Half way to the Tuamotu
Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Thu 12 Apr 2012 03:04
|
11:26.4S 143:03.2W 248 miles covered, 254
miles to go
We have had a fairly consistent 14-16 knots of wind
throughout the trip, which means we are several hours ahead of schedule at the
moment. Our plan was to arrive in the early morning, giving us plenty
of contingency for arriving a bit later, but the down side is that we have
no contingency for arriving early. If this wind keeps up then we will have
about 6 hours to kill before we can try entering the lagoon.
We could start to gradually reduce sail now, but
you can bet the wind would die down and we would end up having to motor to get
there in good light. Instead we will get to within 40 miles and then
switch to our small jib, which should take us in at about 4 knots. We
can furl the jib gradually as we get closer, down to "bare poles" if
necessary to kill time. Another advantage of a catamaran is that we can
take all our sails down in the ocean rollers and still have a nice smooth
ride, whereas a monohull would start to roll horribly.
Life onboard continues apace. Andrea made
pizza for lunch from scratch, so you can see how bored she is. She is
getting through an audio book a day, so I will need to download some more when
we get to Tahiti.
We are gradually recovering from our nono
bites. Every paradise has its drawback and the nonos are the fly in the
ointment of the Marquesas.
Finally, why can't you get tropical pamplemousse
(grapefruit) in Europe? There is just no comparison with the little
bitter grapefruit you buy at Tescos, and each one is good for three or four
people. |
