Category: Captain’s Log

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: I worked on the boat all day today … never left. Reinstalled the repaired stanchion and the Dyneema lifelines (which required new eye splices), climbed the mast to recover the main halyard (but didn’t look at the wind instruments because I did not have the energy), worked on the fuel system problem (the engine fuel pump is not powerful enough to draw fuel through the polisher, so I will be hand-filling the day tank until I find another pump), and I cleaned the outside of the boat. I have a short list of things I need to do. I hope to depart Sunday. I have been invited to Pifa’s father’s birthday party tomorrow on the other side of the island, if I can find transportation.

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: At 3:00, I heard the horns of a ship and minutes later a tender pulled up alongside my boat and asked me to move. While I thought I was clear of the dock as I was in the same place I was in when the last ship was here, this one was larger. A dozen boats had to move anchor in the dark at once. It was a melee. After I pulled anchor, I put my engine in forward and nothing g happened. I quickly dropped anchor again. I had been working on the transmission yesterday and the cable was loose. I quickly addressed the problem and moved the boat. However, several boats overlapped with mine. It was difficult to sort out as the prop wash from the ship’s bow thruster was sending the smaller boats spinning in seemingly random directions. I let several boats get settled, then moved mine to a place that seemed free. It was difficult maneuvering in the crowded anchorage. I picked up the car at 8:30, got the repaired stanchion, filled the water bottles, and did some provisioning. I note I used 12-14 gallons out of the 40 gallon tank since leaving San Carlos, mostly for rinsing dishes. I also used about 20 gallons of drinking (bottled) water. Drinking water is relatively difficult to come by at Hiva Oa. The town water comes from the stream that runs through town, and it is often dirty. The only source of spring water nearby is located between Atuona and a smaller village further down the coast. That is where I got my water. I ran through some of the items on my punch list today … sewed the stack pack, replaced the lines on the wind vane, etc. When I returned to the boat at 3 the ship that had arrived the this morning was already leaving. When I I got to my boat I saw it had been moved, apparently dragged out of the way. The strange thing was they said the ship would not be leaving g u Tim that night. Also, my boat was exactly where it was when the ship arrived. Sent from my iPhone

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: While the stanchion was welded yesterday, the island lost power, so when I went to pick it up, I was told I would have to come back tomorrow because there was no way to pay. I planned to go up the mast this morning, but the boat is rolling more than it ever has while I’ve been anchored at Hiva Oa, so much so that it will be hard to get any work done. So, I’ve signed up to visit the archeological sites at Puamau, on the north side of the island. The visit to the villages on the north side of the island and to the archaeological sites was fascinating. The guide Bryan O’Conner, brother of my friend Pifa, provided information about the history and culture I could not have gotten any other way. I am supposed to (finally) have a car tomorrow, so I should be able to provision. A lot of boats have cleared out. I may try to move my boat more inside the breakwater early Friday morning and go up the mast, weather permitting.

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: I took care of business today. Had the broken stanchion welded, finished fixing the bent bowsprit extension, repaired the broken dorade box and made a repair to the toe rail with some epoxy. I am going to try to go up the mast tomorrow to retrieve the main halyard and figure out what is wrong with the wind instruments. I have a car rented on Thursday to run around supplies. On Friday, I am taking a day off and have hired a guide (Pifa’s brother) to show me the historical sites on Hiva Oa.

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: I fixed the bent bowsprit extension and worked on getting the damaged stanchion free so I can have it welded.

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W (Hiva Oa) Local Timezone: UTC-9 1/2; HDG: N/A; COG: N/A; SOG: N/A; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): at anchor; Total Miles Sailed: 3422 nm;
Comments: I walked to Atuona yesterday. It was not very far, maybe a mile and a half. However, my feet have not touched terra firma in the better part of four weeks, and the trek was brutal. There is a strange mussel on my hull, so I need to add scrapping them off to my list. Overnight, a 60’ catamaran anchored next to me, LIA The crew, a Mormon family, invited me to go to church services. Besides myself and the family I went with, everyone at the Easter service were locals. All were very friendly, especially Pifa, one of four police officers on the island (population 2000). He translated the southern Marquesan and French for me during the service. I asked him if his family was in attendance and he said, “We are all family. You know how it is. My ex-wife is my cousin. When we get married, we have to move out of our house.” After the service, he invited me for lunch. The experience was one-of-a-kind and I will report it in a separate post. Although I did not spend much time on the boat today, I did remove the sail pack in preparation for repairing the zipper and fixing the issue with the fraying reefing lines.

Current Position: 9 13.463’S 138 07.952’W; Local Timezone: UTC-9; HDG: 213; COG: 215; SOG: 5.7 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Hiva Oa: approximately 70 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 3342 nm;
Comments: The winds yesterday afternoon were unexpectedly light. I managed 3.5-4 kt with a beam reach and a heading of about 200 with the full Yankee and a reefed main. The wind vane struggled with the light winds and when I used it the sails would flag with the waves, so I used the TillerPilot. About 19:30 the wind picked up to perhaps 10 kt and I was about to achieve 5 kt on a broad reach after relaxing the Yankee sheet. I switched to the wind vane and when to sleep with alarms on two hour intervals. I woke up at 21:00 because the boat was overpowered. The wind had picked up. I furled half the Yankee and adjusted the wind vane for a heading of about 215. The boat was traveling 6-6.5 kt. At some point I am going to have to jog S, but I may not be able to do that without putting a second reef in the main, unless I get another lull in the wind … something to deal with in daylight hours. At 22:30, the boat was doing 7 kt at about 220. The boat seemed overpowered in I am guessing were 18 kt winds that I thought was a gust, as predicted. I stayed away to watch what developed, reluctant the depower by turning W as I knew that would bring on the longitude of Hiva Oa quickly and make it difficult to get an angle on its S side. Probably the furthest point I could safely turn south from this point is 10h away at this speed, so I have plenty of time. If the wind continues, my choices are to heave to or overshoot Hiva Oa from the N and approach the anchorage from the leeward side of the island. At 1:00 I heaved to in 20+ kt winds. The boat has rounded up to 200 and was surfing at 7.5-8 kt. I tried slowing her down by heading up wind, but the wind was too strong for the wind vane. I was 108 nm from the waypoint and two hours ahead of schedule. She had traveled 50 nm in 7h (7.2 kt average speed, even after being kept to 4 kt for 3 of those 7 hours). The boat drifted the opposite direction I had came at about 2 kt. These are times that I really appreciated my wind instruments as I would have set an alarm to alert me when the winds decreased. By 5:00 it was light enough to see the water. The waves were white capped, the boat was heeled over 22 degrees, and it had drifted 6 nm in 4h. The winds were the strongest of the passage, probably 30 kt. I would need to put a second reef in the main to continue, and it was too dangerous to work on the foredeck, especially because I will need to work on both sides of the mast. The temporary halyard is on the port, but the pendant and reefing line is on the starboard. I am in no rush. I don’t plan to arrive at Hiva Oa until tomorrow and I have 36h to do the 120 nm or so. This isn’t localized weather, a squall, and it was not forecasted. I had some difficulty getting a new forecast, but when I finally did, it was clear that I am not alone most of the boats I was following are also heaved to and there is a lightning warning for Hiva Oa suggesting it is getting hit by a storm. It is 6:00 and supposed to be daylight, but it is still dark outside. At 6:30, almost an hour after sunrise. It is still dark. The waves are short, steep, and white-capped. The wind often settles down after sunrise, so I’m going to give it a bit, then try to reef the main. I just noticed the vane on the wind vane is only partially attached. The high winds have blown it over. I do not believe there is a risk of loosing it because it is attached by a lanyard, but I will have to reattach it before I can get underway again, and the thought of leaning over the back of a pitching stern to do that is not appealing. By 7:15 I had fixed the wind vane, put a second reef in the main, and had a heading of 210 at 5.5-6 kt on a beem reach with the double reef and half the Yankee. I had large, closely-spaced waves to the port, some breaking over the cowling. I stayed below and monitored the boat’s speed and course using the Cortex system. It took an hour to make up the distance the boat drifted last night. The 9:00 check showed I had made (193-106) 87 nm to the waypoint, quite a bit as most of the night was spent heaved to and drifting in the wrong direction. By late morning the wind speed had decreased and the boat was going 4.5-5 kt. I made no effort to improve the speed because it was consistent with my plan for an early morning arrival. At noon I plotted a waypoint (#27) E of the island and at the entrance to the southern channel it was 70 nm away. At the present speed, I would reach it around 1:00. From there, it would be 25-30 nm to the anchorage. I will try to sail it, but there is an island to the S and the prevailing wind is straight up the channel. I sorted out the chain locker. It took the better part of an hour to untangle the chain. The late afternoon became partly cloudy, relatively sunny Since early this morning I have sailed with a partial Yankee and two reefs in the main, making 5-6 kt. If this continues for the next 8h, I will arrive at waypoint #27. If so, I will heave to outside the channel for a couple of hours, then continue on.

Current Position: 8 00.078’ S 137 04.499’W; Local Timezone: UTC-9; HDG: 214; COG: 225; SOG: 2.8 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): 159 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 3233 nm;
Comments: Because of the spray and rough seas yesterday, I had to spend almost the whole day below. Although the storms are a pain to navigate through and the cloud cover limits the amount of solar energy I can collect, one advantage ii it is not as hot below. Still very hot and humid … but bearable. At dusk I sat in the cockpit though and are a pan of Ramen noodles and took note that it looked pretty clear to the E. At 20:00, there was a strong wind driving the boat 6 kt in a course of 200. I could see some stars, but it was clearly overcast. According to the PW route, I was as supposed to head more S to avoid some dead air to my W, but that appears to be unnecessary and my present course puts me a couple of hours ahead. There is no way I can reach Hiva Oa by Friday night, so at some point I am going to have to slow down, either on purpose or because of the weather. I can always heave to Friday night if necessary. I woke at 21:30. The boat was doing 6.5 kt in strong wind, but was on course. The moon was up and the skies looked relatively clear to the E. At 22:45, the HOG was right (214) but the high winds were pushing the COG to 225. The wind was blowing too hard to change course without putting a second reef in the main. I will make the correction during the day. I got up at 4:45, a half hour before dawn. The boat had traveled almost 80 nm overnight at a remarkable average speed of 6 kn without a single incident or need to adjust the wind vane. My route planning had me arriving to the E side of the island. I have changed the destination to the anchorage itself. PW says I will arrive about midnight Friday night. One reason I am going faster than predicted is I have built in a 25% slowdown at night, assuming I’d reef for safety. However, I have been sailing reefed all the time and still making good time. If I take out the padding, I arrive at the harbor at sunset on Friday. Sunrise was at 5:45. It is partly cloudy. There is nothing threatening to the E or S. Wave height is significantly lower than the past few days. I have strong wind and doing 5.5-6 kt with half the Yankee and one reef in the main. The apparent wind has shifted and is more SE, driving me more southward, which need to happen anyway, so I am going to let it play out. The reefing line I replaced chaffed through again in the same spot, where it passes through the grommet in the sail. It is strange because I have sailed several years without a problem and it has happened twice now in a week. I will need to examine the grommet for burrs. Also, , my wind disappeared about 15:00. There was a prediction that it would decrease to perhaps 11, but it feels more like 8. I used the lull to run the engine for about half an hour to completely charge the batteries. The fridge was warm. I threw out the remaining fresh food (there was not much). The current model has me arriving at Hiva Oa at 2:00 on Saturday. However, the current delay was not predicted. In any case, I do not intend to arrive at the anchorage in the dark, so I expect to be there sometime Saturday morning.

Current Position: 6 19.849’ S 135 39.469’W; Local Timezone: UTC-9; HDG: 211; COG: 215; SOG: 6.0 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): 289 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 3099 nm;
Comments: At 17:20, just before dusk, I am got hit by a large storm with 20-25 kt winds. I furled in half the jib, left one reef in the main, and adjusted my course due W to slow the boat down. It looks to me like it will be like this all night. Looks like somewhat lighter winds W until Wednesday, the. The opportunity to head S for a better angle on the Marquesas when strong winds are expected Friday. At 3:15 I got hit by a squall with sustained 25 kt winds and gusts to 30 with heavy rain. The boat handled it well. The wind vane kept the boat more-or-less on course. There was significant heeling, but the boat did not feel out of control. The first one was followed by a series of more, perhaps a half dozen. It’s 7:00 and there seems to be a break in the squalls. I am being hit on the beam by very large (8-10’) waves, but I am not rolling much because the boat is heeled over in 20+ kt winds. I am taking the opportunity to hard boil some eggs. I have not had anything but a couple of power bars and tangerines since Sunday. Don’t like heating the cabin up any more than it already is, but I need some protein. I didn’t get under sail until about 17:00 yesterday. As of 9:00 this morning, I have made about 84 nm, which is an average speed of 5.25 kt. According to the weather forecast, the wind was supposed to be lightening up, but I’ve had pretty much 20+ kt winds since 2:00. By 9:30 the wind has shifted to 120, making it a beam reach to the waypoint. The boat is doing 6.5-7 kt in 18-20 kt wind. Midday, the wind instrument failed. It was no longer reporting wind speed or direction. The instrument is located on top of the mast and is connected by a single cable that plugs into an interface dongle, which itself is plugged into the NEMA2000 network. The other instruments on the network are functioning. I have disconnected and reseated the connectors I have access to, and exchanged them with NEMA2000 T-connectors that are known to be working, but no luck. The problem must either be the connector at the top of the mast or more likely the instrument itself. I do not have a spare instrument. Of course, I know the wind direction and approximate speed, so there is no problem sailing, but it is an inconvenience. I just passed the 3000 nm mark, the distance I have sailed from San Carlos. About 400 nm more to go. At 14:00 I was hit with a strong squall. It was more than the wind vane could handle, probably 30+ kt winds. I steered by hand for a bit, changing the course to be more downwind to slow the boat and reduce heel. Eventually, it was too much for me as well and I heaved to. The boat came to a stop and was well-behaved as the front of the squall passed with heavy rain. During the maelstrom, the temple of my glasses broke (everything on a boat is already broken, you just don’t know it). Fortunately, I keep a spare pair at the navigation station. I was heaved to for about 15m, then began sailing again in perhaps 15 kt winds. At 14:45, 45m later, I was hit by an even larger squall. Again, I had to heave to. The worse of it pasted in 10m. I have had water come in through the chain locker when waves come over the bow, sometimes several gallons. There is a drain hose that runs from the locker to the shower sump, where there is a bilge pump. The pump works, but for some reason the float switch is not, so I need to operate it once a day manually if ai have had heave seas. I double checked that the water was coming from the chain locker because the same hose is connected to a bilge pump in the bow thruster/battery compartment underneath the V-berth. I checked that locker and it is dry. When it was clear the storm was going to be around for a bit, tired and wet from dealing with so many, I just left the boat heaved to for a half hour, rested, and got something to eat. Unlike many modern boats that have fin keels and do not heave to easily, Aegir-Ran with its full keel is very well behaved. I was hit by a half dozen smaller squalls today, but many more much larger ones missed me. I managed to charge the main battery bank to 96%, mainly because there was relatively brief periods of sunshine between the storms and because I left most electronic devices off most of the day. The PredictWind weather routing has me arriving at Hiva Oa on Saturday morning.

Current Position: 5 09.573’ S 134 24.688’W; Local Timezone: UTC-9; HDG: 192; COG: 205; SOG: 4.4 kt; TWS: ?; TWD: ?; TWA: ?; Distance to Waypoint (Hiva Oa): 392 nm; Total Miles Sailed: 2997 nm;
Comments: At 17:20, just before dusk, I am got hit by a large storm with 20-25 kt winds. I furled in half the jib, left one reef in the main, and adjusted my course due W to slow the boat down. It looks to me like it will be like this all night. Looks like somewhat lighter winds W until Wednesday, the. The opportunity to head S for a better angle on the Marquesas when strong winds are expected Friday. At 3:15 I got hit by a squall with sustained 25 kt winds and gusts to 30 with heavy rain. The boat handled it well. The wind vane kept the boat more-or-less on course. There was significant heeling, but the boat did not feel out of control. The first one was followed by a series of more, perhaps a half dozen. It’s 7:00 and there seems to be a break in the squalls. I am being hit on the beam by very large (8-10’) waves, but I am not rolling much because the boat is heeled over in 20+ kt winds. I am taking the opportunity to hard boil some eggs. I have not had anything but a couple of power bars and tangerines since Sunday. Don’t like heating the cabin up any more than it already is, but I need some protein. I didn’t get under sail until about 17:00 yesterday. As of 9:00 this morning, I have made about 84 nm, which is an average speed of 5.25 kt. According to the weather forecast, the wind was supposed to be lightening up, but I’ve had pretty much 20+ kt winds since 2:00. By 9:30 the wind has shifted to 120, making it a beam reach to the waypoint. The boat is doing 6.5-7 kt in 18-20 kt wind. Midday, the wind instrument failed. It was no longer reporting wind speed or direction. The instrument is located on top of the mast and is connected by a single cable that plugs into an interface dongle, which itself is plugged into the NEMA2000 network. The other instruments on the network are functioning. I have disconnected and reseated the connectors I have access to, and exchanged them with NEMA2000 T-connectors that are known to be working, but no luck. The problem must either be the connector at the top of the mast or more likely the instrument itself. I do not have a spare instrument. Of course, I know the wind direction and approximate speed, so there is no problem sailing, but it is an inconvenience. I just passed the 3000 nm mark, the distance I have sailed from San Carlos. About 400 nm more to go. At 14:00 I was hit with a strong squall. It was more than the wind vane could handle, probably 30+ kt winds. I steered by hand for a bit, changing the course to be more downwind to slow the boat and reduce heel. Eventually, it was too much for me as well and I heaved to. The boat came to a stop and was well-behaved as the front of the squall passed with heavy rain. During the maelstrom, the temple of my glasses broke (everything on a boat is already broken, you just don’t know it). Fortunately, I keep a spare pair at the navigation station. I was heaved to for about 15m, then began sailing again in perhaps 15 kt winds. At 14:45, 45m later, I was hit by an even larger squall. Again, I had to heave to. The worse of it pasted in 10m. I have had water come in through the chain locker when waves come over the bow, sometimes several gallons. There is a drain hose that runs from the locker to the shower sump, where there is a bilge pump. The pump works, but for some reason the float switch is not, so I need to operate it once a day manually if ai have had heave seas. I double checked that the water was coming from the chain locker because the same hose is connected to a bilge pump in the bow thruster/battery compartment underneath the V-berth. I checked that locker and it is dry. When it was clear the storm was going to be around for a bit, tired and wet from dealing with so many, I just left the boat heaved to for a half hour, rested, and got something to eat. Unlike many modern boats that have fin keels and do not heave to easily, Aegir-Ran with its full keel is very well behaved.
Sent from my iPhone