sy Timoneer

Noon Position 0deg 53S 89deg  37W

Course –  Degrees   Speed –   At Anchor        Day’s Run –  255 Miles

Weather –   Cloudy with rain showers

Wind – 15 knots from the S

We passed over the Equator at 230am and are now in the Southern Hemisphere. We had some good sailing through the night and encountered a maximum of 1 knot of current against us. This morning we passed by Baltra, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe and a few smaller Islands.

Now we are inPuerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island dealing with Navy, Customs, Immigration, National Park officers and quarantine. If we finish with them in time we will sail 40 miles to Bahia Academy on Santa Cruz Island to the main anchorage where we will stay until we go to fuel and head South.

We are all ready for a couple of days recovery.

JC

Noon Position 01deg 37N 92deg  52W

Course – 127 Degrees   Speed –  11.2  Knots        Day’s Run –  265 Miles

Weather –   Grey, drizzly and cool.

Wind – 12 knots from SSW

It doesn’t really feel like we are in  the tropics. We have hardly seen the sun in the last 4 days and it has been grey. The seas have smoothed out a bit making the ride more comfortable but we still get the occasional wave that brings us to a standstill. The current is still pushing us along at about half a knot. We are frantically fishing before we enter the Galapagos Park boundary this afternoon. Yesterday we managed to get one bonito tuna. As we pulled it in there was a large grey shadow following it. We got the tuna out of the water just in time before it became shark food.

We haven’t seen much in the way of wildlife of the trip. Our count so far is 1 blue whale, several turtles and this morning we saw a pod of Risso dolphins.

Not far to the Equator now and a very long way from 61 degrees North in Valdez, our most northerly visited point in Alaska.

We anticipate our arrival at San Cristobal tomorrow morning.

JC

Noon Position 4deg 22N 96deg  26W

Course –  127 Degrees   Speed –  11.4  Knots        Day’s Run – 290  Miles

Weather –  Rain, sun, and clouds

Wind – 13 knots from SSE

It has been another bumpy and wet night but we have had patches of sunshine in between the showers this morning. It is slow going with the wind and swell on the nose. Luckily we have had 1-2 knots of current pushing us along during the night. We expect to lose that today and will have 1-2 knots on the nose for the last 24 hours.

We have had the fishing lines out since sunrise, one bite but it got away

Everybody is counting down the hours until we arrive in the Galapagos and we can get a good nights sleep.

Noon Position 7deg N 100deg  W

Course – 127 Degrees   Speed – 11.5   Knots        Day’s Run –  260 Miles

Weather –   Wet and wild

Wind – 16 knots from SSE

Bumpy and wet describes the last last 24 hours. We have been crashing into short, sharp seas. We have been taking a lot of water over the deck and have also had a lot of rain. Unlike normal tropical downpours followed by sunshine we have had grey drizzly weather for more than 24 hours. We are all getting very tired after a second night of little sleep and are all hoping for some calmer conditions.

We have about 3 days to go and hope to arrive at San Cristobal Saturday morning to clear into Ecuador.

Noon Position 10deg 40N 102deg 28 W

Course –  176 Degrees   Speed –  12  Knots        Day’s Run – 255  Miles

Weather –   Cloudy and 12′ swells from East

Wind – 17 knots from NE

Yesterday afternoon the swell grew and the ride got bumpier. About midnight the wind increased and we picked up some speed but by first light today we needed to decrease the sail area. Not a lot of sleep was had overnight. This morning we have been crashing along at good speed with 2 reefs in the main and the staysail but still very bumpy.  It is going to be a long tiring day. For the first time since leaving we have had a lot of cloud and we may even get some rain today.

JC

Noon Position 14deg 53N 103deg 58 W

Course – 138 Degrees   Speed –  11.5  Knots        Day’s Run – 265  Miles

Weather –   Fine with scattered clouds and swells from the East

Wind – 9 knots from NE

Only one bite yesterday and what ever it was took the whole lure. There are a lot of flying fish around and the boobies are having a great time chasing them across the surface of the water. A swell from the East picked up last night and is getting bigger as  today goes on making for a bumpy ride. We have just enough wind to keep the sails full stopping us from rolling and giving us a little bit more speed.

JC

Noon Position 21deg 09N 109deg 55 W

Course – 138 Degrees   Speed –  11.2  Knots        Day’s Run –  255 Miles

Weather –  Sunny with a few clouds and warm.

Wind – 6.5knots from E

It was an uneventful afternoon and night. Another stunning sunset followed by great star gazing. There was plenty of shipping as we passed along the end of the Baja Peninsular. This morning just before sunrise the breeze picked up and we put up the main and genoa for a comfortable motor sail. Long may the breeze last. We are going too fast for fishing so that will have to wait. We still have a lot of fresh mahi mahi to eat.

The breeze has just dropped and gone to far forward for the head sails so we are back to motor sailing with the main up. Now we can start fishing again.

JC

Noon Position 24deg 16N 112deg  58W

Course – 138 Degrees   Speed –  10.1  Knots        Day’s Run –  245 Miles

Weather –  Clear, sunny day with a long lazy swell.

Wind – 4 knots from NE

Yesterday Gaby had had enough of waiting for us to catch fish and got some out of the freezer. Of course we all new what was going to happen. About 4pm we caught a yellow fin tuna. An hour later we caught 2 more. Freshly caught seared tuna went down well for dinner.

This morning at first light a little breeze came in which is allowing us to motor sail with full genoa and main. Another stunning sunrise was shortly followed by 2 mahi mahi. The Timoneer fish factory is back in business. We have just caught another mahi mahi and and Gaby has said no more for today.The wind has also just died so back to motor only.

Noon Position 27deg 22N 116deg  00W

Course –  139Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run – 260  Miles

Weather –   Sunny and warm with a long lazy swell

Wind – 12knots from  E

Today started well for us with a bit of breeze from the beam. We had a few hours of great sailing with all the sails up and averaging 12.5 knots. Now the breeze has dropped and gone more on the bow but we are still motor sailing along comfortably. This morning we were going too fast to fish. We have the lines out now but still no bites. We have seen our first flying fish so their predators must be around. The water and air temps are both climbing slowly. We are all enjoying the blue sky and blue sea.

JC

Noon Position 30deg 50N 119deg  06W

Course –  155Degrees   Speed –  10.5  Knots        Day’s Run –  260 Miles

Weather –   Foggy and big swells

Wind – 15 knots from NNW

Yesterday we traveled in sight of the coast of California all day.

Today was looking to be a cracking day with clear skies and then 15 minutes before sunrise thick fog rolled in. The sun is only just starting to burn through now. We had the fishing lines out all day yesterday and they are out now but no luck yet. We have now left the brown-green coastal waters and are now in the deep blue seas.

This morning we passed a lot of traffic heading to San Diego and Los Angeles. We are now in Mexican waters but out of sight of land.

JC