Day 9 – July 9th
35 deg 50.0’ 149 deg 10.2’ W Half-way café was a hit! Just prior to dinner a pod of whales greeted us with a spectacular show. Full breaches, splashing water with their tails they entertained us for a good 20 minutes. The appetizer " It is Tim’s fault surprise” turned out to be Haggis 😊 I guess he was vividly against those when discussing provisions and our quartermaster allowed her a little joke. For the record: Tim had a second serving!! Ede’s Beef Stroganoff, prepared by Marie Mortimer was a hit as well. We then toasted to Neptun with a shot of Dimplomatico Rum and he greeted us back with a splash! A wave came right across the cockpit as we raised our mugs for a toast. It was another dark night where the ocean and sky blended into a black blanket. During the night, the driver looks closely at the compass, dimly light with red light. Not much else to go by as the boat bucks around like a wild horse and the other instruments can’t keep up with it. The morning greeted us with the winds a bit further aft, and the sun tentatively poking through the clouds sending some rays of light to the ocean. The foulies came off and we are now sailing with just a light wind breaker – what a world of difference!! Late in the morning the winds moved finally aft of the beam and the yellow chute went up. After 1,300 NM beating into the wind this now closer to what was in the brochure. We can just hold the kit but it’s up there, yellow & bright moving us along on course to Maui. A shout out to Robin Larose, DJ at Rock101 radio station and sailor. Thank you for picking up on the Vic Maui race and bringing it on air! We will play some good rock music as we zero in on Maui. Mahalo! Until tomorrow – Salient out. Christof Marti (skipper)
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Day 8, "Life at 30 degrees"
37 de 35,2’N 146 deg 49.9’ W Another challenging night we shifty and gusty winds with an overcast sky. With no visual references and the wind ‘all over the map’ driving (and sleeping) was challenging. There is standing joke among the crew: “Life is better at 30 degrees” referring to the heel angle of the boat as we beat to windward for a over a thousand miles by now. While not constantly at 30 degrees, we try to keep it under 20, waves knock us around and we frequently ‘stand on our ears’. Despite the bouncy ride crazy Chef Pierre (aka Dan Tresa) cooked up a storm in the galley this morning and we enjoyed breakfast sausages and scrambled eggs sprinkled with spring onions. Delicious! We all ate on deck out of our fancy bowls. Fruit (apples & oranges) are still plentiful and should last until Maui. We are now at our furthest point from land: Almost 1,100 NM from any land. This is about the same distance as from Vancouver to Northern Baja California. San Francisco strait east of us about 1,200 NM away. Earlier today we passed the half way point to Maui. This is the time when “Half way Café” opens. This is a special place, and only available by invitation. I opens every two years during the Vic Maui race. Today’s menu is: Appetizer: Blame it on Tim Special Tribute to Neptune Ede’s Beef Stroganoff Haagen Dazs Bars We will report on the feast tomorrow! As I am writing this, Salient stuffed her bow into a big wave and a massive wall of water drenched the rest of my crew on deck in water. They report the cockpit is now clean! I have to get out of the writers chair as my ribs are getting squashed by the seatbelt that strap me in and my left leg is developing a cramp from stemming myself into the seat. “Life is better at 30 degrees”. Until tomorrow – Salient out. (Photos below: Crazy chef Pierre aka Dan eating a breakfast sausage, crew breakfast on deck, Navigator Gunnar having hot chocolate while driving) Day 7 – July 7th
39 deg 47.1’ N 143 deg 41.7’ W We have now sailed 1,000 NM since the race Start in Victoria almost a week ago. As we are crossing the 40th Parallel, approximately the same latitude as Carson City, Nevada we are now 900 NM from the closest land. Despite the lighter winds, around 10 – 15 kts, even lighter at times sailing is still tough as we mostly beat into the wind. That means the boat is constantly healed over, tossed around by the waves smashing into the bow. Life aboard Salient is very simple though: We sail, eat & sleep. Every crew member has a mug, a water bottle and a bowl. Yesterdays delicious Chicken Souvlaki and Greek Salad all ended up in a big bowl and crew ate it wedged between door frames, strapped into the nav station or sitting on the cabin floor. Sitting on the cabin floor is like being in a car wash: The foul weather gear from the off watch is hanging on the starboard side and swinging across the cabin make for the gentle wash cycle on our faces! Day 5 - July 6th 41 deg 52,2’ N 140 deg 09,6’ W Christof here! Strapped in at the nav station again, and the boat is heeling far over to port. Keep in mind that in less wind and rough seas it feels much less like a roller coaster! Yesterday was shower day! After five days at sea and in finally calmer conditions it was time for a hot shower. Everybody was excited, and the boat smelled somewhat normal again, at least to us. A couple pairs of socks were protested by one of the two crew in the port aft cabin and made their way to the main cabin where the captain protested ‘no smelly socks in the main cabin’ until they finally were quarantined. On that note: Our Navigator suggested that wearing close toed Keens without socks worked well during the Oregon Offshore. I gave it a go, and bought a pair of Keens. I used them with no socks and never looked back: comfortable, good grip and warm enough during all the nasty weather we had. I offered my socks to the crew who had to quarantine their socks....but enough sock talk! Sailing has been pleasant. With winds around 15 kts we are close reaching most of the time making for easy driving. We take turns at the helm and each crew drives for an hour. At night most of us loose focus after an hour and happily hand over the wheel. Especially in a dark, overcast night with no visual references and waves that push the boat around, can make driving challenging. Salient out! Day 4 – July 4th
44 deg 06.1 ’N 135 deg 19.9 ’W The last couple days have been challenging. After light winds for a few hours yesterday, the wind steadily picked up. We went through half our sail inventory starting out with the wind seeker mid day, then an asymmetrical spinnaker, and then to our symmetrical light wind spinnaker only to have to gear down again a few hours later. With winds around 30 kts and gusts to 36 kts we had our hands full through the night. It was raining non-stop and everything was soaked. Nothing like getting up at 2 am, to get into soggy pants to stand a four-hour watch in near gale winds with pouring rain. On a brighter note the bioluminescence was amazing. For a moment on the fore deck (working on yet another reef) I watched the water flying over the bow. As it ran aft, it turned the deck into a sparkling firmament making it look like a star lite sky. The night was black and the only other thing we could see was the white caps illuminated by our navigation lights. The white caps performed a wild dance as the waves caught up with Salient, lifting her stern up and let her surf down the back side into the trough. Mesmerizing. Today the winds eased a bit and we flew Black Magic, our heavy weather spinnaker. The wind blew around 25- 30 kts and the Salient was a handful to keep under control. Driving was hard and required 100% focus. We were doing 10 kts and more most of the time with the top speed at 18.9 kts surfing down a particularly large wave. We thought about gearing down but it was not until we had a complete wipe out followed by a full 360 pirouette including an accidental gybe that we got off our adrenaline high and reduced sail. Today's dinner were Chilean Empanadas with Chipotle hot sauce – fantastic! Until tomorrow – Salient out. Day 1 – July 2nd, 2018 46 deg 54.4’ N 127 deg 43,8’ W Aloha from aboard Salient! Your writer is strapped in the navigation seat which is on the starboard side of the boat. With a strong westerly and us going on the rhumb line towards Maui a solid strap is required to avoid getting catapulted onto the stove top. Not something anybody would enjoy much! After an amazing start into the 2018 Vic-Maui race with lots of wind and sun we are now power reaching under a partly sunny sky, with strong winds (20 – 25 kts, gusting 28). Not that much wind really but combined with a light cruiser/racer and the ocean swell and waves this makes for an exciting ride. Below deck it feels rougher than on deck. Thanks to webbing straps on the ceiling we manage to move about relatively safely. But most of us have some bruises to sport. Food is delicious but mostly ignored or fed to the fish one way or another. The winner is the box of breakfast cookies prepared by Susan Tresa – the only thing that most seem to enjoy at the moment. On deck it is rock and roll. We are having fun playing with the waves as we try to weave our way through the troughs without smacking strait into walls of water. Sometimes we miss: Standing at the helm one minute I see the yellow hoodies of our crew and the next moment there is only a wall of white water crashing into the cockpit. Next thing I am almost a foot deep into water. Everybody laughs and on we sail. After a bumpy ride at night and early morning, the winds eased off a bit and we are no longer seeing the high gust. The cockpit crew still gets frequent showers and they told me to mention conditions are moist. With crew of eight, four are on watch and four on rest. During the day we stand six hour watches and at night four. We are now already on Honolulu Standard Time and it is 2 pm as I am writing this. Until tomorrow! – Salient out. Christof Marti |
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August 2021
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