30 days and 30 nights – Our Pacific Crossing – Panama – French Polynesia
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| Paradise found |
Here are the notes that I
took while on passage and a few photos to accompany them. Words in italics are edits that I’ve done after
our arrival.
Departure Day – We leave Vista Mar Marina, Panama
Lines off at 15:50 on Friday,
28 June 2019. Kris and David from Taipan and the lovely Leela’s, Janaki and
Graham are there to throw our lines. Bye
guys, see in French Polynesia!
We finish securing the
deck while slowly motoring away from the Marina. Increase revs to 2000 rpm to
make miles south away from the ITCZ (Inter
Tropical Convergence Zone) and thunderstorm potential.
Winds are light, 3-5
knots from the southwest. Seas are kind. We motor through the Gulf of Panama
tracking slightly east of south. Some rain.
New England clam chowder
and fresh baked bread for dinner.
No stars, no moon.
Day 1
More motor sailing south.
Seas are kind. We keep to our watch schedule.
Leanne 20:00 – 02:00
Dave 02:00 – 08:00
Leanne 08:00 – 11:00
Dave 11:00 – 14:00
Leanne 14:00 – 17:00
Dave 1700 – 20:00
Dodging thunderstorms in
the evening. More rain.
We learn that Leela left
at midnight 8 hours behind us and had 5 hours under a storm cell in the night. We
set up twice-daily SSB (Single Side Band
radio) chats.
Tomato soup and bread for
dinner.
Day 2
Winds 8-12 knots, seas
are messy 1.5 - 2 metres. Distant lightning and thunder overhead. More rain.
Engine off at 03:20 GMT (Greenwich Mean
Time) / 22:20 local (crew time on the
boat).
We tack away from land - the
Colombian coast - northwest and end up holding this tack for 86 nm (nautical miles) before we tack back
southeast for 126 nm.
Dave wakes me to come on
deck at 0500 and he goes forward to secure a flapping halyard and gets soaked
in the process.
Fried rice with veggies
and lardons for dinner.
Some stars early evening,
no moon.
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| Dave enjoying the soaking rain |
Day 3
Seas 1.5 - 1.8 metres.
Wind 8-12 knots and we’re making 5 -7 knots SOG (speed over ground). The power cable for the optimizer (unit that
acts like a modem for our satellite phone) goes U/S (UnServiceable). Luckily the power cable for one of the mobile VHF
units fits and we use that instead.
The arm on my reading glasses snaps.
Leela informs us that one
of their water tanks has emptied and they are considering an alternate port in
Ecuador. They will investigate in the morning and decide then.
Chicken and cashews with
broccoli and rice for dinner.
No moon, no stars.
1 flying fish, 1 squid
found on the deck.
Day 4
Winds are good and we’re
making good speed. We tack to turn west northwest. Seas short and sharp.
Our VHF stops displaying
time and GPS information. The display returns after an hour. iSailor (Navigation app) on the iPad quits but
starts again OK.
We learn that Leela’s
empty tank was not empty but the gauge was faulty. Phew.
A 6 metre open fishing
boat appears on the horizon and alters course directly toward us. Three
friendly Colombian fishermen take the stern of Perigee waving and smiling and
disappear over the opposite horizon.
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| SC Hummingbird through the binoculars |
We pass SC Hummingbird a
mast foiling catamaran being delivered to Newport Rhode Island and chat to the
crew on the VHF.
One flying fish one squid
found on deck. Occasional seabirds probably Boobies.
Chicken and broccoli
Alfredo for dinner.
Stars. No moon.
Phosphorescence in the water.
Day 5
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| Notes from the SSB tutorial |
 | |||
| Leela north of us |
Chatted to Leela. They were about 60 miles north of us (03 32.8 N vs 02 24.2N) and planning a tack to make some southing.
Champagne sailing. 10 knots of breeze from 175 degrees true wind direction, making 5 knots SOG.
Wash day.
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| Wash day on Perigee |
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| Sunnies with the tomatoes |
ONAN (the generator) clocks 2300 hours.
End of the fresh milk.
Misplaced my sunglasses.
Encountered a fishing
boat and had a chat on the radio. No hablos Español.
Sunglasses found
cavorting with the tomatoes.
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| Diesel clean up |
Dave goes onto the aft
deck at tonight to clean up some diesel with slippery detergent.
No wind overnight so we
motor for about 5 hours. Engine clocks 2900 hours. Current still against us.
Stars, no moon.
Beef and green beans for
dinner.
DAY 6
2 flying fish found on
deck.
Dave on deck to sort
ballooner lines. Seas are grey, 1.8 metres with 5 second interval and wind chop
on top. Overcast.
Perigee taking it in her
stride.
Had messages from family
& friends via CruiserSatNet. Great to hear from land!
Booby still with us.
Dolphins on the bow at
sunset and 3 Boobies fishing.
No stars, no moon
Good wind 10-15 knots.
Bolognaise with elbow
pasta for dinner.
Stars came out.
DAY 7
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| Mesmerizing sea |
Hose down the cockpit.
Clean the winches. Making bread.
Two small black swallow
looking birds with us since last night.
Leela way south of us now
headed for Cristobal in the Galapagos, we’re planning to pass north of
Galapagos.
No mid morning nap.
Reading in the cockpit instead.
Daily watch pattern shot,
but sticking to night watches.
DAY 8
Two Boobies try to
perfect a reverse park landing on the pulpit (rail at the front of the boat) without success – hilarious to
watch. Cool and overcast. Bacon & eggs for breakfast. Vacuumed.
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| Booby on the pulpit |
The current changed from
east setting to west setting. Yeah! The current is now increasing our speed
rather than decreasing it. Periods of wind to 20 knots apparent. Highest speed
9 knots over ground. Passing north of the Galapagos.
Slither if a moon came
out briefly at 21:00 local time.
Flying fish hit the
dodger and when I turned the deck lights on I saw a Booby freeloading on the
pulpit.
Sausages, salad and potato
for dinner.
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| Carnage on the starboard desck |
DAY 9
Cool this morning so
opted for porridge with apple and walnuts.
Fender board made its way
loose so we hove to in lumpy seas and Dave went forward to secure it. As always
I have eyes on him the whole time he’s out on deck until he has two feet firmly
back in the cockpit. To see a bit better I cracked the little eyebrow window
above the dodger. Unfortunately I forget to close it and a short while later we
took a wave and gallons of water came into the cockpit. Water everywhere,
everything needing to be dried, rinsed with fresh water and dried again.
Cockpit blanket is now drying. I’ll give the helm another rinse and a spray
with a corrosion inhibitor when the seas calm down. Seas are quite confused,
generally from the southwest. Perhaps they’ll ease once we’re clear of the
Galápagos Islands.
Movie: 11 Extra vehicular
activity
Seas did not ease and
remained lumpy overnight. Winds 17 - 21
apparent.
Witnessed a Booby clip
its wing in the sea and cartwheel head over tail before coming to a rest in the
floating duck position looking a bit dazed. A rare sight I’d say.
Chicken & zucchini
tortellini with Alfredo sauce for dinner.
Moon visible in the early
evening.
DAY 10
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| Booby on Pulpit |
Cleaned out chest fridge.
Blanched remaining beans. Turned the eggs. Fried rice for dinner. Tuna salad
for lunch.
Saw one of the swallow
like birds at sunset.
Audio book just stopped
for no reason. Urrrgghh – no problem I’ll just download it again as suggested
by the app – Not!
DAY 11
Woke with a headache and
stiff neck. Must have slept awkwardly. Massage, coffee and all good again. Only
one Booby hanging around in the distance. Turned west and have a couple of
knots of current pushing us westward too. Seas less confused and angle much
better. Dolphins in the distance leaping in unison out of the water. One
cleared the water altogether and was above the horizon. Four black swallow like
birds at sunset around the boat. Different ones from yesterday. Steak for
dinner. Compacted the rubbish.
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| Seas on Day 11 |
DAY 12
Companionway door was
closed when I made my way to the cockpit. A few errant waves had tried to board
so Dave making sure no water got inside.
Seas lumpy at times. Long
swell from the south with wind chop from the southwest. Occasional short sets
of 3 square waves from the east. When these different seas meet the hull aft of
amidships they clap together and send a little spout of water pirouetting about
2 - 2.5 metres into the air then the wind does the rest and sprays the plume
into the cockpit. A rare occurrence. Rolly at times.
To avoid broaching we
turn so the waves are more to the stern. Trim sails. Take in the main to
prevent us rounding up and going sideways to the wave. The genoa should take us
downwind in gusts also trim theg so it’s loose at the top of the sail to spill
the wind should we start to round up.
Made a loaf of fruit bread
for breakfast. With sultanas cinnamon nutmeg pineapple and ginger. Yum and a
lot of crumbs. Started the sprouts, as lettuce will run out soon.
Chicken, noodle and
vegetable soup for dinner.
Not enough wind to fill
the sails at times because the fast current is decreasing our apparent wind
speed.
DAY 13
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| Dave sleeping in the pilot berth |
Dave had a long sleep.
Put up the mizzen
ballooner in the afternoon as the wind dropped to 10 knots.
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| Mizzen ballooner and Lenny in red |
Moonlit night, clear sky.
Apparently a low pressure system to the south sucking away the wind, according
to Chris Parker one of our weather routers.
DAY 14 – Two weeks at sea
The morning was cool, the
bright blue skies of yesterday replaced by puffy white clouds on the horizon.
We’re unaccustomed to cooler weather so 26 degrees feels cool to us now.
Perfect weather for hot chocolate so we start the day with mocaccinos and
toasted homemade fruit bread. As the morning passes the clouds disappear and
the majestic 360-degree blue sky returns. Deeper blue above fading to light
blue where the sky meets the sea. The gentle breeze is fresh and the sunshine a
welcome warmth. It’s a perfect combination for sitting in the breeze and
soaking up the rays. The ocean reflects
all the sunlight and is a mesmerizing dazzling blue of undulating troughs and
peaks and Perigee rocks gently as the swells pass under her. While we’d rather
be making 9 knots like a few days ago this is actually pretty blissful.
We’ve had light winds for
a day or so as a consequence of a low pressure system down south. With the
mizzen ballooner we’re able to make 5-6 knots SOG (speed over ground) in 8-10 knots of breeze helped along by the 1.5
ish knot current setting just north of west.
The two black swallow
shaped birds with the white dots just at the base of their tail feathers are
still with us and never far from sight. I’ve never seen them land on the water
and wonder where they’re going.
Pulled the mizzen
ballooner down before sunset due storm clouds on the horizon. Wind dropped to 4
knots.
Chilli con carne (Dave’s rating
= “tasty”) and another loaf of fruit bread set to bake overnight.
Moonlit night. Lovely.
DAY 15 – Halfway along
our planned track
Another glorious blue sky
day, though clouds were thick this morning. After downloading the weather gribs
and studying them we decide to head south for the west setting current at 3.5
degrees south rather than stay in the northwest setting current at 1 - 2
degrees north. The main reason being that the more reliable trade winds are to
be found south of the equator. On the new planned route we have 2,115 nm to run
and we have sailed 2,125 nm no so that makes us half way along our planned
track in 5 miles time. Though that’s not halfway on the great circle route yet.
Wash day and another loaf
of fruit bread. This one is denser as I added more dried pineapple. Yum.
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| Tasty bread |
Note the trusty bread knife with the serrated edge being the
outline of the Swiss Alps - a treasured farewell gift from Tony & Janet
that gets used nearly every day.
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| Another wash day |
Leela writes that the
swallow like birds are Northern Storm Petrels.
Corrosion inhibitor to washing
machine and helm. Sprouts not ready yet.
Red sunset and moonlit
night. Side to the waves. Motion jerky and unpredictable.
Tear found on sun protection on leech of Genoa near the clew.
Tear found on sun protection on leech of Genoa near the clew.
Barbara’s carrot and
zucchini with chicken and rice for dinner.
(It’s in the Western Caribbean
Cookbook)
Rescued a flying fish.
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| Sunset Day 15 |
DAY 16 – Halfway on the
great circle
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| First batch of mung beans |
Mung beans are ready and
make a nice addition to the tuna and couscous salad.
We pass half way on the
great circle as well as cross 110 degrees west - the half way longitude.
Sea has turned a
different shade of blue has more cerulean in it. Swells still side on and rolly
at times. Finished listening to ‘Diary of Samuel Pepys’.
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| BCC Africa through the binocula |
Our two black swallow
like birds are still with us and thanks to Janaki we now know they’re Northern
Storm Petrels. We’ve christened them Norman & Storm. Apparently they mate
for life and only go to land to breed. Otherwise they remain at sea. Amazing.
Thanks Janaki for filling us in. (Paul
informs us that they live for 30 years).
We’re just 8 nm north of
the equator and will likely cross in the middle of the night.
Crossed the equator at
08:45 GMT 01:45 crew time.
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| Crossed the equator |
DAY 17
Sunny day with light
winds and side to the waves. Making miles direct to Nuka Hiva.
Did battle with iTunes to
try and load some more audio books to my iPhone.
Not enough sleep today.
Dave received missive
from Neptune. Must share a vodka & cranberry at sunset with Neptune to mark
crossing of the equator.
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| Neptune's Vodka cranberry |
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| Enjoying the sunset from the bow |
Salmon pasta with lemon,
thyme, carrots, cabbage and broccoli for dinner. Unfortunately the salmon juice
spilt over the countertop in the roll requiring a big clean-up.
Bright, almost full moon.
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| Moon on Day 17 |
Day 18
Time is moving too fast.
Days 18 already and we just entered the 19th 24-hour period. We motored a
little - 7 hours last night to bring us to the waypoint for a 30 degree turn south.
With this new angle the wind fills the sails, the roll is less and our speed
improves. Overnight the current shifted to 235 degrees at 1.5+ knots, which
also helps our progress.
The day is overcast,
humidity is up and temperature is down.
Tired today and catching
up on sleep on my off watch.
Storm and Norm have been
joined by another couple so now we have four Northern Storm Petrels
accompanying us south.
The celery is finished.
Thai style beef with green & Mung beans. Dave’s rating = “delicious”.
We learn of the birth of
Madeleine Holland, born at 15:23 Brisbane time 16/7/19 weighing 4026g. I’m very excited to be an Auntie. We make a
satellite phone call home to speak to the happy couple.
Full moon and clear
skies. Welcome Madeleine.
Day 19
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| Zip repair at sea |
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| Port side pole rigged |
Norm & Storm continue
with us and we have a new sea bird. Larger. White underneath and maybe grey or
brown on top. It flies low to the sea and is very fast. Haven’t been able to
get a good look at it yet
Black pepper beef with
cabbage for dinner.
Day 20
A rolly night. Woke to a
beautiful blue-sky day. Gybed to get back on track. Still rolly and sails having trouble staying
full in these light winds. Swell 2-3 m. Headed up for a smoother ride, wind
veered so now back on the rhum line. Winds increased to 15-18 knots just before
sunset. Watermaker failed. It started ok
but the pressure dropped and it switched itself off. Probably air in the line. (We have 900 litres of water in our tank plus
200 litres in jerry cans plus over 40 litres of drinking water on-board so this
is more of an inconvenience than anything else). Starry night. Moonrise at
20:40 local. Steak for dinner. – a happy Skipper.
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| The Happy Skipper |
Woke in the middle of the
night probably due to the motion of the boat. Went out to see if all ok. Dave
not in his bunk, not at the helm not even in the cockpit. I look around the
saloon and don’t see him. There doesn’t appear to be anyone in the head (toilet) either. My stomach sinks, my
mind races. I call out. “Dave!” “I’m here” he replies reposed on the saloon
seat and hidden from view by the saloon table.
Earlier I’d been
listening to an audio book by John Kretchmer talking about heavy weather sailing
and man overboard procedures and my mind leapt right there.
Day 21 (19 July 2019)
Three weeks at sea and
another beautiful blue-sky day with winds mostly above 15 knots. A few clouds
formed around sun down and the sea generally more settled. Blissful. Hanging in
the cockpit. Finished listening to Sailing a Serious Ocean by John Kretchmer.
Now listening to Hollywood on audiobooks. Had a bonza afternoon sleep so
offered to start my watch early so Dave could get a good nights sleep.
The chokos sprouted and
had to be thrown out. Lost a pumpkin too.
For the last 4 days we’ve
been estimating 10 days to go always expecting the wind to pick up and our
average speed to increase. Today we made 129 miles and have about 1,250 to go
so it still looks like 10 days. Perigee seems a bit sluggish and we wonder if
we’ve picked up some barnacles or slime. It’s amazing what can grow on a moving
boat.
Cruising along at 7.8
knots SOG with 6.3 knots boat speed. Wind 13-18 knots from 120 degrees True.
Wind vane mode 100 degree Port AWA (Apparent
Wind Angle).
Spaghetti Bolognaise for
dinner.
Waiting for the moonrise.
Could do with a good
walk.
Moonrise 21:35 local time.
Day 22 – Saturday, July
20, 2019
Woke to sun behind an
unusual roll cloud. Temperature is definitely warmer. Wind dropped to 12 knots
but we’re still making 5.5 - 6 knots SOG. If the wind & speed picks up we
might even throw a line over and try our luck for fresh fish.
Wind died to 4 - 5 knots.
Dave stayed up and did some troubleshooting of the watermaker. Probable faulty
high pressure alarm. (As it turns out,
this was exactly the problem and was easily bypassed, however a new one will
have to be ordered). Dave puts 6 x jerry cans of diesel into the fuel tank
(120 litres). Six full jerry cans
remain lashed to the aft cabin top along with outboard fuel and extra water.
We’re visited by leaping
dolphins and spend some time in the bow enjoying the slow ride. A drizzle of
rain falls.
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| Dolphins of the starboard bow |
We made 150 nautical
miles and have 1,126 to go. Still approx. 10 days.
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| Dolphin splash |
22:30 heavy rain.
Wind went from 8 knots to
17 knots – snap, just like that at 0106 local (08:06 GMT). Sails up, engine off
and away we go doing 7.5 knots in 16 knots of breeze.
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| Who's sterring? |
Day 23
Sunday Funday as we say.
Woke to a sky of roll
clouds. Wind 15 knots from the east. Wind backing to 60 degrees (north of east) and dropping to 11 knots
by midday.
Bacon & eggs for
breakfast, as is our tradition. Storm and Norm make a brief appearance and the
other gull like speedy bird still around.
I think I see another
tear in the genoa and furl the sail past the spreaders. With the binoculars I
inspected the sail and yes, a 35 cm tear in the reinforcement further out from
the clew than the first tear. I wake Dave and we figure a sharp cotter pin on
the end of the small ballooner pole is the problem. We rotate the pole 180
degrees so the pin is facing inward. After stopping for lunch we decide to
patch the tears to prevent further damage. If we pull the sail out all the way
and hove to Dave should be able to reach the tears. We pull out the sail and
hove to just as the radar starts to alarm warning of something in our vicinity.
I pop down the companionway and see that it is rain on the radar and not going
to be a problem. On my way back up the stairs I look at the backed genoa and
see holes appearing where it rests against the ballooner pole. I call to Dave
who can’t see it clearly as the main boom obstructs his view. My stomach knots
and I feel sick. Yikes. We manage to prevent further damage and tape up all the
tears with gaffer tape. We gybe and put tape on the other side too. Then furl
the Genoa to give the tape time to bond. Now under main and mizzen alone until
morning. The centre of effort is moved aft without the genoa and the rudder is
having to compensate and autopilot has to work harder. Making 5 knots in 12
knots of wind.
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| Patches to the genoa |
Chicken and broccoli
Alfredo al la Joanne Matthews our crew from 2017 Salty Dawg Rally from Hampton,
Virginia to Antigua. Thanks Jo.
A dark and starry
night.
The lettuce has finally
been finished. The packaging was stamped with two dates. 18 June & 28 June.
I guess one was a packaged date and the other a use by date.
We wind the ships clock
back an hour for the next time zone GMT- 8.
Day 24 Monday 22 July
2019
Overslept, as the alarm
was not set properly. Woke at 08:08 for my 08:00 watch. That would have been
0900 on yesterday’s time zone. Sun well up and so is wind, 19 knots. Sailing
155 degrees Port AWA (Apparent Wind Angle)
and making 7+ knots. Seas have short sharp wind waves and occasionally one
crashes into Perigee on the port quarter with a loud slap. Clouds building.
Genoa unfurled and tape
looks ok. But taking no more chances we furl some to prevent flapping against
the shrouds - should the wind drop.
Winds remain at 15-18
knots and Perigee is slicing through the water much more comfortably with her
boat speed over 6 knots.
Another long afternoon
sleep. Pork Picante for dinner from Jane our crew from 2017 Salty Dawg Rally
Hampton, Virginia to Antigua. Thanks Jane.
Day 25
Another beautiful day
with excellent winds. Made 178 nm in the last 24 hours.
A brief visit by a couple
of dolphins and 20 or more sea birds. Seas 2.5 metres and being a bit cheeky
with our port quarter. Companionway hatch up.
Sail repair hanging in
well. Madeleine Holland turns 1 week old.
Long chats in the
cockpit. Dave has a good sleep.
Stars were out early in
the evening. Some light rain, more like a sprinkle. Light winds forecast in a
day or so but at the mo still have 14-18 knots.
Dark night. Waiting for
moonrise.
Rotten egg Day 26
Wednesday 24 July
Turned eggs today and
noticed one had broken on closer inspection it was a cat-eggs-trophe. We lost
more than half of our remaining eggs, about 28. All eggs washed in salt water.
Those that floated went to Neptune for his morning omelette. Next, washed in
fresh water with some bleach added. Then dried then repacked. (In the end I threw out all the unrefrigerated
eggs).
The wind dropped in the
early hours of the morning and it became quite rolly, in fact so rolly that I
wasn’t able to sleep.
Made another fruit loaf
overnight and toasted it today for breakfast.
Dave woke at 12 midday and we decide to put up the main ballooner. First rig the port pole. Gybe the genoa and mizzen. Then rig the starboard pole. Furl the mizzen. Then raise the ballooner. Then retrieve the ballooner halyard. It took us most of 2 hours and it’s the first time we have successfully flown the main ballooner. The crash bang stopped. The last time we tried we had a gear failure so it wouldn’t stay up. We’ve been cruising for over 2 years and still having ‘firsts’.
Wind 8 knots and we’re
making 5 knots over the ground.
Finished the grapes
today.
Lamb chops for dinner
with coleslaw and rosemary potatoes.
Beautiful sunset.
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| Sunset Day 26 |
Day 27
Overslept for my watch so
planning a big snooze later today to top up on my sleep bank.
Warm sunny day being
pushed downwind towards our destination. Without the mizzen flying we have full
sun in the cockpit so it’s especially warm.
It feels like the home leg with both the wind and current taking us down
the home straight and my thoughts turn to our arrival.
Things I’ll appreciate
when we arrive. In no particular order.
1.
Drinking my morning
coffee from my china mug rather than the Hurtigrüten aluminum no-spill mugs we
use on passage.
2.
A long aimless walk to
stretch the legs.
3.
A cold glass of dry white
wine.
4.
Sleeping through the
night.
5.
Waking up next to my
husband.
Things I will miss. Again
in no particular order.
1.
Quite time spent in
contemplation.
2.
Long periods to listen to an audiobook.
3.
Sleepy afternoons.
Things I’m excited about.
1.
Exploring Nuku Hiva.
2.
Fresh fruit and veggies.
3.
Starting a new chapter of
our lives in the Southern Hemisphere.
Winds remain light 8 - 10
knots but we’re making good speed, 5 - 6 knots SOG. There is over 400 nm to go
which is up there in our top ten longest passages. Oddly it doesn’t feel like
such a long way having already completed approximately 3,700 nm this passage so
far.
Haluski (cabbage bacon
onion noodles) for dinner.
A brilliantly lit ship
passes 2 nm from us at 0200 and several (3) AIS targets with sequential MMSI
and names. Probably buoys of some description as not seen on radar. (We later learn that this was a commercial
fishing venture with the AIS targets being buoys attached to nets.)
 |
| Genoa and ballooner flying |
Day 28 - 4 weeks at sea
& my sisters 57th birthday.
Woken in the night by
Dave to help furl the sails and take avoiding action on an AIS target. No paint
on the radar and nothing seen in the moonlight.
Days are warm - 32
degrees and humid.
Sailing downwind with
following seas. Winds only 7 -8 knots, not enough to keep the sails full so
they’re filling and dumping - a loud unsettling sound. Not enough speed to
prevent rolling and that’s adding to the emptying of the sails which adds to
the roll and so it goes. Hopefully the wind will fill in as forecast and
that’ll make for a better motion. Crash, roll, flutter, bang, splash, roll
flutter crash bang splash roll roll roll flutter crash snap roll roll Roll.
Snap. Bang. Roll ROll ROLL snap, snap shudder bang flutter roll.
OK, after another 3 hours
sleeps I have regained my sensibilities. Wind picked up to 17 knots while I
slept. A beautiful afternoon chilling together in the cockpit. Tuna salad.
No moon, a dark night.
Winds pick up to 13-15 gusting 17 -18. Surfing down waves at 9 knots in the
dark. True wind direction 080-110 degrees and steering 160 degrees Port in wind
vane mode. Waves are pretty noisy and it’s a bit squirrelly.
Day 29
Start of our 5 th week at
sea. Less than 300 nm to run.
Woken to help furl the
sails. Seas are dark and lumpy. Perigee doing 11.4 knots boat speed and over 12
knots over the ground as we surf along almost as quick as the swell itself. We
furl the ballooner and genoa and the gust front passes recording 27 knots. Woo
hoo! The day continues with showers all around and the occasional gust front.
We leave the sails furled to get some rest. Then in the afternoon the wind
moderates in time for us to drop the ballooner, stow the poles alongside and
set course to our entry waypoint. Part of the ballooner did go over the
lifelines as it was dropped and got wet. Thankful it didn’t take a dunking and
fill with water.
I put the champagne in
the fridge to cool - ready for our arrival beverage.
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| Chart plotter shows one day TTA (time to arrival) |
The sun sets on another
glorious day.
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| Glorious sunset Day 29 |
Day 30 – Sunday, July 28,
2019 – Land Ho!
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| La Ho! Ua Huka |
We mix up our watch so
Dave can have a sleep in the morning before we make landfall. We change course,
gybe the main and furl the genoa. With apparent wind angle at 165 degrees Port
we slowly make our way to our entry waypoint doing 4 - 5 knots in 7 knots of
breeze. Five hours out and we change to track mode and steer a course of 290
degrees magnetic to the entry of Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia.
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| Nuku Hiva comes into view |
We are met by some very playful
white nosed dolphins who escort us into the bay with a spectacular show.
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| A dolphins welcome |
On anchor at 23:10 GMT
13:40 local time. We tidy up the boat, remove jacklines, removed lines for the
poles, tidy the cockpit, cover the helm, unstrap the dinghy, remove the
leeboards, change the sheets. We open the champagne and celebrate the 4,279
nautical miles travelled in 30 days!
And then to bed.
FYI: We arrive with 620 litres of water still in the tank!
The next day we dropped the dinghy, put the outboard on and went ashore to start our check in procedure. We took a long walk along the foreshore and disposed of our 4+ weeks of rubbish.
The next day we dropped the dinghy, put the outboard on and went ashore to start our check in procedure. We took a long walk along the foreshore and disposed of our 4+ weeks of rubbish.
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| We take a long walk along the foreshore |
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| We take a photo of Perigee at anchor |
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| This is our 30 days of rubbish |
Some of the audio
entertainment consumed on passage
Simply Wittgenstein by
James C.Klagge
The Undoing Project by
Michael Lewis
Sailing a Serious Ocean
by John Kretschmer
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
by Samuel Pepys
The Memory Code by Lynne
Kelly
The Great Alone by
Kristin Hannah (well, half of it!)
Feddie Mecury by
Lesley-Ann Jones
Pillars of the Earth by
Ken Follet
Edinburgh Comedy Festival
podcast
Fry’s English Delight
radio show
Bullets and Blood by Adam
Roche
Elizabeth II: Life of a
Monarch by Ruth Cowen
The Jungle Book by
Rudyard Kipling
Signing off
Lenny Ledge LTD (living the dream)
Signing off
Lenny Ledge LTD (living the dream)
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