Mike's blog - Crossing the Pacific Ocean
15.03.2011
The low pressure system that created all the headwinds and heavy sea has passed over the top of us - the eye was over 756nm wide. We have the wind from the North now and this has created cross cut waves. Our speed remains slow but we hope to be back in full operation by tomorrow afternoon. Another 790 nm to go and I have seen the first whale next to our boat. The water is only 4°C and it is a bit early for the whales to move up North. Let's see if we can spot some more and get a picture.....
Mike's Blog 15.03.2011 
13.03.2011
One small problem with the rudder and we are left at the mercy of ocean. A hydraulic hose burst last night and we lost all control to the steering mechanism of Pangaea. All hands on deck furl the sails and drift while we started the search for the problem. 4 hours later everything is fixed again and we take control.
One hour later heavy seas and strong headwinds snaps the halyard of our storm jib and we sail under main sail 3rd reef alone.
All we can do now is change course down south and wait for the low pressure system to pass. We will lose 28 hours but we will stay safe.
Mike's Blog 13.03.2011
12.03.2011
We were alerted about the earthquake off Japan and the Tsunami warnings but didn't notice anything out here at sea. It seems that everything has gone crazy out here. The weather predictions are completely wrong and we have had to change course northwards to avoid massive waves and strong head on winds. Pangaea's is getting a real shake-up and conditions are particularly hard on the boat. We've slowed down considerably but will continue to battle our way through to Vancouver.
10.03.2011
We have hit so many waves that the anchor pin came undone. How? I do not know! If you have tons and tons of water washing over the boat for weeks on end a lot happens. Sitting on the bow seeing the water flow underneath you makes you understand you have the best job and greatest office in the world - I would not change it for anything in life!
Mike's Blog 10.03.2011
09.03.2011
We passed the date line last night and our boat disappeared of the navigation program we use for 45 seconds. We back on the 9th again and it is amazing how you can life the same day twice. Yesterday was a calm day with very little wind. Today is completely different with rain and stronger winds. If only we can live each day twice and learn from it, the world would be a better place or maybe not......
07.03.2011
We had a busy night with a lot happening. I have to ask myself why do things always happen at night, if one of you have the answer please let me know. We are over half way out of the Convergence Zone of the Garbage Patch. We have taken a lot of water samples to analyze. We can not see the debris but imagine, it as a plastic soup, the smallest size is smaller than the head of a sewing pin. Will send more detail later. We are not far from the date line where we will be sailing into the past. Pangaea has turned into a time machine. Amazing - I love it!
Mike's Blog 07.03.2011
05.03.2011
3'200 nautical miles to go and we are now over the half way mark! All sails are up and we are in a high pressure system which has slowed us down to around 10 knots. With another low pressure system expecting to come upon us in around 15 hrs we think we'll be able to pick up more speed again, essential if we want to get to Vancouver for the 16th!! It's still touch and go but we'll continue to give it all we've got!
Pangaea is sailing beautifully. Nothing will stop her now! We have had bigs swells the last few days but they are not breaking into waves. The weather is pleasant and myself and Pangaea's crew ( Tristan, Jacek and Sasha ) are all in our element!
Mike's Blog 05.03.2011
03.03.2011
We have had a good run the last 2 days and things are looking better at this mid stage of our trip to Vancouver. There is a big low just north of us and I'm trying to stay with it so we can have favourable winds for the next couple of days. If we keep up our speed we can get to Vancouver on the17th but with fingers crossed we could get in early morning of the 16th. I'm pushing the boat hard and we have all sails up. If it wasn't for our new sails we would never have had a chance to reach Vancouver so quickly. I just got off watch at 5 am and we were surfing at 14kn but unfortunately only for small periods of time. At this stage we are covering about 265 nm a day. With 3920nm to go and a bit of luck we can arrive in Vancouver on the 16th. The 12 days of very bad weather that we had initially made us work very hard and we are all tired. As we are moving north we feel it is getting colder and the days shorter. There is a dark moon and we are racing towards Vancouver with Pangaea fully dressed with her sails up in completely black surroundings. It feels like driving a car full throttle with a black windscreen in front of you. No boats in sight since we left Guam. The Pacific is massive but few boats take this northern route in winter.
01.03.2011
It's been 12 days of rough weather and we have covered just over 2000nm. Unfortunately it will not be fast enough to get us to Vancouver in time. As we are heading up North we hope for the wind to turn in our favor and speed up towards Canada. The world's weather has become very difficult to predict and the changes have become radical. Something is cooking that is the feeling I get.
Mike's Blog 01.03.2011
26.02.2011
We have blown through Guam like the wind. What a great place, lovely helpful people, blue blue Cristal clear water and beautiful beaches with massive breaking waves.
Thanks to Ross and Sara for helping us on our short stay in Guam. This is a place I would like to come back to. But first let's face the next big waves all the way to Canada.
24.02.2011
45-50 kn of headwinds and 5-8m of breaking waves. Pangaea is more underwater than on top. We are down to the last reef and our autopilot cannot hold the course. But we have seen worse! Slowly but surely we chipping away at the block and we should be in Guam in 15 hours time. We have another 110 nm to do but it is going slowly, very slowly. It feels like we have been put into a shaker that never stops. I would like to see what cocktail come out of this.
We have had some damage to our main sail, lazy jacks, our 12 V alternator came to a screaming stop and we have one or two other minor repairs to be done when we reach Guam.
Otherwise life is great! The power of Nature never stops to amaze me! It makes you humble and you understand how fragile we really are. We will never understand the real power of the elements.
23.02.2011
We are slowly but surely making our way to Guam. Another 570 nm to go before we start heading up north to take the great circle route to Vancouver. We have done 1100nm in rough weather and hope to speed up for the second part of our journey.
19.02.2011
We have done 500NM the last 2.5 days since we left Sandakan. Pangaea and all those on board have been hampered by squall after squall. Constantly changing wind directions and strong currents in between islands are slowing us down. This is the land of pirates so I have been told in Borneo, and that could explain the lack of bigger ships around us. We have seen very little life except some squid fishing boats close to land and 2 small land birds sitting in our cockpit hitching a ride. We have to keep a 10 knot average to make it on time to Vancouver. Our average up to date is about 8 knots so I hope we can catch up soon. Tristan has been cooking so far and we are enjoying our fresh vegetables as long as it lasts, and then we are back on instant noodles!!
17.02.2011
We ready to lift anchor and sail of to Canada. It's going to be a long hard trip against the wind for more than 12000km. We had a very successful stay and we are leaving behind great friends and a 5 year Project. Follow us daily as we sail via the Philippines to Vancouver. Thanks to all that made our stay in Asia an unforgettable time of our life.
16.02.2011
I'm back on my baby Pangaea after an amazing trip to India where i helped with the preparation of the Indian cricket team for the world cup. Tomorrow I will start the pacific crossing to Canada.