Passage to Fiji: Day 2

12. Aug. 2015
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Passages
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Author: Pete

Location: 18°35.538S’ 176°30.950W’

Day 2 at sea en route to Fiji.

We got a sliver of moon early this morning and a handful of stars peeking though the overcast as dawn broke. No sunrise, just a gradual lightening of the gray.

The wind and waves evolve through the hours, holding a pattern for a while then throwing us a change up. I feel like our bodies are locked in a game of espionage with the ocean. The evil Axis of Wind and Waves alters the sea state and our bodies work feverishly to try and decipher the motion of the boat like code breakers hacking the Enigma machine. Then a couple hours after we become accustomed to the rhythm of one motion, the wind will veer slightly, or the wave period will increase, and our inner ears are back to smoking cigarettes in dimly lit rooms in the Pentagon.

This afternoon the cloud cover broke slightly and patches of blue punctuated the gray. The sun ripped through the curtains for a gorgeous sunset. Still, the wind isn’t holding back, we’re seeing gusts to 23 and seas to match. We’ve had a few of those really good ones that clip the boat on just the right angle, kick us up into the air and wash over the top of the coach roof. I’ve adopted the McGurn method of operation in uncomfortable situations, which I learned many years ago from the mastermind when we were surfing in Lake Superior. Just before Ian (the the method’s developer) nosed over the top of an icy barrel and was crushed along the stony bottom, I heard him emit a faint, “Fun gaaaame!” Later he explained that by such vocalizations in uncomfortable circumstances one can trick the mind into thinking it’s in the midst of a more pleasurable experience, like as playing a fun game, instead of being hammered into the lake bottom. I’m working on my technique now; when we get one of those really good waves that shudders the boat and bastes us from stem to stern, I’ve taken to visualizing that I’m on a log ride at one of those summer water parks and squealing, “Wheeeee!” My outbursts are more startling to Miranda than the actual wave, but I swear it’s working.

We’re making better time than calculated and all is well aboard. The water rushes by the hull, slapping and banging on the way. It’s a bit unnerving to be dressing oneself with sleep-encrusted eyes take in a nice sunset view out the window, then the next instant be staring at the bottom of the sea. All in the life of a sailing fool.

Passage to Fiji: Day 1

10. Aug. 2015
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Passages
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1 Comment

Author: Pete

Location: 18°38.894S’ 175°50.201W’

Day 1 on passage to Fiji!

We left Tonga this morning after the passing of a sizable front that brought heavy rain all night. Took a bath in the dinghy it was so full of water this morning! Left the protection of the Vava’u island group this morning after fighting with a little coral wrap with the chain. Dodged whales on our departure today. They’re the Tongan equivalent of deer in the highway. Also, notice how the boat in the shot looks like it’s sinking and that also it looks like a pretty darn flat sea? The boat is in a four-foot trough. This gives a nice sense of how hard it is to photographically capture the real feel of wave action. Wiley buggers.

We’re making good speed under 15 knots of wind abeam and moderate seas. Dark night, heavy cloud cover, with out tricolor the only light. The heavy cloud is from a trough that’s running NW to SE that we’re punching through. It’s bringing gray, low skies with some showers, but good wind to keep us clipping along and not too heavy seas.

Found that the towing generator wasn’t putting out any current and after some diagnostics discovered the culprit was a broken wire. The fix consisted of opening an enclosure on the housing and soldering new wire to the terminals, all on a rolling deck in sea spray and light rain. Now that’s fun! With little sun forecasted for the trip we’ll need the energy to keep the thirsty autopilot, chart plotter and refrigerator cranking, so it was worth a little nausea.

P1150582

We should make it to Fijian waters the day after tomorrow, then have two more days of sailing to reach Nadi. Connecting from New South Whales tonight! Very exciting. More from Tayrona to come.

Panama to Galapagos Passage: Day 9

18. Mar. 2015
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Galapagos, Passages
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1 Comment

Author: Pete

Location: 00º 57.866S’ 90º 57.747W’

Date: 17:00 March 17 to 17:00 March 18

Day 9 at sea.

Landfall in the Galapagos!

Last night we had our last set of night watches for this passage! In the dark a turn appeared over our bow, flapping powerfully as it welcomed us to the archipelago. Not sure what he was doing. He never dove for fish, nor swooped to our deck for a rest. He just led us to harbor like a good spirit guiding us to safety.

Had trouble connecting and sending email in the last days as we were motoring and had some weather affecting our signal. Trying to send position updates to the blog via the radio. The thing astounds me (when it works). It turns text into sounds into radio waves, received by an onshore station which turns the signal into something digestible by the World Wide Web, and fires it out as email. Neat.

During the day we had a long, rainy, approach upwind to our intended harbor, Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela.

We slowly approached then passed north of the sickle-shaped island on Isla Tortuga. The island was a conical volcano at one point, now collapsed into a caldera, whose southern side has been eroded away by the prevailing southerly winds. It draws schools of hammerheads apparently, and schools of divers to visit them.

As we pulled into the Villamil harbor we noticed the prevalence of the local fauna. Pelicans and frigates soared, sea lions frolicked, and something else… shark fins… Two black, sleek fins cruised back and forth like in the pirate cartoons. I cried a little inside.

On the positive, as we motored around the breakwall and into the anchorage, a double rainbow lit up the sky, terminating on the little town of Islabela. Our pot of gold at the end of this long rainbow of a passage.