Welcome to the Marquesas Islands

Having received special permission to stop in French Polynesia during the COVID-19 pandemic we made our landfall in Nuku Hiva in the Northern Marquesas. This was a requirement of the department of health to complete a mandatory quarantine period on board. Ideally from a sailing perspective it is nicer to make landfall in the south of the Marquesas and then cruise north – like we did last time we visited these islands in 2006.

I couldn’t really remember Taiohae bay in Nuku Hiva, as we had only spent a night or two here, but the stunning cliffs as we sailed into the deeply indented bay made us feel super excited. Having caught two tuna that morning on the way in we had been pretty busy on our approach, getting that all stored away. We called Nuku Hiva yacht services as soon as we had anchored, as instructed, and were informed that we were in quarantine and to keep our yellow flag flying until such time as we were advised we had been released. As we had arrived on the weekend we didn’t expect a prompt release, so settled into getting Askari all spruced after the passage. We were allowed to receive visitors alongside, but not aboard, and had a steady stream of old and new friends, offering assistance. We were brought everything from croissants, and French cheeses to of course local Hinano beer – we had left Galapagos without a single beer as it was hard to carry from town…..

Champagne to celebrate arrival

A stash of goodies from cruiser friends during our quarantine

We were released from quarantine by a doctor in Tahiti on the Wednesday evening, and were promptly invited to neighbours Debbie and Stephen on Oyster 53, Amelie for a gin and tonic – how strange it felt to be on another yacht. Quite surreal actually and what we found over the next few days was that sailing into this island paradise was like going back in time to before coronavirus. We met and hugged friends and the first hike with Bev was just incredible – lovely views but the best thing was just to be walking again after so many months. It actually has taken us quite a long time to get the walking muscles back again.

Beautiful Taiohae Bay

With Bev -First Girlfriend hug since March

Stretching our legs felt amazing 

Looking towards the town dock

 

a new tiki overlooking the bay

The Marquesans are a wonderful, warm and friendly group of people, living in one of the most isolated places on the planet but with everything provided by these islands where, goats, chickens and pigs run wild, the sea is brimming with fish and the fertile lands mean that fruit and vegetables are plentiful. Though in the French social system, a wonderful climate and sitting outside the cyclone zone and this really is paradise – although I know most Marquesan’s still appear to want more autonomy over public spending, they are governed locally, but also from Tahiti and from Paris ….. 

 

The islanders are fiercely proud of their culture – despite it having been band by missionaries for so many years. Music, dance, tattoos are part of everyday life – when chatting with a lovely local lady, Collette, we learned there would be dancing for the president of French Polynesia who was in town for Marquesas day and we could watch once we heard the drums…. We arrived a little early and had to sit through some speeches in french but the local school kids kept us entertained and then the famous haka dancers arrived – wow! After the ceremony the kids all garnished the president with handmade bead lays, he had so many it was crazy.

Dances for the President of French Polynesia

Ceremonial grounds on the waterfront

Everywhere in Taiohae there's old tiki statues

After a few days of stocking up and enjoying meals out the swell in the bay got the better of us and we decided to make a run for the north coast and explore. We had a fantastic sail in light winds to Anaho bay, just totally amazingly protected and only a handful of other yachts. The scenery was stunning with high moutains all around and clear water. We dropped anchor and then went to explore in the dinghy and found a group of 6 manta rays – I grabbed my snorkel and hopped in – how amazing to swim with these gentle giants. Ashore we found super friendly locals and learned there was a "restaurant" we could book in for lunch – we of course got straight on that. So next day we took a great hike to the local farm and another bay – the farmers allowed us to pick tomatoes, cucumbers and melons – I needed a bit of help with melons having no idea how to pick a good one. We also got given pamplemouse – virtually  free in these islands. We returned to the bay fully loaded ready for lunch a goat curry lunch at chez David’s. We learned that during the lock down, the cruisers in Anaho enjoyed quite a lot of freedom and the friendships were so great that when the yachts were told to go to Taiohae bay the locals refused to let ‘ their cruisers’ go. It was a really special place and we ended up spending over a week there – sharing sundowners and more meals at David’s, we had the local kids on Askari for biscuits and shared beers with the local men. The hike to neighbouring Haiteheu was demanding but oh so worth it.  

View from the window - Anaho Bay

lunch at Chez David's

Lovely Anaho Bay

Holiday time onboard Askari

Pacific Crossing Day 18 - Arrival Nuku Hiva

Yay - we arrived at Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva today at 13.30 local time - 3,000 miles - 18 days and 2 hours after leaving Isabela Galapagos. We have been placed under quarantine, which means know one is allowed on or off Askari, but we did enjoy a swim already. We don't know what comes next, we are waiting to hear from the authorities but are extremely grateful to the FP government for allowing us to make a stop here. Other boats are allowed to drop things off so long as they don't come aboard- we had a warm welcome from Stephen and Debbie on Amelie as we anchored and they brought us a care package of a couple of cold Hinano beers and some fruit. Our friend Bev on Dandelion heard us arrive and of course was straight on the radio to say hello. We felt so welcome.

Proper update to follow.... but we did catch two tuna on the way in and are now drinking the champagne x x

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Pacific Crossing Day 17 - 18th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 18th June 2020
- 08 degrees, 51 minutes South
- 136 degrees, 51 minutes West
Sailing wing on wing with wind
Sea State: 2m swell long period - counter current :-(
Wind: 15 knots from the East North East
Speed over the ground: 5.7 knots
Course over the ground: 258 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 138 - has Askari ever gone so slow??

So near but still so far, yesterday we entered a counter current - so frustrating and then a big band of squally weather. Over night we had wind from 2 knots to 24, torrential rain and wind direction East through north. As we monitored the distance we could feel our friday landfall slipping away. Around midnight Andrew got fed up with flogging our sails and put the engine on low revs to keep Friday an option for us - I was so tired I slept right through that. This morning the squalls gave way to a stunning day and the wind returned gently. We still have nearly a knot of current against us but have been making between 5 and 6 nautical miles each hour. That could mean a sunset arrival on Friday is still on the cards.

Today we are trying hard to catch a fish, but at these slow speeds it's probably pretty unlikely. I heard Linde on Zouterik made a lemon cake, so mum message me a recipe and we are about to have that for afternoon tea.

Is it too soon to put the champagne in the fridge??? It's now 2.30pm local as I write this and we have 160 to go - normally we should cover that comfortably in 24 hours and we have 27.5 hours until sunset tomorrow, so we need to average 5.8knots - its going to be close!

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Pacific Crossing Day 16 - 17th June 220

Position 1800 UTC - 16th June 2020
- 08 degrees, 34 minutes South
- 134 degrees, 31 minutes West
Sailing wing on wing with wind at 155 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2m swell not sea on top slight
Wind: 13 knots from the East North East
Speed over the ground: 6.0 knots
Course over the ground: 235 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 150

We may have only made 150 miles towards north Marquesas however its been a mostly calm night with gentle seas and enough wind to just about keep the sails full but most excitingly we have approval from the authorities in Tahiti to proceed to Nuku Hiva - wooohooo! We don't exactly know if this means we can stay a while or simply resupply but we will find all that out when we arrive - for now its just 331 miles away so it looks like we will be there Friday night or Saturday morning local time.

It's just as well as I think Andrew is going a little mad - I woke up this morning to find him with a pile of fishing lures in their boxes - like a small child with matchbox cars; admiring them gleefully. He's been studying all the attributes of each of them - I guess he is keen to catch another fish before we arrive. The thai red tuna curry last night was absolutely delicious - we still have fresh lemon grass and chillis and so many green peppers we will arrive with fresh goodies enough to see us through any quarantine period we may have to comply with.

We are expecting a bit of squally weather tomorrow so today I want to enjoy the sunshine, light fluffy clouds and gentle seas.

Its fair to say we are thrilled and cannot wait to get there now.

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Pacific Crossing Day 15 - 16th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 15th June 2020
- 07 degrees, 49 minutes South
- 132 degrees, 14 minutes West
Sailing wing on wing with wind at 147 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2m swell with a short wind chop
Wind: 17 knots from the East - slightly north of east
Speed over the ground: 7.0 knots
Course over the ground: 243 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 172

Last night we continued sailing poled out overnight and learned that in these seas if we don't put the main sail out to the side we can actually run with the wind on the port side further forward - hence the 147 apparent wind angle not previously seen! It must be something to do with the draft of the main keeping the genoa full. Anyhow this allowed us to run on course in lighter winds and enjoy a comfortable night apart from another night being plagued by fishing related AIS targets. On my watch I actually spotted a fishing boat about 6 miles to the north of us called Tuna Star with huge bright lights. It's now well into the afternoon and the targets are still hanging around - we are getting a bit more relaxed about them and have weaved our way through them. I did get Andrew up when I found them either side of us while I was relaxing listening to my hi brow hamish and andy podcast at 3am.

Today, the wind had gradually eased to around 12 knots and come around to the East North East, pushing us south slowly but the sea has also calmed off and it is absolutely spectacular out here this afternoon. Not a single white cap and just a gently pulsing ocean swell with a long period, our sails puff and yes do crash around a little but you can't help but allow it as its so magical. So we are relaxing and lazing in the cockpit reading - i might even get the bean bags out.

Please let's have a nice calm night without the tuna fishing fleet targets.

We have less than 500 miles to go to our waypoint in the north of the Marquesas.

Life is slow but good.

Third Special Geeky Stat Report for those who care about numbers:
We left Galapagos on Monday June 1st bound for Queensland. A journey of more than 7000 miles which we expect to take 50 days. We have prepared supplies for 60 days at sea and have 20 days of additional reserve.

After 15 days this is how we have done
-Distance sailed 2538 Nm or about 36% of the direct course to Brisbane
-Consumed 116L of diesel of 700L on board which is about 17%
-Water tanks are full
-Food going better than plan with no waste
-Six fish caught- 2 tuna and 4 Mahi Mahi
-All boat systems operational except VHF Marine Radio due to mast head antenna failure. SSB Marine radio and AIS unaffected.

All good at this stage and ahead of plan. We have requested permission from the government in Tahiti to make a technical stop in the Marquesas where if granted we will be able to repair the VHF Radio antenna.
Next geek update at day 20

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Pacific Crossing Day 14 - 15th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 15th June 2020
- 07 degrees, 17 minutes South
- 129 degrees, 14 minutes West
Sailing wing on wing with wind at 170 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2.5m swell with a short wind chop and cross swell
Wind: 17 knots from the East
Speed over the ground: 7.8 knots
Course over the ground: 260 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 180

Well its two weeks since we left Isabela in Galapagos and so far we are still going really well. Seeing 180 miles in the last 24 hours was worth the bumpy conditions we have had overnight. We are both quite able to sleep fairly well now we are used to all the noises of being in the ocean.

Last night we finally got passed those long line fishing boats at sunset and figured out there was a numbering system. We carried on sailing poled out until the afternoon as it was pretty comfortable and we were making good speed. Today the roll has increased as we have a cross swell and the wind has eased but the sea is still pretty ugly. So we have switched to port tack but no sooner had we done that that we get a bit of north to the east wind - so this tack is now bumpy too and taking us on a more southerly course than we would like so I feel another sail change coming on.....

Fishing failed to produce for the first time so I dipped into the freezer for some mince beef today and made a lasagne - no sooner had I finished putting it all together - no easy task in these seas - the line went. Andrew pulled in a nice chunky blue tuna; he was very proud of himself as he made the lure he caught it with himself. Half the tuna has replaced the mince in the freezer and we now have three days of food ready to go. I also made a carrot cake today as afternoon tea has become a nice distraction each day.

Love from us in the bouncy ocean x

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Pacific Crossing Day 13 - 14th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 14th June 2020
- 07 degrees, 15 minutes South
- 126 degrees, 11 minutes West
Sailing wing on wing with wind at 170 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2.5m swell (sometimes more) with wind chop
Wind: 19 knots from the East
Speed over the ground: 7.5 knots
Course over the ground: 240 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 164

Well, other than our fantastic Askari, the stars are the thing that are just blowing our minds on this trip - we had another clear night. This morning I said to Andrew 'I nearly woke you from your off watch as the stars looked like something from a disney film' - I had mars, saturn and jupiter all in full glow. He hadn't seen mars but had also been using our star finder app during his nightwatch. You could actually see every constellation shown. I don't think I'll ever forget the last two nights out here with these star shows for entertainment.

The night was actually a bit unsettled as the wind dropped down as low as 10 knots and the sails were not happy at all. It's really stressful, especially as they are our new sails and seeing them crash around makes us both so sad. We thought long and hard about keeping the old ones on for this part of the trip but getting a damaged sail down or it getting jammed out here, both of which could have happened with the old ones, would have been far worse. This morning we had an early morning rain shower and then the wind filled in at 20 knots from the east and then this afternoon we have had up to 27 knots. So our days run should be much better today than the measly 164 miles to 1800UTC today.

As I write this blog update we have 5 AIS targets about 10 miles south of us - four of which are shown as helicopters. We are guessing this is part of a pretty serious tuna fishing operation. We are therefore trying to keep well clear of them and are running due west until we are clear of them. They are not moving so hopefully it won't be long but it really is quite unnerving to see helicopters on the screen out here. (Update - we believe they are marking longlines that appear over 30 miles long and counting- the mmsi numbers associated with them are not in a format we recognise and they don't answer the radio - hmmm sounds all a bit dodgy to me).

We continue to stay in touch with other yachts out here that are behind us - Zouterik, Tintamarre and Clio - everyone is reporting good sailing, food and fishing at the moment. Yep that's what gets talked about!

All is well here speeding on west at 8-9 knots now.

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Pacific Crossing Day 12 - 13th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 13th June 2020
- 06 degrees, 52 minutes South
- 123 degrees, 26 minutes West
Sailing on port tack full sails with wind at 130 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2m swell with wind chop
Wind: 17 knots from East South East
Speed over the ground: 7.3 knots
Course over the ground: 250 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 177

Well I think the birthday at sea went pretty well, the beautiful day continued and we sailed wing on wing all day into the evening before pulling the genoa over to the port side to stiffen things up overnight. The birthday haircut went okay and by the time we get to a port no-one will ever know its a bit wobbly and perhaps even some of the hair clippings that blew downwind all over the boat might have been wash off. I made chocolate brownies but the candle on top was perhaps a bit of a stretch for the wind.

We have made another time zone change - it's now just under 1,000 miles to the marquesas,3,000 to Samoa and 5,000 to Brisbane. Oh and 2,000 back to Isabela.

The moon overnight is now half and rises much later so for a big portion of the night we get to marvel at the stars and the last couple of nights they have been nothing less than spectacular. Out here the sky is so clear they virtually come right down to the ocean, the milky way is so cloudy and brimming with stars you sometimes struggle to make out the southern cross - just incredible. Last night on top of that around 3am I spotted a strange red streak to the northwest that was visable for several seconds, like a row of red lights or a reflection. On Andrew's watch he had Japanese fishing boat appear on AIS at our stern about 15 miles so it may have been linked to that but I'm still believing it was a UFO or a new planet no one else has ever seen.....

We are really hoping for a fish today or it's veggie Saturday; that's fine as we are still overflowing with veg. The green peppers and tomatoes are still looking as good as you'd buy in a supermarket at home. The lettuce is even still going well amazingly and we ate the last of the basil yesterday. Yes there's still oranges and the last few very mushy bananas will go in a smoothie tomorrow.

Andrew is still really wanting to sail directly to Australia - we are definitely going well enough to do it and it would be a great accomplishment and to meet up with our friends in Queensland would be amazing. However, we have heard international tourism is scheduled to open in French Polynesia in July (although no specific mention of boats) so I am ever hopeful that we might get to visit and started learning French and reading about waterfall hikes and diving in FP. We plan to contact the Tahiti Government next week to request approval to visit FP. If we can make a stop we will. We just know one thing - it's all good options from here and there will be fun and rum in the sun with palm trees wherever we make landfall.

Love from the big blue x

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Pacific Crossing Day 11 - 12th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 12th June 2020
- 06 degrees, 44 minutes South
- 120 degrees, 28 minutes West
Sailing poled out genoa with wind at 160 degrees apparent
Sea State: 2.5m swell with wind chop
Wind: 17 knots from East South East
Speed over the ground: 6.3 knots
Course over the ground: 265 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 184

It's Andrew's Birthday and it's a glorious day, we had fresh orange juice and some gifts that were a bit random and mostly things he already owned but wrapped up again in last years paper, but he also got a poem and a photo slideshow of the last year. Then he got messages from family and friends followed by a birthday song from the Zouterik girls on the SSB radio - quite special. We did a sail change to pole out the genoa and then had geisha coffee (apparently champagne of coffee - closest we can come to champs underway) and a sausage sarnie - so far so good. I just have to bake a cake now....

Over night was a bit bumpy with a cross swell and early this morning the wind came around pushing us more south than we want to be - hence the sail change. We continue to make reasonable speed although once you've clocked 200 in a day settling for less is hard.

Right let's get on with more birthday treats - one of the things he said he wanted was a birthday haircut - this could be interesting in a 2.5 metre swell....

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Pacific Crossing Day 10 - 11th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 11th June 2020
- 06 degrees, 11 minutes South
- 117 degrees, 25 minutes West
Sailing on port tack with wind at 125 degrees apparent
Sea State: 3m swell with wind chop
Wind: 21 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 8.5 knots
Course over the ground: 260 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 194 - 106 in 12 hours

We are now over halfway to our waypoint in north of the Marquesas - hoping we might be allowed to stop. The wind has held up and we have continued to make good speed; not quite as good as yesterday but it's a more regular sea now and after a squally start, with a very dramatic sunrise to the day the sky has been clear blue and it's stunning.

Last night just before sunset we had the biggest pod of dolphins all around the boat - a superpod of at least 100 - it was like they were on a conveyor belt as they just kept coming, we could see them surfing down three or more of the big waves coming towards our stern. Some flipped and often we had a little group of 4 or 5 surface together. They made it look like the water was boiling and it felt like they were as excited to see us as we were to see them.

Today we lost our new favorite fishing lure when a huge fish came and stripped so much line off the reel it was crazy. I went into full 'fish drill' mod and furled sails to slow us down but as Andrew started to try and wind it the line went slack. It's a relief not to catch a fish that big it could do that but I hate to think of a beautiful big fish with a lure in it - they do rust quickly but even so. Sadness and the loss of a great lure that has caught so many fish dinners for us. The final one being yummy csiro thai fish burgers for lunch.

Andrew has been checking over our watermaker as it failed to start on 240v which is a bit strange. It worked the second time and we have a 12v system as a back up so it's not a major worry. He thinks the brushes on the motor might need to be cleaned - we will put that on the list for when we reach port and ensure the water is kept full just in the meantime just in case.

All going well out here and we're planning a nice day tomorrow for Andrew's birthday.

Second Special Geeky Stat Report for those who care about numbers:
We left Galapagos on Monday June 1st bound for Queensland. A journey of more than 7000 miles which we expect to take 50 days. We have prepared supplies for 60 days at sea and have 20 days of additional reserve.

After 10 days this is how we have done
-Distance sailed 1655 Nm or about 24% of the direct course to Brisbane
-Consumed 84L of diesel of 700L on board which is about 12%
-Water tanks are full
-Food going better than plan with no waste
-Five fish caught
-All boat systems operational

All good at this stage and a little ahead of plan. Next geek update at day 15

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Pacific Crossing Day 9 - 10th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 10th June 2020
- 05 degrees, 54 minutes South
- 114 degrees, 11 minutes West
Sailing on port tack with wind at 123 degrees apparent
Sea State: lets just say big
Wind: 22 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 9.5 knots
Course over the ground: 265 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 199 - 106 in 12 hours - yes its sporty out here!

Late afternoon yesterday the wind started to pick up and from a perfect south easterly direction. At first we were just flying on a relatively calm sea, regularly seeing boat speeds of 10 knots over the ground. The sky filled with cloud and we had one rain shower. As expected the sea picked up and it got a little more boisterous, we slightly reefed the main sail and flew through the night with a full genoa clocking an average of 9 knots over the ground in winds of 22-24 knots. Askari loved it and we both managed to sleep quite well in our sea berth - nicknamed the coffin.

This morning the fine conditions continue and the sky is beautifully clear, the ocean is majestic with huge crests of deep deep blue capped with white frosting - the swell at approx 3m is much bigger you'd expect as it is much windier south of us. We have now adjusted to the size of the seas and the speed so can sit for hours calmly watching, its amazing how the mind does this - you'd never look at this sea and say 'hey lets go sailing' but it really is pretty awesome here mid Pacific.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day, today I made bread, we've adjusted the sails to run wing on wing and make a course just north of our rhumb line, taking advantage of the wind so we can run south again when the winds ease. Right now we have full sails up in 21 knots and its fast and furious but Andrew is managing an afternoon nap. We have also had the go-pro out to video the waterline - gooseneck barnacles can attach to the boat even at these speeds, but for now we just have a bit of slime where the waves lap above the anti-fouling.

Fishing has been suspended - too many fish in the fridge and the aft deck is a little precarious right now.

Late this afternoon we should be mid way to our first waypoint at the Marquesas.

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Pacific Crossing Day 8 - 9th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 9th June 2020
- 05 degrees, 31 minutes South
- 110 degrees, 52 minutes West
Sailing on port tack with wind at 120 degrees apparent
Sea State: wind chop on top of 2.5m swell
Wind: 16 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 6.2 knots
Course over the ground: 250 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 163

Lovely sailing conditions have continued although we expecting some increase in wind later and the swell has increased already as a front moves south of us. I wasn't well last night for some reason, so Andrew has been holding the fort while I rest up. We are now less than 100 miles from where on our first trip our good friends on Zefrin sailed passed us at dawn this day (9th June) 2006 and took a picture which Lizzie turned into a beautiful pastel that hung on a wall in every house we've lived in since. We want to try and sail through that waypoint and it looks like we are on track.

A quiet day out here but all is well.

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Pacific Crossing Day 7 - 8th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 8th June 2020
- 05 degrees, 05 minutes South
- 108 degrees, 10 minutes West
Sailing on port tack with wind at 120 degrees apparent
Sea State: wind chop on top of 2m swell
Wind: 15 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 6.4 knots
Course over the ground: 265 degrees
Distance sailed towards north Marquesas in 24 hours 158

'It's like being on holiday'- that's what Mariska and I agreed chatting on the SSB radio this morning. I had just made freshly squeezed orange juice, had a warm banana bread fresh from the oven and the coffee beans had been ground ready for our morning snack - when asked my plans for the day it was to enjoy my book.... The conditions are the calmest we had and there wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning. What an absolute treat! I suspect the world is still going crazy out there so I am feeling so privileged to enjoy this time out here without internet access and just the few messages from family and friends, that make our day.

Having said that I do find there's not enough hours in the day and the days are starting to pass too quickly. We have caught two more fish today - that takes some time to sort them out. We have also been working through a few things to make life easier when the wind and seas pick up again. We have re-run the lines on our spinnaker pole and removed our inner forestay to it's stowage position (as the genoa was catching it and it's only there for our storm gib), we've added some additional chafe protection and removed an annoying tapping noise under the table - with a 'technical' solution using duct tape. I actually haven't had time to pick up my book yet.

We had wonderful mahi-mahi ceviche for lunch. The fridge is pretty loaded with fish now and the veg supplies are still going really well. Last night we had mahi-mahi cooked in butter with truffle mash and green beans - it could have come straight from a French restaurant (if I do say so myself) I'm certainly not loosing as much weight as I had hoped for on this trip! Food is too important out here - little snacks allow us to meet in the cockpit for a few mins and chat - as we both have our own regular jobs everyday and different sleep patterns to maintain the watch we would otherwise hardly see each other - how bizarre!

That's all from us out here in the big blue.

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Pacific Crossing Day 6 - 7th June 2020

Position 1800 UTC - 7th June 2020
- 05 degrees, 12 minutes South
- 105 degrees, 29 minutes West
Sailing on port tack poled out genoa with wind at 150 degrees apparent
Sea State: moderate with white caps on top of nice rolling swell of 2.5m
Wind: 15 knots from East South East
Speed over the ground: 7.5 knots
Course over the ground: 264 degrees

There's something so wonderful about turning the boat downwind and pulling the genoa across onto the spinnaker pole - this is what you dream of when you think of tradewind sailing in the South Pacific and we could not help but feel pretty excited when we did that earlier this morning. The wind has been a little stronger for the last 24 hours and this means the sea is pretty big but the waves are just gently shoving us along. That, and the fact we knocked off 175 miles in 24 hours plus we have a mahi mahi in the fridge is making this a very good day....

Late afternoon yesterday Andrew was chatting with Tjaart on Zouterik when the rod went. Fish drill!! We were sailing so fast the fish was on the surface so really easy for me to wind it in while they ended the conversation. We have a new technique with a very yucky fish blanket and a bucket of water to protect the teak - it works really well. Andrew quickly filleted a smallish mahi - enough for two main meals and maybe a light lunch - yay!!

This morning we had a light rain shower, but the rest of the day has been glorious - blue blue sky and fluffy clouds on the horizon. I have baked bread rolls for lunch and yes it will be mahi mahi for dinner. The end of the bananas is in sight, just 60 oranges to get through....

We are expecting lighter winds after today, for a couple of days, so we are sailing a little north of west so that when the winds become lighter we can bear south of west to increase our apparent wind and keep Askari moving along.

Oh gosh, I just got interrupted - another fish! Another small mahi mahi - so very pretty but so very tasty. We are not going to get hungry out here and the freezer remains sealed....

Oh we have changed time zone - that was exciting at 105 West we went back an hour, we are keeping the 24 hour position at 1800 UTC for consistency.

Hope your weekend was great.

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Pacific Crossing Day 5 - 6th June 2020

Pacific Crossing Day 5 - 6th June 2020

Midday position local time (1800 UTC):
- 05 degrees, 00 minutes South
- 102 degrees, 33 minutes West
Sailing on port tack wind at 120 degrees apparent
Sea State: slight with occaisional white caps on top of nice rolling swell of 2.5m
Wind: 14 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 7.5 knots
Course over the ground: 262 degrees

And then she takes off….. Askari has just hit her sweet spot - 14 knots of wind and she flies. We had planned to try and do a sail by Zouterik however when Askari gets enough wind we just zoom off and sadly we have overtaken our friends before we got far enough south. We still chat on the radio - actually Tjaart and Andrew have decided they want their own boy chat in the afternoon; apparently the mornings are all too girly!

Last night nothing broke and the calm conditions settled in, it turned out to be a wonderful night under a beautiful bright full moon, with gentle seas - Andrew even had a huge pod of dolphins bubbling all around the boat on his watch, but he didn't dare wake me! We managed a slow and steady 147 miles in 24 hours, but since this morning the wind has picked up and the fluffy trade-wind clouds are well and truly established and we are making a more westward course.

Today, we have done a nice clean around, we caught one small fish but it got away and I baked banana bread - the bananas are just about hanging in there. We are a bit over them and are starting to talk about when we might get to enjoy something else for breakfast - Weetbix or muesli would even be a treat. A half-way to Polynesia bacon butty is the top idea on the agenda. I have been making delicious lemongrass ginger tea with the leaves of the fresh lemongrass we bought in Isabela - that with banana bread this morning was perfect.

I think you can tell the mood is much happier today. The new preventer line is in fact much better and we have adjusted the mainsail to remove a squeak.

Right - this afternoon's plan is lounge in the cockpit and enjoy the view.

I hope your day is as good x x

Special Geeky Stat Report for those who care about numbers:
We left Galapagos on Monday bound for Queensland. A journey of more than 7000 miles which we expect to take 50 days. We have prepared supplies for 60 days at sea and have 20 days of additional reserve so we dont have to eat each other if the plan is too optimistic.

Ater 5 days this is how we have done
-Distance sailed 757 Nm or about 11% of the direct course to Brisbane
-Consumed 59L of diesel of 700L on board which is about 8.5%
-Water tanks are full
-Food going to plan with no waste
-One fish caught
-All boat systems operational

So far so good will update this at day 10

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Pacific Crossing Day 4 - 5th June 2020

Pacific Crossing Day 4 - 5th June 2020

Midday position local time (1800 UTC):
- 04 degrees, 01 minutes South
- 100 degrees, 13 minutes West
Sailing on port tack wind at 100 degrees apparent
Sea State: slight on top of big rolling swell of 2.5m
Wind: 10 knots from South East
Speed over the ground: 5.8 knots
Course over the ground: 260 degrees

I guess there's no going back then! We just crossed 100 West and early this morning the sea calmed and it's champagne sailing again, it looks like we have found the trade winds - what a difference a day makes…

It's fair to say I wasn't at all happy last night. By this time into a long passage I get so tired that finally I can take a nap or go a bit mad then fall asleep anywhere, but last night in a ridiculously uncomfortable sea and virtually no wind I felt on the edge of insanity. Our bed was jolting side to side and the noise of the autopilot fighting the sea was unsettling, the bow was bouncy the saloon and the sea berth vibrated as the sails crashed around - no goldilocks bed to be found. After Andrew witnessed me staggering around the boat with a pile of pillows and a sheet trying to find somewhere to sleep grumbling and moaning at him as my off watch was dwindling away, he came to my rescue and put the engine on. My knight with a yanmar! And then he let me sleep all night - he napped in the cockpit and we woke to a much brighter day with calm seas a more south easterly wind and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Ah yeah the thing that sent me over the edge was probably the metal shackle that securing our boom gybe preventer exploded just as I was serving dinner. It must be metal fatigue and luckily the preventer flew forward and missed the forehatch window and we were able to quickly haul in the main sheet before any damage was done. Seriously every evening is there something?? The lasagne was of course better for being a bit crispy by the time we sorted that out with a temp fix til morning.

Partly as a result of our 'motor sailing cheating' overnight we have gained on De Zouterik who are now about 42 miles south of us - they also had a rough night but had wind for sailing, which probably explains why our sea state was so bad. We are both right at the point where we join the tradewinds and as you move further south they get stronger. Our plan is to slowly move a little further south and then run along west at a point where there's enough wind to make for a comfortable downwind sleigh ride but not too far south as the current isn't as good….. that's the kind of plan anyhow.

Sorry honey for being grumpy - I like this afterall x x

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Pacific Crossing Day 3 - 4th June 2020

Pacific Crossing Day 3 - 4th June 2020

Midday position local time (1800 UTC):
- 03 degrees, 25 minutes South
- 098 degrees, 03 minutes West
Sailing with poled out as an experiment
Sea State: choppy with big swell of 2-3 metres
Wind: 11 knots at 110 degrees
Speed over the ground: 5.5 knots
Course over the ground: 260 degrees

Well we had no fishermen encounters in the night and in fact didn't see a single light, so that was good however the ugly sea state and big swell has given us a bit of angst for the last 24 hours. It's really hard to keep the sails set and the sheets and sails bang around and especially when you are tired and trying to sleep it really drives you insane. It's like being on a bucking bronco and not enough wind to keep Askari steady through the water. We have just been trying to run wing on wing with the jib poled out but its actually worse so we will be switching that back before lunch.

We also had an issue last night as the generator wouldn't start. After a few tests in the dark Andrew identified that the new start battery was fine but that there was a difference in the voltage showing on the generator control panel than was measured at the battery. It actually started second time but we needed to do more work this morning - we went into the the night worried it might be the starter. So before coffee we had the generator casing off and Andrew identified the culprit - a fuse on the power supply to the controller had shaken loose in the confused seas and this was enough to stop the generator from starting. Phew that was a relief and we enjoyed our morning coffee.

It is definitely a little warmer today - we are sure this sea state is the impact of converging currents. We enjoyed one of our favourite lunches - chapatti with humus and crudités and that lifted spirits for a few minutes….

Here's hoping we get through this turbulence soon.

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Pacific Crossing Day 2 - 3nd June 2020

Pacific Crossing Day 2 - 3nd June 2020

Midday position local time:
- 02 degrees, 42 minutes South
- 095 degrees, 25 minutes West
Sailing on a broad reach in beautiful conditions, not a cloud in the sky
Sea State: long rolly swell of 2 metres
Wind: 15 knots at 115 degrees
Speed over the ground: 7.8 knots
Course over the ground: 255 degrees

The perfect conditions continued for the last 24 hours, overnight wind was around 10-12 knots all nights and the swell was gentle. The moon is nearly full and it was drier than the first night where the dew was crazy. Its surprisingly cool at night out here.

We had quite a lot of excitement last night just as I was going on off watch. We had seen about 6 or 7 fishing boats and tracked a couple as the sun set and they were luckily moving behind us, but then we spotted a bright light and a fainter one ahead. There was no radar target or AIS but it appeared quite close. We turned the boat north away from it and carried on monitoring trying desperately to get a radar target - but nothing.

A few minutes later it became obvious the light was zooming closer towards us - we were both pretty wired and I grabbed our deterrents as we watched a 20 foot launcher approach Askari with two men aboard, with bright lights on poles. They came within two metres and spoke in Spanish with big arm signals to direct us in a southerly direction. Andrew was calm and understood they were guarding their fishing equipment that stretched over 4 miles. We quickly furled the genoa and turned into the wind under engine following their instruction, with them a few metres away ensuring we kept to the course. It was a pretty nerve-racking hour and I stayed inside clutching a can of bear spray, but after a mile or so we saw the 'beacon' marking the southern end of the net. They then came back closer and Andrew managed to have a brief conversation, they were Ecuadorian and were very excited with big grins when we said we were from Australia and that we had come from Isabela. They took photos of us and we took one of them too and they zoomed off into the night. The fisherman that work out of open boats hundreds of miles from land are tough guys. We set the sail and took a few deep breaths before relaxing into the night watch.

We have seen one more big fishing boat this morning and then got to speak to Zouterik ahead of us who reported they have also seen a lot of lights at night. We cannot remember ever seeing any boats in the Pacific on our last crossing. We had a lovely chat with the Zoutz this morning including hearing from Linde and Berber about their day of home school- it's so lovely having these good friends not so far away.

The day continues to be absolutely beautiful and we just had a wonderful sashimi lunch.

Hoping for less excitement tonight….

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Pacific Crossing Day 1 - 2nd June 2020

Pacific Crossing Day 1 - 2nd June 2020

Midday position local time:
- 01 degrees, 47 minutes South
- 092 degrees, 54 minutes West
Sailing on a broad reach in beautiful conditions, not a cloud in the sky
Sea State: long rolly swell of 1.5/2 metres
Wind: 12 knots at 110 degrees
Speed over the ground: 7.2 knots
Speed in the water: 6.2 knots
Course over the ground: 234 degrees

We ended up being a bit late leaving Isabela yesterday as they lost the internet - think the 'IT crowd' TV episode where Jen thinks the internet is a box….. We think that perhaps Santa Cruz borrowed it. However, after many radio conversations, dropping documents ashore, suggestions to use a hotspot, a team of people arrived with a manual zarpe at about 2.30pm.

The national park guy had to inspect to ensure we were not taking anything away we shouldn't - no penguins, no sea-lions, no tortoises, etc - he was in full hazmat suit with gloves. I was a little anxious about people coming aboard that could infect us but they were all super careful and kept their distance on the aft deck. The health officer gave us a clean bill of health and a certificate. The port officer had everyone sign the zarpe and the last minute decided not to charge us anchorage given the covid-19 situation - saving us $100. That was very kind but it went towards the donation we left with our agent James to support families on the island, and a flag from our sailing club in Fremantle. They were all very appreciative. We just had to scan and send documents then we were free to depart. With big waves from our fishermen friends and the tour boat crew plus a medley of noise from the delivery ship and a 'hasta luego Askari' on the radio from the port captain.

It was an overcast grey afternoon as we left, however we had a gentle breeze that allowed us to shut the engine off within an hour of leaving. We sailed out towards a dramatic sky and even better sunset, with flocks of Nazca boobies (not seen since our day trip to Espanola) crossing our bow and huge manta rays flipping their wings all around us. I knocked up a virgin passionfruit mojito and we toasted our departure as our wonderful island of Isabela drifted into the night. It was magical and we knew we were ready to be back in the ocean.

Overnight the wind died off and we put the engine on low revs to keep the sails full and had a peaceful night - after all the stress of the day we actually both got some sleep. This morning we spoke to our friends on Zouterik who are ahead of us about 70 miles on the SSB and Andrew got sent kisses from his favourite princess Berber - she's six - it made his day.

We have been experimenting with sail configurations today and have set up the pole so we are ready when we get to the point for running down wind. But for now we remain on a port tack, broad reach having a lovely sail. We did spot two boats earlier - they made us a little nervous when we first saw them as they had no AIS and were going faster than fishing boats usually do, however as they got closer we saw they were towing long lines of boats so we guess they were operating large nets and were moving area. We gave them a wide berth.

Oh I was just interrupted writing this as Andrew caught us a small yellow fin tuna - yay!!

So all in all it's been perfect first 24 hours at sea - we would like to order up more of this…..

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