Dana Point, CA to Honolulu, HI
Jim Leishman - Voyage Director and Captain of Dana Point to Honolulu leg
Tuesday - November 27, 2001

First part of leg#1 completed within 24 hours of anticipated schedule.

Special thanks to Georgs Kolesnikovs for his participation on our first leg. Georgs enthusiastically volunteered for the Dana Point to Honolulu leg covering all his own transportation costs and proved to be an exceptional asset to the trip both in his watch standing duties, his galley expertise and his great coverage of the voyage details. Docking a day late in Honolulu we couldn't even buy Georgs dinner the night of arrival as his check in time for a 10:00 pm flight was less than two hours after we hit the Hawaii Yacht Club dock. Georgs - we hope you can come back and join us for another leg.

Monday - yesterday - back to the office - back to the real world - Yikes!

Dave Harlow, Ray Danet and Tom Selman have been at sea since Thursday (Thanksgiving day) at about 1:00 pm Hawaii time. Before I dug into the 20 days of chaos on my desk - I check the weather and give the boat a call. The damn westerly winds are back! They're about 500 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands and a small low is moving north west across their path. I can see the low is small and generating adverse winds of only about 20 knots but early in their trip - it makes for uncomfortable going. I assure them that the winds will clock around by today (Tuesday) and by tomorrow the easterly should fill in and with a little luck - it will take them all the way in to the Marshall Islands (I've been promising Easterly winds since November 3rd and can feel my ears burning from 3,000 miles as Dave and the crew curse me). As I check the weather again this morning (Tuesday) I can see that the low is dissipating and moving to the northwest as predicted.

Essentially the voyage from Dana Point to Hawaii was routine and uneventful (as a good cruise should be). We arrived in Honolulu - covering a total of 2,345 miles - averaging 6.04 knots in a total 388.19 hours (tach time) - slightly over 16 days. We departed Dana Point on November 3rd at 4:00 pm (PST) and arrived in Honolulu on November 19th at 5:30 pm (HST). The total fuel burn - including about 20 hours of generator time - was 860 gallons.

The only mechanical problem we had was the loss of our secondary alternator, which is used to charge the main engine starting battery. We noted this problem about the 14th day, and simply flipped a parallel switch so the larger main alternator could be used to keep the starting battery up. The belt and alternator were changed out in Honolulu (we had spares aboard). Additionally - we noted a slight bit of moisture in a coaxial connection for the Iridium telephone that adversely affected the phone's performance - drying out the connector and adding a dab of silicone is all that was required. Upon arrival in Hawaii we simply cleaned the boat, changed the oil and filter on the main engine, fueled up and re provisioned. During the trip we noted some variation in the engine speed and changed out the engine mounted fuel filter. We never switched or changed our primary filter (2 micron RACOR) nor did we ever change it in Hawaii - it was clean and showed no vacuum due to the cleansing effect of the fuel supply reservoir.

Probably the most interesting part of the trip from a technical standpoint was how contrary the winds were and how it affected the vessels speed and fuel burn. The leg from Dana Point (Southern California) to Honolulu was just under 2,300 miles and a bit more with our diversion south of the great circle route, in search of favorable winds. During our sea trials of a fully loaded vessel we found that we could run at 1400 rpm - averaging 6.3 knots and consuming about 1.9 gallons of fuel per hour. This is a boat weighing over 50,000 lbs with a bow thruster, wing engine and 12 square feet of stabilizing fins. Running the math forward - we concluded that with 920 gallons of usable fuel - we would have a run dry all out range of 3,050 miles assuming the weight of the vessel would not change. Using the performance of the vessel at it highest possible weight will give a reserve in itself because the weight reduction alone in fuel will insure better performance at the end of the voyage - adding to the true range of the vessel. Taking the great circle route to Honolulu - we should be able to arrive with reserve fuel of 233 gallons or an excess of 25%.

As it turned out with NORDHAVN - we had sea state conditions which I would consider normal for the voyage - however the wind that generated them was not the planned Easterly - but a South Westerly wind - which hampered our progress almost the whole trip. The low-pressure systems that develop up in the Gulf of Alaska and arch down bringing winter storms to the California coast were developing a few weeks early then what is typical.

The relatively rough conditions encountered offshore will slow down any vessel significantly (6% to 10%) from its calm water performance however the wind that creates the rougher sea - if consistent will generate a surface current. In the case of the California to Hawaii passage that surface current is typically about ½ knot in a westerly direction, being generated by 15 knot easterly winds and this normally would have offset or cancelled the anticipated rough water speed reduction. We got slowed down, loosing speed to the bumpy water, plus we got hit with a surface current - going the wrong way - a result of sustained Southwesterly winds.

The net result is that we burned the anticipated amount of fuel per day (48 gallons) - however our speed was reduced by over ½ knot. As we approached the Hawaiian Islands with a good weather forecast and great confidence in our fuel consumption and the amount remaining - we increased speed and made up most of our lost time - arriving only about 15 hours later than planned but with much of our reserve fuel consumed - clearly illustrating the need for an adequate reserve.

Despite the westerly winds we did enjoy some lovely tropical weather, great food (including lots of fresh Dorado) and the comradely and relaxation that a long ocean passage can generate. Our 40 foot NORDHAVN proved to be a wonderful passage maker and the success of the first and longest voyage of the circumnavigation confirmed the vessels ability to safely and comfortably complete the challenging legs that lie ahead.

The leg now being undertaken - Hawaii to Majuro - is also a long leg (just under 2,000 miles) and has been planned at 6 knots. This leg should be relatively free of the disturbances encountered farther to the north and east and the surface currents have a stronger westerly flow. Despite the localized low pressure system now being encountered we hope for an average speed in the mid to high six knot range. Once Majuro is reached - there are a series of shorter legs in the 1,000 mile range - and we hope to see speeds here in the mid to low sevens.

Regards,

Jim Leishman

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