Thanks for all of the comments this week and keep ‘em coming. The crew loves them! Today we have more updates from the ever faithful Galley Wench and I’m including part of the latest report from Estelle’s weather routing service. My best, The Stateside Station Manager
Saturday April 18, 2020
Galley Wench Report
Hello from Estelle,
Lovely AM out here. The crew is behaving perfectly and so is the boat. Winds have fallen off a bit -makes for a nice ride but not as exciting. Our fingers are crossed for catching that elusive mahi-mahi. Just haven’t landed one yet. Nuts!
We’re not in a huge hurry for the islands as none of us are excited about a 14 day quarantine in the harbor with land in sight but off limits. Sounds completely hideous. At this time the plan is to hit Hilo towards the end of the month, fingers crossed quarantine will be lifted by May 1. The thought is to spend some time on Hawaii and hook up with Elena (Galley Wench Best Buddy who lives in Kona) for some R&R. Again if the mandatory 14 day quarantine is still in place then all bets are off.
Also difficult to say what our next destination will be. The hope is Alaska but once again we need to be aware of any restrictions that the Canuck’s might have as far as anchorage and covid. What a world!
Hard to believe that 2 weeks is more or less under our belts.
We continue to have overcast skies. Yuck! We are all wanting to see the sun and get a jump on our tans. Pretty much over the clouds.
Winds have shifted to our backside and our reach has become a run. At the same time the winds have settled down to a mere 10-15 knots. Would like to see winds closer to 20 knots. Speed is holding and were making 130-140 miles a day. We could push harder but no one is looking forward to a quarantine in Hawaii. I believe we have gone as far south as we need.
Estelle continues to perform magnificently. The crew equally magnificent. We’re enjoying each other’s company, eating good food, and strategizing over cribbage hands.
Gregg produced a great recipe for a no knead English Muffin bread that takes 15 minutes to bake. We started last nights dinner with fresh tomato and garlic brochettes on crunchy English muffin toast followed by pasta salad and double chocolate brownies.
To combat this stationary existence I have discovered the ability to do a plank, stretched out across the cockpit. It helps to be short. I am positive that my two 1-minute planks per day will offset the brownies, breads, and cakes that we have been consuming.
What’s up with my corona? We were are so used to having news 24 x 7 it’s hard to have none. (The Station Manager has sent a recent update to address Estelle’s news void.)
We will do our best to carry on!
That’s it for now
Cheerio
Routing Update
To: Mark and Heidi Green and SV “Estelle”
From: Commanders’ Weather Corp, tel 603-882-6789
Route: La Paz, Mexico to Hilo, HI
Position: 17 40n/135 52w 1200utc Sat Apr 18 2020
Prepared: 1400utc Sat Apr 18 2020
Summary…
1) Overall, conditions look good for your last week into Hilo
2) You are sufficiently far south to avoid the lighter winds to the north
a) between your current position and 20n, winds are in the 10-15 kt range, and are around/below 10 kts north of 21n
3) An elongated area of high pressure along 25n will inch eastward over the next couple of days, allowing ESE trade winds to increase into the low 20s again by Tue
a) so you’ll be able to pick up some speed Tue thru Thu as you head direct to Hilo on these fresher winds
4) As the trade winds return in earnest, the smooth, long-period NW swell currently in place will persist, but wind waves will start to increase in response to higher E winds
a) so sea state can become more confused thru the middle of the week
5) Overall weather will be pretty tame, with increasing sunshine as trade wind conditions return but also a higher chance for a daily shower or two
6) In the longer term, it looks like a shallow trough will move west to east and stall over the Hawaiian islands late in the week
a) this will likely result in clocking winds north and west of the Big Island this weekend
b) with lighter air as wind diverges on the eastern side of the Big Island
7) Because of how the wind pattern is expected to develop on the eastern side of the Big Island, it looks best to approach Hilo from the northeast
a) so you will move thru ESE to SE wind as you approach the island
b) if approaching from the southeast, there is a higher chance of encountering quiet air, or even light headwinds around Cape Kumukahi
8) We look forward to hearing that you’ve made it safely to Hilo!
Route…
1) Head at about 280 deg true direct towards Hilo
2) At about 150w, head a bit north of rhumb line
a) to set yourself up to approach Hilo more from the northeast to avoid potential quiet air directly east of the Big Island
Sailing Estelle 
Hi there, windy, blustery day in Durango… spring is supposed to be in the air but it’s slow in coming. Colorado’s front range saw snow yesterday, we heard Eldora got 22 inches yesterday ,but alas no way to ski the goods Especially when you’re supposed to stay home
I’ll send a picture to your email, of our Ancien wine tasting , Wendy. Zoom has taken the place for face to face gatherings, strange, but it is a way to be in communication with
each other. Through Zoom we were able to hear the history of how Ancien started and got to meet those involved with the process, who knew they had 2095 vines? the wine was delish, we kept our distance and face masks on except to sip, and sip and enjoy. We had 3 bottles of Pinot Noir, three different years, I believe it was 2018, 2014 , 2016. I could be wrong on those dates. When we started out we thought the first one was our favorite but then we realized as we “tasted” the third one was just as good as the first . Ha. It was cool seeing different people around the country enjoying the wine with us, we were able to go in and out of other peoples lives via the net. It was great seeing Billy, David’s dad😀 We all decided, with tears in our eyes, we are going to get a case of wine when we can celebrate the END of this craziness. Life may not be quite normal for awhile but we will carry on. . AND,, we’re ALL renting a house in Mexico, ,as soon as we can.🙏🏻
Hawaii seems to be one of three states that will open up first, so you guys should be in good shape when you arrive. The rest are a hot mess. And then there’s POTUS, not going there. That’s my soap box for the day. Enjoy your time out there, the simple life, just like a river trip, get up and float, in your case it’s sail⛵️
DEB
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Hey Gang thanks for the more detailed updates and what a chef you have! Some sunny days here but clouds/rain lately, to 8000′. Tahoe is mostly shut down, even casinos. It’s strange to see. Even S.Shore beaches as of Friday. 35 or so cases in El Dorado County but limited testing, 1350 or so. Overall low numbers in the state, and nationally, NYC is roughly one third of the death total, 36+k in US. Seems here our Gov. will be doing (very) slow rollouts to reopen . I’m grateful for a chance to slow down a bit while getting to ski and climb so close to home! Good luck with the quar. in Hawaii and enjoy your sail ❤
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I’m curious to know why you went up so sharply to the NW instead of taking a more gradual approach over the 4-5 days. The wind seems to be less consistent and strong the further north you go. Trying to get smoother water? I know you need to make northing before you get close to the islands but you could get a nice broad reach if you waited a bit longer to head up. On the other hand, what’s the point of the old military strategy of “hurry up and wait”.
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