Worrall Wind Update 3/4 - Marquesas Islands

Marquesas Islands

Day 3/4 Marquesas Islands - May 8/9, 2010

UTC/Local: 0100/1530 May 9, 2010

Latitude: 09 48.221 S
Longitude: 139 01.919 W

Update:

End of Day 3 - Saturday, May 8, 2010:

We arrived in Atuona Harbor on Hiva Oa, mid morning. The harbor is protected by a short break water. It's very small for the number of boats that need to moor here for check-in. In order to squeeze as many boats in as possible, boats must have both a bow and a stern anchor so that they do not swing. All of the boats face the harbor entrance. Theoretically, all of the boats should be lined up in rows with a fairway in front and back. It was much messier however than the theortical,and it was quite a challenge trying to find a place to anchor. Some of the boats on the outside edge were anchored almost horizontally to the rest of the fleet.

The technique we used was to try and find a fairway, turn upwind into a likely position, drop the stern anchor in the fairway, motor forward to the middle of the next fairway and drop the bown anchor, then snug them both up. We tried unsuccessfully in one location (weren't comfortable with how close we were to the other boats), and finally went to the very front of the anchorage, close to the outer edge, where there was one other boat between us and the cliffs - a big 56 foot Nordhaven, where there was room. We dropped the stern and then the bow, and it felt pretty good. We watched as the boat moved from one side to the other and when we were satisfied, we weren't dragging and had a good distance between our two neighbors, we settled in for the afternoon. We raised the yellow quarantine flag and said hello to some of our Puddle Jump comrades who were also in the Harbor. Windryder and Demelza were in the Harbor.

We did a few boat chores and relaxed for a while. About 1:30 Russ took Garyn over to shore for his 10 mile hike to the airport via the road or a shorter distance up some vertical path. Jessica's plane was due to arrive at 4:30. It was 90 degrees and humid. It was not going to be a pleasant walk either way he went. Russ returned to the boat and we continued to cleanup and fix little things. We were both dripping with sweat. It's amazing how many things can go haywire on a boat. Our shower sump wasn't working, the engine needed servicing, the back deck needed a cleanup, laundry needed to be done, things that came unscrewed and unglued, needed to be rescrewed and reglued.

We were surprised at 4:30 p.m. when we heard Garyn call us from shore saying that he and Jessica were at the dinghy dock. It seemed to us that he had barely left. Jessica's plane had come in an hour early to this little shaved mountain top landing strip. She had several offers from people for a ride into town, but she said no, she was waiting for her husband, She was afraid to if Garyn had taken the path instead of the road, she would miss him. Garyn got to the airport at 4:00 p.m. and were offered a ride by a local back down the hill. So it all worked out well.

After hugs, stories, and a couple of cold beers, we had a champagne dinner on the Lido deck after the sun went down. Russ had set the proximity/anchor alarm pretty close, so it continued to go off throughout the evening. We kept checking with visuals and seemede to be ok. So we all went to bed. Garyn and Jessica were awakened when it started to rain and they got a cool midnight shower, but overall we all slept pretty well.

Day 4 - Sunday, May 9, 2010 - A relaxing Mother's Day - NOT!

It is gratifying to wake up and still be where you think you should be. Boats were beginning to leave the harbor for other destinations. The boat behind us, one of the ones that had moored horizontally, was also setting rigging and cleaning up, getting ready to do something. On board were three Italians, two men and 1 woman. They seemed pretty adept at what they were doing so we didn't pay much attention to them as they motored a little forward, a little backward, raised sailss, bagged sails, etc.

After breaksfast, Garyn, Jess, and Russ wanted to walk into town. It was already starting to get warm, and I still had a lot of little projects to do, so I volunteered to stay behind and watch the boat.

They all got in the dinghy about 9:30, and I sat on the Lido deck relaxing and drinking my second cup of coffee, and planning my day. It seemed to me that our stern had moved a little farther than it had been, but the line was still tight. I came downstairs and did some laundry, and brought it on deck to hang and dry. The Italian boat that had moored horizontally in the fairway was getting ready to leave and had pulled forward on their anchor discovering that our stern anchor had crossed over their bow anchor.

Fortunately, they could speak English enough so that we could communicate. The captain of the boat wanted me to untie my stern which he had alreay dislodged,and our stern was now drifting toward our neighboring boat on our starboard side. I expressed my reluctance to letting go of the stern anchor. I hurriedly got on my sailing gloves, cleared off the lido deck of chairs and tables, grabbed the bow thruster, and started the motor (or tried to start the motor). After a couple of tries I gave it up, and went back out to discover that the Italian boat was now drifting into us with their beam less than two feet from our solar panels on the stern. I gave a "Too close" yell.

While they tried to manuever the boat, our solar panels were now catching in their backstays and grabbing at their fishing gear, I released the sternanchor line so that we would swing away from them. We did and they cleatred. I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't been on board. Yipes!

When I tried to winch in our back anchor, it was now apparent that I was totally dislodged. Two of the crew members, got in their dinghy to push our stern into position while I winched. When that didn't work, they pulled the anchor up and tried to reset it. The first time, it obviously did not set.
The second time, we thought it was set. It was a close call. They were anxious to get under way, and left, but I was anxiously watching the stern continue to pull sideways and there was not enough tension on the stern line so I knew we were dragging.

I got on channel 16, and called some other PPJ boats Windryder, Demelza, and Worrall Wind mobile for assistance. NOTHING HEARD! Now what? I went back out to check the stern anchor which had not set. Our stern was now sideways and perpendicular to our neighbor. We were clearning their boat but I didn't like having only one hook down and not able to start the motor. I yelled to our neighbors who were just getting in their dinghy to go ashore, and asked if they could help. They are now my newest best friends! Those guys reset the the anchor 4 times and on the 4th time it finally took. They could see I was getting exhausted with the anchor winch, so one of them came on board to give me a hand. By 1:00, 3 hours later, everything was back under control and I was pooped.

Russ, Garyn, and Jess arrived at 2:00 p.m. after having explored the tiny town of Atuona and spending $20.00 on cookies and coke. They asked if I had a relaxing time on the boat? .......

We finished up some projects in the afternoon. Russ got the shower sump limping along. There is something wrong with the float. Garyn and Russ got the water turbine back to a wind generator. Russ worked on getting the engine to start. Just before dinner, Garyn and Jess gave me a Mother's Day gift. Mothers Day? I had completely forgotten. But it was a great reason to use the satellite phone and call my mom. Hope everyone out there had more relaxing Mother's Day than I did.

All is Well in Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update 2/3 - Marquesas Islands

UTC/Local:

Latitude:
Longitude:

Day 2 - Marquesas Islands, May 7, 2010

When we left Fatu Hiva, we could see the white caps just beyond the lee of the island. After the fierce winds through the night, we raised our main with a double reef, raised the mizzen for stern balance, and pulled out about 1/2 of the jib in expectation of the blow. Turned out that 1/2 of the jib was too much once we hit the wind line. Once we turned off the wind to a brorad reach, eased off the main, and pulled in the jib to about 1/3 handkerchief, we had a great downwind sail all the way to Tahuata.

We sailed to the west side of Tahuata which is the lee side and anticipated that the wind would subside. Well it didn't! Instead the wind blew over the peaks and funneled through the valleys with increasing velocity over 30 knot gusts. I got really nervous at one point, when I was hard to port trying to get the wind behind us and the boat continued to round up and head straight for the cliffs of the island.

Since we were far enough offshore, there was no immediate danger, but we couldn't take many blows like that one without getting way too close to the cliffs for comfort. We rolled in the jib, furled in the mizzen, and turned on the iron genny (engine). The wind continued to hit us randomly from all direcetions. We passed several coves until we reached Hanamoenoa which is reported to be one of the three best beaches in Polynesia.

We pulled in and set our anchor in white sand in about 30 feet of water about 3:45 p.m.. There were five other boats in the bay and some snorkelers in the water who checked our anchor after we set it and gave us a thumbs up. The water was clear and inviting. It tdidn't take us long to get on our fins, masks, snorkels and go overboard into the 80 + degree water.

In order to get into the water for snorkeling, we first lowered the rubber dinghy around to the side steps, and used the dinghy to put on our gear. It makes a swim platform for us. After a lovely swim where we saw la wide variety of reef fish, we came back to the boat and did a little bottom and side clean up. Garryn made his way around the waterline with a plastic putty knife and scruffy. Not too many barnacles. The aniti-fouling paint did a good job. And maybe the bowline drag helped too.

After fresh water showers on deck, we pulled out the barb-b-que, drank red wine, and had beef kabobs for dinner as the sunset. After dinner we turned on the audio book, layed around in the dark listening and enjoying. About 8:00 p.m. I could hea,r both Garyn and Russ making sleeping noises...snoring. Time to go to sleep. We'll finish the book tomorrow.

Day 3 - Marquesas Islands, May 8, 2010

We had our best night sleep yet. There were some winds, but not as fierce as the night before, we were confident in our anchor set and those of our few neighbors, so we all slept very well.

After a few morning chores, attaching window shade screens, preparing the stern anchor for Autona, swabbing the decks, and putting the bar-b-que away,l we were ready to weigh anchor about 7:30 a.m. Knowing that it would be an upwind beat around the north west corner of Tahuata through the straight to Autona we decided to motor. The wind is on our nose as are the ocean swell.

Once we arrive in Autona, we will go into serious boat cleanup and repair mode. Jessica arrives late this afternoon. Garyn is already cleaning up the V-berth stateroom, and looking forward to taking Jessica back to do some snorkeling at Tahuata.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Islands

Day 1 and 2 - Marquesas Islands

UTC/Local -9.5: 1930/1000 a.m.

Latitude: 10 18.970 S
Longitude: 138 49.524 W

Conditions:

After a lovely, albeit windy, day in the Bay of Virgins, we are headed 303 degrees toward the island of Tahuata. This island lies just a few miles south of Hiva Oa, and we will reach it late this afternoon. We thought it would be better to anchor here in a bay with just a bow anchor than to negotiate the required bow and stern situation at Autona at dusk. The wind is blow 19 knots, wind waves of 1 meter and east south east rolling swells 2.5 metters high every 10 seconds while in sets. These sets rock the boat from rail to rail. In between set the boat is bounding along at 6+ knots.

By dusk last night, there were more that 20 boats in the Bay of Virgins. Many of them with the yellow quarantine flags hoisted indicating they had not yet checked in. We followed suite and raised our yellow flag on the starboard spreader with our French Polynesia flag just below. About 1/3 of the boats had no flags, and another 1/3 of the boats had the French Flag. We saw no other French Polynesia flags other than ours in the anchorage. Since this is not an official check in location, we were concerned about making landfall here and having to pay a fine for making landfall without the required check in, but didn't seem to have to worry about that. There were a lot of very tired looking sailors taking refuge here before moving on.

Day 1 Garyn lowered the dinghy into the water and while he was checking out the motor and riding around, he noticed a large gray shark the size of the dinghy following along side. Our desired to take a swim was immediately squelched. Garyn and Russ took a hike earlier in the day yesterday, Day 1, up to the cross on a pinnacle earlier in the day. Later in the day, Russ and I went back to shore and explored the little town of Hanevave which is at the end of the bay nestled between giant pinnacles. It was a tidy little village with a concrete roads. Houses looked like modulars set on pier foundations. Each of the 20 +/- houses had a garden with several types of plants and fruit trees. Some had pigs tied on tethers to one of their hooves getting fat for roasting and chickens strutted around the town. We saw one teenager carrying a large rooster in his arms. The rooster looked pretty content and wasn't worried about becoming dinner. Dogs and cats were in nearly every yard. The Marquesans girls and women we saw were wearing shorts and tops, the men no tops.

We had heard there was a little store, and saw some folks carrying things in their sacks, but didn't see the store ourselves. We said Kaoha (hello) to folks we saw and many responded either in Marquesan or in French. We stopped and talked to one young man who had a baby. He had seen Garyn and Russ earlier in the day as they hiked the road to the cross. He was one of the workmen who hauls one huge bag of cement up the hillside and extends the concrete road to the next village or wherever they want the road to go. This project will probably last the lifetime of the young man we were talking with. He introduced us to his son who looked less than a year old. We saw a couple of vehicles parked under ports, but none that were on the road.

The village had what looked to be a school/community center, church, volleyball court, soccer field, post office, breakwater with dinghy dock, and a restaurant that looked closed, but with a religious shrine erected in the front. We were told by other cruisers that there was a lady named Justine, near the socceer field, that would prepare a traditional Marquesan dinner with enough notice for cruisers at a price of about $11.00 each. We did not take advantage of this opportunity as we found out too late in the day and would not be there the following. But it sounded like it would have been fun and interesting.

Instead we had spaghetti on board, turn the clocks to Marquesan time. It was dark by 6:00 p.m. when we did this. The days on this side of the equator are growing shorter. By 8:00 p.m, we were all sleeping, not soundly, but sleeping. The boat had just a gentle rock, but the winds were fierce and would whip down from rock pinnacles and deep valleys from a couple of directions, stretching our chain, and often causing us to heel to one side. By the time we finally went to bed our anchor alarm had gone off at least 2 dozen times over the course of the afternoon and evening. Russ had set a pretty tight circle, so we weren't too concerned as we watched the gps screen - boat position draw a wormy looking pattern from the anchor. When we went to bed, our alarm remained silent indicating to us that we had tested nearly every direction downwind from the anchor and were still holding. It was nice to know that we weren't dragging, but didn't have the same confidence in the other boats in the anchorage, many of whom had come in and anchored in front of us.

Between all of us getting up a couple of times and checking our position and other boats relative to us, we got through the night with no problems. Garyn reported that he heard voices(real ones :-), and there was a boat that was trying to drop anchor right next to us and drop back. That didn't work out for them. They finally dropped way to the back of the fleet and dropped anchor. In this particular bay, there is a sandy shelf close to the head of the bay and slightly around the bay on the south side. If you don't drop the line on this shelf in 70 feet or less of water, your alternative is to drop anchor in 100+ feet of water. We carry 300 feet of chain, and to get the right scope, we prefer to drop in shallower water. We were anchored in about 60 feet of water.

When we awoke this morning at 6:00 a.m., we quickly had some cereal and coffee, secured everything for our passage to Tahuata. We turned on the motor to give us an assist in pulling up the anchor against the strong winds pushing us away from the anchor. I was at the helm, Russ and Garyn doing the anchor work. The anchor came up with no problems and by 7:30 we had headed out of the bay for Tahuata. It's been fun sailing in this direction. We hand steered for the first hour or so past the lee of Fatu Hiva because of the variable winds. Once we were well under way, we put Hydie to work and have been giving her periodic help when hit by large offsetting and rounding swells. The clouds are starting to build covering the sun and the temperature has dropped a little from 88 degrees.

We figure that Jessica is on her way to Tahiti now. We will see her tomorrow in Autuona about 4:00 p.m. We understand that we will probably not be able to do an official check-in in Autona until Monday or Tuesday. So we will either hang around there for a few days or go to one of the other close by bays.

As I close this update, we see the dark outline of islands in front of us. Either Tahuata or Hiva Oa or both. Can't quite tell yet.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Arrived!

UTC/local -9.5 (0100 May 7/1630)

Latitude: 10 27.8557 S
Longitude: 138 40.112 W

Conditions: We are currently anchored in the Bay of Virgins on Fatu Hiva. There are a dozen other sailboats from around the world tucked into this beautiful little bay surrounded by by steep cliffs, coconut palms, and tall rock spires shrouded in what looks like resident clouds.. Originally named the Baie de Verges (Bay of Penises) so named for very erect rocks, the missionaries added an "i" and changed the name to Baie de Vierges (Baie of Virgins. Using my vivid imagination, I can actually visualize both in the formations. Only a handful of people live on this island and it is beautifully unspoiled.

We anchored about 10:00 a.m. this morning and ate our breakfast with a gorgeous views from our lido deck while our anchor settled. The boat is rocking gently...seems still now. While this bay is visually inspirational, 30 knot winds have been gusting through this anchorage every 15 minutes, making us a little nervous about the hold of everyone's anchor including our own. A couple of the gusts have been mini squalls bringing rain.

I had to pull out the bug screens as soon as we got here, not because of mosquitos or no seeums which I am sure there are, but because of these huge yellow wasp like creatures that keep making their way into the boat. After breakfast and some minor cleanup, (I had been up since 1:00 am), I took a nap and stayed on anchor watch, while Garyn and Russ took the dinghy ashore and of course took a hike up to a high peak above the bay to a white cross. Now it's my turn to go ashore. We leave tomorrow for Hiva Oa. This was a short stay, but glad we got to see it.

All is very well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind - Land Ho! Marquesas Arrival

Day 30 - Thursday, May 6, 2010

Whoo Hoo! 30 days and over 3,000 miles, Worrall Wind and crew have safely arrived in the Marquesas. I spotted Fatu Hiva during dawn watch on our radar this morning at 5:00 a.m. within my 20 mile range circle. So nice to see something other than a squall or passing ship. By 5:30 a.m. in a star filled sky lit with a waning crescent moon, I thought I could see a dark smudge on the horizon. Was it yet another squall? My imagination or Fatu HIva? 1430 UT, we had a visual. and decided spending one night in the Bay of Virgins before heading 45 miles downwind to Autona, Hiva Oa.

Worrall Wind Update 29 - Marquesas Bound

Day 29 - Wednesday, May 5, 2010

UTC/Local -8: 2130/0130

Latitude: 09 23.593 S
Longitude: 137 46.789 W

Conditions: We are 80 miles from Fatu Hiva, traveling a course over ground of 220 degrees, 5.7 knots. The wind is blowing about 16 knots from the east and there is a partially cloudy. We are on a broad reach with one reef in the main, no mizzen and a reefed jib, a remnant from our last 20 hours of countless squalls and steep seas pounding us from the east. At a our present pace we should make landfall in the Bay of Virgins on Fatu Hiva tomorrow morning. Yes!

Since our first sneaker squall hit us yesterday, we have encountered one squall after another. After the first one, we didn't reef thinking that it was an unusual occurrence. After the second one which lasted for an hour of gusting 27 knot winds, we hunkered down for a long night. We put in one reef in the main, had about 1/3 of the jib flying, trimmed the sails for a broad reach, and helped Hydie with course correction.

After that second squall, the winds dropped to 3 knots and we basically watched the windex spin in circles in the squalls vaccuum. Then came another and another with lots of rain and steepening seas (9-12 feet about 7 seconds apart)slapping our port side or lifting us over and dropping in us in a trough, rolling us to port as the water broke out from under the boat in a frothing rush. Each time a squall passed we would be windless and unable to direct the boat out from the squall line.

Needless to say, none of us got much rest last night. Somehow, we just didn't think the last 150 miles would be this dramatic. After going through the ITCZ with few and light squalls, we thought we were clear..nope! Anyway, the sun has finally come out this afternoon and the squall line is no longer hanging on top of us.

We were all so distracted and tired this morning, we missed the morning Puddle Jump Net. We will check in tonight. It will be our last check in with the net for a while. And we may not be able to get a radio signal out from the Bay of Virgins because of the tall mountains to let you know of our landfall. If we can, we will, but don't be alarmed if you don't hear from us tomorrow. Just know that we will be enjoying the earth beneath our feet.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 28 - Tuesday, May 4, 2010

UTC/Local -8 2200/0200

Latitude: 08 15.550 S
Longitude: 136 51.910 W

Conditions: Garyn and Russ had watch last night, nothing remarkable other than a fairly constant wind. Once the sun came up the wind has been variable, primarily due to a 100% cloud cover and an active squall line on our southeast side. As a squall gets closer our wind speed goes up. As it passes by, the wind speed goes down. Even with ups and downs we are only experiencing gusts of 19 knots on a fairly constant 14.5 knots, sea swells of 2 meters on a course of 209 degrees, just a few white caps and no rain. It is 82 degrees out, 74 percent humidity, and our barometric pressure is 1014 and rising. The wind variability has slowed our forward progress. Our boat speed varies from 3 knots to 6 knots. It is now looking like landfall will be on May 6 instead of May 5. Russ was net control for the Puddle Jump Net this morning. There were only 3 other boats checking in. He'll run the net again this evening which is the prime time net. There is usually a few more boats in the evening. It will be the last time

1800/1000 a.m. We started a new audio book last night, Longshot by Dick Francis. The winds stablized yesterday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. and we were able to relax the hand steering. The variability of the winds this morning means we are back to hand steering to give Hydie a hand. Garyn and Russ are discussing whether we would be better with the auto pilot on. Right now, Russ wants to be at the helm.

We have not had the Honda or Lehman on since crossing the equator. With the solar panels and the water turbine, we have been producing enough amps to take care of all of our electrical needs, staying close to 100% battery charge. With the cloud cover today, we may be producing a little less. We also need to use more today because we should make some water and that takes some additional energy.

2100/0100
After spending the morning under clouds and dodging rainstorms, we are now heading 220 degrees and the wind being incredibly variable, light and capricious. We are probably averaging less than 4 knots per hour. We now have a mostly cloudy sky with the sun breaking through patches of blue directly overhead. We just finished lunch. I made tuna salad using up the last little bit of iceberg lettuce. We still have some potatoes, 1 tomato, 1 head of romane lettue, 1 jicama, 2 lemons, 1 red onion and 1 apple left of our perishable produce, and these are still in pretty good shape considering I bought them 30 days ago.

We finally decided to give Hydie (hydrovane steering) a rest (she is currently in neutral) and are employing Ray (auto pilot). The wind is still on the variable side and the auto pilot is also having difficulty maintaining a course heading, particularly when the wind dies and a large swell from the east slams our fore quarter and pushes us off the wind.

We are 175 miles from Fatu Hiva and 150 miles from Hiva Oa. Strangely, the last two days both Garyn and I have been sneezing. I jokingly said it was the coconut pollen, finding it's way north. Hmmm??

Holy &#$%! We just went from 9 knots of wind and less than 4 knots of boat speed on a broad reach to gusts of 28 knots from our port quarter! A sneaker squall just caught us heeling us to the point that our starboard rail was underwater. The boat sped up to over 8 knots. Russ was at the helm. Garyn put on his vest and went topside to ease out the main and pull in the jib. That helped considerably and eased the heel as Worrall Wind flew through the water. By the time Garyn got back to the pilot house, he was soaking wet from the rain. At the same time the wind kicked up, the swells went from 2 meters to 4 meters. Big suckers! Within a very long 10 minutes, the squall passed us by.

2200/0200 There is now considerably more blue sky ahead of us, but the squall line is still on our port quarter. We've tightened up on the main, re-employed Hydie, and are keeping a watch out for any more sneakers. We are currently experiencing variable winds and traveling at 4 knots. Seems to be a feast or famine day.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update 27 - Marquesas Bound

Day 27 - Monday, May 3, 2010

UTC/Local -8:

Latitude: 06 41.970 S
Longitude: 135.36.137 W

Conditions:

1024/0224 It is early in the morning of May 3. The moon is waning, but nevertheless, it lights up the horizon as a friend in the night. We are now on a beam reach having gone far enough south and the winds are east, southeast. These pre-dawn winds are variable between 9 and 15 knots, nothing holds constant for more than a few minutes. As the wind recedes, we are on a beam reach. As the wind increases, Hydie rounds us up to a closer reach, but generally no more than 60 degrees. The swells are coming from the east south east as well. We are on less of a heel and there is more side to side wallowing on this tack.

I enjoy the night watch on a stable night when everyone else is sleeping. We have all gotten along well and enjoy each other's company, but it's nice in small living quarters to have some alone time. I think Russ and Garyn enjoy the time as well. In between recording positions and paying attention to course and sail, we enjoy the rhythm and sounds of the sea, listen to podcasts, audio books, and music, read, write and study topics of personal interest.

As we are now withng 400 miles of land, we are beginning to notice more sea birds. There were boobies with us until the full day of rain we had on April 20, one week ago at latitude 03 N. Since that time and yesterday, we hadn't seen any birds. Now we have seen some white birds in the distance. We have also begun to have some ship traffic. A large freighter crossed our course line 25 miles in front of usk around midnight.

1200/0400 As it turned out, night watch was active and there was no time for any relaxation. The winds started to gust up to 20 miles an hour and not from the same direction as the primary breeze. We had Hydie set up to be on a beam to broad reach with the primary wind coming from our stern quarter, east south east. If the wind held steady this was a good sail and courseline. Unfortunately, our 15 knot wind would die down to 8, and with the large eastern swell, we had to be vigilant not to gybe as the wind would die down and Hydie would fall off with the wind directly behind us. Then every 3-5 minutes we would get a strong cross wind gusting up to 21 knots coming from the southeast rounding us up and heelig us over so quickly that we heel quik qnd hard. Hydie struggles when the wind is so variable, so it means that the sailors on board actually need to man the helm and give her some help with the big rudder. This back and forth was tedious. At 4:00 a.m. one of the gusts heeled us so quickly that a few things went flying. it woke up Russ. He came up to adjust Hydie and slept the rest of my watch on the settee behind me.

By 7:00 a.m. I was happy to hand over the helm to Russ and Garyn I took a nap from 9:00 -10:00 then was back at the helm until lunch. Russ took a little snooze too. We keep hoping the wind will settle in one drection, and the 9 foot swells often slamming us from the side will subside.

1500/0700 Sunrise was just 40 minutes ago. Once again, we will need to turn the clock back for our local time Zulu -9. That will mean instead of 7:00 a.m. in the morning, we will have to be with our readings by 6:00 a.m., but at least it will be light. We will probably take care of this detail Cinqo de Mayo.

By 7:00 a.m. I was happy to hand over the helm to Russ and Garyn I took a nap from 9:00 -10:00 then was back at the helm until lunch. Russ took a little snooze too. We keep hoping the wind will settle in one drection, and the 9 foot swells often slamming us from the side will also subside. We are less than 300 miles from landfall, and we are all ready for a little terra firma.

2200/0200
We are still hand steering, the wind seems a little more constant, but those gusts are still coming from a different direction than the primary. The sun is out and we are currently traveling at 6 knots. We got an email from friends who are now in the Marquesas. We have not heard from them for a while, the reason...apparently some of the anchorages are radio holes, can't get a good signal. After our landfall, I will not be writing an update every day and for sure it sounds like I will only be able to send sporadically when we are able.

Hope everyone at home and sailing friends are doing well. We are thinking of you.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 26 - Sunday, May 2, 2010

UTC/Local -8: 1900/1100

Latitude: 04 50.947 S
Longitude: 134 05.638 W

Conditions: We awoke to another beautiful day, 82 degrees, 72 percent humidity. We have a 2 meter southeast swell every 10 seconds with 2 foot wind waves. We are on a course of 219, contemplating landfall in Fatu Hiva instead of Hiva Oa. We'll see if the winds are favorable and we can get there by early May 5, three days away. If we go to Fatu Hiva, we would spend two nights, sailing to Hiva Oa on May 7. Jessica is coming in on May 8 to Atuona. The wind is 15-16 knots and we are now traveling about 6 + knots per hour, still fairly close hauled to stay on a course of 219. If we decide not to go to Fatu Hiva, we will fall off for Hiva Oa directly and not be so heeled.

The constant heel is unbelievably tiring and irritating. Doing simple boat chores takes 4 times the time it would ordinarily take as we hang on, bump into everything, and position and reposition that what has just shifted or flown across the boat often making a mess bigger than the one we were originally trying to clean up. I'm hoping that I am using up 4 times the calories as most of our exercise is isometric and not aerobic. I need to reframe my mind to look at this as a challenge not an irritation, and chant my mantra, "It's about the journey, it's about the journey."

We continue to listen to Jack London's Sea Wolf. It seems more interesting now, and we are grateful to be on Worrall Wind and not on the Ghost. We are really looking forward to seeing land and making landfall. In an email from Abby, she said SPOT has not been working for a couple of weeks. I turned it off yesterday, changed the batteries, and turned it back on. Now that we are closing in on the Marquesas we may be out of the sattellte dead zone. Please let us know when you first notice that Spot is working again.

2200/1400
We just finished Sea Wolf. Another lazy afternoon passes us by. The wind has eased off a bit to 10 knots and boat has leveled up a little bit. What a relief. The downside of the this, is we are now moving slower. Hopefully this is just a fluke although it feels so much more restful.

All is well on Worrall Wind

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Bound

Day 25 - Saturday, May 1, 2010 - May Day in a good way!

UTC/ Locl -8 0140/1740

Latitude: 03 37.307 S
Longitude: 133 06.592 W

Conditions: Sun is shining, had about 40% cloud cover earlier, now it's down to 10%. The swells have subsided a bit to 1.5 meters. The wind is fairly steady at 14 knots. We are still on a close reach as the wind is coming from the south southeast. If it would shift a little more to the southeast as it shows on the gribs, we would be happier because we could stay on course or just a little below. Right now we are working hard to stay close hauled and at 220 degrees south at 5 knots. When the wind slows down we fall off going closer to 232. Hiva Oa is 220 on our current path. It's 84 degrees and about 74 percent humidity. According to our navigation software, at this pace we will reach Hiva Oa on May 5 or 6.

Last night was my night off. I slept sideways in our bed, head on the leeward side, feet on the windward side, a good heel for natural foot elevation. Of course, I also had to have a few pillows under my head to prevent blood rush to the brain! Woke this morning with no toe or foot pain, good news. I heard Russ turn on the radio at a few minutes before 1500 Zulu, now 7:00 a.m. local time. No one seemed to know who was the net control for this morning. The schedule is pretty loose out here as boats head further and further south. Between Russ and another boat Blue Bottle, they were able to muster a half dozen checkins. We are starting to get checkins now from some of the earlier boats that are leaving the Marquesas and making passage to the Tuomotus.

Russ has been dragging our bowlines this morning to see if we can't coax some of the barnacles off our waterline. The bowline on the leeward side is snaking alongside the boat. Not sure it is actually making contact with hull. The upwind side bowline drag seems to be a little more effective. It's amazing that barnacles can find a boat and attach themselves. We've got quite a crop growing, many of them quite a ways above the water line that attached when we were on a starboard tack and heeled to port. Neither of the bowlines extend past the pilot house doors, so we will have some measure of success if we have fewer barnacles in front of the doors.

1930/1130 am Garyn has been looking forward to a sat phone call to Jessica. Today's the day! Jess is in Colfax delivering Cat Balou to Grandma and Grandpa for cat sitting while she joins us in the Marquesas next weekend. We are all looking forward to her joining us.

2030/1230 pm We took some noonsite readings with the sextant. Russ's calculations place us with in 5 miles of our gps location.

0130/1730 pm The wind has piped up to 16 knots this afternoon and the swell has increased to 10-12 feet. We are bounding at 6.3 knots and have finally dropped south of our course line which will give us some leeway to ease off the sails. For right now we are still on a close reach. Every once in a while our ship's bell clangs. At rest the clacker is on a 45 degree angle almost touching the side of the bell. When we lunge through a wave, it doesn't take much for the bell to ring.

We are making good progress today, having traveled 86 miles since midnight.

All is well on Worrall Wind.