Headway through the high!

Started out motorsailing, then sailing, then motorsailinging, then sailing, motorsailing…all day long making our way across this flat expanse of the high. No flying fish today, and hence, no fish caught today. Nada. We made water today–pumped the reverse osmosis unit for some gallons to put into the tank for drinking. Joe and Aleks are no longer pumping iron–they are pumping water. Cecile pumped the RO as well–we will be so buff! Another gorgeous day out here and busy doing boat stuff, being on watch, trimming sails and eating good food. Tomorrow we will have fish chowder and hope to catch more fish. The albatross hung around again today.

Repairing the head, cleaning and dodging junk

We’ve been motoring for two days now, (wind droppped down to 6 kts and less) and who would think we would be so busy we can’t update the blog? Fixing the head was a major production and after replacing the pump assembly, it still required diving overboard to ‘snake’ the through hull from outside the boat because it was so jammed up. Cleaning up took all day and then laundry beckoned. 😐 Fishing has been suspended out here in this ultra flat–mirror calm area of the Pacific High. However, we may restart it again today–we also have made the connection between seeing flying fish and then hooking up a fish within minutes. WE saw flying fish again today.
It is a mixed experience between the beautiful expanse of ocean and sky and enjoying looking at it and also seeing all of the junk floating around out here–fishing ball floats/net, lengths of floating line (rope), plastic bottles, pieces of styrofoam, other floating plastic stuff, cartons, fishing tubs, laundry baskets, flip flops, bottles and more. We are noting it and the notebook is getting quite full. An albatross was floating next to a large floating pile of fishing rope/net stuff–probably waiting for a fish to surface from under the floating ‘reef’. We hope to get to the other side of the high to pick up the northwesterlies to head south. We have concern for the hurricane influence on SoCal marine weather and are considering some options. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the MahiMahi, catching up on our sleep and checking for chafe, loosening of lashings and keeping the water and food supply in order. We also have been listening to Japanese skippers on the VHF radio.

Another day of fishing!

We continue to sail toward the big high pressure system and are finding turbulent seas probably from the tropical storms down south. The skies have been gorgeous and the wind continues to take us north and east with 10 to 25 kts and oscillating direction. Meanwhile, we caught more MahiMahi today and are having fish again for dinner! (We had it with eggs this morning as well). Much to do all day managing water, cleaning up stuff, staying organized, recording position, etc. meals, cleaning fish, etc. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll have a better idea for when we wil turn right to motor across the bottom of the high toward the coast to pick up the northwesterlies!

Fish tacos!

Finally, after three jumped off the double hook, we shipped another nice MahiMahi-what a fight! Their colors are spectacular and they swim FAST! It was actually swimming faster than the boat doing 6 kts! After dinner and sunset and before dark, we shipped another. It was a challenge to fillet it in the dark cockpit while the wind was building. We noticed that we hooked up a fish after seeing flying fish skimming by the boat. Hmmm. Many squalls tonight packing stiff shifty wind.
It was a gorgeous day out here and we are wondering when the wind will run out as we get nearer to the big high. We have 90 gallons of fuel for the motoring across the bottom of the high to reach the northwesterlies and sail down to Marina Del Rey. No more flying fish whacking us on deck so far either!

A birthing whale?, a weird meteorite?

So we will continue to pretend that we don’t have 6 GPS’s on board as Aleks will once again do his noonsite/fix work with his sextant. Somehow, we’ll figure out where we are. We came upon a fin whale that may have been giving birth–this is something we will have to research when we get back. Last night while on watch driving, ‘saw a weird white flare/rocket like thing shoot up and then down not more than 5 to 8 miles away. It had a greenish/blueish tint to it and really lit up the sky. Was it a wayward meteorite? Aliens? No other lights all around except gazillions of stars and the Milky Way. We are coming up on 30 degrees Lat. north. It is predicted that the winds will die down so we are going to fix the head then. Squalls with rain and rainbows not far away. Gratefully, we are enjoying the lingering 14 to 20 kt. erratic winds. Last night Aeriagnie was so balanced with her sail plan that she literally drove herself with absolutely no assistance for nearly two hours in 14 to 21 kts of wind and corrected herself when she was either too high or too low–it almost looked like there was an invisible driver at the helm. ‘Sure made being on watch a cinch and a grea show to watch her do it. I’m sure she was proud of herself–especially that she was trolloping along at 7.0 kts at times in a close reach. The fishing gear is working its way to the stern of the boat. Hmmm–

Grateful for the winds holding up!

We are gratefully scooting along on a pretty good course with wind holding between 15 to 28 kts variable with a direction giving us a ittle bit of opportunity to do some ‘easting’. A rogue wave slammed the side of the boat this morning while I was making filter cone gourmet coffee for the crew–it flew everywhere. Boiling wet grounds blanketed the cabin floor so had to tart over again. The seas had calmed down a bit but have become sloppy again. Aleks is doing his noon site with his sextant to see if we cn figure out where we are. 😉

Solar power keeping up with autopilot!

We are finally sailing with just one reef in the main, the storm jib and the genoa rolled out 30% in 15 to 20 kts of steady breeze and the seas have finally settled down a bit! At 25 1/2 degrees latitude north, we are also seeing the barometric pressure rising on the ship’s instrument. The last two days were uncomfortable with really mixed big seas, erratic winds up to 38 kts and crazy wind shifts with the squalls. We are all fine now–seasickness has passed for one, sleeplessness for another, and we are all happy with the little bit of cooling temperatures–it was pretty muggy. We will be installing the spare toilet pump assembly–broken head–the portable latrine unit is being regularly deployed. Flying fish herding aacross the water and some birds are checking us out– a plover, a booby and a tropic bird. We are considering doing some fishing in the next day or so!
Last night we had Hawaiian chicken LauLau and salad and this morning it was sausage, toasted bagels and cream with fresh sliced papaya. Fresh fish is on everybody’s mind now. We have blue skies wwith some big white puffy clouds here and there. Sunscreen is very popuolar on board today. Aloha!

Aeriagnie is departing Kaneohe Yacht Club today heading back to Marina Del Rey

We have fueled up, filled the water tanks, checked the systems, stowed, stashed, secured and packed away everything. We have lots of food in the refrigerator, in the larder and in lots of compartments. Hmmm, we must be ready to cast off now! We also have a weather guru updating us on the weather and best routing! We hope to catch some fish in a few days and have wasabi, pickled ginger and chopsticks aboard! We also have the makings for fish tacos! Yahoooooo! Maybe we’ll get some wahooooo!
Joe says that we are having a great time and wish you were here! Aleks says ‘Hello’ and “Aloha’ and ‘Mahalo’! Cecile says ‘Let’s go’! Watch for our blog updates every day!

Aeriagnie riding out the storms

Aeriagnie is riding out the storms tied up at Kaneohe Yacht Club with the big winds coming over her bow. She’ll be getting loaded up with fuel and food this coming Thursday, August 14th for her return sail to Marina Del Rey. The Big Pacific High is hanging out there and plans are being made for how to most efficiently get around it. Hurricanes Iselle and Julio have been causing big stirs throughout the Hawaiian Islands and it is hoped that their “alley” has closed so that no more storms form for this season, at least, no more storms form and build like they did and then march on across to Hawaii.

Fishing will be on the big list for activities aboard Aeriagnie so let’s hope we have some good luck!

In reviewing the previous blog posts, I realize how many typos and such happened. It was a real challenge to write and then read on the moving boat to see all of the mistakes. At least we can get the gist of what was being communicated.

Reaching and screeching!

We are still reaching to the finish line–winds have varied between 13 to 25 kts and we are making good progress. Two huge squalls with 30+ winds this morning gave a really big boost in the right direction. The day was gorgeous once again. The race committee has contacted us with the updated finish instructions and Kaneohe yacht club is providing a slip for Aeriagnie! All is coming together. Our flights back to L.A. are Sunday afternoon–phew!–just in the nick of time! Squalls, rainbows, blue skies and another stunning sunset.