My log from the 17 days spent in the Pacific delivering Sonic from Honolulu to Seattle.
Day 1
We left HNL about 10:45am on Monday 8/2. Wind is gusting to 30kts. As we were out of the Waikiki harbor channel we raised the mainsail and made our way West along the southern coast of O’ahu. The sun is quite hot and there’s no escaping it on deck. We put the jib up and are now making 10-13kts downwind. Two fishing lines are tied to the stern pulpit and dragged with top-skimming lures 50-100ft behind the boat. We hope to catch tuna, but the ideal speed range for them is apparently 6-11kts so we’re a bit fast. I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll have some fresh fish to eat at some point on this trip.
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| Saying goodbye to Waikiki |
Kalaeloa Point rounded about noon and we turned northwest in the lee of the island. The western side of O’ahu looks like it could be the setting for Jurassic Park, and I have John Williams’ iconic theme song stuck in my head. I spotted 4 turtles and some flying fish! We started our watch schedule at about 3pm, so I’m off watch until 8. The boat is hot and very humid down below. I’ll drink some water and try to get some rest.
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| Sailing by the west coast of Oahu |
8pm-12am watch
Once we got out of the lee of O’ahu, we entered the trades. The wind is blowing 25-30kts WSW and the seas are quite rough from the sustained high winds. We’re close reaching and the boat’s motion is awful. The act of crawling out along the cramped corridor from my bunk to the galley, then struggling into my hot & tight foul-weather, all while getting tossed around the dark cramped space - this makes me immediately nauseous. Up on deck the boat’s motion makes it tough to do anything with our hands except hold on. We’re all wearing life jackets and clipped on via a tether to various jacklines that run fore and aft from different places on the boat. My nausea quickly became seasickness as we smashed through the waves. It looks like the meclizine isn’t working for me, despite me starting taking it the day before we left. I spent most of the watch vomiting up anything my body could find. Late at night we noticed our main sail had a small rip in it near the top spreader so we brought it down for repair. Once we had it down we discovered more rips and substantial delamination between the kevlar strands and mylar cover layer, so we’ve fully retired that sail for now and have stowed it in the bow. We’re sailing on J4 jib alone and we won’t raise a main again until we get to calmer water. The only mainsail left is the racing main, and it’s a huge, heavy chore to flake it on the main. That chore will be difficult enough without getting thrown about like we are now.
Day 2
4am-8am watch
Same rough conditions for the water and for me. I’ve still been throwing up and can’t drink water or eat. I know I’ll need to replenish nutrients ASAP if I want to feel better soon. We’re making 8-10 kts in a good direction, which is some solace. We expect to have the same motion for the next 24-36 hours.
2pm-8pm watch
Still feeling nauseous but no longer throwing up! I manage to eat a bowl of udon noodles over the 6hr watch. Finally able to drink some water and start replenishing electrolytes. Current position: 24.44N, 157.38W COG: 000 TWS: 16 to 20 TWD: 060 to 070 BSP: 8 kn Boat polars 80%
Day 3
12am-4am watch
Sailing well in 15-18kts, able to do about 9kts on the J4 jib alone. I’m mostly recovered now, still trying to make sure I’m fully rehydrated. There’s still substantial slamming into waves. Sonic has a very flat bottom and a small fin keel with a weighted bulb at the bottom. She’s a sled that doesn’t cut through the waves like Toketie, but rather slams from crest to crest with a resonating crash that shakes the carbon fiber hull to the core and rattles the rigging. It’s not as bad on deck as it is down below when trying to sleep with your head against the hull!
8am-2pm watch
Still beating/reaching upwind and into the waves. The motion is not kind, so it’s been difficult to sleep, or even move on the boat for the past couple days. Boiling water is dangerous, eating soup is challenging, and even refilling water bottles is a substantial chore with this motion. The period of the waves seems to align with our speed for some of the most uncomfortable sailing I’ve done.
8pm-12am watch
Motion is still rough, but we’re getting into a groove. The salty spray that comes over the deck is pleasantly warm, but the wind gives it a chill edge. The first couple days the driver would apologize when water would come over the deck and douse us (there’s not really a way for the driver to fully prevent this). The others would razz the driver and joke that we didn’t need any more salt in whatever we were eating or drinking. It happens too often for that now - something about the wave action is making the cockpit a very wet place. This watch we just sat there in silence letting each splash hit us where it was destined.
Day 4
4am-8am watch
The sky starts giving away the beginnings of the sunrise just after we start our watch. It’s a beautiful morning, and I’m glad to be in shorts enjoying the early sun.
All Hands On Deck! At 10:30am we have fish on! Two, in fact. I had just finished using the head when the call went out. Everyone was excited - I grabbed my camera to document Sonic’s first catch. Including the LA delivery, this breaks a fish-less streak of 10 days! We got 2 yellow fin tuna, one about 30lbs, the other maybe 15. Then an hour later, as we were still filleting the first two, we caught a small mahi mahi. We prepared poke and ceviche on deck and cut the rest into steaks. We’re all very excited to be eating fresh fish, and it’s some of the best fresh poke I’ve ever had!
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| Pulling our first Yellowfin on deck |
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| Making the freshest poke |
2pm-8pm watch
I’m a bit tired from not sleeping off-watch due to the fish catch, but very happy and satiated. We have an uneventful watch until we snare another small mahi mahi. For dinner we cook up tuna steaks with honey lime, teriyaki, and sesame seasonings. Position: 30.28N, 156.24W TWS 15kt and getting lighter TWD 070 COG 015 Boat Speed - 7 to 8 knots and down to 3 knots with fish on Sea temp 81 Pressure: 1028mb (getting close to the 1030 high)
Day 5
12am-4am watch
The stars are still brilliant. Without the mainsail up, there’s so much sky in view. Most of the perseid meteors are small specks that you could miss if you blinked, but some leave a green or yellow scar across the speckled sky that can be seen for seconds after. We’re driving just east of north right now and I can line up Cassiopeia between the shrouds to stay on course when I’m on the helm. The sea has calmed down substantially as we approach this high and the sailing feels magical right now.
8am-2pm watch
Light winds, and we’re seeing more and more trash as we enter one of the highs. Motor on about 11am as the wind dies to 2kts. After the watch we stay on to finally flake the main on the boom, clean out the bilges, then we go for a swim in the middle of the calm water in the Pacific high over 800nm from the nearest land. Swimming here is a dream. The slow rolling swell is smooth and crystal blue around us. I’m first in and others follow shortly. The boat drifts away from us as we’re in the water, which is only a bit nerve racking. The water is nice and warm, and we could have stayed in for hours. Every direction around me is seemingly infinite. We spotted a seemingly derelict vessel on the horizon that started motoring full speed towards us as we passed. They weren’t on AIS and gave some strange answers as to why when we contacted them over the radio. But they turned away from us after the call. We joked that they were pirates, and honestly before they changed course I was a bit worried. We finished the mahi mahi ceviche and steaks for lunch. We planned to use an icemaker on-board to prolong our fresh food and fish, but the inverter won’t handle the load. The ice maker requires 150w to work and the inverter is rated to 75w, so we’re eating as much fish as we can as quickly as possible. Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice if there were a bit better planning on that. The skipper is all about the boat being light for racing and responds to most questions about missing gear and accoutrements with “this is a race-boat!”.
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| Floating around 1000nm away from anywhere |
8pm-12am watch
The ship’s clocks moved forward an hour so we lost an hour of sleep on my watch… It’s also the 2nd day we haven’t gotten our full long-sleep watch so we’re all feeling a bit tired. We had curry chicken and rice with hard boiled egg for dinner, and it was excellent. More excellent stars, and great sailing with the main finally in use. The sea state is very calm and it feels like we’re hovering across the water at 9kts. TWS 6 to 9 TWD 072 COG 010
Day 6
4am-8am watch
We’re all pretty tired still. Mochas and 30 minute helm shifts in calm sea state. Still making 9kts in 11kt winds. Sunrise is quite beautiful with lots of cumulus clouds filling the horizon. We’re seeing many velella velella in the water this morning. It’s very cool to see these colony creatures alive in the wild and share space with some very old sailors.
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| Helming at dawn |
2pm-8pm watch
We shook the reef out of the mainsail, so it’s fully up now. We caught another mahi mahi! It’s brilliant blue color fades immediately to grey green when out of the water, almost as if the color is it’s life leaving. We make a big pot of ceviche, the rest will be for steaks later. Yun, Odin, and I are cleaning the bilges again. There’s lots of spoiled cans of beer and cider. Lesson learned on stowing bare aluminum cans against the hull. Some of the cans are mysteriously half full. I figured they would be contaminated with bilge water, but after a risky sip I discovered that nothing had gotten in, only out! We shared several of the half-empty cans as a reward. We also just learned that we will likely not arrive until Monday. I can’t say I’m surprised - the skipper always seems to do his route planning with almost blind optimism and confidence. We had meatballs and mahi steaks for dinner. Afterwards there was a beautiful full rainbow and a light shower that made everyone come on deck to try and wash the salt off our faces. The rain was too light and brief for a real wash. I find myself hoping a more substantial squall comes along soon. Position: 37.36N, 152.21W TWS 9 TWD 055 COG 005 BSP 7 VMG 4.5 to 6
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| A welcome rainbow |
Day 7
12am-4am watch
My watch is connecting really well. Even the dark, boring watches are full of lightheartedness and banter. We’re following one of the highs now, planning to go under it, so the sea state is very nice and calm. Wind is 6-9kts and we’re making 7.5-8kts. There are occasional flashes of bioluminescence away from the boat, as well as larger glowing blobs nearby, I wonder what they are! Another great night of star watching as well. It is Em’s birthday today, I wish I could call to wish her and Juliana happy birthdays, I’m thinking about them.
8am-2pm watch
Woke up to another mahi mahi on the line! Fish tacos for breakfast. Some crew error led to a jamming off the hydraulic system that controls the mainsail outhaul, so we’re stuck with a somewhat loose-footed main until we can fix it. It might have to wait until we’re in Seattle, but the skipper is sending an e-mail to someone who’s worked on the system to see if they have any in-situ fix ideas. We’re still sailing in a calm sea state as we chase the high. Lots of stratus and cirrus clouds in the sky. They look like wispy flames coming from the East. Mahi mahi ceviche for lunch with some of our remaining meatballs and mashed potatoes. We started the motor at the end of the watch to motor-sail closer to 42°, the bearing of Neah Bay. We’re still on track to arrive in the straits Sunday night (Shilshole Monday night), but I think it’s likely we’ll miss that by up to a day.
8pm-12am watch
Didn’t sleep much off watch, not sure why. Skipper has switched to the other watch to coach younger crew. Now we’re motoring straight towards Neah Bay, and will likely continue to do so for the next 48 hours. Dinner was a tasty dish of rice noodles and meatballs.
Day 8
4am-8am watch
The wind comes directly from where we want to go. We’re now motor-sailing with jib only in 6-10kts breeze. We’re able to make 3.5-5.5kts VMG. The skies are a bit overcast and morning light starts to creep over the horizon just after we start the watch. Disaster at 7am! I was just playing a couple tracks from Reposado for my watch when the engine sound changed and we lost speed. After throttling down, waking the skipper, and checking out the underside of the hull with a GoPro, we found that the propeller had fallen off. We’ll have to sail from here on out. Over 1300 miles still to go.
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| Missing a propeller |
2pm-8pm watch
Sonic bashes upwind, leaping from wave crest to wave crest with full sail up. Her flat hull slams into the next wave, slowing her down momentarily until she leaps to the next. The hull and rig reverberate with every slam. With the boat heeled over to starboard on a port tack, my head and body are against the hull when lying in my bunk, less than 3/8” from the water passing by. I imagine it feels like a mix between being on a mechanical bull and being inside a giant bass drum when it’s hit. We’re headed towards Oregon now, sometimes California depending on the wind angle. We’ll have to tack some to get up to Washington against this wind. We’re still bashing through the wind and waves hours later. Now on Starboard tack again making about 15° @ 8kts… That’s ~6kts VMG. We’ve finally used up all our fresh food, and since we haven’t gotten, nor expect any new fish in these cooler waters, we’re onto freeze dried and canned food from here on in. The Peak Refuel freeze-dried meals are quite tasty!
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| Heeling over |
Day 9
12am-4am watch
Visibility quickly dropped to zero and rain rolled in. It’s very disorienting to try to keep a course in complete darkness. If not for the instruments, I would have sworn we were headed in circles to port. Heavy rains soon rolled in but being cold and dark, no one felt like a shower. Lightning occasionally blinded us with intense flashes, which provided the only moments we could see our shrunken horizon. The wind varied between 0 and 16 knots, and came from pretty much every direction at some point or another. Pretty wild variation in just 4 hours! We kept the watch light-hearted with laughter and I made everyone hot chocolate which helped shed a warm, positive light on the cold and wet darkness. However, now everything is soaked. Thankfully it’s fresh water, but I’m hoping the sun will be out tomorrow so we can dry off our gear. Skipper is looking to make arrangements to replace the prop in Port Angeles before continuing on to Seattle. I’ll use my GoPro once more tomorrow morning to try to confirm the prop spin direction before he has his on-shore contact order one.
8am-2pm watch
Rainy start to the watch. We tried getting more GoPro footage of the prop to confirm the direction of spin, but it proved very difficult to tell. The skipper is pretty sure it’s left handed and will order one today to put on in Port Angeles. Everything remains wet from the last watch. The sun came out for a little bit, enough to take foulies off, but they’re nowhere near dry. I had a nice warm freeze-dried breakfast scramble and made some more hot chocolate to keep everyone warm and happy. Decent sailing in 10 kts, we’re only 45°off ideal course, headed on average just west of north. 1080nm to go to Neah Bay! I made deconstructed spam musubi for lunch with a glaze of honey, sesame oil, and soy sauce. I lined bowls with a bed of seaweed snacks for the rice, and added some furikake. It was very tasty! Position: 41.47N, 148.13W TWD 070 TWS 9 COG 350 Ses temp 74.1 Bsp 8.5 knots DTF 1065
8pm-12am watch
We had noodles with tuna (canned) for dinner. It’s another very dark, cloudy night with light mist and some drizzle. Visibility is quite low. We’re dressed in our foulies and mochas are our first thought. Amazing bioluminescence tonight! Both the waves and our wake light up brightly, and our keel and rudder leave a bright trail stretching out behind us. Yun noticed what looked like torpedoes streaming towards our boat in the water. They were actually dolphins emitting long trails of bioluminescence in their wake! A pod of maybe a dozen played with us on and off for two hours and provided much awe and entertainment. The wind is steadily clocking right as we skirt the high that’s to our east. We’re making 8-10kts due north the whole watch in relatively calm seas. 1033nm to Neah Bay, and arrangements are pending for prop replacement/towing in Port Angeles or Seattle. Arrival is likely to be Monday the 16th.
Day 10
4am-8am watch
Very cold watch, a sign we’re getting closer to home. We’re all a bit groggy and everything is still damp. Hoping for sun today. I believe we’re about due west of Cannon Beach Oregon at the moment. Freeze dried biscuits and gravy for breakfast.
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| Looking back from the bow |
2pm-8pm watch
Cloudy cool day this afternoon, but thankfully no rain. Mashed potatoes with Vienna sausage for lunch. After lunch time was spent cleaning bilges & inventorying food, then the whole crew had some rum punch to celebrate the “halfway party” (we’re about 2/3 to 3/4 home, I’d like to think). Then a mostly uneventful watch as we skirt the western edge of a high. We could see the edge of the high off to starboard, an arc of clear sky ringed by clouds. We need to stay on the outside of it to keep our wind, which has shifted to 8-10kts @ 133° TWD. We’re knocking off the miles now with good VMG - 920nm to Neah Bay at the end of the watch. Skipper is still discussing tow options for once we’re in the straits/sound. Shark sighted at the end of the watch, just floating on the surface at sunset. Basking shark, Odin thinks. Macaroni with sardines for dinner. Our watch is 1hr shorter as we move the clocks forward. Now the boat clock is only 1 hour behind PST. Position: 45.16N, 147.04W COG 020 BSP 8 TWS 9 TWD 138 Sea temp 68.8 (cooling quickly!) DTF 930 Barometer 1029
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| Clouds show the high pressure zone to starboard |
Day 11
12am-4am watch
I woke up a bit early and made hot water and drinks for everyone. It’s another cloudy, cold night with light 6-9kt winds. A ship passed without showing up on AIS. The two lights (bow and stern, presumably) remind us of a wide-eyed crab and launch a watch-long series of ghost stories and banter.
8am-2pm watch
It’s a foggy morning and we’re actively monitoring AIS for potential nearby vessels since visibility is so low. Only about half the vessels we’ve seen so far on this trip have shown up on AIS, which is a sobering thought. Wind is pretty light still - 6-9kts from ~140-165°. We had what we think is a laysan albatross sighting. White body, brown wings with a little white under them. We name him Scupper and hope that he scouts ahead for us. The sun broke through the fog briefly towards the end of the watch, lots of our wet things are scattered on deck in an attempt to get them dry. I made deconstructed spam musubi for lunch again. Position: 47.06N, 145.13W TWS 9 TWD 165 COG 030 Bsp 7.5 Polars 80% Sea temp 66.4 Barometer 1027 DTF 825 NM
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| Hanging out at the bow |
8pm-12am watch
Scalloped potatoes and tuna salad for dinner. Just as we finished eating the tuna salad we caught an albacore! It’s pretty sizeable - 34”, we estimate about 20lbs of meat. No freeze dried for another day or so! The fog is still thick, the waxing crescent moon pops out briefly, but it’s soon completely obscured as we settle in for another damp foggy night. Hot chocolate mix is running low so we’re rationing with coffee-heavy mochas. We’re also out of soap(?), and running very low on disposable wipes. We’re now above 47°N, so pretty much due west of Seattle, but we’ve got some more north to go to get above this high and to get to the entrance to the straits. 735nm left to Neah Bay.
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| Albacore! |
Day 12
4am-8am watch
Cold and wet again. This fog just seems to stay with us. As the sun rises the grey fog turns pink and orange around us. Hopefully that’s a sign of some full sun later today. We’ve been sailing to about 150°AWA and the wind keeps clocking right, so we’re headed more directly to Neah Bay than we thought we’d be. Hopefully we can keep this 10-13kt wind and not get becalmed in the high. It’s a risk cutting East so soon, but so far it is paying off. Under 700nm to Neah Bay and I think everyone is ready to see land again.
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| Pink fog |
2pm-8pm watch
Lunch of albacore poke with rice. Very tasty and the rest of the fish will be steaks for dinner. The sun is finally out and it feels great to bask in the rays again. By 4 were back in fog, but still sailing in 13kt winds on a direct course for Neah Bay. Fin whale sighting around 6, one breaches off the starboard bow, then two surface near the port beam. For dinner we marinated the tuna steaks in honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil, then seared and served with some packaged chicken rice and stroganoff. About 600nm to Neah Bay now. Position: 48.35N, 141.40W TWS 10 TWD 215 BSP 7.5 Barometer 1023 Sea temp 64.7 DTF 675
Day 13
12am-4am watch
Heavy fog tonight, but at least it’s not quite as cold as previous nights. The fog and water are indistinguishable from each other, completely obscuring any horizon. We sail on instruments alone, which is tricky with the swell and current which want to push our bow in different directions. There are strange chirping noises around the boat. At first I thought it was some hardware on the boat squeaking, but now I think it’s coming from birds off in the fog. It’s a bit frightening when the chips seem to intensify and we joke about this and other scary stories on our watch. We’re expecting the wind to shift to 250° and to have to gybe to make the straits, but so far it’s been hanging around 230° and we’re sailing about 85° HDG, which is about 14° S of Neah Bay. We may do the gybe in the morning.
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| Happy helming |
8am-2pm watch
It’s still very foggy, though it burned off a bit throughout the watch. We gybed overnight and are now heading about 20° in order to go a bit farther north and get a better downwind angle on the wind when we get closer to the straits. Wave action is pretty rough on this tack. The boom raises up and slams back into place every now and then, which always makes me cringe thinking of the shock loading of the hardware. Skipper wants us to drive deep but doesn’t want us to slam… It’s a fine line. The fog is making things pretty monotonous. There are no cloud formations, sky, or stars to look at; just grey all around. Wind has also been pretty light which makes everything feel slower and less exciting. Now sailing 7-8kts @ 84°. We’re a bit north of the straits now, and about 460nm to Neah Bay. There’s a low pressure system that could bring 50kt winds to the entrance to the Strait late Tuesday and early Wednesday, so we’re going to get there before that full wind arrives. We’re thinking we’ll get to the straits Monday and into Seattle Tuesday. Time TBD.
8pm-12am watch
Freeze dried for dinner. Nice 16-24 kt winds mean fun surf-sailing up to 20 kts with full main and J3! The bobstay thrums satisfyingly as the bowsprit dips beneath the water when we start to surf. This is some of the most active helming I’ve done - it requires a lot of concentration in the dark. My eyes are basically glued to the apparent wind angle as the waves hit our transom on the starboard quarter. We play techno music as we race home, making 50 NM in our 4-hour watch, excellent! Very glad to hand it over to the other watch and get a few hours of sleep before we get back at it. Position: 49N, 135.45W TWD 235 TWS 12 COG 087 Bsp 8.8 DTF 440
Day 14
4am-8am watch
The wind started out the same as when we left it with good surfing and a lot of active helming needed. Then as the light began to show in the horizon the wind dropped to 13-15kts. We’re still north of the rhumb line to the straits, but will be crossing it to the South and may need to gybe around lunch today.
2pm-8pm watch
We got woken up early for a gybe and a surprise clock change. We’re now on Seattle time. We should be on port tack from here until deep in the strait. Looks like we’ll miss the worst of the low system, but it’ll still be another sporty night. Our arrival logistics are becoming clearer - we’ll likely pick up a tow around Pretty Angeles that’ll take us down to Shilshole. Dense overcast skies still surround us. Apparently it’s hot and a bit smoky in Seattle. Looking forward to the sun if there’s some around! Position: 48.25N, 130.56W TWD 235 TWS 11 COG 095 Bsp 8-9 DT Cape 250 DT Point Wilson 325
Day 15
12am-4am watch
It was indeed another sporty night. Helming takes a lot of concentration, especially since it’s so dark. There is no definitive horizon again and no stars. It’s cold and seawater occasionally comes over the deck making us even colder. As the watch goes on, the bioluminescence becomes stronger. The higher winds cause whitecaps around the boat which look like ghostly wraiths of bioluminescence all around. They appear as quickly as they disappear and seem to move with some coordination. The skipper is becoming increasingly irritable and ill tempered. I don’t think he’s sleeping very well and he has a frequent dry cough. By the end of the watch there’s 100nm to go to Neah Bay. 8am-2pm watch Lots of whales as we approach the straits. We thought we’d be looking out for logs, but it’s pods of humpbacks that are front of our minds. Many breaches guide our way into the straits. We contacted traffic control to let them know we have limited maneuverability, they’ll help advise other traffic in the straits. Position: 48.26N, 125.09W TWD 240 TWS 10 COG 095 Bsp 5 DTF 90
8pm-12am watch
Land ho! Cape Flattery is sighted and we’re slowly making our way to the entrance to Juan de Fuca. Humpback whales are spouting and breaching all around us, it’s incredible. As the darkness settles in, our transom spins out galaxies of bioluminescence that slowly fade away behind us. Lines of bioluminescence radiate from our hull in crisp ribbons that dissolve into a ghostly shimmer. Light winds as we near Neah Bay make progress slow and arduous. With the current changing to ebb and the wind close to zero at the end of our watch, our options are pretty limited. We’re going to drift until our sister boat Zvi arrives in the straits tomorrow and can possibly give us a tow. Otherwise we may get a tow tomorrow afternoon from BoatUS. If we start drifting towards land, a call to the coast guard may be in order tonight.
Day 16
4am-8am watch
We lost quite a bit of ground overnight and are now back near Neah Bay, now we’re in the separation zone between the shipping channels. Plans have been changing fast, and Zvi doesn’t look like a tow option due to the rollers coming in from the sea and the storm they just endured off of Van Isle last night. We’re headed very slowly towards Port Angeles where a tow boat should meet us and either tow us to Port Angeles or take us to Seattle. In the meantime, the pre-dawn bioluminescence is fantastic and whales are still breaching around us. It’s quite cold, but truly a magical place to be.
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| Finally in the Strait |
2pm-8pm watch
We got woken up a couple hours early to start making preparations for the tow. Mainsail flaked in the boom, bridle in place, etc. We also moved all the extra sails from below onto the deck to make the deep clean easier. Tug arrived about 4pm, should be about a 12 hour tow. Along the way we shared some drinks and sorted our gear and leftover food. We stopped in Port Townsend to switch tow vessels and drop off Odin. I’m bummed to see him go, he’s a great, young sailor and has brought so much energy to our watch. I hope to connect with him soon in the San Juans.
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| Hanging out while under tow |
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| Hanging out while under tow |
Day 17
12am-4am watch
We’re still under tow to Shilshole. As we passed the southern tip of Whidbey Island, we noticed that there’s still bioluminescence in the water. I’ve never seen that in Puget Sound before! The flashing lights of the tow boat in front of us were blindingly bright, and since we still needed to steer our boat, we sat down on the sails we stacked in the aft of the cockpit and casually steered while reflecting with each other on our experiences during the trip. It’s very cold. The tow boat switched to a side-tow before entering the marina and did an excellent job getting us into our tight slip. Sonic is so light that pushing it by hand is very effective. Once in the slip, we got started on a deep clean of the boat. Everything came out, we sponged and scooped out all the bilges, then hosed everything down, then sponged them out again. Lots of trash bags to throw away and gear to distribute and load up to shore. By the time we’re done it’s 6am. We all make plans to get together for a happy hour the next few days and then hug and say our goodbyes.
