Day 299 - Galapagos - Marquesas, Passage - Day 26 Atouna Bay, Hiva Oa
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Tuesday 19th May – We had finally made it
in during the early hours of day-26. Dropping our Anchor in the black of night
at position 9:48.23S 139:1.91W It was a shame that the wind just ran out in the last few days
of the passage making it almost impossible to sail. The last 100 Miles of the
journey were completed under motor as there was nothing at all in the way of
wind and as we were so close I just wanted to be there. It was a black night as the moon was only slight and rose
very late which meant I had to trust the GPS to take us in. I have done this
many times before in all types of condition so it was no big deal, just a shame
I did not get to see the beauty of the surrounding towersome cliffs that rocket
out of the water up into the clouds. As we came into The crossing itself was a little disappointing as there was
very little wild life and wind, the two thing you really look forward to. We
started with a little bit of SE trade wind but as the trip progressed and as we
dropped down in latitude the wind did the opposite of what it was supposed to do
and turned NWW on us which made for a unusual sail. To top it off the winds
were so light that it ate away at our passage time by parts of a day each and
every day. When we should have been doing 140 Miles a day we were only pulling
100 odd. Then came the dismal fishing apart from the few monsters pulled
on board I was very unhappy with the amount of strikes received, I was assured
so many times by seasoned cruisers that you only put a line in the water when you
are hungry however after speaking with so many other yachtsmen I was not the
only one who did not catch a lot of fish in fact it seems as though everyone
was disappointed by the results. Maybe there just aren’t any left. Day 299 Destination – Average Speed – 5.3 Total distance – 16.3 Nautical Miles Travel Time – 4h |