Day 6 of crossing from Cabo to The Marquesas

Posted by madworld@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 67 comments

Ever wonder what a Pacific crossing is like? It's exciting, but not comfortable on a 35 foot boat.

We are now dead down wind, wing-on-wing. We've seen 30 knots of wind, but apparent is more like 22.

The waves have picked up. They are suppose to be 7 feet at 7.5 seconds, although we think that is under reported.

SV Trouble hit just over 12 knots through the water today while surfing down these waves 🌊! way too fast. You can tell in this video that we are overpowered. We've added another reef in the main and are now more comfortable.

623 nautical miles in - 2050 to go.

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Sinn_Sage@reddit

Hallburg-Rassy?

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Yep... 1983 352

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Sinn_Sage@reddit

Great boats. Love em and love to have one but my bank account says no.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

You can find this model for about $50-60k, although not as easy to find them in the US. There is one in French Poly now that is in great shape that is listed for $100k, but I suspect they would take less.

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Sinn_Sage@reddit

I'd really like to get my hands on a Monsun (sp?) if I could.

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Axxer01@reddit

My parents and older brother did that crossing in the early 80’s. My dad navigated using a sextant 22 days crossing time

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madworld@reddit (OP)

That is a skill I'd like to have. One day I'll find a used sextant that isn't an arm and a leg and I'll dive in.

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Curious-monster1@reddit

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Axxer01@reddit

I remember my dad first learning to use the sextant - he checked the sun angles etc against the tables and confidently said we are somewhere in the middle of Mongolia.

He sighed and said we have to practice a wee bit more.

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funkykicks@reddit

That is so badass!

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youngrichyoung@reddit

That 7 second period gets old after a while. It's one of the things I didn't understand until I experienced it. For the same size wave, cutting the period in half doubles the forces you experience. We had 13' on 7sec. period for a couple days southbound out of Juan de Fuca and it got old!

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madworld@reddit (OP)

It's going to get worse. Starting on the 17th we are suppose to get 7.8 ft @ 8.5 seconds on the beam!

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Presidentnixonsnuts@reddit

Sailing fascinates me. What kind of waves will your boat handle? What do you do if a storm whips up? Do you plan your trip for a specific time of year to avoid bad weather?

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madworld@reddit (OP)

SV Trouble is a serious blue water boat. She'll handle bigger waves than her crew can.

Generally you want to leave Mexico/Panama for French Poly in March to April (We left May 2nd). Early enough to miss the hurricane season in the northern hemisphere, but late enough to miss the cyclone season in the southern hemisphere.

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curious-chineur@reddit

You need to fish. All the time. No enfine is good i think.

Also fresh sushi / sashimi every day.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Generally we have two hand lines out, and a rod. We caught a tuna on Day 3! Here is a photo. And we've had sashimi a few times now. I wish it were bigger. Our friend who is in front of us on Eyoni caught a 60lb tuna (how do you even find the space to filet it?)!

In these conditions when you are going fast wing on wing with following seas we don't really fish. You can't slow down easily, and it's already hard to pull in a big fish without having to fight the added water pressure. Plus the boat is rocking like crazy, so getting it onboard and processing it takes a lot more work. We'll start fishing again today since the winds and sea state have died down.

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CuriousCamels@reddit

You both look like you’re having a blast. I’m still a city dweller that’s window shopping and planning for the future. Can’t wait to be out there like that. Safe travels.

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Morall_tach@reddit

We did Galapagos to Marquesas in 2002 and it was not exciting. 23 days total, much calmer than this.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

We left the 2nd of May, which is late in the season. Some of our friends that left in March and early April said that they didn't have as much wind as they'd like. I feel a bit like Goldilocks, because this soup is a bit too hot.

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frogbearpup@reddit

We had buddies that crossed one month ahead of us and had light winds and champagne sailing the whole way. Like you, we left on May 2nd (after realizing May 1st might be symbolically problematic). We had huge seas and had two reefs in the main for a majority of our crossing.

That transition between March and May is a silly one!

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madworld@reddit (OP)

We’ve gone back and forth from 2-3 reefs in the main since leaving Cabo. I’m hoping the ITCZ will be a little lighter winds. If PredictWind is right, we might get to sail through the whole thing!

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frogbearpup@reddit

That is always a plus! We had a gnarly crossing but at least we made good time. Hoping the best for you!!

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overthehillhat@reddit

You might have a moment here and there --

Where you feel you just can't -Bear it

But you look like it will be -Just Right

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silverfstop@reddit

DDW W/W is about my least favorite point of sail. Granted I'm a racer, but what happens if you pop a kite and heat it up a little? Would the extra boat speed (and stability) improve the VMG and ride?

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caeru1ean@reddit

I’ve been cruising for 5 years and the thought of leaving a kite up in winds like that would make every anxious and it would not be enjoyable.

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silverfstop@reddit

Fair. TBH I read that as "we've seen" not "I'm filming" - the video does not at all look like 30kts.

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jawisi@reddit

It’s a universal law that photos and videos reduce wave height and wind speed.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

We were gusting to 30 knots around that time, and since we were DDW our apparent wind speed was under 25.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Not in this boat I wouldn't. Maybe a sled. The HR352 has a deep long fin keel (5.5 ft for a 35 foot boat). We do not keep the kite up over 18 knots. And this is the fastest we ever want to go on this boat.

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Swinnster@reddit

Damn! That is some high quality footage! Great shot thanks.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

A very good friend bought me an Insta360 X5 recently, so I feel very lucky.

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SailingVelo@reddit

Might you be more comfortable if you headed up a bit so that you were not wing on wing so as to load the sails to one side and stabilize the rolling?

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Probably, but with that sea state it's going to be uncomfortable no matter what. Plus, if we don't deviate from the route that PredictWind suggest, we might get to sail through the ITCZ without starting the motor.

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primeight1@reddit

Depends on how far off course that puts them I guess

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lopiontheop@reddit

Is that an HR 352? How do you like it?

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Yes it is! Our first boat and we love her. We've lived on her full time for six years, and sailed over 7000 nautical miles on her since we bought her six years ago.

She is very solid, easy to sail, and feels larger than most 35 ft boats. Our aft cabin is larger than a California king!

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Then-Blueberry-6679@reddit

Loving this post! Congratulations. You guys look like you’re doing great it. That looks like an older Hallberg Rassy.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

It is a Hallberg-Rassy 352 from 1983. She is solid!

We posted about it here when we bought her up in BC Canada.

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dingus_aps3000@reddit

So jealous, it looks lovely. Just returned to America from a 4 month cruise in the sea of Cortez and I’m having withdraws. Enjoy it for me.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

We spent three years in the sea of Cortez and explored the Baja side extensively (check out our journey there). It's amazing over there, and I'm going to miss it. The sea life is spectacular... the spearfishing. There are so many anchorages. And Mexico has to be one of the friendliest countries on earth.

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TheGoldenShark@reddit

Just come up 20 degrees and gybe in 10 hours…

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madworld@reddit (OP)

It got better after reefing. We ended up with three reefs in the main and pulled the jib in a bit. Nothing is going to make 7 ft seas from NE and NW at 7 seconds comfortable.

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Shhheeeesshh@reddit

Did not expect to see my friends on Reddit today but here we are!

Love you guys have so much fun for us -Mya

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madworld@reddit (OP)

What! We are drinking that coffee you brought over from La Cruz for us every morning! Thank you! ❤️

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sparkey504@reddit

The only thing I know about sailing is the tarp the catches the wind is called a "sail".... what is the white paddle looking thing at back center of the boat? a vertical indicator?

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madworld@reddit (OP)

u/qwerSr is correct. It's a Windpilot Pacific Plus windvane self steering system. A completely mechanical way of steering a boat (no power).

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qwerSr@reddit

I think it's part of a mechanical self steering setup.

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svhelloworld@reddit

I'm blown away that we are in a world where you can post a video on Reddit 6 days into a Marquesas crossing. We cruised in 2009 - 2014 and were so happy when we get the damned Pactor modem to download a 48hour surface chart in less than an hour.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Starlink has changed everything with that. We are using Ocean mode, so we do pay by the GB (MX$39.66 per GB which is about 2.31 US Dollars). We only turn it on for 30-60 min a day, and have spent about $50 extra on top of the $100 usd we pay by the month. We are using an Iridium Go Exec as backup, which we can download PredictWind weather anytime.

We are getting 25 Mbps down, and 16 up, but it's faster if you are closer to a ground station.

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millijuna@reddit

Is amazing. I have a StarLink mini mounted to my pushpit, and get internet that’s faster than what I get at home pretty much anywhere I go. (That said, I’m a cheapskate and only have 75Mbps at home).

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gringorasta@reddit

Wing on wing and going that fast with the autopilot huh? That’s wild.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

Not an autopilot, we are steering with a Windpilot Pacific Plus windvane, which is a beast! Warning: The creators of this windvane are nudist, so some of their pages reflect that.

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JosefphMagicflight@reddit

Get it! Congrats!

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IndyBananaJones2@reddit

We crossed last season (on a heavy 47') but saw similar conditions from Cabo for a couple days.

We went dead downwind, wing on wing for about 45 minutes. After that we decided to just go back to a deep reach and spend another day at sea as opposed to being wing on wing for more than another hour.n

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svhelloworld@reddit

Good choice. WoW is such a squirrelly point of sail. We tried it one time offshore and noped out after the same amount of time.

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IndyBananaJones2@reddit

Yeah I don't get it. Plus having to use the pole is a hassle. Maybe it works well for the big cats.

I saw your comment about Starlink too, it's a whole new world. I actually watched a full NHL game at one point during the crossing, we usually just turned on the starlink to get weather updates but I'd had some pretty bad news from home and needed a little escape.

Cost $8 to stream the whole 2 hour game. It's almost surreal to be out there so far but still within reach of the rest of the world.

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madworld@reddit (OP)

The boat work we had to do to get here was ridiculous! And way expensive.

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thetalkingcure@reddit

thanks for the update, you got this!