Getting ready to single hand

I guess I am ready! Always wanted to do this, to single hand a passage offshore. So now I am going to. The first week of May I will leave Bali in Conversations II and sail her to Langkawi in Malaysia all by myself! Its a small step and a big step at the same time. I know the boat, and she is well equipped for this kind of passage. We have already sailed over 8000 miles together and I know she will be fast and safe. Besides its a trans-equatorial passage, tradewinds, doldrums, monsoons. Pretty gentle almost always.
On the other hand, it is 2300 miles, about 20 days. That's not a short passage. And its a big powerful boat, with just one hand to manager her - I will have to be thoughtful and careful.

With 10 berths on board, I wonder where I'll sleep? Probably in the cockpit. This is related to the first question most people ask "When will you sleep?" I'll sleep whenever I need to if it's safe to do so. I will have a working autopilot and a the Hydrovane wind steering will so the helming I will have radar to keep watch and AIS to pick the broadcast positions and heading of nearby ships, so I will be able to avoid being run down by a large vessel. And I have all the tunes in the world to keep me company.
Stay tuned, I'll be posting here everyday, starting with the last weeks of April when I head down to Bali to start the preparations.
Join Me!
Cresswell

The last word!

Sunday, Dec 14, Bali
Cresswell here

I cannot sleep, aware that this is my last night on board. This is everyone's last night on board. The moon is bright and full above, the scudding clouds are passing low overhead and and I am sad that we have come in from the sea, tied to the dock and tomorrow we leave the boat tied to the dock and head home off on our separate ways.

After 10 long days and nights, we arrived in Bali yesterday morning and here is where the boat will stay until the NW monsoons pass. Though we had hoped to carry right on to Singapore, the difficulty and length of the last passage was proof the NW monsoons had set in for the season. The monsoon season's contrary wind, when there was any, contrary currents, and the endless parade of tropical rain storms conspired to make the last passage long and taxing and the prospect of continuing onward rather
daunting. From here to Singapore during this season would have been a lot of work. Though I say with bravado I would carry on, our late arrival and work back home has claimed too many of our crew so I have the best excuse to rest Conversations II here while we will wait out the season.

So I am both relieved and disappointed. Getting all the back to Singapore was my goal, but, I must confess, after a total of 69 days at sea, I am feeling rather pooped! San Francisco to Hawaii, Hawaii to Fiji, Fiji to Vanuatu, Vanuatu to Darwin, and Darwin to Bali constituted over 10,000 sea miles of passage making. It has been many days and nights of fine sailing, some days and nights of not so fine sailing, but never did we suffer too much or ever did any of us regret the challenge.

It is no accident that we call our boat Conversations. Over all those miles, it was our friends as crew that filled the time with companionship and, what else, conversation. Collectively, you made this a trip of learning and heart for me and Irena and I would like to thank everyone who helped bring our new boat so very far. Al and Leona, Paul and Jordon, Dad/Don, Matt, Jim, Marcel, Rolland, Dennis and Rita, Jan and Bob, Cliff and Fiona and Peter you all gave of your time and talent to sail us safely
here - thank you, thank you!

And I would like to thank Irena. Though she had to get off the boat in Hawaii and go back to Singapore to hold down the fort and work, she never left our sides. She arranged crew, chased down and shipped repair parts and helped me, "Mr. Just-In-Time Planner" keep the whole thing on the rails. She kept our friends and family back home up to date on our progress, kept the blog in order and encouraged us all the way. Thank you! Thank you

We will make good use of the time in Bali to get work done on the boat. Perhaps new teak decks and soles (floor boards) and much cabinetry re-finishing will be done to clean her up below. In April or May, in finer weather, we will make the final 1000 miles sail to Singapore a pleasure cruise with more friends and family. So if you haven't put your hand up yet, now is the time!

See you in the Springtime!
C. Cresswell

Pete's Version of Events

Ha ha, after reading Matt's blog post I feel like I have to defend myself. Yes, getting Matt a jacket did take longer than expected, but only because the boat was heeling so hard that not just the toe rails were in the water, but the deck as well! I was half-standing on the nav station just trying to move around. I will admit that I was a bit green around the gills after, but I had complete confidence in Matt to steer us to safety. I'm not going to question why Mr. Matt "I took Physics AP in
High School" Fast thought that putting the boat perpendicular to the wind would make the boat even out, but I digress.

That storm turned out to be just the beginning of a very long day. We had crossed the Sumba Strait to find some refuge from the wind and the currents, both of which were pushing us backwards. The storm hit us just as we were completing the crossing. Once we reached the island of Sumbawa we began tacking our way up the coast. Cress will tell you he gave us time to get quick naps in between maneuvers, but Matt and I maintain that the 10 minutes he gave us was closer to 5. We had not been able
to go back to sleep since the storm. Progress was very slow, and a bit frustrating, as the weather was still rough and the decks still slippery.

Switching sails while heeling was quite the experience. Finding as many points of contact with the boat to keep balance while untying one sail and switching it with another, made me feel like I was finally getting some real sailing experience. Perhaps too much of it! We were all very tired at the end of that day.

Our visit to Waingapu was an early highlight on this trip. In dire need of diesel, we managed to find a port that could potentially fuel the boat. It began with us maneuvering around two docks trying to communicate what we were looking for, but without any knowledge of the language and a few unintentional hand gestures, it probably looked like we were trying to find something that a gas station couldn't provide us.

When we were finally docked and sorted, we found the locals to be great people. Though there was a language gap, we managed to communicate fairly well. They took a particular shining to Matt, who had given one of the visitors to our boat his hat. In return they nicknamed him Osama bin Laden (alas Matt has been growing a beard for the past 3 months).

We will be arriving in Bali shortly where we will sort out the details for the rest of the trip.

Pete

30 Seconds of fear...

Hello all,
Matt here Thursday December 11

It's been a long time because there's been nothing to write about. I've opened this blog window five or six times over the last few days, began to write but nothing has come out. I've finally got something to write about! It also turns out that this is my "three months on the boat day" as I arrived on the 11th of September. I can't believe it's been that long, and I can't believe it's almost over! Anyways...

It was 5.15am and the sun was just starting to light the morning overcast skies. We'd had some wind for a few hours and we had been motor sailing towards the island of Sumbawa. Pete and I were having another one of our incredibly useless but hilarious conversations, this one was about Cartman in a coma, singing the stupid song that goes along with yet another South Park episode. The waves were beginning to build and the decks were becoming saturated with the crashing waves. I looked below and
saw Fi emerge from the v-berth, hair wet and face tired. She explained that she had left her hatch open a few inches to cool the air in the sauna-like cabin. One of the aforementioned waves had crashed over the bow, soaking Fi and her berth. She came up to join in the "conversation". Almost immediately upon her arrival the winds decided to pick up and I felt a few sprinkles of the rain storm which I had failed to notice. Within seconds the wind had increased to an apparent speed of just over
25 knots, which is close to the highest I've seen. Fi had just snuck below to get Cress when the rain kicked in with full force. Pete wouldn't have any of it and quickly scurried below to seek refuge from the torrential downpour...and to get me a raincoat which was EVENTUALLY delivered! The wind picked up, the waves grew larger and choppier, and the helm incredibly difficult to hold in position. The boat began to take control, I began to shiver from the cold rain...and this is when the 30 seconds
of genuine fear kicked in!

I'm going to pause here for a second to explain a conversation (or friendly argument) that Cress and I have been having over the last few weeks-slash-months. Once or twice over the last three months I've noticed that the toe rail has dipped in the water as we were heeled over. Cress didn't believe me and said it hadn't happened, and gave me that "you're crazy" look as he explained the physics of it all. Well today I definitely saw this happen and more!

The boat began to heel like I'd never seen it heel before! Not only were the toe rails in the water but the teak decks themselves! I was sitting (or standing as it seemed) on the windward side looking straight down into the raging water below, the horizontal rain piercing my eyes making it near impossible to see the instruments as I fought the helm to keep the boat on course and afloat! For about thirty seconds I feared the boat was going to flip, capsize and submerge us all! My heart was pounding
and my mind racing through several solutions to keep the boat from heeling more into the water. I thought about letting the main out to depower the boat but again the lack of a third arm made this seem like a highly unlikely and impossible task. I thought of bearing off the wind to flatten the boat, which I found out afterwards makes the boat heel even more! Luckily enough for me and just as I had run out of ideas the wind subsided and the boat began to level out. The rain stopped and my heart
beat returned to a normal rate. It wasn't that bad after all and I wasn't the only one suffering! After the rain had completely stopped, a ghostly looking Pete peered through the companion way asking if it was safe to come up. He mentioned that fresh air would be a godsend as all of the color had left his face and he looked like he had just drunk a few bowls of Kava! After several minutes the color resurfaced and Pete was looking as good as new. He also assured us that the puddle in the nav
station where he had been sitting was caused by the rain...I'm not sure I believe him since all the hatches were closed and the companion way completely covered. Ah well, who am I to judge?

Now I'm sitting in the puddle at the nav station sipping on a coffee. The wind has left us once again and the engine will be turned on shortly after we tack and continue on our way towards Bali! The active route center says we've got 2 days and 3 minutes to go...but that changes every second or so. We'll get there eventually and that's all that matters!

Talk soon, Matt

Pete's First Blog Post

So I wrote an entry a few days ago but didn't post it, so I'll add that one and then fill in some updates after.

December 5

We set sail from Darwin on the 3rd, so I had some time to see the sights and experience the punishing local heat. It was too hot to do anything during the middle of the day, but we managed to get most of the boat chores done in the morning before the weather set in. The rest of the day would be spent reading or wandering around town. Apparently the population of Darwin drops to 20,000 because of the weather, and I understand why.

Now into day four of sailing, and we've probably had eight hours without the motor running. I'm convinced Mother Nature's stock portfolio is heavily invested in diesel, and she's trying to run up the price one sailboat at a time. It looks like we will b stopping in Timor for some fuel, but we hope we won't have to stay long. She has also decided to tantalize us with rain showers all around us, but never quite on top of us. The sun has been beating down on us since we left, making anything not
covered on the deck extremely hot. The crew berth that I sleep in is sweltering, so after one rough night I've taken to sleeping on the deck, which has been a great experience.

Night shifts are amazing, as the clouds usually separate and allow us to see every star in the sky. Even though I only recognize one (Orion), it's something you definitely don't see in Vancouver.

What affects me the most about being on this trip is the sheer size of the ocean. Since day two, we have been traveling without land in sight, and very rarely another vessel. It's awe-inspiring to be able to see as far as the horizon and yet not see any other signs of human life.

Cress, Matt, Cliff, and Fi are excellent people to be with on this trip. We eat delicious meals (not my contribution), and are convinced of the nutritional value of several cold beers on a hot day. I've found that Matt is a connoisseur of the arts, like myself, and we have been reciting our favorite South Park characters, episodes, and lines. It turns out we have the same sense of humour, how scary is that? For those who know me, imagine two Pete's carrying on a conversation about anything we
want. I think Cliff, Fi, and Cress deserve medals, though the pleasure of our company should be reward enough.

Cress and I have had a few discussions on politics, and he's surprised me with his emphasis on morals and ethics. I must admit that as poli sci students we had given up on such novelties at university by year two. It's an interesting new perspective, and often we end up not agreeing on anything. Nevertheless, it has been great to have an engaging talk about politics after nine months of shunning those talks since I graduated. Plus, I've found out that I actually remember some stuff!

I pray for the well-being of the Canucks every night, may they skate fast and score much (though I hear that isn't the case).

December 8

I can feel the change a comin'! Deciding to fuel up in an Indonesian port, we changed our course and came across a most unfamiliar thing; sailing weather! After five days, this was my first real taste of sailing and it was amazing. Having traveled by motor for so long, I still don't completely have my sea legs, and that only added to the excitement of finally using the boat for what it was made to do! Admittedly, I was merely in a supporting role on the boat compared to the experts I'm with,
but it was a fantastic rush to be speeding across the ocean with the boat heeling far on its side. Once again I found new respect for sailing as I experienced first hand the challenge of steering such a ship, though by the end I think I was doing a decent job.

Truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life happened tonight when a massive pod of dolphins swam with us after dinner! What must have been dozens upon dozens of dolphins, little ones and big ones, came jumping towards us, and then swam around as we cheered them on (Matt had it on good authority that dolphins respond to noise), clapping and yelling with no one else in sight. I could not believe the their agility, as they would swim around the bow, roll on their backs, and make lightning-quick
turns. It was amazing, but no pictures sadly, I didn't want to miss anything by going to get my camera!

So the plan is ever-changing as we adapt to the weather and our fuel levels. We will be making a stop in a small port to add some fuel, and then moving on to Bali. From there will decide what to do with the rest of the trip.

Thanks Rita for the hockey updates, even if they were not the results I wanted to hear.

Talk to you all again soon.

Tripping the light fantastic

Fiona, Dec 8th.

We have just been treated to the sight of the year!! Just before sunset, dozens and dozens of dolphins joined us in the most spectacular dance I've ever seen. They stayed with us for about 10 minutes, some coming from hundreds of yards away in the water. It seemed the more we clapped and cheered, the livelier their antics. What a sight!! Truly a memorable moment.

Boring, boring, boring across the balmy sea

Sunday Dec 7
Cresswell here
Well we had a night of sailing last night! Nothing spectacular, but it was very welcome. Amazing as how just a wee bit of wind we would have sniffed at in the Pacific is now a bonanza! We sailed at 4 to 5 knots for 12 hours!

I took a hard look at the fuel remaining - roughly 400 miles of fuel and 550 NM to Bali so we have decided to motor past Kupan and go for Bali. Surely we can find enough wind in 5 days to sail 150 miles. So we are most likely to arrive in Bali Dec 13, touch wood. That's a Saturday, so we will may get stuck fueling on Monday then departing then.

It another 1000 miles to Singapore so who knows how long that will take. We have averaged 105 miles a day on this passage.... To be sure, I'll be home for Christmas......

But no wind today. Not a breath of wind all day, motoring still. By tomorrow am, this will be a total of FIVE days over which period we have sailed only 18 hours!
Matt is going to take up power boating.
Fi and Cliff are secretly planning a return to Rascal's air conditioning
Peter is just going to perish from heat stroke
And I am going to take up Suduko.
Touch wood, the diesel has performed well, needing a minimum of oil and a fan belt tightening or two.
We are now passing the southern tip of Timor Island. Wish us wind. Wish us luck!

Cress

PS NO other blog entries cause everyone is bored to death, Matt said so.