They just charges moorage, meals, refuge access and medical. FWS John and Leona came at 1 pm and helped us cast off. We were under sail and clear of the channel by 3 pm. Light winds and easy sailing. A pod of 9 dolphins jumped and played along side for a few minutes. Richie took a long nap. He now has a slight cold and is pretty miserable this evening.

Sunday, 7/24
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1237

25/77

26.5s

29° 31'

176° 54'

Richie slept good most of the night. He had a fever and was awake 2 hours around midnight. Ray gave him 1/2 a childrens Benadryl which helped. He is doing better today. Still not much wind but at least we are able to sail. Cloudy and cool in the morning. Ran the watermaker in the afternoon. No one was very hugry so I made popcorn for dinner. Ray adds: Made 1 gallon of water, mostly to keep the watermaker "active".

Monday, 7/25
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

164

1318

25/77

26.4s

30° 51'

176° 41'

Had to fix a batten that was comming out at 4 am. The string holding the pocket closed broke allowing it to back out. Slow sailing again today. Partly cloudy then sunny by afternoon. We put the small tarp over the port main bunk covering the windows. That keeps the afternoon sun out which keeps it from getting so hot inside for Richie. He says he wants to go back to Midway to have his cast removed. Saw a ship on the horizon this morning. Ran the engine 2 hours this evening before it quit. Its either water in the fuel or the fuel pump again.

Tuesday, 7/26
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed from

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

255

1409

23/73

26.5s

32° 21'

176° 23'

The wind slowly increased overnight so by 5:30 am we were doing 6 knots. Its humid and cool this morning. Our coolest yet (23C). Covered the kids with light blankets to keep off the chill. Karen slept until 5:30 the went back to sleep after nursing. Richie too a very long nap yesterday evening then stayed up most of the night. He is still sick. We all seem to have a touch of this cold. I hope the cooler weather doesn't make anyone worse since it's going to keep cooling off as we go north. We'll probably take off the the tarp and welcome the afternoon warmth in a few days. A cargo ship passed 1/4 mile behind us just before dinner.

Wednesday, 7/27
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

369

1523

114

23/73

26.6s

34° 12'

175° 53'

The wind picked up around dawn giving us a fast sail the next few hours. Been good sailing since we left Midway - kinda slow but thats fine since it means less motion for Richie and his leg. We've hardly had to adjust the sails and have had them up full the entire time. Yesterday Ray forgot to re-engage the autopilot. We only noticed because we were swinging more than normal but still holding course. I checked and it said standby rather than auto. Got a surprise when I went to get a can of 7-up. All but one can were empty yet still unopened! Apparently the cans reacted with the bilge water to leach out the soda through microscopic holes (they were still pressurized!). Took the coke out (which were ok--they were in plastic containers.) Cleaned the bilge and the bottles

Thursday, 7/28
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

506

1660

137

23/73

27.3

36° 26'

175° 30'

The wind varied all night from none to 15 depending on if we were in a shower or not. By afternoon it was sunny with light wind. Ray worked onthe engine. It's definetly the fuel pump. We got it working sort of. Richie read a vocabulary book tonight and worked on handwriting 5, S and 2. He did good. He wants to learn 4 tomorrow. We're starting to wean Karen to a bottle so I can stay in the greenhouse (Mars Base Zero) when we get back. She was resistant to the bottle at first. We give her UHT whole milk. We tried straight formula but she hated that. The doctor at Midway cautioned us about whole milk causing anemia since it has no iron which babies need. Now that she is used to a bottle, I mixed 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk tonight. She really liked it and drank 6 ounces! We don't have enough formula or milk to give her all of just one so it's a good thing she liked the mixture. We're also giving her a jar of baby food each day. We went through this summer's pictures adn picked out the best ones and made them into a web page. There's around 150 picutres. This sounds like a lot until you consider it as 5 months worth of vacation pictures. Then it is just 1 picture per day average. I finished 2 articles and typed them into the computer. Now I need to find a magazine to accept them.

Friday, 7/29
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

596

1750

23/73

27.5s

37° 47'

174° 30'

Light wind all night. At dawn the wind began backing. I altered course twice to keep the sails full. When I got Ray up at 8 am we did a sail cahnge so we're now on a port tack doing 3.5-4 knots. We're now north of the North Pacific High and should be out of the doldrums. The sun came out, making it real hot in the late afternoon. I took advantage of it and aired out Richie's bedding. Ray comments: this is the first real sail change since Midway!

Saturday, 7/30
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

685

1839

22/72

27.4

39° 10'

173° 50'

The key to staying awake before sunrise during the early morning watch is staying busy. today was cool again so I made bread. The past few mornings I have done dishes but I did them last night after dinner since there were quite a few. I've been managing to do dishes every day or every other day if there aren't many. Having an autopilot is making a lot of difference from last summer. We're able to keep on top of little chores like dishes instead of letting them go until they become a bit chore. Karen is sleeping longer again. She slept until after 6 this morning. Slow, steady sailing still even with the new wind direction since yesterday. Ran the watermaker for several hours today (making 5.5 gallons) to fill our small water bottles,. I did a bucket of laundry this afternoon. First fill a 5 gallon bucket with water, add laundry soap then clothes, add more water to cover clothes. Mix with a stick. Let it soak a few hours stirring occasionally. Rinse in salt water then fresh water. Finally hang to dry.

Its going to be a chilly night. At 7:30 the temperature was 23C. We need to move Richie's mattress over to the toy bunk. His pillow and sleeping bag have been wet from condensation the past few mornings. Ray saw a ship this afternoon. The wind and waves are up today. We've been doing 7.5-8 knots all afternoon. The water splashing cockpit is now colder. We have definitally left the warm, tropical waters behind. At dark we put a reef in the main sail. No navigation lights tonight due to having run the batteries down making water, so we need to keep an extra careful watch tonight for other ships.

Sunday, 7/31
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

829

1983

144

19/66

27s

41° 20'

172° 28'

Windy all night. Lowered the mizzen at midnight then the jib around 2 am. Cloudy with off and on misty showers. Got out a heavier blanket for Karen this morning. When I was looking for the warm kids clothes I discovered a leak had dripped onto the bag. About half of the clothes were damp or wet. Glad I found it now so nothing is seriously mildewed. Its draped around the main cabin with yesterday's laundry to dry. I put socks on Karen and Richie's good foot. I'm wearing jeans. Karen has a bit of a cough today. I heated the water for her bottles to help keep her warm. Previously she's just gotten it room temperatuer since it was so warm. Not anymore! It is 18°C at noon. The tarp came loose from the port side. Oh, well. Its cooled off enough we were going to take it off anyway. When the waves calm down, we'll go finish untying it. Karen woke up from her noon nap with a bit of croup. I found a dry warm outfit to put on her and gave her a warm bottle. The temperature has been steadily dropping all day. It was 15°C at 7:30 pm. The waves are 8-10 feet with some 12-14 feet at times. Not real rough just rolling a lot. Richie is now wearing a sweat shirt over his t-shirt. He said he was getting cold after dinner. No cabin lights again tonight because the battery still very low. Ray comments: sailed all day at 6+ knots with only a single-reefed main. In spite of the couds, the solar panels charged at ~1 amp most of the day - just barely enough to power the nav lights after dark.

Monday, 8/1
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

952

2106

123

12/54

27s

43° 07'

171° 06'

Still cloudy, windy and big waves. Morning temperature was 12°C and has been all day. Put a cap on Karen and pants on Richie. She is staying on our bunk in the main cabin under her fleece blanket and a big, heavy blanket that she can't kick off. I didn't sleep much last night then spent most of my morning off time dealing with kids and helping Ray. He let me sleep in until 12:30. Richie had a diaper flood at 5 am. Everything got wet - him, his sheet, his clothes. It all had to be changed. He then didn't want to go back to sleep. The motor ran for 1.5 hours before Ray turned it off. That charged the battery enough so we can have lights and still use the autopilot. We had decided to go directly to Kodiak instead of the AK Penninsula first. The motor is not reliable, we're low on baby formula, its cold, and Richie needs to be seen for his leg to be sure its healing right. Plus it is getting late in the season and we want to avoid any early storms which start there this time of year. Perhaps next summer we can sail over there. Snce we went to Midway we're probably going to need to go through customs. Hope they don't give Ray a hard time for not having his passport or birth certificate. Raised the mizzen mid-morning since the wind was down a bit. It will likely take 7-12 days to get to Kodiak. If we can keep everyone warm (especially the kids) until we get there we'll be OK. The motion was less this eveing so I did dishes. First time in 3 days. I made popcorn before going to bed. Ray got me a wonderful surprise just after I lay down - a hot water bottle for me feet!
Ray notes: We keep regular watches (shifts). This is our schedule:

Who	Start	End	Hours
Ray	22:00	04:00	6
Frankie	04:00	08:00	4
Ray	08:00	11:00	3
Frankie	11:00	15:00	4
Ray	15:00	18:00	3
Frankie	18:00	22:00	4

So we each keep watch a total of 12 hours a day.

Tuesday, 8/2
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1036

2190

11/52

27.9r

44° 12'

169° 54'

The wind slowly died during the night until after midnight it quit and left us bobbing. Ray started the engine but it died. When he got me up at 4 am he repressurized the tank by pumping air into it (with the foot pump for the dinghy) and it ran fine. That was a nice shift - lights and heater on, gentle motion. I made a pot of oatmeal for early breakfast, I didn't eat much yesterday (queasy stomach) so I was pretty hungry. I got out my sweat pants and wool socks for sleeping plus another blanket. We're socked in with heavy, low clouds and mist turning to fog at times. By noon the clouds had lifted and the temperature warmed up a bit. While sitting outside reading, I discovered we had torn our main sail in 2 places at the reef points. One tear is about a foot long. The other is 2 feet long. Both are vertical, straight tears. We tried to fix it with the sail repair tape but that didn't stick. Neither did duct tape. Hope they don't get worse. We can no longer use the first reef point without risking more tears. We're going to need a new main sail. Unfortunately we don't have a sail mending kit and none of my needles are strong enough to sew sailcloth. My stomach is real upset this evening.

Wednesday, 8/3
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1148

2302

112

11/52

26.2f

46° 01'

169° 05'

Very little wind with low clouds and mist/fog again. I had diarhea all night and still do today plus stomach cramps. Our engine problems got worse so Ray changed the fuel filter, and after that the engine ran fine, even without the fuel pump. Ran the watermaker for a few hours, making 3.75 gallons of water. Ran the engine all day and night.

Thursday, 8/4
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,252

2406

104

11/52

26.6s

47° 37'

168° 09'

NNE

Lumpy, bumpy morning going into the wind with the motor. The wind was up and Ray altered course to take advantage of it. At noon we raised the mizzen and shut down the engine. Ray noticed a small tear near the top of the jib. Having the mizzen up not only increased our speed (even without the engine) but stablilized the motion. Karen is constipated. The book on pediatric medicine suggests it's from the cow's milk. No more for now. I'll have to breast feed her more since we don't have enough formula without the cow's milk. Did the dishes this afternoon. I'm feeling a bit better today. The diarhea is mostly gone. Richie is learning to read. He has a book of sight words and simple pictures 3 or 4 per page. Turned the engine back on at 8 pm. Surprisingly the main cabin didn't cool off as much as we were expecting while the engine (and thus the heater) was off. We ate an early dinner at 4 pm. Richie fell asleep at 5 pm and slept all night. I don't think he slept good last night; he fell asleep late and woke up early.

Friday, 8/5
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,379

2533

127

12/54

27.6r

49° 37'

167° 10'

My stomach is still upset. Richie is feeling better so he's very energetic and noisy. He's also been hungry a lot today. The leak in the bathroom is most annoying because it drips on you when sitting on the toilet. Brrr! I used the last 2 eggs for asparagus casserole dinner. Slow but steady sailing all day. Turned the motor on at 4 pm to speed us along and warm up the main cabin.

Saturday, 8/6
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,507

2661

128

11/52

28.4r

51° 22'

165° 14'

Ray fixed oatmeal for breakfast which we all enjoyed, even Karen ate a small bowl. turned off the motor at 8 am and had a good sail all day. Cloudy. Ran the engine for an hour at dinner just to warm up the cabin. Put the a reef (2nd reef point) in just before dark at 9 pm since we were doing 8 knots. Thats only the second or third time we'e had to reef this crossing

Sunday, 8/7
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,638

2792

131

11/52

20.2r

53° 03'

162° 59'

Richie's diaper leaked at 4 am. He didn't go back to sleep after that. Ran the engine for two hours to warm up the cabin since Richie is no longer wearing pants. Sun and blue sky this morning. First sunny morning in a week. Clouds came back by afternoon. Shook out the reet at 4 pm - later than we should for our speed onl increased to 5 knots. Richie went to bed very easily.

Monday, 8/8
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,754

2908

116

13/55

30.9s

54° 20'

160° 34'

We left the sails up full all night. The wind is gusty so we are unsteady on our speed. Many puffins and other sea birds around. We should make landfall and anchor tonight. Then it is another few hundred miles to Kodiak and the end of our voyage. We saw several ships. I am feeling better today. We rant ht emotor for an hour for heat at breakfast time.

9:30 am Land Ho! Nagai Island, one of the Shumagin Islands 25 miles away and 20° off our port bow. Karen's diaper leaked just before breakfast so we had to change her outfit. Anchored at 7:30 pm (Hawaii time). Saw a bald eagle and 3 otters. Anchored in Simeonof Harbor on Simeonof Island. Nice protected anchorage, with no motion (first time in 16 days!)

Tuesday, 8/9
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,811

2965

13/55

30.3s

54° 55'

159° 17'

Slept in then had pancakes for breakfafst. Ray transfered fuel while I cleaned the toilet. Got it about half done when Ray called needing help. The funnel kept falling over so I needed to hold it up while he poured. After finishing fueling, which took over an hour, we cleaned deck. Unfortunately it was now low tide and we were aground! While waiting for the tide to come in and reflood us, we decided to coulkthe port and aft windows. What a hassle. The old caulk refused to come out despite our best efforts. Ray finally decided to use a new tube of caulk. Once the windows were caulked we were afloat again so it was time to raise anchor and sail away. A seal swam around us while we were working outside this morning. It was 13:30 when we finally got underway. Fast sailing all day 6-8 knots with the motor. Motor sailed until 3 AM.

Wednesday, 8/10
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

1,918

3,072

107

13/55

30.7s

55° 53'

156° 40'

We left the sails full up all night. Shut off the motor late night. Richie woke up coughing bad during the night. Ray figured the mold & mildew from the leak in the closet is causing it so he moved Richie to the other bunk and that helped stop the cough. When we get to Kodiak I'll move the kids outside while I move everything wet out of the closet and hang it to dry outside. The engine started acting up because the fuel filter is clogged again. Unfortunately we don't have another filter. Ray tried cleaning it and managed to get the engine to say (at 13:30) running. Passed an island we were considering for anchoring but since it was just noon we kept going. We are making better progress than we thought we would. We ran the watermaker for a couple hours, making 3 gallons of water. Turned on the motor at 6 pm since there was barely any wind, just enought to keep steerage. Richie took 3 naps then didn't fall asleep until very late. Rewrapped Richie's cast bandage because it was comming off.

Thursday, 8/11
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

2,035

3,189

117

13/55

30s

56° 31'

153° 23'

We kept motoring all night due to the lack of wind. It shifted during the night and is now a west wind but still light. Hope it picks up. We don't have enough fuel to motor all the way. Hopefully we will be in Kodiak tomorrow morning. The clouds cleared off and it turned into a pretty sunny day. We sailed until mid-afternoon when the wind died again. Quite an adventurous evening. Just before 6 PM we ran through a big patch of kelp which tangled teh prop and killed the engine. We used the boat hook to pull out pieces which we then tugged free or cut free. Eventually we untangled ourselves. Saw a few whales while making dinner. Ray had a fish line out which fooled a bird. It got the hook stuck in it's wing. We gently pulled it close and freed it. Ray put a towel over it but he bird flung it off intot he water where it sank. We're now missing two towels this summer. Lots more whales during dinner. Unfortunately we snagged another bird the the fish hook. Got it free and gave up fishing. Brought the kids outside and ate dinner on the deck watching birds and whales fro the next few hours. Glassy calm water this evening. No clouds anywhere. A group of whales came up real close to the boat about 10 pm.

Friday, 8/12
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

2,119

3,273

13/55

29.9f

57° 43'

152° 05'

Ray and I each spent some of our morning shifts straightening the main cabin in preparation for our arrival into Kodiak. Richie and Karen woke up early. A bit of marine layer fog came up just after sunrise. It got fairly thick by 8, and we had to proceed with extreme caution using the GPS. The fog started lifiting as we arrived at the islands lying off Kodiak (town), and shortly after noon we motored intot he harbor and tied up to our slip. Shortly after we arrived several people we know, who happed to have a boat a few slips down from us, stopped by to say hello.

After picking up the boat a bit and calling our parents we rowed across the channel to the harbor master's office. After taking care of the paperwork and paying for our slip we walked up to the library. While Richie played in the kid's room we checked our email. Then we went to a mexican restaurant for dinner before going back to the boat and going to bed.

Saturday, 8/13
8 am observations:

Nautical Miles Sailed From

24 hour
Dist

Temp
°C/°F

Baro-
meter

Latitude

Longitude

Wind, last 24 hours

Wave, last 24 hours

Midway

Hawaii
(Oahu)

Dominant
Direction

Max

Min

Dominant

Direction

Max

Min

2,129

3,283

13/55

Kodiak

The day was spent preparing to leave. The boat wasn't tied for high winds so we got it securely tied. Our 110 volt electrical system had failed so the faulty ground -fault plug was bypassed. Frankie spent most of the day cleaning out the closet, which had mildewed, and hanging out damp clothes. The boat looks like we've done 5 loads of laundry with all the clothes hanging everywhere.

The harbor had told us they'd get to our power hook-up Monday, but the must have gotten to it for it was working. So we dug out the electric cable and got the boat hooked up.

We also got our cluttered cotpit cleaned out, our 15 (grocery sized bags) of garbage hauled up the hill to the dumpster (about half of this was dirty diapers *sigh*), Richie's crib mattress scrubbed and the boat lines taken care of.

After dinner we watched a video on the computer.

Saturday, 8/14
8 am observations: None: in harbor.

Ann J. picked us up and gave us a ride to the ferry. We forgot Karen's bottle, but they held the ferry a couple of minutes while we ran and got another one.

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Last messed with summer 2007.

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