ITCZ, Northern Pacific 9 Feb 2012 18:23 04N56 141W59

We could not send this morning’s message due to sunspots. Our radio email just would not send. Usually, we’re able to get something out, even if it takes awhile.

Which reminds me of a special request I have for all of you collectively, NEVER WORRY ABOUT US because of lack of blog posts or email. I can think of at least a dozen technical difficulty reasons why we might suddenly go quiet until we reach another port: sunspots, fuel issues, battery/power issues, computer issues, software issues, radio electronics issues, antennae cabling issues…the list of potential problem areas is long, despite our multiple backup positions for many of those areas. The tropical marine environment is extremely hard on all electronics – salt, water, constant motion, high heat, high humidity – all things avoided in, say, a data center.

I read an article recently about a sailor who had stopped updating his blog and a well meaning follower contacted the Coast Guard. The USCG, promptly went in search, found him bobbing around absolutely fine, but forced him to abandon ship. They had received a distress call, and even though it was not from him, they were not going home empty handed. I’m not actually sure of the legality of this, and I’m very fuzzy on the details (news reports are not always the best source of real info on situations like this), but it was a sobering thing to consider.

We have an EPIRB onboard (emergency position indication relay beacon), recently serviced with a fresh battery (replaced in NZ). If anything were to happen to us and we were not able to make radio contact, that is how we would send a distress alert. Radio and internet silence would in no way be an indicator of any kind of emergency for us.

Besides, I’m the Chief Worrier on this voyage, I have the epaulettes to prove it, and no one else is allowed to take that job away from me. Captain’s orders!

xoxomo

-There is a sign on the door of our cabin, it was already there when we moved in but still applies. “I am the captain of this ship, and I have my wife’s permission to say so.” -Frank-

P.S.S. We’ve been ITCZed, the wind, no wind, wind, no wind, is over. We now have wind and lots of it. A little more on the nose than we’d like, but we’re reluctant to fall off till we’re sure of a nice run to Hawaii. We sure do not want to be tacking up the last couple days.

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ITCZ, Northern Pacific Ocean 9 Feb 2012 4:30 a.m. 03N46 141W36

At least I think we’re in the ITCZ. Last night we became becalmed, and cranked up the iron genoa. Then I heard Frank and Logan taking down the Fisherman for a squall, which ended up not bringing that much wind, so they put it back up. Then right when I came on watch at 1 a.m., the wind picked up, so we took it down again and turned off the engine. So far on my watch I had an hour of sailing at 6 knots, then an hour at 2 knots, and now an hour of 3-6 knots. Wind, no wind, wind no wind. Must be the ITCZ. All in all, we’re making progress and the wind appears to be mostly from the East. The squalls are not too aggressive.

I know why I’m not emailing daily even though we’re on passage. It’s this starboard tack business, makes for a very uncomfortable nav seat. To avoid tumbling into the galley, I have to brace myself with a foot, and sometimes a hand when a big wave comes. I’ve never been good at typing with one hand. I can sort of brace with the palms of my hands while the fingers fly, but it’s awkward.

Looking back, we’ve been on port tacks for two years – most of the way to NZ, and most of the way through the roaring 40s. But since we headed North, we’ve been mostly on starboard tacks. We may now have right of way, but starboard has it’s disadvantages.

Another disadvantage we recently discovered, is that it appears we may have a leak in the caps to the fuel tanks on the port side (our port and keel tanks). When we heel over they are often underwater, and seawater is getting in. This means the engine has stalled a few times, awaiting Frank’s fix, of tidy dry filters. So we’re consuming fuel filters at an unhappy rate. But the starboard tank appears to be high and dry, and looking at the weather, it appears that we may in fact be in a thin spot in the ITCZ, and in less than 24 hours we should arrive in a zone of 20 knot north-easterly winds. With winds like that from the North-east, we should make quick work of the rest of this passage, and we won’t need the engine much to charge the batteries (or power us through dead wind zones). So hopefully our starboard tank will see us through. Otherwise, we’ll have to start filtering the fuel before it gets to the prefilters…a messy business underway (yes we already have prefilters, and even pre-pre filters, so next is pre-pre-pre-filtering).

xoxomo

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