I can almost taste that beer...
Viridian
Tue 18 Apr 2023 16:50
COG: 284T
SOG: 5.7 kn
Wind: 089T 13.8 kn
Current: 235T 1.2 kn
Distance to destination: 211 nm
We are getting there - the fly in the ointment is the light winds forecast from this afternoon mean our ETA is predicted to be just after nightfall on Wednesday, so I may need to motor for the last few hours or slow down to arrive after dawn on Thursday. Still plenty of time for things to change though, because the forecasts so far have not been all that accurate and the weather seems quite variable. Fingers crossed that we keep the wind.
A friend sent us a chart showing which colour fishing lure should be used at what time of day and it seems to be effective because we have been following the schedule religiously and we hooked two fish yesterday…one was a very large billfish which once again was too big for our tackle. I couldn’t reel anything in and eventually I increased the brake to its maximum but it was still taking line. it was approaching the end of the reel (400m) when it managed to make off with the lure - I think that is now 4-0 to the fish but i’m rather glad we didn’t catch it. Trying to land it would have been a nightmare. A very cross 50+kg fish with a long sharp sword is not really what we want or need. The second fish was a more reasonable size but it was jumping around all over the place and managed to jump off the hook. I have the blue lure out at the moment, one of the few i have remaining so hopefully we will hook a Mummy Bear sized fish next time.
On the food front our eggs have been very poor, at least 20% have had to be thrown, but the Use By date was 7th April so in this heat i guess its not too surprising. We are out of fresh fruit and only have onions, potatoes and a few tomatoes left. Still I have heard from our friends Graeme and Simone who are already in the Marquesas that prices there aren’t too bad (and not too bad for alcohol either) so we should be able to replenish our supplies soon.
Not sure at the moment how long we will stay in Hiva Oa, definitely a few days for some decent rest and recuperation. Our friends are in Tahuata at the moment and say that the snorkelling and diving is great so we will definitely be visiting there. I have also heard that Fatu Hiva is nice and worth a visit. I’m not sure whether we will visit Nuku Hiva, it's 70 miles downwind, so we would have to do the 70 miles back upwind at some point and I’m not sure if it is nice enough to be worth the visit and effort? If we don’t go there what we may do is go to explore Tahuata and Fatu Hiva then return to Hiva Oa to meet our friends Jamie and Magpie who are a couple of weeks behind us so we can help them with the celebratory arrival drinks. That will surely be a big one!!!