Flying Fish and Flying Fishers

The water temperature has been climbing up as we push south, pushing 25 C as I write this posting at 0130 on my night watch. With the warmer waters come some pretty cool critters, such as flying fish. Lo and I were watching small schools taking flight away from the boat yesterday and marveling at how far they travel through the air before crash-landing into a wave (cockpit voice recorder of a veteran fish pilot: thank you for flying fish. Please put your seat backs and tray tables in the upright position�WAIT WHAT'S THAT...PULL UP, PULL UP�WE'RE GOING DOWN�DON'T PANICon't Panic�AAAAHHHHHHHHHH�SPLASH�[laughter] Oh, they go for that all the time! ).

Lo to see one up close and I guaranteed her that one would turn up on the deck before the trip was out. Well, pretty good timing on that bit of bravado as last night Lo heard a THUD on deck during her watch. Dawn's light revealed the rigid corpse of a kamakazee flying fish. Closer examination of the body showed that rigueur mortis had captured the OH MY GOD, THAT'S NOT WATER expression the poor fish had just before hitting the cabin top. We got a good photo of it and will try and post it to the website at the next internet caf�.

****** You Guys will NEVER believe this. Just as I'm typing this blog update at the chart table, I happen to notice that something fell inside from the cockpit and landed in a thud next to me. Since Lo's asleep, there are no lights on and just as I start to go through a quick mental check of what we left outside of that approximate size, the object vibrates (and I nearly jump out of my seat). I turn on my light to find what??? Yes, luckily I found the assassin before he found us. He'll make great bait for the rod tomorrow. Freaky, if you ask me!*******

So anyway, I put a hook into kamakazee (the first one) and tossed it overboard, dreaming of a nice mahi mahi or tuna. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, the reel blasted into action and I jump into the cockpit to set the hook, just noticing the commotion at the surface�that doesn't look like a fish! Nope, a bird had spotted the fish and gone after it, getting hooked in the process. I reeled in carefully, not wanting it to drown or do any further damage to the poor thing. As it was coming closer its beak was gnashing about at anything and everything; my brain quickly ran through a scenario where one of us gets a nasty cut�so far from medical help. That thought didn't last long as we saw that the hook was stuck into this poor bird's foot. It was a red-tailed tropicbird (very pretty white bird about the size of a seagull, with a long red tail feather; do a Google image search on the internet and you'll likely get some photos popping up). We put on our gloves and Lo expertly removed the hook (miraculously the barb hadn't penetrated the skin) as I held the head to keep the bill closed and stop it from thrashing about. We then took a group photo and set the bird on its merry way, with no obvious signs of the incident.

Calm seas - May 24th

It's 22 degrees C outside (around 70F) and extremely calm. You could easily waterski, quite pleasantly really. It'd be fun to ride up and down the swells that are only 1-2 m. We've spent the day doing tasks we wanted to get to, but was too rough the first couple of days. Gary's figuring out the sextant (we've used the GPS up until now; too cloudy for a star/moon sightings anyways) that we got off of EBay.

Our exciting event for the day was removing the speed log from the hull, from the inside (!), as it hasn't worked since we left LA. We correctly suspected that some marine life was living in the little wheel, clogging it. This is an event that would preferably be done on dry land, but possible in-water as well. Your heart would race just doing this tied up at a marina - thoughts of your boat sinking as you try to stop the gushing. However, we got some experience at it when, at our slip in Vancouver AFTER our renos were done, we realized that we had the temporary plug in, not the sensor. Gary was a star, replacing the plug with the sensor in one quick swoop with less than a litre of water spilling into the boat. Today, he did it with about 5 litres of water spilling in, spraying him fully in the face and chest as it took a little longer to do the switch. He cleaned the sensor out and did the second swap nearly spill-free. Some people would just do without an indication of speed for the trip rather than take the risk in the open ocean. However, the conditions today are perfect for it, and besides....Gary had a back up plan. If things went sour, he would simply tape MY hand to the hole for the remainder of the trip to the Marquesas.

Earlier, Gary read some of the history of Pacific birds - we've seen a handful and were curious what they are. Our best guess right now is a storm petrel, or possibly shearwaters. Some albatrosses have been by as well, but they're easy to ID.

Those of you who helped out with our icechest will be happy to know that it is so bomber that it actually FROZE our milk and yogourt. We put 10 lbs (12x12x4") of dry ice in before leaving with some ice packs. So we haven't even bothered eating the yogourt or pre-prepped meals in there yet.

We have the tunes rocking, do some dancing each day, read, read, read, write letters, make food, eat food, turn produce and eggs, wipe the salt off the stainless steel on deck, and nap. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Anyone wanna join us? We'll meet you at 22 21' N, 119 20' W. We should be there by tomorrow.

High Frequency Marine Data Communications Demystified...(warning, this entry may contain technobabble)

The general process which we use to send/receive emails is superficially similar to the old dial-up days: (1) write email on computer, (2) hit "send" button and emails queue up waiting to be actually sent, (3) connect computer to means of transmission (e.g., via modem to phone line for dial-up), and finally (4) connect to email account and send/receive emails. Remember how long that used to take? Multiply that by about 10 for us...that's why we always remind folks to cut out extraneous info (e.g., old email text when replying to a message) when emailing the boat.

What I'd like to do here is to actually explain how our system works, offering several levels of technical detail to satisfy everyone's level of interest (just keep in mind that there's probably a level or two of detail that I don't understand properly, but I'll give it a try):

Explanation #1: Think of it as a black box, where our emails are magically sent from the boat laptop to your office or den.

Explanation #2: There is this button, we'll call it the "power button", which it actually is for that matter. It turns on the radio and modem, neither of which are black, but they are box shaped. These not-exactly-black boxes work just like the black box described in Explanation #1.

Explanation #3: Aforementioned power button is turned "on", powering radio (dark grey box) and modem (light grey box). Modem is plugged into computer via a port (I never can remember whether it's the "serial" or "parallel" port...just that it's not the one you'd use to plug in a printer). Find list of land-based stations in email program and select a frequency. Turn the frequency gizmo on the radio to a value 1.5 MHz below the frequency actually listed in the email program (please see Explanation #1 for details). Listen to make sure no one is already using that frequency, then hit the "connect" button.

Explanation #4 (technojocks only): A network of land-based stations has been set up by ham (amateur) radio users around the world; each station has several frequencies it monitors. The Winlink/Airmail email program, developed by the folks who set up the network, is designed to help you find an appropriate destination station and frequency combination for your particular source location and time of day (solar and atmospheric conditions affect the transmission [called propagation; distance and direction that they can travel] of high frequency radio waves, which typically bounce off various layers of the ionosphere en route to their destination). Data is transmitted from our computer via the modem and ham radio to the land-based ham station, where it gets uploaded to a server and sent on its way to the ultimate destinations...your dens or offices. Our first emails were sent through Olympia, Wa; while we still use that station, we also use the ones in LA and San Diego. To really understand exactly how this all works, which is way above my head, check out the internet (e.g., Winlink or Sailmail websites) or pursue an advanced degree in electrical engineering with a focus on radio communications.

What is truly amazing, is that this service, because it's amateur radio, is FREE. The station operators do this as a hobby. While I'm sure this is rapidly changing, in some parts of the world (e.g., Aussie outback) this was the only reliable means of communicating.

Marquesas Bound...2485 miles to go!

Lo and I left LA at 4 pm on May 18...destination Marquesas! We had been following the weather and things looked pretty good, with a nice high pressure system forming over the East Pacific (the kind of weather that gives Vancouver sunny skies). So we left with a gentle 10-kt breeze blowing down the Santa Barbara channel as we crossed to the northern tip of Santa Catalina Island. As we updated our weather via VHF, we learned of a new low pressure area forming over Nevada. Well, all the wind strength forecasts for southern California were bumped up considerably, with gales forecasted for the Point Conception area (where we first saw the oil rigs) and offshore. We decided to use the building winds to race south towards Mexico's Guadalupe Island (check it out on the internet...it's another Mecca for Great Whites) and beat the gales. The strategy seems to have worked, by and large, but we did get 20 to 30 kt winds and lumpy seas for most of the last 24 hours.

Well, the seas have subsided somewhat and the winds calmed down to 10 to 20 kts. We're still getting used to being in offshore mode, which is challenging when you're bouncing arounds all the time. Every task seems to take considerable motivation and effort to get done, even the most simple like getting up to pee or getting water (which part of you wants to not do so you can eliminate the need to pee). After 3 days we are getting our sea legs and beating the sea-induced lethargy. We've also put 342 miles behind us, leaving just under 2500 to go (which is about 12% done for you all you number crunching geeks...or is that just us). Oh my God, that still leaves most of a month to go. YIKES. Lo briefly saw an outline of Guadalupe Island on her watch at sunrise this morning...the last land until Hiva Oa.

Before we left LA, Doug Sage (proud new dad of Connor) told Lo over the phone that "this trip is going to challenge you in every way...mentally and physically." These challenges have already begun. Lo has also been reminiscing about some of Doug's other sage (sorry, couldn't help it) words: During a 1992 cycling trip Lo took with Doug, Kath and another friend to PEI, Doug would "glide" up steep hills, stop, then yell back to the struggling Lo and Kath "It's all downhill from here." Well Doug, we are just starting to feel like we're headed down a hill...surface water and air temp have risen each day (water from 15.4 C off LA to 18.3 C here), we're sailing downwind, we're getting closer to the tropics. That being said, we're also sure that there will be many more hills to climb before the journey is done.

Highlights to date: Navy aircraft carrier off San Clemente Island, Lo's first flying fish, Mystery light in Mexican waters, talking to our families via ham radio phone patch last night.

City of Angels

While we’ve been here for over five weeks now, it seems like a whirlwind tour. So many people, places and experiences to talk about, such a short attention span (yes reader, I’m referring to you!). A “collage” theme has been selected to steamline this post and mimic LA’s frenetic pace.


The Spinks Clan

Let’s start with Family. The Spinks family is a long lost branch from Mama Ross’ side of the family, the Cuilleriers. Rollie (Edie’s sister) and Bill Spinks moved to LA seeking to avoid shovelling snow; they put their extra leisure time to good use and had four daughters: Sandra (Tim; Amanda and Ryan), Sharon (Chris; Sean and one on the way), Susan (Geoff; Lauren and Nicholas), and Shelly (young and single). The Spinks clan have been the most fun and gracious hosts imaginable, putting up with us for over a month (thanks Geoff and Susan!). Bryan Burns was the last cousin that came from Canada to “visit” the Spinks clan in 2000…he is still here! We’ve had a total blast getting to know Aunt Rollie, Uncle Bill and all the cousins.


Long lost friends: the Golds and Dennens

Next the Friends. Duff Gold and Bob Mann did their PhD’s together at McGill in geology. Their future wives traveled from South Africa together by ocean liner. They were all roommates, best men, bridesmaids, and great friends. The Golds are like family. Two of the Gold kids, Kerry (John) and Rob (Maureen; Kenna and Shawn), now live in LA. Kerry, who lives right on top (literally) of the Santa Monica range, hosted a BBQ to send us off. We saw Kerry and John a couple more times. On each occasion Kerry would add a “can’t be without item” (e.g., a lifetime supply of Vitamin C to prevent scurvy, 3 tubes of Chapstick with sunblock, Trader Joe's canned chicken, and some cool hair stuff for Lo to prevent damage) to an ever-growing care package. It was great catching up with this side of Gary’s family after such a long time. We also had a great dinner on the boat with Gary’s childhood friend Jim Dennen and his wife Anastacia; that was a blast from the past!


What a Blast!

Now the Sights and Sounds of LA. Movie studios, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd, Walk of Fame, Hollywood Sign, Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, East LA, Dodger Stadium, Famous Bars, Karaoke, Limosines…we’ve done so much (thanks Geoff, Bryan and Chris for your tourguiding). We tried to get on the set of 24, but they were shooting the last two episodes of this season so the set was closed. Thanks to Shelly, we did get hats and an autograph (Keifer was going to sign “Thanks for the tips on how to be a bigger bad ass” but he didn’t have enough room on the card…hence the “all my best”). Sharon got us VIP passes to Universal Studios…straight to the front of the line (we almost felt bad being escorted right onto the rides in front of the waiting masses…almost!). Tequila…let’s not even go there. Geoff took us to see the Dodgers whip the Giants (I almost bought a hat while in SF…good thing I held off since I would have been killed [literally] by the unruly fans [now I know why they call them the cheap seats]). Bryan took Lo out for a night on the town…dinner at Firefly, dancing at White Lotus, drinks at the Beauty Bar (get your nails done while getting hammered), and après at 4:30 am at Mel’s Diner. Shelly’s 30th birthday bash was definitely a night to remember…a huge stretch SUV limo with “fish tanks”, full open bar and room for 20 picked us up and took us to a private karaoke bar (thanks Shelly!).


Yes, some work was done! (we just didn't take pictures)

Oh yeah, the boat. We nearly forgot completely about that. Our major tasks included repairing the wind generator regulator (it blew out in the gale we experienced just before arriving), modifying the windlass (you can see the tooth is slightly off center in the upper left part of the photo; see last post), adding new speakers in the cockpit, adjusting the rig, babying the engine, buying some sails (used storm trysail and light air gennaker), finishing the ice box lid (pain in the @$$), and a million other small things needed to leave (see the chaos down the companionway). Thanks to Bryan and Sharon for helping out with various tasks. Provisioning was scary…while we planned amounts carefully, the sheer mass of it conjures up visions of eating pails of fruit salad trying to keep one step ahead of the rotting. On a completely unrelated note, Sean, Sharon’s son, inadvertently squared Gary with a sharp kick to the groin (had to show it; how often do you catch that on film?).