As the days turn into weeks.....
Catacaos
Graham Shaw
Sun 15 May 2011 00:06
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The Marquesas are the group of islands which
form the northeastern extremity of French Polynesia, and are the first thing you
come across heading westwards from the Galapagos. If one were to sail all
the way round the world (which this one is not), the gap between
the Galapagos Islands and the Marquesas is the greatest distance which would
have to be covered in the whole circumnavigation. Three thousand miles of
open ocean which cannot be avoided. So after three wonderful weeks at
Academy Bay on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos we set out on May
3rd. Yesterday (May 13th) we passed the halfway mark. All being
well, another ten days to go. The weather has been good so far, with
relatively light winds behind us all the way, and only the occasional squall (no
more than 30 knots of wind so far). We have been able to fly the spinnaker
most days, and progress is not too bad.
This area is very much off the beaten track for
commercial shipping, so we were surprised to see this eastbound Maersk
containership a couple of days ago. Surprised, but pleased to see some
signs of life. I'm afraid this uninspiring photo is the only
one we've taken so far, so it's the only one to feature in this
episode!
 Despite this being the only life we have seen, we
are not alone out here! We check in every day with a "net" on the SSB
(long range) radio, along with up to about twenty or thirty other boats all
heading the same way. Some are still in the Galapagos, and others are
already at the Marquesas, but most are somewhere in the middle, like us.
It is nice to keep up with everyone else's progress, and uselful to hear what
the weather conditions are like elsewhere. The radio has become very
useful on this trip, and we have been able to have conversations with friends up
to about two and a half thousand miles away, so I am very pleased with
it.
We are (not very) busily passing the time cooking
(including making bread most days - one of the crew would eat nothing but, if he
were allowed!) and eating, and putting the spinnaker up and down. And
Lucas is busy eating, drawing, occasionally writing his name almost unassisted
now, playing with cars, trains, etc., and watching dvds - favourites
being either Thomas the Tank Engine or Top Gear! Lorraine and I are
grateful to have a large selection of stuff to watch as well - it
helps pass the time.
So far we have not done any fishing on this trip -
the reason being that we wanted to finish all the fish which was still in the
freezer following the previous passage, which we have now done, so it is time to
get the lines out again.
Watch this space next time for more exciting
news....
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