It's a Long Shot II

The winds that blew us off our mooring buoy haven't let up. We cruised towards Puka Puka, the next Northern Cook Island, heading nearly straight downwind. The odd sea hit us on the quarter but they were big ones. It sounds like a freight train coming - I guess that's why they call them wave trains. The wave just tumbles into the cockpit soaking us to the bone. Doug has given up on wearing clothes as he is continuously awash. We made such good time that we arrived at the next island at midnight. We hung out downwind of the island waiting for first light. Our charts are not detailed for this island and even though I have three different charting programs, none of them show any detail regarding depths. We found what we believed to be the channel but couldn't hail anyone on the radio to confirm. The winds were howling and given the narrowness of the channel with unknown depths, we just couldn't see the benefits of heading in. You can't even anchor on the outside as it goes from 180ft to a drying bank - unbelievable. Unfortunately we'd have to abandon our Puka Puka visit an head back out into the 3 - 4m seas and 25-30kt winds.

We are on our way to American Samoa which is 345nm away sailing beam to the seas. Poor Long Shot II is so comfortable in these seas but she has novice sailors holding her back. If we can make 5kts that's good enough for us as it makes the ride much more enjoyable. A couple times an hour we get hit by a Tasmanian water devil that comes roaring up the side and feels like getting hit by a white water cannon. I don't know what's worse is seeing it coming or only being able to hear it at night. The water splashes halfway up the mast. As I lay in the forward cabin on this port tack, I'm thinking about, "Which side Doug did all the fibreglass work on?" The temperatures aren't as high anymore so at least it's livable down below with all the hatches secured. Doug is in very good spirits given how bumpy the ride is. That is because he has been dreaming about what lies ahead - tying to a dock at a marina where beer is plentiful. It's been a month and a half since we left Hawaii (and stores) and he's been rationing the last of his beer this week. He couldn't bring himself to spend $18 for a six pack when we were at Manihiki however he did spend $8 for a 2L bottle of Pepsi.

The kids are placing their orders for what they want for food - we are all starting to get tired of pasta. We've sailed over 5000nm now and probably still have a few months worth of canned goods left. I vote for ice cream!