Day 9, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 30SEP19, Day 9, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. We continue to experience wind lulls and gusts, but things generally seem to be very gradually calming.

Current Position: 36 58S / 091 14W
24 hour progress: 139nm, 5.8kts avg SOG
Overall progress for the passage is 1167nm with approximately 855nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. Today there is a lot more cloud cover and a lot of gray, though the sun is breaking out on occasion too. We are sailing a starboard tack, close reach, with 3 reefs in the main and 1 in the genoa. Winds are currently 20kts true +/-5kts and the seas are slowly coming down.

The crew are all doing well and trying to stay warm. The cats are very cuddly. The temperature inside the boat is in the upper 50s at night and lower 60s during the day. For some reason Daxton is still in shorts and short sleeves though he carries his fuzzy blanket everywhere to bundle himself under. We are still working the sails with occasional stints of gusts into the low 30s, typically preceded and proceeded by winds around 15kts though all this has calmed some more as well with recent gusts around 25kts.

Not much else to report, we are in the groove and making decent progress. The galley is still challenging, but meals are being made and eaten. We think we will see some no wind / motoring days coming up and are planning a bunch of house keeping tasks for the calm, if it arrives.

Day 8, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 29SEP19, Day 8, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. Big milestones today - halfway through the passage, completed 1k nm and less than 1k nm to go! We continue to sail Zephyros hard. We are battling challenging conditions and making good progress in the right direction, decently close to rhumb line. Zephyros continues to take excellent care of us.

Current Position: 36 20S / 093 57W
24 hour progress: 144nm, 6.0kts avg SOG
Overall progress for the passage is 1038nm with approximately 990nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The weather is now officially cold with temperatures dropping below 50F last night - we've broken out the slippers, socks and shoes! Up to this point we've been in foulies, hats and barefoot. It is mostly sunny though we hit occasional rain last night. We are sailing a starboard tack, close reach, with 3 reefs in the main and 2 in the genoa. Winds are currently 25kts true +/-5kts and the seas are still big and rolly.

The crew are all doing well and enjoying the morale boost, music and candy treats for passing the passage halfway mark. Halfway party! We are still working hard and resting when we can. It seems this weather will continue for a few days and then the winds will drop back down to nothing. The wind this passage has been too much or too little, but at least the sailing angles have been close to desired, even though we are bashing into it. Overnight we battled 30kt winds with extended gusts in the 40s, but it has mostly come back down during the day with gusts into the 30s. We switched to the staysail briefly but it was just too slow—probably should have been on it last night in the stronger winds. Oh well, always experimenting, always learning.

Day 7, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 28SEP19, Day 7, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. We have completed another week at sea! There have been small cell pockets which have kept us busy - furling in and letting out headsail as well as trimming due to the wind shifts, and ducking between cells as feasible. The wind goes above 30kts and then drops to below 15kts. It's right miserable if we don't let sail back out when the wind drops because we are going too slow and rolling about in the large seas. Then when the gusts come we are screaming along, with a rail in the water if we don't take in sail.

Current Position: 35 33S / 096 40W
24 hour progress: 133nm, 5.5kts avg SOG
Overall progress for the passage is 884nm with approximately 1135nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The weather is chilly and sunny with occasional rain in the cells. We are sailing a starboard tack, beam reach to close reach, with 3 reefs in the main and 1-3 in the genoa. Winds are currently 25kts true +/-5kts and the seas are big and rolly.

The crew are all doing well though we feel a bit beat up. It sure feels like we should have put away more miles in the last 24 hours. We are going fast and then pretty slow so that averages to just ok progress, unfortunately. We sure are working hard and getting tossed all about when we do anything down below. Cooking and cleaning are major events and Megan is feeling quite exhausted.

In boat equipment breakage news, our wind pilot (wind steering autopilot, that we have set up as a backup to our nke electric autopilot) took a blade off of our Watt & Sea hydro generator last night. We love our W&S; it provides great power whenever deployed and we are making 6 knots or more boat speed. We need the power to keep our batteries charged and run our electronics - like refrigerator, autopilot and radar. Well a pin that holds the W&S arm down in the water came loose over night and the arm swung up just a little too far, the wind pilot pendulum blade then swung hard on a wave sheering off one of the 3 propeller blades. We have a spare propeller for W&S which had to be located and dug out. We installed the replacement in a wind lull and are back in business. Just another part that is added to the replacement/to do list: WindPilot - 1, Watt&Sea - 0.

Day 6, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 27SEP19, Day 6, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. We are back to making good progress and in the right direction! The weather is getting cooler each day. The sea temp is down to 57F (14C) and the daytime air temp to 62F (17C). The winds have steadily filled in and we are mostly seeing 25kts +/- 5kts. We've gone from sailing a broad reach to a beam reach since beginning sailing again yesterday afternoon.

Current Position: 34 36S / 099 04W
24 hour progress: 149nm, 6.2kts avg SOG
Overall progress for the passage is 751nm with approximately 1260nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The weather is chilly and sunny. We are sailing a starboard tack, beam reach, with 3 reefs in the main and 2 in the genoa. Winds are currently 25kts true +/-5kts and the seas are big and rolly.

The crew are all doing well. We are all happy to be sailing and moving along again. Cooking and accomplishing tasks in the galley are challenging with the seas as you are continuously being knocked about as you try to stand and balance. We've seen some new birds - a different type of albatross and perhaps a new type of petrel. Our 4 white chinned petrels are still around. It's probably good fishing with all these birds, but it's too rough for us to bother putting the line out.

We've begun seriously thinking about digging out warmer clothes and blankets. Megan has been dreaming about fuzzy pile layers and slippers stowed deep beneath the bed. Warm duvets will undoubtedly be dug out in Puerto Montt, but an expedition may have to be mounted to excavate some warmer clothing sooner. The cats too have been seeking warmer spots to lie and more food to bolster their prodigious heat output. A cat on the lap can be a useful watch companion, and we are reminded of how much we love our enclosed pilot house every time we step outside or watch a wave splash over the deck.

Day 5, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 26SEP19, Day 5, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. It has been yet another slow progress kind of day. We mostly motored through the night and morning, as we slowly traversed the middle of a squashed high with winds in the 5-10kt range. Sailing was difficult with the low winds on a broad reach due to the long swell that keeps the sails from staying full so we stuck with the engine.

Current Position: 33 05S / 101 32W
24 hour progress: 104nm, 4.3kts avg SOG, almost 14 hours of motor sailing
Overall progress for the passage is 602nm with approximately 1410nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The weather is cool and sunny with occasional drizzle - though it is nice and warm in the shelter of our pilot house when the sun shines. We are now sailing a starboard tack, broad reach, with full sails. Winds are currently 15kts true +/-5kts and the seas have a big, long swell.

We would normally have been sailing the asymmetric in these conditions but we expect the wind will build, and it is unclear when or how quickly that will happen so we are choosing to stay conservative. We returned to sailing just about 2 hours ago. There was a bit of banging of sails for awhile as the waves on the beam are coming from the wrong direction after the wind shifted over. We are already seeing the wind start to build and gusts to 20kts.

The crew are all doing well. The extra sleep continued as the engine droned on. We have reached the stage where everyone is absorbed in their books and the days are blending together.

According to the weather models there is a low setting up to the southeast and we hope we are starting to grab the outer northwest edge of this system. Then the high between Easter Island and mainland Chile should re-establish and we should be able to ride the east side of it to Puerto Montt. We are hopeful that these predictions work out and the wind continues to fill in from here - like Goldilocks not too much and not too little, but just right.

Day 4, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 25SEP19, Day 4, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. It has been another slow progress kind of day. We continued making more southward progress until we turned on the engine this morning because the winds were around 5 knots and the seas were big and confused making it difficult to catch or hold enough wind and very uncomfortable —Jon had simply had enough. We motored directly towards Chile for a few hours, then just before noon local we shook out the sails and went back to slowly sailing on a good course.

Current Position: 32 16S / 103 08W
24 hour progress: 98nm, 4.1kts avg SOG, almost 5 hours motor sailing
Overall progress for the passage is 498nm with approximately 1500nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The gray, drizzly weather continued through this morning. The skies did open up to show off the stars for a few hours last night and then cleared again for a sunny, pleasant afternoon. We are currently close hauled, port tack, with all sail up. Winds are currently about 10kts true and the seas remain big and confused.

The crew are all well. There has been extra sleep and the boys are back to doing watches so everyone is back in the groove and feeling a bit more rested. Megan even got her shower in the afternoon sun, though the breeze was rather cold! It may be quite some time before a deck shower is braved again.

This morning we put in the fishing line with the cedar plug. Megan was watching 4 or so decent sized dark sea birds, likely white chined petrels, circling the boat (we love the Merlin Bird ID app to which Russ introduced us— thanks again Russ!). She just started wondering if perhaps we should bring in the line since we really don't want to catch a bird (our lures are all surface trolling) when she saw a fish strike. We landed a nice sized tuna; it was an iridescent blue and was definitely not a skip jack or yellow-finned and was perhaps a very young blue finned tuna. This one should provide 2-3 meals. Any recommendations on a good fish ID app or book for the Southern oceans? (We also need a whale ID app or book and would happily take recommendations there too!) After catching the fish we had quite an audience with 2 albatrosses joining the petrels, likely black browed albatrosses. They joined us yesterday for awhile and were back again this morning for fish scraps. The petrels are nice to watch soaring about, but the albatrosses are on another level. Their wingspan is impressive and they are such adept fliers. Hopefully all our bird followers enjoyed some of the scraps we returned to the giving sea.

In other fish related news, Poseidon finally decided he was interested in raw fish! He has been on a bit of a diet and is looking like he's at a nice weight. He has been more playful and more cuddly - though we wonder if really he's just thinking about how he might be able to eat us. Well, when Megan was prepping the fish he got rather interested so we gave him some and he ate a bit! Athena stayed curled up in her spot and turned up her nose.

Day 3, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 24SEP19, Day 3, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. We continue to be put to work by the variable winds. It has been a slow progress kind of day. We are making more southward progress than we might like but it seems to align with the weather routing so it should work out. We are back to a port tack and have sailed from a close reach to a broad reach back to a close reach with winds varying from 5 to 25 kts.

Current Position: 30 55S / 103 45W
24 hour progress: 121nm, 5.0kts avg SOG
Overall progress for the passage is 400nm with approximately 1580nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The gray, rainy weather continues though we are back to drizzle rather than showers, and have even seen a little sun. We are currently close hauled, with two reefs in the main and 3 in the genoa. Winds are currently 20kts +/- 5kts true and the seas are decently big and slightly confused due to all the shifting winds. We have a following swell and are bashing into the wind waves - not especially comfortable nor fast.

The crew are all fine. The confused seas have gotten to Jon and Ronan making them seasick late yesterday. Ronan, at least, seems to be better today. Daxton is a bit stir crazy since Ronan isn't as interested in playing. All the heeling and bouncing are also giving inconsistent readings on the water tank so it is unclear how much or how little water we captured yesterday, so no shower yet, though it would be sporty in the current conditions. No fishing today either as landing and cleaning the fish wouldn't be fun.

The weather forecasts suggest we will be near the center of the squashed high for a bit longer and then skirt the edges of some faster moving pressure systems. Looks like there will be more of the same with low winds, high winds and wind shifts. We are sleeping when we can but are starting to show signs of sleep deprived thinking. The boys have not been doing much unaccompanied watch due to the conditions so Jon and I are back on a 3 hour on / 3 hour off night shift with both of us up when a major sail configuration change is needed. Typically around day 3 everything starts to even out a bit, but since we've had a more eventful start this time out it may take a bit longer and some more naps.

Day 2, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 23SEP19, Day 2, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. It has been an eventful 24 hours with challenging conditions.

Overnight a low pressure system caught up to us and the wind really picked up. The winds built and then built some more. It took about an hour or so to get everything settled and under control. Ronan was on watch and was a huge help re-engaging Nike (our nke autopilot) which kept kicking off as it tried to steer past the rudder stops given the wind and waves. Meanwhile, Jon reefed down the main to our fourth reef and Megan brought in all but a handkerchief worth of headsail. The winds were high with significant gusts, but we reefed down and Zephyros was safely in control taking good care of us.

As the night turned into day things very slowly calmed back down to the 15-20kt range and we let out more sail continuing to comfortably sail a broad reach close to our desired track. Then about 2 hours ago the winds dropped a bit before doing a 180 degree shift! The winds then picked back up to 15-20kts with heavy rain. Another 30-60 minutes of sorting things out ensued. Again the boys were a huge help monitoring Nike so that we could sort out lines and a mess of our own making with the genoa. We went from sailing a port tack, broad reach making 120T COG to sailing a starboard tack, close hauled making 110T COG.

Current Position: 29 29S 105 06W
24 hour progress: 151nm, 6.3kts avg SOG Overall progress for the passage is 279nm with approximately 1690nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The gray, rainy weather continues. We are currently close hauled, with two reefs in the main and 2.5 in the genoa. Winds are 15-20kts true and the seas are decently big.

As we expected the weather has already proven to be challenging. The low that caught us developed between the two highs that we were watching. Then they squashed a system together giving us that 180 deg wind shift which was also predicted in a couple of our weather models. The port of Hanga Roa (that we just left) closed yesterday and there is a weather warning for Easter Island. So even with the challenges, it was the right decision to depart and it is still safer out here with room to run off and shorten sails. Sitting at anchor without protection with big winds and big seas would be worse and considerably more dangerous.

The crew is well and is doing their best to relax and sleep between the chaotic bits. The boys continue to be passage rock stars and are entertaining themselves, mostly without devices though there has been extra TV today. A tiny bit of school work continues daily (even today). The LEGO and pretend play also continues.

We haven't had a water refill since La Libertad and have been on severe water restrictions with only 640L on board. I (Megan) refused to pay nearly $2/gallon in Easter Island and said we would continue with our severe rations despite Jon's valiant efforts to source water and transport of it. Since there had been drizzle all day, Jon had gotten our water catch system set up for our earlier downwind sail configuration. After fighting the conditions, working hard and getting soaked in the wind shift and getting set up on the new configuration, he didn't find my suggestion (mind you, I had changed into dry clothes and put on my dry foulies and he is in completely soaked foulies) to go out in the middle of the next downpour and switch everything around so I could have a long, hot shower (and wash my knotted, dry, angry hair) all that funny. But as the rain continued to pour down he could no longer pass up the precious FREE! water and his providing instincts took over. He has now set us up to top up our starboard tank. Perhaps there will be showers in our near future!?!

No fishing in these conditions. And another wind lull and shift is upon us. It could be the rain cells (no lightning in these just heavy rain) or could be the front edge. Hopefully it will move past, settle out and we will be able to set a point of sail in the next few hours. Off to deal with that and rest when we can...

Day 1, Passage to Puerto Montt

2000Z 22SEP19, Day 1, Easter Island to Puerto Montt, Chile. We departed from our spot at anchor in Hanga Roa around 3pm local Saturday the 21st. Jon and Daxton went into town in the morning to get some last minute provisions (empanadas, bread and pastries!) and checked us out. They were back on the boat around noon. We ate lunch, deflated and stored the dinghy, completed some other pre-departure chores, and got underway. The wind had already started shifting to the north so it was definitely looking like time to get going as the anchorage was becoming more and more exposed.

We motored down the west coast of Easter Island and put up sails about an hour after getting underway. We were comfortably sailing close hauled and fell off to a close reach as we got out of the lee of the island with 10-15kts of wind. Overnight the wind died to 5-10kts, we moved slowly and bounced around a bit - not unlike that rolly anchorage just louder with the main flopping about. Eventually we gave that up and motored for awhile. Then the winds came back, the engine was secured and we set up on a nice broad reach. Over the course of the day the wind has continued to fill in.

Current Position: 28 15S 107 29W
24 hour progress: 128nm, 5.3kts avg SOG with about 5hrs of engine time since getting ready to depart, approximately 1835nm to the entrance canal to get to Puerto Montt. The weather yesterday afternoon was lovely with a beautiful sunset next to Rapa Nui. Today has been more gray with a bit of light rain. The night was clear and the stars were brilliant. The moon is about half and up for the last half of the night. We are currently on a broad reach, with one reef in the main. Winds are 20-25kts true and the seas are comfortably following.

We expect the weather to be rather up and down for this passage. It wasn't a great weather window with converging highs and shifting systems, but it was better than staying on the exposed Easter Island so we are prepared to sail, drift and motor as needed.

The crew is well and we're settling into our routines. One of the bright sides of a rolly anchorage is that everyone is feeling good. Even Poseidon is well - he isn't drooling or sick like he typically gets at the start of a passage. The boys are fully engaged in a lego robotics challenge. They are building and programming together as the parents throw out suggestions of what we would like to see.

Fishing line has been out with the cedar plug in hopes of a tuna that seemed so prevalent in the restaurants of Rapa Nui. No bites for us yet though.

Day 17, Easter Island Arrival!

0100Z 13SEP19,🗿 Easter Island 🗿 Passage, COMPLETE! Anchored off of Hanga Roa.

The last half a day was a great day sailing. We stopped going through the cells that we experienced everyday from leaving Ecuador. The winds were consistently 15-20 knots, the was calm, and we made consistent speed all day in beautiful sunny weather. We were able to sail all the way to the anchorage and dropped the anchor 10 minutes before sunset. The anchorage is a bit rolly but that was expected - after all we are at a small island without protected bays 2000nm from land!

2306 nautical miles
16 days, 12.25 hours
5.8 knots average speed over ground
7.3 hours of engine time
25 liters of fuel consumed (approximately)
240 liters of water consumed (we really want a water maker so that severe rations are not necessary!)
1 celebration (Daxton's birthday)
1 day with humpback whale sightings
1 set of dolphin sightings
1 group of albatrosses spotted
5 days of company from a red-footed booby hitchhiker
3 Mahi-mahi, caught, landed and eaten

This was our most direct passage with less than an extra 100nm added. We sailed nearly the entire way and never needed to turn on the engine to recharge our batteries. Overall it was a good passage where we saw the boys take on more responsibility and participation in the passage.

6 officials were on board this morning to check us in. It was an easy process and we are now cleared in. Everyone is anxious to get ashore - but we have to blow up the dinghy before that can happen!

Day 16, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 12SEP19, Day 16, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continued to make direct progress and good speed until it all slowed down. We are still pushing and racing sunset, but we may be somewhat out of options. The winds and seas have come back down which makes it harder to squeeze out the needed speed. But, on the bright side, it also means it will likely be calmer at Easter Island which is what we need to be able to stay and go ashore.

Current Position: 26 13S 108 23W
24 hour progress: 151nm, 6.3kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 2226nm with approximately 80nm to go. The skies continue to be a mix of sun and clouds. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 15-20kts. We are currently sailing a beam to broad reach with 1 reef in the main and the full genoa. We may shake out the last reef today to get the most out of Zephyros, but it isn't likely to be enough, and will make the ride less comfortable, particularly in the gusts.

The crew is well and looking forward to landfall. Sunrise gave us a rainbow that we are driving towards the end of - so Easter Island is at the end of the rainbow? We were about 150nm from the anchorage at sunset last night and put up good mileage for the beginning of the night and even made the needed speed to end out the day. However the the wind seems to be generally dying or the lulls are getting bigger or pessimism is creeping over optimism. We will do what we can with the day, hope for the best and take what we get in the end. Hoping for a decently calm anchorage and looking forward to a post arrival drink!

Day 15, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 11SEP19, Day 15, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed. Things are very much the same. The winds and seas are slowly coming back down - very slowly. We keep thinking they are down for good, and then get another round of gusts and some waves that we surf or that smack against our side. We are (still) hoping things will continue to settle today, though we'd like to keep enough wind to make 6+kts.

Current Position: 24 26S 106 25W
24 hour progress: 151nm, 6.3kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 2075nm with approximately 230nm to go. The weather continues to be a mix of sun and clouds. The past days have been more gray than sun. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 20kts. We are currently sailing a beam to broad reach with 3 reefs in the main and the full genoa. The main will likely have some reefs shaken out soon, though it's really mostly the genoa that is powering us on.

The crew is well and looking forward to landfall. Daxton seems to have recovered just fine from his 24 hour bug. We are still hoping to be anchored off of Easter Island before dark on the 12th, and that is still looking possible but very tight to make. The moon will help as it continues to wax and is up before sunset currently. That is as long as it isn't hidden behind clouds. We were about 300nm from the anchorage at sunset last night. So that means we need to put up 1.5 days more worth of 150nm days / 6.2kts SOG to make it. Good news is that we have been making that kind of speed this passage. Bad news is that it isn't easy for us and the past days are no guarantee that we will keep putting up that kind of mileage / speed, particularly as the wind dies down. We continue to watch and monitor and remain open to the possibilities and alternatives.

Random milestones: Yesterday we passed 17,000nm total distance logged on our GPS. So in our 2 years of cruising (we hit the 2 year mark later this month) we have traveled over 17k nautical miles! Yesterday we also passed the 2,000nm mark for this passage.

Day 14, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 10SEP19, Day 14, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed. We have completed two weeks at sea! The winds and seas are slowly coming back down. We are still seeing the occasional gusts and still getting kicked around by the occasional bigger waves. We are hoping things will continue to settle down today.

Current Position: 22 41S 104 30W
24 hour progress: 147nm, 6.1kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1924nm with approximately 380nm to go on the great circle route. The weather continues to be a mix of sun and clouds. Overall yesterday was a bit more gray than recent days. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 20-25kts. We are currently sailing a beam reach with 3 reefs in the main and 3 in the genoa.

The crew is doing alright. Daxton seems to have gotten the bug that Ronan and Megan had. He was feverish, nauseous and slept a good bit yesterday. Hopefully he will be feeling better today. If it is what we had it only seems to last for about 24 hours.

Days are currently about 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness and getting a bit shorter as we continue south. We really are looking most likely to arrive around dusk on the 12th. It looks like we need to either squeeze a bit more speed out or slow waaaay down if we want a daylight arrival. We will see what today brings. Somehow it always seems like we are racing sunset on our arrivals after passages!

Day 13, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 09SEP19, Day 13, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed. Looks like we have somewhere around 4 days left to go now! We could arrive on the 12th, or if not, then we should be in by the 13th, we shall see how the next days go. The winds and seas really kicked up overnight. We are sailing our staysail because we were seeing sustained gusts of 35+kts for extended periods of time. Of course, we still see the occasional periods of 20kts as well.

Current Position: 20 57S 102 41W
24 hour progress: 156nm, 6.5kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1777nm with approximately 525nm to go on the great circle route. The weather continues to be a mix of sun and clouds with small rain cells throughout. We have mostly threaded through the rain, but occasionally we have gotten a bit of a wash and then we are back to sun again. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 30kts +/- 5kts. We are currently sailing between a beam reach and a broad reach with 3 reefs in the main and the full staysail.

The crew is doing well. We are getting banged around a bit by the larger seas and in the gusty sections. We are riding some bigger waves that really push us around. The conditions are a reminder of why you always move around with one hand for the boat. It is definitely risky to carry things in both hands right now - you could go flying. When moving around one hand is to be dedicated to bracing oneself.

It was a big mileage day for Zephyros. We think it was our biggest to date. It would have been even bigger if we hadn't needed to reduce sail for these bigger gusts. We were averaging 6.7kts for the first 18 hours of the day - which is more impressive if you realize that, the average typically means there is a lot of time at 7-8kts balanced by times at 5.5-6.5kts. The winds are forecasted to drop some in the next 24 hours so we should be at the peak of the winds and returning to more normal conditions soon. We are hoping to be back to the lower winds and back on the genoa again today.

Day 12, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 08SEP19, Day 12, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed. The winds and seas are both up. The wind has moved a bit aft and we are now sailing between a beam reach and a broad reach depending on the wind shifts.

Current Position: 19 04S 100 48W
24 hour progress: 152nm, 6.3kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1621nm with approximately 680nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary and are averaging around 25kts +/- 5kts. We are currently sailing a broad reach with 3 reefs in the main and 3 in the genoa.

The crew is doing well. The boys have been listening to an audio book and creating elaborate imaginative stories with Legos. Yesterday we switched to our smaller headsail for about 6 hours. We decided that it worked well in the gusts but was too slow for the average winds, and far too slow for the lulls. So we are back to the partially furled genoa. It is always a balance. We aren't racers and don't like to push Zephyros too hard, but going too slow in big seas is not much fun either. So we are sailing comfortably in the averages, feeling like we need a bit more sail in the lulls and feeling like we need to start thinking about taking down sail in the gusts if they are to continue much longer (they usually seem to last about 5-15 minutes). It seems to be our comfortable place for these conditions and is working for us.

Day 11, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 07SEP19, Day 11, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed. The winds and seas have picked up. Cooking is now more challenging.

Current Position: 17 13S 099 01W
24 hour progress: 148nm, 6.2kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1469nm with approximately 830nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary and are now averaging around 25kts, with gusts in the 30s. We are currently sailing a beam reach with 3 reefs in the main and 3 in the genoa. If conditions continue to build we will switch to the staysail.

The crew is doing well. Yesterday we all conserved some energy with lots of lounging around reading and napping in the larger seas. Our red-footed booby hitch hiker left us. I guess we have gone as far as he was going or he didn't like the anchor bashing into the sea in the larger sea state. The conditions are a bit more challenging but all is well and spirits are good as the miles continue to click away.

Zephyros is taking great care of us. Our only current issue is with faulty readings from the speed log. It hasn't consistently worked right since we left Ecuador—it has periods of working ok and then it starts acting up again. It currently seems to be all over the place, reading rather slow, and then way too high. In many ways it doesn't matter much. We have lots of SOG (speed over ground) indicators based on our GPS positions. The biggest issue is that the gyropilot computer has no way to read True Wind Speed (TWS). It calculates TWS based on the Apparent Wind Speed (AWS), which is what the boat is seeing and the wind instruments read, the boat speed and sailing angles. As we are largely sailing a beam reach now, it isn't a big deal because AWS and TWS are pretty close regardless of the boat speed. We base many decisions, like when to reef, what sails to use, on the wind conditions. We are adjusting and working through it. The fix may be as simple as cleaning it off and recalibrating once we can easily dive it or dry out. Just another boat headache / challenge to overcome and a to do item for the never ending list of boat projects.

Day 10, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 06SEP19, Day 10, Ecuador to Easter Island. The weather yesterday was quite pleasant and mostly sunny. We continue to make direct progress and good speed - averaging 5.8kts for the past 3 days. We seem to also be getting a small favorable current assist. The winds are forecasted to pick up and we have started seeing higher averages and higher gusts, though we continue to have the ranging variations in wind direction and speed.

Current Position: 15 24S 097 19W
24 hour progress: 140nm, 5.8kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1321nm with approximately 975nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary and are now averaging between 20-25kts. We are currently sailing a beam reach with 3 reefs in the main and 2 in the jib.

The crew is doing well. The boys continue to have excess energy and are a bit stir crazy. They seem to go through a good fight and then play Legos together quite nicely afterwards. Yesterday we got Daxton to do a bunch of exercises which helped a good bit. Our red-footed booby hitch hiker stayed with us throughout the day and night yet again. Apparently he's happy riding our way. We have also seen some storm petrels and other small birds. Besides the bird companions there is not much else; just the vast seas of blue and skies that open then cover with clouds. We haven't seen any other vessels in days and days now. It makes our immediate world seem small and the proverbial world seem extremely vast.

Day 9, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 05SEP19, Day 9, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and decent speed under favorable conditions. We are halfway there!!!

Current Position: 13 42S 095 41W
24 hour progress: 139nm, 5.8kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1181nm with approximately 1115nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary and average between 10-15kts. The weather continues to be a mix of sun and clouds. Yesterday we shook out both our reefs set the day before and ran most of the day with lighter winds. We even sailed a broad reach for a short while. We set one reef around sunset and a second reef in the early morning hours. The winds and seas are forecasted to build over the next few days, but current conditions mean a reef or 2 will be shaken back out this morning.

The crew is doing well. The boys have some excess energy and are a bit stir crazy. Which means that everyone is a bit on everyone else's nerves, but we are getting through it. Our red-footed booby hitch hiker stayed with us throughout the day and night again - the anchor looks to be quite white. The second one still hasn't landed. He was around in the morning and back around evening but still hasn't braved a landing. We have also seen some storm petrels. We are still hoping to see some hard rain to wash everything down a bit, but thus far all we have seen is short lived drizzle that simply moves the dust around.

Day 8, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 04SEP19, Day 8, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and decent speed under favorable conditions. Though the conditions have also been a bit variable and a bit of work.

Current Position: 11 59S 094 07W
24 hour progress: 140nm, 5.8kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1042nm with approximately 1250nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary but average between 10-15kts. We continue to pass through small cells that have small amounts of drizzling rain and lots of shifting winds. They do not include any thunder or lightning and they do not show up on radar. They are mostly just a bit annoying and make night sailing a bit more challenging than day sailing since we can't see when they are coming, though you can't always tell in the day either. We are able to hold a good course most of the time and are sailing between a close reach and a beam reach. The work comes in the need to trim and mind your heading through the variations. We have also seen stronger gusts over the last 24 hours so we have been keeping 2 reefs in the main which is fine until the short bouts of 5-10 knots of wind arrive. Then you bob around a bit before the wind picks back up, sometimes gusting to 20 or more within 30min or so of that slow period. We are starting to get used to the strange and irregular cycles.

The crew is back to normal and is excited to be approaching the halfway mark. A batch of brownies was made yesterday to lift morale as well. Our red-footed booby hitch hiker stayed with us throughout the day and night. He leaves for short fishing trips and returns to preen. He settles in to sleep in the late afternoon and is back to fishing and hitch hiking by daylight. We had a second one circling looking like he might also land last night before sunset, but he does not appear to have joined us. They can be so messy so we are hoping any hitch hikers stay on the anchor and are on good behavior. But inevitably birds circling your boat means their poop is somewhere - your sails, your deck, your canvas - and probably all of the above.

Day 7, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 03SEP19, Day 7, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and decent speed under favorable conditions. We've completed a week at sea!

Current Position: 10 15S 092 34W
24 hour progress: 129nm, 5.4kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 902nm with approximately 1395nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary but have mostly been 10-15kts. There are these small cells around and the wind does strange things in and around them. Sometimes dropping to 5 knots of wind for periods of time and then picking back up. We have been sailing through them and keeping one reef in the main because typically within an hour of the 5kts section we see 20kts and then it settles back between 10-15. We are able to hold a good course most of the time and are sailing between a close reach and a beam reach.

The crew continues to be holding up alright. Ronan was feeling better by yesterday afternoon and is back to eating well. Megan was still achey and off, and spent most of the day sleeping. She started feeling better by her night watch. Hopefully we are back to normal today and don't pass it to Jon and Daxton! And perhaps we can cook those birthday treats that Megan had hoped to bake for Daxton today. It just wasn't happening with how sick Megan felt, but today is a new day and blueberry muffins are in the oven!

We have not seen much wildlife, but what we have seen has been great. Yesterday a Red-footed Booby joined us in the late afternoon and has been hanging out on our anchor. It is only the one and the mess should be mostly contained to the anchor. Daxton loves them so it was a fun addition for the day. Also two nights ago Jon got an amazing show from a pod of dolphins playing around the boat in the bioluminescence. They look amazing darting around as the green lights of the sea, a little like soaring ghosts.

Day 6, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 02SEP19, Day 6, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress and good speed under favorable conditions.

Current Position: 08 41S 091 08W
24 hour progress: 140nm, 5.8kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 773nm with approximately 1520nm to go on the great circle route. Winds continue to vary but have mostly been 10-15kts - sometimes a little lower and sometimes a little higher. We are able to hold a good course and are sailing a pretty comfortable beam reach. The seas are still fairly calm but the wave direction has changed due to the shift in wind.

Today is Daxton's birthday! Our amazing, determined, charismatic, always curious, extrovert turns 10. Both boys have had their birthday's at sea this year. They like it because they get a pre and post celebration on land and we still try to do something on their birthday which breaks up the monotony of the days at sea. We plan to try to make some treats, if conditions permit, and surprise Daxton with Avengers End Game (thanks Joseph!) and a few other small gifts from us. Thank you for all the birthday notes and gift cards!

The crew continues to be doing fine. Ronan and Megan both seem to have gotten a little bug. Hopefully it will pass soon and be limited to them. We put the fishing line in again yesterday and caught a decent sized Mahi around lunch time. Daxton requested ceviche for his birthday lunch so we figured we'd better start trying the day before. We had a sushi lunch and will have ceviche for lunch today and some rib-eye steaks for dinner. There won't be any fishing today and it might be time to try a different lure to see if we can catch something else to have a break from Mahi.

Following up to yesterday's post, a little more about our fishing gear. There's a great shop on the marina waterfront in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria that got us "hooked" up right. We suspect they set up at least half the sailboats in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) every year. They provided us with a skein of line to put on our hand reels, and taught us how to rig blue water fishing gear to the scale we needed. Each line ends in a large ball bearing swivel that has a clasp for attaching the leader and lure rigs. We use the same monofilament to build our leaders as on our reels. The leaders have the lures built on to the ends and everything is put together with crimps instead of knots. We mostly fish rubber squid skirts in pink or silver. The skirts are pulled over lead bulb weights, a few beads on the leader then serve as a spacer ahead of the large single hooks that are crimped on the end of the leader. We also have a traditional cedar plug we fish on a similarly rigged leader. It all works, and we seem to average a fish about every other day that we fish on most passages since leaving the Mediterranean.

Day 5, Passage to Easter Island

1245Z 01SEP19, Day 5, Ecuador to Easter Island. We continue to make direct progress. The days are starting to blend together, as they do on passages. The weather was nice yesterday and we had a beautiful sunset and sunrise.

Current Position: 06 57S 089 35W
24 hour progress: 137nm, 5.7kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 633nm with approximately 1660nm to go on the great circle route. We were mostly sailing a close reach yesterday though we would come up and fall back off depending on the conditions. We sailed most of yesterday without any reefs but added 2 reefs to the main in the early morning hours. Winds are now around 15-20kts with some higher gusts and we have fallen off to a beam reach. The seas are still fairly calm.

The crew continues to be well, well fed and well rested. We put the fishing line in again yesterday and caught a small mahi around lunch time. Megan whipped up fish tacos and everyone was happy though there wasn't much fish left after the meal, and that was devoured in an afternoon snack. We usually hope for two meals from a fish, but that of course varies...

For us, catching a fish triggers a whole lot of activity aboard and usually consumes a couple of hours of our day. We fish with a hand reel—think of a plastic ring with a groove around the perimeter for winding line—that is secured to the boat with an extremely robust bungee cord (doubled 10mm) that sets the hook. The lure is trailed about 16-18 meters behind the boat. The line is a 250lb test monofilament that is pulled in by hand, usually while wearing leather gloves. The line is retrieved with the fingers over the top, and the thumbs aren't really used such that the line can be safely dropped clear of all digits if a large fish should run. When the fish is pulled alongside the boat, a second person attempts to gaffe the fish. We have a nice gaffe, but gaffing is an art that requires practice, and we aren't exactly good at it yet. Once the fish is brought on to the side deck, we kill it (which is always a bit sad), remove the lure from the mouth, secure a 8mm line around the tail, slit the gills, and toss the fish back overboard to bleed out in the water. While the fish trails behind the boat, the deck is washed off with salt water, and the meal prep starts—could be sushi rice, tortillas, etc. The bled fish is then brought back aboard and filleted. Mahi is pretty easy to fillet, other fish a little harder. We're not going to win any prizes for the speed and efficiency with which we fillet our catch. The fillets get carried inside to the galley as they come off the fish to be skinned and sliced for the meal which is also still being prepped. By the time the deck and outside cutting board are all cleaned up, there is food just about ready to eat. Usually there is one immediate meal (maybe a poke or sushi), and fish has been prepped for a second meal, (fillets cut to be cooked or bite size pieces for ceviche). A good meal is enjoyed together and then it is time to clean the galley. Of course this all means that fish should ideally bite just before lunchtime; sometimes the fish are cooperative other times they don't bite or get away.