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MIGHTY CHICKEN - reaches Hawaii. Foghorn June 2008 By Andy Lepiarczyk Finally I am underway! Up to the very last week, it looked like my list of things to do would never shrink. Friends came along when I was running out of time, out of steam or just needed an extra pair of hands. Many thanks go to my old racing buddies Keith Simpson, Fred Butler and Jim MacAllister. Thank you Danuta and Jacek Kromka, my best friends for forty something years and thank you to my newest friend Jara Holcman, the last minute helper.
Most special thanks go to my wonderful wife, Michele, for her support and sacrifice in making my fantasies reality and organizing the supplies. She did a fantastic job. On this trip I will not run out of “candies” to “chew”.
For specialty work I went to the professionals with well established reputations. Pro-Tech Yacht Services Ltd. took care of the standing rigging. I followed Stewart Jones’ recommendation to take down the rig for a thorough inspection. Just from the perspective of the very first days of my voyage, I have to say that the peace of mind was well worth the extra effort. Dennis Lefeaux of North Sails did his usual magic re-cutting, patching and stitching older sails. I also got a new mainsail. I chose North because, during the first voyage, wherever I stopped between Le Havre and Vancouver, sailors used North Sails to evaluate others. I was most fortunate to find Tom La Mers in Ohio, a wizard for Navico boat instruments. He repaired and refurbished a couple of aging units making the whole system fully operable and reliable. Mr. Brad Schmidt of International Paint put the icing on the cake donating Interlux bottom paint. Thank you all. Thank you very much.
In such an atmosphere of support, even the weatherman demonstrated for a week or so the spirit of cooperation. Regrettably, it seems that he got frustrated with the delay and at the very last moment decided to pull the plug and give me a lesson.
I left on Tuesday April 15 th (2008). I had good winds on both straits and between the Gulf Islands. Rushing to make up for the delay, I stopped only for part of the night to “drift” half a day later for several hours just a few miles off Cape Flattery in light and variable winds, glassy seas and very long and smooth swells. Around midnight the wind was back and before morning it was blowing 25 knots with seas beginning to get rough. On Thursday it was a solid 30 knots. I did not have illusions as to what was coming sooner rather than later. I am at least one day too late and should arrive to the waters off the Oregon coast just in time for the forecasted gale.
Indeed on Friday the gale was in full force. I was at the latitude of Portland and only 130 nautical miles from the shore when I got 35 knots of wind, regularly gusting into the forties. As a matter of fact, during two gusts the clock popped to 52 knots. I could see these two ghastly squalls because of the amount of mist they were carrying. Using US Coast guard terminology “significant” waves were around 20 feet high, but odd ones were much higher. I would say 30 feet at least. Too bad the camera flattens everything, but I think I got a few graphic snap shots for a pub night in the club. It was a constant struggle. I could not make any westward progress because the seas were coming from the beam. I could sail due south, but every few hours to recharge batteries I had to go with the seas and I was losing precious distance from the Oregon shore. On Saturday it felt like heaven had arrived when the wind dropped to 25 knots. On Sunday the rainbow proclaimed the end of the episode.
It was new experience for me. I was sailing previously in stronger winds, but then a couple of hours of 45kn wind did not disturb the seas even close to what the Oregon gale did. MIGHTY CHICKEN performed very well indeed and the Captain was satisfied with the work of the crew. The rest of the leg went more or less as one should expect at this time of the year. I got just a few hours of light and variables, one gorgeous spinnaker run from sunrise to sunset. The vast majority was around 20kn with 30kn plus squalls several times a day.
Regardless of the gale, from my seven ocean crossings, this was the windiest of all. However, it was not very fast because it was the bumpiest one too.
Since this time of the year the Pacific High is still not established, I had no menu to meditate as to how deep south to go before turning to Hawaii. I had to eat whatever King Neptune chose for me. It was a little salty, but I ate it all and without any complaints. Would Your Excellency consider that fact for the rest of the trip. I am in Waikiki Yacht Club. Talk to you from Fiji.
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