Friday, December 9, 2011
12/9/11
Noon Position 24 03.5' S, 118 08' W, SOG 6.8, COG 170, Days run 160nm.
We've gotten to the weather that I was hoping the trades would bring -
lazy, easy, and fast. I haven't touched the sails for the last two
days, and the boat is just scooting along, and we're actually starting
to climb back to the East as well. I've started in on doing some boat
prep for the southern ocean - I swapped down to the small jib and did
some sail repair on the big one, which is now in it's semi-permanent
home for the next few months as a seat at the chart table. The weather
is actually almost too nice again - it's making me lazy. I realized how
out of shape I've gotten after swapping jibs and spending a few hours
sewing - the next day I was actually kinda tired all day, just from the
stitching and battling with the jibs. I've started doing some leg
exercise in the mornings to pretend to fight off the atrophy, but I
doubt it will do much - it's hard to get a whole lot of exercise when
the longest distance you can walk at one go is about 15 feet. On land
my moods are normally pretty stable, but I've found that alone at sea
they tend to oscillate much for rapidly, and to greater extremes - small
things have disproportionate influences on how I'm feeling, whether its
the weather, or the fact that it is physically impossible to open a can
of pineapple juice without it spilling at least 2 drops in a random
direction. I think in some part it's due to the lack of sleep - I know
that I get very irritable when I don't get enough, and I've been
noticing that on days when I'm up frequently at night I'm a lot
crabbier. I think the solitude also plays a part - without anyone to
talk to, it's harder to share experiences and let others help moderate
my moods. It's not a bad thing, just part of the experience. I came
out here to see if I could sail around the world, to live fully, and
feeling fully certainly is part of that. I've heard rumors that there
are concerns about the organized crime ring surrounding pens that was
operating on board. The good news is that the ringleader has been
apprehended and strongly reprimanded, after being so crass as to leave 4
pens in the galley on top of the fridge, where clearly no pen has a
right to be. After restoring the pens to their natural habitat, the
criminals seem to have toned down their efforts - a clear win for justice.
We've gotten to the weather that I was hoping the trades would bring -
lazy, easy, and fast. I haven't touched the sails for the last two
days, and the boat is just scooting along, and we're actually starting
to climb back to the East as well. I've started in on doing some boat
prep for the southern ocean - I swapped down to the small jib and did
some sail repair on the big one, which is now in it's semi-permanent
home for the next few months as a seat at the chart table. The weather
is actually almost too nice again - it's making me lazy. I realized how
out of shape I've gotten after swapping jibs and spending a few hours
sewing - the next day I was actually kinda tired all day, just from the
stitching and battling with the jibs. I've started doing some leg
exercise in the mornings to pretend to fight off the atrophy, but I
doubt it will do much - it's hard to get a whole lot of exercise when
the longest distance you can walk at one go is about 15 feet. On land
my moods are normally pretty stable, but I've found that alone at sea
they tend to oscillate much for rapidly, and to greater extremes - small
things have disproportionate influences on how I'm feeling, whether its
the weather, or the fact that it is physically impossible to open a can
of pineapple juice without it spilling at least 2 drops in a random
direction. I think in some part it's due to the lack of sleep - I know
that I get very irritable when I don't get enough, and I've been
noticing that on days when I'm up frequently at night I'm a lot
crabbier. I think the solitude also plays a part - without anyone to
talk to, it's harder to share experiences and let others help moderate
my moods. It's not a bad thing, just part of the experience. I came
out here to see if I could sail around the world, to live fully, and
feeling fully certainly is part of that. I've heard rumors that there
are concerns about the organized crime ring surrounding pens that was
operating on board. The good news is that the ringleader has been
apprehended and strongly reprimanded, after being so crass as to leave 4
pens in the galley on top of the fridge, where clearly no pen has a
right to be. After restoring the pens to their natural habitat, the
criminals seem to have toned down their efforts - a clear win for justice.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
12/7/11
Noon Position 19 02' S, 118 37'1' W, SOG 6.5, COG 195, Days run 150nm.
IT LIVES!!!! Apparently nearly a week in a bag of rice has done the
trick on my laptop - for the time being at least it is once again
numbered amongst the living. This is so far the high point of my week -
the low point being a frustrating exercise in cussing out the boat, the
weather, the sea, the sky, the clouds, a roll of duct tape, two tubes of
silicone, and lots of seawater and mold that occupied the majority of my
morning yesterday as I tackled the persistent leak in the v-berth
hatch... I spent a few hours drying everything out and cleaning, only to
discover that not only had I not improved the seal of the hatch, I'd
actually made it worse - waterfalls of water now cascade through the
starboard seal, instead of just a slow trickle. By noon I was not fit
company for man nor beast - fortunately the few petrels heard the ruckus
and wisely stayed well clear. This afternoon we shall do battle again.
The last few days have been fast and a bit frustrating - still a fair
number of squalls rolling through bringing 20-25 kts of breeze and some
choppy seas, but the breeze has come aft enough that we're almost beam
reaching, and even with the gear-shifting that the squalls entail we've
been able to put down some decent mileage. Plus, the computer is
apparently alive! Hooray!!! The rice shall make a permanent addition
to the computer bag from now on.
IT LIVES!!!! Apparently nearly a week in a bag of rice has done the
trick on my laptop - for the time being at least it is once again
numbered amongst the living. This is so far the high point of my week -
the low point being a frustrating exercise in cussing out the boat, the
weather, the sea, the sky, the clouds, a roll of duct tape, two tubes of
silicone, and lots of seawater and mold that occupied the majority of my
morning yesterday as I tackled the persistent leak in the v-berth
hatch... I spent a few hours drying everything out and cleaning, only to
discover that not only had I not improved the seal of the hatch, I'd
actually made it worse - waterfalls of water now cascade through the
starboard seal, instead of just a slow trickle. By noon I was not fit
company for man nor beast - fortunately the few petrels heard the ruckus
and wisely stayed well clear. This afternoon we shall do battle again.
The last few days have been fast and a bit frustrating - still a fair
number of squalls rolling through bringing 20-25 kts of breeze and some
choppy seas, but the breeze has come aft enough that we're almost beam
reaching, and even with the gear-shifting that the squalls entail we've
been able to put down some decent mileage. Plus, the computer is
apparently alive! Hooray!!! The rice shall make a permanent addition
to the computer bag from now on.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
12/5/11
Noon position: 14 9'S, 118W, SOG 5.8 kts, COG 170T, 24-hr run 130nautical miles.
Eric wanted to share these interesting statistics about his voyage to-date:
This past week Eric sailed 915nm, his best week yet.
Current direct distance from Los Angeles harbor: 2,852nm south, but only 15nm due east. (Hardly seems possible that he is only 15nm east of LA, but check out this astonishing fact on a globe or Google Earth)
Current direct distance from Peru: 2,363nm due east.
Total distance sailed since departure Nov. 7th: 3,320nm.
Average speed of direct distance covered: 4.2knots
Average speed of distance actually sailed: 4.95 knots
Eric wanted to share these interesting statistics about his voyage to-date:
This past week Eric sailed 915nm, his best week yet.
Current direct distance from Los Angeles harbor: 2,852nm south, but only 15nm due east. (Hardly seems possible that he is only 15nm east of LA, but check out this astonishing fact on a globe or Google Earth)
Current direct distance from Peru: 2,363nm due east.
Total distance sailed since departure Nov. 7th: 3,320nm.
Average speed of direct distance covered: 4.2knots
Average speed of distance actually sailed: 4.95 knots
Monday, December 5, 2011
12-4-11
Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011 at 2:10 p.m. PST: 12 14S, 117 55W, SOG 6kts, COG 175, 24-hr. run 110nm. Eric reported in this afternoon. He turned off his GPS a few days ago and has been testing his celestial navigation skills. When he turned the GPS back on today, he was pleased to see that his readings were close, only 2 miles out of latitude and 6 miles out of longitude. For the last 36 hours he has been moving slowly, enduring what he calls a "tropical wave": overcast weather, squalls, and a confused sea with 8ft swells coming at him from different directions. Odyssey has been going up and down, up and down continuously, catching waves and spray that wash over her frequently preventing Eric from catching any fresh rainwater from the squalls off the mainsail because its all contaminated with saltwater. The weather seems to be hovering, moving slowly, but Eric is hopeful that this system is starting to show signs of moving on. The trade winds are blowing from the SE, and he is sailing mostly upwind at about a 70 degree angle to the wind. Eric is also discovering that Odyssey leaks on the leeward side, so now he has an additional 10-11 new trickles going down behind the stove on the starboard side. Luckily these are much smaller than the ones he experienced earlier on the port side which he has mostly managed to seal from outside. Without completely pulling out the headliner nicely lining the ceiling of the cabin, Eric can't get to the leaks from inside the cabin. He's hoping the leaks won't get any worse so he won't have to strip the ceiling bare. Most of our lengthy conversation concerned plans for purchasing replacement electronics: computer, inverter, stereo to be shipped to the Falkland Islands. We are very grateful to good friend and experienced sailor Rich West who quickly leaped in as consultant on this project, helping determine the specs for what needs to be purchased and making recommendations, providing Eric with a list of shortwave sources for voice weather broadcasts, and supplying a long list of helpful tips to try and shake and coax his computer back to life.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
12/1/11
3:14p.m. PST: 06 9' S, 117 13' W, SOG 6.5kts COG 200T After the exhilaration of crossing the equator and zipping along at a good clip, Eric awoke this morning to find that his beloved, but quite ancient, Lenovo T61 had finally given up the ghost. Black screen. 1-3-4-3 pattern of beeps. He feared the worse. Even with his background in computer science, there is only so much that can be diagnosed and fixed when you are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This afternoon Eric called home and I (Eric's mother), a phone clamped to each ear, linked him up with Lenovo tech support who quickly diagnosed the problem. The video card on his system board has gone...well, south. The only way to fix it, replace the system board. Of course, that is one spare part that Eric wasn't expecting to need and doesn't have on board. Not even his trusty 3G Kindle 2 is able to come to the rescue. Besides posting to this blog, Eric relies on his computer for weather reports. After debating various options--he has decided to continue on, round Cape Horn and stop in the Falkland Islands where we will ship him 2 new laptops loaded with the software he needs to access weather and 2 new back-up inverters. In the meantime, Eric will be calling in every few days for voice weather reports from home. Until he reaches 40 S weather shouldn't be too much of an issue, so Eric will have plenty of time to train us into weather experts. As for Eric's blog postings, he will continue to post using the text function of his satellite phone...but, loyal blog readers, please be patient. Until he is able to reach the Falklands and receive his new computers sometime after the first of the year, Eric's posts will be restricted to mini-posts...haiku-length posts. Despite this setback, Eric sounded great on the phone and very optimistic. He also expressed how much it means to him to know that he has so many supporters and well-wishers at home.
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