Wave Powered Boat on the Pacific - Kenichi Horie
The height of the wave is approximately 1.5m. I have moved 30' west since yesterday.
This boat has one traditional and three inflatable life jackets. You'll find the traditional life jacket in the cockpit as a cushion but every time I lay down I use it as a pillow. This is a little bad manner of mine. I'll be safe if I have it near in case of emergency, but I'm using it this way. Although, this boat can't produce enough speed, I'm sailing smoothly and taking all possible measures as a crew.
June 2
Lat: 24°01'N
Long: 146°45'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 SE
Speed: 1.0 kn
I don't see any effect of the wind for the time being. I believe this will happen in two days. I just wish typhoon will be calling in some pretty nice wind.
June 3
Lat: 24°08'N
Long: 146°08'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 2-3 SE
Speed: 2.5 kn
There was frequent squall last night. The temperature dropped, felt cold and needed a blanket to sleep.
In the cockpit, the bucket I placed was full of rain water. And when I tasted it, it wasn't that bad.
June 4
Lat: 24°16'N
Long: 145°24'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 SW
Speed: 1.5 kn
Although southwest wind blows, speed accelerates. I don't know but it must be the current that pushes me through. The highest wave measures about 1.5 to 2 meters.
There are still three boxes of dumplings left from Yokohama. Expiration date was May 31. I heat it and was pretty good. I still have two boxes remained. I'm looking forward to eat those up.
June 5
Lat: 24°02'N
Long: 145°12'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 0
Speed: 0.6 kn
About an hour ago, an airplane from the south flew over.
The altitude dropped for a while and headed towards the north direction.
It is completely calm. No wind and waves. I've been struggling to pass that 145° line.
The weather forecast says starting tomorrow the wind will blow from the east.
This will be a test of patience for another day.
June 6
Lat: 23°52'N
Long: 145°05'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 ENE
Speed: 0.6 kn
In a long while after this morning, a 15-cm long squid jumped into my boat.
It was unruly and drew a lot of ink in the cockpit. I had it sashimi.
Wind has finally come from the east. I might get myself out from the 145° line sooner.
June 7
Lat: 23°49'N
Long: 144°48'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1-2 E
Speed: 1.0 kn
Despite the waves measuring around 1.5 meters and almost everything else seems to be favorable, my boat can't produce enough speed. The current might be flowing against my direction.
Over the horizon I saw light that seems to be coming from a ship last night. However it appears to be coming closer and closer. But…too bad! It was stars.
Once stars sparkle almost over the horizon, it can appear like a ship.
June 8
Lat: 23°58'N
Long: 144°05'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 2 E
Speed: 1.6 kn
I am sailing smoothly.
Every time I take a bath, I always scoop up seawater using a cloth bucket. One dip is about 8 liters however the rope was too thin that my hands hurt so much once I lift it up. I replaced the rope with a 10-mm and tie knot every 25 centimeters. This is quite effective.
June 9
Lat: 24°22'N
Long: 143°16'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 2-3 ENE
Speed: 2.1 kn
For a couple of days after passing the 145° line I'm back to 1°-phase. I'm sailing comfortably. Sailboats with built-in microwave ovens are increasing. Although sailboats tilt and the door of the microwave oven opens, there is a stopper that keeps the plate inside intact and safe.
This boat's microwave oven has two stopper installed. I must take it off and take it back whenever I have to use it.
This is really troublesome but since it is the safest thing to do I have no choice.
This morning, I had rice and oil sardines. It was good.
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Wave Powered Boat near Iwojima - Kenichi Horie
June 10
Lat: 24°43'N
Long: 142°32'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1-2 NE
Speed: 1.5 kn
I'm sailing smoothly.
When I was in Hawaii, I stack up 4 bottles of instant coffee.
Currently, about 1.4 bottles of that remain. And there are at least 2 months of food supplies left.
June 11
Lat: 25°09'N
Long: 141°58'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 E
Speed: 1.0 kn
Presently, the current is pushing me directly to the north.
Everyday I use seawater to take a bath, but every after bath I cleanses my eyes with eyewashes.
I stack up 3 bottles of eyewashes but I haven't finish using the first one. In sailing, eyewashes are valuables.
June 12
Lat: 25°25'N
Long: 141°42'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 S
Speed: 1.0 kn
June 13
Lat: 25°44'N
Long: 141°28'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1-2 SSW
Speed: 1.0 kn
I was able to see Iwojima.
The first time I saw it was during my around the world sailing without port call in 1974.
The second was in 1999 when I sailed using a yacht built with recycled beer-brewing barrels.
It's been ten years now since my last. And all those chances of seeing Iwojima, I've been looking at it from the north side.
The influence of the sea current and the wind is hampering me to move west. While it's pushing me north, I am moving east.
Presently, I am 23-mile east of Kita Iwojima. I can't see it with my own naked eyes but I can tell it so based on the shape on my radar.
Suntory Mermaid II Moving Northwest - Kenichi Horie
June 14
Lat: 25°38'N
Long: 141°07'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 S
Speed: 1.0 kn
The wind coming from the south is pushing me directly to the north. Although I have moved 30' longitude, I also moved 15' latitude. Now, I'm moving northwest.
I need stable winds coming from the east.
June 15
Lat: 25°30'N
Long: 140°59'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 E
Speed: 1.2 kn
I have moved a little backwards since yesterday, but now I have recovered.
My position is stationary as yesterday. I can't wait to pass across that 140° line.
June 16
Lat: 25°34'N
Long: 140°35'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 0-1 E
Speed: 1.1 kn
Since the radio wave was in good condition yesterday, I have made a lot of contacts through radio communications.
It's a windless situation until a while ago. Sunlight reflects to the surface of the sea that made the surface looks like a mirror. It was sparkling brightly. The moon also reflected to the surface at daytime.
There was a big squall from around 10 Km east of my position. Now squall has faded away to the distance, gentle wind started to blow.
At sea on the wave powered boat - Kenichi Horie
June 17
Lat: 25°38'N
Long: 140°12'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 1 NE
Speed: 1.2 kn
I guess by late afternoon I will be crossing the 140° line.
To always check my position, the GPS is on 24 hours a day.
During my first "solo-sailed across the pacific" and "solo-sailed around the world," GPS wasn't yet available.
There was only sextant and navigational star chart to know your position.
Now, I am holding on to GPS. But of course, sextant and navigational star chart are kept as an amulet.
June 18
Lat: 25°35'N
Long: 139°32'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 2 NE
Speed: 1.7 kn
It's a cloudy sky after a long time. A big squall shows on my radar.
Nowadays, I can rarely find radar that reflects squalls.
In this sailing, I didn't stack up yacht raincoat.
I just bought a plastic raincoat instead, but I haven't tried using it.
June 19
Lat: 25°47'N
Long: 138°35'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 3-4 NE
Speed: 2.3 kn
I am moving in a phase of 1° in a day which I haven't had for quite sometime. I just hope this will continue.
Up until my last voyage, I used to fill up poly tanks with tap water for drinking.
Now I am drinking those PET water bottles available on supermarket. Before leaving Hawaii, I stack up 120 bottles of 2-liter water, but around 60 bottles are still unconsumed.
June 20
Lat: 26°11'N
Long: 137°41'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 2 NE
Speed: 1.3 kn
The speed has died down.
The other day, there was something rolling over the cabin.
After searching, I found out that it was a screw inside the tool box. Everytime my boat tilts, it rolls.
It looks like there is a typhoon on the western part of the Philippines. There is no effect of that at this moment.
June 21
Lat: 26°30'N
Long: 136°56'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 1-2 ESE
Speed: 2 kn
I am sailing smoothly.
I've been taking a bath everyday. But because of squall and cloudy weather yesterday, it was cold that I have to stop from taking so.
This is my first time in two months.
June 22
Lat: 26°42'N
Long: 136°29'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 2 SSW
Speed: 1.1 kn
For about ten days, I have favorably moved 3° latitude up north from 23° to 26°.
Temperature also drops about 1 to 2 degrees. The temperature is 23 oC to 26 oC at daytime and 24 oC to 25 oC at night.
June 24
Lat: 27°28'N
Long: 134°41'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 1-2 S
Speed: 2 kn
I have moved west farther than 135°. Kuroshio Current is about 500 km away waiting for me.
The cloudy sky continues as humidity goes high too, although it was humid it tends to improve since this morning.
Update from sea - Kenichi Horie
June 26
Lat: 28°20'N
Long: 132°41'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 2-3 SSW
Speed: 2.1 kn
I am doing well. The real Shiokuro Current is way ahead of me but it seems like I was already caught in its current. Today, I opened the last of four bottles of instant coffee I stack up before leaving Hawaii.
June 27
Lat: 28°56'N
Long: 132°03'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 1 NW
Speed: 0.7 kn
In as much as I would like to head west, I am moving backwards because of the influence of the ocean current. Helicopter of a Newspaper publishing company came for coverage and returned to the direction of Tanegashima. Tanegashima is about 200kms away from here.
Ganbatte
Ganbatte ! Horie-san!!
Able to see the lights of Kyushu - Kenichi Horie
June 28
Lat: 29°26'N
Long: 132°07'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 1 S
Speed: 1.7 kn
A dragonfly was flying around yesterday. Today, there are two.
I was wondering how do dragonflies got here, I don't even see islands nearby.
June 29
Lat: 30°49'N
Long: 132°02'E
Weather: Cloudy
Wind Beaufort Force 4-5 SW
Speed: 3.5 kn
The wind is strong and the waves are high.
I am passing 100km west of Tanegashima.
Now, I am heading towards north.
I've been witnessing sunrise from the side of the stern. Now I can see it from the right side of my boat.
June 30
Lat: 31°40'N
Long: 132°22'E
Weather: Sunny
Wind Beaufort Force 23 NNW
Speed: 0.5 kn
For the last 8 hours my speed declined to less than one knot.
I believe I am passing the west of Kuroshio Current. Wind coming from the north is washing me away to the east.
Last night, I was able to see the lights of Kyushu.
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