Nearly halfway!

Kevin's current position is 3.57 south 146.07 west. He is averaging about 80 miles a day. Not as good as we had hoped for when he left but the weather is starting to improve. The wind has been steady the past few days blowing 10 to 15 on average. He is still getting the occasional squall but starting to get more and more fair skies! As he nears the equator I've been keeping tabs on the winds. So far it looks like there isn't going to be much of the doldrums to contend with (knock on wood.) which is a vast improvement from when he was heading south and spent 7 days trying not to travel backwards! W are hoping this second half of the trip will go a little faster than the first, even though he is still making decent time!

Day 7

So I have not been all that good about keeping updated with Kevins daily progress. He is making decent time but still struggling with getting good wind. As of today at 1pm (Alaska time) he only had 1698 miles to go! He has been struggling with squals that bring decent wind but are usually followed by periods of calm. He is getting plenty of time for movie watching! His current position is 7.51 degrees south and 146.45 degrees west. He made a solid 80 miles yesterday! For anyone who is curious about his unpublished previous position updates: 2/25/12 09.01 degrees south 147.25 degrees west 2/24/12 10.14 degrees south 147.19 degrees west 2/23/12 11.34 degrees south 147.26 degrees west 2/22/12 12.30 degrees south 147.58 degrees west

Day 2

Kevin made good time yesterday too. Not quite as many mies as the day before but he was still able to put 100mies behind him. Last night the weather turned squally and has continued through most of the day. Good thing he has plenty of movies and a few books to read! His current position is 14 degrees 01 minute south and 148 degrees 37 minutes west. Until tomorrow! Gotta love a sat phone with virtually instantaneous communication out in the middle of nowhere!

Day 1: Tahiti to Hawaii

Kevin left yesterday morning on his solo sail to Hawaii. He was lucky enough to get good weather and plenty of wind from the right direction because he planned on leaving on either Saturday or Sunday no matter what the weather was doing. He was able to make 120 miles in his first 24 hours, which is a good day for Pahto! Although he is not having as much fun as he should be because he said there is too much motion to do any fishing. I think he is a little disappointed about that since that is one of his favorite parts of being out on the water! He sent a message later in the day saying the wind had started to die a bit, but he was still able to make decent time. Hopefully he can keep up 120 mile days and make it to Hawaii in 3 weeks! His position as of this morning was 15 degrees 39 minutes south and 148 degrees 56 minutes west. I will keep everyone posted as he heads north!

Scuttlebutt

For those who may not have heard, we found out that Katie was pregnant a few weeks ago. Our plans at this point of course changed quite a bit! Rather than continue cruising polynesia we decided we needed to head home. This meant a 2500mile passage to Hawaii to start with, and then the final leg back to Seattle. After waiting a week for a weather window we decided that it might be best for Katie to fly. Being in the middle of the ocean for weeks might not be the best idea so she left on a jet plane.  I was hoping for a window shortly after she left but it just would not materialize. Despite what my pilot charts said, and what the locals had to say about how nice the weather should be for a passage to Hawaii, the weather just would not cooperate. Not that I am unfamiliar with uncooperative weather, but there is a bit more sense of urgency now than there has been before!

I decided after looking at the long range forecast that I would go to Moorea to wait for it to change. The timing worked perfectly, Our friends Neville and Catherine on S/V Dream Time, were heading that way, so we met up in Oponohu Bay, on Moorea's north coast. With nothing but time to kill and all of my boat projects finished when they asked if I wanted to go on a snorkeling/spearfishing/feed some rays expedition I agreed. We spent most of a morning and afternoon in the water for one of these reasons or another. With a nice little restaurant nearby, and a rather long dinghy ride ahead we decided to grab a bite to eat before we headed home. A couple of Hinanos and a nice meal later we were on our way. The eight foot inflatable loaded with our gear, there was not much room to spare.

We were motoring by a more remote portion of the reef(although there is quite a bit of local boat traffic) we saw two locals out on the reef looking somewhat out of place. As we were wondering what they were doing so far out without a boat they started waving that "I need help" wave and so we quickly changed course and headed their way. As we approached we could see their belongings floating around at which point we knew whatever kind of vessel they had was now on the bottom. We quickly pulled them into the dinghy, And began rounding up there belongings. With a language barrier to get around it took a while to figure out exactly what happened, by the time we got to shore it had become obvious that they were both cut up pretty bad by the coral, and they had a boat on the reef that they needed to get back. We let the woman off and unloaded what we had been able to gather up, and headed back out to try and salvage their boat. It wasn't until we were practically standing in the breakers on the edge of the reef that it dawned on us that these people had been out on the ocean, and most likely due to engine failure them and their 14 foot aluminum skiff had been caught by the breakers and thrown onto the reef. It was quite a sobering thought, and amazing they weren't more seriously injured. Breaking waves no matter their size are very powerful, and on this particular afternoon they were not small. Coral reefs are not a soft or gentle landing place when there is tons of water throwing you onto it. It can be incredibly sharp, and easily cut you to the bone, there are crevasses and holes which can quite easily break bones if tangled up, and yet somehow this couple had managed to escape with only cut up feet and legs.

Neville and I and Max, the local man then went about trying to refloat his skiff. It took quite some time as the water we were in was turbulent and waves kept sweeping the boat and undoing all the bailing that had been done! We did evntually manage to float the skiff and tow it ashore. Both Neville and I had thankfully had shoes to wear to save our feet, but even in the relatively short time were were working we were pretty scraped up. it makes what Max and his wife went through even more amazing.

Through all of this Max had been focused and didn't show much emotion despite having lost most of his belongings, his engine, and his skiff now being quite beat up, but when we came across his tackle box floating in the water, he picked it up and when he realized it had been completely emptied, its contents scattered across the reef you could actually see his heart sink. It was as though up until that point there was hope that maybe if nothing else he would be able to recover some of his fishing gear. In the end all were safe ashore, with as much as could be recovered, the skiff loaded on a truck, off to be repaired, and Neville, Catherine and I trying to wrap our heads around everything that had just happened on our otherwise completely usual day. We debriefed that evening with a few cold beers still trying to grasp the whole event.

The rest of my time in Moorea, Neville and I spent a good deal of time trying to catch some fish for dinner, which we failed at miserably! On my last day there we decided we would give it one more go, pull out all the stops, and we fished and fished and fished, not returning until dark, and still empty handed! Catherine thankfully was able to bail us out by making a nice chicken dinner, not without having a laugh at our failed efforts! Now by the time we had finished dinner it was getting late, and we started to hear fish splashing around the boat, and unwilling to be beaten I started casting into the darkness and was first rewarded by one rather large fish which I quick released, and another slightly smaller trevally soon after. By this time with our bellies full, and it being late we could not be bothered to process them so there were no fish harmed that evening.

I am now back in Tahiti at Marina Taina, getting ready to check out. With a good weather window, I am counting down the hours to departure time. I will be sailing the 2500 miles to Hawaii solo, but hopefully the weather will not let me down and it will be a fast passage(you have to be an optimist out here!). The fish will gather for Pahto and her crew, the tradewinds will blow steady, and the doldrums will not develop until I am far north, and I will be home soon. Well, at least its a nice idea anyway, right?

Post Script

 

Mid-morning this morning we decided that being such a beautiful day, and the wind being a nice breeze from the right direction, we would get underway for the nice relaxing 10 mile trip to Tahiti. We had to come here anyway so why not make the trip on a nice day right? Well, we were right, it was an absolutely beautiful day for a sail(although not for fishing).As our peaceful, relaxing, easy-going sail was nearing its end. We noticed that the swell was actually rather large, and the nearer we approached the pass the larger the swells appeared to be. Once we were within observational range, we furled our sails and stowed our fishing gear to make a cautious approach. After having a good look from seaward we decided that based on our previous experience and knowledge of the area, and our observations, that there should be no problem.

We could see that the swell was high, and the waves thundering over the reef unlike anything we had seen before, but in the pass there appeared to be no danger; Only the close proximity of such immense power as these seas to rattle our nerves. Well, as every mariner knows there comes a point in many situations from which there is no going back. The point of no return, the commitment, the hail mary, the point at which all things come together to allow or disallow said souls to continue to inhabit this earth. We were there. We had to make a decision. To go was to commit 100 percent to the unknown, to go back was to go another day without cold drinks. We went for it. As benign as the pass had appeared from seaward, upon entering we found the truth to be anything but benign. The current was pushing against the swell, and Pahto, the small yacht that could, with her engine turning full power, carrying on for all she was worth, could only just push against the current. As our small battle continued, we could see that in all directions there was nothing but the angry foaming whitewater that showed us the reefs, and many a mariners unfortunate end. We had only one direction to go, straight down the chute, to run the gauntlet of reefs and rapids, rips and whirlpools. The current tossed us like a toy dock on a pond, and we fought on, having no choice but to carry on. The battle seemed to carry on for hours and in reality could have been no more than fifteen minutes. We steered hard to starboard as the currents tried to carry us on to the reef to port. Then just as quick, turn hard a port as the currents tried to throw us on the reef to starboard. The tension on board could have been cut with a knife. We held our breaths, just 3 more boat lengths; oh such long boat lengths they were. We could see the end and yet could not reach it. Our desire to be free of the grasp of this horrible current was like nothing I had ever wished before.

Finally, we pushed passed the rips and eddies, whirlpools, and reefs that could have so easily have been our demise, and we pushed into the familiar lagoon of Punauia. Happy to have made it through our brief yet overly exciting adventure. We cruised around like a dog preparing to sleep until we found a spot that was just so, where the stars aligned and told us we should drop the hook, and relax into an afternoon of beer and cards. Well deserved I must say. We may have given up a day or two of our lives in the long run as a result of an extra dose of stress.The adventure that is every day in our lives afloat is worth all of the stress and turmoil that we only occasionally have to find a way to cope with.

Unexpected Adventure to Moorea

 

Our boat anchored in Oponohu Bay, Moorea

I sit here writing while listening to the wind whistling through the rigging, and enjoying the rays of sunshine which have not shown themselves for a couple of days now. Our plan was to leave Tahiti for hawaii several days ago, but wouldn’t you know it, the day we want to leave to sail north the wind decides to blow from the north. So here we are still in Tahiti, waiting for the wind to blow from almost any other direction!

Actually, we are in Moorea, Tahiti’s next door neighbour, Moorea Although seperated by only 10 miles, has a much different pace of life. Tahiti is all hustle and bustle with the largest city in the south pacific feeding and supplying over 200 outer islands, entertaining tourists and cruise ships from all over the world. Moorea on the other hand, people fish a little, maybe farm a little, and in their spare time they might go for a paddle in an outrigger canoe(locally known as Va’a). We have only just begun to explore Moorea, and the more time we spend here the more we like it. Anchoring in deep bays surrounded by volcanic pinnacles, or in the lagoon between the fringing reef and the island,we spend our time watching the waves breaking on the reef, schools of fish, and rays cruising the shallows.  We spent the first night in Oponohu Bay anchored out from a park.  This is one of our favorite spots to date.  We then moved to Passe Vaiere where we picked up a mooring ball (which Kevin likes because it saves him from having to set and then pull the anchor.) The location here is wonderful. Crystal clear waters, protected from most sides from the wind and there is even a store close buy if we need anything.  However, we have spend the last two days hunkered down on the boat because there has been one squall after another blow through. 

Kevin has spend the last week doing as much fishing as possible to try to catch a fish. Last night he found success in catching a reef fish.  He painstakingly kept it alive for as long as possible so he could use it this morning as bait to catch more fish.  Unfortunately, we cannot eat the fish we catch around the reef’s because often times they are siguatoxic.  But that won’t stop Kevin from trying to catch them!

We have spent a fair amount of time observing the weather patterns here. Not as a hobby, or out of curiosity, but because when cruising a small boat to distant ports, nothing is more significant to your life as the weather. It affects what you can do on any given day at anchor; where you can go, whether it be the grocery store or another island. At times we are boat bound, in a crowded anchorage with poor holding, leaving the boat when the wind is blowing is out of the question. This means no cold drinks, or ice cream, NOT EVEN BEER! If you were to leave and your anchor was to drag, the least that could happen is just a little confusion in finding the boat, but the worst case is coming home to find that home is now on a reef and full of holes. If you are en route to another island however, then the same breeze could be just what the doctor ordered, unless of course it is blowing directly from where you want to go. Then 200 miles becomes 400, or even more if you get an unlucky shift! You might lose a full nights sleep due to light and or shifty winds. So you see the weather dictates our lives in many ways. Currently it has dictated that we relax in a beautiful lagoon on Moorea’s eastern coast while we wait for a shift in the wind to return to the hustle and bustle of Tahiti to complete the necessary paperwork for our northbound voyage.

And so continues the saga of the good ship Pahto, Fair winds.