It’s hard to describe how time seemed to both contract and expand at the same time. The passage of 23 days, at time seemed to take forever yet at the same time seemed to go so quickly?? Pretty soon the days and nights blurred into one, only differentiated by some event or other. So this blog entry may not be chronologically correct.

Within 1 day of setting sail, we once again had no refrigeration (that is definitely chronologically correct!!!)

So it became a race against time to consume what we could before it went off, which didn’t take long.

Rob was also fishing and landed a very nice blackfin tuna for Good Friday, which we had intended to have the fresshest sushi, that is until we saw a little worm crawl across my plate!! So it was well bbq’d, but it still tasted great.

After about 5 days, the smell from the fridge and freezer told us we had lost the battle. So we threw several pounds of meat and fish overboard. Roger also had to clean out the fridge and freezer (I couldn’t because I am too small to reach the bottom, where the offending slime resided!!!)

The next day Rob caught a nice little Mahi Mahi, enough for our lunch and no waste or leftovers.

But when I took a hit on my rod, whatever it was (we think it was a wahoo) was just too much for me and it won, but it left the lure, together with 2 big teeth marks in the side of it. It was probably a good thing, because having no fridge we couldn’t keep what we couldn’t eat and none of us wanted to catch fish for the sake of it.

The weather was pretty good, generally it was sunny, though we had a couple of days rain, which topped up the freshwater tanks nicely.

At first our progress was slow, but pretty soon we hit 05˚S of latitude and with it came the trade winds. It wasn’t long before we were clipping along, without the aid of the engine!

The winds dropped slightly, which was all the excuse Roger needed to whip out the cruising chute. After several abortive attempts to get the chute out of the snuffer ( the consequences of which would be revealed all too soon), we finally had her fully loaded and Beaujolais kicked up her heels and produced a new record speed of 9.2 knots.

The night watches had been going well, with Heidi (our hydrovane) managing to hold the course pretty well. Everyone had settled into the routine well and there had been no dramas. Though one night was particularly hairy, the seas were confused (waves in a different direction to the swell) and about 3 to 4 metres high. We were surfing one minute, then next being slammed sideways by big waves. It felt and sounded like we were sailing through a sea full of concrete blocks. Big waves would force her to heel hard over and then back, we had waves breaking into the cockpit, much to Sheralee’s surprise. Off watch, it was like trying to sleep in a reverse cycle tumble dryer. So with that and the noise of slamming waves, none of us got much sleep.

Anyway, when Roger decided to fly the cruising chute throughout the night, the rest of us were more than a little apprehensive. Why?

Well, before we left Panama, we heard the sorry tale of Bristol Rose, one of the World Arc boats.

They had been flying their spinnaker at night when it broke free. The spinnaker was of course in the water and somehow got wrapped around the prop and the rudder. I don’t know all of the details, but they had to be rescued and towed back by the Panamanian Coastguard. So now you perhaps understand why we were not exactly thrilled with the thought of night flying!. But none of us minded the progress we were making. We did 162 miles that 24hrs.

The next day Roger wanted to change the lines on the chute because they were putting too much strain on the pulpit and once again, when putting the chute back up it got stuck in the snuffer. Now we had noticed some small tears in a couple of the panels the first day she was up, but now the tears had increased, something in the snuffer was catching and ripping the chute, it had to come down. When it was safely back in its bag (that’s another thing to be repaired when we get to Tahiti, but more about repairs later) Roger was bringing in the halyards and he saw the condition it was in. It had chaffed on the shackle so badly, it would not have lasted much longer. So it seems everything happens for a reason and the tear in the chute probably saved a lot worse incident.

Sheralee and I both had our birthdays within the first week. Sheralee’s is the day before mine, so for 2 days we pigged out on Pineapple Cheesecake and cherry Pie,

 ( having no refrigeration means you have to eat it all straight away!!).

We also enjoyed ‘Hollywood Showers’.

A ‘Hollywood Shower’ is one where we can wash our hair and not worry about how much water we use, believe me it is luxurious, especially as the water is hot from having the engine on.

We didn’t see much marine life apart from the occasional squid or flying fish on the deck. But early on in the passage we did see a pod of whales and dolphins. It was quite a big pod and took a while to pass the boat, though not close enough for any good photos. We also saw schools of flying fish racing each other to see who can get the furthest before they hit the water.

The fishing also had become a bit unreliable, until one day when we heard the whine of the reel, ‘fish on’ shouted Rob and we all leapt into action. Whatever it was, it was big.

Rob was battling away to reel it in and then we found out what it was. It was a big sailfish. I had never seen one in action, it was breeching and dancing on the water, before disappearing below the surface. (please excuse the photo quality, but this is a still taken from the video)

For 50 minutes Rob and the fish did battle.

We thought it was about 65lb, but upon reflection, given the distance from the boat (about 75 mts), we all agree it was bigger.

As I said, none of us wanted to waste fish and this one would have fed us for months, but Rob wanted to bring it in to retrieve the lure.

The fish however, had different plans.

With one last charge, it ran, taking with it 300 yds (not ft as in my update entry from sea) of line and the lure.

Then, no sooner had I gone for my siesta , than he got another bite, this one went down, straight down and didn’t stop, until there was no more line left! So yet another 300yds and another lure had been lost. Robernathy’s store of lures was fast being depleted and with little to show for it.

I, however, have a new way of catching fish. I was sitting in the cockpit on my watch ( 22.00 to 02.00) wearing nothing but my shorty pj’s, when suddenly something cold and wet plopped into my lap, right on my bare thigh. I yelped (those of you who know me, know that I have a propensity to squeal when shocked) and leapt up. There on my seat was a fish, about 6inches long. I quickly picked up the cushion (don’t be silly, of course I wasn’t going to pick up the fish) and flipped the fish back into the sea, from whence it came. Gave me quite a start I can tell you.

There were a couple of other changes that took place during the passage, one good and one bad!

On the good side, after 4 years of cooking in an oven that burnt everything I baked in it, because I couldn’t work out how to move the shelves, I finally figured it out. The safety stop made pulling it out forward, impossible. What you had to do was slide it back and lift it up!!! Duh!!!! So after that revelation I set to, baking 5 batches of oatmeal and raisin cookies (just in time, as our cookie supplies were running dangerously low!).

On the bad side however, things were not good. For the past 4 years we have worked very hard to keep our floating home, cockroach free. Fogging when we leave her and then again when we return, not bringing anything cardboard on board (they lay their eggs in cardboard) etc etc. But one day as I was sorting out the potatoes (which were in a black washing up bowl, I saw something move. It was only when it jumped out, onto Sheralee’s bed (she was sleeping on the daybed in the saloon, but not at that moment you understand) I realised it was a cockroach!!!

As you can imagine, I yelped and scrambled away from the offending creature. Anyway, out came the cockroach spray and Sheralee had the satisfaction of killing it.  So now, when we get to Tahiti and Roger abandons me for Austria, I am going to check into an hotel, so that I can fog the boat thoroughly, because I don’t do cockroaches.

Whilst looking for my supply of honey I stumbled upon the source of the little blighters. As I said, we go out of our way to keep cardboard off the boat, so when we provisioned in Bocas del Toro we bought some lasagne, the packaging was cardboard, not wrapped in plastic. So we took out the pasta and secured it in a ziplock bag, throwing away the cardboard package. Well, the ziplock was crawling with little cockies, inside and out! So obviously there were eggs on the pasta. Oh the joys of sailing. So I spent the next hour or so, emptying the lockers, spraying them and clearing out the offending creatures. But it begs the question, how do cockroaches who are inside a ziplock that is never opened, get out? Whatever, I am still going to fog!!!

It was just after this episode that I was struck down with an acute attack of sciatica. I woke for my watch, but could barely move. Roger sent me straight back to bed, where I stayed there for the next 3 days, dosing up with anti-inflammatory tablets (which I had stocked up on in Isabella), pain killers, massages and hot packs. Oh yes, then there were the Zantac tablets to counteract my ulcer, which had kicked off again, thanks to the anti-inflammatory tablets. Roger stood my watch and Sheralee took over the galley. I was quite worried, because the last time I had trapped my sciatic nerve, it took a trip to the chiropractor to put things straight and the chances of finding a chiropractor in the Marquesas was highly unlikely.  I was also feeling bad about letting the rest of the crew down, as we were 6 days out! By day 5, I was fit enough to stand my watch, which was good because Roger was not getting enough sleep.

With no fresh food and precious few fresh vegetables catering has become challenging. Not for any other reason than I like to provide appetising food with variety. But we are doing okay so far. Let’s put it this way, there are never any leftovers or waste, so we must be doing something right.

Everyday, Rob casts his lines and we hope, but to no avail and it was such a promising start to the passage!!. Actually, I feel I must point out that the previous statement is misleading, Rob ‘hooks’ quite a few fish, but out here they are all huge and invariably take the lures and escape. Either that, or we can’t slow the boat down for some reason and we can’t bring the fish in because of the speed we are doing. Plus with the challenges of sail planning with limited options, we have had to curtail fishing, because of the difficulty of stopping the boat.

So 23 days and 3030 miles after setting sail, we finally sighted  Hiva Oa (pronounced heeva oha), we also had the Polynesian welcome committee come out the boat, in the form of a pod of dolphins racing across our bow. But more than that, we had made it and we were still friends!!

Now I said earlier that I would tell you about the repairs, but I think we will need a separate entry for that!!

UPDATE: Both Kinky and baby are doing well, there have been several sightings in the cockpit. I hope that the fact they live in the cockpit might protect them when I fog the boat in Tahiti.

Fishing score:

Fish 5      Beaujolais 3.