1415hrs- unable to start engine on aft tank again, so went thru process of bleeding fore tank and then switching. Winds are very lite so ran the engine and motor sailed 2040 hrs.
At 1600 hrs we were able to make contact with KMI for the first time in daylight hours. I got a call through to my boss, Joyce in Honolulu, Mom had call in for us so we talked to her and finally located where Bambi was and talked to her. She is in the San Juan Islands and will take the ferry over to Port Angeles and meet us there. My mother said the PAO( personal affairs officer) at Madigan/Ft Lewis, WA. Has been trying to call me as they
want to to meet us upon docking in Tacoma for a story. Our transmissions are not always clear but we hear them well. KMI really works the antenna for clarity for each ship.
Around 2000 they started picking up Neah Bay on VHF radio. This is encouraging. 137nm to go to cape.
Ghost sailed all night. Well I am happy, we got our storm to move us along. Now about that Cape Flattery Fog that is so present this time of year.
Total engine hrs-102
26 July- at midnight I took watch from Jean. As she went below I heard a pin drop. At first I thought it was something Jean had dropped. NO, I said to myself, I’d better check the vang. It was a good thing as the “o” ring had come out of the snap shackle and the spring and pin had fallen on deck and the shackle and vang were just hanging, swinging. I jumped forward lying over the winch on my stomach and grabbed the pins. After Mike helped me take the main down I rewired the fitting.
0200 hrs- wind veered only making 3k. Dropped main and ran 130 to port, steering 070CC. Had to tack downwind all night.
Over the past 1000 miles we have observed strange brown coiled objects in the ocean with a line running off them and they have nobby heads on them with a tail part coiled about 10-20 ft long. The reddish brown wavy stuff hangs in the water for quite a distance.( giant kelp)
2 Orca whales showed up and played with us for about 30 minutes. I took movies of them. Such beautiful animals.
0830hrs- Mike and I put 38 more liters10 (gal) in the fuel aft tank Engine started without bleeding fore tank. We now have 50 liters in aft tank and 8 gal in fore tank. Engine hrs for this trip are 102hr 6 min.This is the most the engine has run and it just purrs along. We are now using the cold start button.
Fog has prevailed since yesterday and visibility is about a mile. We have pre-programmed 2 waypoints on the loran. We are now having it on for a direct course to 48.27N, 124.45 W which is 2nm north of Duntze Light, off Tatoosh Island and Cape Flattery. At 0830 hrs we are 99.2 nm away.
1039- Just finished another repair of the auto pilot. During the storm a fuel can shifted and broke off the male dc connector of the auto pilot. Took a male from the spot light. After doing this Humpy still wouldn’t work, so took him apart again and traced a loose connection.. all is well and back on Humpback steering our course 070CC at 4.1 k without wind and light fog. Spotted Matson container ship off port at 1130 hrs, coming thru fog about 3 miles away. Eerie.
1000hrs- I cooked pancakes, coffee for breakfast and switched into pacific daylight time zone-8th at noon. Cleaned cockpit and straightened out 2 fouled hand lines. Started running a salmon lure. Played with Radio Direction Finder(RDF) picking up Neah Bay radio beacon. As of 1600 hrs we have 75.4 nm to go.
Out of paper plates, butter. We never ran out of water that day I noted such. It must have been an air bubble or those sneaky gremlins again. Catching up on light lists, charts, locations, tide tables and currents for the Strait.
Jean is cooking up a rare, non fish dinner- chicken, mushrooms, green beans, onion, garlic and soy. Cloudy all day, no sun, fog cleared. Have to stop and eat this wonderful meal. I can’t sleep awaiting Cape Flattery.
