return day 19 Sat 8-22

Sat 8-22 1700

Aloha Westward Fans:

Today should be our last day at sea. San Nicolos Island is off of our port bow in clear afternoon sunshine and is our first sighting of land in 19 days. Today we awoke with overcast skies and a good 10 to 15 knot breeze on the beam. The sailing has been very nice with nothing extra ordinary going on until we brought out the luncheon horsd'oerves and the reward for yesterday's fastest speed was awarded as a tie to Roger and Bill.

Bamb! The BS fishing platform performed once again. The fish hit, dove and ran. All hands were needed to slow the boat for the fight. The staysail and the topsail were furled, the engine started for boat control and the fight began. When it was all done and over a 17 lb. yellow-fin tuna was landed, filleted and made ready for evening cocktails.

We hope to reach Catalina by midnight, moor and have a quiet breakfast in the morning. We will have time to kiss the each, swim and snorkel before heading home. The Catalina channel is only another 20 miles so we will be tied up and ready for clean up mid afternoon tomorrow. THEN THE REAL STORIES BEGIN

Waves: 2 to 3 ft.
lat 33 07n
lon 119 31w
almost no debris in the water
no squalls just partial clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits: high
music: loud

A little bit More to follow!

--

return day 18 Fri 8-21

Fri 8-21 1700 hrs

Aloha Westward Fans:

Well, after bathing yesterday the sun was shinning and we were just motoring along. The talk lead to interesting remembrances of the travel that Scott amd Roger have done. Both could write books that would fascinate any enthusiast of travel. The both shared amazing stories and knew of the many remote locations they have traveled. Nothing like sunny skies and not other place to go.

We broke out of the no wind area mid afternoon and into the westerlies about 0200 hrs. We have been traveling at about 7.5 knows ever since. Two head sails and the full mainsail. Weather has been low gray clouds, no rain while we are on a close reach towards home. Our ETA to Catalina is in the wee hours Sunday AM. We hope to stop for breakfast at Two Harbors after a brief stay at Howlands Landing, our family's favorite place.

We just has a miraculous hookup. The BS fishing platform paid off again. We were bit by a small dordo which jumped off of the gaff, spit the hook out at which point Scott re-gaffed it in mid-air just after it thought it had out smarted Bill and Scott. We will only count it as one catch but really it was two.

The 'Westward Mottlies' are now in a run for home contest, prizes for the Mottly with the best average wheel watch speed. Excitement builds as each mile ticks off, this is really a home run. We are trying to get the dedicated Roger back to Work but not one else feels pressed to reach civilization. Our only visual contact out side of the Mottlies has been a few ships that have passed in the nite.

Waves: 2 to 3 ft.
lat 31 43n
lon 122 40 w
almost no debris in the water
lon 128 03w
no squalls just partial clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits:
high

Void, we missed it--COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 17 thurs 8-20

Thurs 8-20 1700hrs

Aloha Westward Fans:

Sorry for the screwed up header dates, I know that bad data is no good.
414 miles to go.


What a difference a day makes!
This morningf at 0200 hrs we turned on the engine for lack of wind. We have entered the no wind zone. At noon we shut off the motor, dropped the sails and dove into the beautifully calm blue Pacific to clean the jelly from between our toes. It was such a wonderful feeling that after we were back under way we all celebrated with ice and cold toddies.
We calculate that we will be back into an acceptable breeze by 0400 tomorrow. If this holds true, it looks like beautiful sailing all the way back, maybe Sunday AM (wishful thinking). We have got to get Roger back to work.

While we were swimming, we noticed what looked like the bloody reminisce of a hit and run on the port quarter. After discussion we determined it was evidence of all the activity that the BS fishing table has created. A brush soap and water removed most of the evidence.

We have aired out, dried off, and are heading home, fuel and water supply is adequate.

Please wish us fair winds and good sailing and we will see you soon.


ssLast night we tacked to starboard after weeks of port tack and have been able to head directly to LA. The computer shows 1 day of good sailing, miles of no wind, and final days of good sailing. We hopefully have reserved enough fuel to handle most of the no wind days, we'll see. This morning we shook out all of the reefs and have had a beautiful double headsail beam reach. We expect to hit the light stuff tonite. All are on deck enjoying everyones' company and not dinner preparations are under way.

We all hope to bathe in the blue pacific in the middle of the no wind area so we do not continue to stick to our clothes.

All's well, just leave the light on for us.

Arrival prediction will take place when we break into the westerlies and remember Roger has to work on Monday.

: unseen floaties
Waves: 2 to 6 ft.
lat 29 48n
lon 128 03w
wind 10 to 15 k
no squalls just partial clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits:
high

Void, we missed it--COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 18 mon 8-19

Monday 8-19 Wed 1700 pdt

Aloha Westward Fans:

556 miles to go

What a difference a day makes!
Last night we tacked to starboard after weeks of port tack and have been able to head directly to LA. The computer shows 1 day of good sailing, miles of no wind, and final days of good sailing. We hopefully have reserved enough fuel to handle most of the no wind days, we'll see. This morning we shook out all of the reefs and have had a beautiful double headsail beam reach. We expect to hit the light stuff tonite. All are on deck enjoying everyones' company and not dinner preparations are under way.

We all hope to bathe in the blue pacific in the middle of the no wind area so we do not continue to stick to our clothes.

All's well, just leave the light on for us.

Arrival prediction will take place when we break into the westerlies and remember Roger has to work on Monday.



: unseen floaties
Waves: 2 to 6 ft.
lat 29 48n
lon 128 03w
wind 10 to 15 k
no squalls just partial clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits:
high

Void, we missed it--COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 16 mon 6-17

Monday 6-17 0700

Aloha Westward Fans:

811 miles to
Sailing last two days wind on the nose 15 t0 20 knots. Not our favorite type of sailing but will have to do. R2
outine on watch, off watch.
Spirits are high but we are looking forward to a freshwater shower and sheets without salt!

: unseen floaties
Waves: 2 to 6 ft.
lat 29 28n
lon 133 16 w
wind 15 to 20 k
squalls

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits:
high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 14 sat 8-15

0900 Thurs Aug 13

Aloha Westward Fans:
We have elected to head in a more Easterly direction because our fuel is getting low and we want to save it for refrigeration, electrical power and dead spots. We did slow down to check the rig, transfer fuel from the BS fishing platform and land another Mahi, not as large and the huge one but about 4 pounds lighter, still a trophy in most tournaments. We will continue east and let the wind eventually lift us back to LA.

Do to the time constraints and the increment weather we have encountered the last several days, we are discontinuing the trawl but Lorie will continue the requested surface observations the has been performing.

We just passed a shipping crate that Farmer Bill identified its use is for transporting 500# of citrus. We then immediately entered a multi squall line in which we missed the rain but got the wind. We had the 130% roller furling topsail and a double reefed main. We just sailed higher than normal for about 20 minutes to ease the stress on the rig then fell back off and happily continue on our way.

Spirits are high but we are looking forward to a freshwater shower and sheets without salt!


: unseen floaties
Waves: 1 to 4 ft.
`
lat 30 27n
lon 137 18w
wind 12 k

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 13 fri 8-14

0900 Thurs Aug 13

Aloha Westward Fans.

Yesterday and today were very uneventful days in the Pacific. The patchy clouds, blue water, bright sun and a periodic squalls would make for a terrific mural in your living room but it is everyday here. Wheel watches continue, oil change for the Perkins and a fuel pump prime because of an empty fuel tank is the call for the day. Reading, Sleeping, and a tasty bill of fare make the passage acceptable. We have halted the trawls because of the weather and waves we find ourselves in, Roger's deadline is coming up so time is an issue, we'll see.

Today we has a Windrose empty the frig ham regatta that had all the flavors that Bill could muster. Cold seconds later in the day were still excellent.

We are trying to head 063 mag. but the wind is on the nose so we motorsail tack towards home. We hope for sailing winds tomorrow so we can shut off the Perkins and save fuel for the final leg. We'll see. Ice is still being produced so who knows what that will lead to.



water: unseen floaties
Waves: 3 to 4 ft.
sky: puffy clouds no squalls this afternoon
lat 30 57n
lon 135 51w
wind 20 k

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY. (Looks like we will totally miss it)
More to follow!

--

return day 12 wed 8-13

0900 Thurs Aug 13

Aloha Westward Fans.

I here that Alli fixed my bloging and that they now show up. Thats technology for you! We are now on a direct course for home currently motoring directly into the wind at a less that stellar pace. When we left Hawaii the High Pressure area was way north and not defined as it normally is. A more southerly route seemed to be a logical tract for us to take so I elected to do so. The current weather report looks like a more more northerly high is forming causing the winds in our zone to be more than we expected giving us "Mr Toads Wild Ride" . We hope to have enough extra fuel under the BS fishing platform to get us to the westerlies.

Yesterday we completed our 6 trawls, altered our sailing format to a motoring format and changed course to head directly to LA. Going is slower than anticipated and we can better predict our ETA when the wind shifts more counter-clockwise. We did not set out our trawl this morning as the wind and wave action made it unsafe to do so. If the weather backs off we can still perform trawls yet today. What a difference a day makes.

Bill, Laurie, Scott, Roger and Sam have been religious in the watch rotations that are necessary for our 24 hr/day travel but and all have had a positive attitude. When it is time to trawl for trash all parties attend the rig to launch and retrieve the monstrosity that we have carried on our deck since Hawaii. We rig a spinnaker pole to act as a cargo boom for the retrieval process which is necessary to prevent the 4 ft aluminum structure from damaging Westward.

Still no fishing today, that last Mahi will last us for several more meals as long as our ice maker continues to work

water: unseen floaties
Waves: 4to 5 ft.
sky: puffy clouds no squalls today
lat 30 30n
lon 142 28w
wind 20 k

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #9 Sunday day 10

Aloha Westward Fans.

With the halting of fishing because of huge Mahi today's info will be short. We have been moving south to where the treasure zone is supposed to be more dense. Our first 3 trawls today actually have resulted in fewer particles but I may have seen the same tire and wheel that Graham pointed out on the race. We are actually in the same area we passed 2 weeks ago but going the opposite direction the ocean feels much different. We are on the wind today whereas 2 weeks ago we were under spinnaker flying along. We just passed the point where we changed from (W)est for Westward to a heading of 210 deg. mag for Howlands or Hawaii during the race. We hope the winds allow us to head for home of 65 deg mag. We are currently sailing about 90 deg to reach the high density trash area.

We believe that luck will prevail as we have had several escorts of dolphins in the recent past and will see all of our loved ones soon

water: unseen floaties
Waves: 4 ft.
sky: puffy clouds no squalls today
lat 31 21n
lon 146 30w
wind 18 k

We will keep you informed as things progress.

spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #7 Sunday day 8

1430 hrs Monday Aug 10

Aloha Westward Fans.
What a difference a day makes! The BS fishing platform really paid off. We saw a fish dart out from a floating bunch of junk and lightning struck, a reel real keeper. The size of fish that the normal Hawaiian would nail the tail tale to their front door. It was a hugh Mahi, so big that we didn't dare put the line back in the water for fear of overfilling the ice box. Scott held the tail up and tossed it back into the blue. Needless to say we had fish tacos and cuba liberays(sp) with fresh ice last evening.

Yesterday was one of those days you spend your time dreaming about. The seas were 1 ft., the wind was 10 knots on a close reach and Westward almost sailed herself at 7 knots. The sun was out with few clouds so we looked like a chinese laundry streaming across the Pacific.

Like a dedicated work horse the crew continued to collect plastic samples in out micro filters. Yesterday was a piece of cake however this morning was different. What a difference a day makes! This morning at 6:00 Hawaiian time we began our trawl, wind was 25 knots in the numerous squalls dropping back to 15 outside of the squalls path. We completed our three for this morning and will perform 3 more starting at 3:00 this afternoon. We are planning to continue on a east south east direction to place ourselves in the most congested area of the study zone with a few extra miles. Roger agreed to this since we still have over 200 gallons of fuel and as long as the engine continues to operate in the positive manner in which it has performed, we will be "in like flint". If we do run out of wind, the entire crew will wash up in the flat water.

water: unseen floaties
wind: 15 knots
Waves: 3 ft.
sky: puffy clouds but clearing

We will keep you informed as things progress

lat 33 24n
lon 155 19w
wind 12 k
sea 2 ft waves
spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #6 Sunday day 7

Aloha Westward Fans.
Saturday was a BUST, no fish only blue skies, blue water nice sun and good company. After the Bloody Marys wore off we went to work for Ocean Cleanup. We completed 6 1hr trawls, 2 30 minute observations, documented the filters and the crap they contained. The monstrous trawling fixture has a 6 inch micro filter bag that collects what the trawl with its 30 inch opening traps on the surface of the pristine ocean. Even when the ocean look beautiful, the filter captures bits of plastic every 1 hour trawl. The mico plastic is everywhere, you normally just don,t notice. The study is only keeping pieces that are under 2 cm. Our crew is maintaining a stash of the larger pieces so the trash will not just be hear-say. Actually Laurie Banner is doing all of the work, the guys are good support hoisting the trawl off and on Westward by our spinnaker pole lifting crane.

Ona voyage like this personalities blossom. Lets talk about Roger Gough, his dedication to work is amazing. He needs get back to continue his teaching career and the boat will not go fast enough or strait enough. After discussing the options, we decided to motorsail when boat speed was too low. This will work well as long as our fuel holds out. ps under the BS fishing platform is an additional 100 gallons. We will keep our fingers crossed and paddle as fast as we can so we can return Roger in time

water: unseen floaties
wind 8 knots
waves 1 foot
sky puffy clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress

lat 33 24n
lon 155 19w
wind 12 k
sea 2 ft waves
spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #5 Saturday day 6

Aloha Westward Fans.
The BS fishing platform seems to be working, yellow tail shashimi for lunch wasn't bad at all. Winds keep the same direction however are lightening up. The high is elusive so last night we tacked and headed east(magnetic) to join in the data collection fun. We are now in the zone and put out our first trash trawl at 0800 this morning. We had it upside down and when corrected the monster unit took off in the wrong direction. It crossed our stern and continued until it stabilized 20 yards astern and 10 yards to our stb. side. We let it go for the 1st hour, retied the bridal after retrieving the first sample screen collector and now it looks like a mine sweeper on our stb side. We made ice yesterday and after we put the rig for collection Laurie served up ice cold bloody marys because we felt celebration was in order. We have now joined "the Mega Ocean Cleanup" party which we plan collect plastic as well as other material.We are motorsailing east and plan to trawl for 6 1hour5 knot sessions a day, 3 in the am and 3 in the pm with collection screen replacement each hour.

wind 8 knots
waves 1 foot
sky puffy clouds

We will keep you informed as things progress

lat 33 24n
lon 155 19w
wind 12 k
sea 2 ft waves
spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #4 Friday day5

Aloha Westward Fans.
Oh Well, false alarm, The Mahi slid off of the "Bill and Scott" (BS) fishing platform with a roll of the boat. BS built a substantial fishing platform on the stern of Westward under the pretext of securing the 2 55 gal. drums of extra fuel. The platform will survive a complete roll over but the real beauty is the 24x48 inch knife holding working cutting board. I think they are planning on a Wahoo. We did catch several other Mahi that were not nearly as big as "THE FISH THAT GOT AWAY", but were still plenty large enough to eat. We love "catch and release"!

We just put up the large topsail as the winds are beginning to soften, now doing about 5.5 knots about 020 deg. mag. The waves are down, decks dry, beautiful early morning moon, good food, beautiful sunset and sunrise, all spirits are high. Just like Transpac, we will all forget the 1st 4 days.

We are just now approaching the Trash study zone and have made contact with the mother ship. They promised to deliver the bridal for the trawl that was inadvertently left off when head quarters made last minute modifications to the monstrosity.

We will keep you informed as things progress

lat 33 24n
lon 155 19w
wind 12 k
sea 2 ft waves
spirits: high

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #3 Thurs day4

Aloha Westward Fans.

Whoops, the all hands on deck call was for naught, the huge mahi wore us out and ended up as a not wanted game of "catch and release".

Life is settling down along with the waves allowing for things to partially dry out. We hope meals will become more regular with a sing along at each.

We discovered that the trawl that we are supposed to use when we enter the "Mega Ocean Cleanup" study area became missing after the sponsors had taken it to install addition scratch guarding material back at Hawaii yacht club. We are going to contact the Mother Ship for instructions and maybe replacement, or not.

We are moving at 5.5 to 6 knots with 1 reef and staysail and riding comfortably with 15 to 20 knots wind going 025 deg M. Except for flying fish stopping to visit on the deck, other that internet, we have had no additional outside contact.

COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

--

return #2 Wed day 3

Aloha Westward Fans.

It appears that we beat Guillermo, except we have had constant 15 to 25 knot headwinds causing a due north compass heading. Squalls to 35 knots cause us to feather the staysail and double reefed main. The staysail stays up and the wind velocity determines the number of reefs in the main, mostly 2. Today at 00:00 hours we cross the tanker Ernst M on its way to Japan. The communication officer said with winds will be better east, what a relief to know. We are wet all over and need some drying time, come on High!
Two on watch at all times with a replacement every two hours, same time of day every other day, seems to work well. Oh, Oh, all hands called on deck to fight the fish that just now hooked up. We have enjoyed the Mahi thet we caught Monday for several meals with Windrose potatoes steamed in our pressure cooker. All systems go.
COME ON HIGH and hopefully DRY.
More to follow!

-

return #1

Aloha Westward Fans!

Well guys, the sad part of any adventure is the retracing of steps back to home. Roger, Bill, Scott, Sam and Laurie left our 1 week home at the Hawaii YC with the fanfare of the whole Suite Host Group. What a week, Wendy watching us like her own flock, vehicle, meals, transportation, continuous "smiles" and any other support needed. Westward headed for a PR rendezvous with the Ocean Cleanup group at 1200 which we milled around for 1 hour off of the Hilton Hotel, said our goodbyes to the organizing group and headed clockwise for Los Angeles. It was a pleasant sail in the lee of Oahu and all were enjoying the sail. We stuck our nose out from under the Island and we all now realize what homeward bound really meant.

Unlike the Hawaiian area on the trip down, rolling swells, nice breezes, sunsuits and warmth, the same conditions on the retrun means steep swells, head on spray, complete foul-weather gear and a chill factor. The boat has to be closed up and is hot and humid within.


Our first meal with Wind Rose potatoes was excellent and future meals will keep the high spirits. We just landed a Mahi Mahi big enough for several days but the second one released itself upon reaching the boat. Future updates to Follow
--

Transpac 2015 is in the books!

Aloha Westward Fans!

It's been exactly a week since I posted the picture of Oahu from our vantage point, and most of you have probably seen the pictures of our finish and Aloha Welcome on Facebook, so this isn't news -- Westward finished!

The last 16 miles to the finish line were great. We navigated through the paddle board racers and got the chance to cheer them on,  saw "things that swim in the ocean!" on our way down the channel (after 13 days at sea, brains are a little mushy), were cheered on and welcomed by a group of enthusiastic sailors, learned that the amazing Betsy Crowfoot rescued Willie's hat just after the start and brought it to Hawaii, and enjoyed the view of passing by the red buoy off Diamond Head. We finished just after 1:30 pm Hawaiian Standard Time with Zack at the helm.

Mara, Alli, and Graham in the Molokai Channel

After the Diamond Head race committee gave us our official finish time and order (14/61), we took down our sails and followed Abby's Dream, our escort boat, into Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. Sometimes the ride into Ala Wai can be...exciting...because the waves will break into the channel. That was happening when we finished, but our trusty escort boat got us in no problem. It turns out we finished right in time because the channel was closed that night and 11 boats had to bob around after finishing until 5:30 am on Monday when the escort boats were allowed to go get them.

If you've been reading this blog for long, you know how I feel about finishing races and the ULTIMATE in race finishes is Transpac. As we came down the channel and Hawaii Yacht Club came into sight, we saw all the people gathered to welcome Transpac finishers. The Bells travel in packs and the welcoming party in Hawaii was huge! Our shore team consisted of Candy Bell, Shauneen Bell, Rosey Bell, Sadato Hoshina, Lee Ann, Whitney Rush, Jon and Alice Rush, Roger Gough and Margie, Paul Huber, Bill and Sally Huber, Lori and Martin Wilson, the Tom and Dixie Jorgensen family, Tom Trujilio, Dave Cort and Carol, a whole bunch of other LAYC and SDYC people I'm sure I'm forgetting, and of course, the best hosts ever, Wendy and Howard Suite. We also were greeted by our friends at Hawaii Yacht Club and the Honolulu Committee (Beth, Brian, Christina, and Dr. Bob -- looking at you!). We got inspected (every boat goes through a safety inspection) and lei-ed (we had a lot of leis which was good because we were stinky). Some of our competition was there to meet us on the dock, including Kerry Deaver who sailed on Between the Sheets and gave us our admonishment (which always feels more like she's proud of us) for beating them. 

Wendy and Howard Suite

The inspection committee.

Bells...lots of Bells...missing some!

Parents and kids.

Westward's crew holding each other up on land.

After the inspection, we were allowed off the boat, into the arms of our loved ones, and up to the party! The Aloha Welcome is a time-honored Transpac tradition and Wendy and Howard sure know how to throw a party. We sat around for hours eating and drinking and swapping stories. When it was time to leave, we continued the party up at the hotel until nobody could keep their eyes open.

It's important to get a good night's sleep because there's lots of work to be done in the days after you finish including cleaning up the boat, regaining your sea legs, and helping to welcome the other boats in! Alli and Candy got up early to help welcome Pyewacket, which was full of SDYC friends, and along the way also helped welcome in two other boats with longtime friends aboard. Unfortunately for them, these were three of the boats that had to spend the night floating around off Waikiki, but that didn't dampen their spirits in any visible way. 

The whole Bell team congregated for breakfast on the balcony of Hawaii Yacht Club and stayed there pretty much the entire day helping to welcome boats in. When a boat would come into the harbor, we'd spread ourselves out along the deck and make as much noise as possible. This practice was later termed a "Bell-come." One of the boats we Bell-comed was Resolute, which was double-handed to Hawaii...only two people brought that boat all that way...well done, Erik and Tim!

Later in the day, when the heat became too much, we retired to the pool and from there to crew dinner at La Mariana Sailing Club and Tiki Bar -- a cool little spot near the airport. The next morning brought the first round of departures with Graham, then Candy, then Alli all heading back home. The two days we all were together were a fitting end to an awesome race. When asked about their first experience at a Bell function, Jon Rush (Graham's girlfriend's father) said "well, the Bells are a great organization." I'm a little biased, but I must say, I agree.

The rest of the crew hung around for the week helping get the boat ready, enjoying Wendy's gracious hospitality, and picking up our THIRD PLACE hardware at the trophy ceremony.

Sam, Zack, Mara, and Willie representing Westward at the trophy ceremony

Just today, Westward began the long trip back home with Sam, Roger Gough, Bill Spencer, and Scott Miller on board. She'll be participating in the Mega Expedition. As part of this effort, they, along with the other boats that are participating, will collect samples twice daily along their unique path to bring back to scientists who will use the samples to learn more about how trash circulates in our oceans. This is an exciting and important effort. The amount of trash that we, and other Transpac racers, encountered during our two weeks at sea was shocking. A good reminder for us all that what we do, and how much we consume, affects the entire planet. (There was a trash blog in the works, but I just didn't have the energy. Let me just implore us all to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Please.)

If you're interested in tracking the return trip, you can do so here: http://yb.tl/transpac2015-return

I've been told that there may be some blogging going on, so keep your eyeballs peeled (as Charlie Bell always used to say...really, it sounds pretty gross).

Before I sign off, let me just say a huge MAHALO to everyone who helped make this possible (and, yes, if you're wondering, I'm getting a little teary). Sam and Willie, thank you for the gift of participating in what is undoubtedly the best family tradition not once, but twice. All the other Bells, thank you for your support and all the work you did to make sure we could go. Howard and Wendy, our Hawaii Ohana, Mahalo doesn't seem like enough. Transpac committees -- both the LA and Honolulu sides, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the hard work you do to make sure we have a kick-ass time and are able to race safely across the Pacific. Hawaii Yacht Club and members, thank you so much for the warm welcome and always making it feel like we're home when we hit (sometimes a little too literally) your docks. There's NOTHING in the world like pulling in there. All the friends who came to Hawaii and supported us from afar, you'll never know how that kept us going when we were cold and wet (everywhere) and just wanted a nice warm bed. Betsy, Sharon, and Jeremy, thanks for the awesome stills and videos that we will always cherish.

Until next time, Westward Fans, fair winds and following seas.