Leg 4 – Hawaii to Marshall Islands 

Sunday, February 04^th, 2007 

            We needed to get going today as our 48 hours clearance time would be up at 3 pm.  We had plans of getting up, starting engines and leaving.  All we had left to do was get diesel.  However, as in life, the day had its own agenda.  The new sailboat that came in last night, Sugarcane, brought a skipper, Jerry who would also be heading for the Marshalls in a month.  He said, "Get Marlboro's. The Marshallese will make a signal for wanting smokes and they will trade for a bucket of lobster or prawns."  So, we decided one last walk through town would be good exercise and for the $4 cost of a pack of cigarettes the potential to get lobster and prawns was worth the trade.  Also being the first Sunday of the month there was the boaters exchange at the gas dock.  Now if we had kept to our plan about waking up early and heading over for our diesel, we probably would have made the gathering.  Instead we made the walk around before heading to town.  We arrived just in time to see the last of the for sale items being packed up.  Oh well, I think someone was telling us we had what we needed and we have spent enough money here.  We continued on our walk to town.  Jon decided he had to go by a pellet gun he had been looking at.  I was hoping he would look and then just shrug it off, but no such luck.  So before he got to the point of purchase I had to surprise him with the fact I had already bought the gun he had picked out earlier with Wade as his Valentine's gift.  The surprise was not as exciting considering Valentines was going to be celebrated halfway between Hawaii and Marshalls where I intended to surprise him.  A surprise all the same.  We got our smokes and headed back to the boat.  We made our goodbyes with all and hoped to see Chris, Eddie and now Jerry in the Marshall Islands soon.  Everyone helped us untie and leave the dock.  Andy was not around and he came over to the gas dock with Robbie to say goodbye.  We almost left with all of his movies he lent us, but no such luck.  I wish them all the best in their sailing adventures.  Two really nice guys.  We finally headed out the mouth of the harbour at about 2 pm.  The sky was blue but what worried us was the lack of wind.  We motored out and decided to keep motoring until we reached the edge of the land where we hoped wind would be found.  Unfortunately no such luck.  We bobbed on a glassy pond with a gentle swell all night.  Any distance we covered was by current taking us more towards Molokai than our destination at a rate of about 1 nautical mile an hour.  Not the first day out we hoped for.

Monday, February 05^th, 2007 

            I went off shift just past 4 am and was sensing a slight breeze.  Nothing accumulated until a few hours later.  The wind would push us a long slowly and then slow to a flapping sail and then again.  We were going 1 ½ knots at 8:30 and by 10 am we were going 3 knots.  If we could just reach 5 knots.  The sail is very comfortable.  Better than the bobbing, so can't complain.  But 5 knots would definitely make the journey go a little quicker.  As the day progressed unfortunately the wind did not.  We did not reach our 5 knots and in stead lost our wind once again and back to our bobbing.  We decided to celebrate with a roast lamb dinner on the barbeque, yum!  As we sat in the cockpit enjoying our dinner we watched the lights of Honolulu.  Yes, we were still just outside her territorial grounds if you would say.  A whole day plus of traveling and still only 20 some nautical miles covered.  By 1 am the scenario had not really changed.  The black clouds we were watching had come over head and we now had rain.  Jon did a long shift through the night from midnight to 5 am.  I still don't know how he does it.  I did not fair much better below though.  With the constant sway I could not sleep. 

Tuesday, February 06^th, 2007 

            Wind!  We think.  With more rain showers came more wind.  We thought it would be a short lived as the squalls as we have experienced over the past hours, but we kept gaining and now are enjoying 6-7 knots.  We had dolphins come to join us.  We saw baby dolphins for the first time.  That was pretty cool.  We are not quite on our rum line and heading a bit west than we would like, but west is better than the easting we were doing.  A beautiful day lounging and enjoying the scenery of sky and sea.  Still no fish!

We cruised along at 6 knots for most of the day.   A 'real' sailing day!  The sun was out and the boat sliced its way through the sea.  We all read books and relaxed the day away.  Jon spotted dolphins off our stern and soon we had them swimming with the boat.  They didn't get right up to the bow this time.  They had babies with them!  Maybe this is why?  Just before sunset we took down the Genoa and went on staysail alone.  As the sun set we had several birds show up and land on our bow.  One ended up nesting on the end of our boom.  Wade wandered why and questioned a weather change.  The weather ended up staying pretty constant through the night however and with beaks tucked into their feathers six birds slept the night on our boat.  They ended up leaving in the morning when we took out the Genoa but left enough bird crap behind.  Lovely!  The night watches had been uneventful but glorious all the same.  The sounds of the water rushing over the bow, the glow of the moon reflected in the surrounding clouds and the multitude of stars.  A scene I knew we were privileged to see. J

Wednesday, February 07^th, 2007 

The morning started with the rise of a round orange sun on the horizon.  Wade reeled in the fishing rod to check it and found a snake like fish on the end.  We had obviously been dragging it for a while.  Long, jagged sharp fangs.  To the best of our knowledge a barracuda?? But not really sure even after consulting the fish guide book.   Whatever it is, it became fish bait for something we could hopefully identify and eat.  However, still no fish yet!

            At 11:30 Jon called out, "Fish ON!"  Wade, without even his cape on, flew up the companion way like the superman he is.  Unfortunately the fish got off.  There is something about 11:30 though.  Each fish that we have caught had been around 11:30.  However, around 3:30 Wade went to check the lines again and brought in a small Tuna.  Nothing but a taste for each of us, but being our first for the trip, a taste it was! J Unfortunately for this guy he was not getting thrown back for being small.

            The day was full of drizzle.  The wind shifted off our nose and around to the North.  Although this helped with our speed, sails and gear were banged around in the meantime.  Frustrations were high again.  The grey day had set the mood.  More reading and attempts at napping.  With the rain and the boat swaying as she surfed with the wind, didn't allow for much else.  Making good time though and finally heading straight for the Marshall Islands.

Thursday, February 08^th, 2007 

            Last night was pretty quiet.  The boat continued its sway with each rising swell.  After my shift I couldn't fall asleep in the aft.  The sway of the boat was so great my body just kept rolling around.  By 4 am I got up in frustration and tiredly took Jon's spot on the couch.  I finally was able to sleep and Jon was on watch.  As night turned to day there were no great changes.  Everything has been pretty quiet.  No dolphins or fish.  Another bird slept on our boom though.  With the morning rain we saw a full rainbow.  All in all though a quiet day.  We all took turns napping and we all have heavy heads.

Friday, February, 09^th, 2007 

            Rained through most of the night.  This is not the kind of weather I was expecting on this leg.  We had to take down our tarp this morning.  We had put it up over the cockpit for sun protection.  Instead it has ripped in the rain and wind.  Not shortly after I took on watch this morning I got to yell, "Fish ON!"  I had heard a sound and could not figure out what it was and then I realized the sound was the fishing line.  Wade had just gone to bed, but must have been tired because he didn't here me.  Jon came up and together we brought in another mahi mahi.  What fun to start the day off.  The rest of the day was pretty low key.  We are all feeling a little run down.  I don't feel 100%: eye pressure, stomach not settled etc…  I have not been sea sick and this doesn't feel like sea sickness but I don't like the feeling all the same.  I keep catching myself clenching my teeth.  If this continues I just may go off the patch tomorrow just in case it is the cause.  I have not had nightmares or any other symptoms I was told about though and Jon has eye pressure as well??  Both guys have had headaches as well.  Maybe it is the weather.

            Around 3 pm out rang the phrase, "Fish ON!"  once again.  Unfortunately this one got off before we could even reach the fish.  However, around 4:30 "Fish ON."  This time it stayed on and we boarded another mahi mahi.  Wade was able to participate in this one.  We had fish for dinner of course!

Saturday, February 10^th, 2007 

            Some sunshine today!  A beautiful sun rise.  Squalls to the left of us and behind us showing off billions of clouds.  Awesome!  As the day continued we ended up in some of these squalls.  No worries.  This gave Wade the opportunity to shower.  Funny thing though.  He got all soaped up and then the rain stopped! J

Sunday, February 11^th, 2007 

            Last night we went through a few more squalls.  Strong winds!  Our mainsail backed (wind got on the back side of the sail).  I got up and helped Wade fix this.  We had a preventor line attached to the boom.  This is helpful in the case of a sail backing because it stops the boom from flying over.  This can be dangerous and do damage to the gear.  We were not able to correct the sail in time and the very taut preventor line snapped.  I think this is the third time in the last 24 hours.  Doing our best to correct this as we are doing down wind sailing surfing the waves.  I was soaked soon after going up as waves crashed over the boat.  I got on my wet skins jacket, life jacket and clipped on to our safety lines.  Always holding on to something I went to the bow and untied the preventor line and brought it back to retie to the boom.  We finally got it and Wade and I were able to get out of our wet clothes.  I went back to bed.  Wade still had a couple hours on watch.  I awoke and took watch at 8 am.  The skies are blue and the wind is still strong.  We have been pretty consistent all through the night averaging 6.5 knots.  We even reached 8 knots a couple of times!  Not far to Johnston's Atoll now.  Possibly by tomorrow morning.  We may see about stopping for a night.

Monday, February 12^th, 2007 

            Woke up to squalls all around us.  Big, dark clouds at our stern.  Jon and I scanned the horizon trying to decipher what the day's weather would be like.  Overall the weather was not too bad through the day.  We went through a few squalls of course and right after each one our wind would die for a moment.  This was the most aggravating part as our sails slopped.  Soon the wind would return and off we went again.  We were hoping to get a peak at Johnston's Atoll at the least today.  We discussed hailing someone on the radio to see if we could go in and anchor.  You are not allowed to approach within 3 miles of the atoll without permission.  Alas our wind wanted to take us to Majuro and at 10 miles off we would have to beat to windward for sometime to even get a peak.  We decided it wasn't worth it and continued on.  The rest of the day went by casually.  I am almost finished another book.  I made us a steak dinner with baked potatoes, carrots, onion rings and gravy.  Delish!  The guys stayed up and watched a movie and I went to bed.

Tuesday, February 13^th, 2007 

            Beautiful sunny day!  Sun up at 7:51 am Hawaii time.  We are noticing a change in time.  The sun is coming up later to Hawaii Time and is going down later.  A very warm day.  By 2 o'clock we found ourselves all in the cabin cooking – ourselves that is, not some delicious dinner.

Wednesday February 14^th, 2007 

            Happy Valentine's Day!  Another scorcher.  I guess we are going to have to get used to the heat.  On the boat though, there is really nowhere to hide from the heat.  You can get out of direct sunlight, but it is still hot!  No swimming to cool off!  Cheryl said it's not safe – sharks.  Too hot to be motivated to do much.  We read and lay about.

Thursday, February 15^th, 2007 

            Another quiet, sunny day.  I am sure that anyone back home would be wishing for this.  J We are still making good time and the bets are on.  I am guessing we will arrive in the Marshalls next Thursday.  Tuesday keeps popping into my mind though.  Wade says Wednesday.  Whichever day, this definitely has been a quicker passage.  The day was broken up with the excitement of hearing the words, "Fish ON!" again.  Jon brought another mahi mahi in.  He had him right up to the boat.  Wade went to gaff and missed.  The fish broke the hook right off and was gone before Wade had another chance to swing again.  Oh well.  Not too much longer and we got another mahi mahi.  This fish was landed but Wade dropped the gaff in the water.  We started engines and got the boat turned around.  We searched until the days light was gone but we never found it.  Accident I know but an irreplaceable piece. L  Tanya's husband had carved the stick and made the gaff.  He had used it for fishing himself.  She gave it to us as a gift.  I was very sad to say the least and hated the fact that there was nothing we could do.  The gaff was gone.  I tried to think of the gaff wanting to return to the sea and some needing fisherman would find it and Al's gaff would continue on.

Friday, February 16^th, 2007 

            Still making good time.  We are knocking off the miles.  The swaying of the boat is getting to us though.  This constant bracing is tiring.  I went to climb up the companion way and the boat swayed.  I hop slid across the floor, banged my hip into a grab rail and spilled hot chocolate all over my hand and the stairs.  Another bruise!  This one really hurts!  We are all ready for land and anticipate it eagerly.  Soon!

Saturday, February 17^th, 2007 

            The International Date Line is just ahead.  One minute it will be today and then the next minute it will be tomorrow.  Not like midnight and then one past midnight, but a whole day skipped.  From back home we will be a day ahead and about 3-4 hours difference.  For example, 3 pm Monday for us will be 6 pm Sunday for those at home.  Something like that anyway.  The time change is still confusing.  We still have a nice wind and continue to knock off the hours.  We have a bit of a confusing sea with two swells.  The sails are not staying full when we sway back and forth (which is often) so on top of the uncomfortable back and forth motion we have the flapping sails.  Sunny day and I am on to another book.  We are still hoping for tuna.

Sunday, February 18^th, 2007 - Monday, February 19^th, 2007 

            Well we did not cross the International Date Line yesterday, but we did today.  So I guess Sunday has become Monday for us.  Today was a mahi mahi day.  We caught one and brought the fish aboard with the gaff Jon made.  He used a broken drill bit and a piece of wood he picked up in the jungle on Kauai.  He even did a small carving on it.  In no way does this gaff replace the treasured gaff lost but the effort and thought Jon put forth was much appreciated all the same.  The next mahi mahi flicked and got off.  The next fish we are not sure what it was but it must have been big.  The line started going out and all the line was out before the guys could even get to the rod and then the line snapped at the end.  Off went the line, lure and fish!  We think it was a marlin and a big one at that.  The next mahi mahi was actually swimming with out boat.  Beautiful turquoise colour.  Big too!  It just went back and forth along the stern and then was gone.  A very hot day today.  Pretty much unbearable in or out of the boat.  A beautiful orange sunset.

Tuesday, February 20^th, 2007 

            I had been on watch for two hours and the sun was just beginning to brighten the day.  I grabbed my book and decided to read my book in the cockpit by the light of the day.  I propped myself or should I say wedged myself on one of the seats with two pillows behind me to cushion the constant rocking of the boat: fiberglass cockpit against spineL.  I had bruises to prove I was not winning.  Book open, I began to read.  Shortly I did one of my horizon scans to check for boats etc…  Just as I lifted my head I saw the wind brushing across the top of the sea then – WHAM!  The wind was behind the mainsail, the boom violently slammed to the other side of the boat as the preventor snapped in the instance of the movement.  I got up to respond as the two pillows behind me flew out to float upon the sea, whoosh, whoosh.  With autopilot off Jon and I were able to get the main sheeted in.  Whether it was the recent memory of losing the gaff or something else, Jon and I began to maneuver the boat for pillow rescue. J  After two attempts it was obvious I could not just lean over the side of the boat.  The swells made the distance to reach too great.  "Should I lower the stern ladder?" "Sure." Jon replied while turning the boat around for another go.  I had tried to get the reaching pole out but we had stowed it well, it would not budge from its spot.  I lowered the ladder and cautiously stepped down.  The first pillow with a sage covering done up by Jon's mom came easily as Jon lined the boat up along side it.  I was able to just reach out and grab the pillow.  The second one did not come so easily.  As Jon turned the boat around again and I bounced up and down on the stern ladder with each swell I began to question the sanity of what I was doing.  With my death grip on the back two stanchions I stood my post and spotted the pillow.  The swells were quite large and not allowing the boat to get close enough.  Just as I thought I might be able to grab it, a swell would splash the side of the boat and push the pillow away.  Jon decided to try and back up to the pillow.  Now the swells were directly behind us and me! As they drew near taking me under them up to my chest before going under the boat I looked at Jon, "What am I doing?"  He gave a shrug as to say he didn't get it either.  But there was the pillow right below me only with the swells it was ten feet below me!  I couldn't just lean down and grab it and then whoosh I was wet again as I melded with the swell.  As Jon pulled out and away, I had my chance and grabbed.  Our new boat pillow also made by Jon's mom was on the stern of the boat in one motion of my arm.  I risked my life to save these two pillows from drowning – a success!  I think I will leave the pillows below as we may not be so lucky next time.  It felt good to know we did it though because we wanted to know if it was one of us in the water we could do a rescue.  Later in the day I was craving potato chips but our small snack bags were long gone, so Jon made me homemade potato chips.  So thoughtful! J  The night was rocky and uncomfortable.

Wednesday, February 21^st, 2007 

            Big waves today!  A lot of white as waves crash: White caps and curling wave froth.  We were splashed a few times today tired and ready for land.  Jon has burned his back some from the sun and asked me to put Dream Cream on his back to help sooth and heal the burn.  Just after doing this he noticed some white "cream" on his shoulder and he said, "Did you miss some?"  "I don't think so?  I don't remember putting and on your shoulder?"  No sooner had I given my reply and Jon started to rub the "Cream" into is shoulder.  As he turned to go down the companion way I saw the cause.  Believe it or not a bird had flown by, quite a distance away and the wind had carried its "poop" Jon's way.

Yuck!  I got the remains on his back cleaned up and we re-wiped his shoulder. What are the chances!  Later on we went to do a sail change and right in the middle of our change we had a squall hit us.  We actually were lucky we had done the sail change because if we were going down wind we may have been in a bit of a pickle with the amount of sail up etc…  Instead we ended up with the swell on our beam/stern quarter – much better.  The swells got really big and crested at their tops.  The wind howled and the rain came down.  Now at the beginning of this trip I most likely would have been in the fetal position on the cabin soul hoping for land.  Not now! J  I was up with shampoo, washing my hair and taking pictures.  I was loving it! J

Thursday, February 22^nd, 2007 

            From the squall yesterday and lose rope went over and tangled around our prop.  Yikes!  We were lucky and were able to gently put the boat in reverse and untangle it off the prop.  (Note: When we got to Majuro we learned that there was still a lot of rope left on the prop shaft and got it off with a knife diving one day).  As I sat in the cockpit with Jon in the early morning, the sun still had not begun to lighten up our surroundings; we heard an exhalation next to the boat.  Spooked us a little.  Whale? Dolphin?  We don't know??  Once daylight came we noticed big big cumulus clouds everywhere.  We had squall after squall bringing and taking wind each time.  Ironic that during yesterdays squall with the high winds Jon had said, "Watch we will end up in doldrums tomorrow."  He was pretty much right.  We were not going anywhere fast today.  We ended up motoring for most of the day.  We were mad as we were so close to Majuro it sucked to have to use our diesel.

Friday, February 23^rd, 2007 

            As I got up to do my first look around on my shift it was pitch black out.  I scanned to my left and then to my right.  As I turned I noticed what looked like a light.  I focused my sight on it more and sure enough a light and two more.  Ship!  Could there be a ship so close to us?  And now moving very close to us!  The lights made the ship look like it was going to pass right by our stern or I hoped as the other thought was run right into us.  Then whoosh the lights came at me – birds! White birds that just happened to be in a good formation for my imagination to see a ship.  Scared me to death.  I don't like not seeing in the dark!  We still have squalls today.  We get some sun now and again.  It is hot though.  The last squall we had before spotting land, lasted almost an hour.  Wade took full advantage and washed up and then Jon and I thought maybe this was a good idea.  Little did we know this was a great idea.  No shower facilities in Majuro.  No water!  You are basically on your own for water: water makers, rain catchment… You can get some water and bottled water ashore but it is not cheap and Majuro, as we found out soon was in a bit of a drought situation.  They use 1 million gallons of water a day and there supply is down to 11 million gallons.  There has been little rain through January and February.  With only one water jug left full of water on our boat and our tanks empty the squall ended up being our only chance for a shower until we had a rainfall a few days later.  We spotted the passage into the atoll and followed the markers.  The wind was great for a perfect sail, so we took full advantage.  We hit another squall just before getting in to Uliga and where we would settle.  You could not see anything.  The community of sailors already settled were very helpful and got on the radio with us.  Jerry came out in his dinghy and got us tied up to a mooring pin.  We are in the low rent district of $1 a day.  We had choice to go to the high rent district of $3 a day, but we did not see a point in doing this.  Really no difference than the price.  Jerry told us not to worry about customs and deal with it on Monday.  We got sorted out and went to shore.  We checked out a market.  We were absolutely surprised by what you could by and the prices!  Overall the prices were pretty good.  We have been told to watch the dates on things and we did notice on some meat products.  The shelves though were neatly stacked with their cans etc... Everything was in its place!  I don't even see stores this organized back home.  We went out for dinner at the Tide Table restaurant.  The restaurant is very nice.  Good prices, great food! J  We had a bill of $40 for five beer, three coffee, and three entrees.  Not bad.  Oh it is good to be on land and relaxing again.  I am looking forward to a great nights sleep. J  Another leg a success and more so not being sea sick – not once !!! Yeah!!!