Landfall in Fatu Hiva
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Tue 22 May 2007 20:50
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10:27.8S 138:40.0W
We knew we were close when we could smell land the
night before making our landfall. It is such a strange smell. It is both a
stench that comes from a place to be avoided, and at the same time a
welcoming smell, a known smell, that brings with it memories of a good night's
rest in a bed that does not constantly move. Oh what bliss!
As we approached through the night, our excitement
grew and grew. After 25 days at sea, we felt like we were arriving in another
world entirely. And we were not to be disappointed. Fatu Hiva is one of the most
beautiful anchorages I have ever arrived at. Now perhaps this is said with some
bias. It is the only anchorage I have ever arrived at after spending 25 days at
sea. It seems more green than anyplace I have ever been to, but perhaps that's
because I have had no green in my life for 25 days. It is the calmest anchorage
I have ever been to, but perhaps thats because I have been on a moving 38ft
platform for 25 days. Suffuce to say, its fantastic to be here, and was well
worth the wait.
And so, our journey here. It took us longer than
expected, for sure. We were blessed with great weather for the first 2 weeks.
Golden days, Pacific days of broad reaching under trade wind skies, doing
incredible daily runs and never having to touch the sails or the helm. Then we
suddenly found ourselves in a wind hole. We were down to 3 knots boat speed with
a thousand miles still to run. I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating this
was. The sails kept slamming from side to side as the swells shook the boat,
without enough wind to keep the sails filled. We bobbed around for days, it
seemed. Ems spent 3 hours on one of her watches, in the middle of the night,
with a couple of squalls to keep her and the cockpit wet, only to discover that
we had travelled just 7 miles in 3 hours. We battled on and slowly made up the
miles. We had a couple of days with 24 runs below 100 miles and then a few at
exactly 100 miles. It was not until the last 24 hours that the wind finally
kicked back in and we were sailing along again at 6 knots plus.
Our best run was 176 miles in 24 hours. This is
incedible for a 38 foot boat. Its not the fastest she has ever gone - that was
183 miles in 24 miles according to her previous owner, Dave. Our worst run was
82 miles in 24 hours and felt frankly like we were going backwards!
The strange thing was that not everyone had the
same weather. Boats that were literally 100 miles south of us had a horrid time
of it. One boat sunk and the crew were rescued by a nearby freighter. Another
boat nearly lost their forestay, and another boat cracked their boom. They
reported very confused seas with a short uncomfortable chop and winds at times
blowing 30 knots. A couple of boats to the North of us had similar weather to
us, but seemd to get a little more wind towards the end, meaning that they
overtook us in the final week. Many people had advised us to head South
when we left Galapagos, as this was where the only wind was. We chose to only
head far enough south to pick up the first of the breezes and then try to
maintain that latitude for as long as possible. This plan worked well for us
until we found we could not maintain our westerly direction and fell to the
south. Not enough for the big winds at around 9 degrees south, but enough to put
us in a hole between the bigger southern winds and the fairer northern winds at
around 3-4 degrees.
We caught 3 Mahi-Mahi in the first 2 weeks and then
one good sized Wahoo, that unfortunately got away. And that was it. We lost 3
lures to 'not-sure-what but it must have been huge!' Our food lasted well for
the first 2 weeks and then we were on to tinned fruit and such like for the
remainder. Ems, though, was a deamon in the galley, producing amazing stuff with
next to no ingredients. She also managed to bake every day, so we gorged on
delights like fruit bread, biscuits, shortbread and cakes. We found that our
eggs lasted so much better for painting them in varnish - it really did
work and of course meant that yet more baking was possible. Unfortunatly this
means I am the first ever person to spend 25 days at sea and put on weight!
Amazing!
Serai performed brilliantly throughout the trip.
Apart from Ems melting the shower pump, nothing else broke. Of course the rest
of the paint came off the starboard side of the hull and then was shorty
followed by the entire paint on the port hull. Did I ever mention how much I
hate Interlux paint? If not, hear it now! And apparently their hull paint is not
designed to be immersed in water for long periods of time...because that would
be foolish to expect that of a hull paint of course! Doh.
On arrival in Fatu Hiva we were welcomed by some
friends we had met along the way. We had been in email contact with them
throughout, and its so nice to see boats and faces you know on arrival. Also, we
saw boats we had passed mid-ocean and had had VHF contact with, so finally nice
to put a face to a boat name and voice.
I guess in hindsight I have a little
disappointment. I was certainly looking forward to this 'hop' being some of the
best sailing I have ever done in my life. It is supposed to be fast downwind
sailing of the sort you will never do again. It just wasn't that and the
frustrations put a bit of a damper on things. But and its a big but. I would
rather have those frustrations and that kind of trip, than one filled with big
seas and big winds.
We plan to stay here for 3 days and then head to
Hiva Oa in order to clear in to French Polynesia. after that we head to Nuka
Hiva and Tahouata and a few other completely unpronouncable places, before
sailing the 200 miles to the Touamotus.
So, until the next time.
Lots of love
J and Ems x
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