This blog will be used to maintain contact with family and friends while planning and sailing in the Pacific Puddle Jump 2011. I will be crewing for Don Patterson aboard his sailboat, Balquhidder. I will be joining Don in Ecuador the first part of March 2011. The preparation has already begun, with Christmas gifts that were sun protective clothing. I am currently researching travel options with various airlines. It appears I will spend one night in Guayaquil, before traveling to LaLibertad. Don and I will spend a couple days getting provisions, and everything stowed.
Well, I have purchased my plane tickets to Ecuador. It is a roundabout route, I think, but only one change of planes in New York. I fly all night and arrive in Guayaquil at 5:30 A.M., which is about one hour before sunrise. I will take a bus to La Libertad, which is about 3 hours, and then a taxi to the Puerto Lucia Yacht Club marina, where Don will have the boat moored. His Blog site is http://www.getjealous.com/balquhidder . Trying to figure out everything to pack for 3 months is going to require some lists.
At the monthly general meeting of the Tacoma Yacht Club last night, I learned that Don and John plan on leaving Mazatlan on Saturday for the straight shot to Ecuador and are planning on a 3 week passage.
Bruce,
Just a short update on our status. We are currently a bit less that 900 miles from Ecuador (about the same latitude as Panama City) on a course of 120 degrees. We hope to arrive there on Friday next. The boat is performing quite well. No significant problems at all. We have had excellent NNE wind to 15 for the last several days putting us on a close reach. Good sailing. Hope the wind holds. Still have almost 100 gals of fuel remaining out of 145, so that's under control. Don't see anything that would stop continuing into the South Pacific as planned.
Cheers,
Don
I have been putting together little piles in my den/office of things that are going to be packed. I will also be bringing stuff for Don and the boat from Stella. Trying to plan meals since Don is a vegan and I am a carnivore. You want things that are simple, don’t need refrigeration and have a long shelf life. I think there will be a lot of instant oatmeal with honey, (doesn’t spoil good energy), power bars and canned- meat, vegetables and fruit. I am hopeful that I will be able to catch some fish along the way for a change of pace. How many pairs of reading glasses and sunglasses, light rain gear for squalls, sun screen and hats and the list goes on.
Well, the situation changes as Don has moored in a different marina than planned. Don and John stopped at the mouth of the Rio Chone, Bahia de Caraquez. The name of the marina is Puerto Amistad and its website is www.puertoamistadecuador.com . The change for me is a longer road trip by 3 or 4 hours. Don is fixing or having fixed a couple of minor things while there and wants me to haul him up the mast to check the halyards for chafe before we leave. I have my list with little boxes to be checked and I’m working on a meal plan to make shopping easier when I arrive.
Things are starting to get a little more focused. Don is traveling around Ecuador with his laptop and checking on his order of supplies with Stella and John Dorsey. I am the mule after they gather up the items to be hauled to Ecuador and Balquhidder. I have been loading books on my Kindle, and audio books and CDs on my ipod.
We are headed out for the weekend on Helios and this will be my last time on her until June, hard to believe. I have some worry about the trip, but more excitement. I will miss Linda tremendously and would not be going without her encouragement.
I traded emails with Tripp the owner of the marina, (an American Ex-Pat), where Don is staying, and he will have a fellow at the airport waiting for me when I arrive at 5:30 A.M. The drive to the marina is about 5 or 6 hours. Don and I are going to rent a taxi for a day to go to Manta, about 2 hours from the marina, to gather supplies for the trip.
The last couple of weeks will have time set aside for dinner and lunches with friends and family. My granddaughter doesn’t like change and me being gone for 3+ months doesn’t make her happy. She is 11 and her first question was whether I was worried about sharks attacking the boat, so a little education has taken place.
The hard part is making sure that you remember everything, but that is why I have an Excel spreadsheet with little boxes to be checked and a growing pile of stuff in my office/den.
I am down to 48 hours before flying out. Stella stopped by yesterday with a box of spares and stuff for Don and Balquhidder. I am starting the packing process. I checked the weather in New York and there shouldn’t be any problems that would delay my flight. The scheduled arrival time in Guayaquil is 5:45 AM Thursday morning there time, which is the same as East Coast time, so 2:45 A.M. for here in Washington. I have been checking the weather for Bahia de Caraquez and it has been 80-85 with light winds from various directions. The tentative plan is to start for the Galapagos Islands on Tuesday March 8th. I will try to post an update prior to our leaving, with some pictures. It will be a good test for the WiFi antenna that I’m bringing.
Here is the weather site for the Galapagos Islands:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=Galapagos+Islands%2C+Ecuador
and Bahia de Caraquez:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=Bahia+de+Caraquez%2C+Ecuador&MR=1
Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas:
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/91925.html
Takaroa, Tuamotu Archipeligo:
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/91943.html
and finally Papeete, Tahiti:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Papeete, French Polynesia
Well, I'm heading to the airport at 4 in the morning. The bags are packed and I'm thankful for rollers on the luggage. I have box for Don, so it will be like Christmas in March. I should be at the boat around 10-11 AM Thursday Washington time, which is 3 hours different from Ecuador time.
March 2, 2011
I was at Sea-Tac by 5 in the morning and after giving Linda a kiss and hug I was on my own. The check in was easy and though I was worried about my duffle being over-weight, it went through with no problems. The flight left on time and we had a tailwind most of the wind which allowed us to arrive almost an hour early. I am sure a lot of people were happy, but since my 7 hour wait was moved to 8 hours, not a lot of joy from this traveler. I had to ride the “Air Train” at JFK to get to the right terminal for LAN. I decided to have something to eat and then check in. The lady at the check in for LAN was curious why I didn’t have a return flight. I explained that I would be leaving Ecuador by sailboat a couple of times and she said I would need to prove to the Customs Officials that I have the where withal to leave the country. They announced that my flight has been delayed 1 hour and won’t arrive in Guayaquil until 6:30 in the morning.
March 3, 2011
Well, the LAN required that I purchase a return ticket or they wouldn’t let me board the flight, so after running around and having to come back through TSA they let me aboard and upgraded me to business class. The upgrade made for nice seating that allowed me to sleep a lot of the way. It was a slow process getting my bags and going through customs, but by 9 AM I was looking for my taxi driver who didn’t show. I made arrangements with the taxi company at the airport and 4 hours later I was shaking Don’s hand at Puerto Armistad. We had a late lunch or early dinner and then tossed the bags in the dinghy and headed out to the boat. We got things unloaded and put away. I took a little nap and then helped Don get his new laptop up and running. We were unable to connect to Wi-Fi from the boat with his or mine, so the antenna will be needed.
March 4, 2011
Well, it was nice to have a night’s sleep and be gently rocked. We were up for coffee and showers then to shore to meet up with the taxi driver who was taking us to Manta. We met Carlos and were on our way. It took about 90 minutes and we found Dave Hendrickson at the entry gate for the cruise ships. We headed over to the shopping area to meet up with Marla, and then it was off to a small town about 20 minutes away to shop for “Panama Hats” and go through a museum. It was in Spanish so we didn’t get everything but it was a nice museum. Then it was down to the beach in Manta to have lunch/dinner. The place specialized in fish of all sorts. I had a rice mixture with various shellfish mixed in. Marla and Dave had fish, head to tail on the plate. We went looking for a camera store for Don and then it was time to say good bye to Marla and Dave as they head to the Panama Canal tomorrow and then Aruba and finally Ft. Lauderdale to complete their circumnavigation of South America. Don and I are planning a quiet evening, even though “Carnival” is starting up this evening and will run through “Fat Tuesday”.
I am starting to get acclimated a little, mainly the time zone change. The heat and humidity will take a while longer and probably a few pounds lost. The people are very friendly, but not speaking a little Spanish is a detriment. In the two towns I’ve been in English is not spoken at the stores or offices. The people smile and try to guess what your saying or asking and sometimes hand signals work. I am hoping that my 3 years of French in high school will be available somewhere in my memory banks when we get to French Polynesia.
We walked a few blocks down the street from the marina to a hostel run by a lady, Susie, from Australia for breakfast. She sat and talked with us as we had our coffee after breakfast. Her husband had passed away and her 4 boys were raised so she decided to travel. She landed in Quito found Bahia de Caraquez. She bought an empty building and used the upper floors for a hostel and first floor for a restaurant. She had 10 young college students from New York there this morning who were getting ready to spend a couple of weeks doing a reforestation project 8 miles south on the beach.
Carnival has taken over the town with all kinds of roadside vendors. It is hard to get any workmen for projects until Wednesday. We need a refrigeration guy and a mechanic to complete a couple of small jobs. The countryside is quite different from home, think about Jurassic Park. It reminds me of the time Linda and I spent in Costa Rica. Everything is green and lots of flowering plants. In this area of Ecuador they grow corn the year around, with just about everything being hand planted and harvested. They plant hillsides I would have a hard time climbing.
The other boaters here represent a diverse group, with Australia, Germany, Chile and so on. When there is an ebb tide the current (this is a river mount) is 4 or 5 knots and makes docking the dinghy a little tricky at times. The people are very open and honest, but we do haul the dinghy clear of the water with the spare main halyard. We will stow it on the foredeck during passages, which means the hatches in my stateroom will be closed, but Don has installed a fan so I will have some air movement.
I will try take some pictures to post later today.
We were up around 8 to have some coffee and start on projects. I hauled Don up the mast to check connections and fittings. The only problem was a little wear on the connection for the staysail, but we will limit use until we can get a rigger to work on it. We unfurled the main and made a couple of patches over some wear areas where the sail and sail cover material meet. Don “Scotch Guarded” the bimini, and we have completed a few more tasks.
There is quite a diverse population here in the marina. I just was talked with a German couple who are leaving their boat for a while to travel inland to see Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and maybe Argentina. I have seen a couple boats flying Chilean flags, Cayman Islands, Bahamas and even a couple of Americans. The locals are having a great time celebrating “Carnival” and the marina restaurant is full. The beaches are packed with a few boats towing kids behind boats. It is a lot more comfortable in 80 degree water and sunshine.
The music has slowed down this afternoon, but I expect it to crank back up this evening as “Carnival” continues. There is a steady stream of traffic on the main highway bringing more people in for the evening. Everybody is having a good time and is friendly and helpful, although very few speak any English. I wish I could remember more Spanish from the semester that Linda and I took in the evenings at the community college. As I spend more time here the words are starting to come back a little. The food is good and with the heat I’m not eating as much, so the weight loss program has begun. I can have my laundry done before we go for $0.50 a pound and we will have to wash our own while at sea.
It was a busy day yesterday. We started with Don repairing aft head and me working on the aft shower sump. Don was able to finish his project, but mine took a little more time. The impeller on the pump had stripped so the motor would run, but the impeller wouldn’t turn. I disconnected the forward pump, sensor switch and filter and installed them in the aft shower sump. The end result was everything was working. Then we discovered the bilge pump was not working. After doing a lot of electrical searching we discovered that the two power wires coming from the DC panel were dead, but the ground was OK. We decided to bypass the DC panel and ran a wire from the house battery bank to the off/on switch and used the existing ground, and we were back in business. We got showered and headed in for lunch/dinner and a little surfing on the net for availability of parts at Fisheries Supply in Seattle.
Today we decided to tackle the staysail and see if we could shift the attachment to the mast, which had rotated 180 degrees. It was a long process that saw Don up and down the mast a couple of times, but the lead is now fair, although 5 of the wire strands were worn through, so the sail will see limited use until a rigger can attach a new connection fitting.
The town was noisy last night with families out walking around and we saw a few come in to the restaurant for dinner. Lots of little kids and they are well behaved. The music is only at one level, loud. It cools off enough by 11 or midnight to sleep and the temp is usually in the hi 80’s or low 90’s. This is the standard weather around hear according to the ex-Pat, Trip, who owns and runs the marina/restaurant. He has been hear about 7 years, graduated from Auburn, and there is a Sweet Home Alabama poster in the bar.
Don and I are headed down the street to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner a little later. We will spend a couple of hours at the WiFi hut. We update our Blogs, read and send emails and surf the web to see what is going on in the rest of the world. We are going to try and get the WiFi antenna hooked up that I bought down, so we can connect to the internet without leaving the boat, while we are at anchor. I got lesson in sailmail last night, as that is what we will use to contact family and friends while out on the ocean using SSB (Single Side Band) radio.
Well, yesterday was a long wait. An Austrian couple moored nearby was headed in the marina, and asked whether we had heard about the Japan earthquake and possible tsunami. A few minutes later another American ex-Pat said the Port Captain was having a meeting in a few minutes. Don and I headed in to find out what was going on. The Port Captain, Tripp, informed us that the Ecuadorian Navy had closed the port so we couldn’t go to sea, plus the tide was falling and there was not enough water through the passage to get out. The waves were supposed to hit around 6:30 – 7:00 in the evening, just after sunset. We had the mechanic scheduled to finish up on the generator, so Don took him out to the boat. All day it was a gradual withdrawal as the people left town under an evacuation order from the government. Tripp closed the marina, and took all the electronics he could carry to his house at higher ground. When Don brought the mechanic in, I went back and we cleaned up the boat and put things away. We were in the cockpit by 5 waiting. Nothing happened by 8 and the cars and buses were bringing people back to the town. The music started playing and things seemed like normal. Don decided to head in and send some emails, but since I had already done that, I stay aboard. Don came back around 9:30 and we settled into our staterooms to read a little before sleeping. Then a little after 10 in the evening the boat started rock. We hurried to the cockpit to see a group of large swells moving across the bay towards us. The swells were only about 3’ high, but they powerful and had all the boats rocking. The good thing was that high tide was at 8 so the water level had gone down, so there was no damage on shore from the waves. We had the second set about 30 minutes later, with the same strength. There were two smaller sets over the next 90 minutes. We came through fine. There was a Swedish boat anchored behind and to our port that got moved, probably two boat lengths. They are inland for a month, so if it becomes a problem we will work with another cruiser to re-anchor them farther away.
We have all the mechanical things taken care of, and will be going to Manta on Tuesday to complete our provisioning for the trip. We will have a taxi for the day. Our scheduled departure is for 1 PM Wednesday afternoon. A pilot is required entering and leaving Bahia de Caraquez. He will get us out to the Pacific and our start to the Galapagos Islands.
It is about 48 hours until we leave Bahia de Caraquez for the Galapagos Islands. The wind situation continues to be light, but at least there is wind. Don and I are looking forward to leaving. I have been here on 2 weeks, while it’s been over 6 weeks for Don. The boat is ready to go, with Juanito scrubbing the decks today, so everything is clean to start the trip. We will head to Manta tomorrow, which is about a 90 minute drive. The taxi will stay with us the whole time. We will load up on provisions, not only for the trip across, but as much of the travel in French Polynesia as possible. The reason being things are a lot cheaper here. There is plenty of storage room for a lot of canned goods. The routine on board usually lends itself to two meals a day. Yes to family and friends, I have and will continue to lose weight on the trip, but I don’t think I’ll be skinny by the time I return. I am a pretty basic eater, so planning doesn’t require too much on my part for variety, if something works go with it.
We will leave around 1 PM Wednesday afternoon because it will be high tide and the entrance into the bay is shallow. We use a pilot supplied by the Port Captain. If you look at www.passageweather.com you can see the winds and weather we will have for our passage to the Galapagos Islands. Don has hired a professional service for weather guidance and planning for the passage from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. I will try keeping a daily log, so that I can summarize the trip when I return.
Today was our last full day in Bahia de Caraquez. We were up at sunrise to shower having coffee and breakfast and then head in to meet the taxi at 8. The young man had us in Manta in 1 hour and 15 minutes, (you close your eyes a lot as a passenger in Ecuador). We went to the LAN office where I got a refund on my return plane ticket I was forced to buy in New York to get on the plane, since I didn’t have documentation saying that I was leaving the country by boat. Then we went to the Super Maxi where we filled 3 shopping carts and spend around $700 on provisions. I was in charge buying meat for me and Dave when he joins us in the Marquesas Islands. We then stopped at the Immigration Office to check out of Ecuador. They stamped our passports and verified our Zarpe, (a document given by the Port Captain when you check out of a port and asked for by the next Port Captain when you check in.) We were back at the marina by 2 in the afternoon and it took 2 dinghy trips to get all the stuff on the boat. We found a place for everything and we are ready to go.
We will come in tomorrow morning to check out of the marina and settle any bills, and be back out to the boat to get ready to leave. High tide is at 1 in the afternoon and that is when we will be leaving. We are hoping for a 5 day trip, but it all depends upon the winds, which are currently light, (5-10).
My next update will be from the Galapagos Islands if I can get on the net. I will email my friend Dave using SSB, (limited time usage), and he will paraphrase and do some updates also.
This covers from departure of Bahia de Caraquez to the arrival at Academy Bay on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. We left at high tide about 1 in the afternoon. The pilot came aboard and with Don on the helm we headed out of the bay. It was a winding route between the sand bars with the depth at times less than 8’ under the keel. After the pilot left and wished us well on our travels, we hoisted sails, (unfurled head and main), shut down the engine and started on our 650 mile trip. The wind and current kept us a little north of course but we were able to keep the speed at or above 4.5 knots. Don took the first watch from 7-1, and I got some sleep for my first night watch on this trip. Don got to fight with fishing boats, nets and lines while I slept. My watch from 1-7 I saw one ship on the horizon headed towards the Panama Canal. I had coffee with Don when he got up at 7, then a little breakfast and a couple hours of sleep. We both shared day watch depending on what had to be done. This schedule worked well for us, throughout the trip. We had originally decided upon San Cristobal Island as our port of entry, but changed to Santa Cruz, because of better amenities. We sailed all but 10 hours of the 7 day trip and most of the motoring was the morning of our last day when the wind died to 2-3 knots. As we rounded the bottom of San Cristobal Island the sea was glassy smooth and we saw our greeting committee on its way, bottle nosed dolphins. There were about 20 of them and 2 spent about 15 minutes riding the bow wake while Don was taking pictures. We had one jump 6-7 feet clear of the water. We also had sea lions and turtles, along with numerous sea birds. The wind came back around 11 and we were able to sail all the way to our destination on a beam reach at 7 knots. We came into Academy Bay and the town of Puerto Aroya, (largest town in the Galapagos Islands,) dropped anchor and were settled in around 3 in the afternoon. We decided to let checking in wait until tomorrow, and just relax in the cockpit during the afternoon and early evening. Checking in to the Galapagos is different than other Ecuadorian ports. The Port Captain doesn’t want anything to do with “Cruisers”, you are required to hire an “Agent”, ($100), and pay all the fees to him. We are going to remain anchored here and use the various tours offered by numerous stores to do day trips to sites that we want to see.
I have uploaded some photos of our arrival to Academy Bay on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Island.
More later
We were up around 7:30 and after coffee, breakfast and showers we were ready for the day’s adventure, Charles Darwin Research Center and Galapagos National Park. There wasn’t too much to see at the Research Center, just a building listed as the Interpretive Center. We walked through reading all the information, since it was in Spanish and English. The trail through the National Park was 1.3 kilometers and had various buildings with different information on the animals of the Galapagos. The primary exhibit was the tortoise breeding program. They had different fenced areas where they would put one male and three females or two males and seven females. You could walk right next to the tortoises; they were smart and rested in the shade. We got a lot of pictures. The next exhibit was land iguanas. They keep them in separate areas because they are very territorial. They are supposed to be the largest land iguanas. On the way out to the park we stopped at the fish market to watch the guys filet the day’s catch. There was a bunch of pelicans and one sea lion that were looking for scraps. We were back at the town square stopped at the juice bar for some liquid refreshment, and were back on the boat by 1:30 in time for a nap.
We were up early for breakfast and coffee and then it was time to catch a water taxi to shore and meet up with our group that was going to Floreana Island. The majority were English speaking from U.S. and Canada. There were a Canadian family, mom, dad, son, daughter and son-in-law from the Vancouver area; a fellow from just outside Orlando, one from Milwaukee and a couple from Boston. The remaining were an English couple and four from Ecuador. The ride over at 22 knots took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Our bus to the tortoise area was a two ton truck with four bench seats in the back covered by a wooden canopy that would hold four in each row. The walk to the tortoises was about ½ hour. They are getting ready to introduce them to the island. We all got numerous pictures. We left there for a gradual uphill hike to some small caves carved into the lava, and some beautiful vistas looking out over the island to the ocean. It was then down the hill to the “Bus” and we went back down near the port for lunch of tuna, coleslaw and rice. After lunch we loaded back up in the boat and headed to the northern part of the island to go snorkeling. I was disappointed because when we had booked the tour, we were told mask, fins and snorkel would be supplied, so Don and I didn’t bother to dig ours out of the lazzerette. We were told just mask and snorkel no fins. The water was a little sloppy with some wave action and I made a brief trip from boat to near shore and back. The visibility was less than expected and not as many fish as I thought there would be. They loaded us back on the boat and moved ½ mile up the coast so we could snorkel in another area, which had better visibility, but I passed. Don borrowed a set of fins from the guide but the wave action filled his snorkel a couple of times causing him some grief and a need to get out. The ride back started after we stopped at another cove that had a couple of penguins and some turtles swimming around. It was a good ride back with everyone talking about the trip, their travels and any other subject. Don and I returned to the boat for showers and a quiet evening.
We were up early for two reasons the swells decided around 4 AM to rock the boat and we had to be at the tour office at 7:30. We were in the same boat for the trip to Isabella, and it was about a 2 ½ hour ride each way. We got there at 10:30 and loaded up on our “Bus” for a short trip to an area with white tipped reef sharks, which were about 4-6 feet and some marine iguanas. We also saw turtles and various birds. Then we went to our snorkeling area. The way in was really neat with a boardwalk through the mangroves to a saltwater pool about a 100 yards in diameter. There were lots of small damsel fish and some puffer fish and a penguin swam through to check us out. I think it was the first time my body had been cool since I left PNW. Then it was time for lunch, fish in sauce, rice and coleslaw like substance. It was then time to go see the flamingos and some more tortoises. We were loaded back on the boat by 3 for the ride back. It was a good day except the boat ride total of 5 hours was a little long. It was a good group. They split us in to two groups, English Speaking and Spanish Speaking, with two guides, so things went well.
We will be leaving the Galapagos Islands on Monday April 4th and heading towards the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. We are anticipating a crossing time of 3 to 4 weeks. The first part will be the slowest as we work our way south to get into the trade winds. Don has requested an initial course from Commander’s Weather Routing, which will help us quite a bit. The boat is ready, groceries are stored and we are full of fuel and water. We will use the watermaker each day to replace the water that we use, and it runs while the generator is running, which we use to run the cold plate in the refer/freezer. The generator is used for 1 ½ to 2 hours a day which is about 1.5 gallons of diesel, and we carry 100 in the main tank, and 45 in 5 gallon jerry cans, which is plenty to get us across. We plan on using the engine very little, which might make the passage one or two days longer but we are a sailboat and fuel is $5 a gallon. Dave Hendrickson will be joining us when we reach Hiva Oa, our check in point to French Polynesia.
The first three days were the slowest of the whole crossing, in that time we barely made 150 miles. Our goal was to make it to 8 degrees south and 90 degrees west, which was a little over 700 miles from our starting point. Since we were starting from the Galapagos Islands, which are in the middle of the ITCZ (inter tropical convergence zone, formerly called the doldrums), we needed to get south to the trade wind belt. We never actually made it to the trade wind belt until around the 17th of the month. We were able to get good air which varied from ENE-E-ESE in strengths from 10 to 20 knots. We did have our fair share of squalls, which are very “interesting” at 2 in the morning, when it feels like you are sailing in a closet. When we reached the trade wind belt it was stronger than anticipated, 15-20 knots during the day. The wind was its strongest from midnight to sunrise, which included most of my watch. Don and I worked watches with him on from 7 in the evening to 1 in the morning, and I took over until 7 in the morning. I would usually have coffee with Don in the morning then grab a couple of hours sleep. During the afternoon we just made sure that one of us was checking the horizon for ship traffic. I would sleep from 7:30 until 1 in the morning, and that was how our 24 days passed during the crossing.
We had various projects that popped up during the crossing, which would require our focused effort. Our normal sail configuration was headsail and main to starboard on a port jibe with the headsail held out with the whisker pole. Depending upon the wind strength we would furl or unfurl either sail all or part way as part of a reefing process. We had one squall that lasted about 3 hours, which had gusts exceeding 40 knots, so that we had about 4 feet of each sail out and were still doing 6 knots downwind. I was also hand steering as neither the windvane or auto-pilot could handle the helm. Our major problem was that with the attachment to the mast of the staysail broken we could not use it during the crossing, and the chafing of the sheets on the headsail had to be checked every 2 or 3 days. We probably cut off at least 10-12 feet of the starboard headsail sheet during the crossing as a result of the chafe caused by the whisker pole. Another daily check was to toss overboard the squid and flying fish that had landed on the deck and died. The windvane did an excellent job of steering the boat during a majority of the crossing and did not require any electricity. The dodger provided protection from the rain squalls and the sun, with the ability to raise and lower the side panels depending upon temperature and sea conditions. The normal swells were from the southeast, while the wind waves were usually 40 to 60 degrees different, and this would lead to a large heeling motion about every 8th or 9th wave of 30-35 degrees. You would get used to timing your movements to just after the large wave passed. The normal heel was around 15 degrees to starboard, which was great for me sleeping in the forward berth as it pushed me against the bulkhead rather than roll me off to the floor when we heeled to port. We would adjust the two solar panels during the day for maximum energy production and they would normally top off the batteries, while the wind generator would supply enough power during the day and night to eliminate the need for running the genset to charge the batteries most of the time. The genset was used to power the freezer/refer twice a day for about an hour, and to supply enough power to the battery bank to operate the watermaker to keep the tanks topped off or run the washer/dryer when needed. During the crossing we only saw three ships, one container ship and two fishing processors. We did manage to snag a floating net that was hung up on our prop, but since we were not under power we were able to free it without going swimming in the middle of the ocean. We used the SSB to make email reports to family and friends and to Commander’s Weather Routing. We were limited to 90 minutes a week of connect time which varied depending upon the strength of the station receiving/sending the emails. We tried to keep the messages short. It is an excellent way of keeping loved ones informed with the knowledge that you are OK. There is not much wildlife to see during the crossing, with flying fish being there every day and some birds. We did have a 30 lb tuna hit our fishing pole and take all our line and lure, which ended our fishing project for the trip. The days become quite similar and you begin to think that you are in your own version of “Groundhog Day”. When you finally sight land it seems to take forever to make it to the harbor, where you can drop anchor and sleep the whole night through.
I am now back home in Tacoma, Washington. I flew from Hiva Oa on April 30th to Nuku Hiva, and then to Papeete. Linda had made my flight arrangements from Papeete to Seattle, and had made hotel reservations at Sofitel in Papeete for a few days, to decompress. The flight from Hiva Oa to Nuku Hiva was on a twin prop that held 22 passengers, and that flight was only a short one. I waited for the flight from Nuku Hiva to Papeete for a couple of hours, and it was a turbo prop that held around 80 passengers and was pressurized, so we could fly high enough to be above the most of turbulence. It was a nice flight and the sky was clear enough to see the atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago. I didn’t have the best weather in Papeete, with rain falling just about every day, but at 80 degrees it wasn’t a hindrance. I took a tour on a 4x4 into the caldera of the volcano that formed the island of Tahiti. The caldera is about 5 miles across and has numerous waterfalls, which form streams that eventually lead to a lake that has a river that flows to the sea, just east of Papeete.
The flight home started at 12:30 A.M. May 8th, with me arriving in Honolulu around 6:30 A.M., it was raining when I left Papeete and raining when I arrived in Honolulu. I left the ground around 2:00 P.M. and arrived in the rain in Seattle at 10:30 P.M., (remember 3 hour time change.) Linda was there to meet me, after being gone for over two months.
Here are some final thoughts concerning the passage, which I will remember for our trip in the future. I think the passage from Mexico would be an easier passage because of the fact that it is over 1,000 miles less, and being able to supply and stock the boat in Mexico would be much easier. When traveling from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, the southern trade winds might not be available if they have shifted below your final destination, which means you will spend over 3 weeks in the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) during the passage, versus 4 or 5 days coming from Mexico. I think that having a third person when we make the passage would definitely make things easier. Linda has said she would be much more comfortable with that arrangement and would handle stocking the boat and preparing meals. I will make sure to have my HAM license prior to leaving the PNW, so I will be able to use Winlink for at sea emails to family and friends. The Sailmail program currently limits you to 90 minutes of connection time per week, while Winlink is unlimited. I would use Commanders’ Weather, (http://www.commandersweather.com), for planning and during the passage, as they provide detailed forecasts at a reasonable price. I found that the 6 hours watch from 1 to 7 in morning was not that bad, and it allowed the off watch to get at least 5 hours of interrupted sleep, with the daytime watch being just making sure someone was in the cockpit, and Linda could participate in this, which would allow 1 or 2 hour naps during the day. I would need to check for chafing at least every 2 or 3 days on sheets and sails during the passage. I would have spares for watermaker components along with plenty of filters, and spares for the generator. The weather and sea conditions were much more benign than I expected, even during squalls that had winds over 30 and gusts above 40 the conditions were not as bad as ones I have sailed in the PNW. I think that part of the reason is the mindset that the squalls are not going to last that long and you are not worried about hitting something hard, i.e. shore, along with the fact that the swells are steady and don’t change a great deal, while the wind waves will fluctuate.
I am definitely looking forward to making the “Coconut Milk Run” in Helios, and have been fortunate for the “Drivers Training” (what Linda called my trip) ahead of time. If you have comments or questions please feel free to email me.
Bruce Kilen – helios@harbornet.com