| Days 25 - 27 April 5 - 8, 2000
|
| We had an incredibly frustrating
twenty four hours which consisted of continuous squalls with rain and light or no wind.
Each time a squall came up the wind would go into the east and we would be sailing on a
reach. Then as the squall passed the wind would die and then come back from the northeast
but very light, meaning that either the sails flapped like mad and rattled the mast, or we
switched the genny over to the pole so we could be wing on wing. We must have changed the
sails at least every hour or more. Finally the wind settled in the northeast at a steady
ten knots and we were making 5 to 6 knots in reasonable comfort. On April 7, we picked up
a heavy, short swell out of the east making us roll very jerkily and making it very tiring
to move around the boat. Most days were 110 miles, almost all of them directly on our
rhumb line. |
| The last couple of days were
mainly cloudy with lots of rain overnight and occasionally strong wind in squalls. We had
the radar going in the nights of the 7th and 8th to keep track of the squalls and watch
for other boats as we know from listening to the nets that there are a couple in our area.
|
| By Saturday, April 8 with only
100 miles to go we were back to northeast winds and were wing on wing to quiet the noise
and motion of the boat. The double reef in the main, which had been in for the night was
just left alone because we did not want to go too quickly knowing we would arrive at our
first waypoint off the northeast corner of Hiva Oa, in the middle of the night. |
| We finally caught a fish – Vlad was on
the Puddlejumpers SSB net when the line snagged and the clothespin we attach to the
backstay fell on the floor. He quickly signed off and started hauling in. It was a
skipjack tuna with five black stripes on the bottom. We figure he was about twenty pounds
and quite hard to haul up in the net. Vlad got eight big meals out of him. The meat is
dark when butchered, but turns a lighter colour when it is cooked. |
 |
| Amazingly enough, I am still able
to contact boats in Mexico on the Amigo Net and chat with Cathy on MORNING most days.
Right now the net is at 0400 ships time, which is the beginning of my watch. Once we get
to Hiva Oa, I don’t think I’ll be getting up at that time to talk anymore. |
| We’ve had a generally slow
trip with light winds for the most part. Listening in to the boats a couple of weeks
behind us, they have had stronger and more consistent winds as they have moved south and
west but are now faced with a much wider than normal ITCZ which today is at 180 miles
wide, three times it’s usual. |