20 Years Ago Today -- May 6, 1996 -- Day 28

Sun. 96-05-05 - Day 28 - Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia 9° 50' S  139° 02' W  Log: 2,688nm

I got up at ~1900Z, with Hiva Oa about 10 miles off. Mostly sunny tradewind weather, blowing 15 - 18 from ESE. Very cloudy over Hiva Oa, so not worth a landfall photo.

We had hooked another 30" wahoo in the night and dragged it for a long time on John's watch, so when I had landed it, the eyes were gone. I cleaned it after breakfast as we sailed up to Hiva Oa and we put the skinny little fillets in the fridge. We talked to Upshot (British) and Cat's Paw IV (Bluewater Cruising Association) on the way in, as both were ahead of us. It took a long time for us to sail along the south coast of the island, as it is high and steep-shored. The very west end was pretty dry, and had little vegetation on it, and reminded me of California's Channel Islands. We were still sailing with reefed main and staysail, which was perhaps a bit undercanvassed.

Isle Motane was clearly visible to our south, and Tahu Ata ahead, until we turned north into Baie Taaoa, and finally NE into Baie Taahuku, a mile or so east of the town of Atuona. The village appears to be quite high up, as there is little shore-level land. There did appear to be about a 3-story building on the beach below the town, though -- I didn't expect any multi-story structures.

The anchorage at Baie Taahuku is protected by a breakwater, but pretty rolly, and surgy from reflected and refracted waves from around the point. There were about 15 boats in harbour when we arrived, anchored bow and stern [pictured at left]. As room must be left for large vessels to dock at the "wharf", all anchoring must be behind a line marked with a transit on the south shore of the bay.

We arrived in the anchorage ~0100Z, anchoring near Celebration, with Marc Edge taking our stern hook in his dinghy. Both Marc from Markenurh and Ken from Celebration had come out in their dinghies despite a rain squall at the time. It seemed to rain about once every 15 minutes all afternoon. We were anchored at 15:20 local time (Z - 9.5h). Marc invited us for supper for ~17:30 and congratulated us on our passage. Ooh, baby, we made it!

We got settled and took the dinghy ashore. The bay has fresh water (galore), including a shower stall available free and a big place to wash clothes near the dingy landing. There's a concrete landing which is quite surgy and a stern anchor is required to keep the dingy from getting under the wharf. Another choice (which we used the first time) is a gravel launch ramp around the corner, with less surge, but you have to carry the dinghy out of the way.

We filled the water tanks and had showers (very welcome!) and chatted with a few cruisers. A bit wobbly walking, but not bad.

After a beer and fresh clothes aboard Vahevala, we headed over to Markenurh, bringing one of John's trusty bottles of Padre Kino red wine (Mexican). Besides Marc and Adrien and Sylvia, Ken and Hillary from Celebration, and Jim and Penny from Cat's Paw IV were there. [I had previously sailed for a few weeks between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo aboard Vancouver-based Markenurh with Marc, Adrien and Sylvia.]

We had a really nice time, with Marc serving his famous pizzas, salad and good company. Our 27-day [sic] passage compared well with most of the others, although Celebration did it in 17 days [Celebration is a Carpenter 37 from Aukland, NZ that did the Melbourne to Osaka race last year, and then crossed to Canada. I saw their boat in Victoria in July and in Nanaimo in August, then in San Diego in November, La Paz in Jan/Feb, and Puerto Vallarta in March, where I had finally spoken with them. Nice folks.] Cat's Paw IV is a Fast Passage 37.

It turns out that there were various rumours about Vahevala on the HAM/SSB nets, including that we were overdue and that we were headed for the Cook Islands (!?). Ah, rumours.

We turned in about 21:30 for the first full night's sleep in nearly a month. No CDs.

[Ed.: Well, that's the end of the big offshore passage. There were lots of great and memorable experiences (including this one, mentioned previously) in the Marquesas and further West, but I'll stop here with the log. This passage inspired me to write a song a couple of years ago, which I'll post here in the near future.

I would like to express thanks to my brother John and his wife Laura, who gave me this lovely leather-bound log book for recording my trip, and which is still in excellent shape 20 years later.

And of course finally a great thank-you to my skipper, John, who welcomed me aboard Vahevala and gave me this great opportunity.]

20 Years Ago Today -- May 5, 1996 -- Day 27

Sun. 96-05-05 - Day 27 - 8° 08' S  137° 34' W  Log: 2,569nm

Only 121 more miles to Hiva Oa. We're bombing along in mostly rambunctious conditions, with wind slightly ahead of the beam and making ~190° magnetic in 15 - 20 knots of wind. We dropped the yankee at the end of my first watch last night and put up the staysail, with one reef still in the main. We had a few gusts to 25 knots before the sail change, but things quieted down some afterwards, naturally.

The weather was more sunny today [crash, as we are pushed over by a steep wave] with some tradewind clouds, although there were still squalls around. I felt better -- better mood and more rested, although still easily pissed off. I need a shower, but am reluctant to wash without a fresh water rinse.

Woke this morning to find John running the small manual watermaker in the cockpit, having taken it out of the abandon-ship bag. The things some people will do for a cup of coffee! Earlier, he had tried making coffee with 7-Up (ugh) and sea water ("-10 on a scale of 1 - 10").

We should have landfall by sunrise tomorrow morning. We're both quite ready for a quiet(er) anchorage and a walk ashore. I guess we'll try to find a restaurant for dinner in Atuona.

John's French is coming along -- he's really done pretty well considering the short time he's been at it -- but he's not yet up to being able to converse. I'm looking forward to speaking French in the islands -- hope my vocabulary is up to it.

CDs:

• Miles Davis -- 7 Steps to Heaven
• Getz / Gilberto

This afternoon I spotted a sailboat crossing our bow about a mile ahead. Looked like they were headed for Nuku Hiva, perhaps from Panama. John tried to raise them on the radio -- "Sailboat, sailboat, sailboat, this is the sailing vessel Vahevala." No response.

Had a tuna or something on the fish hook this afternoon in a squall but it got off shortly after I started hauling in on the line. Too bad.

20 Years Ago Today -- May 4, 1996 -- Day 26

Sat. 96-05-04 - Day 26 - 6° 34' S  136° 28' W  Log: 2,451nm

Awoken for my pre-dawn watch by about a gallon of sea water landing in my bunk, via the leeward portholes after a near breach. Thoroughly unimpressed -- my bedding, which was already dirty and damp, is now wet with salt water. The weather is overcast, humid and the seas are splashy enough that nothing will dry.

Add to that the fact that we ran out of fresh water today. We decided that instead of heaving to on the required starboard tack in order to run the watermaker, we'll try to make it to Atuona without.

I had trouble sleeping in the morning and when I napped in the afternoon -- not at all comfortable with the damp sleeping bag. Totally gave up on the bed sheet.

The bread I baked yesterday turned out OK, although a bit crumbly. Maybe the extra sugar was a bad idea, but it was sooo unsweet the previous time.

With only a couple hundred miles to go, both John and I are very ready to arrive. This overcast, damp weather's really bugging us. Where are the gorgeous days and nights of the NE trades?

Sailing above beam reach now to try to make sure we don't end up downwind of Hiva Oa. Dodger side panel and centre section are up and the foreward part of the cockpit is quite comfortably protected from the spray.

We collected about 35 flying fish off the deck this morning, all but one small -- the other was about 4" long -- the first of that size that we've seen.

Somewhat slow this afternoon after John put a reef in, but we're hauling ass now (0500Z). Moon rose at 0430, full or full + 1 day, and it was very pretty. Quickly retreated behind clouds.

For supper, John heated some chili, served with bread or crackers, peach halves and cookies. I washed up using only salt water and drip dry.

Still reading The Fist of God, and quite enjoying it. 

I've made a few life decisions in the past couple of days. First, I plan to get a PHRF rating and start club racing Covivant [my C&C 32], at least some of the time. Second, I've decided to find a part-time Masters degree program, starting this fall. I'm leaning towards Engineering or Computer Science, although an MBA is also a possibility.

No CDs.

[Ed.: Regarding those decisions:

• I did get a handicap and started racing Covivant in the year after returning home. And we're still doing it 20 years later... same boat, same skipper, though the crew changes over time.
• I did look into graduate degree programs, but failed to find one that interested me enough. I did manage to teach a software engineering course at BC Institute of Technology in the year 2000, though. My real passion was software requirements management, but I couldn't find a course focused on that [where was Grady Booch when I needed him?] Years later, I realized that Agile software development methodologies bring a better model for requirements management than any I'd dealt with in the structured/OO analysis/design world.  I'm now a firm believer in User Stories and a prioritized backlog instead of more formal requirements documents, etc.  As for an MBA, I had a couple of friends who did MBA programs in 2001-2003 period, and my conclusions were that (a) they didn't seem to learn much that I hadn't already learned in 15 years of software industry experience; and (b) neither of them was able to (immediately, anyway) move into a non-engineering role by adding a MBA to their resume.

...end Ed.]

20 Years Ago Today -- May 3, 1996 -- Day 25

Fri. 96-05-03 - Day 25 - 4° 58' S  134° 56' W  Log: 2,325nm

Made good 139 nautical miles in the past 24 hours, our best day yet. Only 368 miles to Hiva Oa. Slept 'till 2000Z -- well, I just lay there awake after 1900, thinking about how to serve up the wahoo. Felt not bad today, especially considering I only slept about 5.5 - 6 hours.

Still crappy weather, with lighter winds and lots of rain around. I baked bread this afternoon -- 2 loaves + cinnamon rolls again. The buns were better this time, with lots more sugar in the layer with the cinnamon. The bread didn't come out as good looking this time, probably because it was real bumpy when they went into the oven. Haven't tried it yet. Used the Ardmachree white bread recipe again, but put ~ 1/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/4. I should copy that recipe!

I cooked up the wahoo by frying in margarine with seasoning, salt and served over spaghetti with a trim of Ardmachree's mango chutney. Excellent, except the fish was mostly bones and was a lot of work to eat.

CD: Stanley Clarke -- East River Drive (while baking)

Saw a dolphin or two tonight -- first time since the NE trades. [Actually, they may be pilot whales or false killer whales... about 10' long]

Still squally tonight. Mostly cloudy.

20 Years Ago Today -- May 2, 1996 -- Day 24

Thurs. 96-05-02 - Day 24 - 3° 02' S  133° 38' W  Log: 2,190nm

Shitty weather. Hot, squally. Yanked the trolling generator off its mount in a squall; luckily there was a safety line on it, but we now can't use it again. Ran engine for a few hours to generate power.

Still very tired, but felt somewhat better after a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Finished my letter to my sister by moonlight on my first watch, although it clouded over. Virtually full moon made the night bright like a dark day, even with cloud cover.

Caught at 30" wahoo on my second watch, between rain squalls. Ugly sucker -- really skinny, with nasty pointed mouth and 3 big teeth (plus lots of razor-sharp small ones). Decided to keep this one and try to get a meal out of it. Stayed on watch a couple of hours extra to clean the fish after daylight. Bony down the outside of its body, just inside the skin. I cut a few steaks, as recommended, but they were too small. Cut some fillets from the rest of it, leaving the skin (and bones) on.

No CDs. Started reading Frederick Forsyth's The Fist of God, a novel about the Desert Shield/Desert Storm war in the Persian Gulf. No lottery.