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| ANCHOR UP YUP WE ARE ON OUR WAY |
Our crossing was 25 days from April 20th – May 16th, and except for one particular squall, we had moderate winds, 10-15 kts a lot of the time and on better days (for speed), 15-25 kts. My impressions? The Pacific Ocean is very, VERY large, and we just covered a portion of it. It is a humbling experience to really grasp how much water we have on our blue planet and that it is water that dominates, not land.
So, what’s life on board like when making such a long passage? To start, and this is a very good thing, none of us got sea sick. Whew – that would not have been good, especially given all the awesome dinners we had (more on that to come). Mainly, life became very routine. Routines are set up and they are your friend, so that everyone knows what they should be doing, and when, and Interlude gets properly taken care of. We set up watches:
7-9:30 a.m. Jennifer
9:30 – noon Cheryl
Noon- 2pm Karen
2pm-4:30 pm Jennifer
4:30p – 7p Cheryl
7 – 10p Karen
10p – 1 am Jennifer
1am – 4am Cheryl
4-7am Karen
Keeping the boat clean – cockpit (aka the “Ledo Deck” ) and inside – and keeping salt out rather than in, was a priority. We had our “outside” and our “inside” clothing. This system worked very well. Keeping an eye on all boat systems, rigging, sails, etc., was also necessary and thankfully we only had the Genneker (cruising chute) halyard block shackle break. This slowed our progress a bit, but it was too windy and rough for Cheryl to climb the mast to do repairs.
We had all our meals together, eaten on the Ledo Deck. We ate really well on board (thanks Karen & Cheryl!). Breakfast was usually a variety of fresh fruit with yoghurt or some avocado on the side. Lunch was light and not very formal, sometimes just some soup with bread. Dinners were awesome! We had proper Sunday dinners and even throughout the week we had very yummy dinners. Definitely the highlight for me was the halfway-there & 15 year anniversary of K & C owning Interlude celebration dinner: duck spring rolls, spicy crab sushi and tuna sushi. Yum!
On afternoons when we weren’t napping, it was time for the PIG: Pacific International Games at which K & C excelled and I? Not so much. PIG consisted of games of Farmer’s Rummy, Farkel, and (so far), one lone game of Yactzee. Currently, C is ahead by one game of Rummy. I’m going for the consistently highest score of Rummy (not a good thing), but I somehow managed to win a couple of games of Farkel (How did that happen?!)
Another pleasure during the crossing was the twice daily SSB (single side band) radio nets with other boats making the crossing. At 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. boats would check in with each other, with one boat volunteering as the “control”. The net we were part of was “The Beagle Net” for boats that departed from Galapagos to Hawaii, Gambier Islands, Easter Island, and the Marquesas Islands in the 3rd week of April. This ended up being somewhat comical for Interlude because our propagation was not great (well, Patufa 900nm away enroute to Gambier Is could hear us), and K or C would be shouting into the microphone to no avail and we would end up needing a boat to relay our information to the net controller. We joked that the boat name had become “Interlude Relay”. During the net, we would give our position, wind speed and direction, swell size and direction, and any other pertinent info - like bragging about fish caught (-: Twice, we had boats close enough to talk on the VHF radio: once with Full Monty (couldn’t see them) and once with Kokomo (saw their sail off the port side).
It was Cheryl, around 2 a.m., who got to call out “Land ho!”
It was a rainy, overcast night and both Karen and I stumbled up on deck, peered through the plastic enclosure and harrumphed, “Is that it?” while looking at an unimpressive, low, barely visible lump 5nm off the port side. Meanwhile, Cheryl was doing her happy dance in the cockpit! K & I quickly disappeared below deck to sleep some more…leaving poor Cheryl celebrating alone.
Well, what a difference daylight makes. There, with jagged peaks, and cliffs plunging into the ocean was Fatu Hiva.
Very dramatic. Very green and lush. As we motored in towards the anchorage we realized that there was a very strong outflow wind. All the boats that had been on our net were there to welcome us with shouts, horns, and clapping. It was a WONDERFUL, awesome way to end the passage! A few came in their dingy to provide anchoring information. At this point the wind was honking through at about 35kts. It took a few tries, but we managed to get a hold!
Interlude is in the South Pacific! So what did it take to get her and her crew there?
• We went 2993.5 nautical miles from Santa Cruz in the Galapagos to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas (another 1000 from Panama)
• We ran the engine a total of 56.25 hours, for power and to move the boat.
• We used 45 gallons of diesel, good mileage!
• Topped the diesel underway
• We saw 12 boats (only 1 sailboat)
• We caught 7 fish: 1 big eye tuna, 1 skip jack tuna and 5 mahi mahi
• We lost 4 lures!
• We averaged 4.8 knots, our best day we averaged 5.9 knots.
• Dinner Menus: Day 1 - Meatloaf and Scallop Potatoes, Day 2 – Eggplant Lasagna, Day 3 – Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce a la meatloaf, Day 4 – Chicken with rice and veggies, Day 5 – Chicken and Shrimp Phad Thai, Day 6 – Interlude’s pesto surprise Pizza, Day 7 – Spicy Thai beef with Eggplant, Day 8 – Canned tuna and tomato sauce over pasta, Day 9 – Sunday dinner, stuffed pork tenderloin with potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and onions, Day 10 – Fresh! Mahi Mahi with an avocado crab salad, Day 11 – Poached Mahi Mahi, with steamed broccoli and couscous with peppers, Day 12 – Tangerine Tuna with small potatoes in a butter rosemary garlic sauce and a green salad, Day 13 – (Rough seas, supposed to be our halfway dinner) Penne a la vodka with spicy sausage, Day 14 – Halfway dinner – Champagne, Duck salad rolls, Spikey Crab and tuna sushi, Day 15 – Black Bean Burritos with a side of cauliflower, Day 16 – Sunday night dinner, Cordon Blue Chicken with scallop potatoes and a salad, Day 17 – Sheppard’s pie, Day 18 – Curried Tuna with red wine vinegar, Day 19 – Salad Nicoise (with fresh tuna), Day 20 – Stuffed chicken with sundried tomato, garlic and tarragon, baked potatoes and asparagus with red peppers, parmesan and butter, Day 21 – Tuna salad rolls and noodles, Day 22 – Stuffed eggplant with a Marie rose sauce and fresh skip jack, Day 23 – Sunday Dinner – Lemon Grass Beef over noodles with a cabbage/carrot/onion salad with a Thai dressing, Day 24 – Tuna Casserole, Day 25 – Mahi Mahi in a red Thai curry sauce with rice and veggies, Day 26 Mahi Mahi in a ginger/garlic sauce with potatoes and canned corn. (Note we had some near disasters as we had nicely plated meals that occasionally travelled to unwanted spots in the cockpit.)
• Things that broke: gennicker block shackle (of course, at the top of the mast), Port deck navigation light, steaming light, thread gave way in two spots on the dodger and chafing on one of the stack pack lines.
• Daily Routines:
o Checking the fruit and veggies for what was going bad, required before dinner menu could be established
o Walking the deck, checking for flying fish and squid in the am and chaffing
o Sending spot tracking or messages or in reach
o SSB net twice a day
o Checking for leaks (bilge and steering quadrant)
• Food that kept well: radishes, celery and carrots (in the fridge), tomatoes, peppers and watermelon, onion, squash and potatoes all kept in netting, pears, apples, tangerines, limes, grapefruit all lasted until used up.
A quote from Cheryl:
All the prep is like Christmas, your rush, prepare and the day comes to cross the Pacific. You are scared nervous and glad. Then you see the wild open blue, the awesome expanse of the sea. And nothing can describe it! The stars, the wind, the seas are magnificent, life is good!
A quote from Karen:
You look out and see water, many shades of blue and white, a different colour with a big wave cresting versus a small wave, and on she rolls. Amazing! I sat on the box on the stern, fresh air all around you, nothing for over a thousand miles! I got the girls to join me, the first time either had been out of the cock pit since we started. It was an amazing site, one that needed to be shared.
The anchorage in Fatu Hiva is very dramatic, very beautiful, with the little village tucked between cliffs and an old crater opening up behind it. The locals are friendly (and speak French). The village is small, but well maintained and housing is of good quality. There doesn’t seem to be much to do here, for folks to make a living, so we assume that the French Government subsidizes them well (hello brand new white Toyota pick-up trucks – a probably less than a couple of miles of road!). There are no proper shops.
Our first day there we went to a cruiser’s lunch potluck on shore and got to meet everyone who had previously just been a voice on the radio. We spent a few days getting the boat cleaned up and washing the hard green gunk off the hull. Things got rearranged for cruising mode rather than ocean passage mode. Then we took a hike inland to a lovely long waterfall with a pool at the base. Karen went for a refreshing dip along with some of the other cruisers. There are fruit trees galore all over the place – grapefruit especially, and it is very sweet.
Fatu Hiva is not an official port of entry, so after 4 days we raised anchor and motor sailed over to Hiva Oa to check in with the local Gendarme (an efficient, pleasant experience), replenish our fresh food supplies, change money, and make arrangements for my flight out. And, of course get some baguettes – pain really. The bigger grocery store has an impressive assortment of frozen meats and seafood, cheeses, etc., and being French Polynesia, pates too. It is not cheap here, but the quality is generally very good.
Then the rain really set in. There had been showers in Fatu Hiva, but Hiva Oa was rain, lots of it. We woke up on May 22nd, Karen’s birthday, to torrents of rain and wind, and we were socked-in (felt like I was in Vancouver still!). It didn’t let up all day. Luckily our major provisioning had been done the day before, so Karen was treated to mouthwatering meals all day, starting with banana buttermilk pancakes in the morning and ending with lamb chops, quinoa, and squash for dinner with a yummy apple crisp for dessert. The champagne and red wine flowed!
Next day didn’t look great, but there were blue splotches here in there in the sky, and off we went on our Island Tour, with John as our trusty driver and guide. Trust is the operative word here when you see some of the “roads” we took and the hairpin turns John negotiated. Hello having to go into reverse to be able to get around a cliff corner, complete with muddy tire tracks going over the edge! Don’t look, don’t look ;-) But the sun came out and the views were spectacular. We went through a few very small villages, checked out some bays on the north shore of Hiva Oa, went to a Tiki site, and had an awesome, delicious lunch before turning back for home.
Next stop was Hana Moe anchorage on Tahuata Island. It is a beautiful little bay, with a proper palm-fringed sand beach. And it is SUNNY! We have been able to dry out. The water is super clear and there are fish hanging out around the coral. This anchorage has been the highlight so far, especially due to the Manta rays that come to feed early every morning. Our first morning here we all jumped in the water shortly after 6 a.m. as we had already spotted the ray’s ‘wing’ tips on the surface. There were 3 of them gliding so gracefully through the water, feeding on plankton. They didn’t seem to mind us – just went about feeding and sometimes coming very, very close. Cheryl almost got kissed! When they feed, their mouths open very wide and they use their mandibles to help funnel water in. We were easily in the water for an hour enjoying the view. Later yesterday afternoon, we went to the beach to play bocce with friends from Somerset (Canadian-American) and Iolea (Australian). There is no village here, but there is a little “house” and the young Marquesan couple (his family owns the whole beach/bay and area behind) came over to talk with us. Marquesans are very friendly and generous people, with a good sense of humour. They are also very helpful. It was no problem to come ashore and he even invited us to use the flat area behind is home for bocce.
The final stop for me is here in Hanaiapa Bay, back on Hiva Oa. We motor sailed over yesterday and shortly I will leave for a flight to Tahiti. K & C will carry on to Nuku Hiva and then on to the Tuamotos and the Society Islands.
It has been a wonderful experience doing the passage and seeing some of the Marquesas Islands. Starting in Galapagos was also a treat – on of the best things of Puerto Ayora was the fish market and the seals / sea lions hanging out there for a treat. All in all, a great trip. Thanks Karen and Cheryl and fair winds for the rest of your Pacific journey.
