Panama to Marquesas, French Polynesia Day 28
Hi guys. As I write this we are now some 150 miles from Atuona, the port of entry on Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas! But can we get there??? The last couple of days of sailing have been challenging. We go from rolling a round in big seas with no wind to 30 knots and torrential rain in squalls. Also the wind direction is all over the place, making the sail setup difficult. Right now we have dropped all the sails and are drifting at 2 knots towards our destination rolling all over the place!
Here’s our position as of 1100 today:
So in the mega squall a few days ago, we noticed a few small tears in the Genoa after it unfurled itself in 40 knot gusts. We were still cautiously using it until two days ago when another gust picked up and this happened before we could do anything!
So we have now retired this sail for the rest of the journey to not risk anymore damage and have reverted to using the little spare genoa that we were given by our friend John. Its great that we have it otherwise I’m not sure what we would have done!
If the wind does come back in the next couple of hours, then its still possible that we will make landfall late tomorrow or the following morning. Keep your fingers and toes crossed! Here’s some pics we took over the last couple of days. Rainbows, sunrises and a strange bloke climbing up the mast?!
Maybe the next post will be from the Marquesas???
Dom and Ailsa on Azimuth
I am very concerned to hear all this particular news and trust you will be arriving very safely at Atuona at the weekend.
The pics are amazing but considering the squalls and rolling seas….please please please … wear your life jackets…not in evidence on pics of you both on deck!!! Perhaps I’m wrong ?
Love you to bits and want you safe.
Don’t worry, that pic was taken when we were drifting in no wind at all…..
Wherre are you now? Hope all is well.
Great photos out with the sewing machine, If you had a couple of goanies on board they would have sorted out the sail. Lucky you had a spare sail or that would have been out with the oars. You must carry more than 2 sails. In lifeboats in the 1960s,s had 4 boats with inboard engines, the rest had a stick on each bench that you pushed and pulled that turned the propeller to get you clear of the ship. The four motorboats use when you laid of island to take passengers ashore, even Madeira