The View from the Helm

Good Day,

Well, I know your getting tired of my "another perfect sailing day posts". However, I just report the sailing conditions, I don't create them. However if I could, I would create just what we have! Here are a couple of pictures from the Shadowside's helm station that tell it all!

Best wishes,

Lad

Position Update

Good Morning,

Position:
08/17/16 07:47 HST
42-54 N 144-35 W
SOG 7.1 kn COG 056 M
Wind 10.3 kn @ 163 M
Clear and Calm
Sailing

Lad

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Boat Life

Well Hello Shadowside Followers,

The skies cleared yesterday evening and we are now clipping along with perfect sailing weather.

We are fortunate to be where we are as there is a big low pressure trough from WA down to the CA coast. There is a boat in front of us that will have to heave to for two or three days before they can approach Cape Flattery, The bad weather should be gone by the time we get there. Its also nice that the Crew is still getting along well. There have been some great conversations during the watches.

We are all settled into the daily rhythm of life aboard. Eating, sleeping and standing watches with a little personal time left over to read and think.

We are all just enjoying this experience as it will soon be over.

We have covered 1563 NM since we left HI with 995.7 NM to go to our landfall at Cape Flattery. Then another 85 NM to Port Townsend. We are anticipating making our landfall sometime next Tuesday or Wednesday.

We celebrated crossing the half-way point with a bottle of champagne and some fine chocolate.

So far, we have encountered one single handed sailor on his way to SF and one large ship that crossed our bow last night about 3 NM away.

Have a great day!

Lad

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Position Update

Good Morning,

Position:
08/16/16 07:51 HST
41-46 N 147-14 W
SOG 5.5 kn COG 055 M
Wind 11.5 @ 055 M
Clear and Calm
Sailing

Lad

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Position Update

Good Morning,

Position:
08/15/16 07:22 HST
40-50 N 150-00 W
SOG 4.0 kn COG 055 M
Wind 11.5 @ 055 M
Clear and Calm
Sailing

Have a great day,

Lad

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Dolphins

There be dolphins here!

Dolphins

Good Day,

Exciting morning aboard the Shadowside as we have passed the half way point of our voyage.

The Crew was rousted to the call of "Dolphins Ho" as a pod of approximately twenty dolphins cavorted next to, around and under the Shadowside this morning.

Lee is preparing to stream his fishing line and we are all hopeful that we will have fresh tuna for our half-way dinner tonight.

Your probably getting tired of this, however it is another spectacular day out here on the Blue Pacific!

Have a great day!

Lad

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Position Update

Good Morning,

Position:
08/14/16 07:55 HST
39-20 N 151-32 W
SOG 4.5 kn COG 055 M
Wind 11.5 @ 224 M
Clear and Calm
Sailing

Have a great day,

Lad

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1000 NM Pictures

More Pics

1000nm+ offshore

The winds turned yesterday and are now coming from our south west and so now we're sailing downwind wing on wing - ie poled-out jib on the opposite side of the prevented boom.

With the seastate continuing to be calm and winds light and the sun continuing to shine brightly, Capn decided yesterday was our best option before the winds fill in proper to douse, heave-to, refill the smaller diesel tanks from the jerry cans lashed to the deck and go for a swim!

We all took turns keeping a watchful eye from deck for curious sea creatures coming for a looky-see as we jumped in and played in the most glorious blue sea one could ever imagine. I didn't know swimming 1000nm from land in every direction was on my bucket list, but now that I've crossed that one off, I can safely say it was one of the most amazing experiences ever!

- Michelle

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Hygiene at sea

Two days ago we were again becalmed and spent the better part of 24 hours motor sailing through the backside of the pacific high. What to do when the winds are as flat as the sea state? Tend to the washing!

Keeping yourself and your clothes clean at sea is a challenge Shadowsiders are well up to. We don't have a water maker on board so we have to be judicious with our fresh water usage. We have plenty for drinking and cooking, just not enough for each of us to take even a military shower every few days, but we have found ways to tend to our needs!

Molly, Lee and I decided to take a group salt water bucket bath in the cockpit. Since the sea state was near placid, it was safe for us to disrobe from our PFDs, tethers and shoes and get in a good scrubbing. Most soap products don't lather in salt water - our two types of castille soaps and shampoos don't for example - so it takes a few passes to really feel clean. Douse with a bucket or two of salt water to rinse. Thanks to one of the sailing blogs I follow - The Boat Galley - I learned about two useful tools liveaboarders shouldn't do without - a pressurized plant/utility spray bottle and a Scrubba bag. For our freshwater final rinse, we used the spray bottle which does a bang-up job of misting/spraying off just about everything from dishes to solar panels to bodyparts with a whisper of water. The three of us rinsed ourselves off with just one 40oz bottle and had some to spare!

Afterwards we turned to laundry. I also learned from The Boat Galley that Method ultra concentrated laundry detergent suds in salt water, so we bought a tiny 50-load pump bottle for the passage. Small on packaging, big on clean! We Washed clothes in salt water in the scrubba bag (you can get it on amazon), did two salt water rinses and then one fresh water rinse in less than 1L of water.

All fresh for a few more days!

- Michelle

Just about as far from land as it is possable to get.

Position:
08/13/16 07:59 HST
38-32 N 153-49 W
SOG 5.2 kn COG 030 M
Wind 8.2 @ 030 M
Clear and Calm
Sailing