Kama Hele Evening Report

Aloha kākou,

3.13.09 Today was a slow-sailing, mostly gray day.  Light northerly winds, usually about 10 knots, only rarely reaching 15 knots, kept the Hōkūle‘a and Kama Hele’s speed over ground in the 4-knot range.  The clouds built all day, completely covering the sky with low, dark stratocumulus.  Many squalls were around us and we finally got rained on.  After sunset, some clearing has occurred and stars are visible overhead, but not on the horizon where they are most useful to the navigator.

The sunset report was gathered on time, but is late tonight for reasons I will explain after the navigation and weather data.

date-time group 131842 HST March 2009;  position 15 degrees 44.09 minutes North 158 degrees 06.95 minutes West

nm since sunrise -  43.5 nm, course 185 degrees True
avg speed 3.6 knots
distance and bearing to Palmyra , distance and bearing back to Sand Island - not calculated due to activities detailed below.

Sunset reports from all vessels indicated vessels and crews are fine.  At 6:42 pm, we were on a course of 184 degrees True and making 3.8 knots at that time.

Winds:  N 10
Sea state: N swell 6 ft

Why this report is late:
After gathering Bruce’s sunset report, I headed for the fishing lines to bring them in for the evening.  The starboard reel began clicking slowly and Zack yelled, “Fish on.”  He began to reel that fish in and I ran to reel the port line in out of his way – only to find it was also hooked up.   We landed a 15 lb and a 20 lb mahimahi just as a beautiful fish dinner of last night’s catch, asparagus and baked potato was announced.

 At 8pm, just as dinner was finished, Bruce called from Hōkūle‘a asking if we saw a vessel to our southeast.  We did see its lights and tracked it on our radar as it quickly moved from seven miles away to six miles away, then five, then four.  It seemed headed right for us at a good rate of speed.  We hailed the boat on VHF radio and found it to be the 70-foot longline fishing vessel “Holly” out of Honolulu.  The friendly voice that responded to our call assured us he would alter course and give us a wide berth.  We watched as he continued right at us at undiminished speed.  After several more radio calls, during which he repeatedly said, “Don’t worry”, we finally convinced him to alter course to give us sea room.  When he was less than one mile away, and we could
see both his red and green running lights meaning he was on a collision course, he finally turned to starboard and passed half a mile off our sterns – why anyone would want to get that close in the wide-open Pacific Ocean is beyond me – lonely, maybe?

Then, it was time for me to clean the two mahimahi (one and a half of which will be delivered to Hōkūle‘a at sunrise by “Meals on Keels”) and now, at long last I can send the evening report three hours late.

Next, the 10 pm to 2 am watch and more adventures tomorrow.  What a great voyage!

Aloha,

Mike Taylor, Kama Hele escort boat