The Crossing

This was my first ocean crossing and it was a BIG one! We spent 25 days at sea going from Manzanillo Mexico, to the island of Hiva Oa, in the Marquesas. We did 2986 miles, which ranks it as the longest ocean crossing in the world.

It was all I had hoped for and then some. We had almost no wind for the first 4 days, which was kind of nice as it gave us time to acclimate ourselves to our new world.
Here's a bit from my journal for that time.

"We've tried to sail as much as possible and the time so far can be described as motoring, then listening to the sails slat and chafe, then motoring again. But we've enjoyed it so far. It's really beautiful out here. Saw our 1st shark today. Just a fin and tail gliding along about 100 feet from the boat. I saw him from the bow while we were watching about 40 dolphins play in Merkava's bow wave....."

Then the wind started to build on day 4. By day 5 we had truly hit the trade winds and were roaring along at 6 to 7 knots in about 15 knots of wind on a very broad reach. Perfect sailing! For the next 9 days we didn't have to touch the sails except to fiddle! Amazing!

At 6 degrees North Latitude we started loosing the wind which we had come to love so much and it was getting HOT! OMG! During the day I'd go looking for the coolest spot on the boat, usually the forward stateroom with the dingy over the hatch blocking out the sun and a cool breeze blowing through. We motored, and sailed off and on for the next 7 days till we caught the south east trade winds at 4 degrees south.

We crossed the Equator on April 4th at 9:11pm, day 18. We had thought we'd swim across the equator, but it was a very DARK night, and there was still some wind, so we got the ladder down and had a good dunk instead, scared to let go of the ladder and be lost in the inky blackness. We did some dancing in the cockpit to celebrate, and gave an offering of nice cold beer to Neptune. (I didn't think it was polite for him to drink alone, so I had some too!) I then recited an ancient passage I had found that said since we had stopped and paid our respects, that Neptune now blessed our voyage. It was cool! Now we were in the southern hemisphere!

At 1:50am on April 11 I could just make out a dark silhouette in the distance. LAND! It was the island of Hiva Oa. There wasn't a light to be seen. No lighthouses or towns... Not even a house with a reading light on..... Just this darkness on the horizon where there wasn't a second ago.... It was a very cool, magic sort of feeling after spending so long with nothing but ocean around us....

When we got to about 5 miles off the coast, we got our first scent of land. A rich, humid, and exotic smell that was intoxicating to drink in... The Marquesas are covered in jungle and fruit trees and are very alive with vegetation.

We pulled into the small and cramped anchorage at Atuona at 8:17am and were met with a dilemma. There was no room for us! I had never seen a more filled anchorage in my life! But after circling around, we managed to find one spot in about 10 feet of water. I felt like a sardine, just put in the can! The only thing that made it possible was that everyone had a stern anchor out. Norm from Sara Jean, another Vancouver boat, came over in his dingy and dropped our stern anchor for us.

Then we both just sat in the cockpit and looked around like gaping baby magpies waiting for their momma to return to the nest. I mean, mouth open, not really believing we were here, staring! And as we both sat, drinking in the exquisite views and scents of our new world, we thought of all the days at sea, and all the stages we had gone through to get here.

The months of prep in Vancouver before setting off. The scary passage down the coast of Oregon and northern California... More work in San Diego, then still more in Puerta Vallarta..... The long, hot provisioning trips for food in Mexico, making lists, checking them off, making more..... All the new friends we had made along the way... Then the trepidation/excitement we felt in Manzanillo before setting off.... The days of slatting sails and no wind, the trade wind days, the shark, the dolphins, the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets that were highlights of our days.... The nights so filled with stars I found it hard to believe I was still a part of the same world...

Then, Norm came back with his wife Beth, and we had a beer. A nice, super cold, well earned beer to celebrate being here.... I raised a toast to Steve Tremblay as promised for giving me so much help and advice before leaving Vancouver. Then, we got our dingy into the water, rowed to shore, and went for a nice, long, walk in our cool new world....