14.41S 145.33W
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Sun 14 Aug 2011 03:03
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13th August, 2011
Today at 7am we sighted land for the first time in
over three weeks. Our first contact with the real world came at the island of
Takaroa. The morning was perfectly still as we motored around the western side
of the island past the wreck of the steel clipper ship "County of Roxburgh" and
onto the village nearby.
Overnight things went very quiet for us not long
after dusk when the wind dropped out to a dead calm. At around 9pm we had given
up any hope of sailing and fired up the motors so that we could continue our
progress towards Papeete. In the early hours of the morning we motored through
our now all familiar rain squalls which produced 20 knots of wind but
importantly a torrential downpour of rain. I think it is now safe to say that
the rain catcher that I devised in Panama is a success with two downpours
overnight putting about 60 litres in our tank.
At first light the situation regarding wind had not
changed, but the sky had completely cleared. All day we have been motoring in
conditions that can only be described as perfect (for motoring). Most of the day
we have had glassy smooth, deep blue water and cloudless skies. Late this
afternoon we shut down the motors to have a swim and a shower. The water
temperature at the moment is 30 degrees C so this was no hardship.
It is now 6pm and the sun is heading towards the
horizon. We are still in a glass-off, but there is just a hint of wind coming
across the water. The only other time I have seen conditions like this is on
fishing trips we have made to Shark Bay. We are 78nm from heading through the
pass east of Rangiroa and should head through there mid-morning tomorrow. From
there we have a 200nm sail (hopefully) to make it to Papeete Harbour and a long,
uninterrupted sleep.
Yesterday we travelled a mere 102nm, but most of
this was under motor.
All things being well this should be our second
last night of the passage and we are both grateful for this.
Andrew Partington
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