Day 1 We spent the morning getting ready for the passage, planning to leave in the afternoon. We dinghied over to the local valley farm, picking fruit with the owner and loading a wheelbarrow and two bags FULL of green bananas, green mangos, limes, starfruit, green papaya, coconuts, pamplemouse, and basil. This is our fruit haul to eat for our month in the Tuamotus! Our fridge is full, as is our shower with bags of fruit.
For Chris and Calder, getting ready meant stowing and cleaning, checking the engines and fluids, tying the dinghy down tightly, deflating the paddle-boards, and walking around the boat to make sure all was shipshape. For me, this meant mostly food preparation, as I pre-made egg burritos for the next two mornings, cooked beans and rice, and made a dinner of wahoo coconut curry to last us two nights. For Cora, this meant resting…last night, while doing some acrobatics she slipped and landed (luckily on the softer trampoline) on her left knee, dislocating her patella. After I popped it back in, we wrapped and iced it, and she has been resting with it elevated. Initially, it swelled to the size of a pamplemousse…now it just a very persistent painful orange.
Anchor up and on our way at 2:15pm, fishing line whirred at 2:30, and we had a massive beautiful wahoo into the boat by 2:45! What a start to the passage. Chris did a remarkable job gaffing this large fish and hauling it into the boat. Calder now ties his Gpa’s record of a 56 inch wahoo! What a gift.
Seas are a lovely 3-6 feet (1-2 meters) on the beam with winds a solid 20 knots, our speed from 6-9 knots with our main and genoa; making excellent time and pleased that the seastate isn’t larger. Sunset on the horizon, we saw the “green flash,” though it was more a small “green strobe” tonight. Watched the islands of the Marquesas fade into darkness; goodbye wonderful islands (or is it see you later?).
Overnight, winds built to a max of 27 knots, 6-9 foot seas, max boat speed 9.5 knots. We put in a reef in both the main and the genoa. A few squalls in the distance. No other boat traffic. We all did our watches. A huge flying fish flew on board during my watch, over one foot long with massive “wings,” thankfully he flopped back into his ocean home. If they come into the cockpit when underway, we throw them back in. However, when they land on the sides or back steps, we just cheer them on to flop into the water, as we have a rule of staying in the cockpit during the night. A bit of moonlight was lovely on passage.
Day 2
We woke to water, water, and water…no land in site. It’s very typical to have a bit of lethargy on the first couple days out. Our scopolamine patches are working well for motion sickness, as well as providing auditory and visual hallucinations. Chris saw a fish squirting water into the air like a fountain, people in our boat, and the moon turn into a possessed skulpin. We put up with these hallucinations, often laughing about them after, because the medicine works so well for our family. School underway consists mostly of me reading/teaching to the kids, then they have assignments to do once we are anchored. This week’s topics are mass media, analyzing advertisements, and meteorology. We just finished reading F451 and are starting Lord of the Flies. No true “summer break” for the kids, as we take breaks when underway and when exploring new locations. Their summer break is spread throughout the year!
Our passage today has been overall quite good, making good progress toward our goal under sail. There have been squalls surrounding us, but thus far we got a drizzle and a brief freshening of winds up to 27 knots. We are moving into night watch soon, winds 18-21 knots, seas 3-6 feet on beam, sails reefed for the evening and moving along at a lovely 6.5 knots.
Just before bed, a confused sea bird flies into our cockpit. Calder goes to him, picks him up and strokes his head reassuringly, makes sure his wings are not broken and can fly, then helps him take off from the boat to the safety of floating on and flying over the water.
Unfortunately, during the night, Chris starts his watch earlier and ends his watch later than planned, essentially taking a 6 hour shift. There are squalls all around us (we ended up in one that brought refreshing, boat-cleaning rain) and the winds and waves are flukey. Sails out, winds and seas build, sails reefed, starts to calm, sails out, squall, sails reefed heavily…then repeat…over and over and over! He is taking his well-earned nap right now and the kids and I sail this morning. Cora is good company, but can do very little with her knee so swollen and healing from the dislocation.
We are half-way through our passage from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus, 225 nm down and 225 nm to go. Looking good for a Sunday morning arrival to the atoll.
SV Terikah Adventures 