Aloha

Our next leg will be from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas to Hilo, Hawaii. At our typical rate on passage, it should take 16 days. Polynesians that populated Hawaii made this passage in handmade boats over one thousand years ago. They had no compass, map, gps, nor ipod. Respect.

Exotic tropical beverage...

This is actually a nasty cocktail of water and diesel bugs. Luckily it gets trapped in this separator bowl before getting delivered through two filters and on to our injector pump. The Lil' Swede only drinks the purest fuel.

Fatu Hiva, Tahuata

Fatu Hiva- population 600, no airport, supply ship comes 2x/month. Martin traded some rope for this Marquesan carving into his canoe paddle. 

We were the only boat in the bay for a couple days.

We stopped for a few days at Tahuata enroute to Nuku Hiva. Passed our 19th wedding anniversary in this bay, Hanamoenoa. Dinner menu: Spaghetti Alfredo with shelf stable cream, canned chicken & mushrooms served with a green papaya and pamplemousse salad. Started it off with the last bottle of NZ prosecco found rolling around in the bilge.

Tahuata

A speedy 40nm daysail has brought us to Hanamoenoa, Tahauata!
No fish caught, but we're chilling our Prosecco for celebration of our 19th wedding aniversary!
S 09*54.5'
W 139*06.3'

Fatu Hiva

Nice catch!

Lexi Gulbranson M.D.

Arrived Fatu Hiva

Pau Hana is back in the Marquesas.
Fresh Mahi in the fridge
Anchored at
S 10*28'
W 138*40'

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Sorry, Charlie

[pos]10 33s 138 59w
[sp]5.5 kts
[h]080T
[w]10 kts NNE
[s]Underway from Fakarava to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
70% clouds, 1m waves. Fatu Hiva in sight. 20nm to go. Hopefully we'll be anchored around 10AM
Saw another vessel at 0400 this morning; the only one of the entire trip.
Caught a little tuna yesterday afternoon just before dinnertime.

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four days becomes five

[pos]11 12s 140 53w
[sp]4 kts
[h]050T
[w]10 kts E
[s]Underway from Fakarava to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
20% clouds, 1m waves. Barometer up 2 mb overnight. Hoping to arrive before wind goes light, but alas. The lil' Swede will save us.
We had originally planned that this passage would take four days. Sailing up through waves and current has slowed our progress by 25%. I cannot imagine how the early Polynesians traveled against wind, waves, and current.
I'll try to catch a fish today. I didn't even try earlier when the oncoming waves were as big as a two-car garage
Last night I had good radio communications with shore stations in Hawaii and in California.
Good times.

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five steps forward, three steps back...

[pos]12 18s 142 12w
[sp]5 kts
[h]050T
[w]14 kts E
[s]Underway from Fakarava to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
50% clouds, 1.5-2m waves. Better progress today. 235nm to go. Noticeable current set against us.
Marquesas maintains a 30 minute time difference ahead of Tahiti and Hawaii. Given that I have no appointments, I'll likely not change my watch.
The sailor in distress that we were listening to has been picked up by the Fiji Coast Guard. His sailboat was set adrift. Bummer.

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Birthday Boy

I'm 46 years old today. Pretty old. But alas, I'm happy with where I'm at.

We have been listening to a distress situation on the Pacifc Seafarer's Net. 14.300 MHz
Some solo sailor 150nm to the NW of Fiji has a large open infected wound on his foot and can no longer operate his boat.
He has good radio support from all the ham operators, but the Fiji search and rescue is taking several days to respond to his distress call.
Best of luck to him. I'm thankful we have good radio communications.
[pos]13 18s 143 28w
[sp]5 kts
[h]040T
[w]18 kts E
[s]Underway from Fakarava to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas.
50% clouds, 1.5-2m waves.

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Pau Hana is underway

[pos]14 30s 144 26w
[sp]5 kts
[h]040T
[w]18 kts E
[s]Underway from Fakarava to Fatu Hiva, Marquesas. Strong current set against us last night while leaving Tuamotus. Better sailing now that we're out in the open.
15% clouds, 1.5m waves. The current was pushing us back off our course by 14 degrees! I can see why many ships wrecked in the Tuamotus during the 1700s-1800s.
Slow and steady. 416nm to Fatu Hiva.
All's well aboard.

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Still in Fakarava

At the Pink Sands beach, South Fakarava

From the aptly named Wall of Sharks, South Fakarava

We can't seem to leave Fakarava. The lagoon and oceanic wildlife here are just making it hard to go, easy to stay. We've been sailing in the lagoon in perfect conditions: flat seas, full sail, 15-20 kts of wind and great visibility, hard to beat. The dinghy engine didn't like being towed behind the boat for 20+ miles and thus staged a brief walk-out, but Martin was able to coax it back to life. I'm lucky because my boat comes with a handyman- Martin's does not!

Conditions permitting, we're looking at heading north-east to the Marquesas in the next week. It will be a 4 day, 500 nm upwind sail. We'll be there about a month getting ready for the crossing to Hawaii in November.