CA to HI 2003
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Hi all, In May, 2003 I accepted an offer from Dot & Mark Hazlett and Dorthy's son Mark Lee to help them deliver their new boat (PUA 'ENA, an Outbound 44) from California to Hawaii. During the trip I sent Valerie daily latitude and longitude reports and some news of our progress via the Iridium sattelite phone we took along. The notes below were taken from the e-mail reports she passed on to the Hazlett's family and friends. Bill |
| 5/21 |
33° 43'
118° 29' |
Cabrillo Marina - San Pedro |
| 5/22 |
33° 26'
118° 29' |
 Catalina Island for dinner and overnight. |
| 5/23 |
33° 05'
118° 46' |
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| 5/24 |
30° 50'
120° 43' |
@ 9 knots overnight |
| 5/25 |
28° 20'
122° 51' |
clear, balmy & warm |
| 5/26 |
26° 55'
125° 14' |
motored overnight |
| 5/27 |
25° 42'
127° 30' |
Very calm, making about 6 knots. 550 miles from departure and about 1850 from destination. |
| 5/28 |
24° 33'
129° 12' |
 Report for today - they have been going South trying to pick up some wind so only 90 miles made good. Found the wind at dawn today and moving nicely at 8 knots. Almost flat seas (6" waves). Overcast and warm. |
| 5/29 |
24° 08'
131° 47' |
Life continues to be easy aboard Pua 'Ena. Bill says that they are eating well and broke out the fishing gear today...hope to have reports of fresh fish soon. Seas are calm, just little wind ripples. Making 6.5 knots and ETA is not until 6/10 (Boooo!) |
| 5/30 |
23° 44'
134° 46' |
Better news today - although there was some motoring required last night this is not an altogether bad thing since they are needing to charge batteries in order to continue to be profligate in electrical use. The wind is up this morning, the asymetrical is up and they are making 8 knots with higher bursts. No fish yet, still calm seas and overcast skies. They anticipate hitting the halfway mark sometime today - within the next 11 hours or so. |
| 5/31 |
23° 33'
137° 33' |
They reached half-way at 5AM. Motored/sailed off and on all night. Currently making about 5 knots on flat seas with light breeze. Still no fish. Slow going but certainly comfortable. 1130 miles to go. |
| 6/1 |
23° 31'
140° 33' |
Finally, good news! The wind is up, they even have a reef in and they are less than 1000 miles from home! A little excitement when the wind came up - overwhelmed the auto pilot and Bill actually drove (!) for about 30 minutes. |
| 6/2 |
23° 40'
143° 34' |
Mark Lee with a big one! The call was a little late this morning, they had to charge the phone.... Yesterday they caught a 3' mahi mahi and had it for dinner. Excellent. And again, today, another! Yesterday the air was cool and the ride a bit bumpy but today it is warm again and very comfortable. All going well with 802 miles to go. You might notice that this is about 10 mi. north of yesterday's position. They have the asymmetric up and the wind direction makes it easier to head on this course. The tentative plan is to keep going this way until they can make it to Hawaii on one gybe. (We'll see....that sounds like a good plan if everything remains constant which is not predictable!) ETA: Late Saturday, Sunday or, if life is not kind, Monday. |
| 6/3 |
23° 43'
145° 42' |
Mark Lee, Mark and Dorthy Today's report is a good one - winds are between 12 and 14 knots, no waves to speak of, wing and wing with big genoa and going dead down wind. Only about 685 to go! ETA now is late Saturday or early Sunday. |
| 6/4 |
23° 23'
148° 06' |
Getting closer.....550 miles go go. More clouds, occasional squall, but still calm seas, light wind most of the time. Bill says it is humid now which reflects what we have been having here. |
| 6/5 |
22° 55'
150° 29' |
 OK everyone - TIME TO CALL ON THE WIND GODS with whatever connection or pull you might have (burned offerings, poems, dances....go for it!) This is day 14 of actual sailing (since leaving Catalina) and they still have 417 miles to go and are only making 4 knots today. Sailors do not like these conditions - even though it is calm and easy, they need a bit more of adreneline action!! |
| 6/6 |
21° 51'
152° 07' |
Miles to go: 318 Yesterday was a struggle - they did not motor at all (want to save fuel for any unanticipated problems) and only made 100 miles in light winds. Today is looking better as they are making 6 knots in a light, steady breeze. Still would like MORE WIND!! PLEASE!!!!! ETA: Sunday morning with any luck at all. Keep dancing, burning, praying or whatever....although the forecast is not very positive for increased winds maybe we can help. |
| 6/7 |
25° 58'
154° 14' |
 Well you can sure tell these guys are not racing! Set the course and "when we got up this morning we were South of Honolulu" --- hmmmm! So they are motoring now with exactly 200 miles to go (but it may take more miles to get back on course!) Plan is to go up along the coast of Maui, then Molokai, then HOME! ETA late Sunday (tomorrow) afternoon. |
| 6/8 |
Call this morning at 7 AM - 50 mi. north of Maui and no wind, concerned
that they did not have enough fuel. I made many phone calls to coast
guard, harbors and marinas to locate open fuel dock. Cell phones are
finally close enough to work - meanwhile they had managed to consolidate
the last of the fuel from the "empty" (not quite it turned out) tank to
the "still a little" tank and they indicated feeling optimistic about
making the run to Oahu, with some luck in the wind department. ETA is
now after dark sometime tonight ... will keep you posted.
 |
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| 6/9 |
All is well at last! The re-fueling did not occur and was not
necessary. I was at the first lookout after Hanauma Bay and was
able to see them clearly as they started across the very very
very calm (but with a nice breeze) Molokai Channel. Showing
fabulous confidence, they backed into their new slip at WYC at
about 11 PM and I was delighted to be on the dock to greet them
with champagne, beer, soft drinks, strawberries, grapes, celery
and cheese. PUA 'ENA IS BEAUTIFUL and all seem to be pleased
with her....probably not as pleased as I am to have Bill home!!!!!
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Aloha nui loa
Valerie