May 13 - Whoops, spoke too soon. Some time around 9:00 the next morning our autopilot stops working, and despite all of our troubleshooting we can’t fix it, so we continue on our way hand steering, which is hardly desirable for an almost 4,000 n.m. passage. Our wind instrument is also malfunctioning (showing what is probably the correct wind speed but wind direction that seems almost 180 degrees from what it actually is). We experienced this towards the end of our trip to Panama, and then it started working properly again at Shelter Bay, so we are hoping for a similar outcome. It’s squally and rainy overnight and hand steering in the dark in those conditions is not ideal, but we’ve all done it before and we manage.
May 14 - Autopilot is still not functioning but wind instrument “rights” itself and seems to be functioning properly. Weather reports are for light winds and lots of squalls for the next four or five days, and that’s what we have today. Squalls early, then rain and gray skies with light winds. Two common Boobies hitch a ride on bow pulpit in the morning, which is kind of cool. I run the water maker for 5 hours but after that the pressure drops and no more water so we shut it off. Flushed it help cool it down and fingers crossed that it just “bugged out” because the HP pump got too hot.
May 15 - Still overcast, squally, etc. wind on our nose so we’re motoring with double reefed main for stability. Pull our the first section of our jib for a while, but wind is too much on the nose. Around midday we transfer 60 gallons of fuel from the large jerry cans to the tank. Engine hours 1,840. By now we have a “family” of up to five boobies hanging out on the bow pulpit. Fuel gauge is not working again so we’re keeping careful tabs on engine hours and fuel added to tank. We also experience some “skipping” with the main engine. Tristan and Burt change the Racor filter for the engine and it helps for a while but after dark it starts skipping again like it’s hunting for fuel. Good thing is that are rpms remain constant. Guys think problem may be in fuel line and we switch fuel lines between the engine and generator. Generator still runs fine (it uses only 1/2 or less of the fuel per hour that the engine uses, and the engine seems to work without skipping. Miserable night with lots of squalls, rain, etc. with wind on the nose and no autopilot. Yuck.
May 16 - Still overcast and lumpy in the morning and we’re motoring with closely hauled main alone. By mid-morning skies are clearing and seas are settling and we turn off engine and start to sail shooting for 249 degrees on WRIX forecast route. Autopilot is still working only intermittently, but with new rudder and sails all working in sync Duet steers herself with little or no need for help from us. Quite a relief from the difficult hand steering we were engaged in before. Weather holds and it seems like we’re out of the squally area of the Gulf of Panama. We all relax and enjoy the sailing. Good conditions continue through the night to our collective great relief.
May 17 - Rig and rudder are sill doing what they are supposed to and we awake to a fine morning doing 5.5/6.5 knts modestly heeled on our course. “G-d’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world” to borrow from Robert Browning. Guy’s are tinkering with sail and rudder positions to maximize speed/smooth ride/staying on course without crew intervention. I fire up the water maker and it behaves more or less normally, so another concern we can allay for the time being. We sail all day and all night under double reefed main and jib averaging somewhere close to 5 knts. in comfortable mild wind and seas conditions.
May 18 - Still making approx. 5 knts. in mild conditions with rudder and sails being our “autopilot”. Run the water maker, which overheats after about an hour, but in the interim we’ve made about 4 gallons, so if we run it for two hours a day, once in the morning and once in the evening when the generator is running we will be making as much or more than we estimate we use a day. Need to find a way to better ventilate the engine room to bring down the ambient temperature around the HP water maker pump. Generator is running “ragged” using main engine fuel line intake, so guys will try to clear main engine fuel line later today and then if conditions hold we’ll take out at least one reef in each of the main and the jib to sail. Bilge pump has been running almost 24/7 for no reason except too sensitive sensor. Probably draining the batteries. We’re going to set up a monitoring system where we can turn it off and check on bilge water level on regular intervals. Guys flush the main engine fuel line (temporarily hooked up to the generator so that if we have a problem it’s with the generator not the main engine) and flush seems to solve the problem, at least for the time being. Shake the reefs out of the main and jib and start “trucking”, or seemingly so, but speed doesn’t really increase that much as we’re heeled considerably and there’s considerable strain on the rig. Still able to maintain our desired course and make some Southing to the port of our rhumb line and towards the Galapagos. Around 4 the guys take in the sails, reverting to triple reefed jib and double reefed main. Boat “rights itself” and maintains more or less the same speed on our desired course with far less strain on the rig and a much more comfortable motion, so that seems like the default configuration for the present.
May 19 - Weather remains the same. Generally sunny or partially sunny with mild seas and mild winds (7 knts. to 11 knts). We’re sailing very comfortably at over 5 knts. on our desired course and come abreast of the Eastern Galapagos in the early morning. Water maker only works for about 15 minutes before losing pressure and output, so we’re trying to trouble shoot that today. Turning the bilge pump on for minute and a half every hour and not using inverter 24/7 seems to improve battery life. After the sun comes up, if the wind is consistent even though not strong, wind generator and solar panel seems to provide positive charging so we’re going to try shutting the generator off before “float” tomorrow morning to see if they will supply the necessary boost that “float” would otherwise provide, in order to try to conserve fuel. Notherly current appears and over the day and the night takes us about 20/25 miles off course which will need to be corrected. They guys spend many hours in the latter part of the afternoon trouble-shooting the problem with the HP pump for the water-maker. It appears that there is too much oil in the pump, which would at least contribute if not cause it to overheating, which we suspect is the reason for it “cutting out”. Because the oil level sight glass is hidden from observation due to the orientation of the pump during installation (it couldn’t be helped) they have to actually remove it from its installation point to try to determine the oil level. Even then, it’s not easy to read but they determine that there much too much oil in the system (it’s old and should be changed anyway). After a great deal of effort of the parts of Tristan and Burt the oil is changed and early evening we fire up the water maker with high hopes. Unfortunately our hopes are dashed as it starts to misbehave after 45 minutes or so. It’s quite late in the day so further repair/maintenance is “tabled” and we have a somewhat late dinner. As we are abreast of the Galapagos, we turn our watches/electronics clocks back and hour to take the new time zone in to account. Sea and wind conditions continue to be mild, but we cannot point high enough to keep our course against the quite strong Northerly current and we know that at some point the next day we will have to head due South to get out of that current and to return us to our intended course.
May 20 - It seems like we can’t catch a break. The conditions remain mild and we have passed the Galapagos during the night, but as anticipated the current has taken us way off course to the North and now we have to turn directly South into the wind to try to get out of the Northerly current, to get back on course, and to get as soon as possible to an adequate Southerly position to pick up first the Southerly winds that we need to sail on our intended course, and sooner or later (hopefully sooner), to pick up the Easterly trade winds that we need to get to Nuku Hiva. We take in the jib, head South into the wind with the engine and before too long the same fuel delivery problem that we started experiencing after we left Panama appears again. At first it appears that there is air in the system, but as the day progresses and the problem doesn’t rectify itself Tristan and Burt are not so sure. We determine to persevere on our Southerly course under power for as long as we can to try to get out of the Northerly current before trying a further fuel delivery fix. As an interim fix, the guys take turns pumping the manual fuel pump on the top of the Yanmar fuel filter assembly which does help but is hardly a “fix”. Only good news is that I run the water maker of a bit more than an hour without it failing and then again later in the day for another hour or so, although I do shut it down when it shows signs of having a problem after the first hour or so. You can’t make this stuff up. At about 6:00 p.m. the autopilot/rudder position monitor shows maximum right rudder although the rudder is centered. We begin to theorize a possible cause, but since we are hand steering because the autopilot is not working reliably, we are not overly concerned about it. Big mistake, not to be repeated. It’s trying to tell us something. An hour later the rudder will not turn to starboard and we are fearful of the worst. Fortunately, the guys, who have had the whole rudder and autopilot assembly assembled and disassembled a number of times already on this trip to address our original rudder and autopilot problem, determine that the autopilot ram has somehow unscrewed itself from the control fitting and has fallen into the steering apparatus, blocking the rudder post movement. It’s a ton of work clearing fuel jugs and other things from the aft deck over the lazarette to gain access to the steering apparatus and then getting enough things out of the lazarette to fix the problem-and it’s already dark-but the guys do it and by 8:00pm the steering is working again and we can enjoy a hastily prepared hot dog dinner. We power though the night to make Southing against the North flowing current that is anathema to our planned route.
May 21 - Morning brings us to a point where with a slight wind change we can sail Southwards, so we turn off the engine and get back on a sailable course to Nuku Hiva. Conditions are mild and we are looking forward to a “relaxing” day with easy sailing conditions and no mechanical emergencies. At around 1:30 p.m. the wind deserts us and we have to turn on the engine to avoid the Northward current from erasing our overnight Southerly gains as we cannot sail. At 2:00 our engine hours are 1,877 and we add another 15 gallons of fuel. My very rough calculation at this point after fueling is that we have 118 gallons in the tank. We get some weather reports that persuade us that unless we get to 1 degree South we will be plagued with contrary winds for the next four days so we take in the jib, put the third reef in the main and motor due South to try to reach a point where the weather reports tell us we will find favorable winds, it being our intention to sail when and if we can, but to one way or the other to reach that point at 1 degree South where we will find SSE/E winds to take us to Nuku Hiva. All fingers and toes are crossed.
May 22 - We motor in mild conditions through the night trying to make as much Southing as possible and wake up to an exquisite morning weatherwise. As we are approaching the equator (less than 2 degrees North the air becomes cool and dry (we’re starting to use blankets/covers on our bunks at night), it’s sunny, the seas are calm, and winds are mild. Too mild of course for what we’re trying to do, but it’s still great weather “in the abstract”. Water maker is working well for a change, yesterday and today. Obviously the oil change and reservoir reduction has helped. We agree that we will continue to motor until 10:00 a.m., and then try to sail to conserve fuel. (9:50 a.m. to be continued). We proceed as planned. At 10:00 a.m. we turn off the water maker - it has performed flawlessly this morning; put up full main and pull out full jib. Wind is very light (approx. 5-6 knts. but on a beam reach at approx. 22l degrees COG we’re making reasonable Southing and averaging over 4 knts. on a course taking us toward Nuku Hiva. While main is being put up a large humpback whale surfaces in front of us and then comes up again on our starboard about 75 yards away before disappearing from view. We sail all day and night in light winds trying to make as much Southing as we can. We’re trying to get to 03 degrees South to pick up the trade winds. At about 9:00 p.m. we cross the equator and enter the Southern ocean. We toast Neptune/Poseidon with Abuelo rum and two new “shellbacks” are born (Burt and Andy). We turned on the generator at 6:00pm to cook and peculiarly at Midnight the batteries have still not gone to “float” but turn if off anyway, at which time the Xantrex shows the batteries at 12.6 volts after the charger is turned off. That is troubling to say the least. The winds remain light all night and both Burt and Andy report that they did not have to adjust the helm even once during their respective shifts to maintain our course.
May 23 - At 7:00 a.m. batteries are still showing 12.4 volts which is astonishing and inexplicable given that they showed 12.6 volts at midnight the night before, but encouraging. We turn on generator to make coffee and run the water maker, but turn it off by 8:30. Water maker is working really well and batteries show a very high charge 12.9v after only 1.5 hr. generator use (further inexplicable but encouraging). With moderate wind and bright sun the solar panel and wind generator take over and batteries stay well charged. With use of generator for 7.5 hours between last evening and this morning I estimate we have approx. 96 gal. fuel left, not including reserve jugs. Wind picks up a little and we are making close to 5 knots trying to reach 03 degrees South before 99 degrees West to pick up trades based on info received from Greg Leja through Garmin Inreach. Up until Noon we have been sailing with full main and jib since we began sailing yesterday. At Noon we put a single reef in both the jib and the main. Both our motion and speed improve and we expect to continue to sail in this configuration through the night unless the weather changes substantially. The wind picks up and it gets choppier as night falls and we put another (last) reef in the jib and second reef in main for a more comfortable ride. We run engine something less than an hour at slow speeds for both sail changes (use say 1/2 gallon of fuel) then run the generator for two hours for cooking (1/2 gallon of fuel) so net reduction of one gallon leaving estimated 95 gallons of fuel. We sail through the night with reduced sail plan still aiming for point 3 degrees South and 07 degrees West to follow Geg Leja recommendation to pick up trades and avoid Northerly adverse current.
May 24 - Winds remain 12-18 knts apparent and we sail through the morning without sail plan change. Water maker only runs for 2 hrs. No idea why it gets “squirrely” after that. Batteries at 12.2/12.3 volts at 6:30 and we run generator two hours to top them off and make coffee. They don’t go to float after 2 hrs. but when generator is turned off and sun and wind are operating solar panel and wind generator we stay at 12.8/12.7 volts which is fine. Use of generator for two hours should reduce fuel to estimated 94 gallons on hand. Early last evening wind instrument (repeater) at helm loses wind direction and speed. This morning Burt unplugs and replugs power and wind instrument info cables from NEAMA 2000 backbone and restores functionality to wind instrument indicator at helm. He also installs permanent switch under salon companionway steps for auxiliary fuel pump. We continue to sail our way Southwesterly towards Nuku Hiva. We are sailing without engine now with sometimes single and sometimes double reefed jib and triple reefed main. We are on a good Southwest course moving between our secondary course (the one taken out of Panama) North of the Galapagos towards our first plotted course South of the Galapagos. We pass our Waypoint at 03 degrees N and 99 degrees S and continue on the same course. Water maker runs for an hour at a time, so even though it’s troubling it seems like it’s kind of keeping up with our usage. The boobies have abandoned us for the time being but we are seeing more and more large “shoals” of flying fish.
May 25 - We take down main to put up whisker pole, and then take down whisker pole when it doesn’t allow us to use the rudder to “autosteer” our course. We have made enough “off rhumb line” Southing and now we need to get back on rhumb line not to get too far South where Greg reports seas are high. Tristan catches 3 dorado (mahi mahi), two of which are “keepers” and we have fresh fish and wild rice for dinner. Very nice change from our meat meals. By evening, to allow for rudder “autosteer”, we have to move off of the rhumb line to the South with the hope that we can make adjustments the next day to allow for rudder “autosteer” on our rhumb line. Winds and seas remain moderate during the night and we continue to make between 5.5 and 6.5 knts. wind depending.
May 26 - Water maker not reliable in more unsteady sea conditions and I turn it off after about 45 minutes. Guys redeploy whisker pole with full main out. Our speed increases substantially, but as of now (10:18) setup will not allow for rudder “autosteer”. I’m a little frustrated because I had it autosteering right on our rhumb line for an extended period of time while the guys were setting up the whisker pole this morning. Winds stay very light all day from the SE and waves drop to almost flat calm. We’re sailing under jib alone with two reef points showing and whisker pole. It’s pretty “squirrely”. By nighttime it’s almost impossible to hand steer with jib being “flogged” by the conditions and when Tristan comes up to relieve me at 3:00 a.m. he pulls in the jib the rest of the way and we drift until morning.
May 27 - I sleep late (7:40 a.m.) being exhausted from last night’s watch and when I awake we’re on autopilot in continuing light conditions with jib out only to first reef point and whisker pole. Continuing very light SE winds and calm seas. Deck inspection shows that preventer attached to rail on the port side was attached to portion of port rail that was cut to repair hurricane damage and it has pulled a portion of the cut piece of rail up. Tristan and Burt embark on a repair project for the rail and then start to trouble shoot erratic autopilot. They find a pair of wires that they believe are shorting the unit out and replace them; but continue to trouble shoot further issues, including actuator unit that is running very hot. It’s 12:20 p.m. and autopilot (nicknamed by us “Jolene” if I haven’t said this before) is still functioning albeit that conditions are very mild. She did fail earlier to day after running for a hour or two in the same conditions, so not sure yet whether there’s been a fix yet or not. Jolene “craps out” not long after, so no fix yet. Conditions are generally sunny with light ESE winds. We’re “drifting” along with the wind pretty much behind us with only our Genoa out, sometimes reefed to avoid unnecessary flogging, and making something around 3.5 knts., most of which is following current. We’d be pretty much becalmed without it. Only one of the group of boobies that joined the boat a week or so ago is left but he/she is “committed” roosting on the bow pulpit except when she/he makes occasionally feeding forays. She has no fear of us and hangs around within arms reach of Tristan and Burt when they’re working forward.
May 28 - Weather conditions same as yesterday although sunnier. In the morning Tristan and Burt continue work from yesterday to “rebed” portion of toe rail that was “repaired” at Safe Cove (another totally subpar inadequate job by Mike Hobbs and crew) and then further trouble shoot the autopilot problem without success. Weather is gorgeous if it weren’t for not having an autopilot and our rate of travel being so slow; sunny, beautiful color water, light winds and in essence no seas. Around midday we have 2,240 n.m. to Nuku Hiva. A bit more than one-half of the way using the Southern route around the Galapagos [approx. 4,200nm (which we didn’t take)] and significantly more than the 3,850nm it was projected to take when we began on the Northern route. Light conditions continue through the night. Tristan points out the Southern Cross to me and I find seeing it more exciting than crossing the equator. He also points out Scorpio, which is cool.
May 29 - Morning breaks with the same light ESE winds and calm sees as we had yesterday and overnight and continues until about Noon, when the wind picks up considerably and are finally traveling at well over 5 knots (5 Knots was a “stretch” the last few days and nights our speed generally did not exceed 3 knots.) We’re uncomfortable burning as much fuel as we are using the generator and we decide to turn off the freezer to reduce draw on the batteries. It has been operating more as a fridge than a freezer, and lately there’s been nothing but beverages in it which will fit elsewhere. At dinner run generator for only a half hour to cook, and then two hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. to charge batteries and make water. We hope running generator later in the evening with lighter draw will allow batteries to take us longer into the morning.
May 30 - To quote Yogi Berra, “it’s deja vu all over again”, or Herman’s Hermits “second verse, same as the first” Light East winds and calm seas have us sailing dead downwind on single reefed jib towards Nuku Hiva. Turning freezer off and running generator late in the evening worked. Batteries still at 12.2 volts at 8 a.m. Run generator for half our to make coffee and turn it off. Solar panel and wind generator (sometimes) pick up the slack and we’re at 12.7 volts all day. Wind picks up a bit and we’re making better time, still dead downwind under single reefed and poled out jib. Since jib is 130 percent Genoa, anything more just causes it to “flog” in these conditions. No more cheese or eggs so had to come up with new riff on chicken cordon bleu. Stuffed chicken breasts with dried cranberries soaked in rum and preached and then rubbed them in olive oil to coat with Italian breadcrumbs. Pretty rich, but very tasty. To be continued...
May 31 - Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose. Just little cloudier with a few sprinkles this morning. 1,826 n.m. to go. Bigger swells from far away storms predicted for tomorrow and the next few days. We’ll see. Nice sunny warm day with moderate swells and moderate winds. We’re able to raise our average speed over the entire voyage to 5 knts. over the 4.8 knts. we previously had, but we’re not setting any speed records. Our resident boobie has been perching on the lifelines near the amidships boarding ladder for the past few days and teeters in the swell as its webbed feet try to retain purchase on the thin wire. Tristan rigs a more stable perch by lashing a boat hook horizontally to the lifelines. Food supply is rapidly diminishing as our projected time at sea start to push the limits of our actual ETA at Nuku Hiva under current conditions. We’ll have plenty to eat. Maybe just not what was planned.
June 1 - Same old same old. Mild conditions. Made under 5 knts. last night but above 5 knts. this morning. Boobie buddy is constant-totally unafraid of us. Weather is constant as wellclear skies, modest seas and mild winds. We’ve been running under jib alone since wind moved to the E/SE many days ago and for the last two or three days under unreefed jib. During night watch furler fails to work properly and Burt finds that it is broken, but a potential fix has to await tomorrow morning.
June 2 - Breeze up a little, but not that much; same with the seas. Same clear bright sunshine day. Approx. 1,500 n.m. from Nuku Hiva. Tristan and Burt do an amazing job of jury-rigging repair to jib furler which has sustained a fractured aluminum extrusion. Rest of the day is pretty uneventful.
June 3 - Seas very moderate but big swells with long period so don’t even know they’re there until you ride up on them. They’re going West more or less so only helping. Winds very moderate. Tristan catches mondo Wahoo in the middle of the morning. Pix attached. Approx. 4 plus feet in length and 35-40 lb. My expensive gaff finally gets put to use. Tristan fillets the Wahoo and it makes two big tubs of pieces. We’ll be eating fish happily for the next few days. Ran generator half hour in the morning, but put freezer breaker back on to allow us to use freezer as fridge for the fish, so will have to use generator a bit more for the next few days to compensate. Breaker was tripped somehow on center compartment fridge yesterday but I recognized the signs early and reset it, so no “downside”. It was fine this morning. Midday we are approx. 1,400 n.m. from Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva. It’s been over 24 hours since our resident boobie was last perched on the boat. Seems like he/she left for good the night before. Maybe hitched a ride on the reciprocal course freighter we passed that night. Tristan and I pig out on Wahoo for dinner. Burt, not generally favorably disposed to fish eats leftovers early to catch a nap before his 9:00 p.m. watch.
June 4 - Early morning is a minor nightmare. Seas are very lumpy. Feels like trying to sleep in a washing machine and very hard to keep on course. Winds remain light to moderate and seas moderate as well, although not nearly as “friendly” in direction as up to now. 1,320 n.m. to Nuku Hiva at 8:00 a.m. First time for everything. Did some laundry underway today hooha! Wind and seas pick up towards evening making keeping course more difficult but picking up our pace. Freeze half and cook rest of remaining Wahoo at dinner time. Wind and seas stay elevated at night, but much easier to keep course than I anticipated.
June 5 - Seas lumpy and wind elevated. We’re making very good time now and able to stay on course, not without some effort. 1,206 n.m. to Taiohae Bay anchorage at 8:00 a.m. Run generator extra due to frost loss in center fridge unit (seems like sensor too close to ice in dedicated ice compartment was shutting it down). Winds are now in middle to higher teens and seas continue lumpy and elevated. Everything else, “same of same old”, except for fridge/freezer malfunction scare. Made a terrific peach, rum, dried cranberry, brown sugar sauce for pork loin dinner only to have pot turn over on counter in lumpy sea conditions. Was able to save most of it but very frustrating nonetheless for the chef.
June 6 - Winds and seas like yesterday. 1023 n.m. to Nuku Hiva at 8:00 a.m. Made 148 n.m. yesterday. Best by far. Squally later in the morning. Waves and winds increase in the squalls and do not dissipate entirely after the squall blows through. Seas build through the day and by nightfall Tristan who’s at the helm has to be careful to make sure that the larger following seas are on our stern as they pass under us. Plan to sail at 270/280 degrees off the wind at night (somewhat North of our rhumb line) to help insure following seas taken as much dead astern as possible and then to make up ground towards the rhumb line during the day. We make 159 n.m. this day.
June 7 - Seas continue to build and winds 15 knts. to 20 plus knts. so tough piloting requiring maximum attention and significant effort. 875 n.m. to Nuku Hiva anchorage as the crow flies. Winds and seas abate about noon and it’s a relaxing afternoon until jib furler fix fails about 5:30 p.m. just as wind and seas pick up. Crew rises to the occasion again to make further temporary fix and everyone is pretty much beat as night falls. Intermittent rain and strong winds make evening shifts a challenge for all of us - even Tristan is tired.
June 8 - Made 149 n.m. last 24 hrs. 730 n.m. to Nuku Hiva. Morning begins just like the last few. Wind and a little rain in the clouds following us. Seas elevated but not threatening, at least not at 8:15 a.m. as I write this. Wind and seas build but Tristan and Burt spend most of the morning effectuating further repair to the jib furler. Quite a marathon in very “bumpy” conditions. That necessitates me spending 5 hrs. at the helm instead of my ordinarily allotted 3, something I never thought I could do, especially in challenging conditions and after a tough watch night like last night, but no choice, so you just do it. Rest of the day is uneventful. Conditions moderate just a bit as the day goes on. Lovely sunny afternoon and it seems like the following squalls have left us, until just around 6:00 p.m. when they threaten to return, but then pass us by.
June 9 - Bright sunny morning. Moderate winds and seas. 674 n.m. to Nuku Hiva. Run generator run time 1 hr. Conditions remain the same throughout the day. Find that new “dripless” shaft seal is leaking badly again as it did when we first discovered problem, so we resume running bilge pump full time. Bilge pump is adequate for problem but running full time with significant leak runs down batteries more quickly, which requires an extra hour of generator use a day. Weather turns squally around 6:00 p.m. and later in the evening winds die to an almost mere whisper and we don’t make over 4 knts. an hour most of the night. Did cover 129 n.m. in the last 24 hrs. Adjusted water maker in the evening and it worked better.
June 10 - 474 n.m. to Nuku Hiva. Winds continue light, morning sunny and seas light. Around 9:00 a.m. it turns squally, rain on and off and some gusts of higher winds but nothing that high or sustained. Around Noon squalls abate and wind dies to a whisper. Nuku Hiva, so near yet so far. Rest of the day sunny, warm, uneventful. Wind and seas come up in the early evening and then again in the middle of the night making for a rocky night and tough watches. Water maker working better since I made an adjustment. Oh my goodness, something mechanical is working better. Can it really be true?
June 11 - 345 n.m. to Nuku Hiva. Did 129 n.m. yesterday. Showers predicted for this morning. Wake up at 7:15 to a rain shower and lumpy seas. Squalls predicted for the rest of the morning and it looks like the prediction is likely to be correct. Weather improves by the afternoon and it’s a beautiful sailing afternoon with moderate breezes and manageable seas. Nightfall brings the threat of rain as we sail right for a very dark large cloud bank that does not seem to be advancing in front of us, but apparently we are mistaken because the rain never comes and the stars and moon come out.
June 12 - 212 n.m. to Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva at 8:00 a.m. Looks like we’ll be getting there in the dark in the wee hours of the morning of the 14th unless something changes. Skies are sunny, winds are moderate, seas are moderate to slightly elevated and it’s a great sailing day through 1:00 p.m. Same conditions continue throughout the day. No rain, moderate seas and mild to moderate winds. When I begin my shift half moon is up in front of boat and we’re sailing the moonbeams. Only lasts an hour then moon covered with clouds.
June 13 - 85 n.m. to Nuku Hiva at 8:00 a.m. Sunny skies, moderate conditions. We contacted TahitiCrew agent in Nuku Hiva yesterday and he said about 50 boats in harbor and that we should have no problem coming in at night, which is when we will arrive at the present pace, so that’s the plan (actually early morning hours of the 14th). Harbor is very large. 10:18 a.m. ship’s time (9;48 a.m. Nuku Hiva time) “LAND HO.” At 09 South; 138 degrees 53 minutes West we spot Hiva Oa in the distance, approx. 60 n.m. to port, and shortly thereafter Ua-Huka in front of us. Rest of the day and evening conditions remain moderate. We have an escort of a large pod of dolphins as we pass Ua Huka and to my great surprise we have a 5 bar phone signal as we pass about 5 miles offshore, which bodes very well for phone service in Nuku Hiva. We enter Nuku Hiva harbor (Taiohae Bay) at around midnight. Harbor has large clear entrance and entry is easy with use of plotter and range lights, or as easy as any entry into a busy new harbor in the middle of the night can be. Anchorage is steep to the shore and the main part of the anchorage is deeper than we would like to anchor in. Lots of boats in the anchorage and we spend a considerable time dodging boats and looking for a clear place to anchor in water that is not too deep, but by 1:30 a.m. or so we have anchored in 39 ft. or so and can finally say “we’ve made it”. We share a congratulatory adult beverage (first ones since leaving Shelter Bay, except for “taste” when crossed the equator). Burt retires around 2:30 a.m. but Tristan and I stay up another 2 hours. Bay is quite calm, although the cruising guide says it can be rocky from ocean swells. It sure feels calm to us after 33 days at sea (not including May 11th in the Canal as a day).