Hawaii to Alaska, THE VIDEOS
I had promised to shoot video blogs of the passage from Kauai to Sitka, and I did.
But it felt an unwelcome interruption at first, an act out of step with the solitude of singlehanding, another chore among many to call me from my favorite gawking-post at the hatch. Why had I ever suggested such a thing? Who takes himself to the middle of the ocean to make a movie … of himself?
And then it grew on me. The task became fun, a diversion from pondering dinner’s limited menu of canned goods and, later, the endless cold. What to talk about today? Subjects ranged from fixing a leaky bilge pump to my techniques for drying strips of fresh-caught Marlin to the penitent mood that results from falling overboard 2000 miles from anywhere.
Sadly, that these videos became interesting to me does not mean they increased in quality, only frequency and length.
The first three appended here, all shot on the same day, demonstrate this. One refuses to focus and another ends abruptly when the camera battery dies. A personal requirement was that these be one-take videos, which I thought would increase their immediacy and keep me from endless reshooting. And if immediacy implies a certain lack of polish, then this strategy was a great success.
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This inaugural video finds itself in an unusual location, the bilge. It’s the morning of third day; Murre swings on the waves 300 miles north of Hawaii, and I have some problems, camera focus being only one…
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Next is a look around the deck on the same day. Much more refreshing. Then the camera battery dies…
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And finally a look around…
UP NEXT
Drying Marlin and the morality of fishing…
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Murre and the Pacific 
Randy
Your voyage has been pretty amazing. The kids and I have loved all of the updates and pictures. It’s been a pretty cool way to introduce you to my kids.
Stay safe
Thanks Michael,
I wonder what the kids think of such a thing as an ocean passage. Interesting? Repulsive? Dull?
Thanks for following.
Best to the family…
RR
With these videos, now we really are sailing along with you.
Excellent, effortless narration, too. You’ve got a bright future in broadcasting.
Actual, speaking of the future, what’s next for Randall and Murre?
Effortless narration? Did you actually have the sound on Lawrence? 🙂
Next steps: begin to move south by mid August, arriving Puget Sound via the inside passage by mid September; depart for San Francisco by first of October or whenever the weather allows…
I promise to keep you updated.
Say, Lawrence: Ol’ friend Reeves used to be a radio voice in college days. I remember his voice come rumbling into the room when tuned to the classical music station. It was effortless for him then, too. Always wondered why he didn’t capitalize on that talent.
Randall,
An emaciated northern fur seal showed up on the North Shore of Oahu for the first time in recorded history. That northern fur seal you crossed hundreds of miles from it’s normal range, was it swimming south? Just a thought. What are the chances you actually saw a lone lost seal in the middle of Pacific headed the opposite direction.
Mario
Ya, pretty amazed. My sister also saw that news story and passed on the link, which I will post shortly. If I recall, the biologists thought my location was not TOO unusual for a fur seal, but I only ever saw the one, and it was headed south…
Randall,
I’ve been following all your posts, enjoying them thoroughly. Been sharing them with a friend who just sailed to Hawaii for the first time. Thanks so much!
Eric Schoenberg (Mariner 32 in Tiburon)
Excellent to hear from you, Eric, and thanks for following along. The coconut milk run needs skilled musicians–maybe you and your mariner are next…?
Best to you both,
RR