Current Position: 17 29.683S 149 17.170’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; HDG: 266; COG: 270; SOG: 5.1 kt; Distance to Waypoint (Tahiti, T1b): 2 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 4196 nm;
Comments: There were two potential hazards last night. First, the freighter Salome was about 45 nm behind at dusk me doing 14 kt, so should reach me in about 4h (about 21:00). I saw it on PredictWind, but for some reason did not see it on AIS. I left my AIS on so it could see me and I set alarms to keep tabs on it. Second, I would be passing close to Mehetia about midnight. I set alarms to check on that as well. Also close to dusk, the waves were back to the starboard beam, which is the light wind slowed down sailing. While I averaged almost 5 kt during the day, I was now averaging closer to 4. This is not a big deal because at some point I will be twiddling my thumbs for 6-8h waiting for daylight to enter the harbor. At 18:40, the freighter Salome finally showed up on AIS, 30 nm (about 2h) away. About 21:20, the freighter passed about 6 nm off my starboard. About 1:00, I passed 10 nm N of Mehetia. I was awaken at 2:45, between the alarms I had set at 2h intervals, because the boat was heeled a bit more than it had been. It was moving 5.5-6 kt, 2 kt faster than earlier in the night. I went in deck and check the weather and it seemed fine. The sky was essentially clear. I checked the PW weather forecast I had downloaded earlier and indeed the wind was predicted to increase from 10 to 14 kt during this period. It is expected to be like this until mid morning, then the wind is supposed to die down significantly as I reach T1b. That will work out well as I will be in no hurry at that point to make my way around the island. It is 3:00 and I am 66 km from T1b. I note that I have travelled 45 nm in the last 10h, since my last check-in. It’s 5:30 and I am 52.5 nm away, so have averaged 5.4 nm on for the past 2.5h. Sunrise was at 6:10. It is the first time I have seen a sunrise or sunset in a couple of weeks, because of clouds on the horizon. The skies are partly cloudy. No threats. It should be a good solar day. The waves are bigger and striking the starboard quarter. Might be a problem later when the wind is not blowing as hard. I will get ready for my arrival by doing my usual chores (process trash, clean out the fridge, untangle the chain locker, service the engine, etc.). For breakfast, I ate my last hard boiled egg (from Hiva Oa) and my last tangerine (from Cabo San Lucas), so it’s time to restock. After my chores, I am going to try to rest today, because once I reach the coastline and overnight, there will not be much rest while I am moving, which is likely to be most of the night. I had just finished cleaning the fridge a little after 8:00 and was in the cockpit disposing of the spoiled food when I got a hit on the rod. It took me 20m to land a large dorado. Since I did not have a gaff, I had to tire the fish, bring it along side, and bring it aboard by its gills. By the time I had processed the fish, more than an hour had passed. It is 12:30 and as predicted the winds have decreased. The boat is traveling 4 kt and I have about 20 nm to T1b. At 13:40, Tahiti appeared from behind clouds, while I was in the cockpit enjoying my fish dinner. It is almost 14:00, and as predicted, the wind is all but gone. Furthermore, there will be no wind until late Thursday. I have about 40 nm to go to the west side of the island and the passage to the anchorage. At 5 kt, that’s 8h of motoring. I have 16h or so until dawn, when I can enter the passage. The problem is I don’t want to end up in the windward side of Tahiti tonight to heave to and hope the forecast is correct. Right now, I am about 12 nm from the E shore, which is not in a great position either. Right now, I have a little wind. Not enough to sail, but it adds 1-2kt to motor sailing. Later, there is not supposed to be any wind at all, so it is probably better to motor sail now. Ideally, I could make my way to the leeward side of the island and stay there bare poles, presumably with no wind, until dawn. The whole purpose for rounding the north side of the island was so I could sail and not motor. On the other hand, if I had gone south I would have been motoring now anyway, and I would have no wind to help me. It is 15:45 and I am 10 nm from T1b. As I round the north side of Tahiti, I suddenly have a flurry of activity on the AIS, one fishing boat and five cargo ships. It could be a long night. I am going to have to top off the day tank. Because I need to move the tiller to the side to get to the fuel tank, I will need to heave to. I will shut the engine down to do that. That reminds me that one of the things I definitely need to do in Tahiti is fix the fuel pump situation on the main tank. The hardware I will need will be most likely available here. At 16:00, there was zero wind, so I dropped the sails. That may have been a mistake because they were keeping the boat from rolling. I already hat the main lashed to the boom, but I unfurled the jib and that helped a lot with the stability (but not speed). I have 15 nm before Pointe Venus (the northern tip of Tahiti), at which point I will begin heading south. I’ve pretty much decided to make my way to the passage without stopping. I’ll park a couple of miles NW of the passage bare poled and dose in the cockpit until morning.
Comments: There were two potential hazards last night. First, the freighter Salome was about 45 nm behind at dusk me doing 14 kt, so should reach me in about 4h (about 21:00). I saw it on PredictWind, but for some reason did not see it on AIS. I left my AIS on so it could see me and I set alarms to keep tabs on it. Second, I would be passing close to Mehetia about midnight. I set alarms to check on that as well. Also close to dusk, the waves were back to the starboard beam, which is the light wind slowed down sailing. While I averaged almost 5 kt during the day, I was now averaging closer to 4. This is not a big deal because at some point I will be twiddling my thumbs for 6-8h waiting for daylight to enter the harbor. At 18:40, the freighter Salome finally showed up on AIS, 30 nm (about 2h) away. About 21:20, the freighter passed about 6 nm off my starboard. About 1:00, I passed 10 nm N of Mehetia. I was awaken at 2:45, between the alarms I had set at 2h intervals, because the boat was heeled a bit more than it had been. It was moving 5.5-6 kt, 2 kt faster than earlier in the night. I went in deck and check the weather and it seemed fine. The sky was essentially clear. I checked the PW weather forecast I had downloaded earlier and indeed the wind was predicted to increase from 10 to 14 kt during this period. It is expected to be like this until mid morning, then the wind is supposed to die down significantly as I reach T1b. That will work out well as I will be in no hurry at that point to make my way around the island. It is 3:00 and I am 66 km from T1b. I note that I have travelled 45 nm in the last 10h, since my last check-in. It’s 5:30 and I am 52.5 nm away, so have averaged 5.4 nm on for the past 2.5h. Sunrise was at 6:10. It is the first time I have seen a sunrise or sunset in a couple of weeks, because of clouds on the horizon. The skies are partly cloudy. No threats. It should be a good solar day. The waves are bigger and striking the starboard quarter. Might be a problem later when the wind is not blowing as hard. I will get ready for my arrival by doing my usual chores (process trash, clean out the fridge, untangle the chain locker, service the engine, etc.). For breakfast, I ate my last hard boiled egg (from Hiva Oa) and my last tangerine (from Cabo San Lucas), so it’s time to restock. After my chores, I am going to try to rest today, because once I reach the coastline and overnight, there will not be much rest while I am moving, which is likely to be most of the night. I had just finished cleaning the fridge a little after 8:00 and was in the cockpit disposing of the spoiled food when I got a hit on the rod. It took me 20m to land a large dorado. Since I did not have a gaff, I had to tire the fish, bring it along side, and bring it aboard by its gills. By the time I had processed the fish, more than an hour had passed. It is 12:30 and as predicted the winds have decreased. The boat is traveling 4 kt and I have about 20 nm to T1b. At 13:40, Tahiti appeared from behind clouds, while I was in the cockpit enjoying my fish dinner. It is almost 14:00, and as predicted, the wind is all but gone. Furthermore, there will be no wind until late Thursday. I have about 40 nm to go to the west side of the island and the passage to the anchorage. At 5 kt, that’s 8h of motoring. I have 16h or so until dawn, when I can enter the passage. The problem is I don’t want to end up in the windward side of Tahiti tonight to heave to and hope the forecast is correct. Right now, I am about 12 nm from the E shore, which is not in a great position either. Right now, I have a little wind. Not enough to sail, but it adds 1-2kt to motor sailing. Later, there is not supposed to be any wind at all, so it is probably better to motor sail now. Ideally, I could make my way to the leeward side of the island and stay there bare poles, presumably with no wind, until dawn. The whole purpose for rounding the north side of the island was so I could sail and not motor. On the other hand, if I had gone south I would have been motoring now anyway, and I would have no wind to help me. It is 15:45 and I am 10 nm from T1b. As I round the north side of Tahiti, I suddenly have a flurry of activity on the AIS, one fishing boat and five cargo ships. It could be a long night. I am going to have to top off the day tank. Because I need to move the tiller to the side to get to the fuel tank, I will need to heave to. I will shut the engine down to do that. That reminds me that one of the things I definitely need to do in Tahiti is fix the fuel pump situation on the main tank. The hardware I will need will be most likely available here. At 16:00, there was zero wind, so I dropped the sails. That may have been a mistake because they were keeping the boat from rolling. I already hat the main lashed to the boom, but I unfurled the jib and that helped a lot with the stability (but not speed). I have 15 nm before Pointe Venus (the northern tip of Tahiti), at which point I will begin heading south. I’ve pretty much decided to make my way to the passage without stopping. I’ll park a couple of miles NW of the passage bare poled and dose in the cockpit until morning.