Halfway to Nuku HIva
25 April 2017
Half Way There There happens to be Nuku Hiva and we have finally left from Bahia on the longest passage we will ever of done - 3700 with no islands to stop at along the way. Halfway was at mile 1850 at exactly 14 days. We left Bahia with 2 other boats, sharing the pilot to get us out without running aground. One of the boats left for Easter island but Cheers was with us for a few days as they were also headed to French Polynesia. It is actually amazing how we managed to keep in VHF contact for the first 3-4 days, given the vastness of the ocean out here. We alternated with motoring and sail on and off for the 1st 4 days then we were in to the trades. We motored a total of 48 hrs, which is not bad in these parts. The winds were a little fickle at times but we managed to keep sailing. We had our fair share of lightening displays, several of them close enough to make us store our precious electronics in our new faraday box (aka microwave oven). We had squally weather at times but nothing with any winds of any significance. The rain was welcome to wash down the boat and the occasional odor that we had of flying fish being left on the deck too long before being sent back to the deep. We got into a routine of eat-sleep-watch. On some days the sea was big enough to make us not want to do much of anything. Our refrigerator was being very inefficient and even after rewiring it, it didn't improve. We thinks it needs regassing but it is not something that be done with the boat rolling so we put a hole through to the freezer box and now it is staying cool. Our SSB packed up 2 days out form Ecuador so that was the end of any radio nets for us. Sad really, as it is a great way of reaching out to people and participating in the nets. We had to be satisfied with email via our iridium. We kept in daily contact with Gary and Joanne on Cheers and we were never more than about 70 miles from them. We were passed by several other boats on the Oyster Rally and we did have a chat on the VHF. Our time consisted of reading, checking the boat to ensure it is still in one piece, watching the sails to make sure they stay sailing, finding something to eat and occasionally baking bread and a culinary delight. We had one bird that hung for us for a few days but even he eventually departed. We only hope that the next 14 days go as smoothly.