Fiji to Vanuatu - Day 3
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 8 Aug 2009 06:27
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16:13.933S 171:12.228E
Ugly. Not scary, just ugly. That's the
most appropriate word we can think of to describe last night. Just before
dinner (and just after yesterday's blog entry was sent), a weak low pressure
system passed over us bringing lots of rain squalls, a fair bit of wind and big
changes in wind direction. At 6 pm, we were happily motoring along in a
southeast wind. Then we motored under a giant cloud formation and the wind
picked up and moved south. We started sailing. The wind picked up
more to a high of 26 knots and moved further south. The seas picked
up and acted confused, making for a bumpy ride. Our full moon was no where
to be seen with all the clouds hanging about so the horizon was invisible.
It was ink black outside. There's nothing like a pitch black night and
bumpy seas to stir up stomach trouble. And up it came - my afternoon
snack, dinner and dessert during three separate visits to the
rail over the course of my 10pm to 1am watch. In the pouring
rain, I might add. In the pouring rain with the wind changing direction
every 15 minutes or so just to make things interesting. Then, just when I
thought things were looking up after popping a seasickness pill, our autopilot
decided it would be a good idea to suddenly turn the boat 180 degrees and head
east back to Fiji. Yup, the autopilot off course alarm went off and I
didn't realize the boat had been turned completely around until I looked at the
compass and saw we were heading east instead of west. It's the strangest
feeling when the boat suddenly turns like that and you can't tell which way you
are going because there are no reference points to look at outside the
boat. It's like wearing a blindfold and having someone turn you around and
then ask you to tell them which way you are facing. Good thing we've got a
compass and lots of GPS's on board. It's also a good thing that we have a
backup autopilot. All I had to do when I realized what happened was to
turn off the offending autopilot, turn us back on course and turn on the backup
autopilot. Don replaced the dysfunctional autopilot today with a spare we
keep on board and it is now working. He'll try to diagnose the problem
with the one he replaced once we get to Vanuatu.
The rest of the night was not as bad after the rain
slacked off, the wind quieted down and the seas got their act together. We
went back to motorsailing sometime in the night and have been doing so ever
since. I woke up this morning to the whine of the fishing reel
unwinding as a fish tried desperately to get away. This time it was a
skipjack tuna (pictures to follow later). Don reeled it in after a
moderate fight. Nice size - maybe 10-15 pounds? Enough to feed 16
people for sure. It's now packed in our positively stuffed freezer and Don
has been banned from fishing. We never got to eat our mahi-mahi dinner
last night due to the rough conditions (opted for Ramen noodles instead - yum,
yum), so will be dining on mahi-mahi tonight while we motorsail in much improved
conditions.
We are over half way to Vanuatu and still planning
to arrive on Monday morning.
Cheers from Harmonie and its overstuffed
freezer. Tuna anyone?
Anne
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