The 2005 Transpac Journal, courtesy of Agnes on
SuperGnat

July 11, 2005 Day 1

Left dock at 10:00 AM, with the crew in high spirits.  Our plan at this time, (and after much discussion), is to
head just south of the rhumb line and track the high.

We had a long, square starting line, and a clean start all around.  We favored the leeward end of the start,
due to the number of boats piled up at the committee boat and the light air (approx. 6 knots true).

Cliff drove the boat at the start, with Frank on the bow, Agnes in the pit, Mat with the video camera, Anjohn on
jib trim, and Andy on the main.  After the start, due to the light air conditions, Mat and Agnes traded off driving
until 5:30 PM.  Frank was kept busy with the sail changes, Anjohn and Andy spent most of the day trimming,
every one else has been occupied with looking for wind.

Admittedly, it’s been a long day so far.  As of 5:00 PM, we still had 10 miles to go to reach the west end of
Catalina Island.  The ocean has looked like glass for most of the day.  We left the light #1 at the dock, so we’
ve been alternating between the heavy #1 and the staysail drifter.  It’s been very overcast all day, with no sun
coming through the clouds.

Anjohn took over the helm for the first time today at 6:00 PM, and his highest speed at this writing has been
1.9 knots of boat speed.  The slowest time so far was clocked at ½ mile traveled in 1 hour.

On a positive note, we’ve seen two sunfish, multiple porpoises, and Anjohn communed with a moth (similar to
Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring).

July 12, 2005 Day 2

6:30 AM We finally made it past Catalina Island last night, on the 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM watch.  The entire
night was spent drifting with the daisystail drifter, only occasionally were we able to go to the heavy #1 for
some upwind sailing.  Currently, Santa Barbara Island is approximately 2 ½ miles to starboard, it is overcast
and light again.  We have enough wind this morning to put up the reacher, and are moving along nicely for
the time being.

We were following by a sea lion for most of the night, who we think mistook us for a fishing vessel.  He
occasionally let out a very loud below, which was probably heard by the entire fleet, even though the boats
appeared to be very spread out.  At dawn, I think he finally decided we weren’t going to give him anything, he
dove under the stern and hit the rudder, then swam away.

We think we might be in 3rd place right now, boat for boat.  We are looking forward to the position checkin
with Alaskan Eagle later this morning, as we hope to be able to determine were the rest of the fleet is.  At this
time, we can only see 3 boats, two in front and one behind and to port.

5:30 PM We saw a pilot whale while we were still close to St. Nicholas Island.  He surfaced right next to the
boat so we could get a good look at him, then he headed off to the north.

The wind came up early this afternoon, so we were able to get the H1 up until just a few minutes ago.  We’ve
just switched back to the reacher.

During role call this evening, Alaska Eagle reported that she has 25 knots of wind.  The first time I heard it, I
thought she said 2.5.  We’re headed in that direction, so we’re hopeful we can get to wind soon.

Day 3 & 4

The wind and our angle of sail yesterday made it difficult to type anything.  Today is only marginally better, as
we are close reaching with the blast reacher and a full main.  At first, we were taking the waves on the
starboard bow, now more often than not the waves are hitting the starboard stern quarter.  Andy was sick all
day yesterday, and was not able to stand a watch until late last night.  Anjohn and Frank were also not feeling
well yesterday, but today everyone is much better.  The big winch on the port side is not working properly, as
I type (2: 15 PM on July 14th), Dad and Mat are working to see if they can repair it.  

Agnes and Anjohn have tied for the top speed of 10.8 knots, but Anjohn got there first.

Day 5 & 6

Day 5 was my long day, so I didn’t get a chance to get to the computer.  It was used a large portion of the day
to evaluate weather reports, as there’s an anomaly of some sort in our path that could cause light winds.  Day
5 was pretty much the same as day 4, except that in the morning we tried to sail for a bit with the spinnaker.  It
was way too sloppy for the course we were trying to maintain, so we went back to the reacher.

Day 6, the 16th of July, and it’s still overcast.  It’s getting warmer now, the ocean water temperature is almost
70 degrees.  We haven’t seen any boats at all today, and we’re zooming along with a 1.5 oz spinnaker.  
Anjohn hit the top speed of the trip so far at 11.4 knots.

Day 7, the 17th of July, looked a lot like day 7, except that we did have some breaks in the clouds during the
9 pm to 12 am watch.  The moon, which isn’t full yet, lit up the boat, and I cast the best shadow then that I’ve
seen the whole trip.

Days 8-10, more of the same.  Spinnaker reaching, sometimes going fast, sometimes not.  Sofar was to
leeward and behind for 2 days before we finally lost site of her.

On day 10, we gybed onto port tack for the first time in a thousand miles.  It was kind of nice seeing the other
side of the mainsail for a while.  We also made repairs to the North 1.5 oz spinnaker.  The last time it was in
for a patch job, they missed sewing two of the seams, which started to split.

Day 11, the 21st of July, started out the same as previous days.  Light and variable winds early in the
morning, slowly building in the afternoon.  Today was a little different, in that two squalls lined up next to each
other and we had a great port tack spinnaker reach for about 2 ½ hours.  Unfortunately, once the squalls
dissipated, so did the wind.

Day 12  Today the wind has been very steady, blowing approximately 15 knots almost all day.  We’ve been
sailing downwind all day on a direct course for the Molokai Channel.  We changed from the 1.5 oz spinnaker
to the ¾ oz early this morning, and haven’t thought about changing it all day.  In truth, the watches are getting
a little boring, as there really isn’t much to do except steer and very occasionally trim the spinnaker.  The
morning watches are difficult only because of the heat.  The sun rises behind us, and as the boat speed and
the apparent wind is almost the same, there is little breeze to help cool down the crew.  We’ve taken to using
the shower in the stern of the boat to wet our clothes, hats, and heads just to try and cool off a little bit.  Once
the sun goes overhead, it gets very nice.  The boat is relatively flat, and it cools off as the sails provide shade.

It’s been mostly clear at night now for the past few days, and the moon is currently full.  Last night when the
moon rose it was a brilliant orange.  It lights up the night so much that we cast shadows in the cockpit.