What? You, Again?

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Day 6 out here and the voices have already started. This is a weird thing about being at sea that many sailors write about, the hearing of voices, even music. This passage I have also added ghostly hands knocking on our hull, as though someone wants to come in. I mean, who could possibly be knock knock knocking on the hull out here besides either a ghost or some other undead creature. Could be an alien, I guess. Whales don’t have hands. And besides we haven’t seen any.

Ordinarily hearing voices is considered in the realm of the insane or the terribly psychic, which are not mutually exclusive terms. The key here is whether the voices come from inside your head or outside. These voices are definitely outside my head, so that means I am probably sane, no matter what some people say.

I hear them often. I will be reading a book and suddenly I think people are talking in the back cabin. Or it will sound like someone is up in the cockpit talking but when I check, Mike is in the forward head. This happens for Mike, too, so that proves it’s not just me. On our last passage we both heard the same ‘people on the radio’ at the exact same time. I don’t know if that proves anything but it probably should. If only they would communicate more clearly!

Many of the sailors who have recorded these metaphysical experiences have been single handing and are seriously sleep deprived, making their reports slightly suspect. They have also been isolated from other people for long periods of time. None of those conditions apply here. We have been getting plenty of rest and we talk to each other a lot. A week at sea isn’t long enough to become psychotic when you get the level of napping we have reached.

People have theorized that these sounds, like the orchestra music that somehow is broadcast from the starboard hull (so pretty) are just your brain trying to fill in the gaps, like it’s making it’s own noise or trying to make sense of noises already there. I have two things to say to those kinds of people. First, are you out of your mind? Have you ever born witness to the amount of noise already on a small boat plying the waves? It’s already very noisy below, thank you. I don’t need to make more noise to fill in any gaps. And I already know where most of thr noises are coming from. They make complete sense to me. Wind, rattles, squeaks, thumps from waves, no problem understanding that.

Secondly, shut up. When I am busy listening to what amounts to the music of the spheres out here, or ghostly conversations (even if I can’t understand what they are saying), your efforts to explain a legit mystery of life by getting all sciencey on me are not welcome. I mean, let’s just enjoy the mystery, no? It’s like letting your spouse watch you apply makeup or see all the things you do in the bathroom. Some mysteries are better left unsolved, just enjoyed for their own sake. Seriously as much as I love and depend on science, just leave this alone because you are totally spoiling the fun. Go ask your teacher if she forgot to collect the homework or something.

I will let you know if the albatross that’s been following us starts a conversation. If he does, I hope he speaks English.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.nging

Iridium Go: The Facebook of Voyaging

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Day 3 out here on the big Pacific. We have had excellent weather and sailing. We are enjoying bathing suit (or underwear) conditions as long as they last. So far we have had consistent speeds in the 5-6 knot range and are very much on course. We haven’t felt like fishing lately because we are moving too fast for it to be pleasant. Maybe today.

We are grateful to have an Iridium Go as it keeps us connected to friends, family, and other boats out here while underway. Every morning we send and receive texts to people important in our lives and catch up with the news headlines and get position reports from other sailboats making the same passage. We like having this small routine of connections and appreciate the time it fills as we have nothing but time out here. With conditions this perfect there isn’t a lot to do to keep the sails filled but the boat motion and heel make doing work below a real challenge. So having a little bit of social media with our morning coffee gives us a little routine. If Mike really wants to irritate me he will sigh deeply while reading the headlines out loud, depriving me of the privilege of discovering for myself what stupid thing has happened this day. When all you have is headlines each word is a precious bundle of possibility.

Why do we even bother with this? I do ask myself this question. I guess we want to be prepared for the culture shock that surely awaits us back in the lower 48. Will we be shot for wearing our facemasks? Will people make fun of us and give us dirty looks for maintaining a respectable distance at the store? Reading the headlines makes us wonder what has happened to people. The same folks who talk about the rule of law, stop at red lights, wear pants in public, submit willingly to TSA invasions of privacy because 9/11 and put on their seatbelts have decided that wearing a mask to protect others during a pandemic is the hill on which they will make their last stand? Wearing a mask is just a bridge too far? Holy cow. What has happened to my country?

I don’t know where we are going to fit in with this new world. I guess if it’s as crazy as the news makes it sound we can put our family on the boat and sail back to Hawaii, where everyone appears to realize they are in this together and they cooperate without feeling unAmerican. On Kauai you will be required to mask up to go into any store, regardless of your opinion about it. You will not ride the public bus without one. They have done a good job of keeping the island virus free and they, as a community, intend it to remain that way. We really hated to leave because of this, if for no other reason. People there thought we were crazy to leave. I hope they were wrong.

My hope is that the reality is less grim than reports would have us believe, as is so often the case. I mean, after all, the purpose of so many headlines is to stir up emotions to get you to click. That is just the way it works now. Even here in the middle of the ocean we have to bear that in mind. As a people we have become a bit addicted to our collective outrage and a good headline can really get us going.

Just like when we have internet, when we have the opportunity to get spun up because of all the stupid posted on social media, our Iridium Go is a mixed blessing. We need it for the communication it provides. But when the crazy gets to be too much we step away and focus on what is most important in the here and now. And for us it’s this lovely sea and making the most of this passage.

Stay safe and sane, people. Take care of yourselves. And please take care of others as well. We look forward to seeing people. From a distance.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Beach Ninjas and Bliss

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We should probably hang up our snorkel gear and rest on our laurels, leaving Hawaii on a high note. Either that or we need to plan a trip to the South Pacific next. Last Sunday can be described by one word: Blissful. But before we go there, here’s a video of this Na Pali coastline. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycuieIz9ing[/embedyt]

Needing adventure, we sailed out to anchor off the Forbidden Island of Ni’ ihau, about 30 or so miles from Hanalei, staging ourselves to get to the little volcanic island next door, Lehua, just after sunrise the following day. Lehua is one of those destinations that the tour boats generally populate, ensuring you share the experience with 100 of your closest friends. But with Covid 19 the tours are not operating. We hoped to pick up one of the underwater moorings that they use and spend the one calm and sunny day this week snorkeling water that was said to be the highest visability around. In fact, our friends told us not to worry about having trouble finding the underwater mooring. Just jump in the water and look around, they said. You will see it no matter how far away you are. Whoa.

Arial view of Lehua, thanks to Wikipedia.

We actually had a great sail over to the small islands. The water was rough, but our standards are low. Once across the channel we set out to explore the coast of Lehua and see if we could locate the underwater moorings for the following day. We had gps positions that were given to us by locals. The island wasn’t ready for us, however, as the winds and waves were too stout for comfortable exploring so close to the rocks and in water relatively shallow. Instead we motored up to see the north side, thinking we would go see the crater of the volcano. But were quickly put in our place by taking green water well over the bow. Oopsy. A few very tall waves and an open forward hatch (darn it!) had us deciding to turn tail and run down to Ni’ihau and get anchored for the evening, which we did with all speed.

Settled in the rolly anchorage for the night I grabbed the binoculars and searched the deserted sandy beach. Now, this island is owned by a private family and is inhabited only by a small town of native Hawaiians. No one is allowed to land on the island without permission and, in spite of the fact that no one is legally supposed to ‘own’ land that is covered at any time by water (such as in the tidal zone of a beach), the people of the island are said to consider all parts of the island to be theirs and to be generally disinterested in hearing about legal definitions of beach ownership. The stories and myths surrounding this place are thick and varied. We had not planned to go ashore. But…

I spied with my binoculars many round things that had been washed ashore. They were round, as in spherical, like a ball. There are references to people finding Japanese fishing floats on just the beach we were anchored near. One person wrote that they found upwards of 60 floats at one time. Were those the famed Japanese fishing floats I was seeing with my spy glasses? Were they the glass ones that are highly collectible and would look great with little twinkly lights in them? What a souvenir that would be of our time in Hawaii!

I took a photo with my long lens and put it on my computer so we could see them better. They were definitely balls of something, definitely the right size, definitely strewn all over the tidal zone of the beach. It might be worth risking a reconnoiter considering we were on the unpopulated side of the island with no one in sight for miles. Even if we were seen, we would be gone quickly and, after all, there were no stories of people getting murdered over putting a foot on the Forbidden Island. Mosty just stories of people being yelled at. We would wait until sunrise, when all beach ninjas strike. And then, we would go, stealthily, in our small and unassuming dinghy with the 2.5 horse engine. No one would notice us at all.

After a night of utterly zero sleep due to insane rolling around in the swell, we arose as the sun was just barely over the horizon, lighting the sky just enough for us to see. Hopefully all the villagers were still asleep in their beds on the far side of the island. I grabbed one of our drybags in case we needed to carry a lot of pirated booty, and we set off for the shore. We were greeted by surf that was just, well, in a word: No. No way could we risk landing the dinghy in crashing surf like that, far away from people who would welcome us should we become swamped trying to land, or, worse, injured. Sometimes it sucks to be old enough to be careful.

Still, undefeated, we tossed around the idea of one of us swimming ashore and checking things out. I was going to go over the side in an instant and body surf in. No problema. But in the end for some reason Mike decided he would go. I think he had visions of some watery demon grabbing me and pulling me under or something. (Watery demons would never, ever touch him, you know.) But whatever, over the side he went with his drybag partially inflated and bobbing in his wake. It was only about 10 feet deep, but the waves were considerable and crashing.

Why are we disobedient children? I mean, we do wear a mask. Maybe it’s because that protects others. This little pushing of the boundaries was worth it.

I dinghied back and forth along the waves watching his head in the surf and seeing him stand up, his feet on forbidden territory. I felt glad for him. I mean, he had so wanted to land on San Benedicto, where it is also forbidden to land. But we didn’t. Because we do want to live to tell these tales and that island would have taken as human sacrifice anyone who dared try to approach its beach.

Soon he was scurrying up to the balls and picking them up. Alas, he also was putting them down. He was on shore for all of 5 minutes. I met him with the dinghy past the break and he was over the side in an instant. The balls were floats of some kind, perhaps Japanese, but they were plastic. Just so much detritous on the shore. I can’t say I was surprised. Plastic is everywhere and forever. It was too bad, but it was a fun way to start the day. Maybe the villagers will use them for something.

We quickly anchored up and tootled over to Lehua, easily finding our mooring about 6 feet under the water. That was a first for us; having Michael dive down to grab the mooring and run a line through it, then swim over to hand the line up to me to cleat off. The rumors about this place were right: the water is remarkably clear with visability we have never seen before. Certainly Mexico never had water like this. Our mooring was in about 20 feet of water but it seemed like only 5. It took us no time to get our gear on and get to snorkeling around.[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keSwiM3Htso[/embedyt]

The snorkel grounds at that part of the island are basically over a big, flat shelf covered with rocks and coral. The shelf ends abruptly, like the edge of a table, and when you swim off the edge, you are looking into a brilliant blue abyss. It’s beautiful, and unsettling at first. Ok, I admit we had hoped we would spot some larger fish, even a shark or two, from our safe position at the edge of the ledge, but we never saw anything but blue water and hundreds of sparkly fish.[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAqJ7Z8gch8[/embedyt]

Some of our more colorful friends.

We had all the usual colorful and curious little reef fish, along with a couple of white tipped reef sharks that cruised passed. But the real winners were the Monk Seals. We were literally the only people there and I cannot help but think that made them friendlier and more curious. One seal swam with us for quite a long time, swimming next to us to get back to our boat, even, and then hanging out by the boat. Another one came up in front of me and I almost bumped into it as it was catching a breath on the surface. I think they look a bit like Manatees in the water and they make the sweetest low grunting sound.[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58JOZkqKsXY[/embedyt]

Famous Keyhole arch on one of the arms of Lehua. Incredible. You’ll see photos on line of a Catamaran inside this arch.

We snorkeled three areas that day. For sheer breathtaking underwater structure, the keyhole arch near the northern shore of the island is the ultimate. We had dinghied into the arch, hoping to anchor the dinghy inside and swim around. It looked to be about 20 feet in the middle, with rocky walls, but it looked like there were ledges where an anchor could be deployed. I cast the dinghy anchor over the side to see if it would touch bottom. Nope, no slack in the line. We tried another spot. Nope, no slack. Then another with the same result. We couldn’t figure out a good place to anchor so I masked up and went over the side. I would have started laughing had I not been so overwhelmed by the sight of the sea floor about 100 feet below me, sheer rock walls on either side. The idea that our little anchor would ever work here… pretty funny. We found a place to tie the line onto the lava rock wall and Mike came in after me. It was so hard to leave, the place was like an underwater cathedral, complete with baby moray eels tucked into the lava rock and a resident Monk Seal because that completes the whole cathedral metaphor.

Tiny baby moray eels, all fierce and protective of their space.

A white tipped reef shark, swimming while asleep.

Yesterday morning we did a farewell snorkel, but the wind was already filling in from the southeast and the current was too strong to be relaxing. Wind, waves, and current conspire to ruin a good snorkel. We left on a high note, convinced we would never have that great a day: the whole island to ourselves, the clearest water we have ever seen, and friendly and curious Monk Seals. Utter bliss.

Now we are, pretty sadly I can tell you, gearing up for the passage home. We aren’t really psychologically ready this time. We feel like Hawaii has just now started to be good to us, like we have finally gotten our groove here. However, leave we must if we want to make it to the Pacific Northwest before August, better known as ‘Foggust’ up there. I remember fog. And not fondly, either. So the next few days will be getting the boat in order, finding a way to finish provisioning for the next round, and then saying farewell to Hawaii.

It may be that we will need to sail this way again.

We were moored next to a mixed colony of Red Footed Boobies (another checked box on the Boobie Bingo Card!), egrets, and tropic birds. The boobies and egrets had chicks. These are boobies. Their feet are so red!

 

So a couple more things: first apologies for the bad quality of the photos. I ruined my good underwater camera so I’m using a cheap one for now, but also have poor internet so the photos have to be EXTRA poor quality to get them onto the blog. Ugh. Tech issues.

Also we had a screaming good day swimming with turtles. Here’s some video. All this video is why I am almost out of high speed internet. Enjoy.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YFcwPqZ9H8[/embedyt]

For more videos of the highest professional quality you can go visit my channel on Youtube and poke around a bit. Some of them are pretty rolly due to swell and other natural things, like shaky hands due to excitement. So be prepared to be amazed. Here’s the link.