Sail Cutthroat

North to Alaska Seattle 2008 Series
18 June 2008
Lat N47.44.23
Lon W132.09.649

It is with deep sorrow that I report to all our loyal followers of the Cutthroat Blog some very sad news that occurred today while still at sea in the North Pacific…a mere 300 miles from the Strait of Juan de Fuca (who is that guy anyway?).  Life comes at us in many strange and unanticipated forms.  From time to time we all experience sadness and despair, especially at the loss of a loved one…a family member or dear friend.  We have no guarantees that those closest to us today will be with us tomorrow.  God works in mysterious ways and finding the good sometimes is most difficult.  It’s when we must go back and realize that there is a bigger plan…a higher cause perhaps…a reason for our suffering today.  But, more about that later.

We’ve been flirting with the 300 mile mark now for most of the day.  When I went on deck early this morning at 0530 I checked the log on my way up the companionway and found we were still at 328 miles. As I returned to my cabin tonight after the first night watch took over, we still hadn’t crossed that line.  So, if you’re thinking that we had another light wind day - you win!  While it wasn’t the becalmed state of most of yesterday, it was slow going all day long.  To make matters worse, the winds are now out of the northeast - right where we want to go.  Had someone told me I’d be tacking to get into any of these “S” cities, I would have thought they were crazy.  But unfortunately, we are now stuck in a low pressure area that is moving in the same direction we are with very light and variable winds.  The good news is that it should blow past us by Saturday and hopefully there will be a nice little high with northwesterlies as we enter the Strait.  Who knows - that’s a few days away, and the GRIB (weather) files seem to make radical changes every day.  The weather service isn’t doing any better either, so here we are.  Three Hundred miles seems so miniscule out in the ocean, but it is seeming like an eternity right now.

Compounding this is our fuel/generator/engine issue that continues to deteriorate daily.  We are in a race to see if we get to the mainland before we are out of power completely.  This takes us to our “Sad News” as eluded to earlier.  But because I am concerned with “jinxing” our situation even more, I’ll wait to fill you in on the details until we are safely there.

The ship’s compass also has a gremlin now.  It developed a huge bubble at the top.  Then it got stuck in one position making it virtually worthless.  Well, that caused a 5-alarm issue.  Roger wasn’t sure and Pat immediately wanted all the backup GPS’ and hand held compasses we had aboard.  Someone else suggested that they merely unscrew it from the binnacle and turn it upside down and shake it a little.  If it didn’t turn into a snowy village snow globe, it just might work again.  Well golly, it worked.  The bubble even got smaller the next day, but it got bigger again today.  Maybe it’s tied to the wind velocity?
Today Roger made lots of progress with negotiating our welcome committee (rescue boat) once we hit the Strait.  In order to get to Port Angeles, or just about any place else, we will require a tow.  Roger spoke with the Marina Manager in Port Angeles to update him on our progress and get some hard info on how we ensure a tow will be available assuming we need to get one upon entering the Strait.  We’re just not sure with the winds, currents, and our ability to maneuver the boat.  So we want to make sure there is a plan we can execute quickly.  Now we have two sources of willing and capable people to assist us.  If the wind gods are with us (and I’m not sure why they would show up now since they have obviously taken an extended leave of absence), we should be able to sail down the Strait and get close to Port Angeles.   Based on the last week, I’m just not banking on it.

Carol, Pat’s wife, is due to fly into Seattle to meet us.  Hope she enjoys the weekend in Port Angeles without us.  She will be able to assist via sat phone though in coordinating any assistance.  Bob would also like her to pick up a Pizza for when we arrive.  I, on the other hand, would like a reservation at the Four Seasons…wonder what she can do about that.

The crew continues to digress the closer we don’t come to shore.  When Chuck asked Paul what he was going to fix him for breakfast, Paul responded with, “How about a nice big bowl of Shut Up!”  We are convinced that the Pat, Chuck and Paul watch team are really from Croatia - we finally broke the accent. All three of them have it bad!  Chuck’s beard really gives it away at this point.  Lynn - you’re actually going to like it.  He just needs to clean it up around the neck line.  It looks very cool!  Paul and Pat are clean shaven as are Bob and Roger.

The jokes are getting worse and the stories redundant but we are all glad we are here together.  This trip will give us stories to tell for years.

Friday morning addendum…we are moving again after a very fast night of travel breaking the 300 mile mark and now closing in on the 200 mile mark.  We anticipate arrival on Sunday.  This will probably be the last update until we are safely berthed in Port Angeles as Christine doesn’t want to play anymore and her close buddy, the unnamed engine is not putting out enough rpm’s to charge our batteries.  So, in order to conserve power, no more updates…only position reports.  So, YOTREPS should still reflect the changes.

All is well with us!  We are just fine and enjoying the final part of this trip.

Love to all our family and friends…stay tuned for the rest of the story on our sad news of the day.

Roger, Elise, Bob, Chuck, Pat and Paul…
s/v Cutthroat

North to Alaska 2008 Series
18 June 2008
Lat N47.12.675
Lon W133.38.200

Yesterday proved to be a productive day of travel…at least until the evening hours when once again, our captor (the winds/weather) ambushed the Cutthroat without warning and currently holds the brave crew in captivity yet again. No degree of diplomacy appears to influence these hideous terrorists. Perhaps we can offer up the “little boy” as ransom payment to earn the release of the rest. I’m sure with time; they will see the wisdom in returning him to his loving parents. He will wear them out!

The winds, once they returned to us began to swing further and further behind us and even though we made repairs to the genyker (big ass sail), we needed to sail further downwind. So we put up the whisker pole and spent a very relaxing day sailing wing-on-wing across the Northern Pacific Ocean. For you non-sailors, wing-on-wing refers to the main sail being out on one side of the boat and the genoa poled out on the opposite side. We then use the pole to hold out the genoa thus minimizing the thrashing around of the sail and maximizing the efficiency of motion. Unfortunately, by late day that plan also came to screeching halt and we have been becalmed since then. The good news is that it appears that this will be short-lived as winds are expected in the near term. We are so close to the coast too…less than 400 miles to go. The crew is more than ready to make landfall at this point.

Meanwhile, the crew is becoming unruly. The Chuck, Pat and Paul watch team are speaking in tongues now with some hokey eastern European accent that occasionally roles into middle-eastern. It’s very funny. They also appear to have developed some rare form of group amnesia. Last night on their watch a cup of coffee fell or at least splashed all over the cockpit. This morning they have each looked at it and feigned ignorance. I think they all took the vow of stupidity last night. The Bob and Roger watch team has retained a greater degree of decorum - they’re just probably not having as much fun. Actually, everyone is maintaining a great sense of humor and while this latest windless spell is a disappointment, we know it will return to us shortly and the weather ahead looks lively.

As of early afternoon we are moving along at around 3.5 knots…oh boy! It’s raining on and off, getting colder, with calm seas. The winds are supposed to move further south which would be a good thing so we can actually sail towards Puget Sound. Hopefully, these winds will only improve for us and bring us closer to landfall. We’re all ready!

Thanks for all the tips we’re getting on available help we’re getting in the Puget Sound area.

Roger, Elise, Bob, Chuck, Pat and Paul…
s/v Cutthroat

North to Alaska 2008 Series
15 June 2008
Lat N46.19.024
Lon W139.56.130

Now that we’re back in the wind…who aboard really remembers that we were becalmed for some 56 hours.   It’s totally amazing how quickly we forget the bad things and become excited about the present and future.  After our winds kicked back in, everyone’s attitude improved immediately.  And within a very short period of time, we were focused on the winds ahead, sail trim, speed, and wondering when our arrival to the Puget Sound would be…not to mention our next great meal.  We’re thinking Friday, but the weather files all indicate the winds become very light Thursday right offshore which may make our entry into Puget Sound a little slower.  So, we have a healthy degree of skepticism on our exact arrival.  In short, we’ll get there when we get there.  At right on 500 miles out it won’t be that long!
Today was a day of raising and lowering the genyker (the big ass sail).  The winds would wane and up it went.  Our foredeck crew suited up, hooked into the jacklines with their tethers and quickly and efficiently hoisted the sail and raised the sock.  Back in the cockpit, sheets were trimmed, the course was adjusted, and off we’d go at tremendous speeds with blue water rushing past.  It’s like unleashing some powerful force now moving with the seas.  This really is a big sail, alone it has more square feet than the rest of the three sails combined.
Anyway, we’d be off to the races careening along at mach speeds of 7.5 to 8.5 knots in relatively light winds of maybe 12 knots.  Storm clouds loomed around us most of the day and as they came close the winds would strengthen causing Cutthroat to suddenly come up into the wind, spilling all the wind and energy from big ass sail and ending in a thunderous noise.  These wind shifts were hard to anticipate for some unknown reason.  We have enough seasoned boat drivers aboard who were equally challenged by the sudden gusts.  All of a sudden the rail was in the water, and things I didn’t know were projectiles were flying around inside the boat.So when our fun meter was pegged and we saw no short term end to this, we’d bring down the genyker (big ass sail) and haul out the old genoa again.  Now, it takes much more effort and skill to bring B.A.S. (big ass sail) down in a stiff breeze.  It’s like trying to reign in a wild animal.  But our foredeck crew made it look simple each time as they quickly moved forward, and wrestled the sock back over the sail so it could be lowered, bagged the sail, cleaned up the area, and made ready to pull out the genoa.  Piece of cake!  Anyway, I think we went through this drill 5 or 6 times today - it was actually a lot of fun and got us doing “sailoring” things rather than staring at still water, flopping sails, and filthy fuel filters.

As we were enjoying dinner and contemplating taking down the B.A.S. (big ass sail) for the night, the winds let up enough to convince us that perhaps we should just fly her for the night (or until the next Chinese Fire Drill).  This was not to be, however, as Chuck saw a small tear in the sail - not too surprising after the day’s activities.  A real strange thing occurred twice as we were caught in these gusts.  As the wind exceeded 22 knots, the snap shackle attaching the sheet to the clew of the sail let go.  It didn’t break, but rather just came loose letting the sail go flying on it’s own which is probably why it got the tear in it to begin with.  I didn’t know that those shackles came with an immediate quick release option based on wind speed…how kewl is that?  So the sail is down until the morning when we’ll sew and tape her back to working order.  Unfortunately, she will be put on the light air duty roster for the remainder of this voyage.

Meanwhile, it’s getting colder with each passing day.  This is especially noticeable at night time.  Almost all of the Eisenglass panels are down, except with the cold it’s difficult to zip the back ones shut.  They were all zipped in Hawaii, but it was 85 degrees there.  Everything is having greater difficulty working in the cold - including me.

On that note, I’ll end this for the night.  All is well, we’re anxious to make landfall.  One of the other boats from Ko’Olina Marina left 10 days ahead of us and was scheduled to enter Juan de Fuca Straight late today, so we’re not doing too badly in our own right.  Hopefully, these winds will continue to sustain themselves and keep moving us towards a speedy and safe arrival into Puget Sound.

Love to all our friends and family!

Roger, Elise, Bob, Chuck, Pat and Paul…
s/v Cutthroat

North to Alaska 2008 Series
15 June 2008
Lat N44.27.648
Lon W140.47.513

After taking a 56 hour hiatus, the winds finally returned to us late yesterday afternoon pushing Cutthroat along at a pleasant 6 - 7 knots with our trusty genyker (big ass sail) flying. Everyone aboard is much relieved! These winds weren’t anywhere on yesterdays GRIB files either. Today’s file however does support both the velocity and direction…so that’s a good thing. And it’s allowing us to once again project our route into Puget Sound. If it can just hold on now, we’ll all be happy. It’s funny how we can quickly set our mental time clocks to an anticipated arrival date based on information that is no longer valid. Then it’s so easy to be put out when something changes. Boy are we spoiled and desperately in need of control. That’s one of the things I really enjoy about this whole ocean sailing thing - it reminds you each and every day of the forces out there that we cannot influence. We can plan and prepare, but our ability to correctly anticipate each and every contingency just doesn’t exist. Letting go is the hard part. We are all so used to expecting immediate results - our instant gratification society. It just doesn’t work out here. Continue Reading »

North to Seattle 2008 Series
13 June 2008
Lat N 43.14.582
Lon W 143.08.207

We haven’t seen boat speeds over 3 knots since 10 AM yesterday. Part of that is because we got into the center of a high pressure area as we were in the process of deciding where to make landfall - Seattle or San Diego. The GRIB files we have been using to guide us through this high have lacked the accuracy of before. The weather service says we should have stayed closer to the waypoint they suggested…we deviated somewhat to the east because we couldn’t maintain a decent boat speed sailing exactly where they wanted us to and the GRIB files showed plenty of wind. To complete the he said-she said dialogue, the weather service claims the GRIB files aren’t very accurate during the extremes (I think we’re in one of those now). Wonder what the GRIB file people say about the weather service…see where this is going? Continue Reading »