276 miles to go! & Arrival

It really can't get much calmer than this...

We are sitting in the cockpit, it's just after dusk, just finished
dinner and we are enjoying a G&T.

Just off the side of the boat the water is as calm as a very
protected anchorage. Basically dead flat, it feels like we're in a
marina. There is a light ripple on the water, this is new!, a few
hours ago the water was like a sheet of glass.

The wind meter says we have 1.2 knots of wind, we don't even think
it's that much. Looking up all we can now see are the stars coming
out. There is no cloud above us, only a little on the horizon
looking forward (west) and a little more behind. Some squalls may
form tonight. Good we can get a boat wash!

Day 18...

Well we didn't get a boat wash and still have no wind. The wind chop
that we had has completely gone. All that is left is a series of
very large swells a long way apart, about 13 seconds (normal I
think is about 7 seconds). It's kinda cool watching these massive
humps moving under us. We have no boat roll, just up and down.

Looking at the weather fax charts from Hawaii, it's likely we will
have very light conditions for the rest of the trip. The great thing
about this boat compared to the last Reverie is it's ability to
move easily in very little wind. Together with the larger rig that
we have it's surprising how well we can sail in a small amount of
wind.

BUT today there is so little wind that the spinnaker won't even stay
filled, it just hangs down from the top of the mast. So the motor
is on.

Still no more fish, very frustrating, now we know we're not the
best of fishermen but we can't sail for more that 3000 miles and
only hook 1 fish!, there has to be something else at play here. We
have noticed that the water temperature is quite warm. Maybe that's
it, we'll make any excuse!

Day 19
Much the same as day 18, not much wind, but it does come in every
so often, mainly at night. We are sailing here and there with help
from the motor in the wind holes.

The lack of wind is getting a little frustrating as we are in the
trade wind belt and we should have something. Some of the boats
further behind have picked up a little, but all in all there seems
to be a big wind hole down here.

Our friends on Lady Sara who are sailing to Hawaii from Costa Rica
have been in a wind hole for over two weeks now and there doesn't
seem to be a break in it for them, so I guess we should stop
complaining.

Exciting news is LAND!!!! earlier today we saw LAND!! the small
atoll called Fakahina, soon after we passed Fangatau. Two names you
could use in anger and sound angry!.

These two atolls are on the far eastern edge of the Tuamotu Atolls
they are both quite small 6 x 5km, we think there is a small village
on both of them.

Later tonight we will pass Raroia Atoll, a much larger atoll still
with only about 50 people living on it. Raroia atoll is a little
famous in sailing circles as it was the atoll that Thor Heyerhahl
crashed "Kon-Tiki" a 45ft Balsa Log raft equipped with a bamboo hut
and square sail while he was trying to prove that the population in
the pacific migrated from South America. Kon-Tiki was wrecked on
April 28, 1947.

After Rarioa we will pass closely to Nihiru and Taenga Atolls. Then
it's Makemo. All the Atolls prior to Makemo except Rarioa don't have
any passes that Reverie would be able to enter. Raroia does, but the
pass and town is on the wrong side of the Atoll and we really want
to get to Makemo.

Day 20 Position 16-27S 142-47W Wind 8 knots NE, SOG 5.9 knots
ONLY 46 miles to go!!!!

STILL NO FISH! Or any bites for that matter - we are changing lures
constantly now, but nothing seems to be working.

Sun is out and it's HOT, the water is the most awesome blue and
shiny like a mirror as still we have very little wind.

Arrival time should be late afternoon. Not the ideal time for going
through the pass, but hopefully with the calm seas the Atoll won't
be to "full" and the current will be manageable.

Either way we will make a run at it!

End of Day 20...

ARRIVAL!!!,

We sighted Makemo on the radar at about 9 miles, it's difficult to
see the atolls any further as all they really are is a sand bank
with a bunch of coconut trees on them.

As we approached the south eastern end of Makemo the wind started to
build. We ended up having a great sail with about 10 knts of wind in
totally flat seas!. We sailed along the south eastern edge for about
7 miles (13kms) it was great to be so close to land. All we had to
do now was get through the pass, get the anchor down and enjoy
beer-o-clock ( arrival right on time - again!). We're not actually
trying to arrive at this time, it just seems to happen this way,
although we're not complaining.

Approaching the pass entrance we notice the eddies and small waves
from the outflow of water. We were arriving about 1 hour after
slack high water, meaning that the atoll will be emptying itself.
It didn't look too bad!. We furled in the Genoa, dropped the
main and off we went.

Even though we went through at the "less than ideal time" it was
very calm. The eddies and small whirl pools were pushing the boat
around a bit but all that was needed was some quite active steering.
We ended up having a 3.5 knot current against us ( not bad
actually).
Once through the half way point the water settled down and it was
nice and calm, current still there but it was flat.

So we are here!!!, Yippee!!!, we sailed 3,250 miles ( just over
6,000kms) It took us 20 days and 22 hours. The second half was very
light on the wind, lets hope the boats still out there get some. We
are lucky that Reverie moves easily with a small amount of wind and
we have a good range under power. We arrived 2 days after we did
this trip
three years ago and are anchored 35m from where we were last time!

So tonight it's pizza, wine and a very LONG sleep.

Cheers!
J&J

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