Low and slow that is the tempo

I'm very happy to have arrived in the Austral Islands and be back in French Polynesia.

It was a long crossing.

22 days, not much wind.

We gambled with the fuel use early on, and lost.

So, we sailed.

There were 3 excellent days of hull speed beam reaching, then, rien on the windage.

We encountered some squalls and 36 hours of a front that brought rain, headwind and curses.

Overall, we had 9 days of < 100 nm of progress. The trip took 1 less day than our longest passage last year, but was 2/3 the length.

We recorded our shortest day of progress ever- 60 nm.

We were lucky, though, and had no big gales or storms, no significant mechanical issues and no medical problems along the way.

By the time we arrived, we were pretty exhausted. I think on the fatigue continuum I was somewhere between jet lagged after flying coach to India and finishing a long month of ER night shifts attending drunks and other random weirdos.

Anyway, for now, it's baguette, cannonball, pamplemousse, nap, whisky, repeat. Sounds good to me.

We had lots of changing conditions during the passage. Spinnaker up, spinnaker down. Pole out the jib, take the pole down. Raise the main, lower the main.

As usual, fantastic sunrise and sunsets across the Pacific.

Somehow, everything has a purpose.

Great dinner!

Ready, set, squall!

We sailed wing and wing for about 2 hours before conditions changed enough that we had to change sail, again.

Day 22- Land ho, captain!

Pulling into the pass at Raivavae. Raivavae has the reputation as being the most beautiful of all the French Polynesian islands. More on that later.

Arrived Raivavae

We made it!
[pos]23 52s 147 41w
[sp]0 kts
[h]000
[w]15 kts E
[s]Arrived Raivavae. Drizzle. Low Dense clouds.
23 days! 2460 nm
nap time.

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35 miles to go!

S 23 55
W 148 17
Speed 6 kts
Course 035 T
Wind 18 kts ENE
wind on the nose.
35 miles to go!

Martin

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Traffic Jam

Just when I thought I'd found some peace and quiet,
Yesterday we received a radio call on the VHF!
"Calling the sailboat on the horizon..."
We were within eyesight of the trimaran "Seaweaver" that was 24 days out of New Zealand.
We'll meet them in person when we get anchored at Raivavae.


[pos]25 29s 148 57w
[sp]3.0 kts
[h]350 T
[w]3-8 kts NE variable
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1019mb. 20% high clouds
Yet more light winds.
119 miles to go.

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20 days before the mast

[pos]26 38s 149 44w
[sp]<3.0 kts
[h]035 T
[w]0-5 kts SSW variable
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1017mb.
Yet more light winds. It appears we will indeed finish this someday.
200 miles to go.

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So close, yet so far...

[pos]27 10s 150 18w
[sp]3.0 kts
[h]035 T
[w]6 kts SSW variable
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1017mb.
Yet more light winds. Beautiful sunny, warm day.
244 miles to go.

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Day 18

[pos]28 34s 151 35w
[sp]0.0 kts
[h]020 T
[w]zero
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1013mb.
Very light winds through the night easing to no wind at all.
Currently waiting for wind. Saving remaining fuel for charging batteries and entering the lagoon at Raivavae.
I would have never guessed for this to be such a windless passage. We planned for 21 days, but it may take a bit longer at our current rate.
350 miles to go.
Time to bake bread and take a nap.
Martin

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Pau Hana Day 17 begins

[pos]29 30s 152 18w
[sp]4.5 kts
[h]020 T
[w]10 kts NW
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1011mb.
Rugged, squally night concludes leaving beneficial wind shift. Hopefully this holds a while.
420 miles to go.
All's well,
Martin

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Still sailing...

[pos]30 16s 153 30w
[sp]4.5 kts
[h]070 T
[w]15 kts NNE
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1013mb.
1835 miles behind us. Less than 500 nm to go!
Lumpy squally. the wind is coming from the exact direction we want to go!
Otherwise, All's well.

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Getting warmer...

[pos]31 35s 154 25w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]025 T
[w]5 kts NE
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1019mb. Motoring.
Making some northing ahead of arriving low.
Flying fish are back. Two ships within 5 miles in the past 3 hours. Our AIS gear is working wonderfully.
Long Fin Albacore Tuna for dinner last night. Good Stuff!

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Pau Hana, day 14

[pos]33 36s 155 26w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]025 T
[w]8-10 kts WNW
[s]Underway to Raivavae. 1019mb 50% high clouds. Motorsailing.
Making some northing ahead of arriving low.
1590nm complete, 700nm remain.

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Pau Hana, Day 13

[pos]35 14s 156 41w
[sp]6 kts
[h]80 T
[w]12-15 kts NW
[s]Underway to Raivavae. Good sailing. Changing course to head North to NNE
All's well aboard.

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Day 12

[pos]35 50s 159 32w
[sp]6 kts
[h]80 T
[w]12-15 kts NW
[s]Underway to Raivavae. Good sailing the past 2 days. It looks like we may end up motoring across the high that sits to our north.

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The wind arrives!

[pos]36 22s 162 35w
[sp]7 kts
[h]80 T
[w]12-15 kts N
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. All's well aboard.
Good wind arrives. We're sailing fast and changing course to ENE

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guano you don't!

We picked up a stowaway 1040 miles east of New Zealand.
"I can't smell THAT bad.." I thought.
A medium sized bird was cute and enjoying the ride until they lost any control of their bowels.
04:45 get the scrub brush and buckets, evict the bird, start scrubbing, bird comes back, and so on...
Currently at:
36 39 S
165 15 W
Speed 3 kts
Course 090 T
We'll continue west until 155 W, then turn north toward Tubuai and Raivavae.
There is no fuel station on Raivavae. I'm anticipating we have to order a 55 gallon drum of diesel from the supply ship company, and then get it into our jugs and into the boat.
And do it all in french. Good thing Lexi went to language school during her undergrad studies.
As usual, better wind is forecasted to arrive in 36 hours.
Lexi has begun her nautical rendition of "Waiting for Godot"

When will the wind arrive?
Any time now...
How do you know?
The computer says so...
So what will we do?
Wait for the wind...
When will the wind arrive?
Any time now...

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Pau Hana

[pos]36 43s 166 59w
[sp]3 kts
[h]85 T
[w]5-8 kts SW
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. All's well aboard.
Many sail changes yesterday. Periodic rain showers and quite chilly, like summer in Duluth!
We're eager to make the turn north towards Tubuai & Raivavae.

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Re: (no subject)

To: Martin Johnson and crew on SY "Pau Hana"

From: Commanders' Weather Corp, tel 603-882-6789, info@commandersweather.com 

Route: Opua, New Zealand to Tubuai, Austral Islands 

Last position: 37 01S/168 48W at 1800utc Mon, May 9, 2016 

Prepared: 2100utc Mon, May 9, 2016 

Martin, thought it was best to send this update because of the important changes in your forecast.

Summary: 

1) cold front is currently stretching from SE of the S Cook islands to near 40S/175W

  a) the winds in advance of this front are bringing you the good WNW winds

  b) latest forecast models show the cold front moving across you during the next 24 hours with some W to SW winds, showers and maybe a few squalls

  c) then high pressure is expected to fill in behind the front and bring you back into light air during Wednesday, utc time

  d) finally, on Thursday the next cold front pushes E across NZ and begins to move the high pressure and the light winds to the E

  e) allowing NW winds to fill in along your route 

2) took a look at the longer range forecast to help determine your best route to Tubuai

  a) if you head on a rhumbline course toward Tubuai from your 1800utc position on the 12th, think you will move into light winds for a number of days as you cross the high almost lengthwise that is centered near 32S/154W by 00utc on the 14th

  b) think it will be best to head on an ENE course around 1800utc on the 12th to stay in the NW-WNW winds longer

Routing:

1) slowed you down to 4kts during the next 48 hours as the cold front crosses you then light winds move in behind the front, expect you will be motoring

  a) with the changes in the forecast weather pattern, recommend you stay on an E course until you start to get into good wind again, probably on the 12th,   when you should see winds build out of the NW

  b) at that time, recommend you head on an ENE course as it looks like winds could continue out of the NW into the 15th, as you move closer to the center of high pressure that you should have to cross to get to Tubuai

  c) once you are back in the NW winds, routed you averaging 5kts again

Wind forecasts

Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, 

time is UTC

Tue, May 10

00: 260-280/10-15 cold front pushing across your route

06: 220-240/10-18

12: 200-220/5-10

18: bcmg light/variable nr 37S/166 30W – high pressure filling in

Weather…Increasing clouds with a better chance of showers/squalls.  Some gusts to 30+kts in any stronger squalls.

Seas easing to 4-5ft, SW swell 

Wed, May 11

00: light/variable

06: light/variable

12: light/variable 

18: 330-350/5-10 nr 37S/164 10W

Weather…Variably cloudy, few showers and squalls 

Seas down to 3-5ft, some W-SW swell

Thu, May 12

00: 330-350/6-13

06: 320-340/10-15

12: 320-340/12-18

18: 320-340/15-20 nr 37S/161 30W – shift onto ENE course

Weather…Variably cloudy, chance of a few showers and squalls 

Seas quickly building to 5-7ft, becoming choppy in some SW swell and NW windwave

Fri, May 13

00: 310-330/15-20

06: 310-330/14-20

12: 300-320/12-18

18: 300-320/12-20 nr 36N/159W

Weather…Variably cloudy, chance of a few showers and squalls 

Seas 5-7ft, choppy in some SW swell and NW windwave

Sat, May 14

06: 290-310/12-18

18: 280-300/10-15 nr 34 50S/156 40W

Weather…Variably to partly cloudy

Seas down to 4-6ft, some SW-W swell

Sun, May 15

06: 280-300/10-15

18: 290-310/8-13 nr 33 50S/154 50W

Weather…Variably to partly cloudy

Seas down to 3-5 ft, some SW-W swell

Best regards,

Brynn Campbell

Commanders' Weather Corporation
Tel: 603-882-6789
Email: info@commandersweather.com
Website: commandersweather.com
Normal hours of operation: 5am to 5pm US eastern time, 7 days a week

On Mon, May 9, 2016 at 2:47 PM, Pau Hana <WDH6740@sailmail.com> wrote:

[pos]37 01s 168 48w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]85 T
[

(no subject)

[pos]37 01s 168 48w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]85 T
[w]10-15 kts WNW
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. All's well aboard. Good sailing lately.

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Pau Hana

[pos]37 12s 171 06w
[sp]4.2
[h]90 T
[w]8-10 kts NW
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. 1024 mb.
80% cloud cover, lumpy 1m seas.
Chilly last night.
I lost my favorite hat overboard. Otherwise, we're doing well considering the light winds.

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(no subject)

[pos]37 14s 173 09w
[sp]6 kts
[h]90 T
[w]<5 kts
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. Motoring.
Albatross and Tuna about.
All is well aboard.

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Pau Hana, day 5

[pos]37 01s 175 46w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]90 T
[w]light
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. Motoring.
An unidentified whale visited Lexi yesterday afternoon on it's way north to Tonga.

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(no subject)

[pos]36 34s 178 07w
[sp]4.5
[h]105 T
[w]W 10 kts
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. Still sailing. It seems we'll be motoring soon.
All is well aboard. We've crossed the international date line, so I think we've had Wednesday twice this week.

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Pau Hana

[pos]36 15s 179 31e
[sp]4.8
[h]90 T
[w]WNW 8-10 kts
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. All is well aboard. Getting colder at night. American sailing vessel LUCKNESS is nearby. May have to jibe to reach 37 deg south. We're making good progress to the east.

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Pau Hana

[pos]35 54s 177 22e
[sp]4
[h]110 T
[w]N 8kts
[s]Underway Opua to Austral Islands. All is well aboard. Slow but comfortable.

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Pau Hana

[pos]35 28s 175 43e
[sp]3
[h]110
[w]N 8kts
[s]less than 1m swell
Underway Opua to Austral Islands. Slow start. All is well aboard. 95nm run. Two ships last night. None since.

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So long Aotearoa

We're pulling out of Opua today. It's been an interesting 6 months in the land of the long white cloud.

Martin caught these red snapper recently kayaking with a new friend Franz. They were delicious.
Hopefully we'll catch some fish on this passage to offset the cabbage and lentils. (Yes, Christine, I did sneak some good chocolate bars in there, too!)

We'll keep up our daily position reports along the way here and with yacht in transit https://www.yit.nz. Cheers!