7 degrees 39 min South; 123 degrees 05 min West

 

Well, the trade winds have continued to be good to us, all remains well on board, and I'm pleased to have little to report save the daily routine of watches, eating and sleep. Our progress is marked by a series of circled dots spanning the chart and I was excited today to have to move across on to a crisp new expanse of Admiralty paper. My excitement was only slightly dulled when I discovered that this one also has virtually nothing on it although Fatu Hiva, our destination, is there, a small green dot, across on the left hand margin.  We now have slightly less than a thousand miles to go which is a considerably less daunting figure that when we set out on this leg almost two weeks ago. Unlike air travel where one skips across time zones without even noticing, travelling at this speed you become aware that the time of sunrise and sunset is shifting each day as we head west. We have already changed our clocks twice since leaving Galapagos and will have to do so again before we arrive in the Marquesas.  Jet lag shouldn't be an issue!

 

We did have one day when things looked to be heading rapidly pear-shaped. The alternator on the main engine decided after years of impeccable service to overheat and pack in at precisely the point when we were the furthest from land we shall probably ever be. We do have a solar panel and a wind generator to help provide some power but with Otto the autopilot running 24 hours a day (along with the fridge, instruments,lights SSB radio etc) the alternator is a pretty key piece of kit. We do carry a smaller spare but this has spent the last two years sitting in a tupperware box under the floorboards so there was a hint of tension in the air whilst we firstly found it (harder than you might think) and secondly fitted it (easier than I was expecting). To my amazement and immense relief it worked which means that at present Otto is continues to steer, the lights and radios remain functioning and, crucially, the fridge is still cold!  We celebrated with home-made pizza and iced bitter lemon and I don't remember a time when either have ever tasted better.

 

As we aproach the islands we expect the wind to back slightly and gradually fade which will probably reduce our pace to a crawl as we get close. It is always tempting to try to start calculating when you are going to arrive, but to do so is invariably a mistake. We will just continue chipping away at the miles and keep you posted!