We left Hiva Oa under rain clouds and a good stiff breeze which died after and hour of sailing. The clouds cleared away as we left the vicinty of the island and then we settled for a week of much light wind and calm seas. Very nice if you are in no hurry but we had to push on. So there was more motoring now, when there was no wind.
We also had the main sail fall down twice. The first time the main halyard had frayed and ripped near the top of the mast. As this rope runs inside the hollow aluminium mast it was not possible to retreive it and run it up again. However the boom is supported by the Topping Lift - this rope runs up inside the mast and down to the outer end of the boom - it holds the boom up when the main sail is down. We tied this to the top of the main sail and hauled the sail up again. All was well for a 24 hours (literally) then this rope also failed. Fortunately the head sail has two halyards rigged (the working one and a spare) so we were able to use this to haul up the sail again. David went up the mast in the bosun's chair to inspect the damage and found that both main halyard and topping lift blocks at the top of the mast had worn away and jammed which had caused both ropes to fray against the sharp edge where they emerged from inside the mast.
On top of this the engined stopped working for a while but this too was solved being blocked filters and something else blocked (which, being of limited capability with all things engineering, I cannot describe). Once cleaned and unblocked we motored on to the Atolls of the Tuamotu.
Here are some Life at Sea pictures
The Tuamotu Atolls ...... We stopped for a day and night at Takaroa. Everything you have ever seen about remote Pacific coral islands is true ! White white coral sand, clearest water that is dark blue in the ocean and suddenly pale blue and then turquiose in the shallows and white over sand. You can see way down and watch brightly coloured fish swimming about in the shallows. Snorkelling is a dream and so many colours, shapes and sizes. It is a visual smorgasbord and after a while somewhat overwhelming ..... Sea slugs litter the sea floor in the shallows - some covered in sand and others gleaming black.
On the shore coconut palms lean into the wind and over the lapping sea. Large land crabs come out in the evening, warily from their large rat holes, and scuttle back in fright - they have good vision.
Black pearls are found here in abundance and many of the islanders engage in pearl fishing - I found a heap of oyster shells. These are black on the outside and gleaming, rainbow mother of pearl on the inside.
The shore is coral sand with bits of broken coral everywhere. These islands sit no more than a couple of metres above sea level - very vulnerable to the future. There must also have been times in the past when these did not exist as islands for they are formed on the rim of extinct volcanos, and were once islands and will be submerged again one day in the unending dance of time.
David had intended to anchor inside the atoll but the tide was streaming out through the narrow entrance so we came longside the cargo jetty to wait. The locals told us that the ship would not be in for a few days so we took advantage and spent the rest of our stay alongside a beautiful and very comfortable berth.
I spent the day wandering around the small town and out into the country (not much of it - the land part is no more than maybe 500 metres across) and onto the beach watching hermite crbs in the late afternoon sun. The evening stars here were bright spots in a velvet sky. No moon.
The Takaroa photos are here
We left at 0730 the next day, Tuesday, with a fine breeze which lasted most of the morning and then died away - back into our pattern of light, doldric winds..... The next 3 days passed with little incident - a lot of motoring - very poor wind, in fact the last 18 hours was all motoring (175 miles of it) with a short spell of sailing as we crept along the north coast of Tahiti. Tahiti appeared as a faint angle of light blue under a distant pale cloud - about 1000 on the morning of Saturday 25 April and gradually came closer and closer. Anticipation rose alongside increasing frustration at the lack of wind. Tempting gusts brought us flashing out the headsail and brief moments of joy as we raced along at 6.5 knots only to be crushed as the wind died and so on again with the motor.
We came into Papeete (the main town of Tahiti and capital of French Polynesia) at 2000 and found our way to the town yacht berth - actually very convenient, sheltered and comfortable. We had arrived. Time to relax, the end of a long voyage, and home now within reach. I return to Sydney on Friday 1 May.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
IN THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS - Thursday 16 April to Saturday 18 April
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
We left the Galapagos Islands at 1730 on Monday 23 March and arrived at Hiva Oa in Les Îles Marquises at 0145 in the morning of Thursday 16 April - a voyage of 23 days and 8 hours - and over 3000 nautical miles (I cannot be accurate about the mileage as the boat's log got fouled with barnacles and seized up - I went under the boat's hull to clear them away on Tuesday 7 April). The voyage was a mixture some fair days sailing and several days of very calm weather in the Doldrums. Very dull and frustrating, but we got through. There are some pictures of this Doldric weather in Life at Sea
We arrived at Hiva Oa at 1.45 in the morning - the moon was out but we came through some squalls on the way by the island. We anchored inside the small harbour of Tahauku just around the corner of the town of Atuona (in these islands all the syllables are pronounced thus : At-u-o-na).
The next morning I woke up to hear banging on the side of the boat - a large cargo ship was waiting to enter the harbour and we were in the way - the Aranui 3 who comes every two weeks with stores for the island. So up with the Captain, up anchor and away we motored to the outside of the harbour. Not so comfortable out there with a swell crossing the bay. The morning was lovely and revealed a stunning view around the bay of high green hills, and the breeze wafting green tropical scents in the air.
We all went ashore that morning; it was so good to walk again on dry land, be surrounded by trees, plants and flowers and greenness after endless blue. The walk to the town of Atuona was around the head of the bay, then the headland, up and down, and took about half an hour. The town of Atuona is small and very tidy. This is French Polynesia and receives large grants from wealthy France - a great contrast to what I have seen in South America. To be fair the Galapagos Islands also were well cared for but no like this. When David, Sarah and I stayed in Golfito in Coast Rica we had been told the the French Polynesians would be unfriendly and not speak much English. Nothing could be further from the truth. I came prepared with my schoolboy french ready to charm our former foes (the Englishman speaking here) and found instant resonses in good English - and such charm and friendliness. It was a surprise and delight.
Hiva Oa is gorgeous - we did not see much - but you'll see from the photos how stunning it was. We spent on two days here, and did not have time to explore the island - lots of time to catch up with the world on the internet and do the e-mails which was nice. We stocked up on some fresh food but not a lot as it is all horrendously expensive - $20 for hamburger ! This is island living and the French government heavily subsidises the population so they can afford to live on stuff that has to come vast distances by sea.
Paul Gauguin lived here for many years - and Atuona has a very fine Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre. We visited - and I did not have my camera on the first visit but was told that of course I could come back tomorrow to take photos - no extra charge ! So we did. A most lovely centre - four halls designed in a local vernacular with modern flair, forming a boundary on the western side of the site, and to the east of it a replica of Gauguin's house. I am not sure how accurate this is. The main room is upstairs - under it are two rooms with an open space between them. The original well is still in the garden. There is also a studio which is used now for classes - this is a culturel centre to promote art - all the paintings in the museum buildings are copies of Gauguin's work done by local artists.
The island was also home to Jacques Brel, a French actor, adventurer, pilot and yachtsman - his restored twin engine Beachcraft plane (JoJo) is in a hangar with boards of information about him. My French was not up to learning much about him !
Hiva Oa is really lovely and certainly worth a longer stay - but we had to press on to Tahiti as we had an appointment with the Captain's wife due there on 23 April.
Whilst I was entranced by the beauty of the island and was so happy to be ashore again, I was suffering from acute depression too and this was being reflected in e-mails home..... life at sea confined in a small boat was affecting me and the crisis was fast approaching ...... more in the next Blog Chapter on this
We left the Galapagos Islands at 1730 on Monday 23 March and arrived at Hiva Oa in Les Îles Marquises at 0145 in the morning of Thursday 16 April - a voyage of 23 days and 8 hours - and over 3000 nautical miles (I cannot be accurate about the mileage as the boat's log got fouled with barnacles and seized up - I went under the boat's hull to clear them away on Tuesday 7 April). The voyage was a mixture some fair days sailing and several days of very calm weather in the Doldrums. Very dull and frustrating, but we got through. There are some pictures of this Doldric weather in Life at Sea
We arrived at Hiva Oa at 1.45 in the morning - the moon was out but we came through some squalls on the way by the island. We anchored inside the small harbour of Tahauku just around the corner of the town of Atuona (in these islands all the syllables are pronounced thus : At-u-o-na).
The next morning I woke up to hear banging on the side of the boat - a large cargo ship was waiting to enter the harbour and we were in the way - the Aranui 3 who comes every two weeks with stores for the island. So up with the Captain, up anchor and away we motored to the outside of the harbour. Not so comfortable out there with a swell crossing the bay. The morning was lovely and revealed a stunning view around the bay of high green hills, and the breeze wafting green tropical scents in the air.
We all went ashore that morning; it was so good to walk again on dry land, be surrounded by trees, plants and flowers and greenness after endless blue. The walk to the town of Atuona was around the head of the bay, then the headland, up and down, and took about half an hour. The town of Atuona is small and very tidy. This is French Polynesia and receives large grants from wealthy France - a great contrast to what I have seen in South America. To be fair the Galapagos Islands also were well cared for but no like this. When David, Sarah and I stayed in Golfito in Coast Rica we had been told the the French Polynesians would be unfriendly and not speak much English. Nothing could be further from the truth. I came prepared with my schoolboy french ready to charm our former foes (the Englishman speaking here) and found instant resonses in good English - and such charm and friendliness. It was a surprise and delight.
Hiva Oa is gorgeous - we did not see much - but you'll see from the photos how stunning it was. We spent on two days here, and did not have time to explore the island - lots of time to catch up with the world on the internet and do the e-mails which was nice. We stocked up on some fresh food but not a lot as it is all horrendously expensive - $20 for hamburger ! This is island living and the French government heavily subsidises the population so they can afford to live on stuff that has to come vast distances by sea.
Paul Gauguin lived here for many years - and Atuona has a very fine Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre. We visited - and I did not have my camera on the first visit but was told that of course I could come back tomorrow to take photos - no extra charge ! So we did. A most lovely centre - four halls designed in a local vernacular with modern flair, forming a boundary on the western side of the site, and to the east of it a replica of Gauguin's house. I am not sure how accurate this is. The main room is upstairs - under it are two rooms with an open space between them. The original well is still in the garden. There is also a studio which is used now for classes - this is a culturel centre to promote art - all the paintings in the museum buildings are copies of Gauguin's work done by local artists.
The island was also home to Jacques Brel, a French actor, adventurer, pilot and yachtsman - his restored twin engine Beachcraft plane (JoJo) is in a hangar with boards of information about him. My French was not up to learning much about him !
Hiva Oa is really lovely and certainly worth a longer stay - but we had to press on to Tahiti as we had an appointment with the Captain's wife due there on 23 April.
Whilst I was entranced by the beauty of the island and was so happy to be ashore again, I was suffering from acute depression too and this was being reflected in e-mails home..... life at sea confined in a small boat was affecting me and the crisis was fast approaching ...... more in the next Blog Chapter on this
Thursday, April 16, 2009
THE LONG VOYAGE - Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands: Monday 23 March to 15 April 2009
Galápagos Islands (Official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos)
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry [tale]1 from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
John Masefield
I am reminded again of the vastness of the ocean seascape. It goes on forever, even from a height of just four feet above the water. On clear day the sky goes up and up, forever blue and the sea reflects a darker version. You've all had those day by the sea when the whole world looks blue in different shades. It is the same here in the Pacific, just there seems to be more of it. And day after day....
Actually our first few days out of the Galapagos were marred and marked by the Doldrums. Seriously dull, the breeze may just take the heat off the day, the sails flap listlessly and annoyingly as the yacht lurches slowly from side to side. At first it is enchanting, this newness, this almost stillness. The sea is glassy and shiny, with a long rolling swell which causes the lurch and the flap. Falpping sails are more noisy than you would think. We are trying to conserve fuel and motor only when the battery is getting low on wiggly juice. Sometimes we motor a bit longer to get through this patch of no wind. we need to find some wind.
Wind and Weather
David is receiving text messages on his satellite phone from his wife Leslie in Australia. She reports that wind is to be found at 10 degrees south - these are the fabled Trade Winds which should blow from the south east all the time. We expected them further north at this time of the year. So we creep out way south and find wind. But this is not of the Trades but rather of local storms and squalls Direction is variable and often from the north. Well and good - we tack across this and continue our way south. Another period of doldric weather and then we are through into the Trade Winds which are all we hope for. A steady 15-25 knots of wind from the south west, occasionally veering east-south-east and sometimes affected by more local storms and squalls running through.
Watchkeeping
We keep watches, always two on, across the five of us, with a routine of 4 hours on watch, 6 hours off watch, with a change over every 2 hours. This works well for a small crew of 5 and means we can get 5 hours good sleep often enough. Even so it takes a few days to get used to the routine and to get one's sea legs.
Keeping ship-shape and Repairs
Leaving San Cristobal in the evening, after a long wait to get our passports back, we motored away in the evening sun. First to get the yacht looking shipshape we hoisted the Mainsail and furled away the Lazy Jack bag. For those who are not so nautical this is a large, shaped bag that sits on the top of the boom under the mainsail, with guy ropes on either side attached to the spreaders on the mast, which collects the mainsail as it is lowered onto the boom. Keeps it all tidy, and the cloth is also UV light protective. UV light rots the sail cloth in time. So the Lazy Jack bag serves two purposes. On short running kept it raised - it does not impinge on the sail performance - but for a long run it looks tidier to have it neatly furled away. You can see the crew at this tidy work !
After a few days of sailing we found that the Log (shows boat speed and records distance) was not reading correctly. David took it out of its mounting but count find nothing wrong with it. Removing the Log takes some doing. It is basically a little paddle wheel which sends and electronic signal to the reader. The wheel sits just proud of the bottom of the hull. Being below the waterline means we have to stick a bung into the hole quickly as a fountain of water shoots up when you take the Log up. Lots of fun..... potential for a flood.
Then one day I noticed that we had anenome creatures growing off the back of the stern - Scotty said they were a type of barnacle. It occurred to me that if they were growing off the back of the boat they might be growing under it too. So as we had a very calm spell we stopped the boat and I went for a swim with goggles. And my theory was correct - there was a small forest of them growing around the flange through which the Log protrudes. They were soon scraped off and away we went, the Log merrily spinning and recording our true speed.
On the same day we had to drop the mainsail as holes were appearing where it was rubbing against the spreaders - these are two arms that stick out either side of the mast to hold supporting guy wires. You will understand that a boat takes considerable punishing even in mild weather as it is in operation 24 hours a day. So down came the sail and on went the patches. Not as simple as just hauling it down - it had to be disonnected from the mast and reconnected. The bolts and fittings are tricky things to secure in a moving mast - even in calm weather out here there is always a swell and pitching from side to side hanging onto the mast fiddling with small nuts and bolts is some task. I lost one (only one) off the side !
And then we had to replace the header sail (also called a Genoa or Jib) as it was getting very ragged along the luff (the trailing edge of the sail). The problem is that the leading edge on this new sail does not fit into the groove of the forestay - the sailmakers fault which was only discovered once the sail was onboard in the Carribean (there was no time to fix it before sailing). So the new sail is now fitted to the forestay with string ! But the sytem works for now - they need replacing every now and again for wear and tear.
Food
We stored the boat for six weeks - all my old Naval skills coming back here. Although we have not stuck to the diet I created, it was sufficient enough to provide ample food for our long voyage. Indeed we have eaten very well. Sarah does most of the cooking, I do the occasional thing, and David makes fresh bread most days (he went on a breadmakers course before leaving Australia). The bread has got better and better each day - now that he has got used to the vagaries of the cooker! Fresh bread and soup makes great lunch especially if the sea is a bit rough.
Each day we also put out fishing lines. This has not been as successful as we hoped but Scotty has provided two fish so far - Mahi Mahi - and very good they are too. You can see a picture of one of them and Scotty eating the raw skeleton. Sadly we have only had two - just where the rest are we don't know.
The sky
We have had some wonderful and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Out here the sky seems so big as it is only bordered by the horizon disc. The weather generally has been wonderful - sunny days and clear nights. For the early part of the voyage the moon was young so the night sky was full of stars. As the moon waxes towards full and shines in the night sky the smaller stars are floodlit out. The moon is now waning away, but still bright. We take the biminiy (the blue cockpit sheleter) back for night viewing. Jupiter is now rising in the morning sky, being chased now by the early morning Venus. Being on a moving platform does not allow for night photography but I am sure you will like the sunrise and sunset views.
Wildlife
There has been suprisingly little really. We did see a school of pilot whales briefly a few days out from the Galapagos, we see the odd bird (petrels and frigate birds) but mostly we see lots of flying fish. Some are quite small and others quite large. They land on the deck very often. See the picture of one of the larger ones. They use their strong tail to flip out of the water and then flick the waves with their tail again to keep the momentum going. They can 'fly' - well it is really gliding - for several tens of meters, an astonishingly long way. We have also occasionally had small squid land on the deck - mostly we find these in the morning. No large whales or sharks.
And the last mammal we saw was our sea-lion visitor - so tame, this one was also tagged. These had been a source of great amusement in the town of San Cristobal. Qutie fearless and very happy to live alongside the human population.
Filling the time
Life in this yacht is not all pulling on halyards, sheets and other ropes, trimming sails all the time, nor even much steering ! The yacht has fine self-steering gear (Otto, the autopilot) which works electronically and keeps us on course. The great advantage of this is that we can fine tune the course to within a degree to get the optimal use of the wind in the sails. So much for my vision of helming all the time. Actually I do enjoy turning Ott off and taking over the helm.... especially if the wind is strong and the waves loom large - this is fun and I think I have the knack of it now - at any rate there have not been too many complaints from the Captain.
Off watch time is spent reading - we have a small libary of books, including all the Harry Potters which I have read again (comfort reading). I am ploughing through the Complete Shakespeare, and trying also to get through the King James Version of the Bible - now this is a challenge. Should have brought a modern translation. Why am I doing this ? Well I guess it is something not many people do. It is quite an eye-opener too! All those sacrifices in Dueteronomy and Leviticus ..... I am told my maternal grandfather once read his way through the Bible too... quite a challenge.
I am also doing some writing - like this blog - and writing e-mails to send when we get to the next port.
And so what with watches, catching up on broken sleep, just sitting and thinking, the hours adn dasy are going by.
However, this slower pace of life, which I thought I would enjoy, is becoming frustrating. After a busy life of constant activity before coming away, I am finding myself restless at this pace of life dependent entirely on the vagaries of the weather. I am certainly a better human doing than a human being ! But when we get to Tahiti the voyage gets more interesting as we will have shorter legs between the islands at which we will stop - more on those as we progress.
I hope you are enjoying my Blog - to all friends and family - I miss you all and think of you often.... I will be home before too long ! Bye for now
Photos for this entry are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosToMarquesasIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOahkrng97jRvgE#
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry [tale]1 from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
John Masefield
I am reminded again of the vastness of the ocean seascape. It goes on forever, even from a height of just four feet above the water. On clear day the sky goes up and up, forever blue and the sea reflects a darker version. You've all had those day by the sea when the whole world looks blue in different shades. It is the same here in the Pacific, just there seems to be more of it. And day after day....
Actually our first few days out of the Galapagos were marred and marked by the Doldrums. Seriously dull, the breeze may just take the heat off the day, the sails flap listlessly and annoyingly as the yacht lurches slowly from side to side. At first it is enchanting, this newness, this almost stillness. The sea is glassy and shiny, with a long rolling swell which causes the lurch and the flap. Falpping sails are more noisy than you would think. We are trying to conserve fuel and motor only when the battery is getting low on wiggly juice. Sometimes we motor a bit longer to get through this patch of no wind. we need to find some wind.
Wind and Weather
David is receiving text messages on his satellite phone from his wife Leslie in Australia. She reports that wind is to be found at 10 degrees south - these are the fabled Trade Winds which should blow from the south east all the time. We expected them further north at this time of the year. So we creep out way south and find wind. But this is not of the Trades but rather of local storms and squalls Direction is variable and often from the north. Well and good - we tack across this and continue our way south. Another period of doldric weather and then we are through into the Trade Winds which are all we hope for. A steady 15-25 knots of wind from the south west, occasionally veering east-south-east and sometimes affected by more local storms and squalls running through.
Watchkeeping
We keep watches, always two on, across the five of us, with a routine of 4 hours on watch, 6 hours off watch, with a change over every 2 hours. This works well for a small crew of 5 and means we can get 5 hours good sleep often enough. Even so it takes a few days to get used to the routine and to get one's sea legs.
Keeping ship-shape and Repairs
Leaving San Cristobal in the evening, after a long wait to get our passports back, we motored away in the evening sun. First to get the yacht looking shipshape we hoisted the Mainsail and furled away the Lazy Jack bag. For those who are not so nautical this is a large, shaped bag that sits on the top of the boom under the mainsail, with guy ropes on either side attached to the spreaders on the mast, which collects the mainsail as it is lowered onto the boom. Keeps it all tidy, and the cloth is also UV light protective. UV light rots the sail cloth in time. So the Lazy Jack bag serves two purposes. On short running kept it raised - it does not impinge on the sail performance - but for a long run it looks tidier to have it neatly furled away. You can see the crew at this tidy work !
After a few days of sailing we found that the Log (shows boat speed and records distance) was not reading correctly. David took it out of its mounting but count find nothing wrong with it. Removing the Log takes some doing. It is basically a little paddle wheel which sends and electronic signal to the reader. The wheel sits just proud of the bottom of the hull. Being below the waterline means we have to stick a bung into the hole quickly as a fountain of water shoots up when you take the Log up. Lots of fun..... potential for a flood.
Then one day I noticed that we had anenome creatures growing off the back of the stern - Scotty said they were a type of barnacle. It occurred to me that if they were growing off the back of the boat they might be growing under it too. So as we had a very calm spell we stopped the boat and I went for a swim with goggles. And my theory was correct - there was a small forest of them growing around the flange through which the Log protrudes. They were soon scraped off and away we went, the Log merrily spinning and recording our true speed.
On the same day we had to drop the mainsail as holes were appearing where it was rubbing against the spreaders - these are two arms that stick out either side of the mast to hold supporting guy wires. You will understand that a boat takes considerable punishing even in mild weather as it is in operation 24 hours a day. So down came the sail and on went the patches. Not as simple as just hauling it down - it had to be disonnected from the mast and reconnected. The bolts and fittings are tricky things to secure in a moving mast - even in calm weather out here there is always a swell and pitching from side to side hanging onto the mast fiddling with small nuts and bolts is some task. I lost one (only one) off the side !
And then we had to replace the header sail (also called a Genoa or Jib) as it was getting very ragged along the luff (the trailing edge of the sail). The problem is that the leading edge on this new sail does not fit into the groove of the forestay - the sailmakers fault which was only discovered once the sail was onboard in the Carribean (there was no time to fix it before sailing). So the new sail is now fitted to the forestay with string ! But the sytem works for now - they need replacing every now and again for wear and tear.
Food
We stored the boat for six weeks - all my old Naval skills coming back here. Although we have not stuck to the diet I created, it was sufficient enough to provide ample food for our long voyage. Indeed we have eaten very well. Sarah does most of the cooking, I do the occasional thing, and David makes fresh bread most days (he went on a breadmakers course before leaving Australia). The bread has got better and better each day - now that he has got used to the vagaries of the cooker! Fresh bread and soup makes great lunch especially if the sea is a bit rough.
Each day we also put out fishing lines. This has not been as successful as we hoped but Scotty has provided two fish so far - Mahi Mahi - and very good they are too. You can see a picture of one of them and Scotty eating the raw skeleton. Sadly we have only had two - just where the rest are we don't know.
The sky
We have had some wonderful and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Out here the sky seems so big as it is only bordered by the horizon disc. The weather generally has been wonderful - sunny days and clear nights. For the early part of the voyage the moon was young so the night sky was full of stars. As the moon waxes towards full and shines in the night sky the smaller stars are floodlit out. The moon is now waning away, but still bright. We take the biminiy (the blue cockpit sheleter) back for night viewing. Jupiter is now rising in the morning sky, being chased now by the early morning Venus. Being on a moving platform does not allow for night photography but I am sure you will like the sunrise and sunset views.
Wildlife
There has been suprisingly little really. We did see a school of pilot whales briefly a few days out from the Galapagos, we see the odd bird (petrels and frigate birds) but mostly we see lots of flying fish. Some are quite small and others quite large. They land on the deck very often. See the picture of one of the larger ones. They use their strong tail to flip out of the water and then flick the waves with their tail again to keep the momentum going. They can 'fly' - well it is really gliding - for several tens of meters, an astonishingly long way. We have also occasionally had small squid land on the deck - mostly we find these in the morning. No large whales or sharks.
And the last mammal we saw was our sea-lion visitor - so tame, this one was also tagged. These had been a source of great amusement in the town of San Cristobal. Qutie fearless and very happy to live alongside the human population.
Filling the time
Life in this yacht is not all pulling on halyards, sheets and other ropes, trimming sails all the time, nor even much steering ! The yacht has fine self-steering gear (Otto, the autopilot) which works electronically and keeps us on course. The great advantage of this is that we can fine tune the course to within a degree to get the optimal use of the wind in the sails. So much for my vision of helming all the time. Actually I do enjoy turning Ott off and taking over the helm.... especially if the wind is strong and the waves loom large - this is fun and I think I have the knack of it now - at any rate there have not been too many complaints from the Captain.
Off watch time is spent reading - we have a small libary of books, including all the Harry Potters which I have read again (comfort reading). I am ploughing through the Complete Shakespeare, and trying also to get through the King James Version of the Bible - now this is a challenge. Should have brought a modern translation. Why am I doing this ? Well I guess it is something not many people do. It is quite an eye-opener too! All those sacrifices in Dueteronomy and Leviticus ..... I am told my maternal grandfather once read his way through the Bible too... quite a challenge.
I am also doing some writing - like this blog - and writing e-mails to send when we get to the next port.
And so what with watches, catching up on broken sleep, just sitting and thinking, the hours adn dasy are going by.
However, this slower pace of life, which I thought I would enjoy, is becoming frustrating. After a busy life of constant activity before coming away, I am finding myself restless at this pace of life dependent entirely on the vagaries of the weather. I am certainly a better human doing than a human being ! But when we get to Tahiti the voyage gets more interesting as we will have shorter legs between the islands at which we will stop - more on those as we progress.
I hope you are enjoying my Blog - to all friends and family - I miss you all and think of you often.... I will be home before too long ! Bye for now
Photos for this entry are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosToMarquesasIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOahkrng97jRvgE#
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