HOW NOT TO GET TO HOA
FIRST
I have to apologies. You have not gotten many blog updates from us because of communication problems. The available internet in this part of French Polynesia has been slow, intermittent or out of commission in many of the areas we have visited.
I was able to get you simple updates via the Single Sideband radio, but it started following suit. Slow, intermittent and now out of commission. I have the humans tracking down the source of the fault. Our SSB radio is vital in getting weather forecasts while we are cruising these areas.
WHAT HAVE YOU MISSED ABOARD SPIRIT OF ARGO?
For starters we left the Gambier Islands.
With winter setting in we thought it would be a good idea to start to head north through the Tuamotus and warmer waters. Remember the southern hemisphere has opposite seasons to the northern hemisphere. We are quite a ways south, which means it is cooler. The atolls of the Tuamotus, to our north, ‘seemed’ to be getting better weather than we were down in the south.
Speaking of weather, that is what we needed. Good weather for a 4 day passage 500nm to the first of the accessible atolls, Hao. On top of that we had to time our arrival in good day light and slack current in the one pass that allows, not only us to enter inside, but the passage of the entire atolls water with rise and fall of the tides. Many vessels were looking to head north with us. All looking for the ‘Goldilocks’ weather window. No stormy winds, but enough wind to sail all the way. Good luck on that one!
You know the luck my humans have.
So of course they chose the WRONG window for the passage. It was not ALL their fault. Weather prediction is just that…a prediction. Just because the forecast says ’20-25 knots easing’ does not mean you are going to get that. We left the Gambier with a 3m swell and 20-25 knots of wind that quickly built, and built and built. And then the heavens opened up, and it rained and rained and rained. The weather, thankfully, came up from astern and eased back down the following day.
160nm/day turned to 130nm/day and then the winds died. Our chances of reaching the atoll in 3 days died with it. Thankfully there was a positive current pushing us north, as the fluttering sails were doing little. The wind filled back in the following day, but then we needed to slow down so we would reach the pass the following day in good light and slack current on the pass.
Of course the SSB radio died completely on the trip. It had been ‘warning’ us it was ‘on the way out’ for a while. In the rough weather one of the humans managed to ‘rip’ a wooden handrail clean off. It must have been ‘ready to go’. The old girl is 40 yrs old this year! Easily fixable. The auto helm was the final victim. Remarkably it held up very well in the rough seas, but died just 15 nm miles from the pass entrance into Hoa atoll on a calm sunny day.
Repair time!
So the humans luck has turned around. They have landed in one of the few atolls with a protected boat harbor. It is a tiny abandon military harbor from back when the French were testing nuclear bombs on the atolls to the south. There were a few cruising boats tied around the outside, but the humans were able to snorkel down into the harbours 3-4m depth to find an old mooring block to tie onto.
With protection from any incoming weather, the humans can focus on getting repairs completed so we can get on our way again.
BUT HOLD YOUR HORSES! Did someone say ‘PARTY’?!?!
