Pacific Odyssey - Leg 1

Right now we are bouncing around at sea with a strong headwind.  This will be a short message as the motion isn´t too comfortable and I didn´t take Stugeron, seasick medication.  I´m seeing if I am accustomed to movement at sea and being below.  So far, so good.  Quite a few of the trainees are in their bunks or lying on deck as they don´t feel too good.  This is a completely different motion to what we had leaving Victoria.  The wind is ahead of us and so the motion is fore and aft with our bow coming up over the waves, then crashing down.  Regularly the hull gets a hard smack and it is felt through the entire ship.  There is some lunging motion every now and then, but we are mostly heeled over on a port tack. Water sprays mostly over the bow but we have been soaked back in the stern as well.   Port tack sleepers are digging out their lee cloths tonight, hoping to stay in their bunks.  Our speed has decreased but we hope to be in Honolulu by lunch tomorrow.  We are trying to make the most of our last sail together with everyone taking a turn at the wheel tonight.  Most watches set the night time rotation up so that trainees can have a complete nights rest every few nights.  We left Nawiliwili Harbour at 1545 with a stiff NE wind.  We soon raised a double-reefed main, the fore and the jumbo but had to leave the engine running as we need to point quite high to make our landfall.  Just before dark, we lowered the main and put up the trysail, for one last time.  The trysail has become well-known to everyone; we have used it extensively for the entire leg and most of us know how it is set and stowed.  Our final day on Kauai was a good one.  We all stayed pretty close to home, boogie boarding, body surfing, and big board surfing at the beach nearby.  After a few hours on the beach and a picnic lunch, a large group went to the beautiful pool at the Merriot Resort to enjoy a final fresh rinse, some ball throwing, some hot tub soaking and a lawn chair to lie on.  It is an amazingly gorgeous and luxurious setting; a large round pool with an island in the middle for lawn chairs and 5 hot tubs scattered around the outside.  There are animal statues spouting streams of water into the pool and coconut palms providing shade.  We felt very fortunate to be able to enjoy it.  This is it for tonight.  I think I need to go up on deck for some fresh air, the boat is warm below and like I said, the motion is intense.  Good night, Bonice