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Dear F&F, September 26th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Today marks 4 years since \”Beach House\” left Marina del Rey, California. Needless to say, much has happened.

Two days ago, we were having a brilliant spinnaker run which lasted 16 hours. At 4 a.m., the wind started to pipe up to 25 knots so prudence dictated dropping the spinnaker. For those of you who don\’t know, a spinnaker is the brightly colored sail that is used to go down wind…..fast!

We were making excellent time, averaging around 9 knots and occasionally getting into the low teens. When we went to lower the spinnaker, it wrapped up like a package on the staysail. We were able to sort this out pretty quickly but I had my hands full (literally) with the sail. Anja took the control line (called a sheet) and tied it to the lifeline as I instructed her to do. The only problem is, I didn\’t tell her to pull it up tight first. It looped under the starboard (right) hull and wrapped itself in the propeller seizing and stopping the engine. This cannot be fixed without going under the boat to clear it out. I often have the engines on at a very slow speed to aid in giving us quick maneuvering ability while making a big sail change. Next time, I\’ll not have the engines \”in gear\”.

After we got the spinnaker down, the wind calmed and we could have flown it another full day (which I wish we had!). Yesterday was slow because we were under powered using only the genoa instead of the spinnaker. It\’s 1/3rd the size and we were a bit under canvassed.

This morning at 5 a.m., I realized we were going to be lucky to get to Luganville today before dark. We motored on one engine and headed to \”Home Bay\” on the southwest corner of Pentecost Island.

Good thing I used my head on this one. I\’d thought of trying to free the stuck spinnaker sheet out on the \”high seas\”, good thing I didn\’t! I would have been pummeled under the boat bouncing around in the 6 foot (2 meter) swell.

Home Bay was flat as a pancake. It took 3 minutes to get 90% of the tangle out. I started with snorkel gear. Clearly, it wasn\’t going to be easy for the last 6 inches (15 cm), (is it ever? LOL).

So on went the scuba gear (to the rescue yet again!). I took a 6 mm allen key and removed the bottom screw on the propeller zinc and used a marlin spike to lever out the stuck piece between the front of the propeller hub and the zinc anode. I pulled it out, put the zinc screw back in and away we went. A local pulled up in a handmade canoe, wish I\’d gotten a photo. Anja may have snapped one. He wanted to help! Another local boat went by and waved. Anja was her usual terrific self and handed me the appropriate tools and kept the boat from drifting around.

All in all just another \”sea story\” with a happy ending. My favorite kind!

Pentecost Island is where the original bungee jumpers (vine jumpers) come from. Did you know about these crazies? They jump off a 100 foot (35 meter) tower with a vine around their legs….head first! The idea is to touch the mud at the bottom of the tower with their heads! It\’s a coming of age manhood ritual of some sort. I\’ll stick with the lunnie things I already do, like jump in the ocean to remove tangled lines from propellers!…ha.

KIT, Scott

54 miles to go, ETA local time around 9pm.

Dear F&F,

September 25th, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

Day 2 run: 180 nm Position: 16 deg 29.5 min South 170 deg 48.2 min East

Speed: Ave = 7 knots Wind: 21 knots, ESE Swell: 6.5 feet (2 meters) Air: 81 deg F/ 27.2 deg C Baro: 1015 steady

Yesterday was so nice out here, we set the spinnaker at noon, the wind was about 18 knots. We carried it with one reef in the main till 4 a.m. and it started to blow 25 knots. First we got a wrap (around the furled up staysail) while taking it down, that cleared easily and then we discovered we\’d gotten the spinnaker sheet wrapped around the starboard propeller. Ah, the cruising life! Currently, we\’ve a full main and genoa poled out to port, running before the wind right on course. We should see Ambryn Island to port and Pentecost Island to starboard at day break tomorrow. Once we get inside the islands, we\’ll drop sail and motor on the port engine into the lee of Pentecost and I\’ll get to go for a swim to free up the line from the propeller. It\’s happened before, but not on a passage. No worries, it\’s all just part of the game.

This has been an extremely pleasant sail with very moderate seas and nice normal trade wind conditions from the ESE. The prediction is for more of the same. The new spinnaker pole has been yet again a blessing, keeping us headed right down the waves and on course. This makes the passage very comfortable and our efficiency at keeping a course with good speed has dramatically increased.

We\’ll be pressing a bit, but hope to make Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island before dark tomorrow (Our Monday).

KIT, Scott with off watch, sleeping Anja

Dear F&F, September 24th 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

End of Day one: 175 nm 312 mile to Pentecost Island Passage, 380 miles to Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island – Vanuatu 16 deg 41 min S 174 deg 21 min E

A lovely first days sail, we put the spinnaker up mid day today, winds are SSE at 12-18 knots. 5 foot (1.5 meter) seas from the SSE. Air is 79 deg F (26.1 C) As we are headed almost due west, we\’re getting a nice push.

Calm, comfortable and really nice so far. As usual, on these longer passages, Anja and I don\’t see much of each other. She is currently napping \”off watch\” and I\’m minding \”The House\”, listening to music and watching this incredibly gorgeous day progress.

I\’ll check in with the Pacific Seafarer\’s Net (via amateur radio) at 0330 GMT. This is a \”safety at sea\” net which monitors voluntarily any boats who wish to participate. I\’ve done so ever since we left California.

Of note, a minor fridge issue which I know I\’ll be able to resolve in one of our next ports.

I just caught the \”ship\’s log\” up to date and it should be posted on the home page at: www.svbeachhouse.com

Feel free to drop a note anytime! Scott with sleeping Anja!

Dear F&F, September 21st – 23rd, 2011 (Eastern Hemisphere)

We went up to check and see if the nice dive sites off the end of Yasawairara were dive able, but the weather was just too strong. So instead, we set sail for the 12 miles back to Nanuya-Sewa. We had a brilliant ride in fantastic wind and calm seas.

Once we were anchored, Joe and Anja went on a dive to \”The Cabbage Patch\” which has large lettuce leaf shaped hard corals; even green in color.

I went into \”get the boat ready to sail off\” mode. Topped the fuel from our jerry cans, put stuff away, checked the weather, etc.

The next day, we were able to go with a local dive boat and did what would be our final dive in Fiji; \”Tom\’s Thumb\”. A lovely site which we did with a couple from Australia staying at a local resort. Nice lion fish, hard and soft corals, lots of large anemone\’s and I found a tiny Imperial Shrimp living in an anemone. A mantis shrimp was scene by our Aussie friends, but I didn\’t get to see it, darn! These look like a brightly crazy quilted and colored \”mini lobster\”. Be careful though, they can cut your finger off if you try to handle them!

Joe left with hugs and kisses on the Ferry and Anja and I went into super ready mode. Anja made some easy prepared ready to heat meals for the expected 4 day trip to Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu. We would begin the 600 mile trip in the morning.

Upped anchor at 0800 local time and we\’re off!….. Watch for blogs posted remotely from our trip and of course I update our position while en-route.

KIT, Scott and Anja en-route to Vanuatu! Farewell Fiji, you\’ve been great.