2018 Return Trip

[jamottep]

Cool stuff! Glad to see him home safely!

[Philpott]

Mike is in. Came in at 4 am.Breakfast in Horseshoe Cove aboard Rainbow. Waiting for Charlie.

[jamottep]

Mike is in. Came in at 4 am.Breakfast in Horseshoe Cove aboard Rainbow. Waiting for Charlie.

That's cavernous! Would a Moore 24 fit in there?

[brianb]

S/V Owl was struck by a sperm whale at approximately 10 am PDT on Aug 8. She is making way with an emergency rudder deployed as her main rudder has developed a new "stiffness" that is worrisome but not preventing its use. She has turned steering over to the E rudder to reduce load on the ships main rudder. Her autopilot is steering the E rudder.

Brian

[Philpott]

At the Emergency Rudder Seminar Owl's emergency rudder seemed most easily deployed, so it's a good thing, huh?

While John Woodworth meanders his way back across the ocean, here is a photo of Mike Cunningham yesterday morning at 4 am ish, still aboard Jacqueline, anchored in Horseshoe Cove for a couple of hours. Later Cliff Shaw (also known as the Hanalei Harbormaster) collected him via his hippy porta bote for a scrambled egg breakfast aboard the Rainbow Cafe. Mike is a wonderful story teller, and made us laugh even in his sleep deprived state. He is also a splendid writer so I think we can expect a rundown of his return sail. He left immediately after breakfast for his home/dock in the Delta and the untimate prize: the Real Jacqueline.

[jamottep]

Glad to see another safe passage and hope that Owl will carry on home soon.

[Gamayun]

Welcome back Mike and Greg! Glad to hear Owl continues to make good progress despite the whale interaction. What stories everyone is going to have!

[Daydreamer]

I am home!
Titia collected me Wednesday.
Good to be home, be with my wife and dog.
Half expected the dog to flip out, but he was more like, oh your home, cool, lets go for a walk. So we did.
Made up a nice meal of sauté vegetables and beans, yes, I still like beans!
Nightmare still needs a bath but tidied up nicely.

Got my land legs back fairly quickly, though the first few steps on the dock were pretty wobbly.
I started regretting declining the welcoming committee offer to side tie to Rainbow when I saw the Italian restaurant by the marina was closed.
Fortunately Ahn, the little Vietnamese restaurant nearby was open. The spring rolls and garlic noodles were quite good.

As my thoughts coalesce I will scatter them throughout the forum for the next generation.

[pogen]

For some reason I got this email. Probably some confusion about 'Dave's. Pretty wild stuff. Where is my #$@@&^*@ harpoon?!?! STAAAAAARBUCK!!!

Subject: Owl report evening August 8 2018



On August 8, 2018 7:51:46 PM HST, John G Woodworth <XXXXXXXXXXX@myiridium.net> wrote:

Hi All,
1916 hours
36°14' N/147°25' W
SOG 5 KT @45° M
WIND 16 KT @328° M
SEAS SUBSUDING
BP 1014.6 mb

At dawn this morning Owl impacted with one of a pair of sperm whales. I
was on watch and, as the impact was on the stern, turned to see two
whales a few feet behind the boat and blood in the water. Owl was
knocked off course and her steering damaged. My interpretation at the
time was we were being attacked. Not sure this is correct, though. As
one of the whales came around up on our stern I grabbed the wheel and
managed to take off down wind. The whale followed for a short distance
and then turned and the two went off in the opposite direction.

Owl is still able to motor but her steering is too stiff for the
autopilot or windvane. We had big seas and winds today and so we hand
steered with the damaged steering. Other than the stiffness, her rudder
is still neutral (0° is straight ahead) and stable. It is a skeg-hung
rudder. Late this evening the winds subsided, as predicted, so we
installled the emergency rudder and have set it up to steer to wind or
compass.

While hove-to, we also inspected more thoroughly the rudder stock and
interior of the stern. Other than a broken hose clamp, no internal
breech to the hull was detected.

It is too early to know how this will effect our passage. Early tests
are that the propeller is uneffected. We know we will need to baby the
emergency rudder as now it is the One. Winds are predicted lighter for
the remainder of the trip which is good from this standpoint. Tomorrow
we will send a GoPro down to inspect for external damage.

Best to you.
John, the Whoo in Owl


Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

[mike cunningham]

I blame it all on Bob Johnson. Somewhere on this forum he said "You have to do the race and sail back singlehanded to get the full experience" So I did and I did.

I had a crew lined up in Kauai but he bailed at the last minute. Although it pissed me off at the time, I am glad he didn't come.

Jacqueline pulled into her slip last night at around 2300. I tied her up, walked up my dock ramp, turned to take one final look to ensure she was properly secured for the night, and could have sworn I heard her wisper "what's next Boss?".

Then the Real Jacqueline met me at the door with a hug, a kiss and an "I love You", and the story was over.