[hoops name=”break”]Monday 10/14:
Today was 3 different conditions. First, in the morning, it was rather calm conditions, 8-12 kt SE winds, 1 meter seas. In the afternoon and last evening, the winds built to 18-22 kts SE with considerable 2-4′ wind chop as well as a 2 meter SSW swell. After dinner the ride was rather sporty….lot’s of hobby horse action and lot’s of water/spray over the boat, and we lost speed….down to 6.8-7.2 kts, maybe a counter current in there also.
Finally, around 3:00 am the wind backed from SE to E and moderated to 13-18 kts…..slightly aft of beam and the ride got better……some wind chop on our beam but a rather large 6-9′ SSW swell, right on our nose……somewhat of a jerky motion… but no longer taking water/spray over the bow!!!!
Did we take some water over the bow or even bury the bow….I guess….as dawn broke this am Kathy discovered our Bruce anchor had been bounced off the rollers it sits in and is now set off to the side…..whoa, that has never happened before….yikes!!!
We are still a little depressed about leaving Tonga…..a very special place indeed. One of the disappointments was we never had our up close and personal encounter with a humpback whale 🙁 (((( We certainly tried but not to be so still this experience remains on the bucket list. Yesterday, I think the whales knew we were disappointed so they decided to say a special good bye. As we were rounding Tongatapu a whale surfaced 100 yards off our bow…..talk about an adrenaline rush…..have something as big as your boat suddenly appear 5 secs away…..whoa!!!! Then about a mile later we saw a pod of 5-6 whales doing the mating dance. 4-5 males were circling a female….as we approached one started to fin slap….a sign to back off buddy……so we diverted a good ways and the dance continued…..what a scene!!!!
Temperature: We both have on long pants/sweats….yikes….it is in the 60’s at night and low 70’s during the day and the wind is just down right chilly…..no sitting up on the flybridge today 🙁 (((
SPOT: I turned SPOT on to see if it was working yet….I heard from Les that he go our SPOT so I guess it is. I’ll be sending “ok” messages as well as the tracking is on!!!!!
Boat Stuff: Les and Rose, your leak is baaaaack. The forward hatch cover started to leak when we were taking water/spray over the bow…..it had not leaked since you guys left way back in April.
Stabilizers…..yep….again, but this time an hydraulic leak on the port forward cylinder….small and probably a cylinder seal is going out…..add it to the list…..arghhhhhhh!!!!
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Stats:
Position: 24 59S 177 57W
Traveled: 177nm today: 292 traveled so far; 768nm to go; ETA Friday 10/18 pm
Course: 195M COG
Wind: 10-15 kts ENE
Waves: 6-10′ SSW swell 10 sec; 2-4′ E wind chop
Speed: current speed is 7.7 SOG, has varied 6.6-8.1 kts; avg is 7.5 kts; 1600 rpm
Weather: 40% cloud cover; sea temp 72.5 deg F
Boat sightings: 0 today, 1 total
Fishing: not started yet
Sail: deployed 🙂 )))
Fuel burn: 1.4 npmg, 5.3 gph – a little too good and I suspect it will come down
Hope all is well!
John[hoops name=”break”]Mystic Moon
Gosh John. I feel like putting on a life jacket while I’m reading your report. Life here seems so boring when we read of your adventures and the little nuances you deal with each day. I say little, ha ha. Can’t you just see me trying to lift Bruce’s anchor? By the way who is Bruce??? Oh, and also give me a wrench and let me at your cylinder seal….NOT!!!!! lol
Well as always, we pray for your safe travels as we also look forward to the written accounts along your journey. Stay safe and enjoy every sea spray!
Rich and Vana