Welcome back to California Nomad and crew!

Nomad and crew arrived in the San Francisco Bay Monday night and anchored in front of Sausolito.They poked their nose in to Fisherman's Cove on the Farallon Islands, but were instantly swarmed by thousands of flies.  So they continued on, swatting flies.  In fact, when Eloise and I arrived at midday on Tuesday, the boat was STILL covered with flies.  Brian insisted that this was an improvement from the day before. We packed up dirty laundry and a few things and brought Brian back to Santa Cruz.  Mike has a friend in Sausolito so he is staying aboard for a few days socializing. 

One sad mishap occurred two days before their arrival. Uli lost his paddle.  Uli is our Windpilot that responds to wind direction accurately and steers the boat through gale and light winds.  His rudder that does this wonderful steering sheered off two mornings before Nomad arrived.  We relied on Uli and our CPT autopilot all the way from Santa Cruz to New Zealand and back.  He served us well and luckily Brian and Mike had our CPT Autopilot still.

Welcome back to California Nomad and crew! 

Almost to the Barn

Nomad has raced to the California coast like a horse to its barn at feeding time.  We had thought that a good run would be 20 to 21 days.  However, they will be anchoring at the Farallon Islands this afternoon, only 17 days after their departure from Hanalei Bay.  This is a situation in which we are thankful for fossil fuels.  They ended up motoring for at least 7 days out of the 17.  They would have been becalmed 1000 miles away from California without the 200 gallons of diesel we carry aboard.  Brian and Mike are heading toward Fishermans Cove on Southeast Island.  We've anchored there once before.
It might have been 7 years ago... Karson was aboard.  We pulled into the anchorage past a research vessel tossing a fake surfboard looking device into the ocean.  Some sort of camera device was involved.  Shark research we presumed.  We pulled into the anchorage.  There was no wind and the guano stench was oppressive in the heat.  To add to the ambience, hoardes of small flies filled our cockpit and cabin.  To escape them, we placed our bug screens over the entrances and retreated inside the boat where we killed the remaining flies and sweltered in the stagnant air.  Karson decided to go for a swim.  Brian and I thought that sounded refreshing but maybe not a good idea due to our location in the "Red Triangle."  Karson was almost done changing into swim trunks and we finally convinced him not to go in.  Not five minutes later, I saw something bobbing in the calm water about 40 feet from the boat.  I got out the binoculars to look.  It was a huge chunk of bloody seal flesh floating out direction.  The seagulls had not even spied it yet.  Soon there was a squawking fest as they located and descended on the partial carcass.  It floated past the boat and we all gave thanks that Karson decided not to go for a swim.

Hunting Dog returns

The guest speaker at church today was named Dave Smith, a fly fisherman.  He told the story about him and a buddy driving the 4wheel drive pickup on a dirt track out to put in their drift boat.  The buddy's dog was in the back. Suddenly a pheasant shot up in the air and dog was out of the truck and gone in an instant.  Dave looked at his buddy. The guy said "don't worry about it he'll be gone the rest of the day chasing one pheasant after the other going crazy and racing around for miles."  Then the guy got out of the truck, took his jacket off and dropped in on the ground, got back in and kept driving the 3 or 4 miles to the river.  The fished all day on a 12 mile drift and were driving the drop off vehicle after dark that night back to retrieve the other truck.  They rounded a bend and saw some bright eyes peering at them.  It was the dog. Sitting upright, still as a statue on top of his owner's jacket, waiting to get picked up.  The owner said, "oh yes, he would stay there for two or 3 days if he had to.  He knows that's how he gets home."  Dave was using this to illustrate a part of Genesis 12 when God called Abraham to leave countr, land, and home to go somewhere that God said he'd show him to later.  When they got to Canaan, "God said this is the place." except that there were lots of Canaanites there and it wasn't time yet for the promise to take place.  So Abraham journeyed on, made another altar on another part of Canaan, then journeyed on again to Egypt (because there was a famine in Canaan).  Unfortunately, he forgot to trust God to take care of him and his wife and messed things up down there.  He then returned to his altar, "a place of leaning in to God" is what Dave called it.  He returned, like the dog, to a place where he knew he could get home, knew he would be taken care of, where he had last heard God's voice.  When he got there, he leaned in to God again.  

Goings-on

It has been a busy 10 days since Nomad departed Hanalei Bay, Kauai bound for Santa Cruz.  He and Mike have since caught over 2 dozen Mahi Mahi (released more than 6 of them).  They have canned most of what they brought on board using the pressure cooker and old-fashioned canning jars.  They are now releasing all Mahi Mahi so that they have enough jars left to can the Albacore they are hoping to encounter in the cooler waters.  As happy as they are about the fish bonanza, Brian's email yesterday sounded pretty pleased about cooking the first of two frozen chickens aboard.

Over the last few days, Nomad has encountered a lot of debris in the ocean, mostly fishing gear, including the coveted Japanese glass fishing balls.  They have chased a few of these around with the boat, and finally caught one!  Mike generously declared that it is for Eloise.  They are making good time but have had to motor for the last 6 days.  They might soon have to conserve fuel for the end of the passage, and just bob slowly along until the wind picks up.

Two days after returning to California, Eloise and I joined my sister, brother, their families and my mom for a 4 day camping trip in Northern California.  Despite scrapes, sickness, squabbles and late nights the cousins all got along and the adults had a good time at Indian Scotty Campground outside of Yreka.

Flossie fizzles and Nomad prepares for departure

Well, the anticlimactic Flossie was a relief.  The night she was supposed to hit we lashed our sails down, tied the dinghy on deck and after sitting around with 10 kt winds, decided to barbecue.  We had a relaxing calm evening and a full night of sleep with no anchor watch required. **an anchor watch = when a big storm is blowing, someone stays awake to make sure that the boat anchor isn't slipping or dragging the boat toward other boats, rocks, or shore **  The next morning there were some 20kt gusts and a few sprinkles of rain. Later that afternoon, there was lots and lots of rain to fill up the tanks with delicious cloud-filtered water. 
Thank you to all who prayed for our safety.  It worked.

Eloise and I are now home in Santa Cruz. Brian and Mike are preparing to leave Hanalei Bay tonight or tomorrow morning.  Commander Weather is a weather routing service for boats.  They have given a very favorable forecast and travel plan for the next week. 

Any one interested in seeing Nomad's progress towards California may go to this link:  http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps_reporting_boat_list?pd=2 

Scan down the list of reporting boats for WDD9776 (that's Nomad's call sign). Then click on the "track" link to the right.  Brian has not posted yet but will begin soon.

Tropical Storm Flossie

Yup, about a week ago, Brian was joking with his Gorge friend, Ron, that there's no way we'd encounter a tropical storm in Hawaii since they rarely occur here.  However, it IS hurricane season, and the last storm was in the 90s.. so I guess it was time.  Now, here we are checking weather VERY regularly since Friday when Mike noticed Flossie heading this way.  We are still anchored in Hanalei Bay, Kauai.  The sand bottom of the bay is very good holding.  At this point Flossie appears to be weakening and we are not expecting seriously high winds. Nevertheless we are taking many precautions and awaiting the weather that may arrive. Today's weather has had many rain showers and not much wind.  We even brought Eloise to the beach to play and dig a huge water catcher hole in the sand with Daddy.  Lots of people were "sunbathing" in the rain.  It was a weird scene.  All is calm currently and going well as Brian and Mike lash loose things to the boat.  Tonight and tomorrow morning are the closest encounter we are predicted to have.  Our number one is to be safe, of course, and our number two hope for Flossie is that she will dump enough rain for us fill water tanks and not to have to schlep jerry jug cans back and for the to the beach.  We'll give you updates.

Yesterday, we zipped around the corner to "Tunnels" a known surf spot with a protecting reef for anchoring behind.  We got in some snorkeling and our first fish caught on this trip. Eloise was ecstatic when Mike pulled in a 12 inch lizard fish with pale golden yellow and blue markings.  She didn't mind that we released him after she got to pet him. 

More Tales from the Pacific

Wow, I just re-read my blog from July 23, 2011.  We were in Tonga, eagerly anticipating Eloise’s imminent first steps.  She was picking up seashells and sticking arms down crab holes. 

Things have changed a little bit.  Here we are on the island of Oahu. She still collects seashells, asking us if we think they are pretty.  Instead of sticking things down crab holes, Eloise made them new homes by poking her finger in the sand.  Now she is proudly learning to swim.  When she wears her life jacket, she flops her arms, kicks her legs and swims from one parent up to the sand on the beach.  Without life jacket, she lets us hold her tummy while she whirls her arms and legs around.  A new joy is when daddy holds her hands and flings her around and lets go so she splashes in the water.

While we were still in Honolulu, I finally got to meet “Kiwi Al” who has been a friend of Brian’s for many many years.  He is a tugboat captain.  When he heard that Eloise was screaming happily the day before when she spotted some tugboats next to the road we were driving on, he offered to give us a tour of his boat on a slow day.  It was so amazing.  I’ve liked tugs since I was a child reading our kid book, “Little Toot”  about a tiny tug.  But now, we have gotten to climb around on a real one. From the top tower where they steer, down to the state of the art Rolls Royce engines we explored and learned about tug boats.  We knew it was time to go, however, when Eloise curled up and laid down in the captain’s chair and asked if she could sleep aboard.  Thanks Alan!

Yesterday, we arrived in Hale’iwa harbor, near where Michael Crosier lives.  He continues to shuttle us to Costco, Whole Foods, gas stations, etc.  He also washed, dried, and folded our laundry at his house!  Thanks Michael!

This morning from the harborwe could hear a loud noised from the hills and town nearby.  It took me a few minutes of thought to figure out that it was a cacophony of wild chickens crowing and clucking, accompanied by the voices of other birds.  This confirmed that we are indeed in a Polynesian island.  From the Marquesas to Fiji, these wily birds live in the trees and bushes near villages, hiding their eggs until hatched, then foraging in fruit trees and opened coconut shells.  I’ve heard they make good eating even if they aren’t extremely plump.

Wednesday, we all leave for Hanalei Bay on the island of Kaui about 90 miles from here. It is reportedly one of the most beautiful anchorages in the islands.  Since Mike is an experienced sport-fishing boat captain, we are looking forward to him using his skills as we cross.  He even bought Eloise her own fluorescent pink lures.  She was excited.  In fact, ever since then, she has been “fishing” off the side of our boat when we are anchored.  “I really want to catch a Mahi Mahi.” She told us yesterday as she pulled up the rope she had thrown over the edge.  “I got one!” she announced and pantomimed removing it and gobbling it up.  She also informed us that she wants to be a fisher girl. 

I’m looking forward to running a one day a week preschool for Eloise and her same-aged cousin, Elijah when we get back to Santa Cruz.  Brian and I are also looking forward to hosting Thursday night sailing gatherings aboard Nomad this fall.  He’s a bit more dinged up on the outside, modified on the inside, has a new mainsail, and other new bits and pieces, but he’ll be home and needing to be used.