Our plan was to leave the Galapagos and head West about 300 miles to a point 2°00'S 92°00'W, before dropping another degree South to 3°00'S and running along that latitude to 100°00'W where we planned to pick up the great circle track all the way to a point about  9°45'S 138°45'W between the islands of Hiva Oa and Fatu Hiva.  A theoretical distance of 2,971 miles.  Our reasoning was based on the experience of other sailors and the need to avoid an area South of the Galapagos between longitudes 90°W and 95°W and latitudes 3°S and 8°S where several yachts had reported unpleasant weather conditions.  The area appears to be an extension of the doldrums with little or no wind, thundery squalls, and a heavy swell which makes conditions very uncomfortable.  It is also an area where collisions with whales and attacks by whales have been reported; we planned to give any whales a wide berth and treat them with a degree of suspicion.  In conflict with this plan was a good West flowing current of 2 kts at about 4°S, which if we could find it would give us a great boost in terms of mileage.  We decided to "suck it and see"!

We weighed anchor just after lunch on Monday 23 April, a little apprehensive that once we committed there was no turning back for 3000 miles.  We left in very light winds with a 1.5 kt favourable tide and cleared the island by dusk.  The wind dropped overnight to almost nothing and we had to endure the torture of listening to flogging sails all night, drifting along on the current.  Dawn bought a steady 5 kts and by noon of the 24th we had sailed a respectable 128 miles, 30 of which were thanks to the current.  A highlight of the morning was when we spotted a huge Manta Ray with a 'wing span' of a good 12' just below the surface and a 3' turtle no more than 50 yards beyond it.  Spotting large sea creatures is always a treat and very exciting.  We settled quickly into our watch routine of 4 hours on 4 hours off, followed by a 2 hour watch over night.  We also made water once out in the clear Ocean to ensure that the tanks were topped off.  We have a tank capacity of 70 gallons and we carried a further 20 gallons on deck in cans just in case our water maker failed us.  We subsequently made water every 3rd day to keep the tanks topped off, but also we found that the bread rose much better if we kept it warm in the generator compartment when running the generator that also powers the high pressure pump for the water maker!

We kept these light conditions for the next 2 days and it wasn't until the afternoon of the 26th that we really found the trade winds.  In that time we experimented with various sail configurations, none of which worked particularly well due to the constant heavy and mixed swell.  The sea state surprised us as we were expecting to find a nice long ocean swell.  Instead we had about 3 primary swells from different directions all meeting and creating a most uncomfortable slop.  Just what we were trying to avoid in our plan!  Hazel always says that we only make a plan so that we can change it, so that is what we did.  We knew that the boats further South were in good wind so we decided to head South and try to find the wind.  The sea state could not get any worse after all.

Our view for 23 days

       Sunrise                                             Daytime                                                Sunset                                          Night-time

We found the wind at 4°S along with the favourable current.  The sea state didn't settle down much, but at least we were moving along in the right direction with a free boost from the West setting current.  At the end of the passage a comparison between the log and the GPS mileage showed a 600 mile advantage gained from the current.  Each morning and afternoon we inspected the rigging to minimise the effect of chaff caused by the constant motion of the boat and we were surprised to find that even shackles were coming undone.  We put this down to the slating back and forth of the sails when we were in the light winds.  We tightened them all down and they didn't trouble us again, which probably confirms the diagnosis.  By the 26th, we were out of the sloppy seas in a steady 10 kts of breeze, which with the current gave us a steady 6 kts over the ground.  The seas were still not the long ocean swell that we had expected but the 3-way chop had gone and life onboard was much more comfortable.  Those further South of us were in 25 kts of wind which we find too much for a comfortable passage so we elected not to go further South.  We stayed in 12 - 15 kts of wind through to the 1st May, with he headsail poled out to port, the mainsail and staysail to starboard.  The staysail helped minimise the downwind roll and self steering coped well and we were able to let the boat steer herself.  We were visited by dolphins, which were much larger than those we had seen in the Caribbean or previously in the Pacific.  Each pod numbered about 30 and made a spectacular display.  We were also treated to several spectacular shooting stars with very long tails in a beautiful clear night sky.  However, we also received a navigation warning that warned of falling missile and rocketry debris in our area.  We assumed this was the Americans testing rockets from the West Coast of the USA and that our shooting stars may not have been shooting stars after all.  The 2nd May was our first day of winds reaching 20 kts, which while building the sea helped to organise it into a more predictable pattern.  These conditions lasted until 4th May.  The daily boat inspections revealed a broken mainsail slide.  Fortunately it was only the webbing which was easily re-stitched.  We also heard that a boat called 'Sailabout' was in trouble.  They were well behind us and had lost their mast, which had punctured the hull, and they were taking on water.  The US Coast Guard were coordinating a rescue and our English friends on 'Damarri' turned back to assist them.  'Sailabout' was subsequently abandoned and the crew lifted off onto a bulk carrier bound for Brazil.  We subsequently saw video of the rescue taken by Paul and Ute on 'Damarri'.  'Sailabout' was not dismasted as originally reported; however, the bobstay had broken, they had lost the bowsprit and the now loose anchor had holed the hull.  The Captain of the ship did a great job to lift them off.  The 5th May saw the wind shift to the East and directly behind us.  Not a good point of sail.  They shifted back to the South East on the 6th May, which left us 1200 miles to go.  It was beginning to feel a long way, particularly with the knowledge that we had another 9 - 10 days to go.  The galley was still producing marvels and we still had plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, which was good for morale.  The chocolate rations were also still holding out, sharing a Mars Bar or Twix each day or a strip of the two bars of Cadbury's chocolate that had been sent to us in the Galapagos.  The 7th May, the wind shifted slightly and we jibed to starboard, it felt so wrong after so long on the other tack!  We also discovered that the sunny side of the boat, i.e. the side to the North, had grown a beard of weed and we had a good crop of barnacles around our stern.  We also broke the 1000 mile to go barrier which felt like a major milestone.  The 9th May, we passed another boat we met in the Galapagos called 'Blue Moon', the first vessel we had seen all passage.  We were both feeling tired, three weeks of 4-hour watches were probably catching up with us.  However, the weather was beautiful and 11th May brought the bluest seas and bluest skies we have ever seen.  The 12th May, saw the winds drop to 8 - 10 kts from the ENE which we maintained for the remainder of the trip.  Fatu Hiva started to take definition as dawn rose on the 16th May, it looked very menacing with the steep cliffs topped by shower clouds.  We backed up our position with a radar fix to make a perfect landfall at dawn.  And wow!  What a landfall!!  Huge pillars of rock rose straight from the sea which spawned rainfall from the previously benign trade wind cumulus.  With 200 yards to go we lost the Island in very heavy rain, which soon passed and we dropped the anchor at 6.30 am in 30m of water in the Bay of Virgins after 3028 Nm which we covered at an average speed of 5.72 Kts.  We both felt a huge sense of achievement and were elated to have had such a successful passage with such good weather conditions.  Maybe we were lucky, or all that planning and preparation paid off.  We were so elated that we fell asleep at 3.00 that afternoon and woke up at 7.30 the next morning!

Our 'ideal' passage time based on hull waterline length was 22 days, so to achieve 23 days was very satisfying.  Would we repeat it?  You bet, maybe not just now, but give us time!

The early morning catch on our last full day at sea!  Fresh food at last!!

Getting ready for arrival

First sites of Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, with its buttresses and impressively eerie landscape