TAHITI TO GAMBIER ISLANDS about 890 nm
You can not sail a straight line between these two areas as there are a few small atolls and islands in the way. If fact we are turning a bit south at the moment to pass under a small group of islands called the Islands of the Duke of Gloucester.
STATISTICS FOR DAY 2
Position: (can be cut in pasted into google earth): 20 41.210S 143 45.454W Distance traveled (as the crow flies): 133 nm
Distance left to travel (as the crow flies): 512 nm
Number of fish caught: Zero so far. The lines came up yesterday when the seas got frisky. Then the humans got busy on boat repairs so they have not yet gone back down again.
THINGS GOT A LITTLE FRISKY THERE
After we left you yesterday the winds built up a bit…and so did the seas. With the building waves and the wind forward of the beam everyone was getting a little salty. Even the humans temporary camode, in the back corner of the boat, was not safe from the driving spray. Note to humans: ‘Now you know what I have to deal with’. We slipped another reef into the main sail and slowed the boat down to make it easier on the poor old autopilot. No problems as by evening it had calmed down nicely.
AND THEN THE WINDS STARTED TO DIE
We have been so lucky with brisk favourable winds, it was only inevitable they would begin to wane. By the morning we had to shake out all the reefs. We are still making some progress southeast, on our rum line to the Gambier, but the winds have turned on the nose and progress has slowed finally to 3 knots. But no rain! No big seas! In fact the seas are so light we were able to open up all the portholes and hatches to let some air into the boat finally.
NO EXCUSE NOT TO GET TO WORK
Time to fix the head! Not a nice job in a calm anchorage, it is even made worse at sea. Calm seas does not mean flat, and the boat still pitches a bit with passing waves. We are also sailing to wind, so the boat heels, and everything tries to either roll away or land on you. Wet, slippery, greasy, dirty….and so on. So glad it is not my job. I have humans to clean up after me. Finally the humans got the system fixed and put all back together again. It all seemed like too much work for me. They should just have continued going ‘el fresco’ with me.
SO WHAT NEXT
All the weather models we looked at indicated we were going to hit some lighter winds somewhere between Tahiti and the Gambier. So this is not unexpected. Hopefully the weather will stay fine and we will have enough wind to gradually move into some better winds further along. Everything is good, I have a drier boat to run around on and we are making progress towards our goal. Nothing to complain about. Except a few mangoes for dinner would be nice.
HAPPY SAILING EVERYONE
You are getting this blog by the miracle of radio waves, so you will have to wait for the pictures to be added later ‘when’ we get some internet again. Do not expect any of the loo repair. Believe me, you did not want to see them anyway. It was not a pretty sight!
END.
