Close-Hauled to Hawaii
The saying “Nothing goes to windward like a 747,” is one of my favorites. I actually once took a 747 upwind, retracing my earlier downwind sailing route across the Pacific. I’ve also done a fair bit of ocean sailing to windward. The 747 was a lot more comfortable. But then again, comfort and security aren’t why we sail, are they?
This past year my husband, Seth, and I found ourselves making what proved to be a grueling 2,400-mile passage close-hauled. Like most upwind passages, it was fun in retrospect. At the time, not so much. It was a rough three weeks, pounding into head seas with sustained winds of 20 knots or more. Looking back on it, though, it was also one of the richest passages we’ve ever made, thanks to the abundance of rare and beautiful marine life we were lucky enough to come across.
TIME TO LEAVE FRENCH POLYNESIA
As of the second half of 2020, our 40ft cold-molded wooden cutter, Celeste, had been in French Polynesia a little over two years. We’d kept up with most of the maintenance she needed, but held off on certain larger projects until our planned return to the United States, where parts and supplies would be both cheaper and easier to obtain. Now, due to a combination of work commitments and the uncertainty of the pandemic, it was time sail Celeste back home to Hawaii.
It was going to be an upwind trip, though, with the forecasts all
