Month: May 2021

Tuesday April 20, Day-5, Distance to Fiji 1319 nautical miles

The sails were un-reefed this morning, for more speed to power through the waves they are full and flying great.

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For dinner we had left over bow tie pasta in a marinara sauce with onions and peppers then I wilted 1/4 of a cabbage adding it to the mix.

*Iridium Go Notes*

Steady as She Goes

Tue 20/Apr 15:02 GMT-10

17º 28.583 S  158º 18.109 W

Course: 266° true, 5.6 kts

Good sailing today with winds 15-20 knots. Maintaining a course almost directly at Fiji. We are sailing a little up into the wind, rather than directly downwind, to keep the boat speed up and manage the waves better.

Absolutely no projects accomplished on the boat today!

The solar panels work done back in Tahiti provides more power, yet it seems still not enuf… back to the drawing board.

Figured-out the Moon’s Motion

Tue 20/Apr 15:02 GMT-10

17º 28.583 S  158º 18.109 W

Course: 266° true, 5.6 kts

I finally grasp the motion of travel, the dance, between earth and its moon. It’s easier to understand out here with no mountains, buildings or trees in the way.

Okay, the moon pretty much orbits around earth’s center equator about once a month (actually 27.32 days).

Meanwhile, earth spins around once a day, so like the sun, the moon appears to rise in the east and set in the west every day, but at different times each day, about an hour later than the previous day.

What’s interesting is the moon spins on its axis as well. It spins much slower than earth, only one rotation a month (actually 27.32 days). The moon’s spin is synchronized in such a way that the same surface of the moon always faces earth. We never see the other, the far side of the moon.

Meanwhile again, our distant Sun is shinning on both spheres, and depending on where the moon is on its monthly orbit, either all or only part of its surface can be seen lit-up from our vantage point here on earth.

Good thing we only have one moon, not like Jupiter having 63 moons!

The ocean is about 16,400 feet deep beneath us out here.

Oh… smooth sailing tonight. We now see s/v Ocean Sapphire, 5 miles ahead. She is a catamaran that left Tahiti before us, also going to Fiji.

Monday April 19, Day- 4

The Garmin InReach was reset, as it appeared to be not working. All is good now.

Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast!

Light winds in the morning, as the day progressed the forecast was 15-20knots of wind. As the waves started, they come before the wind, we took down the pole from the Genoa and stowed it in its place against the mast. The Staysail was deployed, the Main and Genoa were trimmed in a bit, then came the wind. Cruising at 7-8knots speed over ground.

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It rain quite a bit on my watch, the cockpit enclosure was zipped up except for one panel. The wind was 22-26knots.

*Iridium Go Notes*

Wind is up this afternoon

Mon 19/Apr 14:36 GMT-10

17º 30.688 S  155º 24.166 W

Course: 274° true, 5.8 kts

Earlier than expected, the wind speed increased to around 13 knots and shifted a little south, allowing us to point the boat right towards Fiji, at a speed of 6 knots, wind at 105 apparent.

Got the spinnaker untangled, but left the bad girl in her bag today. Now using full genoa, staysail and mainsail on port tack.

Cleaned-up dock lines that were drooping in the water at the Tahiti marina, and also cleaned-up ourselves by taking a shower. Life is good… every day is a Saturday!

Note to Self: Install Seatbelts

Tue 20/Apr 00:36 GMT-10

17º 28.426 S  156º 38.191 W

Course: 272° true, 6.4 kts

When wind increases, so do the size of the waves. At times, waves toss the boat around and you feel a desire for seatbelts. Luckily, seasickness has not been an issue with us yet.

Nevertheless, we use harnesses, tethers and jack lines in the cockpit, always at night and during the day if it’s rough. Thus, we remain attached to the boat.

Our Garmin InReach device that we use for communication, tracking and weather (in addition to the IridiumGo device) decided to suddenly take a vacation two days ago, the screen went blank and stopped working, after being reliable for 18,000 miles. So I’m on the phone (on hold) with Garmin Techincal Support, all of a sudden it starts working again?! and has continued to do so… strange.

A few intense rain squalls passed by while Marlene was on watch and I was sleeping. They brought some squirrely winds and horizontal rain causing her to zip-up the cockpit enclosures. Since 1:30pm yesterday, when the wind increased, it’s been from 15 up to 25 knots… so we’ve been moving fast pointed directly towards Fiji.

Sunday April 18, Day-3 Forgot it was Sunday, Dan made eggs for breakfast. We’ll have pancakes tomorrow.

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It’s a spinnaker kind of day. Wind 8-11 knots. We took her down at sunset, it’s safer not to fly a spinnaker at night with one person awake. We did leave the pole up and attached it to the clew of the Genoa.

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*Iridium Go Notes*

Asymmetrical Spinnaker on the Pole

Sun 18/Apr 12:34 GMT-10

17º 01.548 S  153º 31.337 W

Course: 283° true, 4.6 kts

Sailed/Motored 123 miles during our second 24 hours.

When the sun came-up this morning, the Asymmetrical Spinnaker went-up too, tacked on to the end of the Spinnaker Pole, which is pulled back, since we are sailing at 150 degrees apparent (broad reaching). If we had a symmetrical spinnaker, then it would be up instead. We should be able to sail the spinnaker until nighttime, then we take it down for safety, since it’s a little complicated to take down at night.

Winds are calm 8-10 knots, seas are also calm … yet rough enuf to make the mainsail bang back-n-forth annoyingly!

We are clear of all the islands now, only wide open water 360 degrees around us. Nice to see the sunset into the ocean in front of us, then later rise-up out of the ocean behind us.

Cleaned-up all the boat fenders (bumpers) today, which dangling along the side of the boat while at marinas… now they look new again!

You can’t take your eye off her

Mon 19/Apr 00:32 GMT-10

17º 11.259 S  154º 21.376 W

Course: 246° true, 4.6 kts

So we’re having a nice dinner in the cockpit and afterwards we planned to take down the spinnaker, which has been flying beautifully since sunrise.

Apparently there was a slight wind shift, the spinnaker silently collapsed and wrapped herself several times around the furled-up genoa. Ugh… you can’t take your eye off her!

It took about 20 minutes to get her down and stuffed in the bag. She is still all tangled-up in the bag, which we’ll sort-out in the daylight, and maybe put her back up to work again.

We jibed the mainsail over, now on port tack and unfurled the genoa for the night. Sailing downwind along nicely, the wind speed building up to 13 knots.

Another dark star filled night with patches of clouds, but no rain in sight.

The radar on the boat has been

working well for detecting rain showers around us. Typically, if there’s rain, then there’s an increase in the wind speed.

Saturday April 17, Day-2

Light winds, 5-8knots true, code 65 sail is flying.

By late afternoon the the wind had dropped to 2 knots, the sails were rolled in and engine turned on. We motored through the night.

Oh my the stars, the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.

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*Iridium Go Notes*

A relaxing sail so far

Sat 17/Apr 12:34 GMT-10

17º 12.876 S 151º 28.604 W,

Course: 305° true, 4.5 kts

Day #1 average boat speed 4.7 knots, 113nm… only 1,675nm to go! Today, winds steady around 8 knots from 50 degrees. “Cody” the Code 65 sail has been out all day, along with a full staysail and full mainsail. Again smooth sailing. We almost have our sea legs back.

Smooth Motoring

Sun 18/Apr 00:40 GMT-10

17º 03.194 S  152º 27.606 W

Course: 270° true, 5.9 kts

The wind stopped late afternoon, so we are motoring along now at 5 knots or so. The forecast indicates breezy conditions approaching.

Another star filled sky tonight. In early evening, the Southern Cross appears on its side, then traces an arch throughout the night. It’s at the highest and upright position around midnight. Thus as we look to the left, we see a giant clock.

We are doing our long lookout night shifts again, with Marlene on watch until midnight, then Dan takes the “graveyard shift”. We nap anytime during the day if desired. We seem to remain well rested this way.

No boats or fish in sight. Yet, we are communicating with a sailboat that left Tahiti a day ahead of us. If not before, we’ll meet-up with them in Fiji.

Friday April 16, Day 1, mailed a couple boxes off to Ben, Tahiti souvenirs for all the adult kids. Departed Papeete 12:30pm, sailing past Moorea.

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The distance from Tahiti to Fiji is about 1800 nautical miles. It should be a 12-16 day passage depending on the wind.

“Bula” is ubiquitous Fiji greeting, a simple “Hi”, it translates to “Life”.

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Oh my the stars, the Southern Cross and the Milky Way.

*Iridium Go Notes*

This passage I’m sharing blog is notes added by Dan to our Iridium Go GPS tracking map. He typically post at 2am and 2pm, Boat time. Each post is “real time” (GMT) stamped when posted. You can track us here:

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Trance

We are off to Fiji

Fri 16/Apr 14:16 GMT-10

17º 28.402 S 149º 43.232 W

Course:

292° true,

5.6 kt

After successfully completing all the required paperwork to leave French Polynesia, a dinghy ride over to the Customs House, a bus ride to the Immigration Office, passing our COVID Test… at 12:30pm we cast off the dock lines and pointed the boat west.

We really enjoyed our stay.

Beautiful weather! Mostly sunny, Winds around 10knots, on the beam… smooth sailing.

It’s good to be back out on the water

Sat 17/Apr 00:15 GMT-10

17º 25.605 S  150º 33.285 W

Course:

276° true,

4.2 kt

The east to west “Trade Winds” are pushing us along gently at 4-5 knots boat speed. Mostly clear night, the sliver of a moon is gone now, so the galaxies are out tonight. All is well!