Noon: South 20 degrees 27 minutes, West 148 degrees 43 minutes. We're 181 nautical miles from Papeete. Making no progress against 25 kt headwinds and unbelievably violent squalls. All we can do is wait for a change in the weather. Lines are beginning to chafe and break. The jib halyard is fouled high up; we're using the spare. Part of the mizzen sheet system failed just after one of those squalls. Fixed it just before a worse one hit. With just storm jib, staysail and mizzen up, we were vastly overpowered. Getting the storm jib down on the bowsprit was athletic, to say the least, at one point much like doing a belly-flop off a high board.

April 29

Our position at noon was South 21 degrees 02 minutes, West 149 degrees 34 min. By this point we should be on a nice beam reach (ie. wind coming at a 90 degree angle to the boat) in the trade winds, but instead we are beating (headwinds) our way north due to a huge depression to the southwest. We are making slow progress, and expect to take a minimum of 3-4 days more.

I'm going to have a good two weeks worth of work in Tahiti before setting off on the next leg. There are some leaks in the overhead and along the rub rail that need sealing, and I need to make a new trim tab (auxiliary rudder) to get the self steering mechanism functional again. There are other minor jobs to do too, as well as laundry and lots of cleaning.

April 26

Our noon position today was South 24 degrees 43 minutes, West 147 degrees 46 minutes. We have 441 nautical miles to Papeete, Tahiti. Unfortunately, it looks like there's more snotty weather ahead-- a front followed by MORE headwinds. I anticipate it will take us a minimum of four days.

April 25

Our position at noon today was South 26 degrees 50 minutes, West 147 degrees 59 minutes. Papeete is 563 nautical miles away, and it looks like we'll get one more spanking before we get there.

April 23

I expect it will take a minimum of 7 more days to Tahiti. Last night was awful: lightning everywhere, along with heavy rain and flukey wind. We were rocking and rolling, soaking wet.

April 20

Our position at noon was approximately South 33 degrees, West 155 degrees. Go to www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=N7RLT (or click on the link at left) to see our path. It's a beautiful day, but we're still struggling against headwinds. We've covered 1979 nautical miles so far, and almost every one of them upwind.

April 19

Woke this morning to a clear, blue sky. We still have a headwind, but we can close reach comfortably. Wouldn't mind a lift on course, though. These are the pictures one sees in the sailing magazines. Noon position S34d18m, W156d50m.

April 18

We just lost three days of progress; one day beating south to avoid a band of storm force winds, and two days hove to in the ensuing gale. We're screaming NNE right now on a close reach at 7+ knots under yankee, staysail, deep reefed main, and reefed mizzen. I didn't think she could do that. So far, we've had headwinds for almost every inch of 1700 miles. Between the waves into the Dorade, the leaky skylight frame and prisms, and the salt water we track in, everything's damp. I filled my boots with seawater soon after departure, so I don't bother with dry socks; I just put the same wet ones back on for each watch.

Position Reports

April 14, noon: South 37deg,19min, West 157deg,09min. Bashing to weather under staysail & reefed mizzen.

April 13, noon: South 38deg,31min, West 157deg,58min. All well.
(Today Mark wrote that receiving emails over the ham link is ok, but transmitting is difficult. So, posts may be limited to position reports until further notice.)

April 12 We're motoring along just past midnight on a flat sea, the gale two days ago just a memory. Saturn is in Leo. Scorpio is brilliant. Mintaka set hours ago. It looks like we'll be motoring for a day, or so, while a new high moves east from NZ. I'm trying to position ourselves to take advantage of it when it catches up to us.

That gale was quite something. I doubt it was anything more than a basic gale, but I was impressed. Those seas, under a full moon, were quite the sight. Unfortunately, we did suffer a bit of damage, but I learned a lot from it all, and will be much better prepared next time. Some time after deploying the drogue, during a routine inspection, I found that the bridle lines had both crossed under the trim tab, and were in danger of chafing. During the attempt to free them, the trim tab was carried away. That was a real loss, both because of the work that went into it and its utility. Well, we reverted to sheet-to-tiller steering. We also had a zipper tear away from the dodger -- only stitching, easily repaired.

When I came on watch at 2000 yesterday, the moon was full, the sky was clear, the breeze was just enough, and the 12-15 foot rollers from the cyclone were impressive. It was a magnificent sight. Sailing that watch was like first tracks in fresh powder, deep in the backcountry.

Waterskiing Albatross

This morning, Dave tried to teach an albatross to water ski behind the boat. He had hooked himself on a squid lure (the bird, that is), and was skiing on his outstretched feet. We got him up to the rail, and I held him while Dave unhooked him. None the worse for wear (the bird again). Big bird -- over 6' span.

The wind is finally backing a bit, allowing us to sail due east. We expect it to continue to back to northerly over the next 24 hours, allowing us to head more NE. All is well, but we'll be happy to have the wind further aft. We've been beating or close reaching for seven days. The boat is sailing very well, and the tiller pilot is steering perfectly.

April 4-6

A few posts from Mark built up while Robyn was traveling back to the US, but here they are:

April 4
The first day out we took a wave into the port dorade, soaking much of my clothing and many books in the locker below. Fortunately, we didn't actually ruin that many books, mostly unimportant things. A few books got a little damp around the edges, but not ruined. I've been gradually rinsing my clothes and sheets, as I find the room to hang them. Right now, there's a sleep sack and jeans hanging from the mizzen sheet. We're at 39S 178W, close reaching in a light breeze on a mellow sea. Life is good.

April 5
We're having magnificent sailing: close reaching at 5-6 kts on a smooth sea under a sunny sky. There's a big low to the north, probably the remains of a cyclone, that's pushing a bit south that we're watching, but we don't expect it to be a problem. It may make us go a little further south, though, before turning east. So far, so good. The forecast is for northerly winds in a day or so. If the cyclone is passed to the east, we'll turn east or a little north. We seem to be catching the Roaring Forties on good terms (today).

April 6
We're almost at 42 south and 173 west, still heading ESE with a NE breeze. It's likely to remain this way for another day or so until that cyclone to the north dies away. A trough should catch up to us then with N/NW winds, at which point we'll begin to edge back NE. So far, so good. Making 125 nm or so each day, despite the headwinds. It's chilly, but not really cold. Mostly clear skies.

We've Left New Zealand

Departed Tauranga on the 1st, right into a gale. Wouldn't have minded if it was behind us, pushing us along, but it was right on the nose. Passed East Cape this morning (the 3rd), out into the big, blue, wet thing, finally leaving NZ behind.