My prediction that we would be motoring through the night was correct. With only 4-5 knots of apparent breeze from behind and a fair swell from our port side we were unable to get either Paul or the autopilot to push the parasail along sufficiently. We did have a visitor though. A large red footed booby took up residence on the bow and stayed there all night. [He's back again this evening but with the parasail flying he has to dodge all the lines there today as well as a very large sail. He's just managed to land after a hilarious 20 minutes circling and failing to make it, including an effort where he tried to hang on with his bill!].
Then the wind picked up and we hoisted the main and staysail. Then it dropped so we put them away again. Then there was a bit more wind and we spent most of the afternoon trying to fly the parasail again. In these light airs everything has to be spot on and finally at 2.00pm we seem to have managed it for the time being. We could have done with you Peter today as I'm pretty sure you could have got it working where we couldn't.
I had a list of jobs to do today. I don't think I did any of them. But I did catch a fish. We were ready for fish again today so for the second time only the rods were out. After a while I looked back and there was a small tuna being towed along. Too small to set the drag alarm off he was dead by the time he was aboard. And very tasty he was too made all the sweeter by the fact that again I caught him on a homemade lure. Total cost around $1.
We dipped the diesel tank today and we're surprised to find we've used 120 litres, more than expected. So a jerry can was carted to the cockpit and filtered into the top tank. We also transferred 100 litres from the bottom one to the top tank. Hopefully not too many full nights of motoring as we have used over 1/4 of our total already.
Tomorrow we should pass the 1,000 mile mark. After our lowest daily total so far today let's hope for a cracking day tomorrow.
Finally thanks for all the messages. Amazing! But there are so many our radio download system is struggling. Could you please make sure you limit emails to just the basic texts and for a couple of days only send really important ones to give us chance to catch up. Thanks.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
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Friday, 31 March 2023
Thursday, 30 March 2023
Day 7 - Pacific Crossing - 29th March
It's been a frustrating day wind wise today. Barely a puff over 6 knots which wasn't really enough to get the parasailor flying. We're still trying now at 6pm but there's even less now and I fear we might need to resort to the iron sail tonight.
There have been some highlights and successes though. First thing this morning we dragged the yankee, now repaired we hope, out of the saloon, along the side deck to the front of the boat. It went up pretty smoothly and I also took the opportunity to rerun the furling line which has always been a bit stiff.
Last night whilst I was on watch I heard the distinctive flip, flip, flip of a stranded flying fish. This morning we found it dead on the aft deck. We've never seen so many flying fish as there are around here. Hundreds of them skimming across the waves for a hundred metres at a time. Most impressive.
But the big news is We Saw A Ship! The first sign of human life for a week. It was a Korean goods freighter, the Glovis Ambition. AIS (yes it's working) showed he was headed for Peru and judging by his bearing he had started in Japan. We didn't call him and he slid down our port side some 7 miles away.
Gill has tidied the saloon and we've done a few other jobs but that's about it for today. We have now completed over 700 miles now and are almost a quarter of the way in under 7 days.
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There have been some highlights and successes though. First thing this morning we dragged the yankee, now repaired we hope, out of the saloon, along the side deck to the front of the boat. It went up pretty smoothly and I also took the opportunity to rerun the furling line which has always been a bit stiff.
Last night whilst I was on watch I heard the distinctive flip, flip, flip of a stranded flying fish. This morning we found it dead on the aft deck. We've never seen so many flying fish as there are around here. Hundreds of them skimming across the waves for a hundred metres at a time. Most impressive.
But the big news is We Saw A Ship! The first sign of human life for a week. It was a Korean goods freighter, the Glovis Ambition. AIS (yes it's working) showed he was headed for Peru and judging by his bearing he had started in Japan. We didn't call him and he slid down our port side some 7 miles away.
Gill has tidied the saloon and we've done a few other jobs but that's about it for today. We have now completed over 700 miles now and are almost a quarter of the way in under 7 days.
----------
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Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Day 6 - Pacific Crossing - 28th March
The last couple of postings have been pretty techie. I'll try to avoid that tonight.
So what is it like doing a night watch on Mehalah?
When we have four people on board the day is nominally split into 12 2 hour watches with everyone taking turns. We find two hours at a time works best for us as with four people it means you really only have one two hour stretch each when you have to be awake at night. Sometimes we will make the more informal day watches three hours each. This means the same person does not always get the nasty 2am to 4am watch.
However with just the two of us two hour watches make no sense. We would be getting up again almost as soon as we had gone to bed. So at present we are doing three hours at a time. Long enough so the other person gets a reasonable sleep and short enough so you can see the end when you begin. We might extend them later but for now it's 3 hours at a time.
Let's suppose my 3 hour watch is due to begin at 3am. This is a good watch because I will see the dawn coming up behind us as the watch comes to an end. I will be asleep in the starboard settee berth in the saloon where I can quickly get up and join Gill in the cockpit if required. At about 02.55 Gill will gently call down that my watch is due to start shortly. I groan and force my eyes open, unhook the lee cloth that stops me falling out if it is rough and put on my life jacket. Time for a quick wee then up the steps to the cockpit, clipping my life jacket to a strong point as I enter. Gill will give me an update on the wind, the course, any traffic to watch, significant mileage achievements and anything exciting that happened during her watch. Maybe dolphins came to play or mars was very bright (like tonight). Then it's goodnight, Gill will check if I need anything (snack, drink etc) and I'm on my own. My jobs are to watch out for any ships, to trim the sails, complete an entry in the log, watch the instruments and to monitor any weather changes or developing issues deciding when to call Gill to help. In practice on a passage like the current one there is not much to do. We've see no ships since we left Galapagos waters either visually or on our AIS system which will pick up vessels up to 50 miles away. The issues I have detailed previously. Every 30 minutes or so I'll get up and scan round the horizon for ships. Not every vessel has AIS. Even though we are in equatorial waters it will be chilly so I'll be wearing a fleece. I may read a Kindle book, listen to a podcast or just watch the stars. I spend a lot of time watching the instruments too. If our course changes I need to pull on one of the wind steering lines to readjust our course. Sometimes the time passes quickly, sometimes not. There's always water to drink and time to think about people back home or other boats on passage. By 5.30 the sky will start to lighten behind the boat and only the bright planets will remain. The top of the sun will creep above the horizon usually as an orange ball and a new day will begin. I might let Gill sleep in for a bit and then it is my turn to call her. And so it continues.
Just a quick techie note to finish. Dropping the main and launching the parasailor which yesterday took 3 hours took just 38 minutes today. It went without a hitch.
Oh yes, and our good friends Kevin and Shawna on Meraki 2 arrived in Hiva Oa, our destination, this morning. Their daughter, her husband and young children sailed there too in their own boat from Mexico, arriving yesterday. What a reunion they will have had. And to complete the circle Kevin and Mary on Pisces arrived this morning in Galapagos which we ourselves left almost a week ago.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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So what is it like doing a night watch on Mehalah?
When we have four people on board the day is nominally split into 12 2 hour watches with everyone taking turns. We find two hours at a time works best for us as with four people it means you really only have one two hour stretch each when you have to be awake at night. Sometimes we will make the more informal day watches three hours each. This means the same person does not always get the nasty 2am to 4am watch.
However with just the two of us two hour watches make no sense. We would be getting up again almost as soon as we had gone to bed. So at present we are doing three hours at a time. Long enough so the other person gets a reasonable sleep and short enough so you can see the end when you begin. We might extend them later but for now it's 3 hours at a time.
Let's suppose my 3 hour watch is due to begin at 3am. This is a good watch because I will see the dawn coming up behind us as the watch comes to an end. I will be asleep in the starboard settee berth in the saloon where I can quickly get up and join Gill in the cockpit if required. At about 02.55 Gill will gently call down that my watch is due to start shortly. I groan and force my eyes open, unhook the lee cloth that stops me falling out if it is rough and put on my life jacket. Time for a quick wee then up the steps to the cockpit, clipping my life jacket to a strong point as I enter. Gill will give me an update on the wind, the course, any traffic to watch, significant mileage achievements and anything exciting that happened during her watch. Maybe dolphins came to play or mars was very bright (like tonight). Then it's goodnight, Gill will check if I need anything (snack, drink etc) and I'm on my own. My jobs are to watch out for any ships, to trim the sails, complete an entry in the log, watch the instruments and to monitor any weather changes or developing issues deciding when to call Gill to help. In practice on a passage like the current one there is not much to do. We've see no ships since we left Galapagos waters either visually or on our AIS system which will pick up vessels up to 50 miles away. The issues I have detailed previously. Every 30 minutes or so I'll get up and scan round the horizon for ships. Not every vessel has AIS. Even though we are in equatorial waters it will be chilly so I'll be wearing a fleece. I may read a Kindle book, listen to a podcast or just watch the stars. I spend a lot of time watching the instruments too. If our course changes I need to pull on one of the wind steering lines to readjust our course. Sometimes the time passes quickly, sometimes not. There's always water to drink and time to think about people back home or other boats on passage. By 5.30 the sky will start to lighten behind the boat and only the bright planets will remain. The top of the sun will creep above the horizon usually as an orange ball and a new day will begin. I might let Gill sleep in for a bit and then it is my turn to call her. And so it continues.
Just a quick techie note to finish. Dropping the main and launching the parasailor which yesterday took 3 hours took just 38 minutes today. It went without a hitch.
Oh yes, and our good friends Kevin and Shawna on Meraki 2 arrived in Hiva Oa, our destination, this morning. Their daughter, her husband and young children sailed there too in their own boat from Mexico, arriving yesterday. What a reunion they will have had. And to complete the circle Kevin and Mary on Pisces arrived this morning in Galapagos which we ourselves left almost a week ago.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Day 5 - Pacific Crossing -27th March
Tonight I ache all over. It's been parasail day.
But first, last night. Amazingly, for the first time there is very little to report. Everything went to plan. We chugged along at four and a half knots with a prevented full main on a broad port reach. Only two things to report. Firstly Gill caught me asleep on watch. It was only 10 minutes. I know because I listened back to my Audible book and that's all it was. But she's still not convinced. The second event was much more interesting. We got a message from Mariel one of Atlantic crew saying to watch out for a bright asteroid crossing the moon. Guess what? We saw it! Incredibly bright like a multicoloured pin prick it passed for us just below the moon which is now getting bigger and then moved eastwards back towards Galapagos. Very cool. Thanks Mariel, it was beautiful.
So at our morning meeting when we decide what we will do for the day I had one priority. "Look Gill, if we don't try to fly our parasailor over the next few days we might as well sell it because we won't get a better opportunity". So that's what we did and it took nearly all day one way or another. And that's the reason I'm knackered tonight.
The parasailor is a beautiful giant three cornered sail. It is attached to a rope at the top of the mast and there are two ropes in each of the bottom two corners. It flies out the front of the boat and pulls the boat along downwind with the wind coming from behind. To make it easier to fly it has a horizontal slit two thirds of the way up. And to tame it it has a big sausage of sail material that is open at the bottom end. The steps are. Run the ropes. Attach the top rope. Attach the bottom ropes. Hoist it up. Let it fly. Tighten the ropes appropriate for the wind. Sounds easy? Oh, I forgot to say it is 169 square metres. That is one big sail and a lot can go wrong. Especially when it's the first time we've done it on our own.
Three times before we've flown it with other people. In Portugal with Andy after the regatta there, in Grenada with Tony and Rosemary of Celtic Rose. And finally more recently with Peter and Sally of Milly. Peter gave us excellent tuition (we hope). We started to launch it at 9.30am. After four attempts to get all the ropes correct (the little bits of string trick didn't work Peter because that pesky continuous blue rope kept playing up). But finally Gill hauled it up inside its sausage, I let go, I pulled the sausage up and there it was. 7 5 knots, quiet and no rolling. It was then 12.30. We returned to the cockpit, tweaked it a bit and had lunch. We flew it until 4.30 when we thought we had better take it down for the night. Basically reverse the process. It took an hour. And now we have our night time rig of prevented out mainsail again. Phew.
Tomorrow it should be a lot easier as it is stored on the side deck, ropes attached and ready to go A good day.
Please do keep your messages coming. It's great to hear from old and new friends. The last thing we do before settling down for the night watches is to download them and read them out.
We are now over a third of the way from Panama to French Polynesia and over 500 miles from Galapagos. FP is 3.5 hours behind Panama so we will have to lose that time before we arrive. It is also around 3,000 miles to FP so every thousand miles west we go we need to lose about an hour by putting our clocks back. Already dawn is coming later and sunset is around 7.00 instead of 6.30. We are getting west now at 97°W. Working out what time it is back in the UK is getting tricky especially as they just put their clocks forward but an hour!
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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But first, last night. Amazingly, for the first time there is very little to report. Everything went to plan. We chugged along at four and a half knots with a prevented full main on a broad port reach. Only two things to report. Firstly Gill caught me asleep on watch. It was only 10 minutes. I know because I listened back to my Audible book and that's all it was. But she's still not convinced. The second event was much more interesting. We got a message from Mariel one of Atlantic crew saying to watch out for a bright asteroid crossing the moon. Guess what? We saw it! Incredibly bright like a multicoloured pin prick it passed for us just below the moon which is now getting bigger and then moved eastwards back towards Galapagos. Very cool. Thanks Mariel, it was beautiful.
So at our morning meeting when we decide what we will do for the day I had one priority. "Look Gill, if we don't try to fly our parasailor over the next few days we might as well sell it because we won't get a better opportunity". So that's what we did and it took nearly all day one way or another. And that's the reason I'm knackered tonight.
The parasailor is a beautiful giant three cornered sail. It is attached to a rope at the top of the mast and there are two ropes in each of the bottom two corners. It flies out the front of the boat and pulls the boat along downwind with the wind coming from behind. To make it easier to fly it has a horizontal slit two thirds of the way up. And to tame it it has a big sausage of sail material that is open at the bottom end. The steps are. Run the ropes. Attach the top rope. Attach the bottom ropes. Hoist it up. Let it fly. Tighten the ropes appropriate for the wind. Sounds easy? Oh, I forgot to say it is 169 square metres. That is one big sail and a lot can go wrong. Especially when it's the first time we've done it on our own.
Three times before we've flown it with other people. In Portugal with Andy after the regatta there, in Grenada with Tony and Rosemary of Celtic Rose. And finally more recently with Peter and Sally of Milly. Peter gave us excellent tuition (we hope). We started to launch it at 9.30am. After four attempts to get all the ropes correct (the little bits of string trick didn't work Peter because that pesky continuous blue rope kept playing up). But finally Gill hauled it up inside its sausage, I let go, I pulled the sausage up and there it was. 7 5 knots, quiet and no rolling. It was then 12.30. We returned to the cockpit, tweaked it a bit and had lunch. We flew it until 4.30 when we thought we had better take it down for the night. Basically reverse the process. It took an hour. And now we have our night time rig of prevented out mainsail again. Phew.
Tomorrow it should be a lot easier as it is stored on the side deck, ropes attached and ready to go A good day.
Please do keep your messages coming. It's great to hear from old and new friends. The last thing we do before settling down for the night watches is to download them and read them out.
We are now over a third of the way from Panama to French Polynesia and over 500 miles from Galapagos. FP is 3.5 hours behind Panama so we will have to lose that time before we arrive. It is also around 3,000 miles to FP so every thousand miles west we go we need to lose about an hour by putting our clocks back. Already dawn is coming later and sunset is around 7.00 instead of 6.30. We are getting west now at 97°W. Working out what time it is back in the UK is getting tricky especially as they just put their clocks forward but an hour!
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Monday, 27 March 2023
Day 4 - Pacific Crossing - 26th March
If you are one of those people who opens these updates to see what misadventure has happened on Mehalah this time you are in luck. I've got a cracker for you.
Guess what? It was my night watch again. Last night just before it got dark we had decided to head more directly for the Marquesas. That meant turning to the right a bit, more downwind. As well as the main sail we decided to leave the front sail (the Yankee) up as it was still pulling us along a bit. MISTAKE #1.
As the night went on the waves got bigger and from the side. The rolling motion increased and the wind started to get behind the main occasionally. Actually although we hadn't realised it it was actually getting behind the Yankee too. We decided we needed to do something about the main in the morning. MISTAKE #2.
At 1.30am as I tried to keep awake there's a WHOOMP, FLAP, FLAP, FLAP. The Yankee sheets went slack and the forestay started shaking. Gill came zooming up, we switched on the deck floodlight and it was obvious what had happened. The flapping had ripped out the ring that connects the sheets to the sail.
So it's dark, the boat is rolling, the front sail is being whipped about and there's the danger the stay could snap and bring down the mast. Yikes!! What to do? We had a very quick, meeting. We decided to furl the sail by rolling it round the stay in the usual way. This would give initial respite. Maybe we could leave it rolled up then til it got light. This we did from the cockpit and the flogging subsided. It gave us time to review the situation. Unfortunately the wind started to unroll the sail again. We decided we must try to bring it down immediately. We talked through the steps required, gathered the tools and made our way up to the front of Mehalah ["love you John,", "love you Gill" - just in case] with water slopping over the bow. It was very dark. The wind was loud. We were travelling at more than 5 knots. We were very calm and focused. I undid the shackle at the bottom of the sail, Gill released the furling line and I rotated the sail by hand until the wind caught it and pulled it all the way out again. Next Gill worked her way back to the mast and released the halliard that holds the top of the sail. I pulled down the sail in its track. Nothing happened no matter how hard I pulled the flogging sail. Shit. What's happened? It shouldn't be that hard. Gill went back to the mast and realised that though the clutch was open the halliard was also round a cleat. She undid it and yes the sail started to come down. Now I had to control the big white flapping mass as it came down. The idea was to gather it down the starboard, downwind sidedeck but I couldn't manage it. I shouted to Gill to just let go of the halliard and help me tame the beast. But she could see that it was going over the side into the water so she didn't come to help. As it was we just managed to get it down and onto the side deck and we managed to drag the middle bit out of the water. Phew! The worst was over.
It took another 30 minutes to finish tidying up and finally we crept back to the cockpit exhausted but very satisfied. It was now 3am and all thoughts of the previous day's illnesses were long forgotten.
And guess what? She actually sailed more comfortably with just the mainsail!
The rest of the night passed uneventfully but still with a most uncomfortable motion.
Once it got light we decided to review the damage and see if we could repair it so we managed to negotiate the 70' sausage aft , in through the front cockpit window and down into the saloon where we fought it into a corner. It might be mendable as it's only the tapes that hold the ring that have broken or come loose. We cleared up the affected area and Gill has begun stitching the now snapped tapes back in place. It's a long, hard job and the needles are blunting quickly. Luckily we have Hugh"s chisel sharpening stone to give the needles back a bit of a point. We shall see. Shortened tapes, blunting needles, thick material and less than ideal sail thread. It might just work but we won't know until some strain comes back in the sail.
And that together with running the water maker for the first time in a rolling seaway has taken up most of the day.
Tonight it's tuna (tinned) pasta salad.
Just now we are headed direct for Hiva Oa at 6 knots. The chartplotter says something between 21 and 24 days to go.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Guess what? It was my night watch again. Last night just before it got dark we had decided to head more directly for the Marquesas. That meant turning to the right a bit, more downwind. As well as the main sail we decided to leave the front sail (the Yankee) up as it was still pulling us along a bit. MISTAKE #1.
As the night went on the waves got bigger and from the side. The rolling motion increased and the wind started to get behind the main occasionally. Actually although we hadn't realised it it was actually getting behind the Yankee too. We decided we needed to do something about the main in the morning. MISTAKE #2.
At 1.30am as I tried to keep awake there's a WHOOMP, FLAP, FLAP, FLAP. The Yankee sheets went slack and the forestay started shaking. Gill came zooming up, we switched on the deck floodlight and it was obvious what had happened. The flapping had ripped out the ring that connects the sheets to the sail.
So it's dark, the boat is rolling, the front sail is being whipped about and there's the danger the stay could snap and bring down the mast. Yikes!! What to do? We had a very quick, meeting. We decided to furl the sail by rolling it round the stay in the usual way. This would give initial respite. Maybe we could leave it rolled up then til it got light. This we did from the cockpit and the flogging subsided. It gave us time to review the situation. Unfortunately the wind started to unroll the sail again. We decided we must try to bring it down immediately. We talked through the steps required, gathered the tools and made our way up to the front of Mehalah ["love you John,", "love you Gill" - just in case] with water slopping over the bow. It was very dark. The wind was loud. We were travelling at more than 5 knots. We were very calm and focused. I undid the shackle at the bottom of the sail, Gill released the furling line and I rotated the sail by hand until the wind caught it and pulled it all the way out again. Next Gill worked her way back to the mast and released the halliard that holds the top of the sail. I pulled down the sail in its track. Nothing happened no matter how hard I pulled the flogging sail. Shit. What's happened? It shouldn't be that hard. Gill went back to the mast and realised that though the clutch was open the halliard was also round a cleat. She undid it and yes the sail started to come down. Now I had to control the big white flapping mass as it came down. The idea was to gather it down the starboard, downwind sidedeck but I couldn't manage it. I shouted to Gill to just let go of the halliard and help me tame the beast. But she could see that it was going over the side into the water so she didn't come to help. As it was we just managed to get it down and onto the side deck and we managed to drag the middle bit out of the water. Phew! The worst was over.
It took another 30 minutes to finish tidying up and finally we crept back to the cockpit exhausted but very satisfied. It was now 3am and all thoughts of the previous day's illnesses were long forgotten.
And guess what? She actually sailed more comfortably with just the mainsail!
The rest of the night passed uneventfully but still with a most uncomfortable motion.
Once it got light we decided to review the damage and see if we could repair it so we managed to negotiate the 70' sausage aft , in through the front cockpit window and down into the saloon where we fought it into a corner. It might be mendable as it's only the tapes that hold the ring that have broken or come loose. We cleared up the affected area and Gill has begun stitching the now snapped tapes back in place. It's a long, hard job and the needles are blunting quickly. Luckily we have Hugh"s chisel sharpening stone to give the needles back a bit of a point. We shall see. Shortened tapes, blunting needles, thick material and less than ideal sail thread. It might just work but we won't know until some strain comes back in the sail.
And that together with running the water maker for the first time in a rolling seaway has taken up most of the day.
Tonight it's tuna (tinned) pasta salad.
Just now we are headed direct for Hiva Oa at 6 knots. The chartplotter says something between 21 and 24 days to go.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Sunday, 26 March 2023
Day 3 - Pacific Crossing - 25th March
Another day comes to a close and it's been another odd one. I started to feel ill during my 9-midnight watch. Dizzy, headache, and churning stomach. We were both pretty concerned. Shortly after the handover I was violently sick. At least I felt better after that. And then Gill got violent diahorrea (sp) so between us we were pretty incapacitated. Poor Gill ended up with a 9 hour watch. Not nice. Maybe it was the Santa Cruz bug maybe dinner. Who knows?
So today has been a recovery day. doing the minimum and recharging. We are both feeling much better now.
The sailing has been really good today. We:ve barely dropped below 4 knots SOG and had a good few hours at over 7 knots. Tomorrow we must decide just how far south to go before turning direct for Hiva Oa. Only 2,700 miles to go in a direct line! 264 completed.
No ships. Another small pod of sperm whales, flying fish, a noddy and boobys. What more could a man want?
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
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So today has been a recovery day. doing the minimum and recharging. We are both feeling much better now.
The sailing has been really good today. We:ve barely dropped below 4 knots SOG and had a good few hours at over 7 knots. Tomorrow we must decide just how far south to go before turning direct for Hiva Oa. Only 2,700 miles to go in a direct line! 264 completed.
No ships. Another small pod of sperm whales, flying fish, a noddy and boobys. What more could a man want?
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Saturday, 25 March 2023
Day 2 - Pacific Crossing - 24th March
Today was an odd day but it ended very memorably. Last night as predicted was "interesting". The first part was 6 knots of wind and 4-5 knots speed over the ground due to a favourable current. Halfway through my watch though the light wind caused us to gybe and we spent the next hour trying to get things sorted out again. In the end we resorted to the engine and motored south for five or six hours.
In the morning we got things going again and continued mostly westwards at around 4 knots. That is the direction of the Marquesas but we really need to work south to pick up the more consistent trade winds. The wind today was primarily southerly which is where we were trying to work to. Add in their light nature and it's been hard going. Hopefully tonight we can sneak SW without resorting to the engine.
This morning we received our first weather forecast from Jack. It's really excellent even if every space of the text has mysteriously turned to a question mark! Thanks Jack. And thanks to Jenny too for remotely fixing our SSB radio system that allows me to post these blog entries.
We are pretty tired after Day 1. It takes a while to get used to watch patterns and this time there is just the two of us. During the night we are doing 3 hour watches which looks as though it will work fine. Still jobs to do though. Fixing the recalcitrant AIS, emptying the holding tank and tidying up. But still time for a bit of reading and cryptic crosswords too.
No ships at all today. The AIS does show a Greek yacht some 35 miles east of us motoring at 7.5 knots (I wish!) which we think is another cruising yacht. No ships but plenty of wildlife. Petrels, Royal terns, boobies and jumping rays.
But the clear highlight (maybe bar the stunning sunset) were the Sperm Whales. Gill spotted a pod of at least 30 individuals mostly in pairs. They gradually came towards us eventually passing within 30 metres or so. We could see and hear their blowing quite clearly. They are the easiest whales to identify with their blunt noses and hump on their backs. We thought they didn't look all that big but then we read that even the babies weigh over 1 ton! Quite magical as they snuffled across the quiet ocean on their way to who knows where, though after Raindancer's recent whale sinking we did keep an eye on the liferaft.
Finally thanks for all your messages of goodwill. We do look forward to them even if we don't always manage to reply.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
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Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
In the morning we got things going again and continued mostly westwards at around 4 knots. That is the direction of the Marquesas but we really need to work south to pick up the more consistent trade winds. The wind today was primarily southerly which is where we were trying to work to. Add in their light nature and it's been hard going. Hopefully tonight we can sneak SW without resorting to the engine.
This morning we received our first weather forecast from Jack. It's really excellent even if every space of the text has mysteriously turned to a question mark! Thanks Jack. And thanks to Jenny too for remotely fixing our SSB radio system that allows me to post these blog entries.
We are pretty tired after Day 1. It takes a while to get used to watch patterns and this time there is just the two of us. During the night we are doing 3 hour watches which looks as though it will work fine. Still jobs to do though. Fixing the recalcitrant AIS, emptying the holding tank and tidying up. But still time for a bit of reading and cryptic crosswords too.
No ships at all today. The AIS does show a Greek yacht some 35 miles east of us motoring at 7.5 knots (I wish!) which we think is another cruising yacht. No ships but plenty of wildlife. Petrels, Royal terns, boobies and jumping rays.
But the clear highlight (maybe bar the stunning sunset) were the Sperm Whales. Gill spotted a pod of at least 30 individuals mostly in pairs. They gradually came towards us eventually passing within 30 metres or so. We could see and hear their blowing quite clearly. They are the easiest whales to identify with their blunt noses and hump on their backs. We thought they didn't look all that big but then we read that even the babies weigh over 1 ton! Quite magical as they snuffled across the quiet ocean on their way to who knows where, though after Raindancer's recent whale sinking we did keep an eye on the liferaft.
Finally thanks for all your messages of goodwill. We do look forward to them even if we don't always manage to reply.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
Friday, 24 March 2023
Day 1 - Pacific Crossing - 23rd March
We're off! Passports stamped. Boat inspected for smuggled giant tortoises. Goodbyes said to fellow sailboats.
Engine on. Anchor up. Motor out. Full sails up. Sailing at 5.5 knots in 8 knots of breeze and a flat sea. Perfect!
Tonight's dinner has just changed from Pasta Arabbiata to Mahi Mahi, potatoes and brocolli.
Paul, the wind steering is managing fine in this light wind and the whole rig feels completely unstressed.
Time to start getting ready for our first night at sea. Usually Night 1 is the time things decide to go wrong. Let's hope tonight is the exception.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
Engine on. Anchor up. Motor out. Full sails up. Sailing at 5.5 knots in 8 knots of breeze and a flat sea. Perfect!
Tonight's dinner has just changed from Pasta Arabbiata to Mahi Mahi, potatoes and brocolli.
Paul, the wind steering is managing fine in this light wind and the whole rig feels completely unstressed.
Time to start getting ready for our first night at sea. Usually Night 1 is the time things decide to go wrong. Let's hope tonight is the exception.
email (text only, no pictures) to mvgc3@sailmail.com
Follow us at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Final Preparations for Pacific Crossing
Date: 22nd March 2023
Location: Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Just a quick post before we leave tomorrow morning.
We are still in Puerto Ayora anchorage on Santa Cruz. We've spent the time here split between preparing for the upcoming passage and seeing the things you really ought to see here. We've spent a day with the three "Kid's Boats", climbing a volcano with them and hitching a lift in a truck. We've had a day's taxi drive around the island. And finally we took a ferry to Isabella Island for the day to climb yet another volcano, Sierra Negra. We were hoping for a full day walk there but when we arrived we were told it was too late in the day to start. It most recently erupted in 2018 and the lava stream it left behind is very impressive. The ferry trip back was very bumpy! But we did get to spot some of the other boats we know anchored in the bay there.
Things to prepare for have included having the hull cleaned again. We met Lena and Laura of the Darwin Research Centre who took time out to spend some time with us on Mehalah one afternoon and Lena returned to put her freediving skills to good use. Thanks Lena.
Otherwise it's been a series of goodbyes as the boats we have been travelling with have left here either for Isabella island or for their own long passage to French Polynesia.
Tomorrow at 8.30 we make our last trip ashore to get our passports stamped. At 10am the inspectors come to make sure we are not smuggling out any turtles, sealions or iguanas. We then have one hour in which to depart. The winds finally look set fair. This will be the longest passage we have made on our own. It will be interesting to compare this with our previous long passages with crew.
So that's about it. We will try to send some sort of text update on a fairly frequent basis though our radio internet connection seems a bit flaky. Position reports should be just fine though.
Remember.
You can follow our track at: www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey
You email us at: mvgc3@sailmail.com (text only, no graphics)
Pictures follow, in no particular order.
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| Noddies above, tuna below chasing a ball of baitfish next to Mehalah. |
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| The first volcanoes with the "Kid's Boats". 7 children between 5 and 11. 8kms. |
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| Hitching a ride back down the track. |
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| Iguana (land or sea?) patrolling the beach. |
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| Lena preparing to clean the hull. |
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| One of the higher altitude vegetation types. |
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| Guava, an introduced tree, high up on the volcano slopes. |
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| Lower down. |
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| Lava tunnels, 400m long on Santa Cruz. |
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| Hero in a half shell. |
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| Some of these Santa Cruz tortoises are BIG. |
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| Poor old Lonesome George, the last of the Giant Galapagos Tortoises, now stuffed. |
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| Recent (2018) basaltic lava flow inside the pre existing caldera. |
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| The purple shows the recent lava flow from the picture above. |
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| Starting the bumpy journey back to Santa Cruz from Isabella. Friends yachts in background. |
Tuesday, 14 March 2023
The Galapagos Islands. What can you say?
Date: 11th March 2023.
Location: Santa Cruz Anchorage, Galapagos.
What can you say indeed.
They are a long way from anywhere. Charles Darwin made them famous. There are lots of animals here but mostly they are sealions (very smelly), iguanas (very scaley) and tortoises (some very large). I'll put some pictures at the end because after all they are what makes this place famous.
After Panama it feels very safe here. I'll happily leave my rucksack on a bench whilst I go to look at a baby shark (shark, shark - for you Stu and Irish John). In a way it's quite quaint and not at all what I was expecting. Bahia Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal our arrival port still feels like a real small town where everyone knows each other and what they are up to. And then layered on top of that are the two big attractions, namely diving and nature. These they run very efficiently and they make a lot of money from them. Yet it doesn't seem to have gone to their heads.
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| A quiet street in San Cristobal |
We watch as the posh inflatables ferry their passengers between the small nature tourist ships and the jetty and the dive boats set off for another day at Kicker Rock or one of the smaller islands.
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| Another tourist RIB on its way to shore. |
I don't know what I was expecting really. Maybe a world of hard core diving enthusiasts and budding naturalists keen to learn every detail of the flora, fauna and geology. Instead like everywhere else there are lots of 'ordinary' people too. Young backpackers, sun worshippers and general tourists. Don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with any of this. It's just I think not what I was expecting. Maybe it's because we had to sail nine days to get here and when you look at a map we are a LONG way from anywhere else.
It's also surprising what you can do on your own here. Although much of the land is out of bounds or inaccessible (there are very few roads) there is still plenty to occupy us. What we do miss though is the insight to the islands you get by having an experienced guide with you.
Peter and Sally are keen hikers so we explored the coastline around the town on foot. Getting to the dock is an adventure in itself.
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| Boarding one of the compulsory water taxis to take us to shore. |
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| The busy waterfront of San Cristobal. |
Well marked trails lead from the interpretation centre to Darwin Cove and onward over a rocky volcanic landscape to an isolated cove where large iguanas sun themselves on the rocks and turtles swim just offshore.
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| Mr Darwin. What would he say if he came back today? |
Daughters Jenny and Emma had bought us a field guide to the Galapagos. Darwin's finches feature in it. I was amused to see there are Large Tree Finches, Medium Tree Finches and Small Tree Finches here. That's not the size of the finch but the size of the trees they live in! Too many naturalists have put their stamp on things I fear as to me they all look almost identical.
The other thing these islands are famous for is the geology. These are very recent volcanic islands with a good number of volcanoes on show. One day we caught a taxi to one of these volcanoes up the only real road out of town. Bikes were loaded into the back of the taxi and we set off to the high car park from where we climbed to the water filled crater. Loads of Magnificent Frigate Birds here. Then down to the giant tortoise breeding centre (giant tortoises not a giant centre this time). After a quick trip to another beach it was back to the volcano car park where the bikes were unloaded. 17 kilometres of downhill with only one short climb had us back in Bahia in no time. Great fun.
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| There are several landscapes. Many still show the recent volcanic activity. |
Our other excitement was a diving/snorkelling trip to Kicker Rock. 30 minutes in a fast boat with other yachties and it was into the water. The divers including Peter and Sally saw a lot of fish, hammerhead sharks and a ray. For us it was black tip sharks, one hammerhead that I missed and plenty of turtles. We finished up by snorkelling up a split in the rock and riding the swell with steep rock walls either side. But it was cold and snorkelling isn't my favourite pastime. I'm glad we went though. No fish pictures either I'm afraid as we don't have an underwater camera.
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| Approaching Kicker Rock. |
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| Test dive for Sally. |
Oh yes. I have to mention the sea lions. They were everywhere in San Cristobal. In the sea, on the beach, on the water taxi dock, in the dinghies, on the abandoned boats and even lying flat out on the benches along the pier. And do they smell! Coughing and oinking they will be my lasting memory of San Cristobal.
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| Sealions. They are everywhere! |
Of course there were also jobs to attend to. The SSB radio is now working to some extend after installing a new ground system. The problem with the SatPhone appears to actually be the PC's USB controller - again not fixable here. And I was also unable to fix the AIS which appears to be working but only sporadically despite climbing the mast to clean the top connection in increasingly rolly conditions.
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| 68' up. Shame I didn't fix it. |
Later:
Tonight though I am sitting on the little seat on Mehalah's bow in a new anchorage on a new island, Santa Cruz. It's a beautiful warm, silky evening and I'm listening to my playlist and thinking again of how lucky I am. The world is good. But two nights ago back in San Cristobal the waves were rolling in from the west. We were completely exposed and the boat was being thrown around worse than anything we've ever encountered on ocean passages. Boxes were flying, bottles were crashing and we got practically no sleep. Next morning we quickly decided to organise our inter island Zarpe (visa), left as soon as we could and motored the 40 miles here anxiously watching the weather and using up valuable diesel as we went. Late in the afternoon we passed the oppressive looking island of Santa Fe, dubbed Scary Island, and just as darkness was looming we dropped anchor in this lovely spot.
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| Out internal Zarpe allowing us to move to Santa Cruz. |
It's east facing and dead calm here. What's happening to the weather? Instead of the strong west going current and southeast trade winds that usually occur the entire system has reversed. There are three knot east going currents and westerly winds are raising nasty swells into normally protected anchorages. And there is little sign of change as of yet. Weird.
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| The anchorage at Santa Marta. Unusually calm. Cruising and cruise ships meet. Mehalah in the centre. |
We, along with a handful of other yachts will probably stay here a week or so before moving on to our final allowed anchorage on Isabella Island. From there we will all make the 3,200 mile jump to the Marquesa Islands in French Polynesia, or FP or French Poly as it is known to us salty seadogs. We've found a good supermarket here for a final stock up and on Monday we have a fridge engineer coming out to try and fix the fridge. In the meantime we are using the freezer in short sharp bursts as a makeshift fridge.
There are five yachts or sailboats as the Americans call them in the anchorage at present along with twenty or so of the small tourist ships (small ships, not tourists). Us, two other British yachts, Mowser and Miles Away (each with two young children aboard), a smart Italian yacht and an aluminium Canadian boat with a young couple with baby on board. We are definitely the oldies at the moment.
Today we explored the town here a bit and tomorrow will be jobs day and a walk along the coastline probably with another swim thrown in. It's a hard life.
Footnote: Last night we heard that SV Raindancer that we saw briefly in La Playita anchorage hit a whale yesterday and sank. Thankfully this morning we heard that the four crew had been rescued from their liferaft 1,500 miles from French Polynesia by SV Rolling Stones, the Stones family who we had come to know well in Shelter Bay. More sobering thoughts.
And finally some Galapagos fauna...
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| Swimming with sealions. |
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| Blue footed booby. |
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| Yup. They get everywhere. |
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| Giant Galapagos Tortoise. |
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| Land iguanas. They get everywhere too. |
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| This morning from Mehalah: Tuna streaking after baitfish with Noddies in attendance. |
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| Magnificent Frigate Bird. |
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| Marine Iguana. |
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| Another one. |
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| On Mehalah: Brown Pelican. |
Thursday, 9 March 2023
Galapagos Passage Photos
Date: 9th March 2023
Location: San Cristobal Anchorage
PASSAGE PHOTOS
Here are the photos from the crossing.
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| And that is supposed to have been cleaned? |
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| Booby on deck. |
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| The one that got away! |
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| Sinking boat 400 miles from land. |
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| Gorgeous sail. Beautiful sunset. |
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| Rotating boobies. |
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| Night Watch. |
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| Preparations for the Equator. |
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| King Neptune's Representative - Pedro of Panama. |
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| The traditional offering of rum to Neptune. |
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| Sally Shellback. |
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| There it is 0 0.000S. |
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| Official Recognition. |
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| Acceptance Speech. Now Shellbacks. |
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| Dawn Arrival. |
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| Meraki 2 leaving as we arrive. |
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| The busy harbour of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal. |
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| Hull scrubbing Part 1. |
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| Hull scrubbing Part 2. Success. We're in! |