News
July 27, 2021
Well it's day 14 and we have 44 miles to go. It's been quite an experience and we have learned a lot. No matter how prepared you think you are, there is always more to do. We are finishing in our typical place - last across the line (Nalu-style), but I don't think we're last on a corrected basis. Getting in safely has always been goal #1 and we should accomplish that.
Along the way we have had small victories celebrated by Chris Tadlock's treats, such as a 100 Grand Bar at the 1000 mile mark, and See's suckers at 1500 (designed to last most of the rest of the way). We have one more surprise left to go at the finish line.
Of most importance, we raised $31K for ALS research. This is a great amount, but is short of our $50,000 goal. Please do share this challenge on social media and with your friends. While the race may be ending, the challenge goes on and ALS research funding is critically important.
Donate here: https://donate.als.org/team/362851
Thank you for your support!
Your Nalu V sailors
Mark & Kathy Ashmore
Chris Tadlock
Hugh Westermeyer
July 26, 2021
It was a big day yesterday... Leading off with food, Kathy made fresh bread from scratch - on the boat! It was whole wheat nut bread in honor of the four nuts aboard. It was delicious and went very well with our lasagne. Next up, fishing! Mark caught two Mahi Mahi and they are filleted and in the freezer right now. They were about 10 lbs each. They are destined for an on-shore feast.
Thirdly, wildlife! We had a visitor overnight - some type of seagull-like bird landed on the boat and slept on the rail just behind the wheel all night - from about 2am - 8am. Mark made a deal with him - overnight lodging in exchange for pointing out the fish. Mark was a savvy deal maker and it worked out for everyone. Unfortunately he did poop the deck, so maybe that was commentary on his lodgings?? we'll never know. Named "Maverick" for his superb flying & landing skills, he's still circling the boat now. We think he may see us as his floating hotel and is staking out his bed for the night. He seems to have no fear of us and Chris was able to touch him. He seems a little tired and beat-up so he fits in with our crew.
Of yes, there is also still sailing! We did about 166 miles yesterday in lighter winds. Right now, we have 221NM to go with a predicted 5pm HST finish (predicted by me - not sure what YB Tracker thinks). We're still wing-on-wing and have jybed onto starboard tack. We will probably need a couple more jybes to get to the finish. Things are pretty quiet on the boat overall. We're looking forward to rack-of-lamb tonight and Mai Tai's tomorrow!
Once again, thank you! The Nalu V Crew
Sailing for our Mark - In memory of Mark Buttermann
Donate here: https://donate.als.org/team/362851
July 25, 2021
It's day 12 and we have fallen into a rhythm, or maybe a rut. Due to the destruction of our main spinnakers, we have been sailing wing-on-wing. It's letting us sail a pretty direct course and we are making OK time, but it's not the same as if we had a spinnaker up. With a spinnaker, we would be surfing a lot more and playing with the waves. We can surf some wing-on-wing, but we don't have enough power to really accelerate down the waves. So it's pretty much just steer a course of 230 degrees and wait until we see land for days on end.
Progress is being made and we are starting to feel tropical. It's hot and humid. Luckily there is some wind to cool us off. Dreams of cold, fruity, tropical drinks are now figuring heavily during our sleep.
We have also come to appreciate how large the Pacific Ocean is. Other than four high-altitude planes, we have seen no other boats for 72+ hours. That's like going from SF to LA and seeing no one at all. Pretty amazing and a great reminder of our place in the world (chant and hum your mantra). We have seen a very little sea life - a few birds and a squadron? flying school? of Flying Fish - pretty cool.
We have 370 miles to go and are still hoping to get in Tuesday afternoon.
We are proudly flying 8 Mark Buttermann remembrance flags at this time. We will distribute them to family members following the trip. Fund raising is going well, but we are short of our goal ($30K out of a goal of $50K). Please donate if you have not yet done so and please tell your friends and share on social media about this important cause to fund ALS research (see the link below).
July 24, 2021
We continue to make progress, albeit a bit slower than we wanted. We have been sailing wing-on-wing, giving us an average speed of 7 - 7.5 knots and that is pretty much in the right direction, so our VMG (velocity made good) towards Honolulu is decent. We did 170 miles yesterday and hope to beat that today. Even though wing-on-wing isn't the fasted point of sail, Chris managed to hit 15.3 knots yesterday - close to our record of 15.6. We will try to keep that up!
The biggest news is that nothing broke overnight - a two-day record. We hope the streak will continue. Mark tightened up the steering cables this morning. When he mentioned that the steering needed work, dark thoughts entered my mind. Seems like everything is A-OK (at least for now). It was just an adjustment to head-off future problems.
As always, food is a highlight. Last night we had Mark's Shrimp Creole, which was great. We still have Klondike bars and we had breakfast burritos this morning. They are the best burritos ever according to Mark (yes, I made them). No fishing yesterday, so sushi is not yet on the menu. Maybe once we're a bit closer to Hawaii. Kathy is making fresh bread today - I suspect we'll be the only boat with that - take that Pyewacket! Mark promises my favorite avocado toast in the morning on the home-made bread - a real reason to get out of bed!
Hawaii is feeling close as the humidity is beginning to rise. It's getting to be time to plan our last meal (last nights sailing meal at least). Mark tells me it's going to be Rack of Lamb and potatoes (we're out of salad). It will be served with a nice Cabernet (really)!
July 20, 2021
Well it's the beginning of our 8th day and the excitement continues. Remember the issue with the afterguy? The other corner of the spinnaker is where the sheet attaches - that's what came loose last night. Nothing broke, but we ended up taking the spinnaker down and going wing-on-wing for the remainder of the night - not much slower, really.
This morning, we took down the Genoa (large sail in the front) to repair a growing tear. The sail came down fine, but not all of it. It attaches to a "car" that is part of the roller-furling set-up that lets us roll-up the sail. The car didn't come down because the shackle was broken. After a vigorous round of "I want to go up the mast, no I want go", Chris volunteered (in truth no one wanted to do it and Chris was our hero for volunteering). It was safe, but not comfortable for him - luckily he looks good in black & blue. After his "pinata experience" he took a bit of a rest on-deck.
We have the spinnaker back up and we're going fast. Repairs to the sail are forthcoming, but we had it furled-up, so we were not using it anyway and have time.
Meals are good as always. Breakfast burritos this morning and shrimp stir fry with fried rice last night.
July 19, 2021
Well it has been an eventful 24 hours - the best of times and the worst of times (but not too bad, though)! First, on a positive note, the water maker is fixed and showers are back on the itinerary - yea! Bubblemaster Mark figured it out and the tank is filling as we write this. The fix still really works only on starboard tack, which we will be on most of the time. We expect it to be warm enough in a couple of days to wash up.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum, last night at 11:15, we were steadily sailing along in about 22 knots of wind and suddenly the spinnaker afterguy broke (it broke at the splice to the shackle). For those less acquainted with the spinnaker - it's a triangular sail and you have lines at each corner - it was one of those that broke. We got it fixed pretty quickly, rousing Mark and Kathy from the beds to help. Unfortunately, about 3 hours later, the spinnaker itself ripped nearly in half. Our guess is that it got torn in the afterguy incident, but we didn't notice it. This time, Chris & Hugh got out of bed for the fun. We are sailing on spinnaker #2 (of 4) while seamstress and tape mistress Kathy tries to tape and sew the other (better) spinnaker back together.
Meals are still great. At Hugh's request, Mark made his fantastic avocado toast for a second day in a row - it's really good and we have lots of ripe avocados to eat. Dinner last night was enchilada pie - also really tasty.
Donations are doing great - around $22K so far, but we are below our goal of $50K. Please donate if you have not yet done so. Also, please share Mark's story with your friends and other who might be interested in supporting ALS research. We need to help stop this horrendous disease. Once again, thank you!
The Nalu V Crew
Sailing for our Mark - In memory of Mark Buttermann
July 18, 2021
It's day 6 and we have the spinnaker up at last! The wind is a bit variable between 12-20 knots - we like 20 better! Now we are starting to move south a bit more to live us up for the to-come trade winds.
The water maker has been put on hold until tomorrow. We aren't using that much water, so it's not an issue - and we do have a work-around (as well as a manual water maker, too).
The crew is in good spirits, especially when we look forward to our mile marker treats that Chris Tadock strategically planned. It did take us a while to receive our first 100 mile treat! Now the half way marker treat is really looking promising- sip of rum, klondike bars! (Yes,ice cream is on board). Once again, thank you!
July 17, 2021, Evening
Another day of great progress. Although the wind has been a bit up and down, last nights lasagne was fabulous. Apparently, we are more concerned with our stomachs than going fast. Based on our current performance, this may be a healthy area to focus on. Sort of a "don't worry - be happy" strategy.
Speaking of happy, we know what would make the captain happy - a working water maker! This is the issue du jour. While the machine does work, it's really picky about air bubbles in the sea water intake. Unfortunately, the current installation seems to produce more bubbles than water, so it doesn't work. After 2 long hours of trial and error, we landed on error. Mr. Fixit has a new plan for tomorrow. Not to worry though, this really is an issue in terms of having water to take fresh-water showers, not a safety issue (OK - maybe safety for our noses as the stink builds).
In terms of sailing, we are itching to get the spinnaker up. To do that we need the wind about 20 degrees more behind us. Per the forecast, the wind should be coming around, so it's just a matter of time.
Our crew is also starting to get into our at-sea rhythm - including being able to sleep better and getting used to the schedule. Spirits are high overall.
Once again, thank you and if you have not yet had a chance to donate to ALS research, please take a minute to do so - we would greatly appreciate it (see the link below). As we sail, we are flying our custom "In memory of Mark Buttermann" ALS flag.
July 17, 2021, Morning
Well it's day 4 and the wind is here. It's been 15-20 with gusts to 24, so it's starting to get exciting!
The ghost of Transpac 2019 has reared its ugly head and we have been having the bilge fill up with sea water - just like it did then. Upon examination, Mark determined that the bilge line was actually draining the ocean into our boat - not good. After hours of trying, Mark could not get it quite right so plan B was enacted - plug the bilge pump exit hole. The hole was unusually sized, so the best "plug" was a GoPro handle - and that's how we are sailing right now (thanks Chris for the outside the box thinking). This bilge issue is a factor of our high speeds offshore - not something that happens near LA. We believe it's fixed and crossing our fingers.
We covered 175 miles in the last 24 hours - a record for us, we believe. With this wind and a gradually improving course (the wind will start to come behind us more), we should continually improve on that over the days ahead.
The nights have been chilly, windy, sometime rainy and we have occasional wave break over us - everything true sailors dream of. We're dreaming of a few days from now, with trade winds and warmer temperatures.
Food continues to be great - enchiladas last night and Hugh's famous breakfast burritos this morning were both hits. Once again, thank you!
July 16, 2021
It's the beginning of day 3 and things are looking better! After a long day looking at San Nicholas Island yesterday (the military was nervous and was certainly looking at us), the wind finally came up and we were able to get to better wind. Overnight, it was pretty variable but we made some decent time. Currently, the wind is ranging between 7 - 10 knots with it predicted to be 15 later.
Meals have been the high point so far, with an excellent Teriyaki Chicken last night (thank you Lynn!) and waffles with strawberries and whipped cream as well as bacon for breakfast. No freeze dried food for us!
The crew is doing well and still settling into our day-to-day routine. Watches are 6 hours starting at 8AM. Mark and Kathy are one team and Hugh and Chris the other. We split the night at 2AM, which we are all getting used to (sort of):-)
This morning, Mark saw a whale which we hope to be a good omen. There is also a lot of bioluminescence in the water and we have been seeing some unusual glowing blobs (possible alien life - Chris your dad says that you may be interested in these).
Also, this morning, our cruise director Chris Tadlock (official position being "Cat 3 Cooler Jockey" - really, look it up on Yacht Scoring) surprised us with a 100 mile treat - tasty balls (AKA M&M's). Apparently, there are more treats to come at future milestones.
We have about 2050 miles to go, so lots of adventures yet to come.vOnce again, thank you for your support!
July 14, 2021
News flash: we survived our first night. We had a great start and were first over the line! The wind was better than predicted and in a more favorable direction -- initially. Last night the wind mostly died, although not completely. Lots of weaving around, but some progress made. It was nice in a way that it was calm - the chili went down well - and stayed down!
In terms of our course, it looks like everyone else went north and we stayed south and right now are just below San Miguel Island. We think this is a better course - better wind (at least it was never 100% dead) and it's shorter - time will tell. It looks like the synoptic wind (consistent offshore northerly wind) is nearby and that will really get us going.
Spirits are high, meals have been great and we're pushing on. Once again, thank you!
The Nalu V Crew
Sailing for our Mark - In memory of Mark Buttermann
Donate here: https://donate.als.org/team/36