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240 hours into the passage to Marshall Islands

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Are we there yet?

After a nice siesta out in the middle of nowhere. It was time to finish this journey. Seems I was so hard a sleep Christine couldn’t wake me. Well she did wake me, and I’m not sure what was said, but it was surely something I didn’t understand since she let me go back to sleep, and sleep 2 hours past original time to get going. So if you see me today, thank Christine for my beauty sleep, I obviously needed it.

Final passage sunset

Made contact on SSB in the morning to notify of our position and a time to meet at the mooring with another boater to give us the lay of the land.

We got to follow 2 container ships in the pass this morning, Looks like a busy little place, lots of lights along the shore and quite a few commercial boats inside the lagoon.

Just like the Houston ship channel. Lots of traffic this morning

Over all a comfortable passage, weather wise it was spectacular. Would have been better if there was more (or any sailing) involved, but that might have changed the sea state. I’m sure Christine will have a different opinion, but with the drugs she seemed pretty normal, if that is possible.

Noteworthy:
• SPC and ITCZ: I guess it’s possible that you can make it through without too much drama with the right amount of diesel and super slack weather window. Not sure if that’s true or not, but somehow worked in our favor, albeit a longer / slower trip that our normal.
• Lost : Tan lines, I’ve looked everywhere they are no where to be found. Something you’ve had for fifty something years and to have lost it. All is not lost, I have it on good authority that civilization brings them back.
• Diet : While the boat lost hundreds of pounds along the way, I’m sure I ate everything in sight. Any thing to keep awake, it’s the lack of exercise that isn’t good. A long HOT walk on shore will do wonders for the psyche, after clearing customs of course.
• Lost : SSB & Ham radios have been dying for a few years, but the once entertainment and safety at sea is still tapering off. Hardly any boats checking to PacSea net. We did use ours to keep up with a friend that is on his way to Japan.
• Lost : A little blood from a drone catch, count your fingers lucky, we we should have practiced that on flat ground before trying it in ocean swell.
• Learned : You can motor a long way when you need to, nearly 130 miles per gallon of diesel, by rough calculation.
• Lost : More of my sanity not sure how much I have left to loose, seems to be being replaced by senility, or is that just my bad spelling?
• Learned : Its frigging HOT this side of the equator, should have installed air conditioning instead of the diesel heaters.

Anchor down (mooring retrieved) and cold beer in hand! Yippie. Off to find the authorities and clear into customs and immigration.

And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

210 hours into the passage to Marshall Islands

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That fishing fleet owned the ocean and no one else should be out here.

This one boat was on his course and wasn’t going go change.. Our paths were to cross within 15 meters of each other.. No radio communication just standing his course we had the sails up, starboard at that. I luffed (slowed down) to give this guy room. And by room .15 nm or 150 meters. Then he tossed a FAD into the water, almost directly in front of us.

Where your canned tuna comes from

There were 6 more boats joining the fleet that coming straight at us, they all passed with reasonable separation. I think they were anxious to get fishing at the freshly set FAD. These boats follow the migrating schools of tuna, load the fish from the smaller (30 meter) boats into the larger ship, that takes the fish to a facility for processing and then on the Philippines for processing. I didn’t see a ‘starkiss’ logo, but could have been there.. Sorry Charlie.

Once past the ocean thieves, it’s off to the races and break out the mathematics again. Ugh, more numbers. Can we make the final push to make the pass, into a new location in the day light with the hours that are left. It seems to always come down to timing, short trips, long journeys, the final bits are the details that matter. The pass is charted, the chart shows marker, local knowledge says not all the markers are there. Then there is finding an anchor spot in the dark in a new location. All added up to we either needed to average 8 knots so arrive the pass around 3pm on Tuesday so there would still be sunlight by the time we reached the town on the inside of the lagoon. Oh, the winds in the forecast were 6-7 knots.. So not gonna happen.

Nice day, nice sailing after the dance party waves sorted themselves out.

The wind shift came late, and when it did the wind died.. Making the pass on Tuesday, is not gonna happen. Another night out, so we watch the penultimate sunset of the passage with a nice Chicken Curry, dreaming of an Ice cold “Anchor Down” beer. But the beer will have to stay cold for an extra day.

Less than 100 to go, Slow rolling, no reason to get there only to have to wait at the pass for daybreak.

188 hours into the passage to Marshall Islands

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Dance party…….

The dance party lasted all night long. The only thing that cleared those pesky red splotches from my screen was day light. And like any good party that lasts till dawn, a mess was left behind. The waves are no longer nice and organized. They too weren’t sure how to handle all those loud windy kids. I can’t believe what they call it music.

All good, daybreak is here. Still playing a bit of dodge boat with the fishing fleet. 3 of the ships are busy laying out fads dead ahead. probably too soon for me to sneak a sweet fish from their “Fish Attracting Device” as we go by. Doesn’t mean I won’t try.

Fads from the mother ships, used to create shelter and attract fish.

Max wind gust with driving rain last night 34, went from 5 knots to cooling breeze, to can’t see a damn thing.

Dance parties are always exhausting, but Christine let me sleep a bunch through this one, she knows I don’t like to dance anyway.

Waiting to see how the wind settles down when the sun is up, will set the sails. Looks like it will be a Wednesday morning arrival. Still have 220nm to go which says ether haul butt and make it tomorrow afternoon, or haul a little less butt and have one more night out to make a nice daylight arrival. Being that there is more light winds in the future forecast, I don’t think we’d make the the 150nm we normally average in a day.. so if we give ourselves 2 days at 125, we have room to spare.

All good on board, boat was nicely rinsed off, but since we will be sailing through the garbage left after the dance, I’m sure we’ll get it all nice and salty today.