Below are the latest texts from Tor and Kaimana…

May 18, 2024 – 4:37am HST / 7:37am PDT
No one is seasick. Perfect conditions. Wind stronger than expected. Making good time. Seas pretty flat. Flew the drone for some cool shots and LANDED IT! 😉

Tracy is drinking lots [of water] and sleeping lots. Has his own bunk AND head. Luxury.  

May 18, 2024 – 9:30am HST / 12:30pm PDT

10 knots from 320 [magnetic]. Just moved aft. Seems a bit ahead of the models as this was supposed to happen tomorrow.

Tracy crashed all day. Showed his face in the morning. Confined to quarters. I’ve taken to calling him “the prisoner”

May 18, 2024 – 6:37pm HST / 9:37pm PDT

[Tracy] ate some dinner. Totally crashing. I’m taking his watch tonight.

Quinn further hero status as Alex’s spitting image: he dove under the keel and removed some old fish net and line that was wrapped around our propeller today! We led a line from the bow for him to hold on, I slowed the boat down into the wind, and he dove down and cleared the mess off the prop. Pretty cool maneuver. His dad [Alex] would have done that too.

I can tell Craig it’s pretty much as forecast: about 10 knots from the north. Skies have cleared. In the high now. Just now swung aft of the beam, so slower. We have a big 130% Genoa rigged which helps a lot.

CRAIG HAD SAID AN HOUR EARLIER THAT:

They (Kaimana) are in the “sweet spot” at 28 degrees north until the 23rd. If they stay at this latitude, they’ll get flushed right into Oahu. I don’t think they want to go any further south.By late tomorrow, there will be solid gradients for the rest of the trip. AIM for Kauai, and they’ll be flushed into Oahu. In my humble opinion, they should be closer to 29 degrees before the wind picks up late tomorrow.  Easier to go north now before sea state gets bigger.Goodnight 💤 to the mighty Kaimana Crew!!!! Get good rest tonight. There is lots of wind in your future. Enjoy the calm tonight:-))

May 18, 2024 – 8:45pm HST / 11:45pm PDT

Wind got lighter. Motoring. Ugh.

May 19, 2024 – 4:49am HST / 7:49am PDT

Happy to report that there will be no burial at sea. Tracy is busily talking again this morning. He says he feels weak but his talking skills are intact!

KYOKO: I’m so relieved that Tracy is better!

Yeah me too. I was thinking of the options if he got really sick, and they are not many.

CRAIG’S FORECAST: 
Light winds this morning. 7-15kts. They will start building this afternoon. Recommend not going any further South until MAY 23rd. They are at 27N now. The models are showing that 27N should be fine as long as they resist temptation to go South.

Haha ok so now it’s don’t go S? Got it. But the wind fills in down there too. Anyway I’m gonna go where I go 😉. Good to have another weather eye on it. Here it is: we have to get south, but we can’t sail dead down wind. While the wind is still N we need to get S, before it turns E below the High, dead astern.

Made 152 miles yesterday despite light winds and some motoring. Squalls are back, some wind in them. Quinn made us amazing breakfast burritos.

Tired. Stood Tracy’s watch, then up several times for sail changes during night. Tracy now expounding on ancient civilizations while squalls approach. 😆

May 19, 2024 – 12:32pm HST / 3:32pm PDT

Got a short nap but I’m still a bit grumpy [from lack of sleep] 😠.  The good thing is that the wind has finally filled in. 15+ knots after of the beam. So not that grumpy 😉

Quinn got three of my fishing lines out but still hasn’t caught anything. I’m sure we will tho. He really wants a fish!

KYOKO: Please remind the boys to keep taking candid photos and videos. Candid, not mundane!

I told them. Candid. Not mundane. Damn smartass kids! 🤣 

Getting lots of cool [photographic] material. Night shots with the new camera- less noise, better images once you figure stuff out. Also flying the drone at sea, which is challenging but fun and really cool stuff 

May 20, 2024 – 4:30am HST / 7:30am PDT

Problem with water tanks- white slime has developed. Maybe new motion of the boat. Anyway the pump is choking on it. Good thing get plenty of bottled water.

Can u Google “white slime in boat water tanks”? Curious what it is. Had it on Kaholo (Tor’s boat) too. Cleaned out the tanks and it’s fine but we can’t do that here.

KYOKO: I Googled white slime in boat water tank, and found this:

The sludge in your fresh water holding tank is probably fungus, mold, or algae. This condition often occurs during winter lay-up. that’s why it important to satirize your tank each spring or twice a year if your boat is in constant use for the entire year.On one sailing forum a guy said:I’ve always used one teaspoon of bleach per ten gallons of water in boat tanks to remove the funky taste and smell. That concentration is barely detectable by your nose and has no taste.Health agencies recommend two teaspoons of bleach per ten gallons of water to kill all the germs, which is a good concentration to use when shocking a tank or taking on water from suspect sources. However, it smells strong and has a residual taste (but is safe to drink).Others might use more and then use the water only for non-drinking purposes.

Nasty white snot in water filter. Shocked water tanks with bleach, switched to other tank. We were using this tank w/o issues before leaving so hope it’s ok! 

We also added vinegar before we left. Maybe we killed the algae, leaving the dead white sludge, which mixed up from the boats rolling…. 

Really stoked to see Quinn looking out for the boat and crew. He’s been checking the fresh stores and pruning out rotting stuff, cooking for crew, adjusting the steering, etc… Rowan too has been right on the sailing adjustments. Both of them kept the boat going last night so I could get some sleep cuz I was up The night before. Proud of the boys.

Oh and Rowan needs a crust recipe 😳. We have butter, flour, etc… but no vegetable oil.