Worrall Wind Update 4/5 - Tuomotu Bound

Day 4/5 - Tuomotu Bound - Ripped sail.

UTC/Local Time: 0100 5/27/1300 5/26

Latitude: 14 52.99 S
Longitude: 144.44.96 W
Course Over Ground: 203 degrees at 4.5 knots
Wind Direction: 14-25 knots 105 degrees Southeast
Sea Swell: 9+ feet, 6 seconds apart
Sky: 40-50% clouds, mini squalls
Barometric Pressure: 1015 steady
Temperature/Humidity: 88 F, 68%

Update:

As we approached yesterday evening, we were determined with the increasing winds and squall threats to get the sails reefed early. We had been traveling from 5.5 knots to 6.5 knots all day and were making good time and were a little reluctant to slow ourselves down. After reviewing our charts and position, we realized that we needed to slow down anyway or we would have to heave to off an atoll and wait for sunrise on Thursday 5/27 before approaching the pass. We needed to be at our 20 mile mark from the atoll by 6:30 a.m. to be ready to pass through at slack tide which we calculate to be around 10:49 a.m. in the morning. We have been told to make a VHF call the morning we arrive to a dive shop in the vicinity and ask for local tide information.

After reading about how treacherous it can be to enter the atolls when the lighting is not good and the tide is not slack, we are approaching our entry very cautiously. As it is, the winds and seas may churn up the water/reef visibility to preclude us from entering anyway. We have already decided that if the winds and seas do not calm down we may pass by the Tuomotus completely, and head straight for Tahiti.

I was downstairs in the galley fixing dinner. Russ, Garyn, and Jess were topside. Russ was at the main and started to bring the sail down to reef position when I could hear Garyn yelling at Russ to stop. By the time Russ heard Garyn over the roar of the wind and stopped bringing the sail down, the little rollers that pinch the sail into the track had acted like a razor ripping about a three foot line between the cord and the sail. Another Oh Crap!

Well that settled whether we double or triple reefed. The ripped sail is not one we can take care of in these conditions, so we triple reefed to protect the part of the sail that had ripped. We rolled out about 1/2 of the jib and left out the mizzen. Even with all of the reefing, we were still sailing at 5.5 knots. As the winds increased to a consistent 18-20 knots, and the seas up to 9 feet, the sail configuration keeps the boat mildly heeled in the wind and moderately heeled with a beam roller. The swells are fairly close together so there has been a lot of rocking back and forth...not comfortable for any of us, but worse for Jess.

Over the course of the night and several passing squalls, Garyn reduced the jib and mizzen even a little more to slow us down. The winds are gusting to 25 + when a gray cloud passes overhead We only have 60 miles to go to our mark and as long as we are going about 4.5 knots we should be there sometime between 5 and 7 tomorrow morning. According to our weather model, the seas should be two feet smaller and wind down to 13 and 14 knots.

Soup for dinner tonight.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 3/4 - Tuomotu Bound

Latitude: 13.10.5 S
Longitude: 143.23.8 W
Course Over Ground: 215 @ 6.5 knots
Wind Direction: Southeast 105 degrees 14 knots
Sea Swell: 2.5 meters
Sky: 15% cloud cover, horizon line
Barometric Pressure: 1014 and steady

Update:

Last night was probably the most hair raising of all of our nights at sea. All day and into the evening we had less than 8 knots of wind, small seas, and blue skies. Hatches and ports were open allowing for a soft breeze to pass through the boat.

Russ and I had first watch, which technically started at 8:00 p.m., but Garyn and Jess were tired and had gone to bed about 7:00 p.m., so we started a little early. Anticipating stronger winds the following day, I made a big pot of chicken rice soup and spent my early evening in the galley doing some general clean up and stowing for stronger winds. We had made a decision to evaluate whether to keep our gennaker up when we started watch at 8:00 p.m. At 8:00 p.m. we still had light winds and the gribs indicated that these would continue through the night. So we decided to leave the gennaker up and if the wind started to rise we would take it down before it hit 10 knots.

I went on the back deck and in the moonlight took a freshwater shower, enjoying the beautiful evening. It was till about 80 degrees out. After cleaning up, I came back inside the cabin. Russ and I were looking at our route, and maps and keeping an eye on the anomometer. Hydie was steering. The main had one reef, the mizzen was up, and the gennaker was pulling us along with about 6 knots of wind. Garyn and Jess were asleep in the v-berth. The anomometer registered 7 knots, then 8, then 10 and backed down to 8. We looked to see where the wind was coming from and noticed a small black cloud that had formed on our port side. We made a decision to take down the genny, and thought we would do it ourselves without waking Garyn and had just discussed who would do what with a two person manuever. We were putting on our harnesses and life vests when the wind picked up again to 10 knots, then 12. Garyn who could hear the boat speed up in the v-berth came up to see if we wanted some help dousing the gennaker. We said yes and were all preparing to go out when the wind kicked up to 21 knots, filled the gennaker and in an instant we were heeled to starboard taking white water over the bottom rail.

Garyn clipped on to the jackline and went out through the leeward slider door to douse the gennaker. Russ was going to follow out the leeside when we went over further, taking water over the top rail! That was an ugly first. It was horrifying. Garyn was outside standing on the portabote, (on the rail) surfing through the water as the boat was on its side. We always thought the portabote looked like a surf board when folded up. We just never expected to use it as such, but it certainly came in handy as floor when we were tipped sideways. Boy was the adrenalin pumping!

Whitewater poured through the starboard port into the lower saloon soaking the cushions and a torrent gushed through the open slider of the cabin door. Russ was able to close the door against the whitewater to stop the water rush and climb out of the windward side, making his way around the back deck and released the gennaker sheet. I stayed at the helm in the cabin bringing us almost downwind so the gennaker would be behind the main. Garyn was able to sock the gennaker. As soon as we did this the boat righted itself. Jessica closed the leeward hatches to prevent anymore water from coming into the boat, despite her terror of seeing water pour through the door and knowing that Garyn was on the foredeck with the gennaker.

So with in the course of 3 minutes we went from heaven to hell and back. The wind died to 6 knots and once again we were lopping along as we assessed the damage, got our pulse rate back to normal, and licked our wounds. We pulled out the jib 1/2 way, and reefed the main. We didn't care if we were only going 2 or 3 knots, Genny will never again fly after dark no matter how slow we go. In the meantime, the boat IO that we had passed earlier in the day, passed by us with all their sails up and sailed over the horizon. We talked to them on the radio and they too had been hit by the squall, but decided to keep their sails up.

The starboard settee along with the locker behind it was soaked. The water that had poured through the door had fortunately made its way to the bilge. And the bilge pump worked! Yes! One of the containers of chicken soup in the starboard fridge had come open during the knockdown. And when the boat righted itself, chicken broth leaked out the refrigerator onto the galley floor making a slippery mess. We emptied the lockers of wet stuff (games, food, Ipods, other electronic gear), hung things up that needed to dry, and I started to work on the mess in the galley, which required a complete defrost of the refrigerator and sudsy soap down to cut through the chicken soup grease which coated everything in the refrigerator. Jess and Garyn went to bed around 10:00. I finished the defrost at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, just before we went off watch. During the rest of the evening, we kept a close watch on the brewing clouds, but knew that we had the right sail combination up to deal with unexpected winds.

After getting the galley and refrigerator back in shape, the refrigerator would not restart. We'd been having problems with it since Mexico and the last defrost. Now it appeared that maybe some of the saltwater that had come through the port had done a number on the refrigerator's electronics. What a pain. I then had to move over the most vulnerable foods to the secondary refrigerator which fortunately had some room in it. When Garyn and Jess got up for their watch, Garyn started to work on getting the refrigerator working which he finally did the following morning.

Russ and I slid into the midship berth and fell instantly asleep. Garyn and Jess had their hands full on their watch with three additional squalls. Their watch alternated between 6 knots of wind to 25 knots of wind and lots of rain. They wanted to put out more sail, but decided we had all had enough excitement for one night and kept us reefed.

Needless to say, today has been cleanup and dry out day. I think as I write this update we are about 95% back to normal. The wind has picked up today between 12-14 knots. We are on a broad reach, sailing between 5.5-6.5 knots. We are closing the gap between us and IO. Worrall Wind needs 12-15 knots to move well. We are saltier and wiser.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 2/3 - Tuomotu Bound

Day 2/3 - Tuomotu Bound

UTC/Local Time: 2400/1400

Latitude: 11 57.250 S
Longitude: 142 28.264 W

Course Over Ground: 200
Wind Direction: What wind?
Sea Swell: 1 meter
Sky: 2% clouds, 20 mile visibilty
Barometric Pressure: 1016

Temperature 88 degrees - water about the same.

Update:

We are just dinking (not drinking) along, although that might not be a bad idea. There is so little wind that we are moving anywhere between 0 knots and 3 knots. Our grib files indicate that we should have between 6-10 knots, so today is unusually over stated. Our gennaker - Genny is catching the little bit of wind that we have, which isn't much. She does look pretty and is casting a lovely reddish purple reflection on the ripples on the deep blue sea.

It looks like we might pick up some wind this evening. We are debating whether to turn the motor on and get some distance this afternoon. It's just so beautiful and peaceful right now, but we might be coming to the end of our s...l....o....w threshold. This is slower than the doldrums. We are eyeing the clear blue water and contemplating a swim, but the word shark keeps popping into our discussion.

On our Nobeltec Navigation system there is a console panel that calculates our next way point, based on our second to second change of speed and direction. Our estimated time of arrival right now based on our current speed and wobbling direction, says NEVER. Know that won't last. Hope it is this calm when we try to get into the atolls, but I suspect from the gribs there will be some fairly large swells and 15 knot wind in that area during the next couple of days when we actually reach the vicinity...Wednesday, Thursday, Friday?

Because of the calm seas, I plan to work in the galley a bit this afternoon. I'm thinking lemon chicken and apple pie. I know as soon as I go down, the wind will pickup and start sliding everything from one place to the next. In the meantime, we are kicking back listening to books, reading books, listening to music, working on little projects.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 1/2 - Tuomotu Bound

UTC/Local Time -10: 1830/0830

Latitude: 10 57.800 S
Longitude:141 33.051 W

Course Over Ground: 217 degrees @ 3.5 knots
Wind Direction: From NE 60 degrees, 4.5 knots
Sea Swell: 8 feet, 8 seconds from NE
Sky: 5% clouds, 15 mile visibility
Barometric Pressure: 1016 up 2 in last three hours
Temperature: 84 degrees, 69% humidity

Update:

We left Marquesas yesterday morning and have been enjoying a beautiful sail. In the last 24 hours we will have traveled over 140 miles, which is fast for us. Sea swells have been mild, around 6 feet from the north east. They got a bit bigger last night and closer together rocking the boat a bit more. The moon was out shining on the waves and reflecting off of white puffy clouds. The stars glittered through. It reminded me of the opening graphics for Dream Works Films.

Russ and I had first watch 7:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. Marquesas time, 1:30 Tahiti time. This should be the last time change for awhile. Jess and Garyn had to the 2:00 - 8:00 shift. Yesterday, the boat IO left early in the morning from Hakatea Bay. We caught their lights in the distance in the pre-dawn hour and have been slowly gaining on them....us gaining on anybody rarely happens, but they are a smaller boat with less sail. We talked with them this morning on VHF radio and they are headed for the same atolls in the Tuomotus that we are. We will most likely pass them within the next hour.

Since noon today, the wind and seas have calmed way down. We passed IO around 10:00 a.m. this morning. They are now on the horizon behind us. We are moving very slowly at 0026/1426. The seas have also settled more. I think Jess is feeling a little better with the calmer sea state.

We are listening to Robin Cook's Chromosome and lounging about. Hot dogs and potato salad for dinner tonight.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update - Marquesas Islands

UTC/Local: 0000/1430

Latitude: 09 20.322 S
Longitude: 140 25.772 W

We spent a fairly peaceful night in Hakatea Bay. Apparently, I slept through a squall that came through in the middle of the night that had both Russ and Garyn up checking the anchor and turning on the radar. This morning after a quick dinghy ride onto the beach where the first Survivor series was filmed, we weighed anchor at 10:00 a.m. When we arrived in the bay the night before, there were two boats anchored, Australia and Endless Summer. When we returned from our hike, there were four new boats, Avante, IO, Mojombo, and a French boat with no name. Australia and Endless Summer had left. By the time we got up, IO had already left. Proximity and Passages were just coming through the pass as we left. We are getting to know quite a few of the boats in the cruising community, most of whom are heading for the Puddle Jump Reunion in Tahiti on June 18.

By 10:25 this morning, we turned off Lehman, raised the sails, and were on a beam reach, port tack for the Tuomotus in 14 knots of wind, doing 6-7 knots. Russ commented that this is exactly how he thought the sailing would be in the South Pacific. We set Hydie (windvane steering system) to work at the helm, and we have just be lounging around as we are being carried by the wind past Ua Pou to the Tuomotus. Our plan is to go to Kauehi Atoll first 15 56.830 S; 145 10.558 W; then to Fakarava Atoll 16 04.916 S; 145 43.000 W. Then we will be on our way to Tahiti. We think Trim, Pincoya, and Endless Summer are leaving today as well for a similar route. We hope to see them along the way.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 15 - Marquesas Islands

Day 15 - Hakatea Bay, Nuka Hiva, May 21, 2010
UTC/Local: 0530/2000

Latitude: 08 56.626 S
Longitude: 140 09.805 W

We weighed anchor in Taiohae Bay about 9:00 a.m. this morning and headed toward Hakatea Bay, only a couple of miles west. This bay is very difficult to see, and I have to say I was freaking out as we headed straight toward a rock cliff and what looked like breaking surf on a rock. Jessica was at the helm dong a fine job of steering and fortunately taking direction from Garyn and Russ who were relyng on instruments. My visual spatial perception is seriously askew. I was ready to turn around and head for the Tuomotus.

We did find the opening to the bay and threaded through what looked like an eye of an needle. We were anchored, lunched, and in the dinghy by 12:00 noon. Hakatea Bay is a very secluded bay. It is often called Daniel's Bay, and is the first location of the Survivor series. The bay has two fingers. We anchored in the right finger, and took the dinghy over to the left finger where we found a fresh water opening into an estuary where we tied up our dinghy before taking our hike.

One of the bay's attraction is the hike to the world's third highest waterfall. The hike was one of the most spectacularly beautiful hikes we have ever been on. After winding our way from the bay back into the spiring cliffs and fording a a couple of streams, we came to a box canyon that spired into the clouds. The trail took us through banana groves, hibiscus forests, and river beds clogged with falling coconuts. At one point while we were resting on the edge of a river bed canopied by trees, the wind began to blow, and coconuts and fruits came crashing down around us. Fortunately we were not hit.

This has been a very dry year in the Marquesas which has significantly reduced the mosquito problem which is a good thing, and also reduced the amount of water coming over the falls, which is a disappointing thing. Nevertheless, the canyon is breathtaking. The photographs we took cannot do it the awe inspiring justice it deserves. At the base of the waterfall is a beautiful fresh water pool which Russ took advantage of. The rest of us, were either not ecstatic about the crawdads and freshwater eels or unwilling to wash off our 100% deet jungle juice. This canyon should be on everyone's bucket list.

The hike took about five hours, two in, one there, two out. We returned to the dinghy which was high and dry in the estuary. We walked it back out into the surf, returned to Worrall Wind for fresh water showers, pineapple maitais, and left over grilled tuna and sauted breadfruit. It just doesn't get much better!

Tomorrow morning we will explore the area in the right finger where the Survivor series took place, and then head for the Tuomotus. We expect to be at sea for at least 90 hours (3-4 days).

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 13/14 - Marquesas Islands

Day 13/14 - Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva, May 20-21, 2010

UTC/Local: 0230/1700

Latitude: 08 54.959 S
Longitude: 140 06.197 W

Yesterday, we spent most of the day in town exploring Taiohae. We got up early to take advantage of shopping at the markets. The supply ship comes in every two weeks and it had come on Monday. The stores were stocked on Tuesday. When we got in late on Tuesday afternoon, we did a quick look around and saw that things were already flying off of the shelves. So yesterday, we stocked up with the things we will need for our passage to the Tuomotus and Tahiti.

This bay is very large and open. It has something called a reflective swell though which makes the boats rock back and forth on anchor and the dinghies and dinghy dock dance crazily about making it a challenge to get on and off the dinghies . When the large swells reach the seawall and crash, they bounce back out to sea. It is odd to see a wave roll towards the ocean and then a wave roll back out at you. When we first anchored, there was a very large ray cruising about the anchorage. We've also noticed there are tons of little jelly fish in the water. Not a good bay for swimming, we have decided. There are probably 30 boats in the bay, many of which we recognize from having been on the radio making the Puddle Jump with us. It is nice to connect faces with boat names.

The four of us enjoyed watching the local adolescents, all boys, surfing after school. It doesn't seem to be an equal opportunity sport here in this bay. When the tide is going out the waves hit a rock reef that is diagonal to the shoreline. The reflective swell in this part of the bay bounces parallel to the shore. When the reflective swell and incoming swell meet it makes a large "V" shaped wave that the kids ride sideways. Very interesting.

The shoreline is very well kept and their are old ruins with tikis in a parklike atmosphere. The local folks were enjoying a volleyball game the first night we were here. We enjoyed the restaurant we ate in the first night so much, we went back last night and again and indulged in big shrimp salads and shrimp curry for dinner.

Today, Garyn and Jess did some grocery shopping, while Russ checked in and out with Gendamerie, and I did laundry on the pier. The fisherman came in with a load of fresh fish around 3:00 p.m. Russ and I went to shore intent on buying both tuna and wahoo. The first load only had tuna, so we bought 2 kilos of fresh tuna. Later, our friends on Trim, indicated that another boat had come in with wahoo. Jess and Garyn went back in the dinghy to fetch some wahoo. Four kilos (8 lbs) of fish should take care of us on our passage.

Tomorrow, we head for for Hakatea Bay on Nuka Hiva. We plan to relax, do a little hiking, and leave for the Tuomotus this weekend or early next week.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 12 - Marquesas Islands

Day 12 - Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva, May 19, 2010

UTC/Local: 0700/2130

Latitude: 08 54.959 S
Longitude: 140 06.197 W

We weighed anchor at 8:45 this morning and said goodbye to Anaho Bay. We thought because of our swing pattern that we may have wrapped the chain on a rock, but with a zig here, and a zag there, we pulled up the anchor without any trouble. We motored the first hour directly into and east wind, then fell off the wind on a beam, then a broad, then a downwind run as the wind shifted on the eastern side of Nuka Hiva.

It was a beautiful sail under blue skies. We pulled into Taiohae Bay and anchored between Trim and S/V Pincoya around 4:00 p.m. After making sure the anchor was set and doing a little clean up work, we headed for shore. We walked around town a bit, and then met up with Gene and Gloria and Ken and Lori for dinner at a little pension restaurant on the waterfront for pizza and salads.

What fun we had sharing our Puddle Jump experiences. Pizza, what a treat! We will be here for a day or two to provision and to supplement our fuel supply.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 11 - Marquesas Islands

Day 11 - Hike from D'Anaho Baie to Hatiheu Baie

This morning at 8:00 a.m., we met up with two other cruising couples on the beach for a hike over the hill from where we are anchored to the neighboring bay where there is a little town with a couple of stores. Hiking with us were Josie and Steve from England on Elyson, and Paul and Marietta from the Nederlands on their boat Nija Foam. Paul and Marietta speak French so it was quite nice being with them because they could interpret for us.

It took us two hours to hike over the hill to Hatiheu. We did a little shopping in the stores, buying some cheese, bread, lettuce, chips, and drinks for a picnic lunch. We also stopped at the local restaurant for a mid-morning coffee. Marietta had a little game boy she was tired of and asked the young woman at the store if she would like to trade for some breadfruit. She struck up a deal with the young woman who took us all to her house at the far side of town during lunch time. We met her parents and watched as her brothers climbed a breadfruit tree to knock down these green balls the size of bowling balls. They also treated us to some other fruits of which we were not familiar. One was a star fruit, similar to a sour peach/apple, and the other was a koko orlis?? which was a prickly green ball, that when opened was a creamy consistency that tasted like pineapple and lemons. It was very good. It would make a fabulous Maitai. We enjoyed very much meeting this family and being taken to their home. Each couple carried 2 breadfruits back over the mountain. Marietta wanted us to have both breadfruits, but we just kept one and gave the other back to her. Paul and Marietta have been sailing for five years and have covered 22,000 kilometers. They came around the cape of South America.

After our visit, we ate our picnic lunch including some of the fruits, visited the town church, and headed back to D'Anaho Bay. We met Garyn and Jessica on our way back up the hill. They decided to go back to the town for another coke. Several of the children that had been playing in the water with us the day before were just getting out of school. When they saw Jess and Garyn, they wanted to know where "Russ" was? Cute. He made quite an impression on the children.

We returned to the boat about 4:00 p.m. We enjoyed a big salad, star fruit and baguettes for dinner. It's the first lettuce we have had on the boat in three weeks. We will try cooking the breadfruit tomorrow. Apparently, we can cut it up like French fries and fry in oil. We are planning on leaving D'Anaho tomorrow and heading to the south side of the island. We have a week left in the Marquesas before heading to the Tuomotus. Originally, we were planning on provisioning at Ua Pou, another island, however, we have heard through the cruising "vine" that Ua Pou's harbor is being dredged and there is no room for cruising boats. So we are reconsidering our plans and will most like go to the port city of Taiohae here on Nuka Hiva to do some provisioning and end our stay at Hakatea Baie (Daniel's Bay) where the first Survivor series was filmed before heading to the Tuomotus. We may do a cruise by of Ua Pou.

All is well on Worrall Wind.

Worrall Wind Update 11 - Marquesas Islands

Day 11 - D'Anaho Bay, Nuka Hiva

UTC/Local: 0500/1930

Latitude: 08 49.284 S
Longitude: 140 03.839 W

Garyn and Jess had a nice hike to a nearby village yesterday. We'll check it out tomorrow. Today was another day in paradise. We did a little snorkeling, reading, hiking, and socializing. Russ has become quite a favorite with the local children after he gave them balloons and lollipops. They got a kick out of using our dive masks. One of the boys invited Russ to get on a paddle board with him.

We invited three other boats over for Happy Hour this evening. Guerremo and Isabella (Spain) from Tin Tin, Steve and Monjula (Emery Cove, CA) from Endless Summer, and Steve and Josie (England) from Elyison. We are the newbies in the group. Steve and Josie left England 13 years ago, spending 5 years in the Med before crossing the Atlantic. Guerremo and Isabella have been sailng for four years, jumping off for the Marquesas from Equador. Steve and Monjula did the Baja Ha Ha in 2008 and the Puddle Jump this year. Everyone has wonderful stories to tell about places they have been. On their hike yesterday, Garyn and Jess met a Polish couple on a 28 foot boat, Asia. This is Asia's third circum-navigation. The woman is the primary owner and she did the first circum-navigation single handed. The boat is very simple....nothing to break, nothing to fix. They both look incredibly tan and fit, amazing people from all over the world.

We will do a little hiking tomorrow and will most likely leave D'Anaho Bay on Tuesday, May 18 for the south side of Nuka Hiva. We'll stay a couple of days on the south side in Hakatea, and head to Ua Pou before taking off for the Tuoumotus. I made 2 dozen corn tortillas today. We had grilled tuna tacos and cold beer.

All is well on Worrall Wind.