13.49S 144.03W
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Sat 13 Aug 2011 04:47
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It is now 7.30pm Mojo time and we are approaching
the Tuamotus and are still east of Takaroa by about 58 miles. We should see land
at first light tomorrow and round this island mid-morning. From there we sail
through a 20 mile wide pass to the east of Rangiroa and on to
Tahiti.
The last 24 hours has been fabulous weather but
pretty ordinary winds. Our sail last night was uneventful other than passing a
ship in the early hours that came within a couple of miles of us.
For nearly all of today we have sailed with the
main [at the 1st reef] and the genneker in a 7-9 knot northerly. Amazingly the
wind was true north, it was the first time since leaving Galapagos that we have
been on a starboard tack and it made a nice change. Progress has been slow
though with us ghosting along at between 4-6 knots for most of the
day.
Late this afternoon we had a cargo ship, the
"Taporo 9" from Papeete, apprach us from behind and pass us to our
starboard side and only a couple of hundred metres away. We gave them a wave and
watched as they headed away towards the horizon.
We covered 122NM yesterday and we have been
motoring since dusk when the wind disappeared. Fancy sailing all this way and
running out of wind near the finish line.
Just a short blog tonight [which must be
a relief for some!!] as Jane is on watch and waiting for me to head back so
she can sleep in preparation for tonight's sail.
Big day tomorrow!!
Andrew Partington.
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