[WWP] 800 miles

From: Bill Payne (bpayne@sanynet.ne.jp)
Date: Thu Apr 27 2000 - 00:59:03 PDT


The Passage of Nalu 4 from Hong Kong to Seattle. Summer 2000
        Table of Contents
                Crew
                Boat
                Total passage
                Trip log
                Incidents
                        motor/mechanical problems,
                        birds/porpoises,
                        sailing speeds
                summary

        Between April and August, 2000, Nalu 4 will make a passage from
Hong Kong to Seattle, Washington. This will be a crewman's log written by
Bill Payne who was junior crew on this voyage.

Owners and Crew
        Nalu 4 is owned and sailed be Jim and Diana Jessie from San
Francisco. Jim, a retired boat and yacht surveyor, is 67 years old.
Diana, his wife, is a writer. The Jessies have made one circumnavigation
which took 7 years and this is their second voyage. This one is in its 4th
year. I, at age 62, am the most novice crew member and on my first
passage. Roy, age 49, is a Basque, a resident of Spain but an employee
around the world. He is one of Jim's racing crew. An engineer between
jobs, he will be lead crew for the China Sea, Japan Sea and Russian legs of
the passage. Roy will go ashore at the end of the 4th leg and 3 new crew
will come aboard at that time.

Nalu 4
        The Nalu 4 is a 48 foot, sloop rigged, cold molded wooden racing
boat built in the late '70 for a private owner from Newport, California.
The Jessies have owned the boat about 15 years and won several trans ocean
races with it. Most recently, in 1998 it won a Mexico to Philippines race.
It held the California speed record in 1996 at 22+ knots near Big Surf,
California. As a cruiser, it is 2400 pounds over racing weight. None the
less, we were making 10+ knots on the first leg of this passage.

Hong Kong to Seattle Passage
        This passage will have seven legs:
1. Hong Kong to Ishigawa, Japan
2. Ishigawa to Niigata, Japan
3. Niigata, Japan to Nakhodka, Russia
4. Nakhodka, Russia to Kushiro, Japan (Hokkaido)
5. Kushiro, Japan to Kodiak, Alaska
6. Kodiak, Alaska to Sitka, Alaska
7. Sitka, Alaska to Seattle, Washington

Hong Kong to Ishigawa
        Geography
Hong Kong is almost directly west of the tip of Taiwan. If one follows the
east coast of Taiwan north, between the Tropic of cancer and the 25
parallel, there will be a group of islands called Sakishima Shoto. The
resort city of Ishigaki is on the island of Ishigaki in this group.
Okinawa is northeast of Ishigaki. Thus, our course is East from Hong Kong
to Bashi Strait on the southern tip of Taiwan and North (bearing East)
along the coast of Taiwan to Ishigaki. The distance as the crow flies is
about 580 miles. We estimate we 'advanced' some 800 miles ( including off
course winds and tacks) to make this leg of the passage
        Weather
As we left Hong Kong the weather faxes and reports indicated the Easterly
winds would shift to the South in a short period of time. They did not.
Prevailing winds were from the East almost all of the way to Taiwan forcing
us southeast towards the Philippines. About the 20th the wind died
altogether and we had to motor. Then light wind rose allowing us to test
new spinnaker gear. After we passed through the Bashi Straits, on the east
coast of Taiwan, the wind, from the East, grew to gail force - as high as
50 mph apparent. It was overcast almost all the time and frequent rain
required us to be in foul weather gear most of the time.
        Watches
We stood 2 hour watches. We worked 2 hours and then slept 2 hours
throughout the passage. Roy and I were on the odd hour shifts and Jim and
Diana were on the even hour shifts. So I would go on watch at 1 a.m.;
Diana had been on watch one hour and had another to go. At 2 a.m. Jim
replaced Diana. At 3 a.m. Roy replaced me. At 4 a.m. Diana replaced Jim.
And on and on. the night of the 22nd - I think - , after my 11 p.m. watch,
I washed dinner dishes and in the process became almost nauseous. General
fatigue put me in the sack for 2 watches.

Trip Log notes
4-13 to 4-27
4-13 fly to Hong Kong, go to Russian Consulate for visa, installed 4
deep cycle batteries
4-14 haul out and scrape hull, drinks with Peter and Janette curry dinner
4-15 ran into H.K. bought Palm 3x and medicine (Note: There is a
perfume store in down town H.K. which has a medical counter in the corner.
One can buy almost any prescription drug over the counter without the
prescription. I was able to buy a 40 day supply of Norvasc for 16 cents a
pill - take that, insurance company...)
4-16 last day before departure I stayed close to boat
4-17 motored 3-4 miles out. strong headwinds. stopped. anchored.
returned to Hebe Haven for the night
4-19 departed again lumpy seas strong headwinds
4-20 moon rise
night watches,
porpoises,Chinese platform
southeast light winds
engine trouble
4-21 120 miles to Bashi Strait.
exhaust clogged, split hose fuel filter cleaned
spinnaker day,
zeroed in radar on a passing tanker
4-22 east and northeast across china sea towards Taiwan
4-23 e across southern tip of Taiwan and up east side of Taiwan lost
mystic seaport cap
4-23 n up e side of Taiwan to Ishigaki group and then e over northern
side of group
4-24 Ishigawa mooring move to city dock
4-25 fly to Osaka

Incidents:
Motor/mechanical problem included dirty fuel filters, clogged water pipes,
a split elbow hose, a leak in the oil cooler system, and on the last night,
an electrical short to the instrument panel on the steering pedestal (this
knocked out the compass, wind speed indicator, and apparent wind indicator
night lights). During the last 2 nights we lost a 35 pound anchor off the
bow in the gail force winds. All repairs were temporarily completed at sea.
Birds/porpoises
3 birds landed on the boat to rest. First was a black and brown swallow
midway in the chins Sea. It was wild and fearful, but exhausted. It
rested and slept maybe 30 minutes and flew off. Second was a gray sand
piper. It was more in shock from the heavy winds but it also flew off
after a few hours. Third was a pigeon. This bird landed on my head at 1
a.m. on the 21st. After a 15 minute balancing act, I was able to get the
bird on the deck of the cockpit where it stayed until we could see land.
Then, rested, it took off for the island. The pigeon was banded, maybe a
homing pigeon.
About 10:30 p.m. on the 20th about 15 porpoises came to play near the boat
for about an hour. In groups of 5 they would race across the bow from one
side of the boat to the other. They had a great time and I could lie on
the deck and watch them swim under me.
Sailing speeds
I came on deck about 1 a.m. on the 23rd to find the boat tearing along at
10+ knots under the main on a broad reach. Diana and Jim informed me that
this was the purpose for which this boat was designed. We hauled. I was
in awe. After that the wind maintained speed but shifted direction. Our
speed dropped to 8 knots. (I may need to stand corrected on these
directions). With good winds, we easily made 6 to 7 knots using the mail
and staysail.
Summary
This was planned as a 3 or 4 day passage; it took 7. Jim and Diana
classified it as a very uncomfortable cruise. The wind speed went from
zero to gail force. Wind direction was on the nose of the course most of
the time. It became evident that all my sailing has been by the seat of my
pants, without the benefit of lessons. Jim and Diana assigned me 3 books
to study on my Osaka break - one of which is The Annapolis book of
Seamanship. I will leave for Niigata May 20 with a new 35 pound anchor for
the 3rd leg. In the meantime, I'll try to field any questions/comments.

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