May 18, 2013: Kirk Patterson, aboard Silk Purse, is now reporting slow going after departing Honolulu on May 5th at 12:15PM on a more or less direct course for Hakodate, Hokkaido. Light winds have dominated the past week, with daily distances of between 74 and 120nm per day and some motoring to keep Silk Purse moving. He passed the 1/4-way mark on May 12 after early boisterous sailing in which he set a personal best of 151 nm. Silk Purse should reach the halfway mark in 3-5 days. Honolulu to Hakodate is 3302nm as the crow flies. Kirk has just under 2000nm to go. If you’re interested in following Kirk’s voyage, go to:
You’ll be presented with a map. My page opened over the Atlantic. You can enter Kirk’s callsign VE0KRP (0 = zero) in a search window at the bottom of the map or scroll to the Pacific Ocean and zoom in on the Pacific Northeast (much more interesting this way). Eventually you will see a single, lonely marker between Hawaii and Hokkaido, unless of course someone else suddenly begins to crowd those waters. That mark will represent Silk Purse. Move your mouse pointer over the mark and the call sign VE0KRP will appear. Click on the mark and a popup window will reveal Kirk’s course, speed, position, location, and message. You can click on a link in the window to view all position reports made since departure. An amazing bit of technology, if you ask me. Fair winds, Kirk. [hr]