Samoa 13:49.41S 171:45.36W
Farr Gone Blog
Stuart Cannon
Tue 28 Jun 2011 03:44
I arrived in last night after a quick and extremely pleasant broad reach which chewed up sea miles faster than I thought possible. Tying up to the dock was very tricky on my own as there was a breeze blowing me away from the dock so it took a couple of goes but it got done without damage. There was no one around to catch a line so i got a stern line on and then did a major leap with bow line in hand to haul in the bow. Thankfully there was also no one around to witness the unusual method employed, but hey, it worked.
I've attached 2 photos that give an idea of the different conditions I had on this run. It can change from pure glass to very large waves in fairly short order. Waves are very hard to photograph from a sail boat for two reasons. One is that they always look way smaller when photographed and the other is I'm reluctant to grab the camera when they are too big as you are struggling to control the boat and I can't get the camera wet. Not allowed. It's a shame because some of the waves have been truly spectacular. On occasions I have come up from below and just been stunned by the wall of water that has risen up behind the boat. It does take some getting used to.
I'm looking forward to getting some chores done in the morning, laundry etc, and then discovering what this island has to offer. In the meantime some serious sleep is in order. That will have to wait a little bit as I've been invited to dinner by an Israeli couple on the boat next door. They seem very interesting so it wasn't difficult to accept. They have been sailing around the world for 2 years now and have had some great experiences.
The marina is not what you would call flash, I think my boat is steadier than the dock, but the staff are friendly and the view is great so mustn't complain. It also seems much warmer here than previous islands as the humidity is higher. In fact its a little stifling at times when the breeze quits.
