Blog 16
Hawaii to Seattle – 2300nm
Day 4 – 1540nm to go

4/14/16, 1900Z
31 57N, 150 00W
COG 26 deg T
SOG 7.9 kts

Wind SE 5 kts
Seas 2-3 ft, (on our starboard aft quarter)

Sharry’s Blog: What I Love Most About an Ocean Passage.

April  14, 2000Z

Sharry on her Morning Watch

I am on my Morning Watch. Today is Day 4 and everything is now settling down.  Don, Joe, and Donna are on the back deck fishing.  Before I started my watch I made our normal calm-weather breakfast, a “green drink” smoothie of fruit, veggies, and yogurt.  (We have become addicted to this breakfast drink) and then cleaned up the galley, did my Engine Room Check, and made my pre-watch Log Entry.

This morning I am finally entering into “Boat Time” which is what I love most about an ocean passage.  It would have happened sooner, except that being tossed about by the rough seas and the need to respond to the water leak in the main guest stateroom postponed the ability to enter into this state of inner calm and sense of peace.  It’s a little like meditation, a state of mindlessness.  What I like best is that with a morning watch at 0900-1200 and an evening watch at 1800-2400 (with daily chores and a nap in between) I lose track of “real time” and enter into a state of “no-time”. 

The Pacific Ocean

Part of the problem has been that I don’t have access to my classical music, which helps the entry process into “Boat Time”.  I forgot our iPod with our iTunes Library at home.  We have become so accustomed to streaming music on Starr that somehow our personal music was left behind.  I found a partial iTunes Library on an external HD, but haven’t figured out how to access it yet.  In the meantime I enjoy my morning watch, soothed by the rhythm of the gentle ocean swells, somehow heightened by the absence of sun, a uniform dull grey with a band of blue at the horizon and finally layers of white and grey clouds.  The “sameness” of it all somehow contributes to the quieting of my mind.

I love the night watch even more than my morning watch.  At night I am by myself, enclosed in a circle of darkness disrupted only by the dim light of the radar and navigation screens.  Lights in the Pilot House are all turned off, which enhances our night-vision and ability to see ships that might appear on the radar screen or outside in the dark sea.  I have had the company of a sliver of a waxing moon on my watch, which has grown to a half moon.  I am alone, but not lonely and my sight turns inward.  It is a very rare opportunity to be in a place in this busy, noisy world where the disruptions have all disappeared and all that remains is an almost complete darkness and silence. 

Don’s Blog:  A Great Day to Be on the Water!

4/14 2200Z

We’re clicking along at eight and one half knots.  The sea is glassy with a Northerly 8ft/8 second  swell and there’s no wind.  That will change soon enough. 

Joe , Donna and I just set out two fish lines and our hi-tech fish alarm is activated.  We need the “fish-on alarm” because we can’t hear the reels screaming when we have a fish on. When the line starts running out it trips a switch and activates a 12 vdc beeping sound which is loud enough to hear from the wheelhouse.  Sharry requested that I set up all the stuff that is needed when we get a hookup.  The list includes the following:  Fish cleaning table, short gaff hook and 8ft gaff, Billy club, a towel to put over the fishes eyes to calm it down, and Mount Gay Rum to pour down it’s throat to kill it (or for Joe to take a shot to calm his nerves)

Don on a successful fishing day

Donna’s Blog: My Main Job on Starr
Friday, April 15

My main job on Starr is to stand two 3-hour watches per day, 3am-6am and 3pm-6pm. Before each watch, I do an engine room check. I put on a headset to muffle the roar of the engine, walk into the 109oF room and close the door behind me. I check all the instruments, dials, levels, and valves and then crawl into the lazarette in the very back of the boat to look at the water makers and the steering rams. If everything looks ok, I walk up to the pilothouse to relieve the person on duty and begin filling in the logbook which requires that I record about 20 pieces of data regarding our current status such as Lat, Long, heading, boat speed, fuel usage, wind, wave, and water conditions. Then for the next three hours I keep an eye and ear out for boat traffic, debris in the water, and any problems with the boat. So far all my watches have gone smoothly and I’ve figured out that I can stay awake for my graveyard shift by consuming 2-3 bowlfuls of snacks and listening to my iPod jogging music.

Donna – Making her own music Off Watch

Joe’s Blog: “Mother, Mother Ocean”
2316UTC, 14/April/2016-On Watch

Ahoy Mates:

Day  5 and still being held hostage (in the best way imaginable) on the fine ship MV Starr.  I couldn’t be happier, crew is great, food is gourmet and life is good.  Our first few days were a little bumpy, found a leak in my stateroom (on this size yacht we have staterooms), we have dealt with it short term and now we are in the Pacific high and wind is light, rollers gentle and well spaced, all in all a most comfortable ride.  Today we rigged the fishing tackle, a new experience for me to be trolling at 8.5knots, and hoping for fresh fish.  We are respecting the weather and working our way north of the rhumb line to make for a more pleasant approach to home waters.  There is always something to do, it is amazing how once in the rhythm of the watches minutes, hours and days tick by.  Missing my sweetheart but headed in the right direction.  I am very grateful to the Stabberts for inviting me along on this adventure; it has been too long since I have been to sea.  “Mother, Mother Ocean” as Jimmy Buffet says. 

Joe with his favorite “gourmet food”

Goodbye for Now – from all of us on STARR