01.57S 095.23W 22nd july 2011
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Fri 22 Jul 2011 22:55
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Our third day out now and we are inching towards
the Marquesas. Over the past 24 hours we have put another 133NM behind us and
things are already looking good for our progress over the next 24.
The wind was fairly light overnight at around 9-10
knots but at around 5am it picked up to 11-12 knots and we have been making
great progress ever since.
This morning we were again greeted by a
stunning sunrise and clear skies. As the morning progressed we noticed some rain
squalls out to the south. We reduced the headsail in preparation of them passing
but they looked more impressive than they really were. The wind peaked
at about 17 knots at the leading edge but this soon settled to 15 knots so
I opened the headsail fully again. I had hoped the systems would provide some
rain to test out my new "raincatcher" but they only produced some
drizzle.
One of the more amazing experiences of this journey
happened last night. Not long before the sun was due to set we were zipping
along at 6-7 knots when we saw another of those fishing boats I mentioned in
yesterday's blog. We turned Mojo 10 degrees to port so that we could pass
them to windward as we were not sure if they were actively
fishing. We still kept close enough to attempt to see what they were
doing but not so close as to concern them or affect their operation. As the sun
was setting on the clear horizon the fishing boat was silhouetted perfectly
against it. We noticed there were several of the smaller boats starting to leave
the main vessel and soon realised that three of them were headed
directly towards us. There were three men in each boat and I may have been
a little unkind to have called them dinghys yesterday. They were in fact long
[??16 ft] timber boats powered by a large outboard. All three of them came
alongside and asked us if we could spare them some cigarettes for their long
night of fishing ahead. Being non-smokers we of course said "sorry but no" and
they were fine with that. They told us they were from Galapagos, we joked about
the size of fish they were going to catch, we wished them well and then they
turned and headed out for their night's fishing. This all happened over 200NM
from the nearest land!! It was great to see these people going about their
work so far out to sea and it made us feel as though we were sailing by in an
ocean liner when you compared the size of their vessels to ours.
At least my question from yesterday had been
answered. The main vessel does act as a mothership [about the size of a pilchard
boat in Albany] and the smaller boats leave it each night to fish in the
darkness. The mothership has all lights blazing so the smaller boats can see
where they need to return to. You would assume they also had radio but who
knows. I think there were around 6 smaller boats each with 3
aboard, so the mothership had to be catering for around 19-20 people. Tight
squeeze!!
We have been delighted and amazed at the conditions
we have met so far. Today the Pacific is like sailing across King
George Sound on a perfect summer's day. Each day has been like this and we, of
course, hope this trend continues. After the belting we copped off Panama it is
only fair and reasonable that we have a good run to the Marquesas.
We have seen dolphins jumping several hundred
metres from the boat all day but none have decided to come and join us. Maybe
they have scared away all the fish!!
If [big IF!!] we are able to continue to make
at least 130NM a day we should be able to make landfall in the
Marquesas on around the 13th August, give or take. The south-east trade winds
appears to be well established and if they continue it will make our
task that much easier.
As sunset approaches the wind has now dropped down
to 10-11 knots and we are still making about 5-6 knots boat speed. Another night
at this wind speed would suit me just fine. 2678NM to the
Marquesas.
Andrew Partington.
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