Marquesas

True Blue 1
Robin and Suzie Roots
Tue 14 May 2013 18:35

09:57S 124:00W

23 March 2013

Galapagos to Marquesas

With great excitement and some trepidation we finally left Isla Isabella in the Galapagos…5 other yachts left the anchorage on the same day and it was fun to see the ‘fleet’ set off with various sail plans and at varying speeds, all with the same destination in sight. Slowly the afternoon lengthened; it became harder to spot the white splash of another sail against the horizon, and as darkness fell we finally felt we were under way and on our own.

The word ‘Pacific’ means ‘Peaceful’ and we were hopeful of a gentle crossing with minimal wear and tear on the gear; a breakage thousands of miles from land can soon become a major headache if it relates to essential sailing gear. So every day we inspected our rigging, sails and lines for chafe, and every day we found some matter to attend to; fingers crossed we did not miss something!

The first day we had light or no wind; we reluctantly turned on the iron Genoa to make way, as no-one wants to wallow in the Doldrums trough. On the eve of the second day a light breeze came in and for the next 10 days we had some wonderful conditions (as well as some not so wonderful ones); 15 to 25 knots of trade winds pushing us approximately towards the Marquesas (not always quite  in the direction we wanted to go however)! Later in the week as we started to turn to the West, night watches became tiring as vicious squalls hit our piece of ‘Peaceful Ocean’; at first we reefed right down as soon as we saw an ominous black cloud bank approaching. However, the constant up and down to trim sails meant we got no sleep, and in the end, after being ‘caught out’ by a 36 knot blast one night, we found that we could run though most conditions with one precautionary reef in the Genoa and a scrap of mainsail. When the squalls hit over 32 knots we were over canvassed but luckily none lasted more than a short period so no harm was done except to our nerves!

24 March: a drama unfolds

We hear on the sked that Chaotic Harmony, a catamaran 1,500 miles ahead of us, has run foul of fishing nets; he is disabled and hove-to. Everyone tunes in with baited breath to the skeds for the next 3 days; the seas are too rough for the skipper to dive under the boat and inspect for damage, but the skipper reports that his rudder is stuck and he cannot sail without completely removing it. The nightmare of this task mid-ocean silences everyone; a Pan Pan call is expected if things go badly, and the skipper has already been in touch with the French Polynesian coastguard who as a result are monitoring his position. Eventually the seas abate and the skipper dives under the boat; using tanks, he removes the pins holding the rudder which is now consigned to the deep blue. Wooo….the sighs of relief are heard right across our sked as the next day we hear that Chaotic Harmony is once again under way, sailing cautiously with just one rudder but managing to make a course for the Marquesas.

From now on our eyes ache each night as we scan the horizon for any signs of long-line fishing boats; they abound even in this remote part of the ocean but how to spot them in the black moonless nights?

 

30 March 2013

Hurray, we have achieved our first 1,000 miles; only 2 more to go! No breakages and we have had some wonderful sailing; spirits are high on the good ship True Blue!

02 April

Feeling tired but elated; we have reached the half way point and are still within 100 miles of 4 of the yachts who left the Galapagos with us.

03 April

Ship ahoy!! But it’s not a vessel we can spot by sight; it is a small trawler picked up on our magic AIS screen. He is 14 miles away from us and heading north…..we speculate how a 20 metre trawler (not much longer than True Blue) can make a profit fishing some 1,500 miles from land….would have thought the price of diesel would make it a pointless exercise.  Next time we have fish for dinner we might appreciate it more!!

04 April

Biddy, Suzie’s mum, has had surgery today and is recovering well. A big relief and we are thankful we have the satellite phone to keep in touch with news….it is a lonely old ocean out here.

05 April

Winds are contrary and we cannot steer directly for our destination; the routines task of gybing the pole becomes a chore and we realize we are becoming tired, very tired. Furl the Genoa, release the pole, let brace go forward, tighten guy, raise pole, swing around inner forestay, secure new guy, brace and sheets, raise pole, haul in on new brace whilst guy is free, and finally, unfurl the Genoa.  A piece of cake when things go well and the seas are reasonable flat but poor Robin struggles on the foredeck as the seas turn True Blue into a bucking bronco…..no ‘man overboard’ drill for us PLEASE!

Tomorrow we will try a ‘goosewinged’ sail plan; might be possible with the wind dead behind us.

06 April

We change our sail plan and now True Blue soars like a duck over the swells with a poled-out Genoa and the staysail held out to windward on a tiny whisker pole. This configuration cuts our speed down a bit, but is very comfortable and we can sail down the rhumb line without endless (tiring) gybes.

clip_image002      Into the setting sun but who is steering – Hughie the Hydrovane!

Less than 1,000 miles to go, and now we are on the downhill slope. Others on the sked are sounding a bit strained with many minor breakages reported; we are all looking forward to making landfall. The passage so far has been better than everyone expected and we have had some wonderful sailing conditions….but we long for the smell of land and the sight of trees and houses and people, just ordinary, bog-standard people!!

We play a game of ‘what if’ to while away the time…’what would you most like to eat on arrival’ ‘Ice cream (easy one for Robin).’ ‘What would you most like to do when you arrive? Suzie: ‘Have a long, long shower without having to hang on to anything. 

07 April                       9 degrees 58S: 124degrees 04W

A good start to the day; several emails are received confirming that Biddy is doing very well; she is using her IPad in hospital to keep us posted about things. The marvels of modern technology and an octogenarian who keeps up to date with it! Next we spot some sea birds gliding above us; we wonder how they survive so far from land. But unlike the birds we saw in the Indian Ocean they do not try and ‘catch a lift’ on the foredeck; maybe they are on a migratory passage somewhere?

08 April           , 09 April, 10April, 11April

Days of light winds and occasional rainy squalls, but all-in all the skies were blue and the night’s dark with no moon, but myriads of stars. The wind came back late on the 10th and on the 11th we had a 32knot squall but it lasted only a short while, but there was an uncomfortable mixed swell from the NE and E. Suzie beside her skipper duties did most of the cooking and regardless of the conditions served up some very tasty meals, and each evening we saw the sun set with a glass of rum punch.

13 April

Decision time; do we try to get to the island of Fatu Hiva, reportedly one of the most beautiful anchorages in the world or Hiva Oa to check into the country? The wind decided for us; either way we had to slow True Blue down, but the wind said Hiva Oa and so we went there to check in to French Polynesia, arriving on a Sunday. We had heard the anchorage was going to be rolly and tight but we arrived to anchor with only 6 other yachts and the anchorage was calm..

Marquesas we have arrived.  Landfall was the most spectacular we have ever had; high hills covered in coconut, banyan and other trees; deep valleys with little A-framed homesteads peeking out through the jungle....absolutely beautiful.

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            Hiva Oa

For the record!

Distance travelled:         3,192 nautical miles, Isla Isabella, (Galapagos) to Hiva Oa, (Marquesas)

Best day:                             189 nautical miles

Worst day:                          103 nautical miles

Daily average:

Hours under engine:      28 hours

Number of fish caught: Zero (!!, but we were not alone in this!)

Damage:                              Broken piece on spinnaker pole (but able to be repaired and usable).

 

 

 We contacted our agent who advised us to check in on Monday, but at the same time another yacht was organising an island trip so we “piggy backed “with them and instead of crashing out after our traditional bacon and eggs breakfast we set off on another excursion.

clip_image006 Landfalls of paradise

Many of the other Marquesas Islands do not have any roads so you are limited to what you can see by walking. The locals all have horses as their mode of transport; not for us though.

The following day we hitchhiked and a kind and curious lady took us deep into the jungle to see a Tiki site; she waved and told us to help ourselves to whatever fruit we could find, so on the way back to the village we filled our rucksacks with mangoes, breadfruit, and bananas (trying to choose the right stem was hard!). You can’t buy fruit because it is all so prolific here but vegetables (excepting carrots) are a rarity and very expensive as they come on the once fortnightly boat from Tahiti. Makes our hourly ferry service to Russell Island a space-age affair!

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Anyway, that’s the snapshot of our visit to Hiva Oa.....kind of heaven after so much watery scenery to be in this magnificent place. Everything has a fresh wonder attached to it....fresh crunchy baguettes, pains au chocolate (we have both lost about 5 kilos so can afford to be greedy for a bit!) ladies and girls wearing fresh frangipani flowers in their hair...it’s all just so delightful!

On the 17th April there were 26 yachts anchored in the little harbour ; that’s too squeezy for comfort! So Robin applied himself to the task of hand hauling our anchor up ( the windlass being virtually kaput) and needed the help of another Australian yachtie. He was feeling somewhat inadequate until he saw the anchor was attached to a very heavy muddy carpet! So Robin felt a little better as  we sailed to another little island called Tahuata, just around the corner from Hiva Oa; as we anchored we had the pleasure of spotting huge sting rays in the clear water..

clip_image010      On the beach at Tahuata. No one at home!

Just behind the beach we collected windfall grapefruit, limes and breadfruit and took a good supply back to the boat for our trip to the Tuamotos. We could have stayed longer here, but a couple of yachts ran their generators/dive compressors all day which was so unsocial we decided to leave the next day.  And the Tuamotos are calling!