Eating well at sea in the trades is easy on a cat - level cooking, steady sailing and a hungry crew- when you have the right stuff. A fresh caught tuna, dried veggies, canned coconut milk, onions, rice and spices! Salud!

Here's a short video from one of the last days on Aluna's trip to Hilo. It's hot, we can smell land and we are ghosting along at 2-3 knots on next to no wind wondering who will spot the Big Island first.

***(sorry no sound it's raw video and the waterproof case cuts out any sound from reaching the mike)

Here are four photos from sailing my 18' Ulua last week. Bamboo spars and white poly tarp sails. Works great! We had light winds and were making good speed. Brailing up the sail works excellent too.

The night before our departure.


Beat contemplating his boat on a pre-departure test sail.


Beyond the "Gate".


I've been back on the mainland for a week now getting reoriented. I have many phots and videos from the trip on Aluna, Beat and Beatrice's crab-claw rigged Tiki 38. She worked great and our white polytarp sails drove us west at speeds of up to 15 knots. The above photos are from our departure party, heading for the gate and making it out beyond the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been asked if I would make the same trip on my Tiki 26. In the conditions we experienced - yes. WInds were 20 knots or less (excepting gusts) and seas never more than 15 feet. The sailing was great!