Passage to Suvarrov, Cook Islands
30 July 2011 | 200 Nautical Miles, East of Suvarrov
July 24 to July 29. 2011
Winds were light leaving Bora Bora last Sunday afternoon and remained so until yesterday, Wednesday, July 27, afternoon. We had been seeing wind speeds between 4-10 knots and our boat speed was a surprising 2-5 knots. We had tried to sail wing on wing with our main sail to starboard and our jib poled out to port, but with the weak wind and 2 metre swell, the main sail was getting thrashed about. Michael and I decided to lower the main and put up our storm sail, poled out to starboard (right) on the main boom. This worked very well and we maintained a good speed despite the fact that the storm jib has only about 1/6 of the surface area of the main. So, to visualize what I've just described, imagine you are standing at the back of Gromit looking forward. You would see a large sail extending out over the left side of the boat, being held out by a pole which is sitting perpendicular to the mast and a smaller sail out over the right side.
On Wednesday afternoon, the wind picked up to a perfect 15 knots and we began to move along comfortably between 5-6 knots - still flying our jib and storm. But then that perfect wind speed continued to climb. We began seeing boat speeds of 6-7 knots, spiking into the 8 and 9 knot range. Sounds great, eh? Well, it would be if our boat were built to go that fast. Every boat has what is called a 'boat speed', Gromit's is about 8-9 knots, which is the maximum speed it can safely travel. If that speed is exceeded, problems follow! With increasing wind speed, boat speed and waves begin to build. If the waves get big enough and a boat begins surfing down the front of them, the boat can pick up a lot of speed and then the bow will begin to dig into the water. This is called burying the bow and can lead to 'pitch poling' which is just a fancy way of saying that the boat will do a front roll, flipping nose first over itself. To be avoided!
Needless to say, we reefed our sails,(reduced sail area). The winds continued to increase. Last night , Thursday, the winds were at between 25-30 knots, with waves about 4 metres high. We decided to run 'bare-poles', which means, no sails are up. The wind and waves push the boat without the help of the sails and we've been moving along at a healthy average speed of around 4.5 knots. This is perfect because this speed has us arriving at Suvarrov mid morning tomorrow, Saturday, to enter the pass in good light.
So, presently, Friday - noon, the winds continue to blow between 25-30 knots and we are still sailing bare-poled, maintaining our speed of about 4.5 knots.
Otherwise on Gromit, we've finally found our rhythm. The first few days of a passage are the most difficult. Getting used the to movement and lack of sleep due to that movement and keeping watch, usually takes us 3 days. We have shifted our meal schedule to have our big meal at lunch and then something light for dinner. As usual, with the Gromiteers, food is a main focus and we've had some great meals. Zoe has been doing a lot of them as well as baking up some super desserts and fresh bread.
We all look forward to arriving tomorrow! For an in depth description of Suvarrov and a fantastic tale of survival, I recommend reading:
Tom Neale's: An Island to Oneself