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4/14/2006 1:00:00 AM
698 miles to Hiva Oa
Smack on track half way between waypoints 1017 and 1018

Day 16 of 25 - Counting down

DAY 16 of 25 - Now that most highlights are gone, we are just counting down the miles ... and changing sails a lot.

This will be a short but maybe a bit more educational one . I remembered that I still owed you some information so here is issue one of two starting with the doldrums. According to Beth Leonard and her 'Voyagers Handbook' (I think a must read for any 'wanna be cruiser') .

'The doldrums lie in a band within 5 to 10 degrees of the equator. . This area sits at the convergence of the northern and southern trade wind belts and is properly called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

The sun's heat on the equator causes the air to rise, creating a predominantly upward airflow and a low pressure through at the surface. The warm, moist air cools as it rises, creates clouds and squalls. Typical weather in this region includes light and variable winds, frequent squalls with heavy rain, and violent thunderstorms.

The extent and position of the doldrums varies with the season. In February and March, it is just north of the equator and often only a few miles wide. In July and August, the doldrums can be several hundred miles wide and extend as far as 20 degrees north. In both the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans, the doldrums are narrower in the west than in the east . '

Well am I glad we are pasted this area, but most of the above held true for us and explains why we went so far south before we crossed the ITCZ. Tomorrow I will give you Beth's definition of the trade winds . again very relevant since as it happened with the NE trades, the SE trades are much different then expected and we are still not in it.

SAILING UPDATE

We did a bit of sailing yesterday during the day but mostly motoring but we for the first time ever for Niki and only the 2nd or 3rd time for me raised a true spinnaker today. Spinnakers are the big colorful sails you see mostly on race boats. Well, our boat came with 3 true spinnakers and since they are light and small, we took them with us. Yesterday seemed to be a perfect day to bring them out . light winds in the 12 knot range, an almost downwind run so it was time to bring out the spinnaker. The reason most cruisers don't fly a spinnaker is the complexity of raising and flying it . a typical sail uses 2 lines, 1 to hoist also called a halyard and one to trim also called a sheet . most cruisers carry an asymmetrical spinnaker that has one additional line for the tack of the sail (holds it down at the bow) but this sail is limited how far downwind you can fly it. A spinnaker can be flown in a wider range of wind angles and especially dead downwind but it uses in addition to the regular lines (halyard to hoist and a sheet to trim) a pole, and 3 additional lines (for the interested called a guy that pulls the pole back, a topping lift that holds the pole up and and a downhaul that holds the pole down . sort of creates a stable triangle to hold the pole in position). I laid it all out in advance to make sure all the lines ran right . you must remember there are already an extra set of sheets on the boat since we carry two jibs rather then one on the boat .. And then we hoisted our spinnaker. Looked majestic and it was actually quite a big satisfaction to see it fly . the funniest part about our spinnakers are that they are all red, white and blue with actual white stars on them . quite patriotic for a boat manned by all Austrians . we might NOT fly them in the Red Sea too much . luckily it is a beat all the way so no need for them.

BOAT UPDATE

I had to do some sail repairs on the spinnaker and while at it I also checked out the rip on our big jib . it is 4 feet long and though I think I have enough material to fix it underway, I am not sure I will but rather wait to do it right when we get there . here is a funny story. So Sebastian has one of his question marathons where he starts nailing me with one question after the other . yes we are excited to see all of his interest, but timing is often miserable as this time it was in the middle of us hoisting our gennaker (asymmetrical spinnaker), me on the foredeck, Niki in the 'pit' trying to hear me shouting back from the foredeck and then Sebastian . "Papa what is this line? And this? Why do you need this one? Does Ohana Kai have this?" . but one of the question was "How long is the rip in our jib?" with the answer to follow "About 4 feet" . then Benjamin pipes in all quiet before . "4 feet . is that your feet or my feet" . needless to say, we got a good chuckle out of it and then talked about the concept of what exactly a foot is.

On a side note, we have started early on in the trip to involve the boys into many of the sail changes and other sailing related chores. At first when learning how to sail Lawur and doing test sails with new equipment, we tried to keep the kids out of it but they were bored during our little outings. So once we were underway for good, we immediately started to give them little responsibilities and not so little ones such as a look out when anchoring. Well, to make a long story short, it is starting to pay off in many ways . first the kids are much more enjoying the experience but also they are of great help . today, I raised our gennaker all alone with Sebastian and Niki didn't touch a sheet . pretty impressive, isn't it.

FISHING UPDATE

Nothing to report . it seems the quantity of flying fish has rapidly dropped and with it the fish hunting it, which is what we are after . or it might just have been beginners luck a few days ago and now we are really being tested.

FOOD PLAN OF THE DAY

Breakfast - Oatmeal

Lunch - Salami and cheese sandwich and leftover noodles for the boys

Dinner - Risotto with zucchini and mushrooms

HIGH OF THE DAY

Had to be flying the spinnaker . the boat looked really great with the big red, white and blue sail up forward doing over 6 knots at only 12 knots of wind running downwind . this is a great sail for us when it is not rolly and we will take it out more often it seems if conditions are right.

LOW OF THE DAY

Not really a low but now after all the different events along the way, we are finally cruising along on the last leg of the trip . no more big events to look forward to but landfall and we are just counting down the miles . right now, we just ticked over to below 700 to Hiva Oa. It is a bit like the last part of a mountain hike . you can almost see the peak but there is one more flat in-between . well this 'flat' is another 698 miles long and if things go as they have done so far, we should clock off at least 120 miles per day from here on .... once the trades kick in maybe even 150 miles for a few days. We have really settled nicely into the rhythm by now but this is where your endurance gets put to the test the most . or shall we call it patience . is the ocean trying to teach me something here . :-)

That's it for today. Have you started looking for a new daily blog for your breakfast already . only a few more days to go . well please stay on with us for the remaining few days.

Happy voyaging,

Robert and crew

TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur

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