Highlights from a Pacific Passage

(Why did I say “Pacific passage” and not “Pacific crossing”? Because we’re only about a third of the way across this vast body of water. Our jaunts going forward will feel like stepping stones in comparison, but the fact remains there’s a lot more ocean to cross before we get to New Zealand. Luckily we’ve got lots of time.)

We’re sitting at anchor at Tahuata, in a white sand beach anchorage called Hanamoenoa. There are a handful of other boats around, including our friend Barbara on MedioVaS. The swell rolls us slightly, though nothing compared to what we had on passage or even at the Playita anchorage in Panama.

4200 miles. 4236 to be exact. In 32 days, 3.5 hours, with 8 out of the last 12 spent hove to in the lee of a little island just south of Hiva Oa. We needed to wait for daylight to go into the anchorage at Atuona.

Our daily emails are filled with minutiae, observations of the moon and the stars and the effects of the roll. They also include some highlights, but not in a one-stop-shop spot.

Crossing the equator. (Day 7) Not sure why crossing a largely imaginary line feels so momentous but it definitely does. We paralleled the 0 degree line for much of the night, wanting to cross when we were both awake. Rum for breakfast with a tot for Neptune!

Epic dolphin visit (Day 9) In what would turn out to be our last dolphin visit of the passage, right around sunset we were treated to a huge pod of commuting dolphins. They traversed from northeast to southwest in groups, not doing a lot of playing in the bow but they just kept coming. Probably 20 minutes of a spectacle.

Flappy bird landing (Day 10) I’m not sure this was necessarily a highlight, but it was something different. My friend Gina helped us sort out that this was most likely a Swallow-tailed gull, a pelagic species that breeds in the Galapagos.

Full moon rising (Day 14) Observing the phases of the moon so closely on my night watches was a total treat. I hadn’t quite internalized the fact that the full moon rises as the sun sets; as the moon wanes fully that shifts to the point that it winds up setting along with the sun.

FISH ON! (Day 15) Caught a good-sized mahi-mahi, so our dinner choices were set for the next few days. This wound up being the last time we even deployed a fishing line as the seas grew steadily more challenging.

Fixing the halyard (Day 17) The major piece of gear failure was when the main halyard chafed through, sending the mainsail cascading into the lazy jacks unexpectedly. The initial temporary fix was using the topping lift; on day 17 Jeremy used that lighter line as a messenger line to pull the main halyard back into duty. We spent the rest of the passage keeping a very close eye on the halyards and have determined there is definitely a chafe point at the sheaves. That’s on the fix list.

Finally some nice sunsets (Day 21). Sailing straight into the sunset (how cliché could that be, right?) with finally some beautiful skies to show for it. No green flash sightings on the whole passage, though!

*Sailing into the sunset. Not a cliché!*

LESS THAN 1000 MILES TO GO! (Day 24) Going from 4 digits to 3 was a pretty big deal.

Watching Larry steer never got old (Day 26) I could sit for hours in the cockpit (at least until my butt went numb; it was wet enough that we didn’t put the chairs up) The sun glinting on the swells, the swoosh as we went down the face of the waves. Magic.

The stars. (day 29) OMG the stars.

Pancake breakfast at 30 knots (Day 30) Sunday breakfast tradition continues, even in the middle of squalls and 30 knots of sustained wind. Learning that we’ve got new levels of acceptable conditions has been a good lesson this passage.

LAND HO! (Day 33)

Making landfall. (Day 33) Successfully completing this passage, with minimal gear failure and generally in good spirits, brought tears to my eyes. We’ve been talking about this for such a very long time.

The boat performed admirably. We averaged 5.5 knots over the whole passage. Our time of just over 32 days was better than a lot of other people we’ve talked to, all of whom are on larger boats. We generally were comfortable, ate well, and slept enough to not be thoroughly exhausted when we got in (though that solid night of sleep was epically refreshing.)