Our long-time reader Stiks, who’s on a sailboat in mid Pacific sent up a position update:
“George…we are currently long term floating in a gigantic high pressure zone with almost zero wind and have been pretty much stuck and drifting around for three days. Lots of cool lightning, some heavy squalls to fill the tanks, and plenty of time to be creative with food, read, nap, swim, and generally enjoy the glassy sea world. The moat is wide, New Caledonia is now reasonably close, and it’s about ninety miles to our next waypoint which we are now moving towards at a little over two knots. The Starlink doesn’t work out here so we have no idea about anything and are much happier for it. EBT? Venezuela? New York election? War in the ME? Not a care from here. Fresh food is getting low but we still have a few more days before we have to get serious about the cans and hitting the rice and beans hard. Just letting you know all is well in Stik’s world. Feel free to let our friends know too.
Best or worst of it, no telling. The glass off continues and we limp along burning electrons on the flattest shiny sea I’ve ever experienced. Using just .79 of a KW (out of 20 tops) we are making good average 2.5kts on our rhumbline. This is better than sitting and drifting as the guys just a hundred and twenty years or so ago would have been forced to do. Also good is high solar input which won’t run the ship but at least adds something to the mix. Still don’t care about the rest of the dirt activities unless GPS goes down or there is a general global social meltdown from the arrival, a state of panic and collapse that would threaten our ability to get a nice fish and chips and a beer in our port of call.
Of special interest to those of us who have lived aboard, raced, are still have the dream of cutting lines and taking off. dLynn and Egor in particular.
George @godaweful early
Sticks, glad that you enjoying ‘flat seas’.
Wife and I thought about living aboard for the rest of time or until we couldn’t handle the sails but gave it up for a garden and an orchard on the hard.
For us it was a good move back to the hard as we are closer to family, have a garden and orchard to play around with for as long we can.
Good luck on your adventures! Fair winds and calm seas until your next fish and chips with a cool one.
Bless you. It takes a special kind of person to live aboard a ‘survival capsule’ on the open seas. I don’t think I could do it. My ‘boat’ is 1/3 acre of jungle with 150 inches of annual rain that grows EVERYTHING. I’m far enough away from ‘civilization’ to ignore it all, yet close enough for emergency services and shopping trips as needed.
Can you string a kit out from the big island up over se of new caladonia and send selfies for Stiks? We can send 3,859 miles of kite string for you…
As luck would have it, I have a ham contact and QSL from New Caledonia. Great signal! Too bad Stiks doesn’t have a ham rig ‘maritime mobile’.
Thanks.., Stiks
The dream of getting back on-board and cutting the lines is still there.., still wishing., and still looking. Up to “The Mrs” now. Can’t push that part.
Take care and try a little fishing in ‘the calm’.
Kind of funny – I have always wondered what it would be like to sail into the doldrums.
How did Stiks get a message to you since his satellite system apparently isn’t working?
By “Sail Mail” (a worldwide RTT system with transmitters/receivers all over the world utilizing ham radio), or via a Commercial HF RTT system?
From what I have read “Sail Mail” is pretty dependable, but I have never had to use it on a blue water adventure though did look into to it when asked if I wanted to help crew a 48′ sailboat across the Atlantic.
Just curious
Iridium hh