It’s The Little Things

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Position: 10 degrees, 41 minutes south; 148 degrees, 29 minutes west 145 nm day

On days like this where there’s not much to do it’s the little things that you remember. Today, when Ann handed up our chicken sandwiches (on the last of our French baguettes), the sandwich had a tiki-type umbrella in it. What a fun surprise. We got these umbrellas in our drinks somewhere in Mexico four years ago and have saved them. Fun to have them show up today.

Finally, the umbrellas we've been carrying since Mexico have been used!

Other than that, today has been pretty basic. Do your watch, sleep, eat, etc. The wind has eased a touch and I shook out the second reef. The wind has also gone east, so we have cracked off a bit. Still heading about due north, but now more like 70 degrees off the wind (and waves), so it’s a little more comfortable. We’re almost paralleling them instead of punching into them. I’ve opened the big hatch on top of the cabin for a little ventilation – I’m hoping we won’t see a rough wave dump over the cabin top, but it’s soooo hot and stuffy down below. These temps are ripening all the produce faster than we would hope, so we’re eating a lot of fruit and veggies before they go bad. Oh well – like I said last night, we have to have something to complain about.

Ann’s also cooking dinner tonight. What a treat. We were both hoping for fish as we’ve finally put a line out, but no joy. So we’re having tortilla soup. I can smell it cooking up here in the cockpit. You really start to crave spicy, salty stuff like that on a passage.

Beautiful sunset on the port side and moonrise on the starboard. Looks like a promising night!

How's this for a sunset!

Blue Sky, Blue Water

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…warm wind, (fairly) gentle seas. Position: 12 degrees, 50 minutes south; 149 degrees, 12 minutes west 136 NM day

The conditions are pretty good considering the direction we’re heading. We always need SOMETHING to complain about, but it’s warm, the wind is around 15-20 and the seas we’re kind of heading into aren’t huge so we’re really pretty happy all things considered. We do have a double reef in and we did have to close all the hatches since we’re taking the occasionally wave over the bow and down the decks and sometimes the cabin top, but it could be waaay worse. This is a nice window and we’re basically enjoying it.

Nice and gentle...

...and pretty!

It’s evening right now and the Southern Cross is following us – ducking in and out of the clouds – right on our stern. We’re able to make a little east of north right now which is right on plan. In fact we’re within about 10 miles laterally of our planned route (so far). The moon is so bright we don’t need lights to see what we’re doing. It’s also lighting the low “puffies” (cumulous clouds) in a most dramatic fashion. There won’t be much reading tonight given all the beauty there is to watch all around us.

My only issue is I’m still on “zombie patrol”. There have been enough sail adjustments the last two days as we have settled into the trades that I still haven’t had a solid sleep. An hour here and there, but no deep sleep, so I’m hoping (cross fingers) that when I finish this, that I can get a solid deep sleep. Fortunately Ann has managed to get some decent blocks of sleep that has helped her kick the cold she picked up in Papeete.

Dinner Date

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Position: 15 degrees, 10 minutes south; 149 degrees, 30 minutes west 108 nm day

Ann had the great idea for a nice dinner on the main cabin top. There’s a beautiful moon, the sky’s clear, we have about 12 knots wind and it’s at least 80 degrees F out. Great idea! So, I cooked one of our vacuum packed coconut green curry with rice. Service was through the mid-cabin porthole and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner by moonlight on the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Such things memories are made of. How lucky we are!

The last 24 hours has been consistently warm, but the wind is up and down. Last night started overcast, then the clouds went away and we had a lovely moon. It set around 0330 and we had great stars the rest of the night. But the wind is sometimes barely 6 knots, then up to 15 then down to 6. I can’t complain too much given it’s not very strenuous sailing, but in that range the sails need to be re-trimmed often as they stretch a bit and the shape changes significantly. Most of the morning we just sat and barely moved.

But, we’re doing about 5.5 knots right now in about 12 or so knots and this may be the wind that settles in for us. The forecast did show light air for our first two days, so here’s crossing fingers that our real 10-15 has finally settled in.

We’re just passing west of the SW most of the Tuamotus. Mataiya is some twenty or so miles to our east. The next island we need to “watch out for” is Caroline Island in the Line Island group some 300 miles ahead.

OK, not much else to report. Today is “zombie day”, also known as “day two” of the passage. We’re not completely in a groove yet, so very sleepy/tired, which is why I’m ending this and going to bed!

Three Manta Salute

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Position: 16 degrees, 59 minutes south; 149 degrees, 24 minutes west

We’re just about 5 miles abeam Tetiaroa, north of Tahiti. We left today at 1230 with a Three Manta Ray Salute. A couple miles outside the reef, I saw a big splash out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought maybe a whale, but as I scanned the sea, just 50 yards away, up blasts a manta ray, then another and another. They were 6-8 feet wide, jumping 5 feet high…and doing backflips!! Crazy! What a fun way to leave French Polynesia.

Adios Morea.

We aren’t actually “out” of French Polynesia, but we have fully checked out of the “country” and we intend our next stop to be Hawaii. We’re basically going north skirting west of the Tuamotus, although if the winds allow we’ll go a couple hundred miles more to the east as we head north. That gives us more options as we get ready to turn for Hawaii in 1500 miles or so at around 15 degrees north latitude. At that point the winds sometimes come from the northeast and we want to be prepared for that.

It’s a nice change right now to be heading out on a passage with the wind around 12 knots, waves around 3 feet and the temp at 80 degrees F. We’re in shorts, t-shirts and bare feet at 1930 in the evening. It’s “winter” down here so the days are short. It’s dark and we’re hoping the clouds will go away so we can see the moon, but all in all, a nice night.

Mañana

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Yep, time to leave Polynesia!

We’re headed to Hawaii, Saturday morning. The trip plan has it at 18 days, but we know that will change. In the mean time, from here to the equator looks pretty good. 10-15 knot reach with no forecast convective activity. Maybe we’ll even catch a fish. I just made a new lure that is suppose to catch tuna. We’ll see.

In the mean time, here’s Ann’s post on Facebook for today:

“Pasta salad, pasta sauce, curry dinner, fajitas, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, ginger cookies,hard boiled eggs—-check! All vacuum packed and stored. Top off water tanks and we are headed to Hawaii tomorrow!”

All that’s left is for me to get some fresh bread in the morning and you know Ann will be “walking the dock” saying goodbye to all our new friends.

All Fueled Up

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Fuel runs are often a bit stressful. It’s a lot of close-in maneuvering with a bit of wind and some current and you have a mixture where one little lapse or goof and you become “entertainment” for everyone.

So…we went about six miles down the lagoon inside the barrier reef to the fuel dock at Marina Taina (there’s no fuel dock up in Papeete). It’s a concrete sided wharf that is made to scrape off the side of your boat and has a shed roof that comes right to the edge of the dock so one false move and you either tear your mast off or the shed. Fortunately we managed to avoid either and topped off the tank and our two jerry jugs on deck.

OK, so now that we’re done, the wind has us pinned to the dock and there’s very little room to get out and turn in the tight space of the (small) marina. No problem, just get a bunch of Tahitians who were fueling their motorboat to push our bow out against the wind. This gave me enough room to gun the engine, and get on some speed so I can maneuver and avoid the catamaran docked about 20 yards in front of us. OK, so now we’re deeper in the little marina and have to do a 180 to get out. Fortunately, I can do a starboard turn into the wind, crank it in full reverse and do a pivot with Charisma’s “prop-walk” in about 1/2 a boat length. Phew! Try and do that turn the other direction and the tightest possible radius would be about 30 yards which would have us smashing into, oh, about the fourth row of boats in. That’s one of the stressful bits. You always have to keep the good options open in a very tight place you have never been in before.

All in a day’s work/adventure.

Just for the heck of it, another view of the waterfront at sunset.

What’s For Lunch?

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Oil change!!

OK, not exactly, but the galley is the staging ground for the process. Change oil, new oil filter, new primary diesel filter and drain Racor filter and new secondary fuel filter. We didn’t need it just based on hours, but we’ll likely do a 24 to 48 hour straight run without stopping to get through the equatorial convergence zone (lightning and other bad stuff with little wind and/or squalls). Not fun and clean, new oil and filters is one less thing to worry about.

Good thing Ann wasn't here to see this.

We’re about done with our boat projects list. Ann walked to the store on a provisioning run – every day she makes the twenty minute walk down and back (in this crazy heat) and shlepps back a backpack load of stuff for the trip. On Wednesday or Thursday we’ll do some pre-cooking and vacuum bagging – several meals worth of pasta sauce and half a dozen curry in coconut milk that we add to rice for a one pot meal underway. Oh, and beer.

Oh, and did I mention that Ann first made a batch of cookie dough and then oiled the teak in the cockpit in this heat prior to going to the grocery store. All part of getting it done!

Plan to leave Saturday the 27th. Once again, three weeks and some change enroute.

Papeete Is Now Half Full

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The Puddle Jumpers just left for the party in Moorea and in the space of about two hours this morning, the docks have gone from jam full to less than half. Those of us still here describe it as: “Ahh, we can breath again”, as in lots of open space.

Space!

So…we’re just “hanging”, doing a little boat work, socializing with the cruisers that are left, waiting for a weather window for the next leg to Hawaii. As of now, it looks to be next weekend. Likely Saturday. Couple things left to do. Change the oil and filters, service the batteries, top off the rum supply, stuff like that. Oh, yeah, stock up on fresh food.

Stay tuned.

More From Papeete

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Ya know, we’re just chillin’.

A little boat work, some provisioning (for the next leg to Hawaii), and a lot of just, well, chillin’. Except it’s hard to call it that since it’s so bloody HOT (and humid). Fun to be here, but it will also be good to leave.

We’re currently looking at a window roughly June 28th. Give or take a couple days and the weather may change, but right now it looks like a good shot.

So… In the mean time what’s fun (in between boat work) is; we’re the guys who have “Done It”. You know, sailed across and now back. Most of the folks here in the marina are like us three years ago. They are good, competent sailors, but are feeling the “unknown” as they go west. From here it definitely gets less “charted” and there’s some mystery about what’s over the horizon. Since we’ve been there and back, we’re enjoying the attention we’re getting from folks who want a read on “what’s next”? Since there are plenty of significant hazards, I hope we are doing our part in helping to educate people on what to look out for. Anyway, it’s interesting being the “sage” advisors.

Tonight was another pot luck down the dock. So fun to mingle with all our new friends. Day after tomorrow is the Puddle Jump party that we did three years ago as our group continued from Mexico toward New Zealand. I think we’re going to go now that we have connected with so many of the new group heading across. And…there are a couple boats who are leaving here for Hawaii like we are, so we’re connecting up and will try to set a radio schedule to stay in touch over those 2400 plus miles and 20 some days of ocean voyaging.