Day 11 morning from Al

Good morning, Down to one day and change.  As I commented on watch, this was the most pleasant night of sailing in now almost four transpac crossings.  Winds 8-18 knots, no squalls, stars galore, 3/4 moon for most of the night, then enough light from Venus to see the spinnaker clearly, Air temp 72 degrees (better than daytime for me), near perfection.  Jupiter? maybe above Venus in the east this morning.  Sunrise not till well after 8 because of the drop in latitude and no change of ship time since SF.  We are hoping the roll call positions will be to our liking but I am sure Elan is hoping for the same thing. We shall hear soon at our 1000 check in.  Only on board crisis are we most assuredly will run out of Via (starbucks instant coffee) this morning and the toilet seat is now duct taped to the toilet bowl.  No details needed.  Janna and family are in the air so this may get posted late. Hope there were no worries and thanks to J for all the work she has put in keeping you and us up to date.  Aloha, Al

Day 10 Evening from Al

Too peaceful, we need miles.  Winds most of the day were around 10 knots, hot and sticky as we traversed a little wrinkle in the trades that some in the fleet were speculating was the result of an upper level low.  We hope we haven't bled too many miles to the competition.  Still appears like a Sunday finish for team Kotuku.  Saw some more white tailed tropic birds and our first blue faced boobies.  Lots of all size flying fish, including one that flew through the foretriangle up and over the bow last night for the sharks entertainment.  They also a bright white flash that was reported by several of the boats at children's hour today.  Speculation ran from lightning, to exploding meteor and on to government testing.  No thunder heard, light was bright white not yellow that some likened to a camera flash although it would have to be some camera.  There is now a sign on the companionway that started as 2 days, 7 people , 100% focused.  It didn't take long for it to be messed with and now reads 2 days, 1 pickle, 7 people, 100% focused.  So the yodeling pickle (who has previously made the crossing to hawaii by sailboat) from the halfway party is no on the job.  Mr T is temporarily on the sidelines with battery issues, Sucka.  Here's hoping tonight is kind to us, Al.

Um. Al. I think that's blue FOOTED booby.
As our 3-year-old Savai would say, "It's toe-kuku!"

So, folks. Janna here again, and I believe this will be my last act of post support from Seattle. I'm packing for Hawaii! We fly out early tomorrow. I hope to post their Day 11 morning update from my layover in California, but who knows. With the time difference, they've been sending 'em later, so maybe I won't be able to post till I'm in the land of luaus. Too bad the tracker isn't more [insert your own expletive + adjective here]. (Not that I'm complaining. No. No.)

Also, I just wanted to say that I read and re-read these updates from Al. And I don't understand half the references either. I think that's why I find them so delightful.

Off to Hawaii! Keep on trackin'!

-Janna

Day 10 Morning from Al (and Eli)

Good Morning,  All in all that was probably one of the best nights of the trip.  Moderate winds, lots of stars, no squalls until the sharks sunrise watch when things got a little cross eyed.  The day dawned with the end of the squalls and we had the first visible sunrise in a long time.  The day should bring more of the same (fingers crossed).  446 miles to go at 0800 so looks like Sunday daylight finish at Kaneohe.  Starting to stack the boat for a 400 mile port tack reach.  Hoping all is well with you, Al


From Eli (clipped from a personal email to his fam since this is a party line): All is well out here, we've had some exciting sailing over the last few days! We've also seen more and more flying fish, LOTS of bright stars, and I'm learning all about squalls. They can be dramatic and usually provide a welcome, if still cool, fresh water shower.

Getting close

This came in after bedtime last night:
Saw our first White tailed Tropic bird late today, must be getting close to the islands.

Since they can't send us a photo, here's one from the Internet. Land is close!

Day 9 Evening from Al

Splendid early evening meal of fresh caught baked mango mahi with rice, dining in the cockpit under tradewinds of 20 knots ENE, blue skies and puffy white clouds. We are hoping once again for an easy night but who knows.  Most of the rest of the day has been covered by earlier messages I think.  Be safe , I think Kotuku knows her way from here, having done the Transpac race early in her life.  Cheers, Al

Fish on! from Graeme and Nick

Hi Kotuku followers,


Janna here. Wanted to let you know that Graeme has been writing blog posts for a blog related to his work: Light My Fire. They're the folks who make sporks and other camping gear; Graeme's company is their US distributor. Good stuff! I haven't been double posting those updates here (for the most part) but thought this one was worth sharing directly. For other content, check out the Light My Fire adventure blog. Very cool.


Here's the latest update from Graeme:
We finally found the tradewinds.  Man, it was a tough road getting here.  We have had 3 straight squally nights, with high winds and confused seas.  Then we had a patch of light wind.  Then, this morning while I was driving the clouds seemed to organize themselves into marching marshmallow men and begin an orderly tromp toward Hawaii.  The water is very warm and very blue.  The wind is a steady 18 knots.  We moved up a spot in the standings and are currently 1st in our class and 6th overall.  And this afternoon we caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi, about 6kg (13lbs.)  She put up a good fight but was no match for our seasoned crew, and we are having ceviche for happy hour and baked mango mahi for dinner.  Care to join us?  We are living the dream out here.  I think about work occasionally, wonder if people are ready for the show in Salt Lake City.  I am sure they are, or that they will be.  In the meantime, we have a bit more work to do ourselves on Kotuku.  We have tough competition in our class just waiting for us to make a mistake.  And we would like to see if we could move up another place in the standings tomorrow.  Oh, we have a lot of fresh fish to eat too.  Better get to it then!


P.S.  Savai, you were right.  Green with tassels was the winner!  Big thanks to Kevin for providing the lure in the half way box, and to Savai for selecting it.  And will someone please tell us what happened to Ichiro...traded?  To who?  For what?

Mahi Mahi!

Nick here again. Looking forward to some good eating this afternoon with the big Mahi we caught. What a beautiful fish! We have all been busy these past few days with tricky conditions and many sail changes, but everyone is still as jovial as ever. I had a good view of the sunrise this morning from the top of the mast and lots of good surfing this afternoon. We are even doing quite well in the race standings, slowly picking our way through the overall standings while holding first in our class. What an adventure we are having. Life is good, hope all is well at home.

Day 9 Morning from Al

Well it was tale of two nights.  First until the 0200 shift change it was delightful, balmy 15-20, some stars then the bats left and the sharks took over.  Mother nature had something in store for the sharks.  Squalls, winds to 35, shifts but Alex was something for this duck to watch.  He assumed the Jedi master role and just kept Kotuku (mostly) on her feet and just motored forward on Lightspeed, doing steady burst of 12, 14 knots for minutes at a time.  Absolutely magnificent to watch.  The bats came back on at 0500 (we have shifted watches ahead one hour to try to keep a little sync with the daylight) and were prepped for their watch.  Mother Nature had other ideas.  About one hour into the watch a squall came through with winds over 35 and in a hurry to get the kite down things didn't quite go according to plan.  No harm, no foul in the end though other than a minor rope burn to Alex's hand.  We went along for almost an hour under main only through daybreak (still hit 16 knots) while we did some checking.  Sent Nick up the mast for a rig check with all the stress she has seen over the last few days we thought it would be prudent.  Eli did an adjustment to the steering pedestal which was making some unwanted noises and also causing concern.  We set the S4 and then changed to the A2 shortly thereafter as the winds continued to ease back to 15 knots.  600 miles to go, be safe, Al