Galapagos to Marquesas Day 10

Day 10: Monday 3/25

Well……we knew the calm to moderate conditions would not last and yesterday the rough conditions came with a force. Calm to moderate conditions in the morning built to rough conditions in the afternoon and all night. Per Omni Bob’s recommendation there was no weather advantage to continuing west so might as well follow the rhumbline to Hiva Oa (saves ~25-39 nm). So we made the course change from 259M to 247M COG. That 12 deg change put the seas more on the beam so not directionally what we wanted.

We still can move about although you need to hold on to something and we did fish. But, Les manned the helm and put us away from the seas at 3 kts and I fought this monster skip jack for a good 5-7 minutes……well, the skip jack was about 20-25 pounds 30”, but he fought like his Papa….spooled half the reel……now that was fun……Kathy was not amused 🙂 )))) Some of our Bimbo bread has molded….bummer….so Rose was chumming for Mahi w/the bread…..when she saw a school of flying fish she would throw out a few slices…..but to no avail…..she has vowed not to shave her legs until we catch an edible fish…..hmmm, I’m feeling the pressure 🙂 ))))

All people onboard are experienced with open water passages so we know these conditions can even get worse……so everyone put on their game faces and grin and bear it the best we can. Food is now simple…..sandwiches all around!!!

OMG…..as I was writing this log at 1100 UTC,  a +10 mile squall hit us from the NE. 35-40 kt sustained winds for 30 min, gusts to 45- 50 kts, 25-35 kts sustained winds for 30 minutes then few hours to pass……whoa!!!! The NE winds did flatten the SE-ESE whop and the ride became much more comfortable except for that honking SE swell that would beam us every 1-2 minutes!! This woke everyone up so all 4 of us watched the storm for the next hour or so….there is going to be some tired crew later today….ugh!!!! I had been on watch for about an hour and had passed 4-5 squalls with no wind. I saw this one coming from behind but was lulled into thinking no wind….NOT!!!! It hit so fast that the 1 minute it took me to close all the starboard windows and hatches we were drenched. It took all my strength to close the cockpit door. Rose got up immediately and was a trooper to wipe up all the water!!!!

I have read some blogs where people state they have sailed the whole Pacific never seeing winds higher than 25-30 kts. Well, I did in the past and certainly do now, question their memory or whether their wind-o-meter was working…yikes!!!

During the morning while conditions were moderate we changed the oil in the Cummins. We started the Yanmar get home engine…..I sure love that engine….moved 30 deg to the north away from the seas…..shut down the Cummins, waited 5 minutes for the oil to drain, checked the level….we had burned about 3/4 gal……hooked up the Reverso and in 5 minutes had drained the oil, then changed the filter (yes, it was hot but I had gloves on), then used the Reverso pump to fill the oil and viola we were down….no drips, runs or errors 🙂 ))))) Mystic responded with a wiggle and a smile….love new oil…..just the right viscosity…….LIG for her!!!!!!

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Position 3/26 @ 1300 UTC:

Position: 4 20 S 113 15 W

Traveled: 151nm today; 1431nm total; 1590nm to go; ETA sometime 4/5-6

Course: 251M HDG, 247M COG;

Wind: SE-E 5-10kts in the am, 15-20 kts in the afternoon, 8-15 kts overnight; current wind is 12 kts ENE

Waves: SE 6-10′ swell; 14-20 sec period; 4-6′ wind chop/swell 3-6 sec SE-ESE; rough ride, all  fairly beamy; had to use stabilizers; current waves – hard to tell, honking swell still there, mixed wind chop from squall

Speed: current speed is 5.9 SOG, slowed during the night; has varied 5.5-6.8 SOG; avg 6.3 SOG today; 6.1 SOG total for passage (we planned for 6.0 but hope/want 6.5).

Weather: 60% cloud cover in the am then 100% and squally, sea temp 81.5 deg F – seems to be cooling a bit

Boat sightings: 1 today 10-12 miles out moving W, on AIS; 6 since we left.

Fishing: 1 skip jack today, 19 total for the trip; 12 bonitos and 7 skip jack. Still nothing on the grill yet 🙁 ((((

Fuel Burn: After 216 hours we are burning 2.25 nmpg, 2.7 gph, 584 gallons total and 7 gallon more than our plan.

Sail: Still up!