Right now we’re about 40 miles North of Coos Bay Oregon and about 45NM away from shore. We haven’t seen land since turning the corner at Cape Flattery on Saturday night. However, I do have an ardent desire to visit the neighborhood areas of Oregon, especially Summit West, Bend.
I have heard a lot about its beauty from a friend of mine who has recently settled here. It has just been a month for her and she is already captivated by the beauty of the land. When she first decided to purchase a home here (perhaps with the help of Bernard Group- https://bernardrealestategroup.com/summit-west-bend-or/), she told me that she was a bit skeptical. But after she moved here, she has been telling me to pay her a visit as the location offers quite the sight. That is why I have been considering to visit this place for a long. Hopefully, when this sailing trip gets over, I could visit her.
That said, for now, I will just focus on the progress of sailing. Honestly, the progress has been steady making 168NM on Saturday and 173NM on Sunday. The breeze has been light hovering around the 10 knot range. we’ve been motor-sailing most of the time to keep our speed up and help the motion of the boat. The seas are rolly and coming from the west but overall the motion hasn’t been too bad.
This morning was our first chance to put up dual head sails poled out wing on wing. We had 10-13 knots of breeze and were making 5-6 knots running dead down wind. The sun was out and visibility was great. We turned off the engine and enjoyed some peace and quiet for a few hours of downwind sailing. The rig on Delos is really meant for this type of sailing!
Around 9:30AM we had a decent sized tuna on the hand line! As we tried to get it into the net a sudden burst of flailing let the hook loose and the fish got away. We know the gear works so it’s only a matter of time before we pull something in. Joe, who we have taken to calling “Hawkeye”, specializes in spotting anything floating in the water ranging from sharks to tuna to sea lions. We had visits from two different pods of dolphins that put on a show by playing in our bow wave, jumping, and diving under our boat.
The crew and boat are both doing great so far. Having 6 people on board means we’re all able to stay well rested and alert even while running the boat 24 hours a day. We decided to do two shifts of three people each. Team 1 is Brian, Ryan, and Autumn. Team 2 is Erin, Harold, and Joe. During the day we do two six-hour shifts and two four hour shifts at night. Yesterday Team 1 had the 12PM-6PM and 10AM-2AM shift. Today we have 6AM-12PM, 6PM-10PM, and 2AM-6AM shifts. Having three people helps with the longer watches since there is always someone there to back you up or keep you company. We’ve been spending our “off” time reading, napping, and just watching the waves go by.
Only 448NM to go!