More: Majuro to the Pacific Northwest

We continued to sail NE in mostly light SE and S winds until 48º 25’ N . Then we sailed directly east the final 200 miles with a moderate W wind. The last two weeks were totally overcast and cold. The final 10 days were almost always in fog. Very scary, because we had no radar. We had seen ships nearly every day north of 35º N, so we knew they were about. Occasionally we could hear them. Again, scary. Finally, we were able to see land and make our destination. What a wonderful relief.

During the voyage we encountered more sea life than on any other trip, particularly whales. Near 30º N, in near calm conditions, we sailed slowly by two humpbacks mating. We were within 100 yards so it wasn’t hard to tell what was going on. From then on, we saw whales nearly everyday, mostly humpbacks, but we did see a killer whale and some minke whales. Usually, they would sneak up on us and scare us by blowing right next to the boat. Then they would blow a few more times, then leave. One blew on one side, then swam under the boat and blew on the other side.

The most exciting encounter was with two males. They were leaping and splashing about a half a mile from us. Suddenly, they started coming our way very fast, leaving the water like dolphins with great wakes of spray. We didn’t know whales could swim that fast! They covered the distance in no time, but at the last instant changed direction and swam away. It was a little scary having two whales as big as busses coming that fast at us.

Dolphins were almost a daily occurrence as well. One school of spinner dolphins stayed with us for two hours, jumping and spinning and showing off. It was fabulous.

We saw hundreds of birds, including albatross. We saw sea lions. We also had large sharks trailing us at times, waiting for the meal that never came.

The toughest part of the journey was dealing with all the ships — huge ships. We were in the busy shipping lanes connecting the two sides of the Pacific. Before this we rarely saw ships. Now they were common. They were always moving fast and seemed to appear out of nowhere. We had to alter course a number of times to avoid them. While talking to one ship on the VHF, I asked how far away he had been able to see us on radar. He answered that he had never seen us on radar. Later, when we were in dense fog for days at a time, this fact made sailing in those water very frightening, especially when we could actually hear the rumble of a big ship’s engines — but not see the ship!

We’d been worried about having enough water. We left with 90 gallons of water. That turned out to be just enough with about 10 gallons to spare when we reached Neah Bay. We were very careful. Rhonda washed dishes in sea water and very little water was used for anything but drinking. But clearly, we were in need of a hot shower and lots of soap when we made port.

Would we do this long a passage again? No! Forty-nine days is too long, particularly when a large part of the passage is out of the comfort of the tropics. But, we’ve done it, and there is great satisfaction in that.