October 5, 2018 Day 1 Noon Position: 35 33N 124 06W Course/Speed: SSW 7 Wind: NNW 17-19 Sea: NNW 6 Sky: Mostly clear. Some thin cumulus Bar: 1022 and falling Cabin Degrees Fahrenheit: 68 Water Degrees Fahrenheit: 62 Percent Relative Humidity: 71 Sail: #1 genoa out full; one reef in main; wind on starboard, Read More
October 4, 2018 Departed Drakes Bay at 0900 Day 0 (Noon tomorrow will close my first full day at sea and will be recorded as “Day 1.”) Noon Position: 37 48N 122 46W Course/Speed: SSW5 Wind: NNW15 Bar: 1018 Sea: S3; NW4 Sky: Overcast with drizzle Cabin Degrees Fahrenheit: 63 Water Degrees Fahrenheit: 59, Read More
Dear Virtual Voyagers, The launch of the Figure 8 Voyage 2.0 is fast approaching, and Mo and I are busy at getting ready. A new round of provisions fills a corner of the living room, new bottom paint has been lovingly applied, and the sails are in the shop for inspection and repair. During, Read More
Improbably, the focus of this post is fountain pen ink, but it takes some explaining to get there. I married into a family of crazy sailors–a happy accident. Chief among these crazies was my wife’s godfather, a man named John Stewart, who was known to most simply as Beard. This latter appellation referenced the outstanding, Read More
On Saturday, August 11th, Moli and I will be attending the Ocean Cruising Club’s annual Bay Area potluck, held this year at Angel Island. Tony Gooch, who sailed Mo as Taonui for many years, will also be there. The potluck is open to non-members, so bring your own food and drink and come on, Read More
To see the wild ocean with your own eyes, uncut by the perspective of others; to seek for solitude at its source; to take on difficulties that call for previously unsuspected grit; to cast your lot with the likes of Ishmael and to assemble your story from the stuff of an endless, empty sea;, Read More
July 8, 2018 Day 190/20 Noon Position: 38 07N 123 30W Course/Speed: ESE7 Wind: WNW15-25 Bar: 1019, falling Sea: NW7-10 Sky: Clear Cabin Temperature: 62 Water Temperature: 51 Sail: #2, full Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 161 Miles this leg: 2,741 Avg. Miles this leg: 137 Wind came on fresh after dark. By midnight I, Read More
As those who follow Randall and Mo on Facebook and the Tracker will know, Randall is in. Mo sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday afternoon. But the posts are not quite home yet. There remain two to complete the story, and this is the first of those… July 7, 2018 Day 189/19 Noon, Read More
Doctors Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Haffner enter the Waikiki Yacht Club promptly at the appointed hour. Maximenko is tall, clean-cut, in dress khakis and a pressed Hawaiian shirt. His stride is long and purposeful, but he is tipped forward under the weight of a shoulder-strung briefcase bursting with papers. Haffner, equal in height, is, Read More
June 11, 2018 Day 170/49 Noon Position: 21 13N 156 40W Course/Speed: W7 Wind: E20 Bar: 1016 Sea: E8 Sky: Clear Cabin Temperature: 82 Water Temperature: 78 Sail: Twin headsails, poled out and full Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 145 Miles this leg: 6,395 Avg. Miles this leg: 131 Miles since departure: 23, 499 Overnight wind shifts, Read More
Day 161/39 Noon Position: 02 22S 153 08W Course/Speed: NNE6-7 Wind: SE14-18 Bar: 1011, falling Sea: E6 Sky: Cum 20% Cabin Temperature: 89 Water Temperature: 84 Sail: All plain sail, reaching Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 148 Miles this leg: 4,795 Avg. Miles this leg: 123 Miles since departure: 21,900 Wind has veered into the, Read More
Day 160/38 Noon Position: 04 45S 153 44W Course/Speed: NNE6+ Wind: ESE20 Bar: 1011, falling Sea: E8 Sky: Cumulus to 20% Cabin Temperature: 87 Water Temperature: 83 Sail: #2, one reef; Main, one reef, reaching/close reaching Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 135 Miles this leg: 4,647 Avg. Miles this leg: 122 Miles since departure: 21,754, Read More
Day 156/34 Noon Position: 13 38S 155 38W Course/Speed: N6 Wind: E12 Bar: 1012, falling Sea: E5 Sky: Overcast (finally squalls moving off) Cabin Temperature: 85 Water Temperature: 85 Sail: Working jib, main, full, close reaching Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 120 Miles this leg: 4,097 Avg. Miles this leg: 121 Miles since departure: 21,341, Read More
Day 138/16 Noon Position: 40.00S 168 39W Course/Speed: NE7 Wind: WNW15 Bar: 1026, steady Sea: S6; W1 Sky: Clear; small, cottonball cumulus to the west Cabin Temperature: 71 Water Temperature: 60 Sail: Big Genoa and Main, full; reaching Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 149 Miles this leg: 2048 Avg. Miles this leg: 128 Miles since, Read More
This post is dedicated to Burt Richardson, friend, restauranteur, avid sailor, and owner of Joe Greensleeves Restaurant in (landlocked) Redlands, California, upon whose wall Burt placed a full-scale half hull of his favorite boat, a Dragon (photo at bottom). —- April 14, 2018 Hobart, Tasmania Any report of accomplishments during my Hobart layover, Read More
April 8, 2018 Hobart, Tasmania I raced those last few weeks to Hobart so as to arrive in time to see my wife, whose inflexible schedule required that we meet-up at the end March or not at all. During her brief stay here, “what now?” was a major topic of our conversation. Below is, Read More
April 5, 2018 Hobart, Tasmania In the following video, it’s March 17th. As the sun sets, Mo and I have fewer than 80 miles to Tasmania. It’s been a month since the knockdown that is requiring this stopover, and now we’re racing another large low-pressure system. I can see it coming. Will we beat, Read More
April 2, 2018 Hobart, Tasmania It’s March 13. We’re a week from Hobart–if I can keep Mo moving. But at latitude 44S, we’re encountering light winds. I decide to motor, but five minutes after I start the engine, it dies. Great, what now? … (Spoiler: my sincerest thanks to Gerd Marggraff for helping me, Read More
March 31, 2018 Hobart, Tasmania One can fret over (and clean up after) a knockdown for only so long before life insists on returning to normal, even in the Southern Ocean. It’s March 8 in the following video. I’ve got 1,513 miles between me and Hobart, and I’m hungry for fresh-baked bread. The weather, Read More
March 27, 2018 The previous post told the story of the knockdown that has put us into Hobart. As companion to that post, below are three short video tours. One takes you through the damage in the pilot house, the next offers a look at the rail, and the third complains of salt water’s effect, Read More
March 22, 2018 Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania Tony had recommended staying at anchor a second day before completing the 40 mile leap to Hobart, but he hadn’t said why. First light next morning revealed an open sky and Mo floating motionless on a surface made of glass. From our berth at Lady Bay,, Read More
March 21, 2018 Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Hobart All day we ride due east on brisk northwesterlies, which Mo takes beam-on with double reefs. Hour after hour she froths the sea, giving off a sense of intention, as if she too understands the urgency. Tony has made it clear we are racing a, Read More
Day 112 (Day 52 since Ushuaia) Noon Position: 44 16S 106 50E Course/Speed: E6 Wind: SSW15 Bar: 1015 Sea: SW8 Sky: Clear, Cumulus: look like Tradewind weather Cabin Temp: 56 Sea Temp: 51 Miles last 24 hours: 143 Longitude Made Good: 116 Total Miles: 15,352 Miles to Hobart: 1800. I need to average 138, Read More