Irie's passage can be broken down into 5 parts: a few days of
being becalmed in flat seas and barely moving, eleven days of uncomfortable and
unsettled conditions, while making good, but bumpy progress, a couple of fair
"transition" days, three days of comfortable and peaceful, albeit slow
sailing, and two awful days of beating into wind and waves during stormy, squally,
windy and frustrating (many wind shifts, constantly varying wind speed, high and
rough seas) weather when a front/low pressure system passed overhead.
Amongst cruisers, this particular trip west is called "the
Milk Run" because it is supposed to be an easy, straighforward, downwind journey.
For us it was as much a milk run as there was a milk man around: not. I do have
to specify here that Mark and I sailed from the Galapagos to the Gambier islands,
instead of the Marquesas, French Polynesia's most popular arrival destination. The
route to these more northern islands is said to be less challenging than the one
to the Gambiers. Reports of frequent squalls and confused seas reached us from that
area as well, though, but no fronts go that far north and you don't sail on a beam
reach (uncomfortable wind and waves from the side).
Irie Trip info and tidbits:
* Route: Galapagos islands - Gambier islands, French Polynesia
* Distance: 2938 miles
* Time: 21 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes (May 7 - May 28th, 2013
)
* Hours under engines: 12 (half getting into the anchorage of
Rikitea)
* Hours under sail: 492
* Average speed: 5.8 knots
* Wind direction: SSE-SE-E-ENE, when front passes: all directions
* Wind speed: an average of a perfect 15 knots, but we never saw 15 knots, instead it blew a weak 10 knots or a heavy 25-35 knots!
* Squalls: 42
* Favorable current: 0 knots: a few days + 0.5, a few days -
0.5 early on
* Sail configuration: spinnaker, main (reefed at night and during
heavy weather) and jib
* Sail changes: multiple times a day.
* Gallons of diesel used: 9
* Gallons of water used: 47, including 5 gallons to rinse off
after showering and 2 gallons for laundry
* Other boats encountered: 2
* Objects encountered: 1 floating pole with a black flag, some
garbage, and one whale shark (we think)
* Planes spotted: none
* Fish caught: 1; a smallish mahi mahi, too rough to fish most
of the time
* Lures lost: 3
* Sea life "scooped up": 5 squid, 38 flying fish
* Flying fish whacking Mark on their way into the cockpit: 3
* Time zones traveled through: 3
* Latitude travel: from 1°S
to 23°S
* Longitude travel: from 90° 58' to 134° 58' W
* Days of having fun: Mark: 1, Liesbet: 4
* Seasickness medicine taken (Liesbet, who used to be very prone
to motion sickness): 5 days - 3 days preventive, 2 because of nausea
* Sky: blue, grey or black
* Water: deep blue
* Waves hitting the bridgedeck: Too many to count
* Books read: Mark 6, Liesbet: 1
* Movies watched: Mark 7, Liesbet: 2
* Casualties ("boat bites"): bloody toes, scratched
eye, bruised legs, bumped heads, sore knees, burnt arm - nothing serrious or unusual
* Things we have learned/realized during this passage:
- Why people take planes
to cover 3000 miles
- How long one can go
without a shower (6 days)
- That it takes a long time of not washing up before
one gets smelly (> 6 days) *
- That we really, never
ever get bored; I was going to remove my "Boobie blue" nail polish from
my toes, one toe every day. I arrived in the Gambiers with 8 blue toes and the trip
sure took longer than 2 days...
- That crossing the Pacific
Ocean is not a leisurely "sit back, relax, and enjoy the weather and the ride"
kind of sail
- That this was the longest
amusement park ride of our lives (not in a fun way)
- That sailing is not
easy
- That the wind is never
consistent
- That living in a
"stable" house with conveniences must be so nice
- That it was much colder
than expected, especially at night. Winter clothes and comforter needed!
- That a passage to the
Marquesas would have been easier and more comfortable (a confirmation of what we
knew)
- That the days are short
and the nights long (Southern Hemisphere winter)
- That there is little
time or energy to do the things you like or plan to do, because of exhaustion or
sea state
- That the Pacific doesn't
harbor as much wildlife (whales, dolphins, ...) as we thought
- That one cannot be
in a hurry
* in non-sweaty, Southern Hemisphere conditions
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