MV Dirona travel digest for San Francisco to Hawaii 2012

Position: 37°49.35'N, -122°28.88'W

We've just passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and are headed out to sea. Conditions so far look excellent.

Position: 37°45.76'N, -122°38.46'W

Our last view of land for the next couple of weeks. And our who know when Dirona will be back in North America?

Position: 37°38.94'N, -122°59.74'W

A little bit more land. This really will be our last for the next couple of weeks.

Position: 37°34.04'N, -123°12.20'W

A large pod of porpoises chased our bow on and off for about an hour.

Position: 37°26.76'N, -123°27.31'W

Just before 3pm today, the Crude oil tanker SCF Prime crossed our path about a mile ahead of us going north at 13.6 kts. When 6 miles away to our north, he appeared to go dead in the water. His speed fell to a 2-kt drift and twice a big cloud of black came out out of his exhaust. It looks like something big may have failed suddenly. Forty minutes later, he still was adrift at 0.3 kts.

Position: 37°26.76'N, -123°27.31'W

Our first sunset of the trip. The seas have picked up a bit, but conditions still are decent. MaxSea's GRIB data has been spot-on so far--it predicted 6' seas from the north on 8-second period with winds at 18 knots and that's pretty much what we're seeing.

Position: 36°34.93'N, -125°50.26'W

The sun is up and conditions settled a bit overnight. We've got maybe 3-foot swells from the north, and 20 knots of wind behind us. Very nice.

Position: 36°9.37'N, -126°54.74'W

The waves have settled down to just 2-3' swells from the northwest, with 16 knots of wind. Easy cruising--sure hope this will last.

Position: 36°2.03'N, -127°11.25'W

Sunset #2. The waves have picked up a bit to 5 feet, with wind 20 from the north. Not quite as smooth a ride as earlier today, but still comfortable. Outside temp is 67F, but it feels warmer.

Position: 34°54.95'N, -129°56.36'W

Conditons have been excellent today: less than 10 knots of wind and a 1-2-foot northwestly swell. This wouldn't make the sailboaters happy, but we love it.

Position: 34°50.45'N, -130°6.59'W

We found this little bird tucked against the starboard outside steps leading up to the pilot house. He might have flown into the day head window and hurt himself. We tried lifting him to see if he'd fly--he spread his wings, but didn't try to fly. We have him setup on the cockpit cabinet where the engine room vents to keep him warm, and gave him a little water in a small dish. He's a clumsy walker on slippery fiberglass, but that might be normal. Hopefully he'll recover soon and fly off.

Position: 34°40.71'N, -130°28.59'W

Sunset #3. Conditons continue to be excellent with 5 knots of wind and a 1-2-foot northwestly swell.

Position: 33°53.38'N, -132°15.40'W

The winds have been less than five knots all night, with a barely perceptable ocean swell. The sea is now blue, rather than the greeny-grey we're used to in the Pacific Northwest. This certainly is the calmest and most enjoyable offshore run we we''ve made. Last night we had to make two course corrections: one to avoid a 4-foot orange buoy and another for the containership Matson Maunalei. With an ocean this big, its amazing we would both be in the same place at the same time but we had to turn off for 3 to 5 min as we were on a collision course.

Position: 33°47.84'N, -132°27.81'W

This morning we passed another buoy, this one about 18" in diameter.

Position: 33°32.78'N, -132°59.08'W

We've been underway for 81 hours and are almost 600 miles offshore. The ocean swell is now about 5', but the waves are so far apart that the motion is quite gentle and comfortable. In a couple of days we'll be passing through the southern end of a 998mb low pressure system that is tracking northeast towards the southern BC coast. We're likely to see 12' seas, but on a 10-sec period, so that shouldn't be too bad.

Position: 33°16.70'N, -133°32.32'W

Sunset #4. Winds still are below 5 knots. The swell has picked up to around 8', but the waves are at least 10 seconds apart, so there's not much boat motion.

Position: 32°12.94'N, -135°44.61'W

Winds are blowing 15-20 from the southwest now. The waves are about 3-5', but we're taking them on the bow, so getting some spray on the windows. But generally conditions still are pretty good. The temperature has been steady at around 70F, even overnight.

Position: 32°3.34'N, -136°2.65'W

We've switched to Hawaii time, so it's time for lunch. We brought along a selection of packaged noodle dishes for lunch. We prefer rice and noodle dishes underway--they're filling and easy to digest.

Position: 31°55.51'N, -136°16.39'W

We just passed another black buoy, similar the one we posted a picture of yesterday. We saw another one this morning as well.

Position: 31°40.88'N, -136°45.00'W

Winds are blowing 15-20 from southwest and the waves are about 7-8 feet on the bow with a roughly 9-second period. We've slowed down a bit, partly to ease the boat motion for comfort and partly to improve fuel economy. Pounding through the waves consumes a lot of fuel. Conditions likely will remain like this for another day or so as the front passes. After, we expect smooth seas again.

Position: 31°15.36'N, -137°33.73'W

Seas built to SW 9 feet with about a 5-second period overnight, and winds are blowing SW 20-25. Pretty slow and lumpy ride. The updated weather model shows it rough all the way in to Hilo. The only difference is the winds should veer to the west today, so hopefully we'll get a smoother ride.

Position: 31°0.25'N, -138°0.10'W

The waves are starting to come from WSW now--a little less on the nose and a little more on the beam. The roll guage shows that progress: 12 hours ago we were rolling around 5 degrees, now it's up to 10. The waves still are pretty big: 9-10' on 5-second period. But the winds are starting to fall off--from consistently 20-25 knots to 15-20 knots, so hopefully the waves will follow suit. And we're starting to pick speed a bit too.

Position: 30°54.53'N, -138°10.58'W

Just passed through a squall. The sudden downpour was over almost as soon as it started.

Position: 30°38.64'N, -138°39.08'W

The winds have dropped to 10-15 knots. The waves still are 9-10 feet, but now are 8-10-seconds apart, so we're able to pick up speed and maintain our target fuel economy. Fair bit of boat motion though--have to be careful moving around. We're making good use of the extra grab bars we installed in the stairwell, galley, shower and day head. The temperature has been rising steadily as we proceed south--it's 76F after sunset.

Position: 29°58.00'N, -139°53.45'W

Conditions have continued to improve. The waves still are 9-10 feet and 8-10-seconds apart, but the wind has dropped to less than 10 knots. Boat motion has reduced considerably, so moving around much easer. The forecast indicates continued improvement for the next couple of days and waves dropping to 5-6 feet. We might have a brief period with bigger waves a couple of days out of Hilo, but the period should be at least 10 seconds.

Position: 29°56.19'N, -139°56.69'W

Just had to change course slightly to avoid this small orange buoy.

Position: 29°55.45'N, -139°58.13'W

Our bird eventually flew away the night we found him. This fish doesn't look as lucky.

Position: 29°30.53'N, -140°43.56'W

We're over halfway across now, with only triple-digit miles remaining. The sun is shining, winds are less than 5 knots, and we've got a gentle 5-7-foot ocean swell from the northwest. Very nice.

Position: 29°12.64'N, -141°9.11'W

Sunset #6. The wind is picking up a bit from the southeast, but still is below 10 knots.

Position: 29°12.64'N, -141°9.11'W

Virgin Mai Tais at sunset to celebrate crossing the halfway mark, and Jennifer's birthday.

Position: 28°19.27'N, -142°40.63'W

Conditions reasonably calm--a gentle 3-foot swell and winds less than 5.

Position: 28°13.93'N, -142°50.26'W

We have a cup of fresh fruit every morning before breakfast. Strawberries will last several weeks in our fridge, and we also carry a swack of Del Monte Fruit Naturals fruit cups.

Position: 27°51.68'N, -143°27.98'W

Just passed this tire--looks like its been floating out there a while. We've been in lumpy seas most of the morning with 10-15-knot winds and waves on the bow. The wind is just starting to veer to WSW and putting the waves more on the beam, so the ride is smoothing out.

Position: 27°48.02'N, -143°33.37'W

We passed through another brief sqaull. The wind clocked up from 15 to 20+ knots, rain poured and the whole thing was over in about 5 minutes.

Position: 27°46.73'N, -143°35.11'W

We've seen a few albatrosses over the past week. Amazing how far they range from land.

Position: 27°38.70'N, -143°45.23'W

We start the wing engine every few days to make sure it's running ok in case we need it.

Position: 27°32.56'N, -143°54.18'W

Sunset #7. Its very dark once the sun sets, but a couple of hours later a nearly-full moon rises behind us. The moon lights up the deck so much that we initially thought our night running shield had torn off the forward-facing floodlight.

Position: 27°32.56'N, -143°54.18'W

We've been running against tight 5-6-foot waves on the bow most of the day, with a fair bit of pitching motion as we power through them. Not a big deal, but do need to hold on carefully as we move about. Spitfire, doing his best Honey Badger imitation, just wedges himself somewhere and ignores it. In this picture, he's on the ledge below the starboard corner pilothouse window above the stateroom stairs.

Position: 26°42.43'N, -145°15.64'W

Found another fish just outside the port pilothouse door this morning, near where we found the first one. That's a long way to jump up.

Position: 26°40.12'N, -145°19.30'W

Conditions starting to feel decidedly Hawaiian now: temperature in the high 70s night and day, a consistent warm breeze, and a gentle ocean swell. The models indicate the wind and waves might pick up a bit later today and tomorrow, but mostly should be pretty smooth sailing for the remainder of the trip. Only 675 more miles to go.

Position: 25°53.29'N, -146°31.83'W

Sunset #8. Conditions remained excellent throughout the day: calm and sunny with a warm tropical breeze.

Position: 25°11.84'N, -147°37.77'W

The wind has come up in the night and now is blowing steady 20 from the southeast. Waves are about 8' on 5 seconds on the beam. We're mostly just powering through them, however, and aren't losing much speed. Fair bit of boat motion, but the stabilizers are doing their job, and its not uncomfortable. Model indicates winds will ease off by this afternoon.

Position: 25°0.91'N, -147°52.96'W

Just coming out of night mode in the pilothouse as the sun is rising. We don't have to do much: undim the AIS, VHF, autopilot, stabilizer, engine and hydraulics panels, and remove the night shields from the monitors. In this picture, the navigation software still is in dusk mode. In particular we run the radar (2nd from the right) with a blue background, instead of white in day mode.

Position: 25°0.91'N, -147°52.96'W

The wind has lessened a bit, but conditions haven't improved much. We're 500 miles from Hilo though--3/4 of the way there. Looks like we'll arrive sometime on Tuesday the 6th.

Position: 24°36.20'N, -148°27.70'W

Containership Maunalei en route to Hawaii about five miles off to starboard. We saw this ship docked at Oakland when we were at Jack London Square. The only other traffic we've seen the whole trip after our first day out has been container ships, about one every two days. Most have been travelling to/from Hawaii and the US Pacific coast, but one passed about five miles in front on a northerly course to Japan.

Position: 24°33.73'N, -148°31.18'W

Chitarra with sauteed pine nuts for lunch. Conditions have settled down--winds are now blowing less than ten from the southwest and the waves are 3-5' on 9-seconds on the beam. Boat motion gentle. Temperature is steady 78F, day and night.

Position: 24°20.82'N, -148°50.80'W

We just went by a ball of net as big as a compact car--we missed by about 30 yards. We didn't get to the camera fast enough to get a picture. In the day it was barely visible until we were right on it and it would have been completely invisible at night. Hitting something like that could be a real disaster.

Position: 24°12.41'N, -149°3.11'W

Sunset #9. We're getting a push from the current now, and are making excellent speed. A little over 400 miles to go. We might actually have to slow down to avoid arriving at night.

Position: 24°11.14'N, -149°4.81'W

A large seabird took up roost on the night running shield for our forward-facing floodlight, and probably was responsible for the bird crap all over our dinghy cover. Neither turning the light on nor sounding the horn distrubed it. Eventually we tried nudging it off with the boat hook, and it squawked and fought back. At that point we were worried it might be hurt, but eventually it grudgingly flew off. Riding is just easier the flying I guess.

Position: 23°10.32'N, -150°32.65'W

Not much of a sunrise this morning--sky all grey with rain clouds behind us. Conditions excellent though, and we're making good speed. Just over 300 miles left to go. Keep thinking can see lights or land out there, but nothing yet.

Position: 23°8.32'N, -150°35.54'W

A welcome rainshower has washed away some of our salty crust--we were really coated.

Position: 22°46.22'N, -151°6.52'W

Found another fish on the boat this morning.

Position: 22°15.02'N, -151°48.99'W

Sunset #10. Just over 200 miles to go. Conditions calm and getting a nice push from the current.

Position: 22°2.71'N, -152°3.86'W

The sky above is packed with stars while the water at our bow glows with phosphorescence.

Position: 21°4.22'N, -153°17.74'W

We're 125 miles out of Hilo now--still can't see land though. It's 84F outside, and we've just passed through one of the brief rainshowers that are common on the windward coast of the Big Island. All the better to rinse away the salt. A few people have asked why we chose to make landfall at Hilo rather than our final destination of Honolulu. Partly Hilo is about 200 miles closer, but the main reason is that its easier to clear Spitfire in at Hilo through Hawaii's Direct Airport Release program.

Position: 20°54.72'N, -153°32.76'W

Just heard Coast Guard Sector Honolulu broadcasting on VHF channel 16. That's the first radio traffic we've heard since leaving San Francisco nearly two weeks ago.

Position: 20°31.59'N, -154°9.52'W

The bulker Elliott Bay (interestingly the same name as the harbor off downtown Seattle where we last moored). The first ship we've seen for two days and we were on a collision course. We radioed them to make passing arrangements and they altered course to pass behind us. We're 68 miles out of Hilo now, but still can't see land--it's pretty clouded in up there.

Position: 20°15.11'N, -154°30.79'W

Sunset #11. Not much of a sunset for our last one of the trip. We're now 45 miles from Hilo and still can't see land for the clouds. We'll be arriving after dark, not ideal, but the harbor is well-marked and well-charted. And we can light up the world with floodlights all around. We'll be careful, and if conditions don't feel safe, we'll wait for morning.

Position: 20°5.49'N, -154°40.99'W

We're only 25 miles from entering our destination, Hilo Harbor, but conditions have deteriorated to the point where we don't think its safe the enter the harbor at night. Wave heights have continued to build--one just pushed us over 17 degrees with the stabilizers on. And wouldn't you know it, this is the first non-clear night of the trip and its pitch black, making it difficult to pick out potential breaking waves at the harbor entrance. We're going to tread water and enter in the morning.

Position: 19°56.59'N, -154°36.83'W

The seas continued to build overnight--we experienced frequent 20-degree rolls.

Position: 20°1.45'N, -154°40.60'W

After being so tantalizingly close all night, the clouds have lifted and we actually can see the lights of Hilo now as we turn towards the harbor. Conditions have improved somewhat, so hopefully we'll have no trouble at the entrance.

Position: 19°56.58'N, -154°47.76'W

One more sunrise before we land.

Position: 19°49.73'N, -154°58.33'W

First view of the Big Island in daylight. And with a rainbow--that has to be good luck.

Position: 19°43.88'N, -155°3.15'W

Med-moored to the seawall in Radio Bay, Hilo, Hawaii.