We are about 4 days from Honolulu. If our wind can hold this speed and direction we may be able to get in some spinnaker sailing today and tomorrow. Though the forecast has predicted as much, the wind has been variable with a range of 10-15 knts.
Currently Ras is in the galley making breakfast bread from which Yoav kneaded yesterday. Lauren and Henry are out on deck enjoying a beautiful sunrise as they steer straight for Hawaii. All other crew are tucked sweetly away into their bunks after a good nights sail. It has gotten warmer and we are starting to feel a bit tropical.
Fun sailing aside, we are starting to get a good look at the diagnostics and procedures for optimizing the expedition portion of this journey. We are looking our energy production vs. consumption, attempting to rely solely on renewable energies. For example, if we are making good energy via the sun, we can opt to use the induction stove over the LPG. Our Science team has begun testing our protocols for plastic and micro-plastic collection. We are only able to put our net out on slow moving days . We do this when trolling 3kts by using a carbon fiber spinnaker pole lent to us by the Los Angeles Maritime Institute-Shout out to our LAMI family!! We have caught two fish so far. One Mahi Mahi and one we believe may have been a Mackerel. (We are reminded to download a fish identifying chart when we get to HI.) With each fish we catch, we do not waste. We greatly appreciate this sacrifice to feed our family as well as the data we can ascertain from the fish about the state of our oceans.
Our communications on board have been successful though a bit tricky. Our automatic SSB tuner has stopped automating frequencies. It is now a manual SSB tuner. Hopefully we will be able to source one for the expedition, if not during our stop over in Hawaii. (Let us know if you have one you’d like to donate! Discoverer@Thelongestswim.com)
Our stop in Hawaii will be great for re-provisioning and preparing our run to Japan. We will be losing two fantastic crew members; Henry, who has been on the project since Ben bought the boat in the UK a year and a half ago and has done an excellent job at teaching us all how this boat likes to be handled. And John, my mate who dropped nearly everything in about a months notice to fly in for the delivery. John has been implement in setting up our comms and navigation while also being a good-spirited, cheerful bloke. Disco will not be the same without them!!
As to not lose hands on the rest of the delivery we have re-cruited two new crew members, Suzy and Mariano. Both bring to the table some decent crossings, interest and experience in our various systems on board, an overall love for the ocean and most importantly a passion for the project. Can’t wait to meet them.
As we move along these next few days we will be on a vigilant lookout for fishing boats and fishing nets in the water. We will hope to time a daytime approach into Honolulu where our friends from Agalita will be waiting to catch our lines. Until then, we knock on wood for some smooth sailing.
Melissa
Skipper
SV Discoverer
Monday, April 16, 2018
Lat: 22*27N Long: 145*28W
True Wind Direction: 042*
True Wind Speed: 19.3
App Wind Speed: 20.3
COG: 283*
SOG: 8.7kts
VMG: 8.1kts
Click here for the latest weather forecast provided by Weather Routing Inc.
Total Distance Run: 1860nm
Distance Remaining: 699nm
Average Speed: 7.06Kts
Time enroute: 10 days, 23:26
