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Beam on and reefed down, charging across the trades. Beam on is wetter, but faster. Also, I was pinned down on the starboard tack, which made the ride more comfortable. Downwind sailing in the trades is a very rolly experience which makes for less predictable motion. I spilled more things going downwind in the trades than I did beam on. Just sayin’.
This is a pretty rare occurrence:
The thing about amateur video is that you don’t see anything really exciting. Because then the equipment would get ruined from salt water exposure. And if it’s amateur, who can afford that? So what you get is boring video like this.
This video is from the Southeast trades, headed north. My goal was to make as much easting as I could in the more easterly blowing SE trades. The further I could get, the better set-up for getting across the Northeast trades, which are truly NE, to Hawaii. I made about 120 NM easting over the SE trades. This proved to be enough.
Sampaguita had a couple Fin whales(I think) swimming with her for about a half an hour a few hundred miles west of Washington State. They clearly knew what they were doing and would get very close. In this instance I didn’t worry. No tails came up and they were clearly swimming WITH Sampaguita and fully aware of her. Unfortunately it was dusk, so no video. You’ll have to take my word for… Read More
I decided to climb the mast in the North Pacific Ocean. There were light seas and wind. I was under full sail. Here is some video and the lessons learned. It was harder than I expected. I’d done it in a rolly anchorage, but this was a whole other level of sway and swing. (It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing, right?)
People ask what I eat on a Flicka 20 with no refrigeration. This is a Sampaguita classic. Thanks to ‘Lectronic Latitude for publishing this on June 17, 2024. Thanks Monica. Click here for the full article.
A reader is calling it 60 days. Really, 59 days and 13 hours and 15 minutes. Rounding up seems legit enough for me. Taha Uku Bay to Port Angeles? Maybe the longest Flicka passage ever? Here’s a Google Earth rendition of the trip created by a fellow Flicka 20 fan (and record keeper?). Port Angeles to Port Angeles closes the loop, though I will continue on to Port Townsend and close that… Read More
One of the first things people seem to ask, “Why don’t you have roller furling?” Really, it’s just another questionable decision I’ve made over the years. Here’s a fools thought process: With hank on sails it means I have to go forward whenever a headsail change is required, or even dousing a sail. The plus side is it’s not very far. I wrote a piece about working the foredeck of a Thunderbird… Read More
sailingwithjosh
Sailing With Josh 