Sabra Log 25,26 July 82

25 July- 0800hrs- winds are dropping and at 15mph, we shake out  2nd reef and at 1000 shake out 1st reef.
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.

Sabra Log 23,24 July 82

23 July- I write, today is 25 July and I have not had time, energy or desire to write. The winds begin to pick up around 1000hrs from the north 15-20 then to 25mph.  Unable to start engine from aft tank fuel, and get a lot of air out of line and start from forward tank.

1500hrs- Winds pick up 30 mph. We put in one reef in the main, take down the 163 and bag it. The 160 was lashed on deck from earlier use, so we bagged her and put both below. Then brought back up the 130  and hoisted her. Each bag is as big as Jean and I and they are very hard to move in this wind. We both are moving slow to get this done and Mike is hand steering. It is a tiring 1.5 hours to get it all done, but this has to be done to get ready for a gale and darkness. We have just gotten our storm and Sabra is kicking up her heels. You go girl.  At 2200hrs we are 394nm from the cape.

24 July- Winds-north- have increased to35mph at 0100hrs.
0400 hrs- We are all up to put the 2 reef in main and leave the 130 up. The seas are huge and daylight is beginning. Sabra is doing very well, then some beeg rollers come thru perhaps 20-25 feet high. We had some 45 gusts  and once the anemometer was pegged 2x at 50mph, but mostly stayed 30-35. We had to take the vane off, as the gaskets slipped on that lower mounting bracket. Back to hand and bungee steering. Have switched to 2 hrs on and 4 off. We are very wet, it is cold, the condensation is running off the cabin walls.
1300 hrs. We have re-bled the engine to start on forward tank and then switch to aft tank. We can’t get engine to start on aft tank even with bleeding it.  We are eating little for day and half, no cooking.
Electric bilge pump also acting up again. Now hand pumping q 2 hrs, depending on the amount of seas crashing on us. Thank heavens for that new dodger extension and weather cloths. They keep most of it off us.
2200hrs-240nm to Cape.

Sabra Log 21,22 July 82

21 July- 0001 hr- no wind, sails down, engine on 340CC, making 4k.
Mike fixed breakfast- great eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns and coffee.
I slept til 1300hrs after breakfast.  Got up cleaned and put on new long johns as it is colder. If only the sun would come out. No wind.

The 1900 weather update does not look good
The high is at 48N and 145W.
There are 4 ridges:
1. Extending northeast to 60°N Lat.
2. Extending southwest to 30°N
3. Extending south east to 45°N
4. Extending south east to 25°N
Our DR is right in the long ridge that goes south east to 25° We are at 46N and 140W.

We have had engine on and off  and have had to tack too numerous of times on headers for a sane mind to consider.
We take the 160 down as she gets back winded and is getting a chafed place at spreader bar. Will tape and sew. Will switch to my 163% when we can as it is a lighter sail. Wind fluctuates from NE to NW and is 5.

We have added 10 gallons to aft tank at 1600. I am trying to keep up with mileage to go/fuel consumption/ fuel remaining. Also this liter aft tank drives me crazy as I can’t compute it in my head so always need the calculator.  We have enough fuel for 596nm and at noon we have 689.1nm to go. Where are the westerly’s? We need a storm!

Transferring fuel to aft tank.















This is frustrating. Our total run for 24 hrs noon to noon was our worst- 89.5nm-ugh. We floated thru the time zone and we will now factor in our max variation of 22E. Our autopilot went out at 1800hrs, the port micro-switch stuck. It took me 1.5 hrs to fix so all is well. I am pleased we have been  able to make all our repairs. It is rewarding to be able to do that at dock, but when one is underway it is even more rewarding.

The engine is doing well, using about a liter and hour and the batteries are staying up. We have all lost weight. 

At 2040 hrs, Jean is on, Mike off. I’m at nav station so with the engine on, the cabin is warm, the red nav light creates an inviting picture from the cold cockpit. Mike and I discuss the high and fuel consumption. We 3 toast with some hot chocolate-another Windsong gift+ 3 postcards from Annie, Leslie and Nancy. We sat down and wrote them all cards and will mail them when we reach shore. Windsong is a Cal 25. 

I still believe that we will ride this high out and have my 20mph winds and 4 ft seas to take us to Cape Flattery without fog. In the meantime we are all praying for wind.

At 2100hrs the electric bilge pump stopped.
I place a note in logbook:

At end of each watch, hand pump bilge at aft cockpit pump--handle is located in engine control locker.  Will fix in morning. Total engine hours 85.75.

22 July- Awoke this AM about 0900. Jean and Mike had set the 163% with 10 wind and engine off at 0830hrs. It is a beautiful sail and one that I have never used as it is very light. In Hawaiian waters I only used the heavy sails. 

Jean repaired the 160.  I rewired the electrical connection to the electric bilge pump. I cooked 2 meals today, the last of that wonderful cabbage. Still have a few onions and potatoes left. Made corn bread muffins tonight and they were really good. 2nd day without fish.

Winds held NW all day. Hope we can get underway. The vane is doing well, the wind goes from8-20 which means the tiller needs trimming constantly. Winds pick up we head up, winds down and we fall off. Compass swings from 30-70. I could just scream at times. It is so frustrating. I don’t think that we will ever get there. I’d just soon wake up from a good night’s sleep and be there. This is ridiculous. The high is still stationary with ridges going to Alaska, Cape Flattery and all the way to Baja. Gales are sandwiched in between the ridges. We still might be 2 days late reaching Cape. Will try to notify Bambi tomorrow depending on my watch.

No sun again, but not as cold. The weather said a cold front is moving across the north. So far we are always dry which is a relief. I guess the weather could always be a lot worse. I re-read the loran book. Mike kisses the Loran 4X a day. 

Tonight it is so dark that I can’t see the coaming on the other side of the cockpit. Sabra is moving nicely with full main and 163, 10-12 wind. Getting good loran fixes and near our DR. The days go fast and these nights are long. I  do not like the 4 hr night watches, much too long, especially the midnight to 0400. The 2 hr dog watches that Mike made up on his computer and printed out, are nice but they are at 4-6 and 6-8 pm. It is 2230 and only 1.5 hrs to go. Hope I can stay awake. We have steered pretty much a course of 045CC all day and night. At midnight 535.4nm to the Cape.

Sabra Log 19,20 July 82

19 July- Overcast again, a lost day, I am exceptionally tired. Slept all of my off watch time. Today is not good for all of us. Our first snippy day.
We still are holding with the 160 and full main,  045 CC, 10 NW wind and at 1600 we have 880.2nm to go.

20 July- Our mother’s birthday. She is 69 years old. Jean went on watch frustrated.  Mike had come down off watch before she could get dressed and ready. The boat veered off course, and she ran out to grab the helm, but the genny back winded. She had a hard time getting her back on course and it back winded again. I went out to help, as she was still trying to get her clothes on, steer the boat and get oriented. I said that no one goes off watch before the next person is ready to come on. A lesson learned.- all of which could have been prevented. We don’t need to break apart now.
0800-1000hrs- Jean fixed breakfast, I’m on watch and it is cold. I had to dig out my down bedroll at midnight- my sheets were damp and the wool blanket isn”t keeping me warm enough. After breakfast we all talked about yesterday events of being a zero day, and not working together. We all decide to help each other more, even when we are tired/exhausted. The closer we get to shore the more we have to be working together.
We got headed again during the night. The winds are light and are using the bungee cord on the tiller. We choose to hand steer as we need to be driving at maximum and as close hauled as possible to steer our course.
At 1200 hrs, we turn the engine on and are now in the 9th time zone and factoring in 20°E. variation. 775.4nm to go. Loran coming in better but still not = with DR. No chance of noon or LOP sight. My mother thinks that the closer we get to shore the better she will feel and we will be safer. I’m not telling her that the closer we get to shore, the more chances that problems can arise. My birthday gift to her.. silence is golden.

Sabra Log 17,18 July 82

17 July- Last night’s sail was beautiful. The skies were total black, the phosphorescence illuminated the boat so well that the water around us was brightly lighted. The occasional cresting wave would be aglow, really beautiful. The ocean waves are  mesmerizing.

I awoke to hot coffee perking. How nice. I wonder what hotel I am in? My watch this morning is 0800-noon and the water is slick- fog with some patches of blue sky. The jelly fish were floating everywhere. It is brisk and cold. I do love being on the water early in the morning with a mug of hot coffee. Sailing the Sound will be a new experience.

After my midnight watch last night I came down and explored fuses and switch panels for one hour. Mike had taken watch, so we decided to look today.
As I  was on later watch, Jean was taking morning LOP shot, 1 nm off DR. Mike started tracking short.
Compass, stereo, and VHF out, Strobe, spreaders light ok today.


Gremlins making havoc? NO, he discovered the wire to the panel  for these items had worn through as it went down the 90° angle to go to main fuse panel. The water had dripped on itt and shorted it out. The SSB was ok. He repaired the wire with butt connector, but I should replace it when settled.

We motored sailed all day. Transferred 10 gallons of fuel to aft tank. We have 194.5 liters remaining. Used slightly less than 1 liter/hr, which gives us a 778nm range at 4 k. The sinks are draining today with no heel. Using salt water to brush our teeth. It makes my mouth feel good-gums like it or maybe brushing one’s teeth in anything feels good?

Jean fixed breakfast- chili cheese omelet with toast. At lunch I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches. At 1600 hrs. we had asparagus and artichoke salad and at 2030 hrs we had fresh albacore  sashimi. We had caught 2 and lost one. They make better sashimi than ahi or mahi.


Finally got thru on KMI and woke my mother up at 0100 El Paso time and midnight to my friend Bambi who is waiting for us in Wa. State. She will join us when we reach Port Angeles, Wa in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.It is  a relief to get a call thru. Mike tried to get a call thru to his sweetheart, Lynne, but the line continued to be busy.

The high continues to remain stationary over the majority of central and northeast pacific. We had to tack north again at 1945 hrs- port tack 30 CC. Our 2200hrs position is 42.42N, 149.03W. Engine running nicely. I do wish we would get some wind-1078nm to the Cape. I started reading up on the Strait and Neah Bay marina.

18 July- Had a nice watch 0400-0800 hrs. Still on motor. Opened another Windsong gift after breakfast of macadamia nut pancakes that I cooked. The sun was out for the first time in 2 days, so we celebrated with their gifts of party hats/balloons/whistles/ and plastic leis. What timing. They are so thoughtful and what a great idea it is to have these special fun filled gifts to open on certain days.  Took movies of us. Caught another albacore but threw it back.

0800 hrs- Loran now on Alaska chain 7960. Position 43.20N, 148.36W. We now have NW wind at 10-12, holding 50CC with engine off, vane on, main down with 160 up and we will wait to see if we can carry 130 also.

1700, we have broken the 1000nm line and have 998.7nm to go to the Cape. It is so peaceful at sea. We are so content about this magnificent experience of our lives to date. I have learned so much in 2 weeks that my mind is boggling. Each day brings new experiences.

Sabra Log 15,16 July 82

15 July- Winds still out of the north and at 1400 having difficulty holding 60TC. Our lat 39.24N and long 151.57 W. Still under 160 and full main with 10-15 wind. Overcast and cold all day long.
Have had a super fishing day- unreal- have hooked up with 14-15 Albacore tuna ranging in 10-40 lb. size. We are catching and throwing back. We stop fishing for the day at 1600 hrs and bring in the hand line for the night. Most were caught on the hand line including the big one, which Jean had to gaff to get on board. We kept one large fillet for tonight and threw all the rest back. They are beautiful fish but very bloody. Sabra will never be the same after all that bloodshed on the lazerette.

Tried 3 hours on the SSB last night and 1 hour this morning.
Fixed the salt water pump, so it is now working. For some unknown reason the water won’t drain out the galley sink, so we continue to use the bucket and throw it over.

We are having trouble holding a northerly course, which we need, but are being pushed east, but it is more important to gain northing first. Hopefully, the westerlies will restart, otherwise we are going to be in a bind. I sure don’t want to have to tack up the west coast.!
2000 hrs- NE trades force us to tack which puts us on 0 degrees heading with 15 wind. We run into a fishing fleet of 5 boats which put us all on watch for 3 hours as we carry parallel courses.

16 July- After  a busy day, I was already tired when I went on watch at midnight. After 2 hours I became very weary and started dozing off. The winds wer light and I kept finding my way off course and getting stalled. Finally at 0230 hrs I turned on the engine, stood at the gallows to stay awake, but kept falling off to sleep. Finally at 0300 hrs. I woke Mike up and asked him if he could relieve me early. He is so sweet and  replies, “certainly, darling, I‘d be happy to”. He is the sweetheart and both Jean and I adore him. What a great man and he has such a good heart. We all get along so well on the boat and have sailed many miles in Hawaii  together. I went below and fell fast asleep with my boots, survival suit and safety harness on. I awoke for my noon watch.

Jean took several sights including a noon sight which put us 2 miles north of our DR. We are really doing well with our DR. The HP is easy to use so we get an instantaneous readout every hour. These are being kept in the log book, however we are aonly plotting noon positions on the master chart.

NE trades continue all day and was beautiful until about 1500 hrs. when it clouded over. I retightened the starter generator belts which only took 30 minutes, but it took almost an hour to takedown and put back all the parts that get in your way, Mike’s bunk, cushions, boards, framework to engine compartment, tools, etc.

Cooking is terrible on this starboard tack. The drawers/doors want to slide open and things fall out. The galley is long and the sling is good for the stove and oven, but not the sink, ice box. You end up holding yourself with one hand, but you need 2 and 2 to reach for things. The port tack is so easy to cook on, as you can lean into the galley. I prefer a small, one butt galley aft. Speaking of cooking we ate the albacore tuna for dinner.. ONO. Which means delicious in Hawaiian.
Position at 1500 hrs: 41N and 150W
Out of water in rubber tanks.
Winds 15-20 mph, moving along very nicely with 160=main.
Jean got strike on the big green lure.
The day has passed so quickly, it seems like I am just now waking up and it is 1700 hrs-ready for the long cold night again. I’m going to put on long johns, change my socks and put on my jogging suit. I’ll take off my new shorts and top that I have now worn for a week.


As of 0800 this morning we are 1208nm from Honolulu and 1211 nm to Cape Flattery. It is so nice when we are moving. It has been fatiguing to hand steer and keep the boat sailing and motoring.
I am now one hour into my 2000-2400 hr watch. My warm things are nice.
The seas are 2 ft and the NE trades are 13. Sabra is slicing though them easily. The ride is like velvet-what a beautiful ride. The skies are overcast and it is drizzling. We have seen very few stars or it could be the dodger extension is up all the time!

Sat listening to SSB for 2.5 hrs-  I can  hear them clear as a bell-wait for a break thru to speak- it is hard to make contact. Some of the phone calls on KMI are funny. There is lots of drama between the families at home and the fishermen at sea. Have listened to some of the Victoria -Maui racers and a conversation on the Royal Viking Sea tonight. The SSB channel was sending out morse code on channel 8 which is KMI. I’ll have to tell Mike about that in the morning. Compass light out, strobe light out last night.
When I get off watch I will look at switch panel near Mikes bunk. All those items have worked faithfully.

I feel so much better after that long sleep last night.

 We all have had very strange dreams. It will be good to sleep like a real person again. Last night watch almost did me in. It was painful to stay awake. I’m doing good tonight- only 2hrs and 45 min to go. I think about my new little lake front house. It will be good to get settled, however I will miss living on Sabra.

There is a second high which is preventing the westerly’s from taking place. We are pushing thru a ridge. It will be nice to get those westerly’s and sail with the 160 and 130 poled out. I really liked that. (In hindsight I want to add a comment at this point: 1982 was the first big announcement of El Nino. The pacific high split into two. This had a big effect on our course. When we first got those early westerly’s we cranked off riding them right into a hole and then had to tack back out to gain northing. Now this upper high is north of us with 3 big ridges of storms and calms. We are having to deal with all that. So much for that easy course of sailing a 1000nm North on a starboard tack and turning right when the westerlies show up.).

Sabra Log 13,14 July 82

13 July- Awake 0830 hrs to sound of Jean’s reel screaming. Hooked up with 2, 5 lb Aku within an hour. I cooked breakfast- aku and garlic/potatoes/onions. I have never eaten so much onion and cabbage and potatoes, but they last forever.
0100 hrs- a wind shift  and lightened to 10. Everyone up, Mike at helm and Jean and I tackle the sail change. It is our first at night. We took down the 160 and took the pole off the 130, but left her up. 30CC. The spreader lights did not work but had good reflection from the anchor and running light. We moved very slowly and carefully and were lashed in with safety lines.

0930 hrs, we took the 130 down, and put the full main and 160 up and ran that all day. The wind is doing some funny things: westerly, then SE and now Northerly.

2000 hrs- Spotted a ship off our stern, I had said to Jean earlier since we were approaching the 40th parallel that we should be spotting some ships bound from Japan to California. We established radio contact and he was coming from Japan to Los Angeles. He updated our position to be slightly east and north of our dead reckoning position. 37. 56 N and 155. 21 W. He was moving very slow and took over an hour to pass us off our stern about an ¼ of a mile.This is the upper range for our Loran which is nearing a 300 mile area in which the signals don’t overlap. We have been running on DR since yesterday and were able to take several sights today which also put our position more east than our DR. At any rate we are continuing to advance our DR with a speed of 5k. Tonight we ran the loran on TD’s and not Lat/long just to see what it would do. It put us N and E of our DR. In about 2-3 days we will pick up the Loran Alaska chain. We continue to us Mike’s HP to compute our DR and sights. Mike’s knee is still limiting his capabilities greatly.

 2200hrs- 12 wind, 2-4 seas and cool. I put on my jogging outfit and wool watch cap. We have run the engine a total of 12 hrs.
Jean fixed a great dinner tonight.  Aku with cold slaw/apple/peanut/carrot combo. Yummy.
Small birds have circled the boat each evening and stay all night with us. They play with the wind indicator which looks like a bird. They make lots of noise and are cute acting.
With the light winds the vane is doing a horrible job steering. I can’t get it right since the freighter passed. It steers us from 30-90cc so I switch to hand steering as it keeps me awake.Today was such a gorgeous day. Unable to reach KMI due to poor reception.

This adventure is all about gaining skills and confidence with ocean sailing, navigation and making minute to minute decisions. I only have 30 days of leave so it is imperative that we make the best time/speed/courses.  I don’t want to be AWOL and thrown in the brig upon arriving.  The commanding General of Madigan Army Medical Center is getting  briefed on our positions.  I am the first Physical Therapist in the Army to make this kind of duty change; sailing from port to port, many people are keeping track of us and time is critical.

I’m off  watch 2400hr/0000hr and Mike is on. I’m tired.

14 July-Awoke in time for my 0800 hr. shift. Minimal wind, no steerage, ended up getting twisted around and heading south. Started engine at 0830 hrs.  Jean started repairing gear mechanism for auto pilot. The brake switch doesn’t click in so the traveler runs off the track and got it fixed at 1140 hrs- a 3 hr job. Humpback is back on track and steering Sabra. We are under power but with 160 up. I was very cold from 0400- 1000 hrs this morning. 10 porpoise stayed with us for about 30 minutes. As much as I would have liked to hang out and play with them, we couldn’t. I was focused on steering while Jean was working on the auto pilot. Mike was sleeping.

Jean fixed French toast for lunch. It was the first thing to eat since yesterday at 1600 hrs. We were all starving and each of us 4 pieces. 

We have recomputed our DR based on ships updated info. We have gone 1100 nm. We compute a new ETA for Cape Flattery: 1413nm away @ 5k= Which is about 11.5 days which will be the night of the 25 July. Will see how close we will come to that. Our original ETA from  Hanalei Bay to Cape Flattery is  21days, 11 hours, 44 minutes and 31 seconds.

It has been overcast and cool all day. 

The days pass so fast, that I have trouble remembering what day it is.

Still under power all day at 1700. Have used 14 liters if fuel in 20 hrs of engine time.