"Stop the engines!"

Day 10 at sea. We saw land on day 8 as we passed around the northern part of the Philippines, otherwise it's been all water.

Day 8 was the most "interesting" day we've had so far. It started out by deciding to raise our spinnaker sail. This is the only sail Jen and I haven't seen raised yet. If you've ever seen a sailboat with a big, billowing sail in front of it, often very colorful, that was probably a spinnaker sail. They are the largest and lightest sails designed for milder, downwind sailing. The captain decided to raise it.

Raising the spinnaker is not a simple feat. First we had to take down our front most sail (Code Zero) to make room for this sail. Then, we had to get the sail out of a locker, lay it out on the front trampoline, and hook up all the lines needed to raise and control it. It was a little inefficient as it was the first time we raised it, but it went up beautifully once we did.

We immediately noticed that one of the knots wasn't tight, so we had to lower it again and retie the knot. Then our troubles began. When we lowered it, one of the sheets (a line that controls the sail) had too much slack and got caught under the boat around one of the hulls. When we tried to clear it, the line got caught in our starboard propeller and shaft and got all twisted up.

"Stop the engine"

Now we had a big mess. Our spinnaker sail was laying on the front deck and one of its lines was tangled. To fix the problem, we had to put someone in the water. It took all 5 of us working for 3 hours to recover. Gary drove the boat and "heaved to" which is a way to bring the boat to a stop with the sails still up (we still had two other sails unfurled and we were moving through the water). Joe put a safety line around his chest and jumped in the water with a mask to untangle the line. Neal was a safety observer for Joe and also helped him untangle the line from above. And I held the Joe's safety line to help hold him the proper distance he needed and prevent him from separating from the boat. The last thing we want is to have anyone overboard and separated from the boat! And Jen ensured the spinnaker sail on the front deck didn't go anywhere!

After a couple hours of work, the line was untangled and repaired, the spinnaker was finally raised, and we were on our way! And we were flying! The winds were at the high end of what the spinnaker can handle and the wind direction was perfect for high speeds. We hit 13 knots of boat speed which is "hauling ass" for a cruising catamaran! We were spitting up some nice rooster tails out the back! For a couple hours remaining that day, we did some nice fast sailing.

The damage, besides a couple lines needing repair, was sunburn. The owner who was in the water got burnt, and I didn't have time or opportunity to get sunscreen so I got fried. My shoulders and feet took it the worst. Let's just say I'm very glad I do not have to put on shoes for a few days!

Jen is feeling much better as the seas have calmed more. Her appetite came back yesterday and I made her a couple grilled cheese sandwiches which hit the spot!

We now have an Okinawa arrival appointment time for Friday morning, July 18th. The journey will have taken 11 days (a few more than predicted which isn't unusual for sailing). It appears that Jen and I will be able to spend a few days in Okinawa before we depart for home. We're excited to get back to land and enjoy what Okinawa has to offer.

Thanks again for all the comments and well wishes we've received, and we sincerely hope you've enjoyed this blog and learned a little more about sailing on the ocean. If you have interest in doing this yourself, there are websites which help those who want to sail to connect with boat owners. The one we used was called Find A Crew but there are others.

Stay safe. Peace and Love.