Off At Last

0800 Position 32-00N 118-41.6W 102 miles SW of Newport Beach

I'm sitting at the table in Van Diemen's great cabin looking out the saloon windows at a glorious morning. I've had my coffee and granola and now it's time to get down to business.

We are beam reaching under full sail and flat seas in eleven knots of breeze averaging about eight knots. We powered out of Newport Harbor in light conditions and motor sailed all night until the breeze finally filled in from the northwest at 7AM and we shut off the engine. Van Diemen is aimed straight towards the Marquesas. There isn't a cloud in the sky and there is nothing but horizon in sight. The last loom of the lights from LA and San Diego disappeared behind us while it was still dark last night.

After a month of "maybe tomorrow"s Van Diemen finally got underway at 7PM last evening. I had been in Newport for more than a month working twelve hours a day, seven days a week, to get the boat ready to go. When I arrived I had expected to be spending a few days helping provision the boat before we departed, but Van Diemen's once every fifteen year refit was behind schedule and the boat had to be put back together before we could depart. It is satisfying to see what we accomplished, but I really didn't need that much satisfaction. However, it is all behind us now, and we are streaking toward paradise. Now comes eight months of fun as we island hop across the South Pacific to Tasmania.

It should take us two weeks or so to get to the Marquesas. I am really looking forward to this island group. I last cruised there in 1986 aboard Eleu, my Ranger 33. We had a great time in these rugged and sparsely populated islands, but we didn't stay long and there was lots we didn't see. We are planning to spend a couple of weeks there this time and I'm hoping to fill in the blanks.

The forecast doesn't show much more than ten knots of wind for the next week or so as we approach the equator. Hopefully we will have enough to keep sailing and avoid using the engine.

We've got an interesting watch system going on Van Diemen. Everybody takes turns spending two hours on "standby" and then two hours on "watch", so you are on duty for four hours. The guy on standby is there to assist the guy on watch, who is supposed to be on deck managing the vessel. With five of us aboard, that means four hours on and six hours off. I come on standby when Rob is on watch, and Longy comes on standby when I am on watch. They both have tons of sailing experience and are great story tellers so I am being royally entertained.
We each have our own bunks aboard the boat. I am in the crew cabin, forward of the mast on the starboard side of the boat. It is a good spot well away from the noise of the engine and quite roomy.