Tuesday afternoon
We finally seem to have reached some wind we can think of as not completely on the nose! This is very comforting, even though it sounds kind of like, "Now that I've hit my thumb with a hammer, I barely notice my toothache." But it is truly a relief to be sailing slightly off the wind. We don't pound so much and we can make much better speed. The strategy now is to just head north. Theoretically we want to arrive in the NE trade winds around 142 West Longitude, but if it's 142.25 or even 142.5 that will have to be good enough. We are looking for that to happen in about nine days.
As an example of how nasty sailing hard on the wind is, I (John) would like to relate an even that occurred night before last. First some background. Since we are sailing on Starboard Tack the boat heels with the port side down. This is not so good because our natural place to sit while on watch, the Starboard Settee is constantly on a downhill slope. Every once in a while a wave comes along that increases the slope drastically. Not only in angle but in position. Basically the waves try to throw you out of your seat. To counter this, we sit with one (or both) legs braced against the saloon table. That's fine, except it's kind of like a long boring workout. Like doing one half of a deep knee bend for 15 minutes at a time, 12 hours a day. In an attempt to make the Port Settee a place where you can sit or lie down without having to brace yourself, I came up with the patented 'Bean Bag Lee Bolster.' I took a beach towel, folded it in half, placed our tubular bean bag pillow in the fold and then wrapped the towel around the settee cushion. The pressure of your body prevents the towel from slipping and the bean bag prevents you from rolling off the settee. (Note, normal sailors use something called a lee cloth which is basically a canvas wall holding you on the cushion). The patented 'Bean Bag Lee Bolster' was working pretty good. Over time the towel would slip a little but it was easy enough to put back in position and we both felt very secure laying down on the Port Settee.
Then it got rough. I have trouble sleeping in the Quarter Berth when it's rough so Linda suggested I lie down on the Port Settee. I stayed secure behind the Bolster for about 45 minutes until a big wave came by. As NAKIA leapt off the wave, my body weight was no longer sufficient to hold the towel in place. The bean bag rolled off the cushion and I landed on the floor. Thankfully it's only a 20-inch drop and my head was well padded with pillows. Now the Bolster is secured with a bed sheet that wraps all the way around the cushion instead of down only one side. The re-design has yet to fail.
Last night I (now Linda) was absentmindedly staring at the GPS and AIS displays watching the longitude hundredths tick down as we slowly regain our Easting. It was almost time to log the 0100 position report when an unfamiliar icon popped up on the AIS. Although I know it defeats the whole purpose of alerting you to ships before you can see them, I was glad the alarm wasn't activated because it can be quite alarming! John came on watch and pulled up the icon list to learn that it was a vessel "Engaged in Fishing." When I "saw" it on the AIS the boat was 12-14 miles off our bow and not yet visible on the horizon. Sure enough John saw its lights later on in his watch when we passed it.
John was dozing a bit later and missed the tell tale flopping sound of a flying fish hitting the side deck. Instead, the first thing he heard was the familiar sound of crunching and a very rank fishy smell coming from the galley. Ziggy had managed to eat the head before John threw the rest out. Later on John had to clean up another round of upset tummy from Ziggy (at least John saw what was happening and got Ziggy off the carpet in time). I guess instead of catch and release Ziggy is on a regimen of gorge and toss! That may have been the cause (albeit far more delayed) of his last round of bulimia. (Why, oh why, do the pet food companies insist on putting so much dye in their kibble? Do we humans really care what color the food is, because the cats certainly don't, and it just leaves an orange stain in the carpet when it happens to come back up.) Not an hour later, after eating his breakfast, I heard a flying fish and found Ziggy on the side deck just watching it. Either it was still flopping around too much for him to grab it, or he finally realized he'd had enough. I didn't find out which was the case before tossing it (back into the ocean) myself.
Day 8 Stats
Course: 353 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 95 nm
Water Temp: 80.8 to 81.5 F
Engine Hours: 0
Day 9 Stats
Course: 011 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 107 nm
Water Temp: 80.4 to 81.3 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}03|27|S|143|42|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 9|Day 9{GEND}
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Days 6&7 Tuamotus to Hawaii
Sunday afternoon
Well for a day there it looked like we were headed to the Marquesas for a stop to catch up on our sleep and load up on fresh pamplemousse! I'll let John explain the technical reasons behind that:
It's been a tough couple of days for sailorizing. The wind, never what you would call 'fair,' has turned to NE, pretty much the exact direction we want to travel (i.e., a headwind). So we were faced with a choice. Head West (or North West) and give up all the Easting we'd already fought so hard for, or go South East and conserve our Easting but make absolutely no progress towards Hawaii.
Our initial choice was to head NW, but then the wind shifted even more and NW became more like W. So we tacked onto Port Tack and sailed slowly to the ESE, basically just waiting for the wind to shift back into the E.
Last night it finally did, and we set as much sail as we can handle to go North - as fast as possible. It looks like the trough that caused the NE winds is going to spawn another low pressure system to our South, which will bring more NE winds to the area we are in now. Hopefully by then we will be 300 miles North of here and it won't have as bad an effect on us.
Got all that?! I know...
We've seen mostly Tropic Birds and Booby Birds, Shearwaters, and one Frigate Bird this first week. The adult Masked Boobies are easiest to identify with their distinct black and white markings. I think a Red-footed Booby was checking us out one morning. They have several color "morphs" and this one was all dark grey-brown with a dark grey beak (which makes it a Juvenile according to our Seabirds book). Unfortunately they all keep their legs tucked up tight when they're flying and I can never see what color the feet are. I also caught a brief glimpse of a lone dolphin surfing down a couple of wave faces before it disappeared. And John says he had dolphins swimming on our bow last night.
It was getting a bit discouraging to think of having to start our trip all over again from the Marquesas, but now we're romping towards our real destination (Hawaii!) and spirits are up again.
Linda and John
Day 6 Stats
Course: 339 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 37 nm
Water Temp: 81.3 to 81.7 F
Engine Hours: 1.7
Day 7 Stats
Course: 008 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 57 nm
Water Temp: 81.7 to 82.4 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}06|42|S|143|53|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 7|Day 7{GEND}
Well for a day there it looked like we were headed to the Marquesas for a stop to catch up on our sleep and load up on fresh pamplemousse! I'll let John explain the technical reasons behind that:
It's been a tough couple of days for sailorizing. The wind, never what you would call 'fair,' has turned to NE, pretty much the exact direction we want to travel (i.e., a headwind). So we were faced with a choice. Head West (or North West) and give up all the Easting we'd already fought so hard for, or go South East and conserve our Easting but make absolutely no progress towards Hawaii.
Our initial choice was to head NW, but then the wind shifted even more and NW became more like W. So we tacked onto Port Tack and sailed slowly to the ESE, basically just waiting for the wind to shift back into the E.
Last night it finally did, and we set as much sail as we can handle to go North - as fast as possible. It looks like the trough that caused the NE winds is going to spawn another low pressure system to our South, which will bring more NE winds to the area we are in now. Hopefully by then we will be 300 miles North of here and it won't have as bad an effect on us.
Got all that?! I know...
We've seen mostly Tropic Birds and Booby Birds, Shearwaters, and one Frigate Bird this first week. The adult Masked Boobies are easiest to identify with their distinct black and white markings. I think a Red-footed Booby was checking us out one morning. They have several color "morphs" and this one was all dark grey-brown with a dark grey beak (which makes it a Juvenile according to our Seabirds book). Unfortunately they all keep their legs tucked up tight when they're flying and I can never see what color the feet are. I also caught a brief glimpse of a lone dolphin surfing down a couple of wave faces before it disappeared. And John says he had dolphins swimming on our bow last night.
It was getting a bit discouraging to think of having to start our trip all over again from the Marquesas, but now we're romping towards our real destination (Hawaii!) and spirits are up again.
Linda and John
Day 6 Stats
Course: 339 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 37 nm
Water Temp: 81.3 to 81.7 F
Engine Hours: 1.7
Day 7 Stats
Course: 008 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 57 nm
Water Temp: 81.7 to 82.4 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}06|42|S|143|53|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 7|Day 7{GEND}
Friday, October 18, 2013
Days 4&5 Tuamotus to Hawaii
0400 Watch on Friday
It's been very slow going the past two days. Not only have we had the usual small rain squalls at night but there were also a few during the day on Thursday. John is kept busy putting out a scrap of jib in the light periods in between squalls and then cranking it all back in when one of those heavy, wind filled clouds goes over us.
On top of this we've been "headed" and the wind is taking us back to the west eating up all that nice Port cross track error we so carefully built up over the first few days. John is appalled at how quickly those miles are eaten up after taking so long to build them.
Ziggy chose one of the calmest periods yesterday afternoon to throw up his mostly digested breakfast. Give me mostly UNdigested please because it's much easier to clean up. For the first time in his life he's been showing signs of needing to cough up a hairball so I had already fed him some petroleum jelly (per instructions in our cat medical book) to induce it to pass out the other end (as has been his normal history up to now). The bad news is I did not find signs of a hairball in yesterday's mess. Stay tuned for further updates...
At 1 PM Wednesday I saw a small white ship crossing Nakia's bow from west to east. At first I assumed it was a supply ship headed for the Marquesas. It was moving so slowly that I figured it must be hanging back to get a closer look at us. But after it was well clear of us it slowly turned a bit south and then appeared to heave to into the wind. Pura Vida reported having seen the same thing when they passed through the area. I suspect it was some kind of fishing vessel "resting" until their work began at nightfall. And this is the second ship without an AIS transponder signal to give us advance notice of its presence. Keeps us on our toes.
We were excited to hear Carrie on S/V Dazzler checking in to the Pacific Seafarers Net last night. They just left Raiatea bound for Honolulu. We last sailed that route with them in 2010. As I recall they were residents of the Hawaii Yacht Club at that time and Carrie was kind enough to take us to Costco with her for - what else - cat litter! Dazzler is a big fast boat and will no doubt be passing us shortly.
Day 4 Stats
Course: 020 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 100 nm
Water Temp: 82.6 to 83.1 F
Engine Hours: 0
Day 5 Stats
Course: 342 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 75 nm
Water Temp: 81.3 to 82.9 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}08|18|S|143|48|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 5|Day 5{GEND}
It's been very slow going the past two days. Not only have we had the usual small rain squalls at night but there were also a few during the day on Thursday. John is kept busy putting out a scrap of jib in the light periods in between squalls and then cranking it all back in when one of those heavy, wind filled clouds goes over us.
On top of this we've been "headed" and the wind is taking us back to the west eating up all that nice Port cross track error we so carefully built up over the first few days. John is appalled at how quickly those miles are eaten up after taking so long to build them.
Ziggy chose one of the calmest periods yesterday afternoon to throw up his mostly digested breakfast. Give me mostly UNdigested please because it's much easier to clean up. For the first time in his life he's been showing signs of needing to cough up a hairball so I had already fed him some petroleum jelly (per instructions in our cat medical book) to induce it to pass out the other end (as has been his normal history up to now). The bad news is I did not find signs of a hairball in yesterday's mess. Stay tuned for further updates...
At 1 PM Wednesday I saw a small white ship crossing Nakia's bow from west to east. At first I assumed it was a supply ship headed for the Marquesas. It was moving so slowly that I figured it must be hanging back to get a closer look at us. But after it was well clear of us it slowly turned a bit south and then appeared to heave to into the wind. Pura Vida reported having seen the same thing when they passed through the area. I suspect it was some kind of fishing vessel "resting" until their work began at nightfall. And this is the second ship without an AIS transponder signal to give us advance notice of its presence. Keeps us on our toes.
We were excited to hear Carrie on S/V Dazzler checking in to the Pacific Seafarers Net last night. They just left Raiatea bound for Honolulu. We last sailed that route with them in 2010. As I recall they were residents of the Hawaii Yacht Club at that time and Carrie was kind enough to take us to Costco with her for - what else - cat litter! Dazzler is a big fast boat and will no doubt be passing us shortly.
Day 4 Stats
Course: 020 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 100 nm
Water Temp: 82.6 to 83.1 F
Engine Hours: 0
Day 5 Stats
Course: 342 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 75 nm
Water Temp: 81.3 to 82.9 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}08|18|S|143|48|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 5|Day 5{GEND}
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Days 2&3 Tuamotus to Hawaii
0400 Watch on Wednesday, 10/16
We are back in the groove of our usual watch schedule. For those who don't remember/know how we work it:
0700-1200 John
1200-1700 Linda
1700-2100 John
2100-0100 Linda
0100-0400 John
0400-0700 Linda
This way John gets the sunset watch and I get the sunrise watch, which is how we both prefer it. The long five hour watches during the day give us a chance to catch up on any sleep we missed during the night, and to do chores.
We are deliberately sailing more slowly than we could be. Although Nakia is built to take a pounding neither of us likes crashing and bashing. So we've been running under a reefed main, with the staysail, and occasionally a scrap of jib out. The jib usually gets rolled up or at least shortened at night when we are most likely to have rain squalls pass over us. With the good moon light we have now we can see these clouds coming far in the distance. They usually bring us increased winds and hopefully a boat wash, and only last for about 15-30 minutes at a time. We can definitely use a nightly wash with all the salt spray we are taking over the foredeck.
John here: Early Wednesday morning (about 0300) we were hit by yet another squall. It has been very unsettled the last 36 hours. This squall lasted a lot longer and seemed a bit stronger then the ones before. After about 15 minutes of very high wind I heard (and felt) a loud BANG! I quickly turned on all the deck lights to see what had broken but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. All the sails were still set and pulling and the boat was still on course. I waited another half hour before it calmed down enough to brave a trip on deck when I found that three out of four of the 5/16" bolts that hold the staysail had broken. The last was bent at an extreme angle and looked like it could go at any time. I quickly dropped the staysail and decided to wait for daylight to take a closer look. 0500 found me on deck with a length of 1/4" Spectra rope which I used to build an emergency attachment point for the staysail stay and the sail itself. It took over two hours, but seems to be holding for now. We should only need the staysail for another 10 days or so, hopefully by then the wind will come aft and the jib can take over. In the meantime, I'll be checking the Spectra rope for signs of failure four times a day.
We also had a couple of visiting squid last night. These are particularly annoying because even though we can neither see them when they land or smell them after they've sat around and dried on deck, Ziggy can smell them as soon as they stop wriggling. Of course any fresh seafood is Mana for Z, so he immediately wants to go for a walk on deck to slurp them up. Not such a good idea when it's blowing 20 kts and water is constantly flying over the deck. We do our best, but he eventually gets out on deck, and comes back when he gets tired of being splashed by waves.
Day 2 Stats
Course: 23 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 110 nm
Water Temp: 81.7 to 82.6 F
Engine Hours: 0
Day 3 Stats
Course: 17 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 92 nm
Water Temp: 82.4 to 82.9 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}11|06|S|144|02|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 3|Day 3{GEND}
We are back in the groove of our usual watch schedule. For those who don't remember/know how we work it:
0700-1200 John
1200-1700 Linda
1700-2100 John
2100-0100 Linda
0100-0400 John
0400-0700 Linda
This way John gets the sunset watch and I get the sunrise watch, which is how we both prefer it. The long five hour watches during the day give us a chance to catch up on any sleep we missed during the night, and to do chores.
We are deliberately sailing more slowly than we could be. Although Nakia is built to take a pounding neither of us likes crashing and bashing. So we've been running under a reefed main, with the staysail, and occasionally a scrap of jib out. The jib usually gets rolled up or at least shortened at night when we are most likely to have rain squalls pass over us. With the good moon light we have now we can see these clouds coming far in the distance. They usually bring us increased winds and hopefully a boat wash, and only last for about 15-30 minutes at a time. We can definitely use a nightly wash with all the salt spray we are taking over the foredeck.
John here: Early Wednesday morning (about 0300) we were hit by yet another squall. It has been very unsettled the last 36 hours. This squall lasted a lot longer and seemed a bit stronger then the ones before. After about 15 minutes of very high wind I heard (and felt) a loud BANG! I quickly turned on all the deck lights to see what had broken but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. All the sails were still set and pulling and the boat was still on course. I waited another half hour before it calmed down enough to brave a trip on deck when I found that three out of four of the 5/16" bolts that hold the staysail had broken. The last was bent at an extreme angle and looked like it could go at any time. I quickly dropped the staysail and decided to wait for daylight to take a closer look. 0500 found me on deck with a length of 1/4" Spectra rope which I used to build an emergency attachment point for the staysail stay and the sail itself. It took over two hours, but seems to be holding for now. We should only need the staysail for another 10 days or so, hopefully by then the wind will come aft and the jib can take over. In the meantime, I'll be checking the Spectra rope for signs of failure four times a day.
We also had a couple of visiting squid last night. These are particularly annoying because even though we can neither see them when they land or smell them after they've sat around and dried on deck, Ziggy can smell them as soon as they stop wriggling. Of course any fresh seafood is Mana for Z, so he immediately wants to go for a walk on deck to slurp them up. Not such a good idea when it's blowing 20 kts and water is constantly flying over the deck. We do our best, but he eventually gets out on deck, and comes back when he gets tired of being splashed by waves.
Day 2 Stats
Course: 23 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 110 nm
Water Temp: 81.7 to 82.6 F
Engine Hours: 0
Day 3 Stats
Course: 17 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 92 nm
Water Temp: 82.4 to 82.9 F
Engine Hours: 0
{GMST}11|06|S|144|02|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 3|Day 3{GEND}
Monday, October 14, 2013
Day 1, Tuamotus to Hawaii
Afternoon of Monday, October 14
Here we go again!
We departed Anse Amyot, Toau atoll in the Tuamotus at 0915 on Sunday, October 13. Tearful goodbyes were exchanged with Valentine and Gaston that morning, and "Hawaii or Bust" and "Meet you at Dairy Queen" were shouted to the crew of Pura Vida as they prepared for their departure a few hours later (and who left us in the dust sometime last night!). Conditions were not perfect for our first day out of the box after being at anchor for almost a month, but neither could they be called bad. We've had a good sailing breeze and, while the seas are steep and choppy, they are also very short. So for us on Nakia it's a bouncy ride with the occasional (and highly irregular) salt water spray splashing across the windward side of the boat into the cockpit.
Other than our regular horizon checks for traffic, squalls, course, etc. every 15 minutes we mostly stay dry below. Although "dry" is a relative term when all hatches and portholes are closed up against the elements. Things get rather steamy during the day, even when it's mostly cloudy out. But with the tow generator working 24/7 we're able to run fans to keep us cool, and the refrigerator cranks out cold drinks to keep us hydrated.
We were both feeling a little queasy to start out with but we have our sea legs now. I might not be reporting on our passage diet in too much detail because I know some people who will be alarmed by the apparent disregard we have for our health. On the other hand maybe it will be entertaining to those of you who enjoy rolling your eyes and thinking OMG.
Finally, my apologies for not tending to the blog for our third cruising season in French Polynesia. After the first time around exploring a new cruising ground there doesn't seem to be anything new and exciting to report. Frankly another reason is that for the (albeit minor in comparison to other things) amount of work involved in writing a blog there wasn't much in the way of a payoff. We know several people were following the blog, but for the most part we only ever received news from my family on a regular basis. So I switched back to keeping a record of our activities through private email. If you want to hear from us, let us hear from you!
Day 1 Stats
Course: 30 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 104 nm
Water Temp: 80.6 to 81.7 F
Engine Hours: 0.9
I'll be posting 24-hour position reports based on our 0900 departure time. You can also refer to the YOTREPS/Pangolin web site for Nakia's 0300 Zulu nightly position reports to the Pacific Seafarers Net. Search for John's HAM call sign: KE6HUA.
Linda
{GMST}14|16|S|145|17|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 1|Day 1{GEND}
Here we go again!
We departed Anse Amyot, Toau atoll in the Tuamotus at 0915 on Sunday, October 13. Tearful goodbyes were exchanged with Valentine and Gaston that morning, and "Hawaii or Bust" and "Meet you at Dairy Queen" were shouted to the crew of Pura Vida as they prepared for their departure a few hours later (and who left us in the dust sometime last night!). Conditions were not perfect for our first day out of the box after being at anchor for almost a month, but neither could they be called bad. We've had a good sailing breeze and, while the seas are steep and choppy, they are also very short. So for us on Nakia it's a bouncy ride with the occasional (and highly irregular) salt water spray splashing across the windward side of the boat into the cockpit.
Other than our regular horizon checks for traffic, squalls, course, etc. every 15 minutes we mostly stay dry below. Although "dry" is a relative term when all hatches and portholes are closed up against the elements. Things get rather steamy during the day, even when it's mostly cloudy out. But with the tow generator working 24/7 we're able to run fans to keep us cool, and the refrigerator cranks out cold drinks to keep us hydrated.
We were both feeling a little queasy to start out with but we have our sea legs now. I might not be reporting on our passage diet in too much detail because I know some people who will be alarmed by the apparent disregard we have for our health. On the other hand maybe it will be entertaining to those of you who enjoy rolling your eyes and thinking OMG.
Finally, my apologies for not tending to the blog for our third cruising season in French Polynesia. After the first time around exploring a new cruising ground there doesn't seem to be anything new and exciting to report. Frankly another reason is that for the (albeit minor in comparison to other things) amount of work involved in writing a blog there wasn't much in the way of a payoff. We know several people were following the blog, but for the most part we only ever received news from my family on a regular basis. So I switched back to keeping a record of our activities through private email. If you want to hear from us, let us hear from you!
Day 1 Stats
Course: 30 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 104 nm
Water Temp: 80.6 to 81.7 F
Engine Hours: 0.9
I'll be posting 24-hour position reports based on our 0900 departure time. You can also refer to the YOTREPS/Pangolin web site for Nakia's 0300 Zulu nightly position reports to the Pacific Seafarers Net. Search for John's HAM call sign: KE6HUA.
Linda
{GMST}14|16|S|145|17|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 1|Day 1{GEND}
Friday, August 23, 2013
Tahiti to Tahanea
We departed Baie Phaeton, at the isthmus between Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti, at first light on Tuesday. John had specifically looked for a weather window of next to no wind to get us back to the Tuamotus. In the usual prevailing wind pattern it would be a salty wet bash - which Nakia and her crew do not particularly like. After motoring out of the protective lee of the island the seas were short but close together and we knew we were back on open ocean again.
We got what we wished for and this may have been the most expensive passage, relatively speaking, that we've ever had. John had gone to the gas station and filled one 6.5 gallon jerry jug full of diesel fuel to top our tanks and it cost him about $45 US! Although we tried to sail when we could - even when it meant doing one knot of boat speed - we ended up motoring most of the way here. But when we sailed it was absolutely beautiful, especially at night with the boat gliding along in the moonlight reflecting on the flat surface of the water.
How calm was it, you ask? It was so calm that:
We set our coffee cups down on the table or counter and they didn't tip over (well, John still held on to his out of force of habit; I seized the day and felt like I was living on the edge)...
I sat in one of our plastic patio chairs in the cockpit to watch the sunrise...
We saw a fish swim under the boat..
John saw his reflection in the water as he leaned over to take a...hmmm, uh, you know...
The silence was deafening each time we pulled the kill switch and got some relief from the noise, heat, and vibration of the engine. It made for lots of tippy-toeing around by the on-watch person at night while the off-watch tried to sleep in all that quiet. Woe to the crew who opened a new packet of crackers for a midnight snack. Those plastic wrappers are noisy!
Even though we were paralleling the atoll of Tahanea before dawn when we could see the palm covered motus along the coral reef, we still had another four and a half hours of following the reef to the main pass entrance. As we closed with the pass we watched as huge rain clouds began to form. We had missed the beginning of an ebb tide after high slack by about three hours, and the current was already churning up the far side of the entrance. John wanted to know if I wanted to stay outside the pass and wipe down the boat in the rain but I didn't want to give the current a chance to get any stronger so we headed in. Of course at that moment the clouds converged to block the sun and it started to rain. Fortunately it wasn't so heavy that visibility was impaired, and it was still calm. John hugged the SE side of the pass on our port side to stay out of the current while I stood on the bow making sure we weren't going to hit anything. I glanced up occasionally to watch a rock on shore 120 yards away as we passed at a snail's pace with as much as four knots of counter-current slowing us down. But after only 15 minutes we were through the worst of it and I was wiping the salt and grime off the boat with the fresh rain water.
We finally killed the engine and had the best sail of the whole passage. Unfortunately it was backtracking two hours across the lagoon to the far SE end where we had started - only this time we were inside the reef. We had counted four boats at anchor as we went by outside after sunrise and now we could see two more. The boats are spread out among a handful of atolls for privacy and we split the difference between two of them. I was a bit frantic as John directed me forward out of deep water and over the sand to drop the anchor in seven feet of water (plus two that the depth sounder doesn't know about). That just goes to show how long it's been since we've been in clear water (I'm out of practice). And I thought Tahiti was pretty great - this is way mo' betta! We already have a male Napoleon (Humphead) wrasse in residence who was happy to come to the surface for our fish scraps (see dinner plans below).
Here are the stats, plus or minus a bit since I haven't slept much in three nights:
Motored 42 hours for a total of 222 nautical miles.
Sailed 36 hours for a total of 102 miles.
Average speed over total of 78 hours and 324 miles was 4.1 knots.
Fuel consumed: 25 gallons at $177? We're hoping for around six tenths of a gallon per hour since John kept the RPMs at 1400 which is not much above forward idle speed.
Fish caught: A 20 lb skipjack tuna, the one and only time John put out a line. While the meat looks a disgusting dark blood red, John marinated it in soy sauce, sugar, and garlic chili sauce, and pan fried it. Tonight it goes over cous cous cooked with a sauteed onion and a can of Veg-all.
Ziggy's already had several laps around the boat enjoying our new found calm and quiet (not to mention all the fresh fish). Now it's time for us to get in this beautiful clear lagoon and go for a swim!
{GMST}16|57.917|S|144|35.581|W|Tuamotus|Tahanea{GEND}
We got what we wished for and this may have been the most expensive passage, relatively speaking, that we've ever had. John had gone to the gas station and filled one 6.5 gallon jerry jug full of diesel fuel to top our tanks and it cost him about $45 US! Although we tried to sail when we could - even when it meant doing one knot of boat speed - we ended up motoring most of the way here. But when we sailed it was absolutely beautiful, especially at night with the boat gliding along in the moonlight reflecting on the flat surface of the water.
How calm was it, you ask? It was so calm that:
We set our coffee cups down on the table or counter and they didn't tip over (well, John still held on to his out of force of habit; I seized the day and felt like I was living on the edge)...
I sat in one of our plastic patio chairs in the cockpit to watch the sunrise...
We saw a fish swim under the boat..
John saw his reflection in the water as he leaned over to take a...hmmm, uh, you know...
The silence was deafening each time we pulled the kill switch and got some relief from the noise, heat, and vibration of the engine. It made for lots of tippy-toeing around by the on-watch person at night while the off-watch tried to sleep in all that quiet. Woe to the crew who opened a new packet of crackers for a midnight snack. Those plastic wrappers are noisy!
Even though we were paralleling the atoll of Tahanea before dawn when we could see the palm covered motus along the coral reef, we still had another four and a half hours of following the reef to the main pass entrance. As we closed with the pass we watched as huge rain clouds began to form. We had missed the beginning of an ebb tide after high slack by about three hours, and the current was already churning up the far side of the entrance. John wanted to know if I wanted to stay outside the pass and wipe down the boat in the rain but I didn't want to give the current a chance to get any stronger so we headed in. Of course at that moment the clouds converged to block the sun and it started to rain. Fortunately it wasn't so heavy that visibility was impaired, and it was still calm. John hugged the SE side of the pass on our port side to stay out of the current while I stood on the bow making sure we weren't going to hit anything. I glanced up occasionally to watch a rock on shore 120 yards away as we passed at a snail's pace with as much as four knots of counter-current slowing us down. But after only 15 minutes we were through the worst of it and I was wiping the salt and grime off the boat with the fresh rain water.
We finally killed the engine and had the best sail of the whole passage. Unfortunately it was backtracking two hours across the lagoon to the far SE end where we had started - only this time we were inside the reef. We had counted four boats at anchor as we went by outside after sunrise and now we could see two more. The boats are spread out among a handful of atolls for privacy and we split the difference between two of them. I was a bit frantic as John directed me forward out of deep water and over the sand to drop the anchor in seven feet of water (plus two that the depth sounder doesn't know about). That just goes to show how long it's been since we've been in clear water (I'm out of practice). And I thought Tahiti was pretty great - this is way mo' betta! We already have a male Napoleon (Humphead) wrasse in residence who was happy to come to the surface for our fish scraps (see dinner plans below).
Here are the stats, plus or minus a bit since I haven't slept much in three nights:
Motored 42 hours for a total of 222 nautical miles.
Sailed 36 hours for a total of 102 miles.
Average speed over total of 78 hours and 324 miles was 4.1 knots.
Fuel consumed: 25 gallons at $177? We're hoping for around six tenths of a gallon per hour since John kept the RPMs at 1400 which is not much above forward idle speed.
Fish caught: A 20 lb skipjack tuna, the one and only time John put out a line. While the meat looks a disgusting dark blood red, John marinated it in soy sauce, sugar, and garlic chili sauce, and pan fried it. Tonight it goes over cous cous cooked with a sauteed onion and a can of Veg-all.
Ziggy's already had several laps around the boat enjoying our new found calm and quiet (not to mention all the fresh fish). Now it's time for us to get in this beautiful clear lagoon and go for a swim!
{GMST}16|57.917|S|144|35.581|W|Tuamotus|Tahanea{GEND}
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Tahiti waypoints
Here are some of the places we've stopped during our stay in Tahiti from our July 29 arrival until now. Until we left Papeete our focus was mostly around restocking the boat and buying supplies for our friends on Toau. Because we only buy what we can carry back to the boat it took several trips to complete our lists.
Point Venus: We arrived here at sunrise with Chris and Lila of Privateer after sailing within sight of them during our entire two day/night sail from Toau. We spent most of our time here grocery shopping, with one trip by bus to Papeete for pearl shopping with Privateer.
Marina Taina anchorage: Here we continued our provisioning which was made very easy with access to a free dinghy dock and a full-sized Carrefour shopping center only a 10 minute walk away. We also made use of the marina's laundry facilities at a very reasonable 800 CFP for a 10 kg washing machine.
Papeete Quay: Located in downtown Papeete we were able to make several visits to marine and hardware stores, order our duty-free alcohol, walk almost daily to the grocery store, buy inexpensive lunches in the open-air Market, eat one night at the Roulottes, do more laundry (this time by hand) on the quay, and replenish our supplies of gasoline and propane. On the fun side of things we also managed to take a hike up through Fautaua Valley to a waterfall and spend an afternoon at the nearby waterfront park. I highly recommend the pearl shopping at Mihiarii Pearls, especially if you can work with the very helpful (and English) Jessica at their outlet upstairs in the Marche (Market). They have loose, undrilled pearls for every budget.
Maraa Grotto: From Papeete we made another short stop at the Marina Taina anchorage. We took the local bus down to visit the Maraa Grottos and a few beach parks. The next day we motored to an anchor spot out in front of the grottos to make our way towards Port Phaeton. The grottos are not really worth making a special trip for, but the beach parks were nice.
Baie Phaeton: Another easy shopping stop with a place to tie up the dinghy for a short walk to another huge Carrefour. A Hyper Champion and a Super U are a farther walk through town.
{GMST}17|30.210|S|149|29.844|W|Tahiti|Point Venus{GEND}
{GMST}17|34.832|S|149|37.104|W|Tahiti|Marina Taina anchorage{GEND}
{GMST}17|33.425|S|149|34.224|W|Tahiti|Papeete Quay{GEND}
{GMST}17|44.775|S|149|34.434|W|Tahiti|Maraa Grotto{GEND}
{GMST}17|43.809|S|149|19.542|W|Tahiti|Baie Phaeton{GEND}
Point Venus: We arrived here at sunrise with Chris and Lila of Privateer after sailing within sight of them during our entire two day/night sail from Toau. We spent most of our time here grocery shopping, with one trip by bus to Papeete for pearl shopping with Privateer.
Marina Taina anchorage: Here we continued our provisioning which was made very easy with access to a free dinghy dock and a full-sized Carrefour shopping center only a 10 minute walk away. We also made use of the marina's laundry facilities at a very reasonable 800 CFP for a 10 kg washing machine.
Papeete Quay: Located in downtown Papeete we were able to make several visits to marine and hardware stores, order our duty-free alcohol, walk almost daily to the grocery store, buy inexpensive lunches in the open-air Market, eat one night at the Roulottes, do more laundry (this time by hand) on the quay, and replenish our supplies of gasoline and propane. On the fun side of things we also managed to take a hike up through Fautaua Valley to a waterfall and spend an afternoon at the nearby waterfront park. I highly recommend the pearl shopping at Mihiarii Pearls, especially if you can work with the very helpful (and English) Jessica at their outlet upstairs in the Marche (Market). They have loose, undrilled pearls for every budget.
Maraa Grotto: From Papeete we made another short stop at the Marina Taina anchorage. We took the local bus down to visit the Maraa Grottos and a few beach parks. The next day we motored to an anchor spot out in front of the grottos to make our way towards Port Phaeton. The grottos are not really worth making a special trip for, but the beach parks were nice.
Baie Phaeton: Another easy shopping stop with a place to tie up the dinghy for a short walk to another huge Carrefour. A Hyper Champion and a Super U are a farther walk through town.
{GMST}17|30.210|S|149|29.844|W|Tahiti|Point Venus{GEND}
{GMST}17|34.832|S|149|37.104|W|Tahiti|Marina Taina anchorage{GEND}
{GMST}17|33.425|S|149|34.224|W|Tahiti|Papeete Quay{GEND}
{GMST}17|44.775|S|149|34.434|W|Tahiti|Maraa Grotto{GEND}
{GMST}17|43.809|S|149|19.542|W|Tahiti|Baie Phaeton{GEND}
Friday, August 16, 2013
Tuamotus waypoints
Some of you have missed "seeing" where we've been in French Polynesia this season so I'll do a brief rundown on our stops in the Tuamotus from June 17 to July 27.
Fakarava South Pass (West): This was a favorite of ours in 2010 when we were one of a handful of boats who ventured over to this side of the pass. Most cruisers opt to anchor in deeper water to the east of the pass in front of Manihi's lovely pension/restaurant amidst the fir trees he and his wife planted on their motu. But this season we found many more boats were anchoring on the west side in spite of the longer dinghy ride for snorkeling/diving the pass. Neville and Catherine of Dream Time, along with help from several other cruisers, created the Fakarava Yacht Club beach "bar" on a sandy motu. We enjoyed many bonfire evenings there and we hope it survives cyclone season to open in time for next season's visitors.
Fakarava lagoon: On our first day of lagoon transit from the South Pass to the North we hit a period of incredibly calm weather. We anchored in 70' in mirror flat water. This is not a tenable stop in anything but perfect conditions. The reward here is a fantastic low tide reef walk. Two kinds of live cowries were in abundance along with many other interesting forms of marine life to observe (but not touch).
Fakarava near Tonae: This was a nice stop to stretch our legs and explore on the coral "road" which is more like a track. We chose to hike north where we found spurs leading to the outer reef for a nice beach walk at low tide.
Anse Amyot, Toau: This was a favorite stop of ours in 2010 when we had calm and settled weather. Unfortunately this year there was much more wind and we were hunkered down for almost 10 of the 28 days we spent here. Instead of daily snorkeling we escaped the wind out on the boat by going ashore. John was drafted to build Valentine a chicken coop. This is not the kind of thing he normally enjoys doing (give him a piece of electronics to fix and he's a happy camper), but it turned out great and it let Gaston get on with the jobs that are more important to him like clearing more of Motu Kai for planting palm trees for producing copra. A by-product of clearing the land of brush is turning up old garbage burn piles. I helped sift through these to separate out (broken) glass and aluminum. We think (hope) the latter is sent to Papeete for recycling. Gaston asked John and Chris of Privateer to help dig a pit in which to bury the glass. This was a difficult job and we all agreed that it might be better to bury the glass out at sea... As a reward for everyone's hard work, Gaston and Valentine took us out to Motu Pagnoi in their go-fast boat for a picnic. This turned out to be the calmest day of our stay there.
Linda
{GMST}16|31.244|S|145|28.368|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava South Pass (West){GEND}
{GMST}16|22.678|S|145|26.368|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava lagoon{GEND}
{GMST}16|15.583|S|145|32.837|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava near Tonae{GEND}
{GMST}16|03.552|S|145|37.248|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava North Pass{GEND}
{GMST}15|48.221|S|146|09.141|W|Tuamotus|Anse Amyot, Toau{GEND}
Fakarava South Pass (West): This was a favorite of ours in 2010 when we were one of a handful of boats who ventured over to this side of the pass. Most cruisers opt to anchor in deeper water to the east of the pass in front of Manihi's lovely pension/restaurant amidst the fir trees he and his wife planted on their motu. But this season we found many more boats were anchoring on the west side in spite of the longer dinghy ride for snorkeling/diving the pass. Neville and Catherine of Dream Time, along with help from several other cruisers, created the Fakarava Yacht Club beach "bar" on a sandy motu. We enjoyed many bonfire evenings there and we hope it survives cyclone season to open in time for next season's visitors.
Fakarava lagoon: On our first day of lagoon transit from the South Pass to the North we hit a period of incredibly calm weather. We anchored in 70' in mirror flat water. This is not a tenable stop in anything but perfect conditions. The reward here is a fantastic low tide reef walk. Two kinds of live cowries were in abundance along with many other interesting forms of marine life to observe (but not touch).
Fakarava near Tonae: This was a nice stop to stretch our legs and explore on the coral "road" which is more like a track. We chose to hike north where we found spurs leading to the outer reef for a nice beach walk at low tide.
Anse Amyot, Toau: This was a favorite stop of ours in 2010 when we had calm and settled weather. Unfortunately this year there was much more wind and we were hunkered down for almost 10 of the 28 days we spent here. Instead of daily snorkeling we escaped the wind out on the boat by going ashore. John was drafted to build Valentine a chicken coop. This is not the kind of thing he normally enjoys doing (give him a piece of electronics to fix and he's a happy camper), but it turned out great and it let Gaston get on with the jobs that are more important to him like clearing more of Motu Kai for planting palm trees for producing copra. A by-product of clearing the land of brush is turning up old garbage burn piles. I helped sift through these to separate out (broken) glass and aluminum. We think (hope) the latter is sent to Papeete for recycling. Gaston asked John and Chris of Privateer to help dig a pit in which to bury the glass. This was a difficult job and we all agreed that it might be better to bury the glass out at sea... As a reward for everyone's hard work, Gaston and Valentine took us out to Motu Pagnoi in their go-fast boat for a picnic. This turned out to be the calmest day of our stay there.
Linda
{GMST}16|31.244|S|145|28.368|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava South Pass (West){GEND}
{GMST}16|22.678|S|145|26.368|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava lagoon{GEND}
{GMST}16|15.583|S|145|32.837|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava near Tonae{GEND}
{GMST}16|03.552|S|145|37.248|W|Tuamotus|Fakarava North Pass{GEND}
{GMST}15|48.221|S|146|09.141|W|Tuamotus|Anse Amyot, Toau{GEND}
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Raroia, Tuamotus
John threaded the needle perfectly and navigated us here to arrive just after dawn. Unfortunately we missed the morning slack after the high, and slack after the ebb wasn't technically until around 1 PM. We slowly tacked back and forth outside the lagoon entrance with only the reefed main, admiring the view of palm trees and motus from outside the atoll. At 12:30 we decided to give it a shot and had an easy 15 minute motor to the range inside the lagoon. From there it was another hour plus of motoring straight across to the East (weather side) of the lagoon.
We're anchored in 40' off of a motu to the north of the local pearl farm. We jumped in for a snorkel towards the beach but, gasp, the water is only 82 degrees. All I could think as we drifted from one coral head to the next was OMG. It is so beautiful here - above and below the water.
We ended the day with sundowners made of blended fresh mango, 7-Up, lime, and vodka over ice and we enjoyed them sitting in perfectly flat calm water. We figure the last calm anchorage we were in must have been Barra de Navidad in the 2011/12 season. And the last anchorage we were alone in might have been Carrizal, near Manzanillo this past winter. Ziggy is loving the stable platform as well and has been zooming around the decks and racing down below to start it all again.
Fortunately it all turned out well even though John was horrified when he realized we'd left the Marquesas on a Friday! We are thrilled beyond belief to be in this stunning place. How can it get even better than the Marquesas?
Linda
{GMST}16|04.282|S|142|22.034|W|Raroia|Tuamotus{GEND}
We're anchored in 40' off of a motu to the north of the local pearl farm. We jumped in for a snorkel towards the beach but, gasp, the water is only 82 degrees. All I could think as we drifted from one coral head to the next was OMG. It is so beautiful here - above and below the water.
We ended the day with sundowners made of blended fresh mango, 7-Up, lime, and vodka over ice and we enjoyed them sitting in perfectly flat calm water. We figure the last calm anchorage we were in must have been Barra de Navidad in the 2011/12 season. And the last anchorage we were alone in might have been Carrizal, near Manzanillo this past winter. Ziggy is loving the stable platform as well and has been zooming around the decks and racing down below to start it all again.
Fortunately it all turned out well even though John was horrified when he realized we'd left the Marquesas on a Friday! We are thrilled beyond belief to be in this stunning place. How can it get even better than the Marquesas?
Linda
{GMST}16|04.282|S|142|22.034|W|Raroia|Tuamotus{GEND}
Friday, June 07, 2013
Marquesan Wrap-up
Friday afternoon, underway
As we depart the Marquesas today bound for the Tuamotus I'll take this opportunity to summarize the last days of our visit here.
A week ago we were warned of a large swell that could possibly affect SW facing anchorages. We were ready to move on from Tahuata and decided to try the north side of Hiva Oa. We considered Hanamenu but we just haven't been able to convince ourselves to spend any time there. We tried it in 2009, but we ended up turning around to go back to Tahuata after a brief stop for lunch. We were disenchanted with the brown water and the onshore wind howling into the anchorage. Other cruisers seem to enjoy it, so we'll have to try again someday.
Instead we went eight miles past Hanamenu to the bay and village of Hanaiapa. The other three boats in the bay had put stern anchors out but there was plenty of room for us to swing, and our rocker stopper was up to the job of keeping us from rolling too terribly. This is where we made a lunch stop at the beach during our 2009 touring day in a rental car with Quixotic. It's a pretty bay and we enjoyed walking along the well manicured road out of town to stretch our legs.
After our long walk we were ready to cool off with a dinghy ride to the blowhole. As we explored the bay's perimeter and the rock spire just off the point we came across a school of manta rays. We put on our snorkel gear and jumped in the water with 10 rays feeding back and forth in our patch of water. John kicked himself for not bringing his camera to get a shot of me with one particularly large manta. We floated next to the dinghy and just watched them swim towards us and then turn away or dive down to pass us. So magical.
Monday we returned to Hanamoenoa on our favorite Marquesan island of Tahuata. It was a bit of a zoo as 19 boats crowded into the anchorage (during our 2009 trip we were alone in this beautiful spot) , but we still managed to sight a couple of mantas and even a turtle from the dinghy.
Tuesday we made a round trip to Vaitahu, the main village a couple of miles south, where we stocked up on baguettes and fruit, possibly our last for awhile. We bought 10 pamplemousse, 10 large mangos, and a stalk of bananas for about $30. The mangos are ripening faster than we can eat them, as are the bananas. The stalk hanging under the solar panel on the stern has eight "hands" each of which has at least 15 bananas. It's a good thing these are the small "apple" style banana so we can each eat four at a time without overdoing it too much. They are so delicious and sweet, it's like eating candy.
We managed to fill our water tanks and do some laundry as it mostly rained on Thursday. That afternoon we went looking for a change of scene at the little sandy beach just to the north. But we weren't comfortable with the set of the bow anchor in 30' of water over rocks. Instead of setting a stern anchor as we'd planned, we pulled it all up and returned to Hanamoenoa for our last night in the Marquesas.
As we look out over Nakia's stern we can see Tahuata in the foreground, with Hiva Oa stretched out behind it to the left, and Fatu Hiva way off in the distance to the right. We spent far more time in the Marquesas than we had initially intended, but it still wasn't enough. We're very sorry that our time constraints are pushing us on before we're ready to leave, and we vow to get the long-stay visas for French Polynesia for our next visit (whenever that may be...).
Linda
{GMST}09|42.894|S|139|00.884|W|Hanaiapa, Hiva Oa|Marquesas{GEND}
As we depart the Marquesas today bound for the Tuamotus I'll take this opportunity to summarize the last days of our visit here.
A week ago we were warned of a large swell that could possibly affect SW facing anchorages. We were ready to move on from Tahuata and decided to try the north side of Hiva Oa. We considered Hanamenu but we just haven't been able to convince ourselves to spend any time there. We tried it in 2009, but we ended up turning around to go back to Tahuata after a brief stop for lunch. We were disenchanted with the brown water and the onshore wind howling into the anchorage. Other cruisers seem to enjoy it, so we'll have to try again someday.
Instead we went eight miles past Hanamenu to the bay and village of Hanaiapa. The other three boats in the bay had put stern anchors out but there was plenty of room for us to swing, and our rocker stopper was up to the job of keeping us from rolling too terribly. This is where we made a lunch stop at the beach during our 2009 touring day in a rental car with Quixotic. It's a pretty bay and we enjoyed walking along the well manicured road out of town to stretch our legs.
After our long walk we were ready to cool off with a dinghy ride to the blowhole. As we explored the bay's perimeter and the rock spire just off the point we came across a school of manta rays. We put on our snorkel gear and jumped in the water with 10 rays feeding back and forth in our patch of water. John kicked himself for not bringing his camera to get a shot of me with one particularly large manta. We floated next to the dinghy and just watched them swim towards us and then turn away or dive down to pass us. So magical.
Monday we returned to Hanamoenoa on our favorite Marquesan island of Tahuata. It was a bit of a zoo as 19 boats crowded into the anchorage (during our 2009 trip we were alone in this beautiful spot) , but we still managed to sight a couple of mantas and even a turtle from the dinghy.
Tuesday we made a round trip to Vaitahu, the main village a couple of miles south, where we stocked up on baguettes and fruit, possibly our last for awhile. We bought 10 pamplemousse, 10 large mangos, and a stalk of bananas for about $30. The mangos are ripening faster than we can eat them, as are the bananas. The stalk hanging under the solar panel on the stern has eight "hands" each of which has at least 15 bananas. It's a good thing these are the small "apple" style banana so we can each eat four at a time without overdoing it too much. They are so delicious and sweet, it's like eating candy.
We managed to fill our water tanks and do some laundry as it mostly rained on Thursday. That afternoon we went looking for a change of scene at the little sandy beach just to the north. But we weren't comfortable with the set of the bow anchor in 30' of water over rocks. Instead of setting a stern anchor as we'd planned, we pulled it all up and returned to Hanamoenoa for our last night in the Marquesas.
As we look out over Nakia's stern we can see Tahuata in the foreground, with Hiva Oa stretched out behind it to the left, and Fatu Hiva way off in the distance to the right. We spent far more time in the Marquesas than we had initially intended, but it still wasn't enough. We're very sorry that our time constraints are pushing us on before we're ready to leave, and we vow to get the long-stay visas for French Polynesia for our next visit (whenever that may be...).
Linda
{GMST}09|42.894|S|139|00.884|W|Hanaiapa, Hiva Oa|Marquesas{GEND}
Friday, May 31, 2013
Rays and Rainbows, Tahuata
And rain. Lots of rain. Of course the day we left Fatu Hiva it stopped raining - for one day at least. Before that the bay at Hanavave was often a brown river complete with coconuts and other debris floating past the anchored boats. Waterfalls flowed and disappeared as rain clouds came and went.
A week ago Friday we managed to make the trip to Omoa by boat where we learned that the most elaborately carved ukuleles really do come from Ua-Huka. There is only one woman making them in Omoa and she is still somewhat of a beginner. John admired a different one being played for the Aranui 3 passengers. The owner really wanted to trade John for his pretty maple Kala (a Hawaiian style uke) but he came to cash terms in the end. On Saturday John spent the morning fishing with a local man (who's washing machine John managed to repair) to see what tips he could pick up, but they only came back with one tuna after hours spent out in the rain. Sunday we attended a church service in Marquesan and enjoyed the beautiful singing. It was their Mother's Day and the children performed an emotional song about mothers. A few of the younger girls ended up in tears over missing their mothers who were away at a special exposition in Papeete.
Monday we motored back to Atuona for more fuel, cash, and groceries. Wednesday morning we did three "loads" of laundry and pulled anchors by Noon for the two hour motor trip to Tahuata. We took advantage of the "free" electricity being provided by the engine to run our handy dandy electric laundry spinner (courtesy of Quixotic who we send thanks to every time we use it!). As soon as we set the hook here in Hanamoenoa the laundry lines went up and we had rapidly drying clean clothes and sheets hanging in the first sunny, breezy day in ages.
We are thrilled to be back in clear blue water again! We've already spent hours snorkeling and I'm happy to see all the familiar fish faces again, although I'm going to have to relearn most of their names. Yesterday it rained off and on all day, and rainbows materialized everywhere we looked over land and sea. This morning I spotted a school of manta rays feeding outside our bay. We took the dinghy out to them and hopped in with our snorkel gear to watch them feeding on small shrimp with their mouths wide open. It's a little unnerving to see that big open (toothless) mouth headed straight for you, but we know from experience that they will always veer off when they are a few feet away from us. We then took the dinghy over to a little used sandy beach for some snorkeling. In a space of about two feet we counted 10 big Marquesan cowries. They were tucked in with pencil sea urchins and we don't take the live animals, we just like admiring them. Yesterday John managed to find three newly emptied shells (recently eaten by some other creature and still very bright and shiny) of three different kinds of cowries. A small black-tip reef shark cruised by us which was a surprise as that's the first shark we've seen snorkeling in the Marquesas.
It's great to be back among such stunning scenery above and below the water! We'll probably remain at Tahuata until we get a good weather window for the short passage to the Tuamotus.
Linda
{GMST}09|54.438|S|139|06.306|W|Hanamoenoa, Tahuata|Rays and Rainbows{GEND}
A week ago Friday we managed to make the trip to Omoa by boat where we learned that the most elaborately carved ukuleles really do come from Ua-Huka. There is only one woman making them in Omoa and she is still somewhat of a beginner. John admired a different one being played for the Aranui 3 passengers. The owner really wanted to trade John for his pretty maple Kala (a Hawaiian style uke) but he came to cash terms in the end. On Saturday John spent the morning fishing with a local man (who's washing machine John managed to repair) to see what tips he could pick up, but they only came back with one tuna after hours spent out in the rain. Sunday we attended a church service in Marquesan and enjoyed the beautiful singing. It was their Mother's Day and the children performed an emotional song about mothers. A few of the younger girls ended up in tears over missing their mothers who were away at a special exposition in Papeete.
Monday we motored back to Atuona for more fuel, cash, and groceries. Wednesday morning we did three "loads" of laundry and pulled anchors by Noon for the two hour motor trip to Tahuata. We took advantage of the "free" electricity being provided by the engine to run our handy dandy electric laundry spinner (courtesy of Quixotic who we send thanks to every time we use it!). As soon as we set the hook here in Hanamoenoa the laundry lines went up and we had rapidly drying clean clothes and sheets hanging in the first sunny, breezy day in ages.
We are thrilled to be back in clear blue water again! We've already spent hours snorkeling and I'm happy to see all the familiar fish faces again, although I'm going to have to relearn most of their names. Yesterday it rained off and on all day, and rainbows materialized everywhere we looked over land and sea. This morning I spotted a school of manta rays feeding outside our bay. We took the dinghy out to them and hopped in with our snorkel gear to watch them feeding on small shrimp with their mouths wide open. It's a little unnerving to see that big open (toothless) mouth headed straight for you, but we know from experience that they will always veer off when they are a few feet away from us. We then took the dinghy over to a little used sandy beach for some snorkeling. In a space of about two feet we counted 10 big Marquesan cowries. They were tucked in with pencil sea urchins and we don't take the live animals, we just like admiring them. Yesterday John managed to find three newly emptied shells (recently eaten by some other creature and still very bright and shiny) of three different kinds of cowries. A small black-tip reef shark cruised by us which was a surprise as that's the first shark we've seen snorkeling in the Marquesas.
It's great to be back among such stunning scenery above and below the water! We'll probably remain at Tahuata until we get a good weather window for the short passage to the Tuamotus.
Linda
{GMST}09|54.438|S|139|06.306|W|Hanamoenoa, Tahuata|Rays and Rainbows{GEND}
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Hanavave, Fatu Hiva
On Sunday we traveled 45 miles from Hiva Oa to Fatu Hiva. There have been up to 25 other boats anchored here with us which is a little tight for this deep bay. But yesterday the French Customs boat arrived and boarded every boat to check their papers. Because we had already checked into French Polynesia at Hiva Oa our paperwork is in order. But most of the boats made landfall here first (many from the Galapagos) and Customs has given them 24-48 hours to do their proper check-in elsewhere. So we are expecting to have the anchorage mostly to ourselves by tonight, although there are a few other boats who have also checked in to the country.
Last night around 30 cruisers "went out" to dinner at a local's house. Philip and Danielle of S/V Sweet Surrender arranged to have a meal served for 1,700 CFP per person (the CFP is about 92 to one dollar at the moment, so the dinner was $38 for two). We ate bite-sized pieces of very tender chicken (complete with splintery bones), bite-sized pieces of leathery beef, and melt in your mouth pieces of raw tuna, all of which were prepared in coconut milk. These were served with spaghetti pasta and rice, and on the tables were plates of whole steamed bananas, breadfruit, a shredded white vegetable with dressing to accompany it, and dried bananas sprinkled with coconut for dessert. We appear to be the only U.S. flagged boat in the anchorage so the evening was full of broken English, which we find ourselves speaking as well, as we try to "dumb down" our very complicated language for non-native speakers. John took his ukulele and sat in with our host after dinner for a mini jam session. Along with a six-string tenor uke, Serge brought out his Marquesan ukuleles from Ua Huka. He says he has too many ukes and he wanted to sell the 10-string, beautifully carved one (complete with mermaids), but at 40,000 CFP ($435 USD) his price is too steep for us.
We enjoyed our stay in Atuona (Hiva Oa) where we mostly caught up on the chores of reorganizing the boat for living aboard (as opposed to passage making), cleaning, laundry, refueling, and walking into town every day for cash at the one bank in town and to buy baguettes, New Zealand canned butter, pate, and our favorite Sao water crackers. We met cruisers on a few boats while we were there and took breaks from the chores to do some socializing with them. Since we had toured the island so thoroughly in 2009, we opted to save our sightseeing money for another island. We may make a trip by truck from Hanavave to Omoa. We made the trip by boat last time, but I would really like to see what the views are like from land. Several people have made the four and a half hour walk one-way, but John and I both know our limits and we are not up to that just yet!
Linda
{GMST}10|28.908|S|138|40.071|W|Fatu Hiva|Hanavave{GEND}
Last night around 30 cruisers "went out" to dinner at a local's house. Philip and Danielle of S/V Sweet Surrender arranged to have a meal served for 1,700 CFP per person (the CFP is about 92 to one dollar at the moment, so the dinner was $38 for two). We ate bite-sized pieces of very tender chicken (complete with splintery bones), bite-sized pieces of leathery beef, and melt in your mouth pieces of raw tuna, all of which were prepared in coconut milk. These were served with spaghetti pasta and rice, and on the tables were plates of whole steamed bananas, breadfruit, a shredded white vegetable with dressing to accompany it, and dried bananas sprinkled with coconut for dessert. We appear to be the only U.S. flagged boat in the anchorage so the evening was full of broken English, which we find ourselves speaking as well, as we try to "dumb down" our very complicated language for non-native speakers. John took his ukulele and sat in with our host after dinner for a mini jam session. Along with a six-string tenor uke, Serge brought out his Marquesan ukuleles from Ua Huka. He says he has too many ukes and he wanted to sell the 10-string, beautifully carved one (complete with mermaids), but at 40,000 CFP ($435 USD) his price is too steep for us.
We enjoyed our stay in Atuona (Hiva Oa) where we mostly caught up on the chores of reorganizing the boat for living aboard (as opposed to passage making), cleaning, laundry, refueling, and walking into town every day for cash at the one bank in town and to buy baguettes, New Zealand canned butter, pate, and our favorite Sao water crackers. We met cruisers on a few boats while we were there and took breaks from the chores to do some socializing with them. Since we had toured the island so thoroughly in 2009, we opted to save our sightseeing money for another island. We may make a trip by truck from Hanavave to Omoa. We made the trip by boat last time, but I would really like to see what the views are like from land. Several people have made the four and a half hour walk one-way, but John and I both know our limits and we are not up to that just yet!
Linda
{GMST}10|28.908|S|138|40.071|W|Fatu Hiva|Hanavave{GEND}
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Day 25, Arrival Hiva Oa
Noon Tuesday
These last couple of days have been pretty trying. A good friend of mine used to say that the average wind speed, world wide, is 15 kts. I used to counter 'Well if you average 30 knots and 0 knots you get 15, but neither 30 nor 0 knots of wind is pleasant to sail in'. I'd never had a situation where I could put that assertion to the test, until Sunday night.
The weather forecast was for 18 knots, but the squalls had other ideas. They would blow 25, then rain, then blow 10, then rain some more, then blow 25 some more. You get the idea. I'm sure we had about 15 knots average wind speed, but it was not pleasant sailing.
Thank goodness Monday night was clear and if not settled, steady. We made our landfall at the Eastern end of Hiva Oa just before sunrise and were anchored safely by 0900 local. There's no rest for us though, so we immediately put to work, moving the anchor chain, doing laundry and moving all the stuff off the bed so we can sleep nice and comfy again.
Previously I had said we would be underway 26-29 days. It was actually 25 days (27 with two nights at anchor at Isla Socorro). We sailed 2800 miles and had an average speed of about 4.7 kts. I said that wasn't bad, but in retrospect I think it's pretty poor performance wise. I just looked at how we did on our 2009 passage from the Galapagos: 3026 miles in 551 hours, average speed 5.49 kts. On this trip we motored about 50 hours, in 2009 we motored 4. So if you want to sail to the Marquesas, do it from the Galapagos! It may be farther but it's faster.
{GMST}09|48.193|S|139|01.848|W|Baie Tahauku, Atuona, Hiva Oa|Day 25{GEND}
These last couple of days have been pretty trying. A good friend of mine used to say that the average wind speed, world wide, is 15 kts. I used to counter 'Well if you average 30 knots and 0 knots you get 15, but neither 30 nor 0 knots of wind is pleasant to sail in'. I'd never had a situation where I could put that assertion to the test, until Sunday night.
The weather forecast was for 18 knots, but the squalls had other ideas. They would blow 25, then rain, then blow 10, then rain some more, then blow 25 some more. You get the idea. I'm sure we had about 15 knots average wind speed, but it was not pleasant sailing.
Thank goodness Monday night was clear and if not settled, steady. We made our landfall at the Eastern end of Hiva Oa just before sunrise and were anchored safely by 0900 local. There's no rest for us though, so we immediately put to work, moving the anchor chain, doing laundry and moving all the stuff off the bed so we can sleep nice and comfy again.
Previously I had said we would be underway 26-29 days. It was actually 25 days (27 with two nights at anchor at Isla Socorro). We sailed 2800 miles and had an average speed of about 4.7 kts. I said that wasn't bad, but in retrospect I think it's pretty poor performance wise. I just looked at how we did on our 2009 passage from the Galapagos: 3026 miles in 551 hours, average speed 5.49 kts. On this trip we motored about 50 hours, in 2009 we motored 4. So if you want to sail to the Marquesas, do it from the Galapagos! It may be farther but it's faster.
{GMST}09|48.193|S|139|01.848|W|Baie Tahauku, Atuona, Hiva Oa|Day 25{GEND}
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Days 23 & 24, Brown Out
Saturday Noon
I swear this boat listens to us. It seems that as soon as we talk about some piece of equipment, whether it be the 'I hope this thing doesn't break' or the 'isn't it great having that thing', kind of comment then whatever thing it is we are talking about packs it in.
Case in point: the tow generator. I mentioned this in an earlier post, how big a change it's been to how we run the boat. Well, Linda and I were discussing the same thing the other afternoon. Then that same evening when I was turning on all the lights for the night I noticed that the tow generator didn't seem to be charging. I checked the plug and gave the generator a good hard thump with my hand but it was clear it needed even more attention than we'd all ready given it.
So I removed it from its cradle, took it below, and opened it up. Out pours water. Huh, that's not supposed to be there. It seems the thing I thought was a shaft seal was really just a piece of string that had gotten wrapped around the shaft. I had sealed up the rest of the unit using caulking but didn't bother with the shaft because 'it has a seal'. Water must have been getting in at the shaft and sitting inside.
I completely disassembled the generator, cleaned everything with WD-40, reassembled it and sealed it up (this time making sure to do something about the shaft), and put it back online. Now it's charging away just like before.
One thing's for sure, I'm not talking about any part of this boat, good or bad, until we're at anchor.
John
{GMST}05|00|S|135|40|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 24|Day 24{GEND}
I swear this boat listens to us. It seems that as soon as we talk about some piece of equipment, whether it be the 'I hope this thing doesn't break' or the 'isn't it great having that thing', kind of comment then whatever thing it is we are talking about packs it in.
Case in point: the tow generator. I mentioned this in an earlier post, how big a change it's been to how we run the boat. Well, Linda and I were discussing the same thing the other afternoon. Then that same evening when I was turning on all the lights for the night I noticed that the tow generator didn't seem to be charging. I checked the plug and gave the generator a good hard thump with my hand but it was clear it needed even more attention than we'd all ready given it.
So I removed it from its cradle, took it below, and opened it up. Out pours water. Huh, that's not supposed to be there. It seems the thing I thought was a shaft seal was really just a piece of string that had gotten wrapped around the shaft. I had sealed up the rest of the unit using caulking but didn't bother with the shaft because 'it has a seal'. Water must have been getting in at the shaft and sitting inside.
I completely disassembled the generator, cleaned everything with WD-40, reassembled it and sealed it up (this time making sure to do something about the shaft), and put it back online. Now it's charging away just like before.
One thing's for sure, I'm not talking about any part of this boat, good or bad, until we're at anchor.
John
{GMST}05|00|S|135|40|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 24|Day 24{GEND}
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Day 22 & 23
Thursday Noon
We crossed the equator yesterday without much fuss. I had a drink with Neptune and Linda stayed below reading (it was, after all, our seventh crossing) while I gave Him her share of rum. It's not that sailors are superstitious, it's just that we don't like to take chances.
Things are rolling along smoothly and we should be arriving in a few days. The wind is supposed to cooperate (mostly) but the seas have a different idea. We have what you call 'confused' seas. Frankly I don't think they are confused, they seem very focused on keeping me from sleeping. So until we get the wind and waves agreeing again I'll be struggling to get good rest. Sometimes I just have to lie in bed, close my eyes and try not to get up, for hours at a time. It's surprisingly effective at giving me rest, but it's boring as hell.
John
{GMST}01|30|N|132|54|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 23|Day 23{GEND}
We crossed the equator yesterday without much fuss. I had a drink with Neptune and Linda stayed below reading (it was, after all, our seventh crossing) while I gave Him her share of rum. It's not that sailors are superstitious, it's just that we don't like to take chances.
Things are rolling along smoothly and we should be arriving in a few days. The wind is supposed to cooperate (mostly) but the seas have a different idea. We have what you call 'confused' seas. Frankly I don't think they are confused, they seem very focused on keeping me from sleeping. So until we get the wind and waves agreeing again I'll be struggling to get good rest. Sometimes I just have to lie in bed, close my eyes and try not to get up, for hours at a time. It's surprisingly effective at giving me rest, but it's boring as hell.
John
{GMST}01|30|N|132|54|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 23|Day 23{GEND}
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Day 20 & 21
Tuesday Noon
We have sailed clear of the ECC finally. Slowly, bit by bit, our hourly speed went from 3.8 to 5.5 and sometimes over 6. The weather is improving and the sea temperature has dropped as well (another sign we are clear of the current), so there's nothing to stand in the way of our arrival in Atuona (Hiva Oa).
Nothing that is, except just under 1000 miles of open ocean. I've actually been waiting for this point. Our depth sounder, which we use as a navigation display for distance-to-go, will not display more than 1000.0 miles. It must be that anything more than 1000 miles is 'just too far to think about.' Yesterday I put our landfall waypoint into the GPS, told the GPS to 'GoTo' and waited while the distance went from 1002 down to 999.9, simply for the pleasure of watching the depth sounder flip down from 1000.0. Is my life rich or what?
In other news we got one last good look at Polaris (the North Star) the other night. We were at about 4 degrees North Latitude which is normally far too close to the equator to see Polaris. It is usually obscured in clouds and haze below 10 degrees. But it was exceptionally clear on Sunday night so we were able to catch a last glimpse of it before we dip down below the equator.
We expect to be at sea another 7-10 days. Subtracting the two days we spent at Socorro that gives us a passage of 26-29 days. Not great, an average speed of 4-4.3 knots, but not bad for a boat with a 29 foot waterline. However, last night on the radio net we heard from a boat that has been underway for 37 days and counting. They should be arriving soon, but their average speed is just over 3 knots. Now that's a long passage.
Tomorrow we cross the equator!
(for the 7th time)
{GMST}01|45|N|130|22|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 21|Day 21{GEND}
We have sailed clear of the ECC finally. Slowly, bit by bit, our hourly speed went from 3.8 to 5.5 and sometimes over 6. The weather is improving and the sea temperature has dropped as well (another sign we are clear of the current), so there's nothing to stand in the way of our arrival in Atuona (Hiva Oa).
Nothing that is, except just under 1000 miles of open ocean. I've actually been waiting for this point. Our depth sounder, which we use as a navigation display for distance-to-go, will not display more than 1000.0 miles. It must be that anything more than 1000 miles is 'just too far to think about.' Yesterday I put our landfall waypoint into the GPS, told the GPS to 'GoTo' and waited while the distance went from 1002 down to 999.9, simply for the pleasure of watching the depth sounder flip down from 1000.0. Is my life rich or what?
In other news we got one last good look at Polaris (the North Star) the other night. We were at about 4 degrees North Latitude which is normally far too close to the equator to see Polaris. It is usually obscured in clouds and haze below 10 degrees. But it was exceptionally clear on Sunday night so we were able to catch a last glimpse of it before we dip down below the equator.
We expect to be at sea another 7-10 days. Subtracting the two days we spent at Socorro that gives us a passage of 26-29 days. Not great, an average speed of 4-4.3 knots, but not bad for a boat with a 29 foot waterline. However, last night on the radio net we heard from a boat that has been underway for 37 days and counting. They should be arriving soon, but their average speed is just over 3 knots. Now that's a long passage.
Tomorrow we cross the equator!
(for the 7th time)
{GMST}01|45|N|130|22|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 21|Day 21{GEND}
Sunday, May 05, 2013
Day 18 & 19, ITC & ECC, Y U B So Hard on Me.
Sunday Noon
Friday night wasn't so bad. Even though it was clear that we were well inside the ITCZ there was much less lightning than Thursday night so we were able rest better.
It did, however, rain very much but by early Saturday morning it was clear we were going to come out of it and start to get a taste of the South East Trade winds.
Or would we? Some time around Friday evening we seemed to have entered the ECC, or Equatorial Counter Current. This is a narrow band of water that flows East, against the prevailing wind usually near the ITCZ. Our destination lies to the South West, and it seems the ECC is flowing East North East, meaning that we are heading almost directly into the current. Our hourly speeds, while not stellar before, have dropped to the 2.9-3.7 mile per hour range. This was when we were motoring and normally do 5.5 mph or better!
On top of that, the wind is from the South South East. So the best course we can manage is West South West. In order for us to get out of this current we have to go South. In the last 33 hours we have only been able get an additional 60 miles South.
It will all resolve itself eventually. We will inch our way out of the ECC and, as we get farther South, the wind will back into the East making our final days nothing but glorious sailing in wonderful tropical breezes. A perpetual sunset off our bow. Yeah, right.
{GMST}04|48|N|128|00|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 19|Day 19{GEND}
Friday night wasn't so bad. Even though it was clear that we were well inside the ITCZ there was much less lightning than Thursday night so we were able rest better.
It did, however, rain very much but by early Saturday morning it was clear we were going to come out of it and start to get a taste of the South East Trade winds.
Or would we? Some time around Friday evening we seemed to have entered the ECC, or Equatorial Counter Current. This is a narrow band of water that flows East, against the prevailing wind usually near the ITCZ. Our destination lies to the South West, and it seems the ECC is flowing East North East, meaning that we are heading almost directly into the current. Our hourly speeds, while not stellar before, have dropped to the 2.9-3.7 mile per hour range. This was when we were motoring and normally do 5.5 mph or better!
On top of that, the wind is from the South South East. So the best course we can manage is West South West. In order for us to get out of this current we have to go South. In the last 33 hours we have only been able get an additional 60 miles South.
It will all resolve itself eventually. We will inch our way out of the ECC and, as we get farther South, the wind will back into the East making our final days nothing but glorious sailing in wonderful tropical breezes. A perpetual sunset off our bow. Yeah, right.
{GMST}04|48|N|128|00|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 19|Day 19{GEND}
Friday, May 03, 2013
Day 17, T-Storms and Strangers
Friday Noon
Everything was going so well. We were sailing along yesterday afternoon in a nice NE breeze until the weather started to close in on us a couple hours before sunset. That should have been our first clue that it was going to be a stormy night.
Then right at sunset John spotted a light. Turn on the radar and confirm that there is something there about 6 miles away on our left side (the radar works a little, just not as well as it should). We were on parallel courses and since there was nothing on the AIS (*) we figured it was a yacht or small fishing boat. We were going a little faster then him so we passed him and pretty much forgot about him.
Then about midnight, John, the off watch, got up to check on things to find Linda in the cockpit tracking 3 big thunderstorms. Lightning, thunder, bang bang bang. You get the idea. They were pretty much in front of us and since we were moving 90 degrees to the wind direction, the wind coming from our left hand side, we would expect them to move to our right and leave us a clear path. But it seemed a better idea would be to slow down and maybe go more to the left and wait for the bad boys to either dissipate or move off. So we did that.
But remember that other boat? Well, turning to the left and slowing down put us right in his path. He was still 10 miles away when we performed our maneuver, plenty of time for him to react, but because of the relative positions of the two boats it would be his responsibility to change course to allow for us. Some time later, it was starting to look a little too close (he was inside 1 mile and still heading towards us) so John turned on ALL the lights (running lights, deck lights, foredeck light, anchor light) and flashed the spot light in his direction. This got his attention and he altered course to his right to pass behind us. He passed astern, shone his spot light on us, did a little circle as if to say 'follow me,' and headed off in the direction we were both traveling before we turned and slowed down.
Then about an hour later... Flash! Big lightning right from the direction of the wind. Which means it's coming right at us. So we start the motor and move off at 110 degrees to the wind (basically the course we were on before the turn) and fall in line behind the little ship to try to put as much distance between us and the lightning as we can.
We never got close enough to a storm to hear anything but distant thunder (that is the point after all) but it's still very hard on the nerves watching for lightning hour after hour. We both plan on getting as much rest as we can today since we figure tonight will be a repeat. At least the sun is up now and even though it's no less stormy, we can't see the lightning so everything is much calmer.
* AIS or Automated Information System is a radio based transmitter/receiver system that allows ships and other vessels to track each other. Vessels over a certain size are required to operate a transponder which will send their position, course and speed every few seconds. Smaller vessels can also have transponders, but it isn't a requirement. This information is broadcast 'in the open' and anyone with a receiver can get the broadcast and, by comparing it to their own vessel's information, make a determination on the likelihood of a collision. NAKIA has a 'receiver only' system that takes in data transmitted by other vessels and displays the contacts on a little 'radar' screen (NAKIA is in the center). We can use it to tell if we are at risk of collision with other vessels and to warn us when we are getting too close to other traffic (for us, too close is usually about 4 miles). Why didn't the ship we encountered show up on our receiver? On closer examination of the AIS John found the ship did have a transponder but it wasn't putting out his correct position. Our receiver assumed it was getting a radio signal from a transmitter many hundreds of miles away and ignored it.
John
{GMST}06|38|N|126|52|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 17|Day 17{GEND}
Everything was going so well. We were sailing along yesterday afternoon in a nice NE breeze until the weather started to close in on us a couple hours before sunset. That should have been our first clue that it was going to be a stormy night.
Then right at sunset John spotted a light. Turn on the radar and confirm that there is something there about 6 miles away on our left side (the radar works a little, just not as well as it should). We were on parallel courses and since there was nothing on the AIS (*) we figured it was a yacht or small fishing boat. We were going a little faster then him so we passed him and pretty much forgot about him.
Then about midnight, John, the off watch, got up to check on things to find Linda in the cockpit tracking 3 big thunderstorms. Lightning, thunder, bang bang bang. You get the idea. They were pretty much in front of us and since we were moving 90 degrees to the wind direction, the wind coming from our left hand side, we would expect them to move to our right and leave us a clear path. But it seemed a better idea would be to slow down and maybe go more to the left and wait for the bad boys to either dissipate or move off. So we did that.
But remember that other boat? Well, turning to the left and slowing down put us right in his path. He was still 10 miles away when we performed our maneuver, plenty of time for him to react, but because of the relative positions of the two boats it would be his responsibility to change course to allow for us. Some time later, it was starting to look a little too close (he was inside 1 mile and still heading towards us) so John turned on ALL the lights (running lights, deck lights, foredeck light, anchor light) and flashed the spot light in his direction. This got his attention and he altered course to his right to pass behind us. He passed astern, shone his spot light on us, did a little circle as if to say 'follow me,' and headed off in the direction we were both traveling before we turned and slowed down.
Then about an hour later... Flash! Big lightning right from the direction of the wind. Which means it's coming right at us. So we start the motor and move off at 110 degrees to the wind (basically the course we were on before the turn) and fall in line behind the little ship to try to put as much distance between us and the lightning as we can.
We never got close enough to a storm to hear anything but distant thunder (that is the point after all) but it's still very hard on the nerves watching for lightning hour after hour. We both plan on getting as much rest as we can today since we figure tonight will be a repeat. At least the sun is up now and even though it's no less stormy, we can't see the lightning so everything is much calmer.
* AIS or Automated Information System is a radio based transmitter/receiver system that allows ships and other vessels to track each other. Vessels over a certain size are required to operate a transponder which will send their position, course and speed every few seconds. Smaller vessels can also have transponders, but it isn't a requirement. This information is broadcast 'in the open' and anyone with a receiver can get the broadcast and, by comparing it to their own vessel's information, make a determination on the likelihood of a collision. NAKIA has a 'receiver only' system that takes in data transmitted by other vessels and displays the contacts on a little 'radar' screen (NAKIA is in the center). We can use it to tell if we are at risk of collision with other vessels and to warn us when we are getting too close to other traffic (for us, too close is usually about 4 miles). Why didn't the ship we encountered show up on our receiver? On closer examination of the AIS John found the ship did have a transponder but it wasn't putting out his correct position. Our receiver assumed it was getting a radio signal from a transmitter many hundreds of miles away and ignored it.
John
{GMST}06|38|N|126|52|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 17|Day 17{GEND}
Thursday, May 02, 2013
Day 16, Happy Halfway
Thursday Noon
Lots to report today... First I'm glad to report we've made it to the halfway point, distance wise. We still have 1400 miles to go, but at least we only have 1400 miles to go not 2800 :-)
I think I may have finally found the (or at least the biggest) problem with the short wave radio antenna. This is the antenna we use to send and receive email as well as receive weather fax. It was receiving fine, but I was getting very slow email transmit speeds and the Ham Radio Net we check into was telling me my signal was very weak. I think the basis of the problem was the 12 gauge copper household wire I used as the antenna. It had a plastic covering on it (not the insulation, but a clear plastic coating over the insulation) that didn't hold up to the sun. It all flaked off recently but I think that compromised the water proof integrity of the connection and allowed corrosion, causing water to get in. I cut back the corroded part, added a better insulator to isolate the antenna from the stainless steel railing and 'voila' (*) much better radio operation.
Last night, right after sunset, I was on deck to do a horizon scan (we look for ships and anything dangerous every 15 minutes) when I spotted a very bright star in the North. I don't know of any really bright stars in that area so I looked at it for a few seconds to see if I could identify it. That's when I noticed it MOVING. I watched it for 5 minutes until it went behind the clouds and later confirmed with an operator on the Pacific Sea Farer's Net that it was either the International Space Station or a UFO in low earth orbit.
On the wildlife front, I have been surprised that we have had sea birds around the boat the entire trip. We are over 1000 miles to the nearest land. We've seen Tropic Birds, Masked Boobies, Brown Boobies, Petrels, and Shearwaters. Of course flying fish are landing on deck every night as well, much to Ziggy's pleasure, and last night for the first time this trip we had two squid, much to Ziggy's confusion. As always we don't let Ziggy eat the fish and squid if we can stop him, but last night he got out onto the side deck and was examining a squid to see if it was something he wanted for 5 minutes or so before I noticed it and threw the slimy thing over the side. Frankly, I'd rather have the wildlife we had on our 2009 passage from the Galapagos: whales, dolphins, pilot whales, and even one oceanic white tip shark. At least they don't sh*t on the boat or leave ink stains.
The water temp has been increasing over the last few days and with it the air temp and humidity. We are running the fans all the time to keep cool down below and are using much more electricity than we were at the beginning of the passage (higher humidity means more clouds so the solar doesn't work as well and higher temps means the fridge works harder). We're hoping for a break in the humidity south of the ITCZ, but really, 'Que sera, sera' (*).
Yesterday's position was in error. Je suis desole (*)
* Can you tell I'm studying French?
{GMST}8|10|N|126|34|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 16|Day 16{GEND}
Lots to report today... First I'm glad to report we've made it to the halfway point, distance wise. We still have 1400 miles to go, but at least we only have 1400 miles to go not 2800 :-)
I think I may have finally found the (or at least the biggest) problem with the short wave radio antenna. This is the antenna we use to send and receive email as well as receive weather fax. It was receiving fine, but I was getting very slow email transmit speeds and the Ham Radio Net we check into was telling me my signal was very weak. I think the basis of the problem was the 12 gauge copper household wire I used as the antenna. It had a plastic covering on it (not the insulation, but a clear plastic coating over the insulation) that didn't hold up to the sun. It all flaked off recently but I think that compromised the water proof integrity of the connection and allowed corrosion, causing water to get in. I cut back the corroded part, added a better insulator to isolate the antenna from the stainless steel railing and 'voila' (*) much better radio operation.
Last night, right after sunset, I was on deck to do a horizon scan (we look for ships and anything dangerous every 15 minutes) when I spotted a very bright star in the North. I don't know of any really bright stars in that area so I looked at it for a few seconds to see if I could identify it. That's when I noticed it MOVING. I watched it for 5 minutes until it went behind the clouds and later confirmed with an operator on the Pacific Sea Farer's Net that it was either the International Space Station or a UFO in low earth orbit.
On the wildlife front, I have been surprised that we have had sea birds around the boat the entire trip. We are over 1000 miles to the nearest land. We've seen Tropic Birds, Masked Boobies, Brown Boobies, Petrels, and Shearwaters. Of course flying fish are landing on deck every night as well, much to Ziggy's pleasure, and last night for the first time this trip we had two squid, much to Ziggy's confusion. As always we don't let Ziggy eat the fish and squid if we can stop him, but last night he got out onto the side deck and was examining a squid to see if it was something he wanted for 5 minutes or so before I noticed it and threw the slimy thing over the side. Frankly, I'd rather have the wildlife we had on our 2009 passage from the Galapagos: whales, dolphins, pilot whales, and even one oceanic white tip shark. At least they don't sh*t on the boat or leave ink stains.
The water temp has been increasing over the last few days and with it the air temp and humidity. We are running the fans all the time to keep cool down below and are using much more electricity than we were at the beginning of the passage (higher humidity means more clouds so the solar doesn't work as well and higher temps means the fridge works harder). We're hoping for a break in the humidity south of the ITCZ, but really, 'Que sera, sera' (*).
Yesterday's position was in error. Je suis desole (*)
* Can you tell I'm studying French?
{GMST}8|10|N|126|34|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 16|Day 16{GEND}
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Day 14 and 15, Fun with Weather
Wednesday Noon
It has been an eventful couple of days on NAKIA. When last we checked in we had just made the turn towards the ITCZ. The ITCZ seems to have had other plans and decided to come give us a preview of what it has in store for us.
On Monday morning I had downloaded weather forecasts, call GRIBs (*), that indicated we would have good wind all the way down to the ITCZ. On Tuesday morning, the GRIB file had changed to tell us there would be NO WIND on Tuesday. Huh, thanks for the heads up.
What we got was real ITCZ like weather. No wind, big thunderstorms (with lots of wind for 15 minutes) and LOTS of rain. We got through it ok, with all the salt crust washed off the boat, thanks rain, and finally picked up what we hope will be the last of the North East trade winds late Tuesday afternoon.
Now that we've had some practice we should be well prepared for the ITCZ in two days.
* These forecasts are a part of a giant computer program that models the wind, rain, waves, snow, barometric pressure and temperature for the entire globe. When I access them I get the tiny little piece that pertains to my location. These computer models are not magic, they are based on experience and have years of work put into them by various agencies of various countries but they have to be given somewhere to start. Over land, where there are lots of wind meters, thermometers and barometers the input to the models is frequent and accurate. Out here, there are very few weather buoys and only one or two satellites which scan the surface of the earth to provide input data. It's these satellites that are the problem here. In November 2010, as we made our way from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas to Hawaii, the USA's QuickSCAT satellite finally gave up the ghost and died. I'm not sure when it was launched, but it had far exceeded it's projected lifespan. QuickSCAT's job was to scan the surface of the planet's water and give wind and wave hight data to the global weather models. In order to keep the weather models running (they provide forecasts to everyone on the planet, not just yachts) the models were adapted to use an older, weaker, European satellite called A-SCAT. The problem is, A-SCAT being weaker, it often misses data that QuickSCAT would have caught. The model may not get informed of the weather condition for 2-3 satellite passes, especially if it's a small condition. So we sail along on NAKIA, getting GRIBs that tell us one thing and then all of a sudden they start telling us another. All because the US decided not to replace QuickSCAT when it was obsolete and still has not replaced it over two years after it broke down.
You can help! Call your congressman today and tell them that you want an new scaterometer satellite in orbit ASAP!
{GMST}19|32|N|109|34|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day XX|Day XX{GEND}
It has been an eventful couple of days on NAKIA. When last we checked in we had just made the turn towards the ITCZ. The ITCZ seems to have had other plans and decided to come give us a preview of what it has in store for us.
On Monday morning I had downloaded weather forecasts, call GRIBs (*), that indicated we would have good wind all the way down to the ITCZ. On Tuesday morning, the GRIB file had changed to tell us there would be NO WIND on Tuesday. Huh, thanks for the heads up.
What we got was real ITCZ like weather. No wind, big thunderstorms (with lots of wind for 15 minutes) and LOTS of rain. We got through it ok, with all the salt crust washed off the boat, thanks rain, and finally picked up what we hope will be the last of the North East trade winds late Tuesday afternoon.
Now that we've had some practice we should be well prepared for the ITCZ in two days.
* These forecasts are a part of a giant computer program that models the wind, rain, waves, snow, barometric pressure and temperature for the entire globe. When I access them I get the tiny little piece that pertains to my location. These computer models are not magic, they are based on experience and have years of work put into them by various agencies of various countries but they have to be given somewhere to start. Over land, where there are lots of wind meters, thermometers and barometers the input to the models is frequent and accurate. Out here, there are very few weather buoys and only one or two satellites which scan the surface of the earth to provide input data. It's these satellites that are the problem here. In November 2010, as we made our way from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas to Hawaii, the USA's QuickSCAT satellite finally gave up the ghost and died. I'm not sure when it was launched, but it had far exceeded it's projected lifespan. QuickSCAT's job was to scan the surface of the planet's water and give wind and wave hight data to the global weather models. In order to keep the weather models running (they provide forecasts to everyone on the planet, not just yachts) the models were adapted to use an older, weaker, European satellite called A-SCAT. The problem is, A-SCAT being weaker, it often misses data that QuickSCAT would have caught. The model may not get informed of the weather condition for 2-3 satellite passes, especially if it's a small condition. So we sail along on NAKIA, getting GRIBs that tell us one thing and then all of a sudden they start telling us another. All because the US decided not to replace QuickSCAT when it was obsolete and still has not replaced it over two years after it broke down.
You can help! Call your congressman today and tell them that you want an new scaterometer satellite in orbit ASAP!
{GMST}19|32|N|109|34|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day XX|Day XX{GEND}
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