Saturday, January 21, 2012

Laysan Delivery - Arrival in Honolulu!

We made it!!

After spending the night circling outside the harbour, we entered Ala Wei
Harbour at 7:00 am this morning. We were thrilled to see John, Kathleen,
Julia, Conner and Stefan greeting us at our slip in the Waikiki Yacht Club.

Entry procedures were quick and painless, and we spent most of the morning
chatting about our voyage. After a fabulous lunch at the Yacht Club, we
washed down the boat. There is enough salt here to open a small mining
operation!

We'll sleep well tonight.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Laysan Delivery - Day 21

Three weeks at sea. Not our longest passage. But long enough. John and I are
dreaming of all the wonderful foods that we'll stuff into ourselves, upon
our arrival in Honolulu. Steaks. French Fries. Ice Cream. Hamburgers. Beer
(well...that's just me).

Less than 200 miles to go. Yee haa!! At our current speed of 5.5/6 knots,
that will put us into harbour in the middle of the night. We'll likely start
to think about slowing down, to ensure a daylight arrival.

Life is good out here. When the winds are on our beam (side), we hoist the
main sail. It gives us a nice push along. Other than that, we have no need
to go outside. And, we have TONS of power, so there is no hesitation about
watching movies, or cranking up the music. A far cry from passage making on
our dear Renova.

Here's a pic for y'all - demonstrating how lovely it is out here. John's
doing his best Titanic pose. And you can see the flat seas in front.

Thanks to everyone who posted comments on our stop at Johnston. It's great
to hear from these guys lived there for so long. And yes, we have more
pictures of the atoll...we'll post some of them when we get to some fast
internet.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Laysan Delivery - Day 19 - The Home Stretch

After a great stop at Johnston Atoll, we are on our way again. We feel very
privileged to be given the opportunity to visit.

All good things must come to an end at some time. And with the unusual lack
of trade winds, that time has come for us. We're now less than 500 miles
from Honolulu, with a tail wind, and Laysan is galloping along nicely.

All is well aboard...we're happily alternating between eating, watching, and
sleeping. The motion of the boat is mellow, and the sun is out. We're not
being terribly productive, but we are cruising through books and movies.
Life is good.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Laysan Delivery - Stop at Johnston Atoll

What a place this is. The number of birds here is astounding - Red-tailed
tropic birds, Red-footed and brown boobies, frigate birds, white terns, and
so on. We've had the pleasure of touring the island, taking a short
snorkelling trip and have been treated to a fabulous dinner with Stefan and
the field crew during our short stay here. Although, we'd love to stay
longer, do a bit of exploring, and perhaps even learning more about the work
that is happening here, we're moving on. There is absolutely no wind here at
the moment. This is the calmest it has been in the two months that this team
has been here. So, we need to get back out there and take advantage of the
lack of headwinds. It's a bit overcast this morning, so as soon as the sun
comes out, so we can see our way out the pass, we'll be continuing on our
way.

Here's a few pics of our tour yesterday...a nesting tropicbird, a green
turtle coming up for a rest on the beach, the runway, the NOAA weather
station that doubles as their 'internet café'.

PS...Happy Birthday Matt!! :O)