I began typing at the end of last post, “see Harmon’s blog for pictures”, when I heard a groan from below. “My laptop just died,” Harmon announced. His completed post, finger hovering above the “publish” key, vanished as the screen turned to snow. Confoundingly, he doesn’t blame the water, of which there is a, Read More
Sept 18. I watched the second gale peter out all afternoon. Its front hit at 1pm with scudding cloud and a sudden northwesterly to 40 knots. By 2pm winds were 50 knots. The water top started to stream spume and be more white than gray-green, and the seas grew with surprising rapidity until we, Read More
Sept 15 Day 16 Noon Miles: 164 Total Miles: 1992 Tracker Harmon’s Blog “About five years ago our fall weather started getting worse and worse.” –Adam, Professional fisherman friend of mine from Homer. So then it seems only right that we would see at least one good blow. Busy days of late. I am, Read More
Sept 13 Day 14 Noon Position: N48 46 5 W149 03 8 Course/Speed: NNW 7 Wind: WSW 20 Bar: 1010 Sail: #2 genoa and main, 2 reefs, close reaching Noon miles: 150 Total Miles: 1698 Average Miles/Day: 131 Tracker Harmon’s Blog Q: How did you meet Harmon? A: Located about 20 W of the, Read More
Sept 12 Day 13 Noon Position: N46 51 3 W146 39 1 Course/Speed: WxN 5 Wind: W 10 Bar: 1019 Sail: #2 genoa and main full; close reaching Noon miles: 125 Total Miles: 1548 Average Miles/Day: 128 Sweet sailing overnight. Mo gently heaved on a diminutive swell, rocking me lightly in my bunk. We, Read More
Sept 11 Day 12 Noon Position: N44 46 7 W146 27 5 Course/Speed: NNW 7.5 Wind: WSW: 21 Bar: 1014.5 Sail: #2 genoa, 3 reefs; main, 3 reefs; close reaching. Noon miles: 156 Total Miles: 1423 Average Miles/Day: 129 There is a truism in passage making that it–where “it” is a place holder for, Read More
Sept 9 Day 10 Noon Position: N40 50 9 W145 32 2 Course/Speed: WxS6 Wind: NW 17-25 Bar: 1017.5 Sail: #2 genoa, 3 reefs; main, 3 reefs; close reaching. Noon miles: 76 Total Miles: 1267 Average Miles/Day: 127 Missed a report last night due to working the boat. Both Harmon and I were up, Read More
Sept 7 Day 8 Noon Position: N38 34 3 W141 57 7 Course/Speed: WNW6 Wind: NExE 4 Bar: 1021.5 Sail: Motoring Noon miles: 115 Total Miles 1051 Average Miles/Day: 134 Tracker Harmon’s Blog All night we trended past a wall of frontal cloud to starboard while to port the sky opened to cottony cumulus, Read More
Sept 6 Day 7 Noon Position: N37 57 8 W139 38 1 Course/Speed: WNN 6 Wind: SW 11 Bar: 1023 Sail: Close hauled, all plain sail. Noon miles: 131 Total Miles 936 Average Miles/Day: 134 We motored through the night on a flat sea with the engine at 2100rpm and making 5.5 – 6, Read More
Sept 5 Day 6 Noon Position: N36 37 4 W137 27 5 Course/Speed: W5 Wind: NExN 9 Bar: 1025 Sail: #1 large genoa and main full, close reaching Operational notes: Recall that you can see Moli’s position at any time here:https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Moli/ Also, Harmon is keeping his own blog here: https://www.sailwithharmon.com Last evening we entered a, Read More
Sept 3 Day 4 Noon Position: N35 08 8 W132 04 2 Course/Speed: WNW 5 Wind: NxE 5 Bar: 1021.5 Sail: Motoring When describing to Harmon some months ago this first leg to Alaska, I framed it as a run in the NE trades to about the longitude of Kauai–not the latitude, not that, Read More
Noon Miles: Aug 31, 116 (20 hours) Sept 1, 146 Sept 2, 142 Leg Miles: 404 Once out from the land, we picked up a just sub-gale NWesterly that has, over the days, slowly veered into the north and faded to 9 knots true as I type. On this we ride due west. Forecasts, Read More
Greetings from the Figure 8 Voyage Blog. First post from sea of 2023. After three years biding her time in a San Francisco Bay marina, MOLI took her departure from the Golden Gate Bridge at 4pm PST on August 31st, 2023. Destination: Homer, Alaska via a westerly rounding of the North Pacific High. Aboard:, Read More
In April of this year, Joanna and I were to fly to Annapolis, Maryland, where we would attend the Ocean Cruising Club’s annual awards dinner and where Moli would receive the Barton Cup in recognition of her Figure 8 Voyages. If you are uncertain what, exactly, the Barton Cup is, you might appreciate the, Read More
Weeks ago I announced the discovery of a bottled message I posted to the uncertain mercies of an ocean delivery service late in the F8V. At the time I was short on details. Here are the details. At 1:57 pm on April 15th of this year, I received the following email with the below, Read More
Many of you will know of Matt Rutherford from the several mentions of him in this blog or, more likely, from his remarkable 2012 circumnavigation of the Americas in an already old and always small, twenty-seven-foot sloop, St Brendan. I’ll warrant there are more than a few blue-water sailors who wouldn’t cruise the Bahamas, Read More
The next shipment of the Figure 8 Voyage book has arrived and is available for order.
Dear Virtual Voyagers, If you are looking for a way to visit the watery parts of the world without leaving the house, then know the Figure 8 Voyage book is arriving and available for order. The present volume is a coffee-table-style picture book and tells the story of the Figure 8 Voyage through the many images included, Read More
Discussing the challenges of the Figure 8 Voyage with other sailors is one thing, but it requires a deft tack to port to be interviewed by Grant Parr, a mental performance coach to professional athletes and owner of the consulting firm, GameFace Performance. His podcast is called 90 Percent Mental, so you can guess, Read More
When imagining early on the two poleward legs required to complete a Figure 8–the long Southern Ocean loop and the Northwest Passage–it was the latter that gave me fits. The maze of remote waterways, some without soundings, all with the likelihood of pack ice, was enough to freeze my courage. So, when it arose,, Read More