Green Buffalo

Green Buffalo POL (and more 😉 )

June 25th
Day 0

Lots of humpback whales… maybe saw 20 including a few “feeding” breeches.  One came “too close”.  Maybe 20 foot in front of the boat “crossing” – so pointed up to clear its tail.

Now the sailing…
Mediocre start that had me playing catch up till the Lightship (when I finally “caught up”).
#1 was the right choice to start… a bit much at times but paid off over time as wind tempered.
Wind slowly backing – so at 6pm went for the “not easy alone” sail change from the #1 to the Jibtop (all went well if a tad slow).
Passed south of the Farralon’s at about 3pm… am now a good 20 miles past the the Rocks – and into the “synoptic” winds (ie the offshore winds that blow day and night).
Wind oscillating from 290-320 degrees (mag) and from 14k-18k.  AWA 60 degrees so 18k with the big 155% jibtop is “okay (but hoping we don’t see 20s tonight).

Cheers,
Jim Q

Green Buffalo POL (and more 😉 )

June 26th
Day 1

Beam reaching in 20k-25k of wind and moderate seas.  AWA 76-100 degrees… “almost” spinnaker time but too bumpy and too windy for this tight a reach when alone.  Crossing the North Asia to Panama Canal shipping route… saw three ships today and one “quite close” (consider a half mile is 3 boat lengths for a large ship). John on Perplexity is right behind me maybe a mile back… as he has been since the start… which makes using the AIS Alarm tricky as it keeps going off because John is so close.

Started eating a wee bit… sardine sandwich… swiss cheese on crackers… trail mix.  This is “early” for me as usually I need to avoid food for 2-3 days to avoid mal de mer… the meclazine I started taking the day before the race must be working.

Weather forecasts has me going further south then first planned as the High in the middle of the track is delaying going NW as originally expected.  And how close to pass the High pressure ridge?  The secret to the Universe like 42.

Spinnaker tomorrow?  Maybe.  By Wednesday the wind lightens and backs another 20 degrees so Wednesday for sure.

Cheers,
Jim Q

Green Buffalo POL (and more 😉 )

June 27th
Day 2

Still beam reaching but in a much easier 10k-16k of wind… gave me the chance to flake and brick the #1 that has been on deck since yesterday.  Bit of an ordeal as the #1 is maybe 50 pounds dry but 100 pounds wet (want to get the deck clear for possible spinnaker launch tomorrow and dropping the jib top on deck). AWA 76-100 degrees same as yesterday. All entrants are now far enough away I can properly set my AIS alarms without the worry of frequent false alarms.

The solar panels (280W)run the boat maybe 6 hours a day (albeit its still a bit overcast with a bit of sun hear and there)… the other 18 hours means running the engine to keep the batteries charged… and I have the “large” autopilot ram which is a real power hog… so running the engine 3 times a day.

Ate some more but not much… swiss cheese and ramen… why so little when I feel just great?… mostly about the hassle of preparing food when at an angle with an occasional “large surprise bump” from the thrice an hour large wave from the north.  Tomorrow comes “real food”… will it be Mac and Cheese or Tortellini with marinara sauce?

Did I mention how much I have been sleeping/napping?  Beam reaching there isn’t much to do.  Check the sail trim and maybe tweak the autopilot a degree or two once every hour or so. I probably slept 10 hours in the last 24.

The weather folks cannot make up their mind on where and when the High in front of us is going to head northwest. Yesterday the forecast had me head a bit lower… this morning a bit higher… what will I see this evening?

Four years ago my wife Mary bought me a book for my 60th birthday titled “Sixty” – which I have now taken up reading (the writer is a literary sort so a lot of soul searching about what one has done with one’s life).  Given I am retiring next year… an interesting read.

Cheers,
Jim Q

Wednesday
June 28th
Day 3

The wind swung aft at 5am early this morning… AWA went from 70-90 to 100-120 degrees… 14k-16k… spinnaker weather!  Watched the wind direction oscillate a bit over a few hours while prepping for the hoist.  Getting pole setup.  3/4 oz AP on deck and hooked up to sheets, guys and halyard.  Double checking everything to insure a clean “first hoist” (nothing worse then making a mess of the first hoist 🙂 ).  So at 730am up it went.  Clean and easy.  Had plenty of yarn on the chute including frogs legs so it was all the way up before it opened.  Then hustling to get some basic trim while getting the jib top down on deck.  Took two hours to settle everything down… tweaking sheets, tweaking autopilot, tweaking heading… till it got to the point I could stop and take a rest (yes a nap).

All day the wind “occasionally” swings back (a header) and I have to trim the sheet and guy and head off a tad… currently heading off a bit more then I want but I believe the extra speed from the spinnaker makes it worth it. Now hoping the night quiets down a bit… having seen 18k at times on a header (okay but uncomfortable being on the beam)- so I can get more sleep (yes I like my sleep).

Real food today (though not everyone would call it that)… mac and cheese with a can of tuna thrown in (I should have thrown in a can of string beans but forgot).  It was a lot of mac and cheese so had it for both lunch and dinner (waste not want not).  As some of you know I am not a foodie… really just need to get some calories on board after “not much” the first two days.

Had my first bowel movement.  Now non sailors might wonder why I would mention this.  But when going offshore, ones first BM is a good sign that “all systems are go”.  The bump, food and sleep disruptions can make one a bit irregular… and constipation offshore can be a serious thing.

Stripped down to just my longjohns as the boat heated up quite a bit today… foulies and boots are put away till the next time I have to go on the foredeck (as I was this afternoon to flake and brick the jib top and get the spinnaker net set).

T-shirt and bathing suit tomorrow and maybe a shower?

And when is that High going to leave in a NW direction so I can just “point the boat to the palm trees”?

Cheers,
Jim Q

Green Buffalo POL (and more 😉 )

Thursday
June 29th
Day 4

Restless night last night.  Wind speed as low as 7k and as high as 12k (yes liht).  Wind direction oscillating from 95 to 170 AWA.  Up down. Trim the spinny and tweak Otto (the autopilot).  All night long.  And then the morning was light somewhat frustrating 6k-9k though with less oscillations.  I think I am now across the High pressure “ridge” as the wind has built to 10k-13k and rarely changes directions… and settled in at a great 100-120 AWA (ie fast given these lightish winds).

Hooked up the outgrabber (sheets the spinnaker to near the end of the bottom while also reducing “boom bang”).  Moved a few sails that were on deck to down below (grunt… that heavy #1 and jib top).

Over the next day the course takes us over the “Moonless Mountains” which is a bit of an oxymoron as the moon is out most of the night and you can just about read a book by the moonlight.  The Moonless Mountains are near 4000 feet tall… but off a “plain” that is over 5000 feet below sea level.  So that makes them about the same size as Mt Tamalpais, Mt Diablo and the Santa Cruz mountains (but yes their “tops” are still well over 1000 feet below the surface).  Pull out your chart and take a look at 30 degrees Lat by 140 degrees Long.

Finally got to that tortellini (cheese and spinach) with marinara and parmesan.  mmm mmm good! (despite not being Campbells 🙂 ).

Did a little sunbathing in my birthday suit (just 15 minutes) to help me feel a bit more human (all the time below deck makes one start to feel like those subterranean people in the “Time Traveler”).  Though I hoped to shower today… that will wait till tomorrow (boy am I looking forward to it).

The boat is “almost pointed at the palm trees now… but that is premature… it will likely be two days on this spinnaker run with the wind slowly lifting before the first jibe (140 ish?).

Cheers,
Jim Q

Friday
June 30th
Day 5

Good night and day on the Buffalo.  Chatted a tad with Dave Garman on Such Fast… boy does he have a great VHF installation… he must be over 30 miles away! Still a bit of wind direction and strength oscillating but not so much as prior day.  Took last sail off the deck (the too heavy #1) – and then took a shower! I really needed it. Funny Mary and I purchased a Sunshower at West Marine back in 1989… the plastic water bag that is black on one side so heats up under the sun… and hear it is 34 years and 17 passages later and we’re still using it.  Makes for a great warm shower (in the cockpit… crewed showers are on the foredeck for a wee bit of modesty). Put away the thermals – and its t-shirt and shorts from here on in.

Thinking about the spinnaker… it does a small “pop” every ten minutes or so as the boat rolls… as happens with every boat and chute.  But do the math… 6 pops an hour (most small but maybe one more significant)… 144 pops a day.  The chute has been up 2.5 days so far so that nearing 500 pops.  In another two days it will be over 800 pops.  So when to change out to the next and possibly the “heavier” spinnaker?  Before the inevitable happens (and always at night 🙂 ).

Course is pretty steady as she goes.  Hanging as high as I can without stressing the chute (which has me just a tad south of optimum course… but “close enough”.  Waiting for the wind to swing further aft – likely late tomorrow – when I will start driving as deep as I can safely (leading up to the first jibe).

Food… finished off tortellini leftovers… snacked on string cheese… and then Korean noodle fish soup (pretty good considering its out of a cardboard bowel).
Had a absolutely scrumptious apple (better get to eating more before they get over ripe).  And I got into the red licorice my son gave me when he dropped me off at the boat the evening before the start (Mary was in Europe <sigh> making the world a better place while I get some alone time. 🙂 ).

Half way early Sunday? Which could mean finishing Friday the 8th (but its way too early to talk finish dates… a topic for another day).

Fair winds and seas!

Cheers,
Jim Q

Saturday
July 1st
Day 6

1072
1072 nautical miles that is to both Hanalei and the Golden Gate Bridge.  So half way! And the second half should be a bit faster to the first half – with winds forecast at 19k-20k over the next several days (what I have right now).

I should probably have swapped to the heavy kite today… but mornings are lighter 14k-16k and there are “light patches” at night.  That said, I will do it tomorrow.  The 3/4 oz AP kite will have been up 5 straight days come tomorrow morning.  It mneeds a rest.

Getting used to sleeping while the boat is surging down waves at 10k-12k boat speed… takes some time for the emotions to “acclimate” to sleeping with Otto at the helm when the wind is brisk.

Most years at this point in the race one would be running dead down wind and preparing for the first jibe.  But not this year.  The High is racing NW as fast as we head SW so we end up on its SE corner where the wind still has quite a bit of NE in it.  So here I am on starboard tack easily sailing low of the islands – and struggling to
point to the islands (shortest course) without “spinning out”.

Food… tuna fish sandwich with crunchy chopped celery for lunch.  Why does celery sometimes go limp in a day yet now 7 days after I bought it its still got great crunch? Back to tortellini for dinner… that’s what happens when I but a four serving bag… needed to cook the “second half” before it starts to “grow” something.  🙂

Now its time for getting my evening weather surface progs (ie forecasts) as well as GRIBs to determine if I should try to lean right or left… or just “steady as she goes”.

Oh
Give your sympathy to the SHTP Race Committee… they arrive in Hawaii on the 7th… sure possible a boat gets to Hanalei before they do.  Its going to be a close one.
Hey it would be like the inaugural 1978 race… no one there to greet them when they arrived so they had to greet themselves.  🙂

Cheers,
Jim Q

Green Buffalo POL (and more 😉 )

Sunday
July 2nd
Day 7

Changed the 3/4 chute for the 1.5.  The 3/4 had been up 4.5 days so it needed a rest.  The things one finds… having been on the same jibe the whole time, the after guy was getting a bit chewed up… not near breaking but enough to want to take a few minutes and cut the ragged end back a foot.  The 1.5 that is now flying has a much slower “motion” to it (drags the boat around less) – plus its socked so I can “reef it” in a pinch (the sock lines go back to the cockpit so in a pinch I can grind the sock down without leaving the cockpit).

Now its still a tad cool – and the ocean off Mexico is cool (why tropical depressions spinning out of Central America this last week have quickly died when they hit Mexican waters).
Will this mean less squall action this year due to less “heat”?  I have seen no real squalls yet – or their younger brethern “proto squalls”.  I have heard of Hawaii races with zero squalls but I have never seen one personally.

And what about that fist jibe?  If you believe Expedition, it will be Tuesday (mighty late as these things go).

Oh… the weather forecast has reduced the wind forecast for the next few days from 19k-20k to 16k… so just maybe “smooth sailing” all the way to the palm trees?

Will skip the food situation as its been pretty boring… more tortellini… more tangerines… etc.

891 nautical miles left to go (Friday finish?).

And time to pack that 3/4 chute I just took down…  see ya tomorrow!

Cheers,
Jim Q.  

Monday
July 3rd
Day 8

Relaxing day… big heavy chute and moderate 16k-18k breeze… though mostly no sun (but that’s okay because that means no squalls <yet>).
Passed the fishing boat “Sylvia” out of Oahu skippered by a Hawaiian native out of Maui – Nathan. He took a few pics of the Buffalo in her element (albeit from a distance… see details below on Nathan’s mobile… text him and he’ll send the pics… he has “Starlink” so lots of bandwidth). He is a long liner… has been motoring into the wind for 4 days… one more day to go and he’ll be putting his lines out to catch tuna (Ahi?).

The fore guy I had shortened yesterday is peeling its cover “again”. Guess the fore guys are “past their due date”… I’ll swap out for a new one after tomorrow’s jibe Yes its going to happen tomorrow… I suspect this is the latest I have ever jibed… really hitting the right hand corner hard… at risk of over standing the finish line… wouldn’t be the first time having finished two PacCups reaching in under white sails (I have a target finish 50 nm upwind of the real finish to avoid over standing).

Food… more boring… ramen for lunch and chili mac for dinner.

Sure looks like a Friday finish… a day before I booked a hut near the beach for… and two days before Mary and crew arrive. Do I sleep Friday night on the Buffalo, on the beach, or find a lounge chair in someone’s back yard? 🙂 

Tuesday
July 4th
Day 9

Miserable last 24
Squall at midnight laid me out… boom in the water… okay time to see if that snuffer works (in 28k of wind)… and IT DID! Eased the fore guy and sheet, ground in the snuffing line which was pre-led and already on a cockpit winch. 20 minutes later the real problem… no wind. Rain… bit of wind… 50 degree wind shifts… more no wind… more rain… spinnaker all over the rig…6 hours later the wind filled in. Yuck (later calculations showed I lost 3 hours in this one “incident”).

Now I did get much better at working the snuffer… 10% snuff… 20% snuff… 40% snuff. Have had a few passing clouds deliver wind in the upper 20s to “practice makes perfect”. I also learned Otto needs to be put to bed when the wind is in the upper 20s… though snuffer+Otto will take me to 30k of wind.

Oh… did I mention we jibed last night? Uneventful (once the wind filled). From here to quite close to the finish is a port jibe most all the way in.

Food… mac and cheese with string beans and chicken thrown in. Yes not a lot of eating today… spent much of the day napping after the too busy night.

With the 3 hour loss… could be a sunset finish Friday (barring I fall into another one of those “half the night” dead zones).

Oh… and happy independence day!
Despite it being the 4th of July… with a little luck no fireworks from the Green Buffalo today/tonight!

Cheers,
Jim Q 

Wednesday
July 5th
Day 10

What a difference a day makes… (“Lovin Spoonful”?)
Last 24 hours hours have been easy fast sailing (unlike the prior day). No squalls. 16k-22k of wind. Rumbling down the road.
Now there have been a few “things”… after taking a shower (which was way way hot… that Sunshower was “cookin”) and changing clothes so I smelled so so sweet… a small seam opened in the big kite (just 3 inches long)… but these things tend to “unzipper” along a seam… so took the kite down, a bit of rip stop tape repair… and back up it goes. Maybe 20 minutes all told. Does have me thinking thru what I do if this chute gives up the ghost… Put up the already socked shy kite… or sock the 3/4 AP and put it up.
Did I work up a sweat! Guess I am taking another shower Friday morning in any case so I am ready for “re-entry” into the world (no one wants to hug a stinky, sweaty, stubble faced sailor).

Dreams…
One dreams A LOT when single handing to Hawaii. At least dreams one can remember details of. Getting up every hour to an abrupt alarm (loud kitchen timer in my case)leaves the latest dream fresh in ones mind. Several times a day for several days. A whole lot of dreaming going on…

Stray factoid…
How much toilet paper should one have on the boat for a passage like this? Well back in 2021 I used 1.5 rolls of toilet paper – and this “fast passage”, I am still working on the first roll (but suspect I’ll move to that second roll before landfall).

Sea life… birds that is…
As I am getting closer to land the birds start showing up… first a frigate bird (many of which hang on the north side of Kauai out by the lighthouse)… then a bird I couldn’t identify but was sort of like a Tropic Bird only a darker color… and then came the booby who made several passes eyeing the Buffalo for a ride. Boobies “love” to hitch rides on passing boats and will leave a mess on deck when they do. I gave this passing boobie a few threatening looks to make sure she/he took a pass on stopping on the Buffalo.

Food…
We all know about a “meal in a pot”… well that mac and cheese with string beans and chicken from yesterday is looking to be three meals in a pot (its a lot of food… more then I can finish today).

383 miles to the finish… less then a LongPac… so two days (and two nights). I see no real squall activity… so maybe tonight will be quiet like last night (I can always hope).

Cheers,
Jim Q.

Thursday
July 6th
Day 11

Another beautiful day…
Last evening started a bit ominous with a great big long black cloud going over head just after sunset… but turned out to be no big deal and the start of a beautiful quiet night (now maybe 15k-16k of wind is too quiet… vs today has been more 16k-18k which really helps move the odometer forward). No excitement and no drama. I thought I would need to jibe onto starboard to get a bit mor enorth before getting to Kauai – but I have been slowly headed and are just going to need a short jibe and jibe in maybe the last 50 miles (vs I am 214 nm from the finish as I write this). And maybe I get real lucky and get headed enough I don’t need to jibe at all (though unlikely).

Food…
After 11 days at sea it was time for Mary’s famous cabbage salad. Cabbage, ramen, tuna, dressing (without the slivered toasted almonds and green onions one would have at home). Sorry but I think I waited too long. The cabbage salad was “okay” – but it was a wee past due not having the “cabbage crunch” one expects.

Spring cleaning…
Getting the boat organized for re-entry to civilization. Sole scrubbed, sails organize, extra water stored away for the trip home (just a few cases). Organizing my “go bag” with wallet, mobile, drugs, maybe the laptop (maybe not)… knowing I will likely finish 11pm ish. Too late to hit a bar or restaurant – and my cottage doesn’t become available till 3pm on Saturday. There will be several finishers early Saturday so easy enough to catch a ride (ashore or afloat? not sure where I will end up Friday night… maybe just helping the support boat meet finishers?).

Trepidation…
This year was about getting away from the “electronic buzz” we all live in these days. Unplugging. I know as soon as I get a cell connection (typically 10 nm from Kauai)I won’t be able to resist cleaning out the email inbox, text messages and the sort. My work and private electronic life is pretty mushed together… no real separation. Which make dredging thru 12 days of email (likely several hundred emails) sort of like an easter egg hunt. I know most of you know… but if you don’t… I retire from Autodesk at Aprill end 2024 (in 9 months). Which should reduce the gain of my “electronic buzz” a bit. 🙂

Cheers,
Jim Q  

Friday
July 7th
Day 12 (day 12 ended mid day today so really working thru Day 13)

Last night and day…
The night went easy… 16k-23k of wind… plenty of sleep… except the two hours I sat in the cockpit as two “black meanies” (black clouds) went overhead – which turned out to be much about nothing (but don’t want to get caught flat footed on my last night). Jibed at 5am (Cal time… 2am local time)… uneventful (just what one wants). The morning was blasting with 20k-24k of wind… I even drove a bit. And jibed agin (its hard calling laylines from 800nm, 100nm and 50nm out). Now this afternoon has been a bit frustrating as we approach Kaiai… waves from three directions… oscillating wind direction and strength. Boat “spinning out” even though the wind wasn’t all that much (ie 23k)- which kept disturbing my “beauty sleep” (I like to get a good sleep before landfall to insure I am thinking straight when making mooring decisions).

A visitor…
I caught the culprit “brown handed” last night and even took a few mug shots. Culprit was leaving hazardous waste on deck in the middle of the night. It was a brown footed boobie. He started camping out under the stern solar panels but got uncomfortable when I came his way – so he moved to the boom vang (I think he liked the 20/20 instruments as they make kind of a “red light district”. 🙂

Organizing, cleaning, reviewing finish procedures, dumping the last of the fresh fruit (there wasn’t much), getting anchors sorted…

And prepping for two last jibes when I am “up close” to Kauai (fingers crossed… I do want to finish with the kite up).
ETA Todat at 11pm Cal time (8pm Hawaiian time). Sun should have set but still some light in the sky.

So thanks to any of you that have been following along with me on this “12 day tour”!
Some chance will do something similar for the trip home (starting Sunday July 16th if the weather cooperates).

Cheers,
Jim Q.

The Trans Back. 
Saturday
July 15
Day 0 6pm

Left Hanalei this morning at 10am (thanks Greg!). 50 miles out as I write this.
Wind 11k-14k out of the NE (so we are not getting much Easting… mostly headed north to the land of the walrus).
Looks like we will have these mild winds for the next few days (avoiding the 20k+ coming to Hawaii in a few days as the remnants of a “tropical” passes thru).

Several of us left today… Alex on is Tartan 41 Reverie (he is in sight at the moment), Gary on his Westsail 32 Elizabeth Ann, and Sean and Kim on their J120 Jamani (Sean and Kim left early this morning so well ahead of us). Partings are such sweet sorrow…

Crew (Mary my wife, and Jeff and Glenn – good friends) are settling in to the 2 hrs on and 6 hrs off watch schedule… and learning to live “on a tilt” (eating, toilet, etc).

Will crew want to eat tonight? Or let their stomachs settle a day? We’ll know soon…

Cheers,
Jim Q. 

Sunday
July 16
Day 1 6pm

200 miles out of Hanalei… 150 miles in the last 24 hours. Wind 11k-20k and gradually lifting us.
Bumpy… though we managed to have our first real dinner tonight (mac and cheese, with string beans and chicken).

Close (5 miles) to Alex on Reverie (Tartan 41) who we chatted with about his fighting off the boobies that have been defecating on his winches.

Weather looking mild and steady for the next 2-3 days – before it goes “quiet” as we approach a wide elongated high (which might mean long 600 mile motor… but its still early).

Its going to be windy in Hawaii in the next few days as a tropical depression collapses as it reaches the islands (why we were quick to exit stage left).

Cheers,
Jim, Mary, Glenn and Jeff