On Our Way To North America.... Part 1

At 11:15 local time in Osaka Japan we left the Tannowa Yacht Club after clearing out with immigration. Before leaving we were given some lovely gifts of food and swag from some of the members including a burgee which makes us honorary members! Mr. Etsuro Kondo took the girls for last minute provisions and lead us out onto the Osaka Bay on board his sailboat, Pocapoca where he went fishing (the national Japanese pastime) and we started out on our epic 4800 nautical mile journey to Canada.

As most of you know (believe) the earth is round, so the most direct route over such a long distance is not a straight line, but rather a long curved arch. For us this direct route wasn't going to work because of the weather systems that track across this part of the world. Our goal was (and still is) to get under passing lows to take advantage of the winds from the south and west that will push us home.

The weather in June is one strong low after another culminating with some turning into typhoons later in the season. Even the early ones we left on were no picnic. After motoring overnight out of Osaka Bay, we started to sail the next morning aiming for an imaginary spot in the ocean where the threat of typhoons come to an end. This spot is 160E longitude. The Yacht club was at 135E which meant we had to go about 1500 NM before we could turn more northeast to make our passage home.

Life is different with 4 people on board Blowin' Bubbles. Watches are much easier, but it can get crowded in 45' sometimes. We do think however, we made a very good choice asking Christina and Derek to help us with the crossing. They have adapted very well and do more than their share of the work, making this as easy a passage as possible.

While it has only rained twice, we have encountered some pretty significant winds so far. The worst was a few days out when we had sustained winds over 40 knots. It was in those conditions we blew out our Genoa (the big sail on the front of the boat). Fortunately, we have a Yankee which is a high cut jib, that will see us somewhere we can fix or replace the Genoa. After our little disaster, we hove too (basically, parked the boat using the rudder and mainsail) for about nine hours until the storm abated a little to give the crew some rest. When we got underway again, we set our storm tri-sail (instead of a main) and deployed our "Galesail" which is a 100 sq.ft. heavy storm headsail. We have carted both of these sails around for the last 5 years and this is the first time we used them.

It was during that storm that Shelley (yes, Shelley) got seasick for the first time ever. Derek didn't want her to feel special so he got sick too... As the storm abated, so too did their sickness and have been good ever since... After about 4 days of this slow passing low, the winds eased a little and we have had good moderate wind sailing. Yesterday, was the first day we had to motor in quite a while. We used that time to make water and get some laundry done.

We have now been dragging lures 1500 nautical miles and haven't caught a single fish! Don't let anyone tell you the oceans aren't over fished! This morning we crossed 160E and can now begin the big arch home...

Here are just a few highlights from the last 12 days:
Have not seen another boat or ship in 5 days (by sight, radar or AIS).
Christina and Derek have now sailed in 40+ knot winds and 4-5 meter seas.
We have seen Dolphins 3 times (one was the largest pod any of us have ever seen) and Pilot Whales twice.
We have run the motor 68 hours and sailed 172 hours.
We have broken/fixed the stern arch (where the dinghy usually lives) after it got broken in the storm.
We have replace the belt on the watermaker, and repaired a diesel leak on the engine.
We paid over $2 a liter for diesel fuel when we stopped briefly at the last Japanese Island after leaving Osaka Bay
Christina has trimmed Derek's beard....

Happy Canada Day and Independence Day to all our amazing friends and family...
We will try to post again when we have good radio propagation.

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