18.43S 172.55W Approaching Tonga
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Sat 24 Sep 2011 03:47
|
Things finally settled down last night but not
until around 8pm. Until then we were given a pretty rough ride through a
very steep and confused sea. We were hit hard a couple of times after dark
by waves hitting us on our port beam. The boat shuddered and gear in the cabin
went flying everywhere. Getting dinner was going to be tough so we just
re-heated some leftovers. The seas finally abated and for much of the night we
saw 15 knots of wind and seas that were easing.
Today we still have wind blowing from the
south-west but have enough angle to be able to fly the genneker. We are now just
61NM from Vava'u and have given away the mainsail so we do not get there
too quickly overnight. We are planning to arrive at the northern side of the
island just after sunrise and have a leisurely sail into Neiafu throughout the
morning. To get around the island is another 19NM and you do not want to do this
in the dark. The word is that the electronic charts are not accurate for Tonga
and with all the volcanic activity nearby you may just bump into a newly
formed island!!
Landed a very nice tuna today. Not as big as the
last one but still a very nice fish and put up a huge fight. We set it free
though as we already have heaps of fish and are getting a bit fussy about what
we keep. Rob came very close to landing a mahi-mahi yesterday but it slipped
away just at the last minute. Big, big fish and it's lucky to have escaped
because there is no way it would have been set free, they are a beautiful eating
fish.
Very little moon overnight and given the cloud
cover it may have been tough to see anyway. It was pitch black. Sitting at the
helm station you coundn't see the bows and had no chance of seeing the state of
the ocean and approaching waves. The ocean feels a far less welcoming place at
night without the moon. May it return soon!!
This afternoon we either had some small whales or
the biggest dolphins you will ever see pass across our bows. They were the size
of a killer whale but looked like and swam like dolphins. Must brush up on my
marine biology next time.
Very gentle 7-8 knots pushing us towards Tonga
right now at 4.30pm Mojo 2 time. Seas are back to nearly flat. Tomorrow
another port and another country. Number twelve since leaving France.
looking forward to it and so is Rob.
Andrew Partington.
|