Crossing 1/3 of the Pacific (by Calder Hyer, age 14)

              On March 31, 2024, sailing vessel Terikah left the safe harbor of La Cruz, Mexico with a destination of Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia. Onboard were the Hyers, Cora, Calder, Dadu, and Mama, along with the crew, consisting of Emil Tucker. After large provisioning runs and filling up our water and diesel tanks, we were ready!

We left in the morning, around 7:45 AM, and motor sailed out of Banderas Bay. After getting out of the large bay, we shut off the engines and sailed at 5-9 knots under Code 0 and main. The so called “Washing Machine” consisted of 6–12-foot waves but we were hauling due to having a clean bottom. We sailed through giant patches of krill that turned the water orange as far as we could see and caught two Bonito and a 4-plus foot shark! The first night watch was slow, as we were just getting into the motions of watch. We were delighted to find flying fish and squid on the trampolines in the morning. Bait! A pod of dolphins joined us at some point in the day and we caught double Yellowfin tuna near sunset. So far, the trip hadn’t felt real for me yet. We had lost sight of land, but the thought that land was just over the horizon stuck with me. We were well over 800 miles from land before the trip really felt real.

The next few days were a blur, the weather got rough, and we all sat in the cockpit, watching the waves, feeling seasick, and eating chips and goldfish. After days of not seeing any boats, we found ourselves on a collision course with an 800-foot tanker. On one of the many night watches, Emil and I saved a bird that ran into our stern navigation light and some flying fish that landed in the cockpit. Emil and I were on night watch together. Every half hour we did pushups to keep ourselves awake, looked at the stars, then went back to listening to our music. Dadu stayed up all night on one watch in the worst of the weather, keeping the boat running with the waves. The bridge deck slap was constant and very obnoxious, sometimes hitting so hard that the items on the table would bounce into the air. My logbook entry on Tuesday April 9: “Conditions = blah.” The next day, a 15-foot wave crashed on the dingy and sloshed through the cockpit. The cockpit was dirty anyway, just a cleaning that I didn’t have to do! 🙂

On Wednesday April 11^th, my logbook entry reads, “Is it calming down? Impossible!” As the weather calmed, we caught a Wahoo! The fish was giant and fed us numerous meals. This was the highlight of the trip for me, to have my sea legs and to be hauling in fish. We had our first, and last, day of calm weather on Friday, April 12. We also crossed the Equator on this day, celebrating at 2 in the morning. Emil dressed up as Neptune and we toasted to the ocean and the forces that got us there.  We got through the ITCZ, or Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, in one night. Normally this takes 2-5 days. The ITCZ is a band of calm weather with squalls. Unfortunately, the squalls followed us for 500 miles.

The many days of beam seas and wind were getting to everyone. We had heard on most accounts that the trip to the Marquesas was a downwind sail with following seas. This was not the case for us. The air and water temperature were heating up drastically. The air and water were both 85+ degrees F and at night, the temperature only dropped to 82 degrees on a colder night. We were sweating constantly.

Some red-footed-booby birds stayed on the bow and a school of dolphins joined us on our last day at sea without seeing land. On Tuesday, April 23, we made landfall. Hiva Oa and its neighboring islands grew from the horizon all day. Around noon, we were motoring along the coast, soaking up the sight of land, the tropical trees and dark volcanic points, with a tall mountain extending into the clouds. The most amazing part of the island’s appearance for me was the dark, volcanic ridges protruding into the ocean. Although I was wishing for land the first week and a half, once I had my sea legs, I did not miss land.

The anchorage was packed but we found a spot. With the anchor down, we sat back and enjoyed the feeling of pride in what we had just accomplished. 2,873 nautical miles and 23 and a half days later, we had made it from La Cruz, Mexico, to Hiva Oa, Marquesas in French Polynesia.

This journey had many ups and downs, with big fish, big waves, friendly birds, sea sickness, sea legs, scary squalls, and much more. Crossing the Equator and sailing to the Marquesas has been a dream for Mama and Dadu for over 20 years and it was very exciting for them to complete it. This trip for me was definitely exciting, to get my sea legs and to be able to operate, including mopping out the bathroom when big waves tried to make it their home. I feel very lucky to be on this voyage with my family and am excited to keep exploring Earth and all it has to show us.

We have been exploring land and small islands for about a week, but it does feel strange to not have a rhythm, to wake up, have a breakfast bar, do my daytime watch, listen to Mama read, and to be woken and 1 in the morning for my four-hour watch with Emil. I will miss the rhythm of the ocean that we developed and hope that once again in my life, I will be able to experience it, maybe on my own boat.

(This was Calder’s Language Arts assignment this week. Stories and pictures of French Polynesia to follow soon. We’ve just been resting up and settling in!).