800 Miles to Honolulu

Have you ever been on a long road trip and, near the end, all you want is to finally arrive? That is exactly where Peter and I are. We have been sailing nonstop since St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March, which makes today day thirty one. We have about eight hundred nautical miles left of this more than five thousand nautical mile Pacific crossing to Hawaii.

The last four days have been full of adventure mixed with a fair amount of disappointment. With our limited usable sail platform, it is frustrating to know that if our other sails were still in working order, Hazel would be making a faster and far more comfortable passage.

Right now Hazel is carrying a full mainsail in a starboard downwind position at about one hundred fifty degrees. She is moving along at an average of five and a half knots. The staysail is furled because it flogs too violently when deployed. All the wind is captured by the mainsail, and we are protecting the staysail since we will need it in a few days to navigate the islands.

We are making acceptable time, but the motion is relentless. Every swell rolls Hazel with real force. I tried to capture it on video, but the size and intensity of the swells never translate. They are three to six meters, roughly fifteen feet on average. They are big and powerful but not enormous, and they are manageable because the frequency between them is generous. The wind has been steady at sixteen to twenty one knots, which is perfect.

The challenge is the combination of our sail angle and the swell direction. Hazel is in a constant rolling rhythm that wears down her crew. Standing is difficult. Cooking is difficult. Sleeping is difficult. Even using the head becomes a small athletic event. The movement is not smooth or predictable. It is jerky and rolling, and that is the best way I can describe it.

We are monitoring our supplies with real focus. Water is the top priority. I estimate we have about twenty five gallons left for eight more days. If everything goes perfectly, we will make landfall in six days, but we have not experienced perfect yet, so we plan for eight. Food is not an issue. We have enough canned provisions for another twenty five days.

Today we spent a good part of the afternoon on deck watching wave and swell formations and dreaming of pizza and a Diet Mountain Dew or Coke Zero.

It is a privilege to be on this journey, and we are grateful for every prayer that has carried us safely across this ocean. We continue pressing west with plenty of sea still ahead. Hazel keeps teaching us, and we keep listening.

Peter bags his first Mahi - Mahi! A fish so nice the Hawaiians had to name it twice. Solid 15-20lbs beautiful fish.

All day, everyday: