Observations will most likely consist of wild discoveries like, for instance, ohhhhh perhaps why one shouldn't read "Life of Pi" while on board a lifeboat sized sailboat with one other person. Luckily Rich wasn't Indian, i am not French, and both of us read "Call of the Wild" on the way home, so Tigers and/or Hyenas no longer frighten us in the slightest anyway, while Buck on the other hand...
We did have a Zebra (little bird) land unceremoniously on our boat; so that no one else asks us (i've had more questions about that bird than anything else), it was "Call of the WILD-ED". That means you place the animal, gingerly, on the side of the boat and thereby give it a choice. Either jump in the ocean or to stay on board with us. The idiot jumped.
This was our last view of Hawaii, Hanalei Bay on N Kauai coast. How in the hell are we supposed to leave when this is our last anchorage? You don't, and delay delay delay.
The first week out was rough. 15-25 knot winds out of the ENE, NE, or NNE, and we had to go due North for the first 8 days. I did not enjoy those days.
While sailing upwind the lurching, while more violent, is also more predictable. See mom, brushing my teeth with NO HANDS. Inevitably you crash.
Bow birth was a no go zone. All the upwind sailing meant that our minor leaks in the front became major irritants. Everything was soaked the whole trip home.
Some cool shots.
The north Pacific Albatrosse is one of the most incredible birds in flight. They absolutely scream along the waves, just inches from the water, swooping in and out of the swell and wind waves. Very impressive.
We named him "bird". Poor thing crash landed and was stuck with us for 3 days. However we finally decided it was cruel to subject it to the cramped quarters of Mr Perfect and set it free.
The GPS, on average, would stop working every 3 days or so. We found that if you stare at it and push buttons for an extended period it may start to work. Or it may not. Luckily we did have a back up.
Captain, looking serious. 24 days at sea doesn't make you crazy, does it?
Prune hands develop over time.
This was my view every time it was time to switch watches. How do you wake a man up that is sleeping that heavily? Don't worry, my conscience is clear.
In 38 degrees latitude (this dorky free Sailing mag from San Fran) some woman posted a photo of herself, naked, strumming a Ukulele in their boat. So if you think i'm weird, think again!
Lucky Rich. He had to see me in my underwear pretty much every day that was sunny. I finally did a wash. Most of our stuff was wet all the time as well, so once we were sailing downwind again we were able to dry out our stuff for the time being.
First view of land, juxtaposed with first realization Rich and I had that the motor won't run, we have no wind, we are almost home and now we have to sit here and wait for wind. We aren't happy, and neither slept for 30hrs at this point.
Picture of our sunrise while in the shipping lane. Also a lovely "reflective" photo of our route of drifting around the lane.
This was our view for the entrance to the Juan De Fuca. No motoring required for the entire trip home. Entrance to Juan De Fuca, wind dies, motor won't start, stuck in shipping lane for 12 hrs, then the current kept dragging us backwards out to sea again.
After we fixed the engine we were, understandably, very happy. The sunset was an added bonus.
