| Lat ▲ | Lon ▲ | Boat name | Note | Created at | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37º 51.534' N | 122º 28.83' W | Pyxis | At our slip in Sausalito waiting for a weather window for the trip north. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 37º 52.98' N | 122º 53.988' W | Pyxis | On our way, beautiful day but a little chilly. Winds in the 15-20 knot range right on the nose and seas slowly picking up but boat is handling it wonderfully. Have had to dodge a few crab pots already, glad we will be in the crabpot-free towboat channel this evening! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 38º 39.378' N | 123º 37.602' W | Pyxis | Still going slowly in 6-10' seas right on the nose. Boat taking it in stride with just mainsail double reefed. Both crew not feeling too great but functioning fine. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 39º 4.902' N | 123º 53.628' W | Pyxis | Winds and waves decreasing so able to speed up some. Janelle becoming an expert at dodging fishing boats! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 39º 25.206' N | 123º 55.812' W | Pyxis | Passed Pt. Arena and now just off Fort Bragg. Winds still lower and seas calmer but confused. Speed still up more than it was the first 24 hours. Have gone 138 miles in about 32 hours, likely a new record low for this boat. Pounding into head seas is no fun! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 39º 43.776' N | 123º 57.336' W | Pyxis | Just turned west to head for Cape Mendocino. Calmest the wind and seas have been since we left, a welcome respite! Expecting both to pick up as we get closer to the cape. Hope to reach the south end (Punta Gorda) around 5-6AM and to round the Cape around 10AM. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 40º 10.398' N | 124º 24.606' W | Pyxis | About an hour SW of Punta Gorda slowly tacking our way to the waypoint, then we point NNW and try to get around the Cape. Seas not too bad here, still blocked from the worst of the Pacific swell and wind waves 2-4 feet. Winds in the low to mid-20's as forecast. Both of us feeling a lot better and Janelle just headed down for her post-watch nap. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 40º 26.73' N | 124º 36.696' W | Pyxis | Just reached our Cape Mendocino waypoint and are experiencing some of the best conditions so far this trip! Winds14-16 knots from the NNW and seas are relatively calm with almost no swell and a 2-3' wind chop that this boat just eats right up. Now going to tack NNW to stay close to the coast as they predict winds and seas to increase offshore as today progresses. Can't see the Cape due to much fog but very happy about the conditions!!! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 40º 43.272' N | 124º 31.548' W | Pyxis | About 15 miles off the coast west of Eureka, CA and we are both amazed at how much better things are! The sun is out, the seas are calm(er) and the wind is a downright civilized 12-14 knots. Of course, it would be too easy if the wind wasn't directly on our nose. We are making a beeline for Point St. George and Crescent City though we aren't planning on stopping. That should cut a few hours off of the trip vs. us hugging the coast. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 41º 2.97' N | 124º 30.18' W | Pyxis | We are approximately 16 miles directly west of the Trinidad Head light heading for a waypoint off of Point St. George just north of Crescent City. Conditions are great with true wind speed in the 14-17 knot range and seas 2-4 feet. Just to keep us grounded, the wind is still directly on the nose so conditions aren't totally dreamy but compared to the first 36 hours this is a slice of heaven... | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 41º 32.91' N | 124º 20.964' W | Pyxis | Things changed quickly to uncomfortable as a big ocean swell from the west met the 3-5' wind waves from the north making confused seas. Things have calmed down just a bit but still bouncing around some. Clear, cold night with lots of fishing boats and some other traffic. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 42º 3.864' N | 124º 30.246' W | Pyxis | A lumpy and cold night but very beautiful. Lots of fishing boats out to keep us busy so watches went by faster. Currently about 6.5 miles WSW of Cape Ferrelo and 6 miles WNW of Brookings. Wind eerily calm for much of the early morning but rough seas still indicating wind further out. We will be sticking about 10 miles offshore to minimize wind waves. Hope to pass Cape Blanco sometime early to mid-afternoon today with the promise of better seas further north. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 42º 22.968' N | 124º 32.946' W | Pyxis | As predicted by NOAA, winds have picked up to low 20's and seas increased as well. This has slowed us down considerably, only doing 2.7-3.2 knots over the ground. Boat handling everything wonderfully, more impressed with it every day. Seems strange to have this much wind in clear skies. At this pace we hope to round Cape Blanco sometime this evening or tonight. We are almost due west of the Rogue River outlet into the Pacific and right now a trip to the Rogue Brewery sound like heaven... after a hot shower! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 42º 36.246' N | 124º 31.476' W | Pyxis | Four hours straight of winds in the 30's (True) and right on the nose. Luckily in the last 90 minutes or so being this close to Cape Blanco the worst of the ocean swell is being blocked by the Cape so we have mostly wind waves that, while steeper, are not as big. Heading almost directly into the wind and waves is slowing us way down (1.8 - 2.8 knots speed over the ground) but we have been experimenting and found that using just the main on the third reef gives us the best results. Have been taking tons of water over the bow and, if we didn't before, now LOVE our hard dodger! We have both napped under it despite the wind and waves and spray pelting it as it makes things seem a lot less wild than they are. Boat doing great handling everything we have thrown at it. The few hatches I didn't get to replace the gasket on are letting me know about it, but the ones I did up front that experience the waves directly are bone dry, a relief! Expecting more of the same weather-wise until we get around Cape Blanco so we are bunkered down and getting it done... at a snail's pace (literally). | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 42º 49.464' N | 124º 40.956' W | Pyxis | One sentence will summarize today: 30 miles in eight hours and 45 minutes. I am certain a new record low for this awesome boat! We bashed our brains out pretty much all day but finally made the turn north about an hour ago and are heading for the Umpqua River as our next waypoint. We learned that all the bars save Newport are closed right now so we couldn't have stopped if we wanted to. Despite being exhausted, Janelle made our first real meal of the trip. It may have been vacuum sealed leftovers from home, but they sure were good! It is amazing how sedate 20 knots feels after being in 30 knot winds for six hours straight... I have been up since 3AM so I am signing off to get some rest. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 43º 27.246' N | 124º 27.744' W | Pyxis | Just passed Coos Bay, wind 5-7 knots true, seas practically calm... all that we hoped for passing Cape Blanco! Making better time now and getting quality sleep. Sky is clear and the Milky Way is out. Getting ready to aim for our next major waypoint of Newport, OR! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 44º 0.912' N | 124º 21.138' W | Pyxis | Just over 10 miles due west of Florence, OR and making decent time. Our speed over the ground is about 6.5 knots but of course the wind is right on the nose so we are only going 4.5 - 5 knots toward our destination. Big 5-6' swells moving through from the ocean to our west but they are spaced 6-8 seconds apart so you hardly notice them. Starting to get some wind waves from the north forming on top of the swell but the boat is just slicing through them at this point. This feels like a relaxing spa massage compared to the brutal Turkish Bathhouse work over we received yesterday! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 44º 37.458' N | 124º 3.138' W | Pyxis | We are parked at the fuel dock in Newport, OR. We had an issue with what I thought was the prop coming into the dock as I had no reverse. There just happened to be a guy that works at NOAA on the dock and when he heard about the problem and said he could help. He disappeared and about 20 minutes later showed up with a full dive setup! Didn't even know his name, but he dove the boat, checked everything out and said that it was working well. So now we are thinking transmission... which feeds right into the reason for our ducking into Newport. About three hours from Newport we noticed that the engine RPM's were surging slightly and after looking at the engine my guess is the main engine belt is slipping. I tried tightening it but the adjustment is as far as it can go, the belt is shot. Instead of trying to fix it on the water with a small craft advisory on the way, we decided to duck into Newport and do things right. So tonight is beer and a burger at the Rogue Brewery and tomorrow I put on the Mr. Fix-it hat. This has been serendipitous as we get to see Janelle's aunt and uncle that just happened to be in Newport at the same time. Oh, and our first bar crossing... it was fun! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 44º 53.382' N | 124º 5.844' W | Pyxis | On the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again... We left Newport about noon today, bar crossing was a non-event and conditions are surreal (to us) after what we experienced the first four days of the trip. Right now the wind is 5 knots from behind us, no wind waves and an easy 2-4' swell. What is most scary is our speed over the ground is 8 knots and we are only running at 1800 RPM with our main sail fully up! Compared to the 1.2 knots we were making rounding Cape Blanco at 2600 RPM, this doesn't seem possible. Repairs in Newport went well, I replaced three fuel filters and five engine belts and Janelle did six loads of laundry and cleaned the floors and walls of the boat to get the salt off of everything. A HUGE thanks to Janelle's aunt Jan and uncle Greg for letting us use their big washer and dryer and running us around to find parts and tools for the boat repairs, it was great to see you both! We also got to see my parents and brother and sister in-law last night which was great as well... thanks for catching lines for us at the fuel dock Paul and Von! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 45º 37.908' N | 124º 7.266' W | Pyxis | What an amazing difference the wind can make! Today for our first eight hours underway there was no wind at all and we motored over greasy gray swells hardly feeling the boat move. Then around 8PM the winds picked up just a little to about 10 knots (as always, RIGHT on the nose) and we are able to throttle back to 1600 RPM and still make over 7 knots with the main sail up. Huge difference from the first four days, and we both agreed that this was downright fun! Around 8:30PM I saw a whale breach about 150 yards from the boat, followed by another big whale coming straight up out of the water with its neck completely distended from all the water in its mouth so I assume they were feeding on something. Was a short lived show but quite a sight! Dark out now, and a few lights ahead and behind us to remind me that we are not alone out here. Hopefully the winds will stay calm and we will have an easy night with some quality sleep... | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 46º 11.97' N | 124º 23.148' W | Pyxis | Lumpy but fast night averaging about 7 knots. Had to snake around our desired course because the wind, as hard as it is to believe, was right on the nose. Just passed the Columbia River and I think we are officially past Oregon. Lots of fishing boats along the Oregon coast and some big ships to cross at the Columbia River so that kept us on our toes. The forecast called for 5 knots of wind, we had 12-15 all night. It was foggy and damp but much better than we are used to! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 46º 47.616' N | 124º 25.308' W | Pyxis | Just SW of Grays Harbor and a huge group of charter and private fishing boats forced us to change course, must be a heck of a school of salmon. Probably 30+, we couldn't keep track trying to count them on the radar. Winds have calmed down to about 10 knots (I leave it to you to guess from what direction) and the seas are calmer as well. Cold gray day but no real rain yet. If we can keep up this pace we hope to make it to Cape Flattery in the very early morning and if we are really lucky, they are predicting winds from the west for our entire trip down the Strait. I am not sure we will know what to do with the wind coming from behind us! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 6.966' N | 124º 34.116' W | Pyxis | Still snaking forward along our desired course, winds steady 9-12 knots and making pretty good time averaging about 7 knots over the ground. The sun finally came out and it feels great! It is pretty cold (guessing in the 40's) but with the sun it is much more tolerable. Without the big waves and wind like we had south of Cape Blanco, our speed and fuel economy has increased dramatically. I think we were right about the engine fuel filter being the culprit for the surging we were experiencing as we have had none of that in the past 24 hours since I replaced it. All the belts I replaced seem happy as well, nothing slipping and the engine is running very smoothly. Unfortunately too foggy / cloudy to the east to see the coastline, I really hoped we would get to see this stretch of it. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 20.394' N | 124º 39.858' W | Pyxis | We are now approximately 14NM due west of the Quinault River still snaking our way north. We tack to the north for about 45 minutes and then tack to the west for another hour, rinse, repeat again and again and again. We have both noticed that the water is now distinctly brown, not green like it typically is. Don't know if it is an algae bloom or what but it is very strange. Wind and waves have been amazingly consistent all day and we are making decent progress. We just stopped the engine for a bit so I could add some oil and check the tension of the belts I installed yesterday, all is good and the engine is running just great... not a drip or leak anywhere that I can see. We also enjoyed having some dinner without the thrum of the engine and it was very peaceful, really hoping we can sail our way down the Strait! So far we have gone 670 miles over the ground and we have approximately 70 more to get to Cape Flattery. And just a warning, we are now in pretty much a signal dead zone so AIS tracking (MarineTraffic.com) and cell phone coverage will probably be nonexistent until we get some ways down the Strait. Don't worry if you don't see us, we are still here! I am off watch now and going to get some sleep, next update sometime later tonight. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 20.472' N | 122º 35.388' W | Pyxis | A little late but need to do a final update for closure... we made it! In the slip and she looks good in her new home. We spent a few hours cleaning up and stowing sails and then passed out. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, we really appreciated the emails and text messages! And special thanks to our ground crew Jim and Betty for meeting us at the slip and getting us home. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 30.09' N | 122º 29.82' W | Pyxis | We are on the home stretch and just entered the north end of Colvos Passage. Both of us have been quieter than usual this morning... while excited to get home we are sad that this is over. In large part out ability to be gone this long is thanks to out housesitter Trisha. She went above and beyond dealing with our huge yard and spoiled kids and we could not have done this without her... thank you Trisha! We should reach Gig Harbor around 5:30 PM if all goes well. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 35.802' N | 122º 30.414' W | Pyxis | Ahhhhhh... we are anchored in Blakeley Harbor on Bainbridge Island. Feels good to be at anchor in a cool breeze gently bobbing and taking in the spectacular view of the Seattle skyline across the Sound. It was 20-25 knot winds from the south all day against the incoming 1-2 knot current. As I hoped when we bought this boat, the boat sliced through the steep 2-3' chop we get so often when the current opposes the wind. We honestly hardly noticed the chop as we sliced through it like butter. Strange event of the day... I don't know what this means, perhaps those of you that can interpret signs can tell me... but shortly after leaving Port Townsend we saw another Pyxis on the AIS and lo and behold, it was our old boat on a collision course with us! The new owners had stayed in Port Ludlow and were heading home to Seattle. We could not have timed it better if we tried... It felt like some weird sign that we are too tired to interpret. BBQ pork sandwiches and a bottle of red wine for dinner, then early to bed. Tomorrow we are home! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 37.176' N | 124º 49.488' W | Pyxis | Still snaking our way NNW, now looking like we may hit Cape Flattery around 5-6AM but nothing is certain... we still have 52 miles to go. Conditions the same as they have been all day with overcast gray skies, winds 12-15 knots, and a 2-4' swell from the NW. During my off-watch nap I was thinking about how different this Newport, OR to Cape Flattery leg has been and I thought of a statistic that might make the point. The front six feet or so of our boat is blocked off by a watertight bulkhead and that compartment has its own bilge pump, and it is a big one. There is a hatch to the storage space that is locked shut (and has gaskets around the doors) and the windlass feeds the anchor chain down into the chain locker in that compartment as well, so the compartment has no really significant openings to let water in. For the trip from San Francisco to Newport, the bilge pump in the forward bulkhead ran a total of 230 times. From Newport to the present time, it has not run once. That may give some indication of how different this stretch is from what we experienced in the first part! | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 47º 56.712' N | 124º 51.192' W | Pyxis | Jagged Island, Spike Rock, Destruction Island... this section of coastline isn't exactly giving me warm fuzzies with names like that! Especially since we are socked in with fog, glad we have radar and good charts. We are about three hours south of our Cape Alava waypoint and then will hopefully reach Cape Flattery sometime around 5-6AM this morning and make the right turn into the Strait. Weather forecast is still predicting west winds down the Strait so we are keeping our fingers crossed for a downwind run the entire way! Time for me to get a few hours sleep. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 48º 7.002' N | 122º 45.042' W | Pyxis | I think the most stressful part of this entire trip just happened! The Point Hudson Marina may be in the heart of Old Town, but it is SMALL and they assigned us a slip next to another large boat with about 15 knots of wind on the port beam pushing us toward him. First attempt was almost a homerun, I lined up perfectly but the wind pushed us off the dock so fast that Janelle couldn't get off. Abort... abort... abort... manage to get backed out without touching the adjacent boat (thank you bow thruster) and line up for a second run. Start in and I didn't get lined up correctly so abort #2. The third time is the charm though, and with a couple of guys from a boat a few slips down running out to grab lines, we make it in with no dings or dents. Give me the open ocean any day! Janelle is in the shower, we are drinking some champagne to celebrate, and shortly we will head out for a meal and then crash for some hard earned sleep. We aren't sure if we will stay here tomorrow or not... we will decide in the morning. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 48º 11.214' N | 123º 1.128' W | Pyxis | We have been having an easy afternoon sailing in 15-20 knots of wind and making good time with the current actually helping us for a change. At one point Janelle stood up, looked at the wind instrument, looked confused, looked behind us, looked at the instrument again and then sat down shaking her head. I asked what was wrong and she said "there is no way this is 20 knots of wind". But it was! What a difference sailing downwind makes!!! We just passed Sequim (the bananna belt of Puget Sound) and the New Dungeness Spit with an old school white light house on it. Our next waypoint is Point Wilson and then we turn south to get to Port Townsend. Hopefully we will get in before dark, then showers and a dinner before crashing. We look forward to exploring Old Town as it has the reputation of being a boater's Mecca. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 48º 11.874' N | 123º 49.11' W | Pyxis | After a leisurely breakfast of blueberry pancakes (from scratch!) with bacon and orange juice, we looked at our status and found that there is really no way we are going to reach Port Ludlow by sunset so we have altered plans. We are now sprinting for Port Townsend and have a reservation at the Point Hudson Marina right in the heart of Old Town. We are hoping to get there by 7PM, but even with the tide now in our favor and us doing 8-10 knots over the ground, it will be a race against time. The weather tomorrow looks kind of so-so for the trip south, not terrible but not great, so we may stay an extra day in Port Townsend. As forecast, we have had a few hours of downwind running but the wind has died down so we are back to motoring on a beautiful sunny day with scattered clouds. We are hoping for the wind to pick back up again. Saw a few porpoises and a lot of commercial traffic, we are back in civilization. I expect you should be able to track us via AIS (i.e., on MarineTraffic.com) now through the end of our trip. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 48º 23.874' N | 124º 35.676' W | Pyxis | This is a test... this is only a test... of our patience! We make the turn into the Strait and plow right into 2.5 knots of current against us. If it isn't the wind it is the current, and of course now there is no wind at all. I did get about an hour of downwind sailing but it was short lived. We are just north of Neah Bay making 3.5 - 4 knots over the ground and hoping that we will make a lot better time once the tide changes or we won't be getting in to Port Ludlow until tomorrow. It is gorgeous out, dense fog in places but we can see the south side of the Strait pretty well, I had almost forgotten how green it is here after spending over a month in Sausalito. Seeing porpoises all around us, small black ones that don't seem to be in any hurry at all. Waiting for Janelle to wake up and then I think I will make some blueberry pancakes to celebrate. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
| 48º 24.072' N | 124º 48.414' W | Pyxis | Hard to believe but we are almost in our home waters... 15 minutes to the Cape Flattery waypoint and we turn ESE for the run down the Strait! Winds are light so we have dropped the main and are just motoring. The motion is a little more rolly without the sail and with the swell on our port beam but that should change to following seas at the turn. Wind is supposed to pick up as we make our way down the Strait so we will be ready to use it in our favor for the first time in over 750 miles! We have decided to skip Neah Bay and head straight for Port Ludlow since we don't need fuel and we aren't completely wiped out. Not sure yet what time we will get there, but we hope before dark. | almost 10 years ago | Show |
