112 Days Across The Pacific

[gypseastwo]

Aloha greetings to everyone from Hawaii,

We, sailing vessel "GYPSEAS TWO" has arrived safe and sound in Hawaii. Our planned non-stop trip to Canada didn't happen as we had to pull into Hawaii for repairs. For a start we had to return to Australia after approx the first two weeks for medical reasons. I dropped a carving knife threw my foot pinning it to the floor. I did a good job of it by severing an artery. My husband Alan turned us around and back we went. Australian customs were great, kept us in transit while I saw doctors and got cleared to return to sea. This saved us having to redo all our paperwork. Which was quite extensive for our two cats. So we headed off on our mammoth trip again leaving 28th July. We encounted some very nasty weather near New Calendonia. Called into Vanuatu for two days to replace leaking propane bottle on back deck. Never experienced any south east trade winds at all. Only ever had North east trades all the way. Just as well our boat sails well to windward. Very slow going all the way to the equator. Couldn't motor across east in the doldrums like planned because the fuel (diesel) we had topped up in Vanuatu was so bad it stopped our motor (after we had already used up all our spare filters). Something to do with an earthquake a few days before that apparently must have ruptured their underground tank. With no motor we chose to alter course and head for Hawaii for repairs. On the way we blew out one mainsail and one furler. Customs here in Hawaii were wonderful and have allowed us a 6 month stay time enough to wait for the next season before continueing on to Canada. And our babies our two siamese cats are happy living here on the boat with us. We had no problems at all getting them cleared, our paperwork for them for Canada from Australia was all they wanted. The man did take them in their cage away the first morning to be checked. We collected them ourselves later that day and returned them to the boat. But they didn't like the noisy bus ride back to the marina much. We got here on 16th November. It took us a lot longer than we had planned 16 weeks in fact. Boy do we need a little shore leave to recuperate. And Honolulu and Waikiki Beach is a pretty neat place to be. Can anyone tell us how soon we could head off to Vancouver? What are conditions likely to be say in Jan/Feb?

Cheers Lesley and Alan

[redbopeep]

Hi there!

Ouchie Sorry to hear of your pain.

However, congrats on making it to HI. We are totally impressed.

Now, onwards, huh? We know people who've traveled to and from HI from the US West Coast as late as November and as early as February. It gives me the impression that you can do it. However, check the Atlas of Pilots for the North Pacific Publication 108. It has the info you need to help you make decisions. Importantly, you can see the probabilities of seeing gale or storm force winds each month of the year along the path you intend to take.

Here's what a vendor has to say about the pub:

Prevailing winds and currents, Jan. through Dec., few sources of information are more important to offshore sailors than the Atlas of Pilot Charts -- and they are fascinating to study even if you never go five miles from port. In essence, they contain frequency and strength of wind from every direction, month by month, for every 5º square of every ocean. Their data are the result of hundreds of years of observation by mariners. Each atlas contains a pilot chart for every month of the year.

We are very glad to hear that the kitties fare well and that your bringing them to HI was so painless. We hope that all will soon be good-to-go on your boat and that you carry many more filters in the future or consider putting in a home-made fuel polisher or a RCI (fuel water separator) in the lines.

Fair winds,

Please keep the Cruiser Log community in the loop as you make plans and get going again on your travels.

[Lighthouse]

Well done! Please keep us up to date.

[sailingnewb]

I am in awe of your sailing prowess.

You rock.

Hope the foot feels good.

[gypseastwo]

Originally Posted by redbopeep

Hi there!

Ouchie Sorry to hear of your pain.

However, congrats on making it to HI. We are totally impressed.

Now, onwards, huh? We know people who've traveled to and from HI from the US West Coast as late as November and as early as February. It gives me the impression that you can do it. However, check the Atlas of Pilots for the North Pacific Publication 108. It has the info you need to help you make decisions. Importantly, you can see the probabilities of seeing gale or storm force winds each month of the year along the path you intend to take.

Here's what a vendor has to say about the pub:

Prevailing winds and currents, Jan. through Dec., few sources of information are more important to offshore sailors than the Atlas of Pilot Charts -- and they are fascinating to study even if you never go five miles from port. In essence, they contain frequency and strength of wind from every direction, month by month, for every 5º square of every ocean. Their data are the result of hundreds of years of observation by mariners. Each atlas contains a pilot chart for every month of the year.

We are very glad to hear that the kitties fare well and that your bringing them to HI was so painless. We hope that all will soon be good-to-go on your boat and that you carry many more filters in the future or consider putting in a home-made fuel polisher or a RCI (fuel water separator) in the lines.

Fair winds,

Please keep the Cruiser Log community in the loop as you make plans and get going again on your travels.

Thanks redbopeep. We have downloaded the pilot charts and are studying when we can continue on to canada. When we know I will let you and the cruiser log community know.

Cheers,