Galapagos to Marquesas

The Voyage begins!

The last time I did this passage in 28 day. To give the girls a probable window of arrival in the Marquesas I went with 26-30 days if things went well. We made it in 22 days do to strong winds. Unfortunately the high winds made for steep seas. So at least a third of the trip was spent wedging yourself in a corner someplace and holding on. Not a lot of dancing on deck. The only hiccup we had was a hydrolic leak that developed. It was just a drip but over 3 or 4 weeks it would be more than we carried on board. So we put on our Macgiver hat and came up with a solution. Tie a ziplock bag under the drip and collect it. Then every few days return it to the system. Dr. John took good care of us on the passage. Never complaining, just rolling along day after day. Set the sails turn on the autopilot then sit back and let her do the work. Many other boats had serious issues on the passage, three boats we know lost a rudder two lost there fore stay which could have brought their whole rig down. Many ripped sails. An engine flooded with seawater. Hull damage.

This fella hung out with us for a few days after leaving the Galapagos. Didn’t seem concerned with us as we went through our daily chores. About 300 miles out he headed back home.

Ok, last one. We really got to like this guy.

We had plenty of time to enjoy the view. My favorite was the night sky. with our night sky app you could id it all. Stars, planets, galaxies, shooting stars, satellites, even the International Space Station. There’s quite a bit going on up there to keep you busy all night.

Sad how many flying fish lost their lives flying onto the boat

Time to trim those sails!

And then another squall. We had squally conditions foe the first half of the voyage. Till we got below 7 degrees south latitude. We stayed at 7 wedged between winds higher than we liked to the south and the squall line to our north.

Most of the trip our sail plan was a double reef in the main and 1/2 to 2/3 of the jib unfurled. And we still beat our previous crossing by a week.

Trimming on the night shift.

The big seas and the beautiful skies made you realize how small you are. Just a piece of dust, at the mercy of Mother Nature.

Susanna strapped into her gimbaled stove. The possibility that at any moment dinner could be plastered on the opposite side of the galley.

Face Painting. Sydney was great at finding something to keep her occupied. Mom and dad not so much

Bubblegum physics

“The Boat of Mystery”

Susanna under the aft birth recovering hydrolic fluid from ziplock under a drip at the steering cylinder. This was the only way to keep our steering system functioning.

Filtering the found hydraulic fluid. Then we pour it back into the steering system. We did this every other day for about 3/4 of the crossing

Hiva Oa

Our first landfall after 22 days. Its hard to describe the exuberance we felt at something as simple as stepping on land for the first time after rocking on a 40 foot sailboat for 22 days.

First stop after getting accustomed to walking on land again…a meal. It really does feel like the land is rocking when you first step on terra firma. Bad enough that you want to grab something to hold onto to to keep from falling over.