[password] Ridingmore
[position] 8 25.45S 137 58.7W
[weather]ESE 15-20 knots
[speed]5-11 knots
[status] Not wanting to arrive too early this morning, we reefed down last night and slowed the boat down, which fortuitously also allowed a better sleep for us all. At 2am this morning - Laaaaaaannnd Hooooo!! Denis on watch had the pleasure of being the first of us to sight French Polynesia!! We rounded the North side of the precipitous Ua Huka at 4am local this morning, looking dark and ominous under a crown of cloud. Even three miles off the island, the smells of tropical flowers and lush forest, intermingled with the faint smell of coconut-infused woodsmoke was surprisingly delicious, after a olfactoraly depauperate 3 and a half weeks at sea! We tightened up and reached down to Cape Tikapo on the SE corner of Nuku Hiva in light winds. On cue, the sun began to rise as we approached this mountainous island, casting a lovely orange glow across the vertical cliffs on the sou-eastern corner of the island. Ahhhh, land again!! very cool! Righto, going to drop the pole, set the a
nchor up, and go say hello to the Taiohae locals!
Our stats for the trip!
*6 tuna caught, 2 released (too big!)
*1 Mahi Mahi
*1 Wahoo
*2 lures and a chopping board lost (wtf?!)
*4171nm travelled in 599.75 hours (24 days, 23.75 hours)
*Average speed 6.95Knots
*Median speed 7.46knots
*best 24 hour run 249 nm
*31 tacks performed
*0 gybes required!
*sailed 98.4% of total distance
*67nm motoring or motor sailing (1.6% of total distance travelled), adding 17 engine hours, using 22 l of diesel, and 10ml of gearbox oil (phew!).
*82 additional engine hours for charging batteries using 87 l of diesel (total engine hours 99 and fuel consumed 109 l). This stat reminds me of how shagged our batteries are, and how small our alternator is!
*1 vang block exploded
*1 preventer shackle annihilated
*280l of water consumed, or 2.25l used per person per day (boat record!)
*satellite data - 120 minutes used
*blocked toilets, 0
*2 exploded fizzy cans in the bilges (why, oh why?!)
*times rained - 1
*rainfall collected - 0
*max windspeed - 24knots
*happy campers = 5!
[END]