Whats Next ?
I have been asked many questions over the last few days. Mostly a different version of the same things people were interested in. I was only asked however one question, one time, that I have thought about over and over as the days have passed. “Did you file a plan with any agency or service regarding you trip?”
My answer was “no”, and have thought about it since. I have thought about the hikers and mountain climbers the motorcycle riders, sailors and surfers, offroaders, fishermen, whitewater rafters and day explorers, anyone who travels to the edge, in any sport or adventure, no matter how far or for how long. Is there a place for those people to file a plan of their intentions and time schedule “just in case”? A place where, if they don’t return within a certain time frame they designate, someone on a contact list could be notified and help could be directed to them.
I thought of all the times I had gone off for the day to get in a little mini-adventure and gotten into a tough spot. A day on the bike in the canyon. A sail on my catamaran, midweek, in very heavy conditions with no communications. A quick trip to Mexico for some surf or even a walk off the beaten trail during a particularly heavy storm where I was sure new waterfalls would be found. Had I not returned, not only would no one know where I was, they would not have even know I had gone.
This got me thinking about this website. Kensolo.com was not only instrumental in my recent rescue but I feel it was what made the difference in the amount of public awareness in my particular case. It was a constantly updated central vehicle that allowed the media the instant information that propelled the story forward to the public. kensolo.com also brought with it the ability to collaborate, cross check and bridge the different agencies search and rescue efforts across time zones and national boarders.
Due to the unusual effectiveness kensolo.com played in my recovery, Ron Vangell, who headed the team that developed and updated the site so effectively, and I, have decided to develop kensolo.com into a FREE service to all who seek adventure on any level. It would simply be a place where your adventure plans could be quickly logged before you set out and if necessary, modified along the way as your journey develops.
I also see it as a place where a person, who for instance, went mountain-biking in South America, could describe his or her adventure for others who may have similar intentions without having to get a book published to do it. A way to tell of things that worked and things that did not .What was brought and not needed and what was needed and not brought. Also the best route in their opinion and what things you may want to avoid. People could also keep a journal including real time photos and videos of their adventure as it unfolds and share it with a select group or if they choose the whole world can watch. No matter how much fun you could have with the site, the ultimate reason for it is the safety of having people who love you know where you are in the event of problems.
Please check back as we begin the site morphing process. Any ideas, comments or suggestions, as always, please mail to chopper@kensolo.com. We are very interested in what you have to say and look forward to incorporating your feedback into the site. In the meantime, please travel safe!
KEN
Further thoughts from Ken
In a recent article I am getting some feedback that I was portrayed as dejected and considered the trip a failure. Of course I felt, and still do, a bit down about the whole thing. I don’t believe that feeling would be considered unique by anyone who had invested as much time, money and effort into accomplishing a goal as I did. As far as the trip being a failure, by definition, in its totality, what else could it be called? That is not to say there were not successes and accomplishments along the way. I consider one of those to be just leaving the dock. To my way of thinking the word “down” is only followed by “out” when you take your last breath.
At this point in my life, a week after returning home, I am simply getting caught up on the details of life that did not have the courtesy to wait while I was away. I will soon start off again in some direction. I just haven’t decided which direction that will be. There are certain things I would like to do and because of how I positioned myself before I left, I have the luxury of being able to take a little time to consider my options carefully before rushing into anything… I would guess at least another 3 days.
I love the ocean and welcome the opportunity to be on it again no matter the form, work or play. My financial needs at this stage in my life are small, so that leaves me in a position do what I want to do rather than what I have to do. On that subject I would like to address the very generous offers of financial support that have come my way as a result of all the media attention this has created. I am not by nature one who accepts a helping hand. That has been the hardest part of this experience for me. One of the reasons I did not seek sponsorship for my trip was the selfish one of not diluting my dream. Believe it or not, this was supposed to be a private accomplishment. The acquisition of money has never been important to me. It has only been important to me when it has been needed for responsibilities I have voluntarily assumed. I don’t get my self worth from its accumulation. I thank you for the offers but would rather you spend your money on your dreams.
If I can’t make my dreams happen they are merely thoughts and not worth the effort. It’s been my experience that most people have dreams we just don’t always let others know what they are. I believe the reason for this is because if people know where you want to go in life they will also know how far off course you are. The first step towards accomplishing your dream is owning it. It’s all downhill after that.
Ken
How it happened, in Kens words...
I think by this time most people know that if I were to give my current lat. and long. It would be a lot further north than expected. Yes, my trip is over and ended much differently than anticipated. On Jan. 2nd the boat was rolled at around 3pm. I lost my masts, dodger, arch and most everything above decks. My location at the time was lat 54.44 long. 86. I was sailing in 35-45 kt winds on my starboard quarter on a course just south of east with the center of the low pressure system to my southwest and still aways away. The swells were averaging 20-25 feet and coming from 3 different directions but primarily from the northwest.
It has been brought to my attention that in a early radio report I stated that I had my mizzen sail up but If that is what I said It was a misstatement on my part and I apologize for the confusion that I caused by that statement. If I had been running with the mizzen up in those conditions all the negative reaction would definitely be warranted but that was not the case. I was running with only my staysail up. The main and mizzen had been taken down and secured several hours prior to the rollover. My speed was 4-6 kts. And I was trying to get through what I saw by the weather faxes as the last low I would have to face before rounding Cape Horn.
Because I was not In what I considered to be extreme conditions, which I would define as exceeding hull speed with no sail up, or even close to it, I wasn’t thinking of defensive positions yet, such an steaming a drogue and lying a hull. I was below decks at the time of the roll and can only make assumptions of what actually took place at that time based on what I had seen happening before the roll. The boat was rounded up in a gust of wind and before the autopilot could correct a breaking wave caught me broadside. Individually the wind strength, wave or angle to the sea would not have caused a rollover but all 3 together produced that result.
My first impression when the roll occurred was of water rushing in through one of the ports on the lee side. These were approximately 12x8 inch opening side ports that were thoroughly dogged down. My immediate next impression was of light and water entering the main salon. I did not even feel the roll when it occurred or notice the damage that took place inside the boat when it happened. The very first thing I did was go to the source of light and water and see what the cause of it was. I made my way to the main salon and looked up to see no hatch where one was supposed to be. . Standing on a seat I expected to see the hatch completely gone. What I saw was worse than I expected. The rig was gone and with it everything else above decks. The hatch cover was still attached but the locking mechanisms were broken off and I had no way to secure it. The next thing I did was go back to the galley area and secure the port that had opened. I then went out the companionway to the cockpit to further asses the damage. And deploy the drogue.
The steering wheel was completely bent over the deckhouse and steering the boat was not possible also the shift lever was broken off. My thinking went along these lines. The worst of the low is still on its way and I can’t steer the boat. I can’t even take the wheel off because the dodger was collapsed over the wheel and would have to be unbolted and sorted out first. Going back below I started to asses the damage there. The first thing I noticed was the floorboards that secured one of the battery banks had been broken through and that battery bank was scattered and useless. I switched to the other bank and the breaker panel shorted out. Having 120 pounds of propane on board and not knowing if any of the propane supply lines had been compromised in the rollover I did not think it wise to pursue attempting to restore power to the autopilot at that time.
What I was faced with was a boat that had a 2 foot opening in the hull on deck that could not be immediately secured and no way to steer the boat and these were only the obvious problems also did not know how the boat would ride on the drogue. My concern was that the boat would yaw from side to side and get in a position to be rolled again. If that happened I would be in a much worse position than I was in already. The water level inside the boat was up a few inches past the floorboards and I could not immediately see if it was getting worse due to the motion of the boat. All of these things took place in about 2 minutes. I had to make a quick decision about the next step. Whether to ride out the worst of the storm which was still approaching and hope the boat didn’t roll again, because if it did I was probably going into the life raft in very cold water for what turned out to be over 2 days or to activate the EPIRB and set in motion a series of events that would bring others into my predicament. I can only say that I hope you are never faced with that decision; it was not one that I took lightly. My decision was to activate the beacon.
The next thing I did was to make a sat phone call to assure my girlfriend I was currently ok and to alert the coast guard because even though the EPIRB has a blinking light there is no two way communication and I wanted to be sure the signal was getting out of the steel hull. My time next was mostly spent preparing myself and the boat the best I could for a worst case situation. I put on my survival suit, prepared the life raft for deployment and got a few things tied together in the event of another rollover. After awhile I went back up on deck in the storm to make a call and try to get an idea of when, and in what form, helicopter or boat, help would arrive, also what, if anything, I could do to affect an easier rescue. That’s about the time I noticed the plane circling overhead. I put down the sat. phone and got the handheld VHF to contact the plane. It was a very brief conversation as I don’t speak Spanish and the person I spoke to did not speak English. I watched as they flew away.
The storm was raging. I made the phone call and found out the plane had been there awhile I just hadn’t seen it or heard it over the storm. The rescue was to happen in about 15 hours. I spent several of those hours sitting on the companionway ladder with the EPIRB in one hand to try to make sure the signal was getting out and a flashlight in the other trying to assist anyone in finding me if it wasn’t since it was now dark and there were no other lights available to illuminate my position. 15 hours later I called to find out things were delayed and to expect help now in about 12 more hours. I could not leave my sat. phone on because I would run the battery down and I had no way to recharge it. There was no indication from the weather fax of the intensity of the storm that the rescue vessel was in and I had no idea in what form or direction rescue would be coming from. Approximately 55 hours later the lights of the POLAR PESCA 1 appeared on the horizon at 3am.
I had already made the decision to scuttle the boat. My investment in the attempt was well over $250,000. I estimated the cost of repairing the damage to the boat in excess of $100,000. My wallet was empty and the time available to sail her back home would soon be limited as I would have to return to some sort of work in the near future. I was not about to leave her floating to endanger anyone else. The decision was not easy however it was clear what the correct course of action was.
As the POLAR PESCA 1”s crew loaded the last of my 4 bags into the inflatable I went below one last time. Over the last few years this boat and I had developed a relationship. I new her intimately. I had been through every possible space aboard time after time painting, restoring, running wire, cleaning, improving, updating, replacing and constantly inspecting her for any possible weakness. She was repeat with redundancy. Spare parts were available for most items aboard and carefully packed away, never used. I had spent more time with this inanimate piece of steel than I had with my family over the last few years and I felt she was alive and ready to pursue the purpose of her original owners dream to sail the world. She wouldn’t die by herself. I had to intentionally bring her down. I walked forward carefully stepping over the broken floorboards that I had removed so many times to replace old batteries and run new wire many, many times.
Forward, down the steps under which lay the water pump I had replaced. Past the new cushions which were now just twisted foam soaked in diesel and salt water sitting on the cabin sole alongside several months’ worth of food supplies in complete disarray. Past the tools scattered around the boat that were purchased in Georgia for the work of decommissioning her for her trip to California and used countless times over the years in seemingly endless upgrades and repairs. Into the head that had been completely rebuilt and replumbed from the holding tank all the way to the thru hulls.
I reached into my pocket and retrieved a knife that would accomplish one final duty on this, her last day and cut thru her new plumbing well below the waterline. Opening 2 of her five new thru hulls I stood and watched briefly as water started to flood into her. I turned and walked away pausing briefly in the salon to run my hand over the grab rails that had provided me with so much security on this attempt as she battled her way thru seas and winds few have the opportunity to confront. The crew sent to retrieve me sat silently in the dingy as they watched me put the boards in and slide the hatch shut one last time. These were men of the sea and no words were spoken as we motored back to the fishing boat that would return me to the world, they new what I had done and left me to my own thoughts.
As a final epilogue it should be noted that for this attempt the cost
of insurance was prohibitive and thus the boat was not covered by insurance
in any way and was obviously a total loss. I learned much on this attempt.
As with anything new there are things I did right and things I did that
were wrong. My biggest regret was involving others in my attempt at a
personal goal. I don’t know that the attempt will be made again
even with the expeirience I have gained. I was “all in” on
this attempt and left nothing on the table. The costs in time, money and
emotion were very great. To gather those resources again will take a lot
of energy and who knows what tomorrow will bring a new adventure may be
on the horizon. I want to thank all of you who wished me well and prayed
for my safe return, it was and is deeply felt. Go ahead and LIVE your
life. To simply exsist sucks. Ken
Q&A from Chopper@kensolo.com Jan 09, 2007
Q. What will happen to Privateer?
A. Privateer was scuttled. Ken felt it was far too damaged to repair. In order to prevent it from becoming a Maritime hazard to others, he sunk it.
Q. Was Privateer Insured?
A. No, it is very expensive and nearly impossible to insure a vessel for a round the globe adventure. Ken is out the costs.
Q. When will Ken try again?
A. Well, mentally speaking, from his statements, we believe he would like to attempt this again. Financially speaking, he is not able to even think of an attempt right now as he was all-in with Privateer.
Q. What caused the demasting and rudder failures?
A. Privateer encountered a burst of heavy air (common to this area) and rounded up/broached into a breaking 25 foot wave. This caused the boat to roll 360 degrees, which in turn broke both masts, ripped off a hatch(s), and flooded the cabin with 3 feet of water before the boat righted.
Q. What will Ken do now?
A. He is contemplating that right now..
More Q &A to come as well as more details. Please check back with us !!!
Any questions, please direct to chopper@kensolo.com
Jan 07 2007
Ken will arrive @ Orange County Airport at 9 AM PST.
At approximately 3:00 AM PST, the Polar Pesca 1 rescued Ken from Privateer. A special thanks to the Chilean Navy, US Coast Guard, US Embassy in Chile, Donna Lange and all others who have assisted in this effort.
A P3 has departed from Punta Arenas They will continue to maintain visual contact and surveillance. At approximately 1 am PST, a second P3 will depart Punta Arenas. The Fishing Vessel Polar Pesca 1 is still in route to Kens position and is expected to reach Kens area at approximately 2 am PST. The P3 will then vector Polar Pesca 1 to Kens exact location.
Pictures of the disabled Privateer shot this morning from the 2nd Chilean P3 aircraft
Jan 04 07:45 AM PST
EPIRB Coordinates as of 6:06 PST Lat 54.39.6 Long 86.02.6 The fishing vessel Polar Pesca 1 is still powering toward Ken, and is approx. 168 NMiles away. Speed has been increased to 9 knots. New ETA is now Friday afternoon PST. The second P3 has made visual contact with the vessel at 05:00AM Chilean time and noted red lights on the deck, Kens boat still drifting and floating fine. Weather conditions are 20 knots of wind, with 10-12 foot seas. good visability.
Jan 03, 11:00PM PST
EPIRB coordinates Lat 54.51.4 Long 86.05.4 The fishing vessel Polar Pesca 1 is steaming toward Kens position under the watch of the Chilean Navy. ETA is 06:00PM PST. A Chilean P3 (Aircraft) has also been dispatched from Punta Arenas for visual monitoring and tracking. WInds and seas are cooperating with a 48 hour window of calmer conditions. However a new low has formed and is moving toward the area.
Jan 03, 5:00 PM PST
The US embassy in Chile reports that a fixed wing aircraft
has made visual contact and has dropped emergency supplies. Ken was able
to make brief contact with support team in Newport. The seas have subsided
for now. Ken is shaken but OK with a minor scratch.
Three vessels are attempting to reach Ken. The first to reach Ken should
be a fishing vessel from the East. Estimated arrival should be between
5 and 10 PM PST tomorrow. Two vessels heading from the west, a merchant
vessel from Malta and the Chilean Tug have run into weather and are delayed.
Will update as information becomes available.
Donna Lange www.donnalange.com . another solo sailor approx. 150 nautical miles from Ken's current position has contacted Ken's support team. She reports hearing VHF traffic from the Chilean P3. Help is on the way.
Jan 03, 12:45 PM PST
Current Position via US Coast Lat
54.44.025 Long 86.09.05.
The Privateer is still afloat. Ken is aboard. The Chilean P3 expects to
reach Ken at 3:30 PST. The plane is expected to drop Survival Gear and
Communication equipment
Jan 03, 7:00 AM PST
Ken continues to ride out the storm with disabled Privateer. A Chilean P3 fixed wing aircraft is within hours of his position. Once located, it will drop commication and support equipment to him. The Chilean Naval vessel is 32-38 hours from reaching him and a 570' Merchant Vessel out of Malta is steaming his way. The weather low should begin to pass this afternoon PST and give way to smoother seas and reduced winds. His cuurent position is Lat 54.45 Long 86.11...
Jan 02, 2007 9:15 PM PST
The US Coast Guard has contacted Chilean authorities, the Chilean Navy Search and Rescue is being dispatched. A Chilean Naval vessel is within a day of Kens position as well as a fishing trawler. What we know so far is that Ken has been dismasted, lost steering and is has a hatch that is broken and leaking. His EPIRB is transmitting his location, he has a survival suit and a life raft. According to authorities, he is properly equiped for this situation.
Jan 02, 2007 5:30 PM PST
At Approximately 5 PM PST, an EPIRB signal from Kens ship was received by the US Coast Guard. His position is Lat 54.55.06 Long 86.17.00. We will post any updates as soon as we know more....
Dec 28,2006
Lat. 50.55S Long. 100.50W. Well I just opened my Christmas cards and gifts and want to thank all of you very much for thinking of me at this time of year. Why you ask am I opening Christmas cards and such on Dec. 28 instead of the 25th? Well I’ve spent the last 4 days in a storm. It started on Dec. 23 when I was sailing along in 20 kts and went to sleep. At around 2am (why always at night) on the 24th I noticed the wind generators were making a lot of noise and I was no longer sleeping in the traditional horizontal position. It seems that as I slept the wind took the opportunity to increase to 35 kts.
Well after trying for a while, in my muttled condition, to figure out which way to turn the autopilot to head downwind I finally started to get things sorted out, in my head, now for the boat. First of all I knew there was a large low pressure system ahead of me when I went to sleep but I had been watching these lows and they all seemed to pass by rather quickly, usually in about 24 hours so my thinking was this one will pass and I will get in behind it, I thought wrong. This low decided to camp out for 3 days and as I slept I wandered right into it.
Just going on deck in 35 kts at 2am in 30 degree rainy weather took some will power but the alternative was not so good either. Hauling down the mainsail while it was plastered against the rigging was a challenge made even more so by the fact that the line I tied to the top slide of the sail to help get it down in conditions just such as this had snagged on something and the sail stopped its decent half way down. At this point the sail had to come down because the wind was increasing however the only way to get it down was to go up the mast and cut the offending line. In 35-40 kts of wind and 15 foot swells rolling the boat thru 60 degrees this was not a job I wanted but it had to be done so up I went. Step by step up the mast steps a death grip at each one I finally made it halfway up where I could cut the line. It was about this time I remembered that I would need a knife for this particular job. Praying, I searched my pocket with one hand as I clung onto the mast with the other and found I had cleverly stashed a knife there for just such a time as this when my brain was on the deck and I was up the mast.
After carefully avoiding slicing through the halyard and cutting the
right line I slowly descended to the relative safety of the deck to continue
the process of dropping the mainsail while sailing downwind in a Gail.
That accomplished, I only had the headsail and mizzen to contend with.
All this took about 2 hours and the only loss I suffered was the top mainsail
batten broke but I have a spare for that. The winds stayed at 25-40 kts
for 3 days with 10-20 foot violent seas. I stayed below waiting to see
what would break first just hoping it would not be the autopilot. As with
all things this storm has passed. Winds are now 10-15 kts. The seas are
still rough but the sun is out and the barometer is up. There is another
low on the way but this one won’t catch me sleeping. 1400 miles
to Cape Horn and still moving, KEN
Dec 20, 2006
Lat.43.25S Long.113.36W In the world we live in, with instant visuals and communication, very few things, with the possible exception of the birth of a child, fall into the category of amazing. Exciting, thrilling, fun, stimulating, yes. You can feel those emotions at Disneyland however Disneyland could never dream of creating a ride as amazing as a storm in the southern ocean. Be careful what you ask for down here because it can happen in the blink of an eye. Last night a low pressure system rolled over me, my first down here. It’s not the wind; we have all felt strong winds before even if it’s just sticking your head out your car window.
What I’m talking about is the swell that is built up by those winds. This morning about 4 am as I was graciously being thrown out of by bunk to the pleasant sounds of objects flying around the boat, I noticed that somehow while in peaceful slumber the wind decided to change direction ever so slightly. Not something you would even really notice until a 15 foot wave slammed into the side of the boat. I rushed up on deck and sorted things out then just stared in amazement at the ocean around me. I went below last night knowing a low was coming and made sail adjustment accordingly throughout the night but the morning light brought a sight I will remember until the next bigger storm blows thru.
Most people know the pacific is a large body of water and many know that it’s so large you could fit all the continents of the world in it with room to spare but I know it’s even more than that. It’s a living breathing thing. I saw it this morning as I never have before. The swells were not even particularly large in height, maybe 15 feet, but they were and still are massive. I found myself staring at them for hours unable to take my eyes off them, waiting to see if the next one is more awesome than the one that just past. I realize they can, and have been, very dangerous in extreme conditions down here but the boat is handling them well. The barometer is still dropping and even though I love to type I feel I should be on deck in the event the autopilot may need some help. KEN
Dec 18, 2006
Lat.. 39.10S and Long. 116.40W
Dec 17, 2006
Lat. 38.51S Long. 116.40W 2000 miles to go to Cape Horn and I’m wondering if the wheels are going to come off the cart before I even get there. If I had known that 75 percent of this first pacific leg would have been in winds under 15 kts. and most of that in less than 10 kts. I would have prepared a little differently. For example, I would have brought more rigging wire, cotter pins, shackles, and duct tape. The wear and tear on the boat and rigging in the constant slating conditions are tremendous and the chaffing is also very bad. The almost constant banging even with preventers is very nerve racking. The boat is now, for example, in a quartering wind of 6 kts. Doing 3.5 kts and that is not enough to keep the sails full in the 4-8 foot choppy seas that are rolling past me on the beam. The only relief I have I have is earplugs which I highly recommend for any offshore cruise. I’m sure that I will get plenty of strong winds but if the wind doesn’t get here soon the boat is going to be to worn out to handle them. For those of you out there praying for me, 20-25 kts. should do it, thanks. The forecast is for a low pressure system with winds about 25-35 kts to roll over me in a couple of days so well see. The most wind I’ve had so far is about 27 kts. The largest seas have been roughly 12-15 feet. The days are still warm, 75 degrees, and mostly sunny after the morning clouds move out. At night the sky is filled with stars all the way down to the horizon and when the moon is full I can read by it. I have to go up on deck now, something is banging.
Dec 16, 2006
Current position is Lat 37.57S and 117.25W
Dec 11, 2006
As of 6:30 pm, Ken was at : Lat. 30.28S and 119.40W
Dec 8, 2006
Lat.
25.51s Long.118.41w. As you can see I haven’t made
much progress in the last several days. For the most part there has been
little or no wind 3-5 kts. With the occasional 20 kt. squall, however,
last night there was a definite change. Around 1pm I woke to the sound
of the off course alarm. The wind had backed, and the sails, which had
preventers rigged were also backed. After straightening that out the wind
and rain started to come on pretty good from the northwest and I thought
finally I would pick up the northwest winds and they would swing to the
southwest. While I was sleepily thinking this there was a flash like an
old time camera bulb going off but much brighter and quicker. I quickly
removed my hand from the winch I was using to balance myself and thought,
uh-oh, lightning, and very close, so close in fact It blew the breakers
on the boat. For the next hour or so you could say I was sweating. The
thunder was so loud I put on my shooting range earmuffs to dampen the
noise. I finally fell asleep only to awaken to headwinds 20kts. Out of
the southeast and very rough seas. This is supposed to last for the next
couple of days, and I thought I was done with headwinds for awhile. Still
heading south, KEN
Dec 4, 2006
Lat.S. 21.20 Long.118.43 The needle on the wind indicator is spinning in circles with the motion of the boat. I need something to tell me the direction the wind is coming from. I take a strip of toilet paper and tear it from 2 ply to 1 then rip that in half long ways to avoid the extra weight. I carefully tie it to the aluminum arch on the stern of the boat and stand back to watch it hang lifeless. That was another time the funny looking dodger I built for the boat came in handy. It has sun covers that completely enclose it to keep the sun out. At the tropic of Capricorn, without them, I would either be melting down below or be burned to a crisp on deck.
Three days later as I write this the wind is finally picking up to the point where I can sail the boat. While becalmed I had a chance to see the first fish I have seen so far on this trip. I don’t fish so please excuse my ignorance but guessing I would say they were Dorado. They were about 3-4 feet long with yellow tails and flat square heads. There were several of them and they stayed with the boat for about 20 hours. At night I would come on deck to find them swimming right along side the boat close enough to gaff. Now I know you fishermen out there are groaning right now wondering why I did not throw a line in. Well the reasons are many. I was not hungry, I have plenty of food, I did not want the mess on the boat to have clean up nor the smell, I am not a cook and would not know how to properly prepare it and would not want to spend the time or energy doing it anyway and lastly to much of it would simply have gone to waste.
Weather reports indicate an increase in the winds over the next couple
of days and if it gets back to the normal 15-20 kts. I should be making
my turn for Cape Horn in about 10 days. In the higher latitudes I fully
expect to run into some adverse weather, anything could happen to affect
the time it takes to actually round the Horn. Looking at it one way my
average daily runs have been miserable. On the other hand if they stay
miserable its likely that by the time I get past New Zealand and turn
left into the pacific I will nave missed the cyclone season which is supposed
to end around March. KEN
Dec 3, 2006
Today at noon Ken was at lat. 20.38S and long. 118.44W
Dec 1, 2006
lat
18.38s long119w This morning finds me finally with the wind
shifting east. The squalls are moving from east to west and during the
day I can see them coming with enough time to properly reef the sails
before the wind goes from 10 to 30 kts. in about 1 minute. At night I
rely on the radar to give me some advanced warning but mostly leave a
good chunk of reef in and suffer a speed reduction rather than suffer
a knockdown. The skies are changing constantly. What I would like to know
is what’s with these birds? I know I’m about 2500 miles from
land. Don’t they know that? I mean, these aren’t big birds
like wandering albatross but little birds the size of sparrows. Don’t
they know there supposed to live in trees like a respectable bird? Just
a thought. KEN
Nov 29, 2006
As of 6:20pm on 11/29/06: lat. 17.38S and long. 119.03W.
Nov. 27, 2006
Lat. 13.30S and long. 119.10W. Wind speed is 15 to 20 and boat speed is at 6 to 7 knots and moving good.
Nov. 21, 2006
Today is kind of a boring day so I thought I would update the website. Pos. lat. S 00.46 lat. W 118.20 course 180 speed 4 kts wind speed 10 kts. 4 to 8 ft. choppy swell. Last night at 2am I reached the first of my goals and crossed the equator. The last 600 miles were very tough headwind sailing into 20 plus kts. of wind and very slow going. This boat was just not designed for close-hauled sailing and tends to hobbyhorse in the best conditions. I think that reserve buoyancy will come in handy in other parts of this trip. The winds should gradually shift more out of the east for the next 1000 miles or so and the daily runs should increase. I have been saying that for a week now, hopefully it will come true. My average daily runs have been miserable. Some of you are probably wondering what I do all day. My day goes something like this. Assuming I have good weather, I wake at around 5-6 am, check my course, wind speed and position then make coffee. Sit around drinking my coffee and telling myself that this is the day I’m going to clean up the interior of the boat. I then check the computer for the weather information I have asked to be sent to me each day via sail mail which comes to me through the SSB radio and any personal messages. Still assuming good weather I go out on deck and look over the boat to see what problems might have developed overnight and toss overboard all the flying fish and squid that have accumulated on deck. I then promptly forget about cleaning the boat and read all day. I check weather fax reports around 1pm and at 2pm I plot my position. When it gets dark I go below and read some more. I do a little writing from time to time but mostly my job is to try to keep the boat moving south an not screw up. So far so good. Just 3000 miles to my next goal, Cape Horn. KEN
Nov. 17, 2006
God help anyone that was within 300 miles of hurricane Sergio. I was 900 miles away and felt its effects. The sky in every direction was dark gray and black with heavy, thick cloud cover and you could feel everything around being sucked into its center. By first light I was reefed down to jib, staysail and triple reefed mizzen. I was not about to give up an inch of the hard won southing I had fought for over the past several days and so my course was east southeast toward the storm. I would have been glad to head the other direction but the current would be running against me at 3-4 kts. and would have effectively stopped me cold. As it was I had to sail close hauled into a 20-25 kt. winds in 10-15 foot seas that were breaking over the boat and stopping any momentum I built up. Just moving around inside the boat was hazardous. On top of that, I discovered that when the boat is underwater most of the time, the forward steel hatch is not waterproof and I had to pump out the bilge every few hours.
For those of you who don't sail, yesterday was like this: Your pregnant
wife wakes you up in the middle of the night (It's always the middle of
the night) and says "I think its time". You get up startled,
grab the bag and rush out to the car. The hospital is 100 miles away.
After about 70 miles the front bearings go out and the car starts to wobble
the faster you go the more the car shakes. It's too late to go back and
get the other car; you've gone too far, so you slow down. You only have
30 more miles to go when you start to notice 15 foot speed bumps every
100 feet. To say the last 500 miles has been frustrating would not quite
capture the mood. My average daily runs have been around 25 miles south
and 50 miles east or west. I am currently at lat. 4.39
long. 115.24 on a course of 125 degrees For every 100 miles I go I
only make about 40 of those to the south. I expect to be able to pick
up the southeast trades at between 3 and 4 degrees so I need to get another
100 miles south. After that I should have around 2000 miles of 20-25kts
right on the beam and my daily runs should get back up to about 150 miles
per day. I hope so. KEN
Nov. 14, 2006
Lat. N 7.23 Long 118.60 course 250 speed, not good. The doldrums is an awful place. If I could just get about 200 miles further south there is a great wind coming out of the southeast that would take me to at least 20 degrees south lat. But that 200 miles is proving to be a very long way. I have only moved 7 miles in that direction in the last 20 hours. I did make an extra 5 miles last night but it was in the wrong direction. Part of the problem is that this boat is like a stubborn mule. She just refuses to point and if you try to make her she just stops until I ease off 10 degrees or so then she gets off her butt and plods on. No matter what though if I don't get at least 8 kts. of wind the going against this confused sea seems improbable and I may be here for days. Yesterday morning I had to work on the head stay again. It looks like the lower end of the profurl rollerfurler doesn't want to spin freely and it is causing the stay to turn instead. I have done all I can with it. It's looser than I would like but there is not much else I can do with it. I just have to leave it as my last sail down and hope it doesn't part. I noticed some wear on the main halyard where it goes through the masthead. It seems a little early in the game to worry about losing a halyard but I have several I can replace it with. Last night I also lost the pin that holds the wind vane rudder. It was new and I have a few more but getting it back on should prove challenging, at least until this swell dies down a bit. Still moving south, slowly, KEN
Nov. 10, 2006
No content to update. Current position is Lat 11.59.00 and Longitude 117.51.00
Nov. 4, 2006
Hi, thanks for checking in. First let’s get the basics out of the way. The time is 7:00 am. My position is Lat. 23.05 Long. 120.24. (Remember to zoom out at least four clicks when map comes up). The sky is partially overcast. Barometer is 30.4 inches. Wind speed 15 to 20 kts. Boat speed 6 to 8 kts. My course is 155. Now I’m going to assume that many of you don’t know much about sailing, so from time to time I will add definitions of terms in parenthesis after a word or phrase that, too many of you, might not be a term you would recognize in a sailing sense. Hope it helps.
The launch day was, to me, a little hectic. I needed to concentrate fully on last minute things to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything important like, oh say, food. I also needed to see everyone that came to see me off. I would like to now thank those of you who took the time to come and apologize for not having the time to properly thank you then, and whoever put the bag of snickers in at the last minute just know the you are responsible for my lazy eating habits to date. Well those are gone and in order to get to the ones I brought I will have to burn a lot of calories finding out which bag I put them in. See how that works. The sailing started out deceptively good. There was a good breeze blowing until I got headed in the direction I was supposed to be going then it all but stopped and the end of the day saw me well short of Catalina. That night was a disappointment as well (disappointment-no wind ). The following day the disappointment continued until around 11:00 am when I finally got out of Catalina's wind shadow. The wind picked up later that night to over 20 knots (Knot= seven-tenths of a statute mile per hour) and I made the best days run so far.
For those who don’t know a day’s run sailing is 24 hours, although many of us would like to find a rest area and pull over and get a good night sleep, there are none. Day 3 saw me at 120 degrees of long. And I happily turned a little to port ( left side of the boat when you are in the back of the boat facing forward and right side of the boat when you are on the front of the boat looking back. Starboard is a little different-simple, see). I traveled that direction until I found out it’s not a great idea to try to head directly south when the waves ( many of you will see plenty of waves on your TV sets when you wake up Jan. 1 those are not the one's I’m talking about. More on waves to follow) are coming from the North. In order to properly place the waves, also known as swells, where they belong relative to the boat (now all you teachers have the opportunity to instruct your students that relatives are not always family members, what a community service I'm providing). In other words I have to zig zag south until the wind comes from where it's supposed to.
Day 4 brought with it good wind and waves that were quite a site . I’ve
seen plenty of pictures of the sea state taken from the cockpit looking
aft but until you experience it for yourself you are definitely missing
an awesome feeling. When you look back and see a 15 foot set coming your
way, as a surfer, you think yahoo but then you think, as a sailor, I wonder
how bad this one is going to throw the boat around. You already know the
boat will rise like a duck to meet any wave it encounters just as long
as it doesn’t break (if it does its back to surf mode) and by now
you have watched hundreds of them and know the most that will happen is
the boat will get a good roll out of it. Well that is exactly what has
been happening the last couple of days so far, a lot of rolling. When
you check my position you will see that I am getting close to the latitude
of the tip of BAJA. The weather should change as I get farther south to
the Equator. I have had slow progress so far because I have had to zig
zag but when I can head directly south... look out. KEN
Nov 2, 2006
TO RON : You would love this. The seas are awsome and I would love it if you were here so I could relax a little at night and let you go figure out what that noise was. Last night it blew 15- 25 kts in 6-10 seas. Trying to sleep and hold on at the same time makes for a long night. I am having to tack downwind so as to keep the wind on the quarters. I dont want to risk an accidental jibe with everything tied off. That roll would not be fun. Im at about mid-baja lat 27.12 long 118.52. Have only averaged 90 miles per day but that should pick up now that I have wind.
Oct. 28 at 7:00 pm
Ken reported his location at 12 miles off Newport Beach with
winds at 7 knots. Privateer sailing at 3-4 knots. God Speed Ken, our hearts
are with you.