< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>

4/10/2006 2:00:00 AM
1238 miles outside of Hiva Oa
South of our project course and cutting across waypoint 1014

Day 12 of 25 - All is different as of today

DAY 12 of 25 - A whole lot of changes happened today ... crew mood is up, weather is different, course will change ... not much stayed the same on Lawur.

Today was a day of transitions . the weather changed, my mood changed, the food changed, the time changed, soon the course will change too . not sure I can handle so much change in one day . can someone send me a Change Management consultant please . yes yes they do exist or at least that's what they were called in my days.

SAILING UPDATE

Well today was a  big day and a day full of new things, which was much appreciated after pretty much 11 days of pretty much the same with some little variation here and there. First the day started with some never before seen radar signatures at around 8am and since it was still dark in the morning (we decided to turn the clock back an hour later today), Niki saw what seemed to be a pretty big ship on the radar . actually more like a blob about 1 mile all around . too big for a ship and soon it became apparent that this is our first squall. We didn't know what to expect but we had already earlier on rolled up the jib and so all we had was our full main. The winds started picking up and when they started to hit high 20s, I decided to go up top and hand steer at first only in my swimming trunks and life vest . then I also put on my rash guard . shortly after the wind picked up, the rain started coming in and it was raining HARD . what a nice shower both for the boat but also for myself, the first rain we have seen in 4 months. You might think this is weird . well even I think this is weird, but I had one of my best moments of the trip. The wind piped up to 35 knots once or twice, I sailed with the main totally spilling the wind and was still making over 8 knots, because of all the rain and the early morning time, the sky was almost pink . what a sight . and I was standing at the helm of Lawur, who showed her true self . steady as a rock . and it was all over in 15 minutes . welcome to the ITCZ I came down soaked, stripped and toweled off to these funny faces on the rest of my family . they could just NOT understand what was going on with me . well it must have been an adrenaline high and I had the time of my life.

The biggest change of today though will be that we are reaching 127 degrees and we are planning to take a left turn . if we have wind we will sail straight for the Marquesas, if not we will motor south to get through the ITCZ as fast as possible since typically the ITCZ has very light winds and squalls . we are starting to see less and less wind already.

BOAT UPDATE

We had our first breakage on the boat today . as if I would have jinxed it with writing about the jib yesterday, the same area that had just superficial damage yesterday, today the sail material itself ripped and the foot of the sail has a 3-5 foot tear right along the rope that is sewn into the foot . repairable on the passage . questionable I have enough material with me . repairable in Hiva Oa . most likely. That means that we are probably without a big jib for the rest of the trip but I will make a closer assessment within the next few days, when the winds are light and I can drop the sail to the deck. Interestingly enough, when I saw it I wasn't even that shocked . it seems these days out at sea are playing mayor games with my psyche and alter my emotions quite dramatically . what is still to come!?

FISHING UPDATE

Start the count, we are up to 1 fish and about 6 pounds of filleted meat from a Skipjack we believe it is. People say the meat is too dark but we really enjoyed it today and it tasted great . but this thing put up a good fight . sure sailing along at 6 - 7 knots didn't help the effort but still. This wasn't a HUGE fish, maybe 3 ft long max and I didn't measure but probably no more then 20lbs heavy, but I was still working it for almost an hour until I had that sucker on deck . thank good for the washdown pump and the filet table on the back, a last minute addition, because cutting the fish up was a bloody mess . literally.

FOOD PLAN OF THE DAY

Breakfast - English muffin with you guessed it . Nutella . and no we are not sponsored by them yet . any ideas!?

Lunch - Ham and eggs

Dinner - Broiled Tuna seasoned / blackened in garlic and olive oil with a cucumber salad . you will see a variety of tuna on the menu for the next few days . we gotta eat ourselves through 6 pounds of it

HIGH OF THE DAY

Hard to believe but it has to be sailing in the squall . I just had such a blast and it was a great change of pace. More objectively, it has to be the fact that we are finally making our turn for the Marquesas . too early you might ask, well only time will tell. At this point, the 4 boats who are still in close proximity of 40 miles are splitting into 2 groups, Capaz and Long Tall Sally are staying on more westerly course taking advantage of the northern trades as much as the can at the risk of being to far west and having to beat to the Marquesas. Ohana Kai and Lawur are taking an earlier turn, the more direct route but at the risk of spending more time in the ITCZ or having to motor more . we will know in 3 or 4 days, which strategy paid off but then again half a day slower or faster makes no real difference in a 25 day voyage.

LOW OF THE DAY

Despite the fact that I was unusually calm about it, it was a big bummer that the big jib ripped . all the banging when getting sloshed around in the waves took its toll and now we need to asses how to deal with it . maybe we go for a simple duck-tape repair first . ;-)

Enough for today . it was a big day and we are looking forward to some probably less settled nights with squalls forming all around us right now . Niki and I decided when a squall hits us we both need to be up to make sure things stay tied down which will most likely mean less sleep for both of us . keep your fingers crossed for a fast passing thru the ITCZ.

Happy voyaging,

Robert and crew

TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

!!! PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE ORIGINAL WHEN REPLYING TO REDUCE DOWNLOAD TIME !!!

---------- LIST MANAGEMENT ---------- DIGEST - To get a digest version of our postings on a bi-weekly basis, send an email to STServ@TheSchmids.org with the following text in the message body:

Set mode digest EnglishLogbook

UNSUBSCRIBE - Send an email to STServ@TheSchmids.org with the following text in the message body:

Unsubscribe EnglishLogbook

< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>