Great excitement amongst the fleet last night – one of the boats on our net made landfall.  Tulu, a catamaran with English couple Chris and Sarah on board, came on our evening net to report they were rounding the north coast of Fatu Hiva and would be anchored by dusk.  Fantastic news.  They left San Cristobal on Friday March 21 so the passage took 20 days.  In the early part of their passage they had terrible thunderstorms and heavy rain squalls. The middle was marked by the horrid confused seas and strong winds we’re now getting but the last part was light winds and flat seas.  So well done Chris and Sarah and we look forward to catching up and we can’t wait to get into those gentle breezes.

 

Interesting that Tulu left port on a Friday because sailors will know that is considered bad luck.  We are not superstitious and have never avoided leaving port on a Friday but probably would not have set out on a long passage such as this on a Friday. Not because we think it would have been bad luck to do so but because we would blame every little thing that went wrong on the fact we did leave on a Friday and on a boat things constantly go wrong.  One of the boats in our fleet has ripped their mainsail while another is having to hand steer after their autopilot failed – neither left on a Friday!   There are so many superstitions regarding boats that it would be impossible to sail without breaking them  - you’re not meant to have bananas, wear green, whistle or have a woman on board.  Apparently having a woman on board prevents wind – well, that’s not working this time!

 

So we’re busy passing time by watching movies and reading.  Normally during passage we maintain normal routines.  On our wonderful passage from Panama to the Galapagos I even had the sewing machine out making dress and courtesy flags and did my daily yoga session. But this time it’s simply been way too rough – I can’t even face changing the sheets!  I love cooking but this passage it’s been mostly ready meals from the freezer or one pot pressure cooker dishes.

 

The only thing to do is read and we’ve been reading voraciously.   

 

We really can’t wait to get to the Marquesas and start using our seized up legs again!