76) Delivery: day 16

Life on board can be bizarre sometimes.  We have all come to expect a typical passage to have 24 hours of rough weather that usually settles down.  You go into it knowing that it will settle down soon.  The last few days of constant strong winds and big waves tore apart the 24 hour theory.


It was really a strange feeling to experience the wind and wave conditions settle and getting confirmation when the sun came up.  Then, to see a freighter on the horizon a feeling of accomplishment took over.  We now knew that we made it.

It was still cold.  The wind was still blowing.  All of our gear was still wet. 

The clear blue sky was such a warm and welcome sight.

Oranges really do last a long time.

Chaos.  It was impossible and too dangerous to fold sails underway in the gale.

Yes, it's a pink kettle.  The delivery crew's gift to the TransPac crew.

Since the waves weren't breaking over the bow anymore it was time to remove all the pots and pans that were used to catch the water dripping from the windows.  And, that's Mountain Thunder 100% Kona coffee.  Mmmmmmmm.

We all looked like this.

A little blood on my favorite sailing pillow case.

The final stretch (YouTube link)

We had a finite amount of fuel on board and with the known burn rate we had to conserve.  We needed to charge the batteries periodically and when the wind died down we didn't have the freedom to just burn fuel.  I felt it was extremely important to have usable fuel when we got close to the coast just in case the wind died and we needed to motor.  Not only to get to the target but to avoid being a target too.

We had an idea how much fuel was left as we got closer to California and knew just about when we could fire up the engine and have enough to get to Long Beach.  Once again, it was really strange to sail at high speeds for so long to quickly motor due to low wind.

Sometime late last night we entered the Channel Islands.  It was eerie to be in the protection of the islands and have the waves knock down so quickly.  We were also able to make out lights on the islands and the glow of L.A.

Now it was critical to know exactly where we were to avoid running aground or hitting another vessel. 

12am 5/6/11 to 12am 5/7/11 (159nm/2,433nm)