 |
San Francisco to Hilo |  |
|
San Francisco to Hilo | |
| Ship's Log
July 25, 1998 10:30AM Local |
Hooray. This morning the Scalawag made landfall in
Hilo. The crew is fine, but a little cranky and a lot tired.
[Editor's note: From personal experience, after making landfall the
first things a crew wants are a hot shower, a cold beer, a cheeseburger
(there is a truth to the Jimmy Buffet song), and a bed that does not move
(unless you are the one moving it).]
On the way into the harbor, the crew sighted three dolphins racing for the Scalawag's bow, a sign that they had safely landed in paradise. Other than a few flying fish, this was the first sea life observed during the entire trip. However, every single day the crew spotted some form of garbage floating in the ocean, even in the middle of the crossing! One of the other boats in Hilo who had also made the same crossing kept a log and reported sighting trash an average of every ten minutes, while seeing any form of sea or bird life only once per day. We are truly killing our oceans. |
| Ship's Log
Lat 21.09N, Lon 152.26W July 24, 1998 12:00PM Local |
The wind has dropped to a screaming 0 knots, making today hotter than the desert crossing scene from Lawrence of Arabia. This lack of breeze resulted in the Scalawag turning in a 24 run of only 132 NM, still leaving our crew 165 NM from Hilo. |
| Ship's Log
Lat 22.20N, Lon 150.23W July 23, 1998 12:00PM Local |
Wow, put on your safety belts. In the squalls during the night
the Scalawag set a new speed record of 8.81 knots. [Editor's note:
Those non-sailors reading this page are probably saying "Big deal.
My Aunt Bessie can walk faster than that." Well, to get a 44,000
pound boat with a generator, washer/drier, microwave oven, air compressor,
watermaker, two dingies, and a breadmaker moving that fast is quite an
accomplishment. Hat's off to the driver. Watch out Merlin.
Here comes a challenge to the record.]
Many people ask how the Scalawag anchors at night. Short answer is, they don't. The depth of the water is approximately 16,500 feet and the boat only has 400 feet of chain attached to the anchor. There was room for all the extra chain, but the Captain decided to use it to stow Mel's swimming pool instead. Besides, if the boat anchored at night, there would be no reason to turn on all the cool electronic gadgets which display no less than 75 different numeric readouts in cool green and red colors, and which are controlled by 67 unique buttons and dials. Even Captain Kirk of the Enterprise would be jealous. |
| Ship's Log
Lat 22.48N, Lon 147.33W July 22, 1998 12:00PM Local |
Now that the fish is off the line, the Scalawag is really cooking: 170 NM in the last 24 hours. This still leaves the boat 441 NM from Hilo, but being characteristically optimistic, one has to look at this as being almost 80 percent done. [Editor's note: In fact, if this were the software industry, we would announce that they were already there.] |
| Ship's Log
Lat 23.13N, Lon 144.31W July 21, 1998 12:00PM Local |
With only 621 NM to go, the crew has taken to doing a little fishing with a hand line. The only problem is that when the line was pulled in, it was found to be missing the bait and hook. Let's hope our intrepid crew are better sailors than fisherman. [Editor's note: no wonder the 'Wag had been going slowly for the past few days. Whatever behemoth fish was on the line was swimming the other way and slowing the boat down.] |
| Ship's Log
Lat 27.31N, Lon 138.05W July 18, 1998 12:00PM Local |
Today, the Scalawag finally reached the trades and got her first taste
of the warm troipical water. She is clipping along at 6.5 knots in
15 knots of breeze. Our crew, now used to the routine of alternating
watches, celebrated passing the halfway point of the SF to Hilo leg with
some big barbequed steaks washed down with some Champagne. [Editor's
note: One would think our Captain would know by now that the first
duty of any wine (especially that served with steaks) is to be red.]
Despite the faux pas with the wine, the Scalawag has clocked two good days of 147 NM and 151 NM respectively. |
| Ship's Log
Lat 29.24N, Lon 132.52W July 16, 1998 12:00PM Local |
Light winds limted the Scalawag to only 121 NM today, but it is warming up: sea temperature is 66 degrees and the air temperature is 78 degrees. If the light winds persist, the Captain threatens to create a wind of his own by cooking a batch of his (in)famous breakfast burritos. [Editor's note: Let's hope that the 'Wag has a 5 year supply of Bean-O.] |
| Ship's Log
Lat 30.22N, Lon 130.50W July 15, 1998 12:45PM Local |
The crew of the Scalawag is doing fine now that they have gotten their
sea legs, and even the rule about not being sick below decks has still
gone unbroken. While the high seas of the first few days produced
amazing 24 runs for the 'Wag, which despite how much we love her is still
a big, slow boat, the trip has not been without casualties. The infamous
freezer bit the dust, provoking the crew to declare a state of emergency
and eat all the Ben and Jerry's ice cream before it melted. [Editor's
note: Could this have contributed to their last bout of seasickness?
Inquiring minds want to know.]
After a respectable day's run of 154 nautical miles (NM) and with only 1450 NM to go to Hilo, the crew's spirits are high as is the PeopleSoft/Sequent genniker. Given the current wind and speed the Scalawag could make it to Hilo by Friday, 24 July setting an all-time speed record for the trip between SF and Hilo for an overloaded, but mighty comfortable Transpac49. |
| Ship's Log
Lat 38N, Lon 122W July 11, 1998 11:00AM PDT |
Today dawned clear and bright with a sailors' breeze - obviously a harbinger of the good things to come. At long last the final to-do list was torn up (yeah!!) and this morning the intrepid crew set out for Hawaii. There was not a dry eye on the dock. With the land-based deck crew drowning their sorrows in the bar of the St.FYC, the 'Wag is finally underway. |
Contents
Previous: Preparation in San
Francisco
Next: Hawaii, the Big Island
Charts
