Category: 2016 – Guatemala to Panama to Australia Blog

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/20 23:20
LATITUDE: 09-58.36S
LONGITUDE: 139-08.84W
COURSE: 198T
SPEED: 7.0
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 13
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 20%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1010.6
AIR_TEMP: 33.9C
COMMENT: Beach House -En Route – Hiva Oa to Rairoa – Tuamotu Islands

After checking in, we did some shopping, maintenance and Nikki did a day tour of the beautiful island of Hiva Oa. We had a few evening gatherings with friends on Swiftsure and Blowin\’ Bubbles and a lovely dinner with Chuck and Linda of \”Jacaranda\”, who I\’d not seen in 7 years. After fueling up (Thank You Lanny and Ginger on \”Swiftsure\”), we were headed for the island of Tahuata. It\’s only 8 miles from Hiva Oa and while en route, we looked at the weather window to the Tuamotus (400 miles to our South South West). We realized, we were just in the beginning of a really nice window for a boat that could make the trip without question in a boat that can do our speed. Another concern is that with all the engine and steering issues to resolve, we will lose a month in Tahiti and as such, we do need to keep moving along the carefree highway…:-)

As we sailed by, we (radioed) waved goodbye to all our friends in Hanamananoe Bay on Tahuata and set sail. We\’re now en route for the two and 1/2 day passage to Rairoa.

Some of the other boats behind might take 4 days and this window would be too short for them. They end up with some pretty strong ESE to SE winds hitting them and it wouldn\’t be any fun.

We are headed to the island of Rairoa where the \”Kon Tiki\” raft of Thor Heyerdahl unceremoniously went aground on the atoll. This of course proved it was possible for pre-Columbian people from South America to have migrated to the islands of the Pacific. His ideas remain quite controversial to this day.

So far, we\’ve lovely flat seas and a beam reach with 10-15 knots, making around 6.5-7 knots. This should put us off the entrance to
Rairoa on Monday morning.

We\’ll keep you posted.
Feel free to drop us a note.
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/20 23:20
LATITUDE: 09-58.36S
LONGITUDE: 139-08.84W
COURSE: 198T
SPEED: 7.0
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 13
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 20%
VISIBILITY: 20
BARO: 1010.6
AIR_TEMP: 33.9C
COMMENT: Beach House -En Route – Hiva Oa to Rairoa – Tuamotu Islands

After checking in, we did some shopping, maintenance and Nikki did a day tour of the beautiful island of Hiva Oa. We had a few evening gatherings with friends on Swiftsure and Blowin\’ Bubbles and a lovely dinner with Chuck and Linda of \”Jacaranda\”, who I\’d not seen in 7 years. After fueling up (Thank You Lanny and Ginger on \”Swiftsure\”), we were headed for the island of Tahuata. It\’s only 8 miles from Hiva Oa and while en route, we looked at the weather window to the Tuamotus (400 miles to our South South West). We realized, we were just in the beginning of a really nice window for a boat that could make the trip without question in a boat that can do our speed. Another concern is that with all the engine and steering issues to resolve, we will lose a month in Tahiti and as such, we do need to keep moving along the carefree highway…:-)

As we sailed by, we (radioed) waved goodbye to all our friends in Hanamananoe Bay on Tahuata and set sail. We\’re now en route for the two and 1/2 day passage to Rairoa.

Some of the other boats behind might take 4 days and this window would be too short for them. They end up with some pretty strong ESE to SE winds hitting them and it wouldn\’t be any fun.

We are headed to the island of Rairoa where the \”Kon Tiki\” raft of Thor Heyerdahl unceremoniously went aground on the atoll. This of course proved it was possible for pre-Columbian people from South America to have migrated to the islands of the Pacific. His ideas remain quite controversial to this day.

So far, we\’ve lovely flat seas and a beam reach with 10-15 knots, making around 6.5-7 knots. This should put us off the entrance to
Rairoa on Monday morning.

We\’ll keep you posted.
Feel free to drop us a note.
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/17 00:56
LATITUDE: 09-48.20S
LONGITUDE: 139-01.86W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 5
WIND_DIR: S
CLOUDS: 75%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1009
AIR_TEMP: 31.1C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Hiva Oa – Marquesas Islands – Check in tomorrow

After two lovely nights and a nice day at Fatu Hiva, we\’ve sailed in tandem with \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” to the island of Hiva Oa. Hiva Oa is the main harbor that usually checks in the transpacific \”Puddle Jumpers\” and here we are in the height of the season. There are 34 boats anchored in here! I\’ve been here twice before and never saw more than 4!

The sail was a beauty in light trade winds and after we get checked in tomorrow, we\’ll do a bit of food shopping, take the hike the gravesite of famous French Artsit, Paul Gaugain (sp?), fuel up and hopefully be gone tomorrow afternoon or the next day at latest to Tahuata which is only 10 miles away. The anchorage is another beauty and if I recall, has white sand beaches? If so, it\’s one of the few anchorages in these islands that does have sandy beaches. These are geologically very young islands and the the spires and mountains are truly dramatic. It IS the attraction here – just looking at the place. Photos will follow when we get to real internet.

Also, dear old friends Chuck and Linda from s/v \”Jacaranda\” are here. I last saw them with Cindy in the Revillegedos Islands (Socoro\’s of Mexico) in 2009.
These are the friends we went Manta Riding and swimming with at San Benedicto Island. Interestingly, there are small manta rays swimming all over this anchorage. The same species we saw in Mexico, only quite small with 3-4 foot wing spans. Ironically, today would have been my and Cindy\’s 24th anniversary.
Cindy loved the Manta Rays….

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/17 00:56
LATITUDE: 09-48.20S
LONGITUDE: 139-01.86W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 5
WIND_DIR: S
CLOUDS: 75%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1009
AIR_TEMP: 31.1C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Hiva Oa – Marquesas Islands – Check in tomorrow

After two lovely nights and a nice day at Fatu Hiva, we\’ve sailed in tandem with \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” to the island of Hiva Oa. Hiva Oa is the main harbor that usually checks in the transpacific \”Puddle Jumpers\” and here we are in the height of the season. There are 34 boats anchored in here! I\’ve been here twice before and never saw more than 4!

The sail was a beauty in light trade winds and after we get checked in tomorrow, we\’ll do a bit of food shopping, take the hike the gravesite of famous French Artsit, Paul Gaugain (sp?), fuel up and hopefully be gone tomorrow afternoon or the next day at latest to Tahuata which is only 10 miles away. The anchorage is another beauty and if I recall, has white sand beaches? If so, it\’s one of the few anchorages in these islands that does have sandy beaches. These are geologically very young islands and the the spires and mountains are truly dramatic. It IS the attraction here – just looking at the place. Photos will follow when we get to real internet.

Also, dear old friends Chuck and Linda from s/v \”Jacaranda\” are here. I last saw them with Cindy in the Revillegedos Islands (Socoro\’s of Mexico) in 2009.
These are the friends we went Manta Riding and swimming with at San Benedicto Island. Interestingly, there are small manta rays swimming all over this anchorage. The same species we saw in Mexico, only quite small with 3-4 foot wing spans. Ironically, today would have been my and Cindy\’s 24th anniversary.
Cindy loved the Manta Rays….

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/15 06:57
LATITUDE: 10-27.90S
LONGITUDE: 138-40.06W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 3
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 60%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1012.9
AIR_TEMP: 29.4C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Fatu Hiva – Marquesas Islands – 18.25 days

Just a quick update to let everyone know we\’re safely anchored in Hanavave Bay (The Bay of Virgins) at Fatu Hiva Island, Marquesas Islands….
We\’ll do a big blog soon. Friends on \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” helped us get anchored in this windy and very tight anchorage. A very big help, thank you \”Bubbles\”!

Last update on \”stuff happens\”. Our port engine has overheated about 6 hours from being anchored and a big coolant leak has been detected. We\’ll investigate tomorrow in the light of day. Everything on these engines is new. So much for being pro-active….:-)

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/15 06:57
LATITUDE: 10-27.90S
LONGITUDE: 138-40.06W
MARINE: NO
WIND_SPEED: 3
WIND_DIR: E
CLOUDS: 60%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1012.9
AIR_TEMP: 29.4C
COMMENT: Beach House – ANCHORED – Fatu Hiva – Marquesas Islands – 18.25 days

Just a quick update to let everyone know we\’re safely anchored in Hanavave Bay (The Bay of Virgins) at Fatu Hiva Island, Marquesas Islands….
We\’ll do a big blog soon. Friends on \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” helped us get anchored in this windy and very tight anchorage. A very big help, thank you \”Bubbles\”!

Last update on \”stuff happens\”. Our port engine has overheated about 6 hours from being anchored and a big coolant leak has been detected. We\’ll investigate tomorrow in the light of day. Everything on these engines is new. So much for being pro-active….:-)

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/14 18:06
LATITUDE: 10-37.35S
LONGITUDE: 137-29.80W
COURSE: 254T
SPEED: 7.5
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 13
WIND_DIR: E
WAVE_HT: 0.3M
WAVE_PER: 5
SWELL_DIR: ESE
SWELL_HT: 2.8M
SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 40%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1013.9
AIR_TEMP: 32.8C
COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Marquesas Islands – Day 18 – 185 nm

Well yesterday, we sort of just sat around and looked at getting the boat ready for arrival, so at first, we forgot to get the boat going fast!
We pulled the 1/2 furled reacher out of the laundry room, raised it and stowed it. A few damaged parts, but it will be easy enough to repair.

We then sort of just watched the world go by at around 6.5-7 knots with our full main and genoa poled to windward. It then seemed a decent strategy, but we realized that wasn\’t as Nikki says, \”going to get the baby fed\”. This, we did all day!

So late yesterday, we hoisted the wet spinnaker (which we\’d last stowed a week ago!), which we had to dry out anyway and kept it up all night. We did 110 miles in around 12 hours, averaging just over 9 knots. The wind was 16-20 from the ESE and we were bookin\’ for the barn. We will do around 215 miles from our 0400 UTC position report on the Pacific Sea Farer\’s Net when we report again tonight. So, Miss Piggy still rocks!

Today, we\’ve about 65 miles to go and will arrive at the south end of Fatu Hiva just around dark. This will make the trip a total of about 18 days, 6 hours.
Not too bad considering all the muss and fuss we\’ve had going on the last several days including the 4-5 days of not much wind just after the quarter way mark. The rudder is still slipping on the port side, but it\’s a manageable fix, just a pain in the rear to keep re-aligning it in the engine room every 3-6 hours.

Our friends on \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” arrived at Fatu Hiva last night and we\’re looking forward to a rest, a hike and a glass of wine with them tomorrow!
We\’ll send in a final report and report of safe landfall sometime tomorrow as well.
KIT, thanks for everyone\’s notes, emails and support!
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/14 18:06
LATITUDE: 10-37.35S
LONGITUDE: 137-29.80W
COURSE: 254T
SPEED: 7.5
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 13
WIND_DIR: E
WAVE_HT: 0.3M
WAVE_PER: 5
SWELL_DIR: ESE
SWELL_HT: 2.8M
SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 40%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1013.9
AIR_TEMP: 32.8C
COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Marquesas Islands – Day 18 – 185 nm

Well yesterday, we sort of just sat around and looked at getting the boat ready for arrival, so at first, we forgot to get the boat going fast!
We pulled the 1/2 furled reacher out of the laundry room, raised it and stowed it. A few damaged parts, but it will be easy enough to repair.

We then sort of just watched the world go by at around 6.5-7 knots with our full main and genoa poled to windward. It then seemed a decent strategy, but we realized that wasn\’t as Nikki says, \”going to get the baby fed\”. This, we did all day!

So late yesterday, we hoisted the wet spinnaker (which we\’d last stowed a week ago!), which we had to dry out anyway and kept it up all night. We did 110 miles in around 12 hours, averaging just over 9 knots. The wind was 16-20 from the ESE and we were bookin\’ for the barn. We will do around 215 miles from our 0400 UTC position report on the Pacific Sea Farer\’s Net when we report again tonight. So, Miss Piggy still rocks!

Today, we\’ve about 65 miles to go and will arrive at the south end of Fatu Hiva just around dark. This will make the trip a total of about 18 days, 6 hours.
Not too bad considering all the muss and fuss we\’ve had going on the last several days including the 4-5 days of not much wind just after the quarter way mark. The rudder is still slipping on the port side, but it\’s a manageable fix, just a pain in the rear to keep re-aligning it in the engine room every 3-6 hours.

Our friends on \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” arrived at Fatu Hiva last night and we\’re looking forward to a rest, a hike and a glass of wine with them tomorrow!
We\’ll send in a final report and report of safe landfall sometime tomorrow as well.
KIT, thanks for everyone\’s notes, emails and support!
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/13 18:00
LATITUDE: 10-19.61S
LONGITUDE: 134-27.25W
COURSE: 256T
SPEED: 8.3
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 20
WIND_DIR: ESE
WAVE_HT: 0.3M
WAVE_PER: 5
SWELL_DIR: ESE
SWELL_HT: 2.8M
SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 30%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1013.9
AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Marquesas Islands – Day 17 – 165 nm (245 nm to go!)

Yesterday, just after dark, the ENE wind switched under a cloud and we\’ve had very nice ESE to SE winds taking us directly down our course.
The morning was quite slow with light winds, but after the shift, we\’ve had 15-22 knots at various times. It\’s one of the reasons for the slow day…..However!

I take our \”daily runs\” at a consistent time. Last night on the Pacific Sea Farer\’s net, we checked in as usual at 0330. They chart all their check in boats daily runs and they had us doing 235 nm in 24 hour! So, you can see \”Miss Piggy\” really does rock and roll, it\’s just that I never cherry pick my own \”best run\” in any 24 hour period vs. the fixed times I use. As I write, we\’re on par for another long mileage day …. if the wind holds.

The steering is behaving \”better\”. Why, we\’re not sure, but in the lighter air it seemed to need less adjustment, as the wind has picked up, I\’ve needed to do it more often. The good news is, it\’s holding together.

If the winds hold for the next 24 hours, we should be able to make landfall at Fatu Hiva late Saturday night. If so, we\’ll have been on about an 18 day 6 hour trip. We\’ll see when we get there. The rudder business has cost us about a day. In 2009, we did this trip in 16 days 6 hours with a crew of three – Mike Lonnes, Cindy and myself. We had more stable air then and we were able to press on at times where this trip has been winds really up and down which makes flying a spinnaker more problematic with just two of us aboard.

Our friends on \”Blowin Bubbles\” are now 32 days out of Panama and should arrive at Fatu Hiva 12-20 hours ahead of us.
They feel like they\’ve been at sea forever, I\’m sure. I know of a boat however that did the same trip as they did and took 62 days! Why, they\’re veritable speed demons! It will be GOOD to relax and have a glass of wine with them.

Okay, bookin\’ for the barn, we can almost smell the frangipani from here!
Scott and Nikki

AIRMAIL YOTREPS
IDENT: N6ABC
TIME: 2016/05/13 18:00
LATITUDE: 10-19.61S
LONGITUDE: 134-27.25W
COURSE: 256T
SPEED: 8.3
MARINE: YES
WIND_SPEED: 20
WIND_DIR: ESE
WAVE_HT: 0.3M
WAVE_PER: 5
SWELL_DIR: ESE
SWELL_HT: 2.8M
SWELL_PER: 8
CLOUDS: 30%
VISIBILITY: 15
BARO: 1013.9
AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
COMMENT: Beach House – En Route – Marquesas Islands – Day 17 – 165 nm (245 nm to go!)

Yesterday, just after dark, the ENE wind switched under a cloud and we\’ve had very nice ESE to SE winds taking us directly down our course.
The morning was quite slow with light winds, but after the shift, we\’ve had 15-22 knots at various times. It\’s one of the reasons for the slow day…..However!

I take our \”daily runs\” at a consistent time. Last night on the Pacific Sea Farer\’s net, we checked in as usual at 0330. They chart all their check in boats daily runs and they had us doing 235 nm in 24 hour! So, you can see \”Miss Piggy\” really does rock and roll, it\’s just that I never cherry pick my own \”best run\” in any 24 hour period vs. the fixed times I use. As I write, we\’re on par for another long mileage day …. if the wind holds.

The steering is behaving \”better\”. Why, we\’re not sure, but in the lighter air it seemed to need less adjustment, as the wind has picked up, I\’ve needed to do it more often. The good news is, it\’s holding together.

If the winds hold for the next 24 hours, we should be able to make landfall at Fatu Hiva late Saturday night. If so, we\’ll have been on about an 18 day 6 hour trip. We\’ll see when we get there. The rudder business has cost us about a day. In 2009, we did this trip in 16 days 6 hours with a crew of three – Mike Lonnes, Cindy and myself. We had more stable air then and we were able to press on at times where this trip has been winds really up and down which makes flying a spinnaker more problematic with just two of us aboard.

Our friends on \”Blowin Bubbles\” are now 32 days out of Panama and should arrive at Fatu Hiva 12-20 hours ahead of us.
They feel like they\’ve been at sea forever, I\’m sure. I know of a boat however that did the same trip as they did and took 62 days! Why, they\’re veritable speed demons! It will be GOOD to relax and have a glass of wine with them.

Okay, bookin\’ for the barn, we can almost smell the frangipani from here!
Scott and Nikki