-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, March 17, 2007 -- Day one of passage
from Phuket to Chagos,
2045 local time Saturday, March 17, 2007 (1345 GMT);
Lat/Lon 07 deg 34.4' N, 97 deg 41.7' E; Location: 45 NM WSW of Phuket, Thailand in the Andaman Sea; Wind: WNW 15-19 kts; Sea: short steep chop; Sky: Very dark, mostly clear
with lots of stars; Air temp: 84 deg F; Water temp: 86 deg F; Depth: off
soundings; Course/speed: 255 deg T at 5.6 kts;
Sail/Engine: Close reach, starboard tack with single-reefed main, staysail and
1/2 reefed genoa, no engine.
We're off! Today
at 11 AM we raised anchor in Ao Chalong
harbor,
Other than the Diego Garcia atoll, where there's an air
base for long-range bombers, leased by the
Estrela is in wonderful shape. She has a new mainsail, just made for us in Phuket by the Rolly Tasker sail loft. In
January in Langkawi the four of us, Eliza and Abigail
included, scraped and sanded her exterior trim, all teak, down to bare
wood. It took us more than a week of
full, long days. I also prepared the
bottom; the last major antifouling job had held up well since our haul-out at
Doug's Boatyard in
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 10:27 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Sunday, March 18, 2007 -- Day two of passage from
Phuket to Chagos,
2015 local time Sunday, March 18, 2007 (1315 GMT);
Lat/Lon 07 deg 04.5' N, 96 deg 01.2' E; Location: 131 NM ENE of our next
waypoint 15 NM south of Great Nicobar Island on the western edge of the Andaman
Sea; Wind: WNW 12-15 kts; Sea: comfortable wind chop;
Sky: clear, dark and starry; Air temp: 89 deg F; Water temp: 82 deg F; Depth:
off soundings; Course/speed: 255 deg True (vs. Magnetic) at 4.3 kts; Sail/Engine: Close reach, starboard tack with all
sails and no reefs; 24 hr run through 11AM today: 105 NM.
Eliza and Abigail are standing cockpit watch while Kyle
and I work below. What a gorgeous day
we've enjoyed. Winds were gentle but
enough to keep us sailing at 3 to 5 knots for most of the day. We ran the engine for three hours to charge
batteries back up and to get us through the only really windless period. The normal NE monsoon winds should return
soon. We've had two days of NW winds, probably because of a low sitting over
southern
Today we had some disappointing news. Our friend Kevin, single-handing his sailboat
South Moon, had to abort his passage from Langkawi to
the
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 1:45 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, March 19, 2007 -- Day three of passage
from Phuket to Chagos,
2000 local time Monday, March 19, 2007 (1300 GMT);
Lat/Lon 06 deg 32.3' N, 94 deg 17.2' E; Location: 254 WSW of Phuket, Thailand and
23 NM ENE of our waypoint just south of Great Nicobar Island; Wind: W 6-8 kts (right on the nose); Sea: slight wind chop and gentle
ocean swell; Sky: very dark and slightly hazy; Air temp: 84 deg F; Water temp:
85 deg F; Depth: approx. 4,000 feet; Course/speed: 264 deg True at 5.5 kts; Sail/engine: Engine at 1000 RPM and full mainsail and
staysail sheeted flat, starboard tack; 24 hr run through 11AM today: 108 NM.
Today we caught two mahi-mahi. This is how it happened. Eliza and I were down below doing school when
Dad yelled, "We caught a mahi-mahi!"
Eliza and I woke up Mom. Then we
climbed into the cockpit as Dad was reeling in the fish. Eliza and I started to pull in the other
fishing line so it wouldn't get tangled.
The line started to feel heavy.
When we pulled it in a bit closer we saw another mahi-mahi, a
bluish-green fish. Mom said two fish
were too much, so we decided to let one go free. Mom took over the rod from Dad and Dad got
the needle nose pliers so that he could take the hook out of the second fish
without taking the fish out of the water.
Eliza and Dad pulled the fish up to the side of the boat. Then I held onto Dad's foot while he leaned
over the side to get the hook out. It
was snagged on its head. Dad
successfully got it off and the fish swam downwards. Then Dad took the rod back from Mom to reel
in the first fish the rest of the way.
It was jumping like crazy. We
used the gaff (it looks like a gigantic hook on a pole) to get the fish on
board. It was 47 inches long and it
weighed 15 pounds. We squirted alcohol
into its mouth to stun it and to kill it more quickly. Then came the cleaning. We found out it was a female because it had
lots of eggs. There was one fish about
two inches long in her stomach. In the
liver was a living, crawling mass of worms.
Yucch!
The other unusual thing about this fish was its jaw bone. It was exposed where its chin would be if it
were a person, showing a rotting, broken bone.
I think it was hurt in a fight with another fish. I'm glad we kept this one! I would rather have the healthier fish live.
-- Abigail (PS --
I forgot to mention that early this morning Mom and Dad saw a huge whale jump
completely out of the water a few times, making a gigantic splash. They think it might have been a humpback
whale.)
What with starting school, catching two fish, and talking
with warships, today has been very busy.
After a leisurely morning of leftover chili and listening to books-on-cd, Abby and I got out our new schoolbooks to inventory
them and figure out how much to do a day.
Dad's voice broke the monotonous silence, "Mahi,
girls!" We raced up to the cockpit,
hurriedly stuffing various limbs into our lifejackets, to see Dad playing a
huge, furious, leaping mahi-mahi. Since
Abby has already related the rest of the fish story I will tell you about the
warships.
Around the time Dad was finished cleaning the fish and
about to cut up the fillets in different ways for fish fingers, curry stew, or
drying, and the rest of us were below again trying to have school, an Indonesian
warship made an "ALL SHIPS" announcement on the radio. It said they were going to conduct a live
fire exercise. They also gave four
coordinates that made a square, and we were in the middle of it! I don't know what they were for, but it was
still nerve wracking. Dad called back to
alert them of our position and the Indonesian warship said that they were
finished with their practice session, or something like that. It didn't make sense.
Later, I was almost finished inventorying my books when
yet another warship called Estrela over the radio, identifying us as a sailboat
and giving our exact latitude and longitude.
This time I think it was Indian.
The man who called spoke good English.
After some technical questions (like, "How many people on
board?" and "Do you need assistance?") the man just asked us how
we were doing and told us to have a good evening and to enjoy our fish. Dad had told him about it. He was very nice.
It is 8:00 now and I could use the computer for a pillow
and not know the difference. The fried
fish fingers were delicious, although I couldn't help thinking about the wormy
liver and rotten jaw. But I'm going to
be eating this fish for the next week, so I shouldn't be saying bad things
about it. Oh, well. Life's not perfect (and neither are fish)!
-- Eliza
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Tuesday, March 20, 2007 -- Day four of passage to
Chagos,
2100 local time Tuesday, March 20, 2007 (1400 GMT);
Lat/Lon 06 deg 29.2' N, 92 deg 16.8' E; Location: 680 NM E of our next
waypoint, which is 25 NM south of Sri Lanka; Wind: NNW 7-9 kts;
Sea: slight wind chop and a long, barely noticeable ocean swell from the south;
Sky: clear and dark (first time we've seen the North Star since our passage
almost three years ago from Panama to the Galapagos); Air temp: 83 deg F; Water
temp: 85 deg F; Depth: off soundings; Course/speed: 268 deg True at 5.8 kts; Sail/engine: All sails on starboard tack, approx 60
deg off the apparent wind; 24 hr run through 11AM today: 112 NM.
Before this passage we bought a new AIS radio receiver
and accompanying software for $175, thanks to Jon Hacking on Ocelot, a fellow cruising
boat also en route to Chagos. This safety system has only recently become
available to cruisers at an affordable price.
The radio is about the size of a Palm Pilot, has no buttons or controls
and makes no noise, though it has two little lights that blink to tell whether
it's receiving a radio signal or sending data to the computer. The receiver connects to our masthead VHF
radio antenna (sharing it through a splitter with our main VHF radio) to a 12
volt power supply and to a laptop computer running a compatible charting
program.
We just finally got the AIS system up and running
properly this afternoon, after Kyle thought of a clever, outside-of-the-box
solution to the connection problem that had stymied me. The tiny radio receives signals from
transponders now required by law to be operated continuously by all large
vessels. The signal reports the sending
vessel's name and updates every few seconds its position, course and
speed. Our computer plots this
information on the screen, showing a little green boat icon for the
transmitting ship, with its name right next to it, and displaying in a small
table the other vital information. The
computer also uses our own GPS input to plot Estrela as a small red boat icon. An amazing feature are two boxes in the table,
one showing the closest Estrela and the big ship will get to each and the other
a calculation of how many minutes until that moment. So now it's like having our own crude air
traffic control screen onboard. The
biggest limitation we've discovered so far is simply the lack of range. For whatever reasons, our AIS radio does not
pick up ships' signals until they are four to six miles away. In one case a ship was only a mile away when
its position and details first appeared on the computer screen.
Within an hour of getting our new AIS radio operational
it paid for itself in dramatic fashion.
I was on watch, going on deck a minimum of every ten minutes, every time
my watch timer beeped, to scan the horizon for ships. Visibility was excellent, the sky nearly
cloudless. Judging from all the traffic
we were clearly within the shipping lanes.
We were watching carefully to avoid collision and to discern ship
patterns so we could decide whether to head north or south and how far, to get
outside the shipping lanes. The lanes
are not specified on any charts we have.
I had been a little distracted for a few minutes. The wind had started to pick up and I'd
turned off the engine, trimmed the sails and tweaked the autopilot to get
everything balanced for sailing. I was
below making a log entry to note these changes when I saw one of the lights
blink on the AIS radio. Then a green icon appeared on the computer screen, but
it looked like it was sitting right on top of Estrela, though pointed in nearly
the opposite direction. The table said
the other ship was traveling 17.9 knots and in 7 and 1/2 minutes there would be
zero distance between it and Estrela. Hmmmmm . . . None of
this made sense. Then things clicked in
my head. I dashed up the companionway
ladder, a curious Abigail right behind me.
Sure enough, there it was. A
huge, heavily laden oil tanker, riding very low on its waterline, was emerging
into view from behind our mast, which must have blocked my sight of it when I
was last on deck. Somehow I'd also
missed its radar blip. I started our
engine, increased speed from 3 to 5 knots and altered course 30 degrees to
starboard, to head almost directly into the wind. In seven minutes it passed abeam of us, 3/10
NM away. We Estrelans
are all verrrry happy to have this spiffy new AIS
safety device on board.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:16 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Wednesday, March 21, 2007 -- Day five of passage
to Chagos,
2100 local time Wednesday, March 21, 2007 (1400 GMT);
Lat/Lon 06 deg 27.9' N, 90 deg 40.5' E; Location: 584 NM E of our Sri Lanka
waypoint and 465 NM W of where we started this passage in Phuket
-- we'll reach the half way point to Sri Lanka tomorrow morning; Wind: WNW 5-8 kts; Sea: slight waves; Sky: many stars, new moon and Venus
setting; Air temp: 82 deg F; Water temp: 85 deg F; Depth: off soundings;
Course/speed: 260 deg True at 2.6 kts; Sail/engine:
All sails close-hauled on starboard tack, approximately 45 deg off the apparent
wind; 24 hr run through 11AM today: 111 NM.
If anyone had told me that I would become a bird-lover
while at sea, I would have said you're crazy.
But here I am in the
Just before serving dinner of left-over Thai fish curry
and freshly steamed Thai jasmine rice, I was looking at the computer with Doug,
reading email, when we heard a flutter sound above our heads. Now living on a boat, one must have very
acute hearing. If the engine drone
changes in pitch, then it might be straining or overheating. Perhaps the prop
snagged a fishing net. The engine must quickly be
turned off. A new creak or thud might
mean something has come loose on deck or down below. We quickly investigate the
sound before something breaks or gets lost or the noise drives us crazy! Flutter?!
I had never heard a flutter on Estrela before. It almost sounded like paper, quickly and yet
softly, flapping in a fresh breeze. Doug
and I looked at each other. "What
was that?" we said simultaneously.
"I don't know, but I felt a rush of wind on my head," Doug
said (being bald does have some advantages).
We looked up. There he was, a
tiny land bird settling himself on his makeshift perch, the fishing pole
butt--a place of rest.
Have you ever had a bird mistakenly fly into your
house? Or perhaps a bat came down the
chimney? Commotion. Pure stress as the prisoner desperately tries
to escape his entrapment. Not so on Estrela. He was
more like a refugee who, after walking for hundreds of miles, collapses into a
clean cot at a Red Cross station.
"Girls, come look at the bird who
just flew in." His appearance was
so peaceful that the girls didn't even realize that we had a visitor! Should we get him out? Do you think that he'll perch on my
hand? No, wild birds are not
hand-trained and he needs his rest.
He'll leave when he's ready. He
must be thirsty. How do we get water to
him? Should we feed him? What do we feed him? He's right over the computer. Quick put a
towel over the IBM so when our friend does his business, he won't soil the
computer.
We can't find our bird ID book, but we believe that he
must be a swiftlet.
He's a kind of small swallow, with a cream-colored neck and breast which
also has brown flecky stripes. His wings are brown, as are his long, forked
tail feathers. These are the famous birds who live in limestone caves in
So here we are on Estrela with another amazing bird
story. We've had sea-bird hitchhikers
and Albatrosses circling. Remember the sure-footed boobie
who landed at night on Doug's shiny head?
Or the tropic bird whom we rescued from our fishing line? All these beautiful wild creatures have been
a part of our voyage. But we've never
had a bird, a land bird, turn our cabin into a cave, though. We'll see, maybe tomorrow's menu will feature
Bird's Nest Soup!
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:09 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, March 22, 2007 -- Day six of passage to
Chagos, Indian Ocean, with possible refueling stop in
Gan, Maldives
2230 local time Thursday, March 22, 2007 (1530 GMT);
Lat/Lon 06 deg 26.25' N, 88 deg 57.72' E; Location: 482 NM E of our Sri Lanka
waypoint -- past the half-way point to Sri Lanka; Wind: NNW 8-11 kts; Sea: gentle and regular wind waves and swell; Sky:
cloudiest we've seen since Phuket but some stars
still out; Air temp: 82 deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F; Depth: off soundings;
Course/speed: 271 deg True at 6 kts; Sail/engine: All
sails, starboard tack, approximately 60 deg off the apparent wind; 24 hr run
through 11AM today: 86 NM.
Excerpts from our on-board (paper) log book entries
today:
0100 (Doug) -- Wind is now from West - square on nose; uggh! Little bird (swiftlet?)
still with us.
0330 (Kyle) -- Birdy
still here. Did stairmaster exercise -- hope to help my swollen
ankles. All well except no wind.
1100 (Doug) -- Bird flew away suddenly at 0750. Kevin [South Moon] getting
closer to Langkawi; his
1730 (Kyle) -- Fab
day. Hardly feel motion. Very slow start of day but by lunch wind
picked up and we're cruising along fast and gently. Salt H2O showers on foredeck; finally shaved
my legs! Great school;
D setting up Rosetta Stone French program. Talking about future.
2230 (Doug) -- What a special day this has been. Since wind up around 1630 we've been
flying. Now seem well north of shipping
lanes.
<end>
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:03 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, March 24, 2007 -- Day seven of passage
to Chagos
0130 local time Saturday, March 24, 2007 (1830 GMT
Friday, March 23); Lat/Lon 06 deg 18.9' N, 87 deg 07.7' E; Location: 371 NM E
of our Sri Lanka waypoint; Wind: variable <3 kts;
Sea: flat calm; Sky: clear; Air temp: 80 deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F; Depth:
off soundings; Course/speed: 268 deg True at 5.4 kts;
Sail/engine: Engine at 1000 RPM with mainsail sheeted tight in center and slatting; 24 hr run through 11AM yesterday: 111 NM.
While preparing dinner last night, I was fighting with a
rusty can of
Those are dreaded words in the middle of the ocean.
Thud went the can on the counter. I raced up the companionway ladder in full
fight or flight mode.
"Oh . . . thanks Abby. Good eye." It was far enough away to be ok. "But hey . . . that's not a freighter,
that's a cruise ship (breath). Wow. Wait . . . that's not a cruise ship, that's a
real ocean liner (sigh)." Her sleek
shape was so classic and her hull, that distinctive
indigo blue that just says, ocean liner . . . she looked awfully familiar. I thought, maybe she's the . . . but naaahh, it couldn't be.
Eliza and Doug raced up above to catch a glimpse
too. I started telling the girls about
how Grandpop and Gigi, my
Dad's parents, would sail back and forth between
So we stood there, gawking, marveling, shouting, blaring the music, and dancing with joy. (We've been at sea for a week now and really
appreciate any outside stimulation.)
Then bright flashes popped here and there from her decks . . . her passengers must be snapping shots of the
sunset.
I had to call her on the radio.
After checking the radar to get her range and bearing
from us, I read off our GPS position and then used our laptop's navigation
program to estimate the other ship's latitude and longitude. For some reason, she never appeared on our
AIS ship id system. Security
reasons? Anyway, I got out our
radio log, cleared my throat, warmed up my voice a little, and picked up the
VHF mike.
"Ocean liner, ocean liner at approximately 06 deg.
14 minutes N/ 87 deg. 23 minutes E, this is the sailing vessel Estrela about 5
miles off your starboard beam."
Wait . . . LONG wait.
"Calling sailing vessel. This is the ocean liner at approximately 06
deg. 14 minutes N/ 87 deg. 23 minutes E . . . the Queen Elizabeth 2"
I knew it! The
Queen Elizabeth 2!
"QE2, QE2.
This is the sailing vessel Estrela.
Shall we go to channel 1-2?"
"Roger. Switching to channel
12."
I wish I could say that I chatted up and charmed my very
British and very official sounding radio friend. But I would be lying. His young, proper voice was polite but
chilly. But it didn't matter, because I was talking with the QE2!!!! I was
high. Microphone in my hand, I could
almost feel the spotlight on my forehead. After a few pleasantries, I said I
had seen his sister ship, The Queen Mary, in
"Have a good watch, Estrela. This is the Queen Elizabeth 2 changing to
channel 16."
"Thank you.
Estrela back to 1-6."
Wow. I felt like I
just got off the radio with DAVID CASSIDAY!!
But then it was back to the galley and that darned corned
beef can . .
but now thinking about the luxurious dinners being served in one of the
FOUR elegant dining rooms just a few miles away . . .
The girls watched from the cockpit as the QE2's lights
faded over the horizon.
-- Kyle
PS -- Here are a few amazing facts about the QE2 which
Eliza read to us from the Usbourne First Book of
Knowledge while we ate our delicious dinner of Indian curried corned beef and
buttered mashed potatoes in the cockpit.
--13 decks
(stories) high and 3 football fields long.
--24
passenger elevators.
--nine diesel engines, each the size of a bus.
--28 1/2
knot average traveling speed.
--67,139 tons, about the weight of 10,100 elephants.
--900
cabins, garage for cars, kennels for animals, a huge theater, 4 pools, tennis
court, and four dining rooms.
<end>
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 8:52 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, March 26, 2007 -- Day nine of passage to Chagos
0500 local time Monday, March 26, 2007 (2200 GMT Sunday,
March 25); Lat/Lon 06 deg 04.6' N, 83 deg 47.7' E; Location: 142 NM E of our
Sri Lanka waypoint; Wind: WSW 5-10 kts; Sea: flat
calm, with small wind ripples; Sky: clear--very starry; Air temp: 81 deg F;
Water temp: 84 deg F; Depth: off soundings; Course/speed: 268 deg True at 3-4 kts; Sail/engine: No engine, just mainsail and genoa, port tack; 24 hr run through 11AM yesterday: 91 NM.
Today is Abigail's birthday. When she wakes up this morning, she will be 9
years old. By the time we get home, more
than half her life will have been at sea!
We'll give details on tomorrow's log entry about her big day.
These past two days have been slow, comfortable and
absolutely wonderful. Saturday was a big
school day. We motored some; we sailed
some; we lolled around a bit as well.
Sunday is our Sabbath.
We take a day off from school.
The girls were listening to Harry Potter on CD and then played ZooTycoon on the computer for most of the day. Doug was having a "fun with
electronics" day--and night. He's
troubleshooting a problem with the computers (all 3 of them) interfacing with
the AIS ship ID system, the GPS and Maxsea electronic
charts. It's not a serious problem. I'm not very computer savvy, so we'll just
leave it at that. I kept the galley
going. For breakfast I served left over fried rice for the girls and muesli,
homemade yogurt and dried fruit for Doug and me. Lunch was egg salad on crackers and dinner
was Lao-style veggies with tofu and rice.
I also got to read a bit, a real treat for a homeschool
teacher. Just a
relaxing day on Estrela.
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 9:14 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Tuesday, March 27, 2007 -- Day ten of passage to Chagos
0600 local time Tuesday, March 27, 2007 (2400 GMT Monday,
March 26); Lat/Lon 06 deg 03.0' N, 82 deg 19.0' E; Location: 47 NM E of our Sri
Lanka waypoint; Wind: E 5 kts; Sea: slight swell,
calm; Sky: partly cloudy, dawn; Air temp: 83 deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F;
Depth: off soundings; Course/speed: 262 deg True at 5 kts;
Sail/engine: only engine, all sails furled--too much slatting
with the swell; 24 hr run through 11AM yesterday: 84 NM.
Yesterday was Abigail's 9th birthday. She is the first Estrelan
to have a birthday at sea. We all had a
marvelous day.
Abigail likes organizing and planning. So for days before her big day she started
making a schedule of birthday events which we successfully executed
yesterday. The itinerary looked
something like this:
1) Wake up with one, just one, present at the foot of her
bed. Right now, since we are at sea, she
sleeps on the floor of the main cabin.
So, after wrapping presents in newspaper (I couldn't find the bag of
used gift wrap!), I placed one pressie on the floor
while she was still sleeping.
2) Eat Norwegian pancakes for breakfast. Since they take such a long time to make, I
started cooking in the dark, during my watch, before anyone had awoken.
3) Open presents, one at a time,
through-out the day for the whole day.
For instance, the second present she opened was from Doug, a tiny,
electric remote-controlled car. She and
Eliza spent at least 2 hours playing with the car: making ramps, obstacle
courses and jumps from cushions, boogie boards, and whatever they could
find. They did a science experiment on
radio waves from the book, The Technology Book for Girls and Other Advanced
Beings. You get the picture.
4) Bake cake. I
baked the cake in the AM.
5) Eat Annie's Mac and Cheese for lunch. That was a big treat. Doug's mom had sent a box in the mail. You can't find Annie's in
6) Watch a DVD. We
watched Ella Enchanted. Eliza re-read
the book and Abigail and I each read it in anticipation for this big movie
extravaganza. We don't normally watch
movies during a passage because it is too distracting. Sometimes the girls watch by themselves with
headphones, but usually they are doing school or reading. Or if it is too rough, they will listen to
books-on-CD.
7) Decorate the
cake. I stayed clear.
8) Don't forget,
we're still opening presents and playing with them.....
9) Eat cake. Oh yeah, eat just a smidgen of dinner--cheese
omelettes--just to appease the healthy-eating mother
in me. Then it was time to devoir the
chocolate cake with Betty Crocker Vanilla frosting, colored blue, of
course. There were lots of interesting
things sprinkled on the blue cake that Abigail had picked out in the huge
Chinese market in
10) Open last big
present. We gave her a special stuffed
animal, a Proboscis monkey. We had seen
these Endangered Species while traveling in
11) Go to
bed. She actually fell asleep on her
own, before prayers. Exhausted. Elated. Nine years old.
-------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 8:53 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Wednesday, March 28, 2007 -- Day eleven of
passage to Chagos
0600 local time Wednesday, March 28, 2007 (2400 GMT
Tuesday, March 27); Lat/Lon 05 deg 16.2' N, 80 deg 44.9' E; Location: 40 NM
directly south of the southern tip of Sri Lanka; Wind: NW 8-15 kts; Sea: slight swell, gentle rock; Sky: mostly cloudy,
dawn; Air temp: 83 deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F; Depth: off soundings;
Course/speed: 262 deg True at 5 kts; Sail/engine: all
sails full, starboard tack @ 90 deg; 24 hr run through 11AM yesterday: 80 NM.
All is well. We
finally made it to our waypoint off the SE corner of
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 6:12 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, March 29, 2007 -- Day twelve of passage
to Chagos
0200 local time Thursday, March 29, 2007 (2000 GMT
Wednesday, March 28); Lat/Lon 04 deg 57.02' N, 79 deg 03.66u' E; Location: 130
NM SW of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka; Wind: nil; Sea: glassy with slight
swell; Sky: generally clear with a few light cumulus clouds and a bright waxing
moon; Air temp: 84 deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F; Depth: off soundings;
Course/speed: 260 deg True at 5.8 kts; Sail/engine: motorsailing with engine at 1000 RPM and mainsail and
staysail sheeted tight on starboard tack; 24 hr run through 11AM yesterday: 124
NM.
When we cranked up the engine at 7:30 this evening we'd
enjoyed exactly 24 hours without it.
This had been a welcome spell of consistent wind -- unusual conditions
for this passage. But the great
beam-reaching northerly wind had gradually faded out and then finally died completely. So now we've been running the engine for
nearly seven hours.
It's time for a watch change and an engine check. I am about to wake Kyle. On this passage we are running the watches as
follows:
8AM to 8PM -- We make sure one of the two of us is
officially the "on-watch" person and is responsible for going on deck
at least every ten minutes to look around.
We switch this "on-watch" designation back and forth without a
firm schedule, trying to make sure that each of us gets a good one to two hour
nap sometime during the day.
8PM to 2AM -- Doug on watch; Kyle sleeps.
2AM to 8AM -- Kyle on watch; Doug sleeps.
We're going to try to keep sailing west for another
couple days, getting as much "westing" as
possible before we run into predominantly westerly winds. Then when we are roughly 130 NM East of Male,
the capital of the Maldives, we will turn south and go for another 350 NM to
the southernmost atoll in the Maldives, Addu atoll
and the town of Gan.
We'll refuel there and take on some fruits and vegetables. We shouldn't need more than about three days
in Gan before heading back out to complete the
remaining 300 miles to Chagos -- unless we opt to
stay longer to explore snorkeling and maybe even scuba diving possibilities in Addu atoll.
Time for bed.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 12:41 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, March 30, 2007 -- Day fourteen of passage
to Chagos
2200 local time Friday, March 30, 2007 (1600 GMT);
Lat/Lon 03 deg 30.61' N, 76 deg 19.44 E; Location: 317 NM NE of the town of Gan in Addu, the southernmost
atoll in the Maldives; Wind: <5 kts from the west;
Sea: still; Sky: clear with moon bright enough for us to see the horizon
distinctly around 360 degrees; Air temp: 85 deg F; Water temp: 86 deg F; Depth:
off soundings; Course/speed: 238 deg True at 5.0 kts;
Sail/engine: motorsailing with engine at 1000 RPM and
mainsail and staysail sheeted tight on starboard tack; Last two 24 hr runs
through 11AM yesterday and the day before: 105 NM and 112 NM.
All is well aboard Estrela. The rest of the crew are
asleep. We're running the watermaker and charging batteries, and keeping up our 4+ kt average speed.
Though the wind died away during dinner this evening, we can hardly
complain. We've only had to run the
engine for 3 1/2 hours since 5 AM yesterday morning. This is an area notorious for very light wind
this time of year. Yet this has been
some of the loveliest sailing we've had anywhere.
I'm getting ready to sit down at the computer to work on
a photojournal we are hoping to mail to George from
the
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 12:55 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry --Sunday, April 1, 2007 -- Day fifteen of passage to
Chagos
0200 local time Sunday, April 1, 2007 (2000 GMT Saturday,
March 31, 2007); Lat/Lon 02 deg 04.869 N, 74 deg 44.80 E; Location: 195 NM NE
of the town of Gan, Addu,
Maldives; Wind: <3 kts from the north; Sea: calm;
Sky: clear and bright with moonlight; Air temp: 85 deg F; Water temp: 86 deg F;
Depth: off soundings; Course/speed: 206 deg True at 5.0 kts;
Sail/engine: motorsailing with engine at 1000 RPM and
mainsail flopping; 24 hr run through 11 AM yesterday: 107 NM.
Refrigeration. That is surely something I thought I could
never do without. But here we are on
Estrela, more than half-way around the world, and we've hardly used it. We do have one. We added a new fridge unit with cooling plate
in the old, open-from-the-top icebox/galley counter. And we didn't scrimp on it either. It is quite energy efficient. Even so, keeping a fridge going in the
tropics is just plain difficult, especially ours whose out-of-date insulation
is too thin. And we are a small boat
without a generator or a huge solar panel array. We do have a wind/hydro
generator (great in tradewind zones and on fast
sailing passages). We also have three
medium to small solar panels (125 Watts total); these are all we could really
fit on Estrela unless we built a massive stainless steel archway. We also don't like to run the engine just to
charge up the batteries. However, when
we get to a marina, we do buy ice, which is a special treat.
Of course there are those low moments. For instance, a cold mug of water would be
appreciated when, you're on passage and yet again your head and pillow are
drenched in sweat when you wake up. Or
perhaps the thought of eating another awesome three-bean salad made from canned
beans is, well, unappetizing. But these
are only fleeting moments. Generally,
it's freeing to be fridge-free.
So if you've ever considered telling Con-Ed, CL&P or
Seattle Light to take a hike while you go "off grid", here are a few
suggestions to make your transition to fridge-free freedom a successful one:
1) Don't refrigerate condiments. I know that your fridge is over-run by
condiments--on the upper shelf, in the door, tucked and forgotten in the back.
But don't believe your mother, mayonnaise does not
have to be refrigerated, even after it's been opened! Nor does butter, ketchup,
mustard, relish, soy sauce, peanut butter, salad dressing, pickles or roasted
peppers in a jar. Just keep your
decanting knife or spoon clean. NO
DOUBLE DIPPING. The only thing that goes
"off" quickly, that I've noticed, is jam. So I buy jam in very small jars.
2) Don't refrigerate eggs. Contrary to the myth, as long as your eggs
haven't previously been refrigerated, then they will keep up to 3-4 weeks by
just turning them periodically and, of course, opening them one at a time into
a separate container in case of the odd rotten one.
3) Don't
refrigerate beer or soda. Husband and
kids drinking too much of that stuff? No
worries, they won't want to touch it if it's hot! Just say, "sorry
darlings, but we're fridge-free now.
Have some freshly squeezed carrot juice!" If they go on strike, at least you could get
a cooler for keeping ice.
4) Don't refrigerate leftovers. Keep them on your stove top. If you don't eat them by the next day, you
probably wouldn't eat them anyway. How
many little Tupperware containers filled with tiny morsels are taking precious
energy? So those lentil burgers from
dinner can transform into "homefries" for
tomorrow's breakfast. Or
that big pot of rice? Keep it on
the stove and make sushi rolls or fried rice for lunch.
5) Don't refrigerate yoghurt. Make your own anyway; it's way easier than I
ever thought (no sterilizing necessary).
And just keep your container on the counter with a cloth over the top to
keep out bugs. You get one day. You have
to eat it quickly but save 2-3 tablespoons to make the next batch.
6) Use a pressure cooker to store food. Modern
pressure cookers don't explode like your grandmother's used to do! I learned this food-saving trick from the
ultimate keep-it-simple cruiser out there, Lyn Pardey
(she and her husband Larry have written many books on sailing and
living-at-sea. A true
inspiration.) After you make and serve your meal, replace the lid and
put the cooker back up to pressure for just a few minutes. This will sterilize the food and keep it safe
for the next day. I can usually keep one
stew going for 3-4 days. It morphs into
something else, but just as edible. So veggie
chili can be stretched for another meal and then turns into sausage soup which
then turns into spaghetti sauce.
7) Use long-life milk, or in our storage-cramped
quarters, use powdered milk. Ok, this
one is a real sacrifice, but eventually kids do adapt to luke-warm
milk, really, truly.....honest....Well at least when you go to a restaurant,
they'll WANT to order milk--icy, cold, thirst quenching milk.
8) Wrap veggies
in newspaper. Cabbage is the veg of choice for fridge-free folks. Wrapped in newspaper, it can last for weeks
at a time. Just trim the rotten, smelly,
dry or blackened parts. Remember to
breathe through your mouth. It's a
little stinky, but it's worth it. You
can always salvage something. Carrots
keep pretty well. At least if you've
learned to rehydrate them in water to make them crispy again. Just cut up the limp, withered, brown sticks
and put them in a bowl of water. You
will be amazed at how well and quickly they come back to life!
9) Grow your own sprouts. If you can't have a garden, a jar of freshly
grown sprouts will do just the trick. Mung beans are especially easy. You don't have to do anything fancy, like some
books say. Take an old jam jar, put some
mung beans in it, cover the beans with water and the
jar with a cloth and let it stand on the counter for a day. Just keep changing the water once or twice a
day. As soon as they start to emerge,
they are deliciously edible. You don't
have to wait for the grassy-part to appear.
And they are so good for you!
10) Eat canned food. That's the bottom line. Learn to make recipes with canned
ingredients. Get creative with SPAM!
What we need is a fridge-free cookbook.
Quick call Martha or Julia...
There you have it, 10 easy steps to freedom....
---Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 12:05 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry --Tuesday, April 3, 2007 -- Day eighteen of passage
to Chagos
2230 local time Tuesday, April 3, 2007 (1630 GMT);
Lat/Lon 00 deg 41.174 S, 73 deg 08.657 E; Location: Gan,
Addu, Maldives; Wind: 12 kts
from NW; Sea: calm; Sky: clear overhead with many rain squalls nearby; Air
temp: 84 deg F; Water temp: 87 deg F; Depth: 16 feet; Course/speed: at anchor;
Sail/engine: at anchor; Last four 24 hr runs through 10 AM, Sunday: 110 NM,
Monday: 70, Today: 82 NM, Tomorrow: 4 NM.
We made it!
Arriving is almost never easy and this was no exception. For the last 24 hours we had the wind right
on the nose, the strongest wind of our whole passage, and many big windy rain
squalls to dodge. We motorsailed
most of the time, with sails reefed so we wouldn't be flattened by the squalls.
Our friends on another American cruising sailboat named
Ocelot, the Hacking family (Sue, Jon and Amanda [17] ), cheered us in, helped
us find the anchorage, and served us a delicious fish curry made from the big
barracuda they had caught three days ago entering the pass into this atoll. What a wonderful evening we enjoyed swapping
stories of our respective land adventures in SE Asia and
Now we sleep -- all night!
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 9:34 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry --Tuesday, April 17, 2007 -- Day nineteen of passage
to Chagos (after two-week rest stop in Addu Atoll, Maldives)
1730 local time Tuesday, April 17, 2007 (1230 GMT);
Lat/Lon 00 deg 59.53 S, 73 deg 07.78 E; Location: 19 NM S of the SE pass in and
out of Addu Atoll, Maldives and about 280 NM from Chagos; Wind: 12-16 kts from WSW;
Sea: confused wind/current chop; Sky: almost cloudless -- looks very settled;
Air temp: 91 deg F; Water temp: 85 deg F; Depth: off soundings; Course/speed:
201 deg T / 3.2 Kts; Sail/engine: All sails, no
reefs, beating on stbd tack.
We're off sailing again, after a two-week rest stop in Addu Atoll where we had anchored in the inner harbor
between Gan and
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 9:07 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Weds, April 18, 2007 -- Day 2 of passage from
2130 local time Wednesday, April 18, 2007 (1630 GMT);
Lat/Lon 02 deg 30.9 S, 72 deg 27.3 E; Location: 167 NM N of the NW pass into Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos; Wind: 7-9 kts kts from NNW; Sea: a gentle wind chop and slight roll from
long swell; Sky: about 1/4 covered by small cumulus clouds but still looking
settled; Air temp: 85 deg F; Water temp: 88 deg F; Humidity: 65%; Depth: off
soundings; Course/speed: 187 deg T / 2.4 Kts;
Sail/engine: All sails, no reefs, broad reach on stbd
tack; about to start engine to charge batteries and boost speed -- the wind has
been gradually dying over the last two hours and is forecast to disappear
altogether tomorrow.
We had no idea that we would fall in love with the
Mesmerized by the beauty, intrigued by the cultural
differences, excited about the water clarity and abundant fish life, we decided
to slow down, explore and enjoy this new country. Besides, our American friends on Ocelot were
anchored next to us, which meant that potluck dinners, guitar sessions, beach
combing and scuba diving would be on the agenda.
To be continued.....
-- Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 9:20 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, April 19, 2007 -- Day 3 of passage from
2300 local time Thursday, April 19, 2007 (1800 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 04 deg 15.171' S, 72 deg 00.953' E; Location: 58 NM N of the NW pass
into Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos; ETA: approximately noon tomorrow; Wind: nil; Sea:
almost calm; Sky: clear; Air temp: 85 deg F; Water temp: 85 deg F; Humidity:
64%; Depth: off soundings; Course/speed: 196 deg T / 4.0 Kts
(still bucking a strong current of 1-2 kts);
Sail/engine: Engine only, at 1000 RPM; sails all furled; Last two 24 hour runs
through about 12:30 PM: 102 NM today and 85 NM yesterday.
As had been forecast yesterday, the wind shifted steadily
from WSW to W, WNW, NNW and finally N throughout the day today and then began
to die away altogether as the sun sank.
For about three hours this afternoon, though, Estrela enjoyed a
wonderful broad reach with the spinnaker -- magic. We finally dropped all sails just before
supper to stop them from "slatting."
Slatting happens when there is
not enough wind to keep the sails full and instead the boat's rolling motion
back and forth in the ocean swell and waves, in addition to generating queazy tummies, also generates apparent wind first on one
side of the sails and then the other, causing the sails to snap full on one
side and then the other with a loud report each time the boat rolls. Slatting is bad for
sail cloth; it breaks down the fibers.
The wind is forecast to fill back in during the day
tomorrow, first from the NE and then from the E and SE, though not to gain much
strength. It is possible that this
clocking around of the wind direction tomorrow will mark the expected seasonal
shift in the vicinity of Chagos from prevailing W/NW
to prevailing E/SE winds. The shift is
about due. We'll see. Once this shift occurs the yachts in Chagos will all have to congregate in Saloman's
Atoll, the only atoll where cruising sailboats can legally anchor with
protection from E/SE winds. In the meantime, there's not much of any wind
at all for us; so we're motoring and looking forward to arriving in Chagos tomorrow.
. . .
.
Kyle wrote last night that we would share stories about
Maldivian culture and politics in upcoming log postings. I wanted to mention briefly the pro-democracy
movement, which we experienced first hand and which we greatly admire. The President of the
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:43 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, April 20, 2007 -- Day 4 (last day) of
passage from
2100 local time Friday, April 20, 2007 (1600 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 05 deg 14.68' S, 71 deg 49.70' E; Location: NE corner of Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos; Wind: N approx 5 kts;
Sea: calm; Sky: clear; Air temp: 85 deg F; Water temp: 86 deg F; Humidity: 55%;
Depth: 78'; Last 24 hour run (through 12:30 PM today): 96 NM; Course/speed:
Anchored with 275' chain and snubber.
Kyle, Abigail, Eliza and I are crawling into our bunks,
happy and exhausted, full tummies and smiles from a fish barbecue and kids'
birthday party on the beach. A mom on
another kidboat we know and haven't seen since
Eliza's December beach birthday in Phi Phi Leh,
This is an amazing place; we can tell already. The fish seem almost to jump into sailors'
dinghies as they troll inside the lagoon.
We hooked a large, hard-fighting fish while motoring in through the
pass. We had to stop Estrela and motor
in reverse to keep from losing it. Once
we had the fish along side, though, Kyle and I needed about 1.5 seconds to
decide to release it. We are used to
taking free-swimming pelagic fish, which live all over the ocean, like tunas, mahi mahi and spanish mackerel, not big colorful reef fish. The latter are what we go snorkeling to
see! This one looked too much like one
of the large groupers that would be the highlight sighting of any snorkeling
trip. We had to throw this monster fish
back.
Well . . . we learned soon after arriving on the beach
that the one we'd hooked, probably known locally as a "coronation
trout", was a typical catch trolling in the lagoon and a dinner staple in Peros Banhos. Apparently this lagoon,
and Chagos generally, represent what these kinds of
mid-ocean tropical atoll waters might be like anywhere in the world if there
were no local human residents to knock down the fish populations with constant
fishing pressure. These Chagos atolls get only a few humans mucking around them for
just a few months of the year. So this is about as wild a tropical ocean
setting as exists anywhere. We're
itching to get out snorkeling tomorrow.
But now it's time to sleep. We
made it to Chagos!
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 10:27 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, April 23, 2007 -- At anchor in Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos.
1600 local time Monday, April 23, 2007 (1100 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 05 deg 14.7' S, 71 deg 49.7' E; Location: NE corner of Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos; Wind: W approx 5 kts;
Sea: calm w/slight roll; Sky: clear; Air temp: 86 deg F; Water temp: 86 deg F;
Humidity: 60%; Depth: 79'; Anchored with 275' chain and snubber.
We're anchored in Peros Banhos atoll, Chagos now. Pretty amazing place,
especially if you like snorkeling and fishing. Both are spectacular. Excellent water clarity; best we've seen
anywhere in the world -- as good as the best we experienced on our clearest day
in the Tuamotus, drift snorkeling through the pass
into Anse Amyot in Toau Atoll. The one
fly in the ointment here so far has been deep anchoring -- e.g., 75-80' right
now.
The weather has been delightfully benign for us, though
boats in Peros during the two weeks before we arrived
April 20 were moving around a lot as unsettled weather brought many wind shifts
and strong winds. Soon we will move
about 15 miles over to the smaller, more protected atoll, Salomon's. We understand Peros
Banhos can get very rolly
when there is any ocean swell running outside.
This is because Peros has several very wide
passes and its diameter is large.
These passes and the relatively great depth in the middle
of the lagoon mean that big pelagic fish are sometimes found in the
lagoon. Incredibly, within the last few
weeks sailboats trolling across the lagoon have caught two sailfish and one
large dog-tooth tuna. These are normally
found only in the big blue.
Since the wind and seas have been slight in this region
of the ocean for at least a week, we have been quite comfortable in here. All the boats in Peros
will move to Salomon's once the SE tradewinds arrive
(sometime in the next couple weeks), since there really are not any safe legal
anchorages in Peros protected from strong east
wind. The
We haven't met the BIOT folks yet and are looking forward
to learning more about their new plans for managing Chagos. BIOT has announced they are going to be more
comprehensive in their management. Some
of the sailboat cruisers would prefer BIOT's previous
laissez-faire approach. Chagos could be preserved as one of the most spectacular,
pristine tropical marine parks in the world if managed well. It's very exciting and a great privilege to
be here.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 9:52 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, June 25, 2007 -- At anchor in Salomon's
Atoll, Chagos
1300 local time Monday, June 25, 2007 (0800 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 05 deg 19.83' S, 72 deg 15.84' E; Location: NE corner of Salomon's
Atoll, Chagos, off Takamaka
Island; Wind: ENE approx 10 kts; Sea: calm w/ very
slight chop; Sky: overcast and sprinkling intermittently; Air temp: 88 deg F;
Water temp: 84 deg F; Humidity: 70%; Depth: 76'; Anchored in sand and coral (aarrggh!) with 250' chain and snubber.
Kyle and I and the girls are trying to transform
ourselves from tropical paradise residents into ocean passage-makers. We hope to set sail from Chagos
within two or three days - next stop,
This routing should help us deal with two obstacles
between Chagos and
If all this sounds more technical than most of you are
really interested in, don't worry. A few
weeks ago we didn't understand any of this stuff very well either. But we've gone to school, pouring over
charts, weather faxes and grib files and pestering
experienced
Chagos has been incredible, but
it's time to set sail again. This should
be an exciting (read, fast, rough and wet) passage and we are getting ourselves
psyched up for the challenge. Kyle and I
will begin sending regular log entries again once we're underway.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:54 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, June 28, 2007 -- Day 1 of passage to
2330 local time Thursday, June 28, 2007 (1830 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 05 deg 41.1' S, 71 deg 36.2'E; Location: 7.5 NM N. of Great Chagos Bank, and 20 NM SW of Ile du Coin, Peros Banhos atoll, Chagos Archipelago; Course and speed over ground: 229 deg T, 6.0 knots; Wind: SE 23 to 28 kts; Sea: very rough wind waves and swell on our port beam;
Sky: overcast and squally; Air temp: 88 deg F; Water temp: ?? deg F; Humidity: 72%; Depth: off soundings; Sail/engine
combination and tack: double reefed main and staysail, port tack.
We finally left Chagos today,
bound for
Yikes! An
unusually large wave just hit us. It
filled the cockpit with water, knocked the bread and tea kettle to the floor
and woke everyone up. . . . More tomorrow!
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 9:42 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, June 29, 2007 -- Day 2 of passage to
2130 local time Friday, June 29, 2007 (1630 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 06 deg 51' S, 69 deg 44.2'E; Location: 168 NM West of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago; Course and speed over ground: 240 deg T, 6.8 knots; Wind: SE 28 to 31 kts; Sea: very large wind waves and swell on our port beam,
occasionally breaking crests, steepened by current against wind ; Sky: 100%
overcast with frequent rain bands; Air temp: 80 deg F; Water temp: ?? deg F; Humidity: ??%; Depth: off soundings; Sail/engine
combination and tack: double reefed main and staysail, port tack; 24 hr run
through 1500: 137 NM.
The last 24 hours have been rough. The seas have been building steadily, helped
by a current running across and slightly against the wind. This makes the waves steeper and shortens the
distance between waves, the wave period.
Since last night's first "freak" wave we've had several more,
worse though. One around noon caught us
with only one of two slats in the cockpit companionway opening, and with the
companionway hatch only half closed. It
was ugly. Amazingly, we caught the whole
thing live on the video camera. I was
filming Kyle in the galley when all of a sudden, bam, a big wave hit us
broadside sending a sheet of water across the cockpit and at the
companionway. Down it poured onto the
navigation table and into the radios and other electronics. Salt water is cruel to anything electrical,
so we all jumped into crisis mode to salvage what we could and clean equipment. The same wave also hit so hard it blasted
water past the gaskets of all five heavy bronze scuttles (aka portholes) on the
port side. It also squirted a fountain
under and around the forward hatch. Uggh. Stuffed animals, clothes, the stair stepper,
books, important papers, charts, log books and so on . . . all soaked. Mostly all this only means some stuff will be
salty until we have plenty of fresh water to clean up properly. A few other things have been ruined, none of
great consequence. The electronics are a
question mark, though. Salt water
corrosion can take some time to appear.
The weather station (temp, pressure, humidity) is already on the
fritz. The MP3, CD and tape players may
be casualties; we'll just wait and see.
The scariest potential problem is the SSB radio, which
did take a good dousing. If the radio's
already wrecked you won't receive this log entry until we reach an internet
cafe in
So if suddenly our log entries stop, don't worry. We would set off our EPIRB if we had a true
catastrophe. Losing our SSB would just
mean we'd be unable to talk long distance to other boats (more than about 20
NM) or to send and receive email. But we
could still navigate fine. We have
multiple GPS units, compasses, paper and electronic charts, and even a sextant
and tables.
On a more humorous note . . . a fish hit me in the
forehead tonight, at least that's what I think it was, probably a flying
fish. I was standing at the dodger,
facing forward and thwack, it slimed me.
I saw a vague dark shape; but barely.
And it didn't even grunt; so it couldn't have been a bird. This shows how rough and windy it is.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 9:29 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, June 30, 2007 -- Day 3 of passage to
2330 local time Saturday, June 30, 2007 (1830 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 08 deg 20.5' S, 67 deg 34.5' E; Location: 374 NM NE of our turning
waypoint located at 12 deg 05' S, 62 de 30' E;
Course and speed over ground: 239
deg T, 6.2 kts; Wind: SE 20 to 25 kts;
Sea: continued large wind waves and swell, frequently irregular, walking below
is difficult; Sky: 60% overcast with infrequent rain bands, gorgeous full blue
moon; Air temp: ?? deg F; Water temp: 84 deg F; Humidity: 80% (lots of
condensation inside Estrela since shuttered tight against waves and rain);
Sail/engine combination and tack: double reefed main and staysail, port tack;
24 hr run through 1500: 151 NM -- Estrela's best day ever . . . with us at
least!
Westsail 32s have a not-so-nice
nickname . . . Wetsnails, for their propensity to
have wet cockpits and reputation for going slowly. Well here on Estrela we say, wet? oh yes, but snail? no way. Here we are in strong wind and heavy seas,
the main reefed all the way down and only the staysail for a headsail. And we averaged over six knots yesterday, a
record breaking day. This was because
the crew is doing great and we've been willing to just let Estrela go, to see
what she'll do. It's been an
exhilarating, if exhausting, ride.
Morale is good and we've adapted to a wet, salty cabin, after the big
waves splashed in yesterday and today. I
just looked back at the log from our rough passage from
But I can barely keep my eyes open. Good night.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 9:37 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Sunday July 1, 2007 -- Day 4 of passage to
2200 local time Sunday, July 1, 2007 (1700 GMT); Lat/Lon:
09 deg 44.4' S, 65 deg 46.1' E; Location: 238 NM NE of our turning waypoint
between the enormous Saya de Malha
Bank and Nazareth Bank; Course and speed
over ground: 223 deg T, 5.8 kts; Wind: ESE 20 to 23 kts; Sea:
confused and steep, a sure sign we're in an east or SE setting "eddy"
of the west setting south equatorial current; Sky: 30% cloud cover, mostly
thin, and very bright moon; Air temp: 79 deg F; Water temp: 83 deg F; Humidity:
76%; Sail/engine combination and tack: double reefed main and staysail, port
tack; 24 hr run through 1500: 144 NM.
For three days now we've averaged 144 NM per day -- what
a thrill to be sailing so fast! Now back
to the wetness theme . . . today we got a little ahead of the salt water
intrusions. We've devised efficient
water trapping and soaking up methods for the places it's coming in or is
showing up. (Kyle here in parentheses...we call this "Rag Management
101" or "Fun with Rags", which is right up there with other
Estrela chores: "Fun with Diesel" or my favorite, "Fun with
Maggots"--which has to do with the refrigerator....yummy!) Water comes in through the forward hatch and
also under the starboard main bunk onto the cabin sole after, most likely,
working in through the bolts holding on the starboard chain plates. We've been heeling to starboard for three
days and have often had the starboard rail buried in the water. (Read FAST!)
Plus the mast and rigging have been jerked back and forth violently many times.
(Ok, so it's like living in a carnival ride, one that never stops!) Estrela's chain plates are three big
stainless steel straps bolted onto the port and starboard hull exterior
amidships, to which the wire shrouds are fastened, holding up the mast. (Translation: big important hunks of metal!)
Most of the big chain plate bolts and nuts are inaccessible from within the
cabin, unless we were to dismantle, including sawing apart, a large part of the
interior wood furniture and cabinetry.
(Yikes!) We had wanted to remove, check and reinstall the nine bolts on
each side, with new bedding caulk to keep water out. But the prospect of taking a saber saw to the
beautiful interior of Estrela was too daunting, (People with saws, stay away!)
and the one chain plate bolt we could reach looked fine when we pulled it out
to check. (Good enough for me!) But
these bolts have probably never been rebedded since
Estrela was launched in 1976 and the original caulk is dry and no longer seals
out water when we heel hard over. (Give me water intrusion....I won't
complain...really, I'm just an inconvenienced suburban housewife......in a
salty world!)
-- Doug (and Kyle)
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 9:44 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Tuesday July 3, 2007 -- Day 5 of passage to
0230 local time Tuesday, July 3, 2007 (2030 GMT
07/02/07); Lat/Lon: 11 deg 22.2' S, 63 deg 35.6' E; Location: 77 NM NE of our
turning waypoint between the big shallow banks; Course and speed over ground: 237 deg T, 5.0 kts;
Wind: ESE 14 to 18 kts; Sea: much gentler and more
regular; Sky: 20% cloud cover; Air temp: ?? deg F;
Water temp: 81.5 deg F; Humidity: 71%; Sail/engine combination and tack: double
reefed main, staysail, and 2/3 genoa, port tack; 24
hr run through 1500 Monday: 137 NM.
Estrela's younger crew members hit a milestone for this
bouncy journey today, Day 5: the girls ventured over to the port side of the
boat. Miracles happen when the wind and
seas calm down.
For four days the girls have been sharing Eliza's sea
bunk in the main cabin because the floor, where Abigail usually sleeps, is
totally wet and salty. It was a suitable
arrangement for an eight and five year old to share this bunk, which they did
when we first set sail. Now, at ages 12
and 9, it is basically ludicrous, especially with Eliza almost as tall as I am.
But cruising kids quickly learn that adapting is the key to life on a
boat. So they fit! Bouncy days add another dimension to the
bunk-sharing arrangement. They stay in bed during the day as well. No school, no games, no walking around, and
no fighting, they just lay in this tiny bunk like two foals fitting in their
mother's womb, all legs, and listen to books on CD. For FOUR days! Talk about hibernating. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I
heard was some bickering this morning.
Boat motion must be better.
"Winter" is now officially over and
it's time to get these cubs out of the starboard den and over to the port side
of the boat. They can sit at the table
again. Freedom!
-- Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 12:37 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Wednesday July 4, 2007 -- Day 6 of passage to
0630 local time Wednesday, July 4, 2007 (0130 GMT
07/03/07); Lat/Lon: 12 deg 02.4' S, 61 deg 19.2' E; Location: 70 NM W (away
from) our turning waypoint between the big shallow banks; Course and speed over ground: 269 deg T, 5.2 kts;
Wind: ESE 10 to 15 kts; Sea: much gentler and more
regular; Sky: 10% cloud cover; Air temp: 79 deg F; Water temp: 81.5 deg F;
Humidity: 69%; Sail/engine combination and tack: single reefed main, staysail,
and 1/2 genoa, port tack; 24 hr run through 1500
Tuesday: 136 NM.
Happy Fourth of July!!
All is well aboard Estrela. We
are in the middle of the shallow banks.
The depth is now 316 feet. Can
you believe it? We could almost anchor
in this place. Thankfully, nature has
been kind to us with calm wind and flat seas.
These banks could really turn into a washer machine with high winds,
shallow depth and current to boot.
Phew!
--Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, July 06, 2007 2:04 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, July 5, 2007 -- Day 8 of passage to
2330 local time Thursday, July 5, 2007 (1830 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 12 deg 11' S, 57 deg 31.3' E; Location: 469 NM due east of our
Madagascar approach waypoint, which is 19 NM SE of the northernmost point of
Madagascar, Cap d,Ambre; Course and speed over ground: 268 deg T, 6.0 kts; Wind: SSE 22 to 28 kts; Sea:
building again and getting rougher; Sky: 30% cloud cover; Air temp: 76 deg F
(chilliest air temp we've had for many months!); Water temp: 80 deg F;
Humidity: 70%; Sail/engine combination and tack: double reefed main and
staysail, no genoa, port tack, broad reach; Last two
24 hr runs through 1500 Weds and Thursday: 120 NM and 127 NM, respectively.
Captain Doug is my TOTAL hero! Let me set the scene....
By July 4th, not only had we "turned the
corner" and started heading west, but also the wind and seas had
moderated. It could have been a day sail
on Long Island Sound. It was time to
start the engine to charge the batteries, the amp hours and volts were getting
too low. These were great conditions for
running the engine. I wrote out a log
entry in the Engine Log book: total engine hours, amp hours, date, time and
location. Doug did the usual engine
check: check oil level, wipe out engine pan and have a good look-around. I flipped on the engine's starter battery
switch, got out the key and went into the cockpit to start her up. It is a two-step process to start
Estrela. You turn the key to start the
electronics and then push the start button and hold it down until the engine
fires. Well, I turned the key and pushed
the button and.....and.... NO START! Hmmm. Try again. Nope.
The engine cranked, but didn't fire.
Ugh. All I could think was how
blessed we were to have such nice sea conditions for a "fun with
engine" experience.
To make a very long story short, Doug worked for six
hours on this engine dilemma. Six hours
and only one swear word (Now that is heroic!).
Doug got out the Perkins Prima Engine manual (50 horse power) and Nigel
Calder's Diesel Engine Mechanics book and like a detective on a rather urgent
case, painstakingly tested each engine "failure to start"
theory. This is a mystery to solve. Water in line? Air in fuel line? Exhaust blockage? Air intake blockage? Fuel line blockage? Fuel filter build up? Lift pump problem? (Don't even ask me what
that is! But Doug had a spare--can you believe it? My hero!) Electric failure in the starter? So many theories to test.
We turned off everything that took battery power, lights,
navigation electronics, fans, so that we could save precious battery
power. The person on watch would take
out the hand-held GPS and every hour on the hour would take a lat/long fix and
write a log entry, just to make sure that we were on course. That person would
also be on hand to try the ignition whenever Doug was ready to test his various
solutions. I was on for the first two
hours. Then Eliza was on watch so that I
could take a two-hour nap. When I awoke still a no go.
Yikes! But when I went up to my
sweaty, diesel and oil smeared husband/mechanic, I didn't see a man in
despair. No, he had an air of quiet
determination. He looked at me and said,
"The dolphins came."
The dolphins came.
They are our messengers of hope.
The Estrela motto is, "Dolphins come when you need them." I know that it sounds crazy and you all must
think that we really have "lost it at sea", but I can't tell you how
many times dolphins have arrived in our time of need. We were trying to out-run, a low on approach
to
Needless to say that when Doug said
that the dolphins came, I knew that we would be ok. And then Doug got an idea. Maybe it wasn't the starter, maybe it was the
kill switch. So he checked for a voltage
problem. Nope, volts ok. What if the stop button was stuck in the
"stop" mode, a short caused by salt water corrosion--the cockpit had
filled many times over the last few days, up to the level of the instrument
panel. Technically, I couldn't really
tell you what he did, all I know is that he unhooked some group of wires
and........engine cranked.....ENGINE FIRED!!!!!!! Everyone cheered. I started to sob. MY HERO!!
-- Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 2:20 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, July 6, 2007 -- Day 9 of passage to
2330 local time Friday, July 6, 2007 (1830 GMT); Lat/Lon:
12 deg 18.7' S, 55 deg 06.2' E; Location: 325 NM due east of our Madagascar
approach waypoint; Course and speed over
ground: 276 deg T, 5.2 kts; Wind: ESE 19 to 24 kts; Sea: waves and swell a bit steeper and closer
together; Sky: 90% cloud cover; Air temp: 75 deg F; Water temp: 80 deg F;
Humidity: 70%; Sail/engine combination and tack: double reefed main and
staysail wing and wing, no genoa, port tack, broad
reach; Last 24 hour run (through 1500): 144 NM.
We are skittering along at a pace unheard of for Estrela
and her crew. Over the first eight days
of this passage we've averaged 137 NM/day or 5.7 knots! Now our fight is to time our arrival off
We are following a routing strategy to help us contend
with the strong SE tradewinds, as well as increased
waves and swell, which are accelerated as they hit the mountainous east coast
of Madagascar and are funnelled northward past Cap d'Ambre. Recommended
by experienced Indian Ocean sailors and by South African weather guru Fred,
voice of the "Peri Peri"
SSB weather net, our plan is to sail in very close to the coast beginning about
15 miles south of Cap d'Ambre and then to skirt the
coast just 100 to 200 meters outside the surf line. Hugging the shore like this should yield
somewhat lighter winds, smaller seas and less current. As Fred said on the radio today though, we'll
"just be riding a bronco for four hours" and then once past the cape
the wind will suddenly die and the seas go flat. Sounds wonderful.
Assuming we can slow our pace a little we should close
with the
--
Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 9:32 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, July 7, 2007 -- Day 10 of passage to
2330 local time Saturday, July 7, 2007 (1830 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 12 deg 10.3' S, 52 deg 21' E; Location: 325 NM due east of our
Madagascar approach waypoint; Course and
speed over ground: 271 deg T, 6.6 kts; Wind: ESE 20
to 30 kts; Sea: waves and swell big but crests not
breaking significantly; Sky: 100% cloud cover and intermittent rain; Air temp:
75 deg F; Water temp: 81 deg F; Humidity: 72%; Sail/engine combination and
tack: double reefed main and staysail, port tack, beam reach; Last 24 hour run
(through 1400*): 140 NM.
Want "big hair" without fussing with all those
expensive hair gels? Try this new
formula developed in the Estrela Personal Hygiene Laboratory: Don't wash your hair for 10 days and then
periodically douse your hair with salt water.
The results are fabulous.
Celebrities are raving about this innovative method:
Billy Crystal:
"You loook mahvelous."
Hamlet: "Get ye to a
nunnery."
Fabio: "I can't believe it's not...gel."
Try this at home!
-- Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 9:32 AM
Subject: Estrela made it and hook is down!
Hook down in
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:18 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Tuesday, July 24, 2007 -- Day 3 of passage to
0330 local time Tuesday, July 24, 2007 (0030 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 12 deg 41.7' S, 45 deg 29.4' E; Location: 22NM SE of Passe M'Zamboro, the NE pass into
Mayotte; Course and speed over ground:
175 deg, .4 kts; Wind: ESE less than 5 kts; Sea: gentle swell; Sky: clear, starry with lights of
Mayotte in the distance; Air temp: 77 deg F; Water temp: 81 deg F; Humidity:
61%; Sail/engine combination and tack: double reefed main and staysail, tiller
lased to port -- hove-to; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 72 NM.
We are under way again, in the third and last night of a
short (250 NM) but slow sail/motorsail from
Our missions were school and drying out. With arid 45% to 60% humidity the latter was
a smashing success. Estrela hasn't felt
this dry for a long time. We realized
how much humidity we'd grown used to living near the equator for most of the
last thirteen months. Plus the trip from
Chagos was very soggy. But after some hard work by all hands, and
prodigious use of vinegar and bleach, the mildew is now at bay. Drawers and cupboards are functioning again
as designed. We even had a torrential
downpour two nights ago, the first real rain since our arrival in
School has been wonderful. With two relaxed parents to devote most of
their attention to schooling we made some great strides. Times like these the girls accelerate their
work, making up for ground lost when the presence of other cruising kids (at
least half of our time in Chagos) has made
socializing and playing the highest priority.
Getting to be one of their teachers has proved one of my greatest
pleasures of this whole trip around the world.
And these last couple weeks of teaching were in the top five ever --
both girls on fire and the energy level on Estrela electric, students and
teachers alike.
Thankfully we anticipate no big repairs or boat-related
acquisitions while in
--Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 2:16 AM
Subject: Estrela Checked out of
Hello family,
We have just checked out of
All is well!
Love, Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 1:15 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, October 18, 2007 -- Day 2 of passage to
1530 local time Thursday, October 18, 2007 (1230 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 15 deg 24.6' S, 44 deg 55.0' E; Location: 50NM NE of Cap St.
Andre; Course and speed over ground: 270
deg, 5 kts; Wind: 10 kts
from the North; Sea: gentle swell; Sky: clear; Air temp: 84 deg F; Water temp:
80 deg F; Humidity: 53%; Sail/engine combination and tack: single reefed main,
staysail and 3/4 genoa; Last 24 hour run (through
0800): 108 NM.
We are finally underway -- bound for
We left
For various reasons our progress down the
1) Each of us,
in turn, has battled a cold. I ran a
low-grade fever for a week and was completely useless and then later Kyle was
sick for almost a week. Lots of reading and school.
2) We caught a
very large yellowfin tuna, over 100 lbs, prompting us
to fire up the seldom-used, electricity-hungry fridge and carefully manage the
meat supplies, giving much of it away to other cruisers, making many fish meals
and drying some;
3) We refilled
Estrela's water tanks from a couple small waterfalls, not the simplest task
here, where the tidal range is 10 to 13 feet;
4) We
reconnected unexpectedly with our kidboat friends --
S/V Archibald -- a French family with two boys and a girl, overlapping with our
two. We thought we'd said goodbye to them forever when they left Chagos and sailed off to the
5) We also
plowed through a long to-do list of chores, including two sewing repairs to the
mainsail and one to the dodger, trouble-shooting a faulty wind speed and
direction instrument, epoxying two cracked stainless
steel stanchions -- a long-shot repair until we can get them welded,
haircutting salon at Kyle's Boat of Hair (actually on the beach), baking bread
and cookies - good for the tummies at sea, end-for-ending the rusting anchor
chain and marking the chain with new cable tie measurement
markers....etc....the list was very long!
But now we're finally sailing, and everything feels much
simpler again.
-- Doug
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 5:58 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, October 19, 2007 (Day 3 of passage to
1630 local time Friday, October 19, 2007 (1330 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 15º52.1'S, 43º16.3'E; Location: 70NM WNW of Cap St. Andre,
Madagascar; Course and speed over
ground: 234ºT, 4 kts; Wind: SW <5 kts; Sea: almost calm; Sky: 2/8 cumulus; Air temp: 90ºF;
Water temp: 80ºF; Humidity: 52%; Current: about a one knot counter current
against us; Sail/engine combination and tack: full main, engine at 1200 RPM;
Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 110 NM.
Hi! This is
Abigail and Eliza. Dad wrote the stuff above, though he took it from the log entry that I (Abby)
wrote this afternoon. Our new thing is
that on passage each day one of us has to do the afternoon log entry, including
all the weather info. When we are at
anchor we take turns doing a morning and an afternoon weather log, with weather
observations such as cloud coverage and types, temperature and humidity, water
temp, barometer, and wind speed and direction.
It is actually easier doing the weather on passage because you can yell
up to mom or dad, "What's the wind speed?" and stuff like that.
On top of doing school and log entries, we (Abby and I)
are also making a 30 minute movie of this passage. So far we've included anchor raising, the
route from Madagascar to South Africa, the three smallest crew members (our rag
dolls, Clara, Cassandra, and Zarafina -- who came
aboard in Hell-Ville, Madagascar), spinnaker raising, Green Guy (who lives on
the compass)and Spike (who lives on the barometer) --
but you'll have to watch the movie to learn about them, Mom's fresh bread on
the counter, and seasick girls lying in bed.
But we've only used up seven minutes!
So if there's anything you want us to include in the
movie (like what we look like trying to sleep while the boat is slamming from
side to side), or if you have any questions about boat life, just send us an
email. Send it to WDB3042atSailmail.com,
but substitute the @ symbol for the word
"at." Dad said we should write
the email address that way to try to stop spam.
It would really help us to get some ideas from you. We've never made a movie before all by
ourselves. Thanks!
~ Eliza and Abigail
PS -- Dad's also making us do these email Estrela Log
Entries every day, so you'll be hearing from us a lot during this passage!
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 12:40 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, October 20, 2007 (Day 4 of passage to
1530 local time Saturday, October 20, 2007 (1230 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 16º40.3'S, 41º56.7'E; Location: 900NM NNE of Richard's Bay, South
Africa, in the middle of the Mozambique Channel; Course and speed over ground: 233ºT, 4.2 kts; Wind: SSW 8-12 kts; Sea:
gentle chop; Sky: 6/8 cumulus and cirrus; Air temp: 81ºF; Water temp: 80ºF;
Humidity: 60%; Current: hard to tell -- for a while we thought we had about a
one knot south-setting current helping us, but we're being set eastwards too
and that wouldn't happen in the main Mozambique current, which goes SSW through
this area -- we should know better tomorrow; Sail/engine combination and tack:
full main, genoa and staysail on port tack
close-hauled; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 85 NM.
Abby and Eliza here again . . . Our big news today was
that we caught (and accidentally released) a small tuna. Here's what happened. Abby and I were doing school when Dad called,
"Girls! Fish on the line." We raced up, hurriedly putting on life
jackets. We had put the line out earlier
when we realized there were birds diving and fish jumping all around us. We thought this was because we had reached
the edge of the Mozambique Current, which is sort of like the
Dad and Mom decided that Mom would pull in the line and land
the fish, instead of Dad, with help from us girls. Dad tried, sort of, to not keep telling Mom
what to do. Abby whipped out the video
camera while I helped Mom reel in the fish.
We don't use a fishing rod, just a handline on
a big "yo-yo" spool. Mom
pulled in the line hand over hand, wearing leather gloves, while I wrapped it
on the yo-yo. Abby couldn't get in the
right position to get a good shot. Mom,
who had the fish right beside the boat, was waiting for the camera. Suddenly the fish swam ahead fast, made some
slack in the line, and shook off the hook.
There went our tuna dinner. It
was a small fish, about two feet long, probably a bonito, Mom said. Oh well.
Mom made really nice lentil stew to make up for it.
Last month, day-sailing near Nosy Be,
When we started the trip I didn't like fish and neither
did Eliza. But today, when the fish got
free, I was a bit angry at Mom, because I wanted fish sticks. We don't like raw fish, but now we think fish
sticks and fish curries are delicious.
We still don't like to eat crabs, lobsters, clams, shrimps, sea
cucumbers, or barnacles or other weird stuff like that.
Talk to you tomorrow . . .
~Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 3:31 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Sunday, October 21, 2007 (Day 5 of passage to
1530 local time Sunday, October 21, 2007 (1230 GMT);
Lat/Lon: 17º35.1'S, 40º31.8'E; Location: 78 NM SE of Antonio Enes, the nearest point on the Mozambique coast, still in
the middle of the Mozambique Channel but trying to get at least 375 NM further
south before possibly ducking in to an anchorage at Bazaruto,
Mozambique to get a break from the weather;
Course and speed over ground: 260ºT at 5.0 kts; Wind: SSW 15-18 kts; Sea: getting very lumpy -- short, steep seas
caused by wind against current; Sky: 6/8 mostly cumulus and a classic sky of a
cold front about to arrive; Air temp:
84ºF; Water temp: 82ºF; Humidity: 59%;
Current: strong SW-setting current, earlier today we briefly made 7 to 8 kts over the ground, at least 4 kts
of which appeared to be from current; Sail/engine combination and tack:
staysail and double-reefed main (we're braced for the cold front's arrival)
close-hauled on port tack; Fishing: caught and released a 3' Great Barracuda;
Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 105 NM.
Hi again from Abby and Eliza . . .
Yes, today we caught another fish, and released it, but
this time on purpose. We were afraid it
might have given us ciguatera, a horrible toxin that is not uncommon in
barracuda. The fish's teeth looked
really fierce and Dad was a little nervous trying to get the hook out with
needle-nose pliers. We hauled in the
fish on the upwind side and it was making a huge racket slapping against the
hull. Anyway, the fish seemed ok and
after a few seconds dived down and swam away.
That was basically the most exciting thing that happened
today, besides adding more to the movie (we'll tell you in a minute what we
did) and watching a cold front arrive.
We've studied cold fronts in weather science class. But because we've been in the tropics for the
last year and a half, since leaving eastern
Well, one of the things we wanted to include in our movie
was a tour of Estrela. So I filmed while
Eliza helped Zarafina be the main tour guide. Cassandra interviewed Mom in the galley while
helping with the dishes. Clara, Dad's
apprentice, was avidly studying the chart plotter to give him a full report
when he came below. Eliza also filmed me
doing my "cat pounce." She
thinks I was completely wacko and annoying.
She's always telling me how "annoying" I am, but I don't think
that's true.
Otherwise, since it was Sunday, the only day of the week
we get off from school no matter what, we listened to The Silver Chair on CD
while making more friendship bracelets.
Talk to you tomorrow . . .
~Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 3:00 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, October 22, 2007 (Day 6 of passage to
1530 local time Monday, October 22, 2007 (1230 GMT); Lat/Lon: 17º49.7'S, 39º50.3'E; Location: 770 NM NNE of Richard's Bay, South
Africa, still in the middle of the Mozambique Channel; Course and speed over ground: 171ºT at 4.0 kts; Wind: SSW 12-15
kts; Sea:
erratic and bouncy; Sky: 2/8 clouds,
cumulus and strato-cumulus; Air temp: 82ºF; Water temp: 82ºF; Humidity: 53%; Current:
slight NE-setting counter current;
Sail/engine combination and tack: motorsailing
with engine at 1200 RPM and staysail and single-reefed main, close-hauled on
port tack; Fishing: not; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 73 NM.
Hi, it's just Eliza today . . .
Well we certainly didn't have much trouble coming up with
an idea for the movie today. Just after
the Peri Peri weather radio
net, about 9 in the morning, Dad discovered that the big stainless steel bolt
holding the inner forestay to the bowsprit and the bowsprit to the bow of
Estrela had broken, sheared in two. The
inner forestay and the staysail attached to it were just flopping about. The inner forestay, sometimes also called the
baby stay, is one of the nine wires that hold the mast up. Pretty important, huh?
Anyway, Dad and Mom quickly pulled down the staysail and
began brainstorming about how to fix the problem. Five hours later, after a few deadends, they had it repaired. The staysail was up and working again and the
bowsprit was firmly attached to the bow. In the meantime, Dad had torn the boat apart
looking for various obscure bits of hardware.
Abby and I filmed Clara as narrator explaining what was
going on and interviewing Dad. Mom
helped us with some ideas, like suggesting that Abby (who really likes drawing
maps and pictures of Estrela) draw a picture that Clara could use to show where
the inner forestay actually is on the boat.
Because the bowsprit kept burying in the waves, sending
water flying all over the place, Dad decided not to wear his clothes (shorts
and T-shirt) during all this so they wouldn't get salt-encrusted. So, guess what, his little white bum got
sunburned! Now it's pink, really pink . . hee, hee.
Through all this excitement, since it was Monday morning
after all, Abby and I were plodding along with schoolwork, math and Latin for
me and math and grammar for Abby. It was
hard not get distracted, though, because Mom and Dad were so tense. Abby did make popcorn when we were
starving. She even clipped in her
harness and walked up to the bow clutching a handful for Mom and Dad.
Well I hope the rest of our sail to
Talk to you tomorrow . . .
~Eliza
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 4:57 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry --Tuesday, October 23, 2007 (Day 7 of passage to
1900 local time Tuesday, October 23, 2007 (1600
GMT); Lat/Lon: 18º42.1'S,
39º23.3'E; Location: 280 NM NE of Bazaruto, Mozambique, in the Mozambique Channel; Course and speed over ground: 058ºT at 1.0 kts; Wind: S <5 kts; Sea: gentle
swell; Sky: cloudless with bright
gibbous moon; Air temp: 77ºF; Water temp: 80ºF; Humidity: 47%; Current:
slight NE-setting counter current;
Sail/engine combination and tack: full sails but floppy, close-hauled on
port tack; Fishing: not; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 53 NM; Forecast: on October 25 a strong southerly
blow should reach us and prevent further progress toward Richard's Bay, South
Africa until at least the 27th;
Thoughts: We've opted to stay out
in the middle of the Mozambique Channel to weather this blow, since the nearest
"hidey hole" anchorage in Mozambique, Bazaruto,
is too far for us to reach in time.
Sailing south has been slow due to the moderate, though relentless,
southerly winds the last few days. It
would have been foolish to make a big push with the engine to try to reach Bazaruto, especially without knowing for sure we would make
it in time. Arriving even a few hours
late would probably have meant not reaching the harbor at all, as the arrival
of strong SW winds with the cold front would have blocked our path. Moreover, we would have had to burn through
much diesel to make the attempt. So now
Fred, the weather expert on Peri Peri
radio, has recommended that we slow down and avoid going any further south,
since the strongest winds in this blow will occur further south in the
channel. That's why tonight we're
drifting slowly northeast with virtually no wind and engine off, enjoying the
peace and quiet, after a day of baking
bread, normal school, some boat maintenance, and catching up on sleep . . . all
before the big blow arrives. -- D
Hi, it's Abby tonight . . .
Today Dad and I fixed all the pulleys attached to the
mainsheet traveler system. This morning
during the Peri-Peri radio weather net, we heard a
"ping," so Mom went upstairs to find out what it was. She found that a bolt holding one of the
pulleys (also called "blocks" on a sailboat) to the boom had rusted
through under the hexagon cap. The
pulley was only half held on and was bending.
Dad quickly replaced the bolt and he thought that was the end of his
work. But then Eliza insisted that he
check all the other blocks connected to the mainsheet. At first Dad said no but then Eliza started
crying so Dad said he would do it for her.
Eliza has been worried about all the things breaking recently. Then Dad started checking the bolts and the
first one he checked just broke in his hand.
So he asked me to help him clean and check all the blocks and replace
the bolts, all six. That's what we
did.
When we finished Dad wanted to raise the mainsail and
pull out the genoa and trim all the sails to get
sailing again. Dad did the first part of
raising the main, pulling the halyard hand over hand. But then, when we needed to use the winch for
the rest he had to go back to the cockpit to handle the tiller and the
mainsheet. So I had to do the winch
bit. When it started to get really hard
I put my whole weight into the winch handle and when it got really, really hard
I put my weight into it just when a wave came and the boat was going down. Dad was going to finish it off but before he
came up to the mast I had finished it already.
I felt really excited. Now I'm getting
really sleepy so I'll talk to you tomorrow . . .
~Abby
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:28 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Wednesday, October 24, 2007 (Day 8 of passage to
1530 local time Wednesday, October 24, 2007 (1230
GMT); Lat/Lon: 19º02.3'S,
40º06.9'E; Location: 385 NM NE of Inhambane, Mozambique and 740 NM NE of Richard's Bay, South
Africa, in the Mozambique Channel;
Course and speed over ground: 165ºT at 3.4 kts;
Wind: E to ENE 8-10 kts; Sea: gentle roll; Sky: 4/8, mostly cumulus; Air temp: 80ºF; Water temp: 80ºF; Humidity: 65%; Current:
slight NE-setting counter current;
Sail/engine combination and tack: full main and genoa,
broad reach on port tack; Fishing: one
2' skipjack tuna (we sailed into a huge fish and bird ball, threw out the line
and had the fish on in less than ten minutes; for about an hour, while cleaning
our fish, we watched speedy purple tunas zipping back and forth all around us
chasing down prey.); Last 24 hour run
(through 0800): 28 NM (Note: ignoring all our twists and turns, we've covered a
net of only 105 NM the last three days!);
Forecast: Fred still says the strong southerly blow should reach us
early tomorrow, Oct 25, but it may not be as big, at least in this
neighborhood, as originally forecast;
Thoughts: We've been working our
way ESE over the last 24 hours in anticipation of a strong SE wind arriving
tomorrow. We think we are in a good
position now, with plenty of "sea room" so we won't bump into land, and with a better angle for sailing SW toward the
Hi, it's both of us tonight . . .
Here's a list of what happened today:
1) We caught a skipjack tuna. Mom made the best fried tuna dinner ever.
2) I finished the yellow part (level 11) of Calculadders. I've
also started multiplication and I like it. -- A.
3) Dad took a video of Mom snoring early, early this
morning. We started planning and filming
a whole section on sleeping.
4) I woke up Mom from her afternoon nap (on purpose) with
Dad's help by making a bit of popcorn; it was the smell. -- A
5) We heard on BBC news that a new report by scientists
says Global Warming will kill off many animal species. We're both really sad and mad.
6) I learned how to calculate percents and went around
calculating percentages of all sorts of things, like the percentage right on my
Latin drill, 57, which sounds bad but isn't really since I have to do it over
and over until getting 100%. -- E
7) I found two huge holes in my dress that I wear all the
time. I think I'll sew them up tomorrow.
-- A
8) I invented a new "cat pounce." -- A
9) I was really annoyed by everyone today. -- E
10) We listened to the morning and evening Peri Peri radio nets and were
glad to hear from Fred that the big blow should not be so big, at least up here
where we are.
11) Mom said we're running low on toilet paper and can
only use two sheets for pee from now on. -- A
That's it for today but we'll be back tomorrow . . .
~Abby and Eliza
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:12 AM
Subject: Estrela quickie message
Hello. It's too
rough to type. All is well on
board. As soon as wind moderates, should
be pm of 26th, we'll send out Eliza's and Abby's log entry.
Love, Estrela
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 2:59 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, October 25, 2007 (Day 9 of passage to
1600 local time Thursday, October 25, 2007 (1300
GMT); Lat/Lon: 20º27'S, 39º52'E; Location: 272 NM NE of Bazaruto,
Mozambique, in the Mozambique Channel;
Course and speed over ground: 242ºT at 4.0 kts; Wind: S 18-23 kts; Sea: steep wind waves with short period; Sky: 8/8, thick and dark with many types of
clouds, we're right in the cold front now;
Air temp: 82ºF; Water temp: 80ºF; Humidity: 65%; Current:
can't tell if any; Sail/engine
combination and tack: two reefs in the main, staysail, close reach on port
tack; Fishing: none (having the rest of
the skipjack tonight in a curry fish soup);
Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 87 NM;
Forecast: The first clouds of the cold front arrived right on time this
morning when Fred had promised it would. On his morning radio net today Fred
told us to expect SSE wind 25-30 kts through today
and tomorrow, until it begins to moderate on the 27th to 15-20 kts; so I guess we can expect the wind will steadily
increase over the next few hours;
Thoughts: We all have lots of questions . . . How strong will the wind
get? How long will it last? How big will the seas get? What will happen if we sail through an area
of south-setting current while the strong SSE winds are still blowing? We still have plenty sea room and all is well
on board. -- D
Today's Estrela News headlines: COLD FRONT HAS ARRIVED!
Eliza: It didn't
come with a BANG; it came gradually.
The waves got bigger and the wind speed slowly increased. This morning it was about 12 knots but now
(evening) it's 25-30 knots! We go flying off every big wave and land with
a jerk. Fred now says it will be like
this until tomorrow afternoon when it should moderate. In the meantime we've taken down the staysail
and replaced it with the storm staysail so we can slow down without heaving-to
(stopping almost completely). We're also
doing this because we have a jury-rigged staysail stay and we don't want to put
any extra strain on it. -- E and A
Abby: One thing
about the Cold Front I like is the rain.
I love it because it's fresh water (and not salt spray) falling from the
sky. I don't really like all the clouds
around us because it seems like we're in a cave. All this rocking about make me
feel sleepy.
Eliza: I'm feeling
a bit nervous and queasy, but now that Mom and Dad have put up the storm
staysail, the motion is a little better.
We were going just too fast. It
was really hard doing school today because our homeschool
cabinets were on the upwind side so all the books were falling out. Anyway, Dad says we're going to be fine.
We'll let you know tomorrow whether it moderates or
not......
-- Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 2:59 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Friday, October 26, 2007 (Day 10 of passage to
1530 local time Friday, October 26, 2007 (1230 GMT); Lat/Lon: 21º14.9'S, 39º10.2'E; Location: 230 NM NE of Inhambane,
Mozambique, in the Mozambique Channel;
Course and speed over ground: 207ºT at 2.4 kts; Wind: S 20 to 30 kts
with higher gusts; Sea: steep and short
waves causing violent boat motion with frequent hull slams; Sky: 3/8 cumulus, cold front has past leaving
beautiful sky and LOTS of wind; Air
temp: 77ºF; Water temp: 77ºF (starting
to get colder as we sail south);
Humidity: 67%; Current:
south-setting, strong; Sail/engine
combination and tack: two reefs in the main, storm staysail, close reach on
port tack; Fishing: none -- too rough; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 81 NM; Forecast: Fred still says S to SSE wind 25-30
kts through today, 15 to 20 kts
tomorrow, and down to 10 kts on the 28th; Thoughts: This has been one of the roughest
24 hour periods we've had in nearly four years.
If this blow was "not as bad" as Fred had expected at first,
we feel very fortunate he could moderate his forecast! We keep thinking the wind and seas have
peaked, only to discover yet again that the respite was only temporary. The peak intensity may have been around 1100
today when the anemometer read a steady 30 to 35 kts
with higher gusts and the sea was bucking and wild -- a strong 1.5 to 2 kt current was pushing us south and the southerly wind was
running head-on into the current. The
waves were steep and erratic and gave us a couple big salt water dousings below -- more on these from the girls. Clean up just meant dumping the dirty laundry
bag onto the cabin floor and grabbing its contents to use as absorbent rags to
soak up salt water! Estrela and her crew
are doing great. -- D
Hi tonight from Abby and Eliza . . .
The conditions haven't really "moderated"
yet. Abby and I are listening to
"All Creatures Great and Small" on CD on my sea bunk because Mom and
Dad decided it's too rough for school.
This afternoon when Dad and I were reheating last night's tuna curry, a
huge wave came crashing over the side and managed to shoot under the main hatch
and land on me. No harm done, but it is
very exasperating and annoying to have SALT water pour
on you from what's supposed to be a CLOSED hatch and . . . anyway, it wasn't
that fun. -- E
And guess what? It
happened AGAIN, while we were eating dinner!
But this time Dad was just coming down when water came pouring down the
hatch on him and Mom and the nav table. When the wave was satisfied with the amount
of water it had given us it stopped. We
quickly went around seeing if anything had been damaged. Dad was glad to see that his coat was
glistening with water instead of the charts it was lying on. Nothing was damaged. Well I had better go to bed now because Eliza
is already in bed and I'm getting tired. -- A
Talk to you tomorrow . . .
-- Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 3:02 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Saturday, October 27, 2007 (Day 11 of passage to
1530 local time Saturday, October 27, 2007 (1230
GMT); Lat/Lon: 21º56.2'S,
38º10.8'E; Location: 109 NM NE of Inhambane, Mozambique, in the Mozambique Channel; Course and speed over ground: 231ºT at 4.4 kts; Wind: SSE 17 to
22 kts; Sea:
moderating; Sky: 7/8 overcast; Air temp: 76ºF; Water temp: 78ºF : Humidity: 68%; Current: no current at present; Sail/engine combination and tack: two reefs
in the main, storm staysail, 1/3 of genoa pulled out,
close reach on port tack; Fishing: There
has been a fish ball, with the characteristic flock of hovering and diving sea
birds above and leaping tunas below, traveling ahead of us for many hours. When the seas finally calmed down, Doug put
out a line and within minutes he had a hit, Unfortunately he lost it when
pulling it in; Last
24 hour run (through 0800): 59 NM;
Forecast: Fred says wind and seas will moderate to 15 to 20 kts on the 27th, and down to 10 kts
on the 28th; Thoughts: This morning the wind was still strong and
the seas still violent. I felt
discouraged. Then I reminded myself to
trust Fred, the weatherman, to trust Estrela, to trust the captain, and above
all, to trust God, under whose wings we find refuge. So armed with strength and courage, I went
down below to make breakfast in the gyrating galley. Yogurt spilled over stove top. No worries, I just scooped it into my
bowl. Coffee spilled while sitting in
sink brewing in the French press. That's ok, Doug will
just have a smaller cup of Joe. I have
developed a dishwashing method for rough seas:
wipe the bowls (food slides off plates!) with toilet paper and then stow
these in the dishpan on the cabin floor, leeward side. They're all ready for the next meal. This method had to be modified because we are
on toilet paper rationing. So here is
the new and improved non-dishwashing dishwashing in rough seas: after eating, pour hot water into the bowl,
swirl it around and then drink the appetizing left-over elixir....yummy! The girls, for some reason, have mutinied! -- Kyle
Eliza: This
morning when Abby and I woke up, the conditions hadn't really moderated. The winds were still blowing about 20-28
knots with higher gusts, and the seas were a lot worse.
We now seem to be in a shipping channel, so every half
hour we turn on the radar to check for any blips on the screen. Since Mom was taking her nap, I took over
duty as "radar reporter". Dad
trained me to watch the screen for a while, noting which blips reappeared over
and over, so I could give him accurate reports on them while he was on deck,
making sure all was well. So far today
we've had 3 or 4 big ships pass us, although not very close. All of the ships have been on our port side,
which is good because it means we're probably not directly in the shipping
lanes.
The weather is much calmer now, so this must be the
"moderation" Fred was talking about.
Mom and Dad are replacing the storm staysail with the normal staysail
because the storm staysail doesn't really give much power unless the winds are
higher than 25 knots, and right now it's only about 12-17 knots. Everything should be really nice by tomorrow.
Abby: For lunch
we ate salty/sweet cream crackers,
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 10:04 AM
Subject: Happy Birthday, George!
Happy Birthday, George, from the Estrela crew!!!!!!!!
We just wanted you to know how much we love you and how
much we appreciate all the work you've put into the website. You're managing both sides of the cyberworld with great aplomb! We hope that you are going to have a big
party, maybe at a graveyard, for old times' sake?
Kiss your gang for us.
We can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving. We can almost smell the pumpkin pie and
turkey!
We'll just keep on keeping on.....
Love Little George and crew
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 12:50 PM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry [REVISED to fix typos]--
Sunday, October 28, 2007 (Day 12 of passage to
1600 local time Sunday, October 28, 2007 (1300 GMT); Lat/Lon: 23º07.5'S, 36º30.5'E; Location: 62 NM NE of Inhambane,
Mozambique, in the Mozambique Channel;
Course and speed over ground: 221ºT at 6.0 kts; Wind: S/SSE 15 to 20 kts; Sea: regular swell; Sky: 4/8 cumulus; Air temp: 82ºF; Water temp: 81ºF; Humidity: 60%; Current: seem to have some current helping
us; Sail/engine combination and tack:
one reef in the main, regular staysail, 1/4 of genoa
pulled out, close reach on port tack;
Fishing: another drama in this department; the girls will explain; Last 24 hour run (through 0800): 101 NM; Forecast: Fred says another southerly blow is
expected in our neighborhood on the 30th/31st. It should be much quicker and
not as big as the last one;
Thoughts: Now we're
planning our attack for this expected coastal low. We have two choices and are considering all
the pros and cons of each: 1) To high-tail it to Inhambane,
with a very tricky bar to cross in certain conditions, and anchor and wait it
out; 2) To ride this one out at sea, thereby giving us a great position to make
it to Richard's Bay in the few days of favorable wind after the low
passes. We're doing our homework and
consulting with Fred for suggestions on areas to "heave-to" and wait
out the low. Fred doesn't seem too
concerned about this one and neither are we.
It's just another day in the
Eliza: The
weather today has been wonderful, so Abby and I spent most of the day in the
cockpit, our first venture out in a few days.
It was nice to feel REAL breeze rather than just artificial wind made by
the fans (they've been lifesavers, though!).
While Mom was making a lentil stew lunch, Dad noticed two birds hovering
behind out boat and called for Abby and me.
"I think they're after the lure," he said. And he was right. He had put out the fishing line with a
diving lure a little while earlier, but because we were going so fast (6
knots!), the lure was skipping on the surface.
Five minutes later the two birds had arrived, interested by all the
splashing and probably anxious to start a fish ball with our lure. Immediately, we all began screaming and
ringing the fog bell as loudly and frantically as we could to scare them
away. I tooted on our strange horn,
which makes a sound like a sick duck. We
didn't want them to get snagged by the hooks on the lure they were diving
on. This had happened twice before, once
back in the Pacific and once on the way to Chagos,
and we knew how tragic it could be for the bird. But the birds paid no attention to our
racket, so Dad quickly pulled in the line, Abby screaming and me honking the
whole time. After we stowed the lure,
the birds flew away. This time the birds
were lucky, but no tuna tonight for us!
But we love lentils, too.
Abigail: Today Dad
taught me how to box! It was when Eliza
and I left the "cave" (down stairs) and went up above to get some fresh
air and sunlight, where Dad taught me to box.
Without any warning Dad just started to teach me. It was really fun! That was about the only exciting thing that
happened today besides almost catching a bird, which Eliza has already told you
about. Eliza and I also played cat's
cradle and Battleship. Well, that's
about it!
Talk to you tomorrow......
-- Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 12:50 PM
Subject: 10/28 log entry typos
Dear family,
Sorry about all the bizarre typos in this past log entry
for the 28th. Had a
bit of a breakdown in the quality control department. I guess that I AM a little
sleep-deprived!!! It really was only day
12, though it might have felt like day 21.
And about those birds? We would like to claim discovery of a new
species, the "tow bird," but sadly we just saw "two
birds!"
Anyway, I'm sending you all a REVISED version of the
10/28 log entry. Here it comes . . .
OK, that's it.
Love, me--you know, Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:12 AM
Subject:
Dear Family,
We probably should have been more explicit with all of
you a little sooner regarding when we hope to be where during our visit to the
We know it could be more than a little disruptive to have
a family of four descend on your households at unspecific times and for
indeterminate periods. So we look
forward, once we are with you, to working out a semi-firm schedule that will
let you and us make plans. Here's our initial proposal for where we
would hope to stay, or be based, during the Thanksgiving to New Year's period:
Nov 15-19
Nov 19-21
Nov 21-25 Dunbarton
Nov 25-28
Nov 28-Dec 14
Dec 14-Dec 18
Dec 18-Dec 24
Dec 24-28/29
Dec 28/29-Jan 2 Chez T
Jan 2-? To Be
Worked Out Later
In Jan and Feb we would hope to divide our time between
We still have to decide how long we can stay in the
We didn't want to seem pushy, but thought it would help
to put out a specific proposed schedule, a "strawman." Please let us know if any of this proposal would be inconvenient in any way or if any changes
would be preferable to you. We so want
to fit in with your lives in a way really works for
everyone. Thank you in advance for
putting us up and putting up with us. We
hope to be good guests.
We love you all and can't wait to kiss and hug in person!
Now, if we can just get to South Africa . . . it is
Monday night the 29th and we are bobbing around, hove-to, 260 NM north of
Richard's Bay, South Africa, waiting for a "coastal low" and its
southerly winds to pass over.
Love, Doug and Kyle and the girls
PS Tomorrow is the 4-year anniversary of the start of our
trip, leaving
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:12 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Monday, October 29, 2007 (Day 13 of passage to
1600 local time Monday, October 29, 2007 (1300 GMT); Lat/Lon: 24º51.7S, 35º15.6'E; Location: 21 NM So of Punta Zavora, Mozambique;
Course and speed over ground: 225ºT at 3.4 kts; Wind: SSE 5 to 10 kts; Sea: gentle swell; Sky: 4/8 cumulus; Air temp: 80ºF; Water temp: 78ºF; Humidity: 50%; Current: south-setting, about 1 to 1.5 kts; Sail/engine
combination and tack: two reefs in the main, regular staysail, just a sliver of
the genoa pulled out, broad reach on port tack; Fishing: no luck today; Last 24 hour run
(through 0800): 135 NM; Forecast: The
big issue is the coastal low forming quickly and rolling up the southern Africa
coast and forecast to pass through this area on the 30th and 31st, bringing
medium to strong southerly winds. After
it passes we should get favorable SE to NE winds to carry us in to Richard's
Bay. Thoughts: After speaking with Fred on the morning radio
net, we have decided not to pull into Inhambane, but
instead to carry on south toward Richard's Bay.
There isn't enough time for us to reach the next
Eliza: The
dolphins came today. After a breakfast
feast of cocoa, omelets, and cereal, Mom spotted their breath-spumes and dorsal
fins. Dad raced down below to get the
video camera and the rag-dolls, while Abby and I scrambled on deck, trying to
dodge the salt-spray. We all watched
from the foredeck as the pod surrounded us and wove in and out of each other
like dancers. Abby climbed onto the
bowsprit and tried to lure the dolphins closer with her piercing eagle/dolphin
dry. But even as Dad was finishing his
video clip, they began swimming away.
Mom desperately pulled out more genoa, trying
to speed us up, but they were gone.
Because dolphins love to surf, they came to Estrela to surf our bow
wake, but we were so slow our bow made almost no wake, so they seemed to grow
bored and swam away. Dolphins come when
you need them. That's Mom's favorite
saying, and I believe it completely.
Abby: After
breakfast Dad and Eliza were discussing definitions of words when I decided to
make a paper boat to set afloat in the ocean.
I told Dad and he thought it was a fine idea. When I was done with making the boat and
writing "Estrela" on the bow, I wrote,"My
name is Abigail. I live on a boat named
Estrela with Eliza, Mom and Dad" on a slip of paper. Then I slipped it inside the boat and wrote
on the outside, "October 29th, 2007."
I went upstairs, Mom following me, and got ready to drop it. It fell on its side but quickly bounced into
the upright position. I knew it wouldn't
last forever because paper does disintegrate.
I didn't film it for our movie because I wanted it to be quiet as I
dropped the boat.
Talk to you tomorrow......and HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE
GEORGE!!!!
-- Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:25 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Tuesday, October 30, 2007 (Day 14 of passage to
1900 local time Tuesday, October 30, 2007 (1600
GMT); Lat/Lon: 25º30'S, 34º54.2'E; Location: 250 NM NNE of Richard's Bay, South
Africa; Course and speed over ground:
hove-to and drifting NE at <1.0 kts; Wind: S 10 to 12 kts; Sea: erratic, moderate swell from the
SE; Sky: 8/8 various; Air temp: 78ºF; Water temp: 79.5ºF; Humidity: 62%; Current: none; Sail/engine combination and tack: two reefs
in the main, backed staysail, hove-to on stbd
tack; Fishing: didn't wet a line today
since we're not moving fast enough; Last
24 hour run (through 0800): 76 NM;
Forecast: This morning the Peri-Peri Net
weather man Fred reported that the coastal low we've been tracking would be
less intense than originally feared, at least in our area; Amazingly, though, it was still supposed to
deliver 20 to 25 kts southerly winds just 110 NM SW
of us, in Maputo, Mozambique. Fred
advised that we could probably resume sailing toward Richard's Bay without
having to worry about encountering strong southerly winds. Thoughts: The weather window after this
coastal low looks likely to last at least several days, affording us plenty of
time to make it to Richard's Bay before the next serious southerly blow. So we opted to remain hove-to through today,
possibly until tomorrow morning, just to be sure the dying low doesn't
resurrect into something ugly. A few
minutes ago we received additional news during Fred's 6 PM weather net. We learned that a yacht anchored near
Eliza --
"10/30/03 1515
-- Departed SYC (Shennecossett Yacht Club) under power; Barry Souza followed
in SYC launch and filmed us with our video camera and his digicam.
10-15 knots on the nose. Wind against tide. Wet." [Excerpt from
the first day's entry in our original logbook.]
Well we ended up anchoring just around the corner in
We laughed about how we had left
We remembered the time in
We shook our heads wondering about why we used to run the
engine so much harder (often 1900 RPM) than we usually do now (about 1200
RPM).
We spent the whole morning talking just about leaving
Abigail --
For the anniversary we made a cake. Well actually it started out as a heave-to /
passage cake. But then we realized it
was Uncle George's birthday so we decided to make the cake in honor of him. But when he sent us an email yesterday
reminding us that today was our four-year around-the-world trip anniversary we
decided to make the cake for that too.
Mom said that she would make it on her watch last night,
but when I woke up she hadn't made it.
So we made it together. When the
cake was cooled Eliza and I made the frosting and put it on the cake. Way before, when Mom was putting the batter
into the cake pans, she made a little note wrapped in tinfoil and put it into
one of the cakes. Tomorrow I'll tell you who got it and what it said.
We'll talk to you tomorrow . . .
~ Eliza and Abigail
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 5:13 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Wednesday, October 31, 2007 (Day 15 of passage to
1600 local time Wednesday, October 31, 2007 (1300
GMT); Lat/Lon: 26º42.6'S, 33º34'E; Location: 152 NM NNE of Richard's Bay, South
Africa; Course and speed over ground:
214ºT at 6.4 kts;
Wind: SSE 15 kts; Sea: lumpy and erratic; Sky: 7/8 overcast; Air temp: 79ºF; Water temp: 78ºF; Humidity: 62%; Current: approx 1 to 1.5 kts
favorable south-setting; Sail/engine
combination and tack: one reef in the main, staysail, 3/4 genoa,
beam reach on port tack; Fishing: no
luck today; Last 24 hour run (through
0800): 54 NM; Forecast: We couldn't have
received a more welcome forecast from Fred this morning -- ESE to ENE 10 to 20 kts for the next 4-5 days.
Thoughts: We can smell the barn and now just want to make Estrela go
fast. If we keep averaging 5.5 to 6
knots we could arrive in Richard's Bay before dark tomorrow, Nov 1st. And if we can avoid losing the current we've
got a decent shot at keeping up that kind of speed. But, if we slow down, no worries, Richard's
Bay is well lit and well charted; we could enter the harbor safely after
dark. The Estrelans
are getting very excited . . . -- D
Eliza: A few days ago Dad and I began compiling a list of
all our ocean passages and figuring out how long each one was. Today we finished adding up the times and
distances. Well . . . by the time we
reach
#5
#4
Vava'u,
#3
Phuket,
#2
Tahaa'a Island, French Polynesia to Vava'u,
#1
* This one may
not count as 18 days because we anchored inside the Minerva Reef lagoon for two
nights in the middle of the passage. On
the other hand, Minerva Reef is, after all, just a reef in the middle of the
ocean. We did inflate our dinghy for a
day and even walked across the wide reef top at low tide. But the reef completely disappeared at high
tide.
*
* * *
Abby and I made a list of some of our favorite and least
favorite things about long ocean passages.
Here they are:
THE WORST:
1) Generally not being able to sleep when the boat is
whamming up and down and back and forth.
2) Being awakened from a sound sleep when a really huge
wave hits Estrela's side so hard water squirts in through the sealed scuttles
(windows) and closed hatch and having to leap up and grab piles of dirty
laundry to mop up the mess.
3) Falling off the toilet when the boat lurches.
4) Catching a seabird on the fishing line.
5) Being super hot down below because the scuttles have
to be shut tight.
6) Not getting to have regular "Science Day" on
Wednesdays, because Mom and Dad are too busy and tired.
7) Having to be quiet whenever Mom or Dad is taking a
nap.
8) Not being able to have pancakes.
9) Having everything fly around in the galley and spill
and make messes.
10) Running out of fresh fruits and vegetables.
11) Hardly ever bathing, so everyone's greasy and sticky.
THE BEST:
1) Getting to be around Mom and Dad more, i.e., 24/7;
most of the time they're a lot of fun.
2) Reading tons and listening to books on CD.
3) Not having to wear any clothes, just underwear,
because it's so hot.
4) Having the table down as a big bed and lounge area.
5) Jumping into the water in the middle of the ocean when
it's flat calm.
6) Seeing green flashes at sunset.
7) Hearing friends' voices over the SSB radio, even when
they're really scratchy.
8) Living day after day with a steady, simple rhythm.
9) Having dolphins swim beside us, and occasionally (like
today) having a bird hitchhiker.
10) Catching fish.
11) Getting lots of time to just think.
We'll talk to you tomorrow . . .
~ Eliza and Abigail
PS -- [from
Abigail] Last night I said I would tell
you in my log entry tonight who got the surprise message in the anniversary
cake and what it said. Well Dad got it
and it said, "Shout for Joy!"
* * * * *
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 5:24 AM
Subject: We made it!! Estrela safely tied up in Richard's Bay, SA. All well on
board.
Final log entry coming. Crew aglow.
--
Abigail, Doug, Eliza, Kyle
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 7:36 AM
Subject: Estrela Log Entry -- Thursday, November 1, 2007 (Day 16 of passage to
1500 local time Thursday, November 1, 2007 (1300
GMT*); Lat/Lon: 28º47.651'S,
32º04.703'E; Location: Tied to
International Dock at Tuzi Gazi
Marina, Richard's Bay, South Africa;
Course and speed over ground: NA;
Wind: NE 10-15 kts; Sea: flat calm; Sky: 8/8 overcast, with occasional periods of
rain; Air temp: 74ºF; Water temp: 76ºF; Humidity: 68%; Current: none; Sail/engine combination and tack: Engine off,
sails furled; Fishing: too wild a ride
today to fish; Last 24 hour run (through
0800): 143 NM; Last 8 hour run through
the end of the passage: 58 NM (7+ knot avg speed!); Forecast: strong NE wind and big rain and
lightning, but who cares, we're safe and sound in this little marina. Thoughts: I can hardly describe the sense of
relief, exhilaration, exhaustion and gratitude . . . -- Kyle
* We turned
back the clocks to South Africa Time (GMT+2).
Eliza: I woke up
early today because I knew we would get to Richard's Bay in the afternoon, and
I was so excited. Outside it was gray
and foggy and rainy, so Mom and Dad had to wear wet weather gear. The visibility was so bad we couldn't see
land until it was about 10 miles away.
We had to watch the radar closely because there were a lot of freighters
around that were hard to see because of the poor visibility. We were also going 7-9 knots with the
current. We even hit 10 knots for a few
seconds!
Abby: This morning
I sighted land! This is how it
happened: I was down below, (I can't
remember what I was doing) when I went up above, looked around,
and there was land! I yelled,
"Land Ho!" It was
Eliza: For most of
the morning, Abby and I filmed the movie and made cards for some of our boat
friends who would be with us in the marina.
At 1:45 PM local time, we turned on the engine for the final approach to
Richard's Bay. After that, the first
step was to take down the mainsail. We
were going down wind so we had to round up into the wind. The wind was blowing 20 to 25 knots from the
Northeast, the waves were large and close together, and Estrela was leaping all
over the place. Mom dropped the mainsail
and then Abby and I helped her make it all neat on the boom, by attaching the
sail ties. This is very hard when we're
heeled over and the sail isn't completely on the boom and the wind is blowing
it off. We kept the staysail up.
Abby: As we were
entering the harbor, Mom was steering the boat.
Dad was looking at the charts.
Eliza and I were tidying down below.
All of a sudden Mom yelled, "Dolphins!" We rushed up but we couldn't see them; only
Mom did. Mom was crying as she said,
"I heard his breath, he welcomed us," and right then it felt like our
passage had finally ended.
Eliza: Once we
were inside the harbor breakwaters, the water turned from rough to almost flat
with a little chop. The wind was still
howling though and the sky was black. We
took down the staysail and motored into the marina. The port control man had told us over the VHF
radio to tie up on the west side of the International Dock, where the officials
check you in. So because there was no
more space, we tied onto our friends Northern Star who were on the dock,
too. Fortunately, the docking went very
smoothly (they have a really nice boat) and before we knew it, we were checked
into
Well that's all from us.
Our passage to
~Eliza and Abigail
Copyright © 2003-2009 Doug and Kyle Hopkins. All rights reserved.