09:07:37S 136:28:93W
The Adventures of Sunboy the Sailboat
Al Sparkes and Deb Swain
Tue 8 Jun 2010 20:57
Current conditions:
Wind 16 knots ENE Seas moderate, 2-3 metre swell from the east
Partly cloudy, very warm
Distance coverered previous 24 hours 172NM
Distance to go as at 1230PM local time 206NM
Hi everyone, getting closer now. We have changed our sail set and are now on a very broad reach under main and motor, we ran to the south west for as long as was deemed necessary before taking down the poled out headsail and gybed to now be on a starboard gybe with our bow headed for our intended landing point some 206 miles away. We just hope that the wind stays from this angle as we are making pretty reasonable speed and if all goes well, we might just make it into Nuka Hiva by tomorrow evening while there is still a bit of light to find our way into the anchorage.
We had a good day yesterday, but as expected the winds eased off overnight and we were not able to maintain the angle or speeds that were achieved throughout the day. People are starting to move a bit slower when it comes time to come on watch and things get done that little bit slower on the boat and after five days of hand steering when people are not used to it you can understand the overall effect of constant physical effort and demanding mental focus starts to wear you out. I think the fact we are getting closer and closer will help everyone stay focused and reawaken the excitement of making landfall after an ocean crossing.
Nikki's lasagne last night was exceptional, the only thing missing was a nice crisp salad and a glass of red. As we dont permit any alcohol consumption on board during passage, I am sure that first beer and or glass of wine is going to go down a treat. At least it is good for my weight loss as I tend to lose at least a few kilos on these long passages so that cant be all bad.
At the moment, Debs is on the helm, doing her usual excellent job, catching some sun as well in her very nice new bikini, Lukey is listening to his IPod and reading a new book and Nikki and Layni have their heads in cookbooks so dont have any idea what is going to be on the dinner menu tonight but we still have pork and chicken fillet and some other meat in the freezer and apart from that we still have a shyte load of other food stowed away so I am sure we wont go hungry.
It feels like this is the hottest day we have had so far so I am sure everyone will be looking forward to having a swim soon. I dont think we will be swimming in the first anchorage though as we have been warned that the water is murky and it is full of sharks, attracted by the local fish processing plant. We will have to wait a couple of days before we head around to the north of the island where we are told there are some beautiful anchorages, clean water and great snorkelling plus the fun of bartering with local villagers for fresh fruit. Evidently the villagers love to swap things with yachties, obviously as being so isolated, their chances to get 'western' products are very slim so we will see what we can do.
So fingers and toes crossed, hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to tell you we have seen land and are nearing our destination. Till then.....................