![]() Now, if we carried a spare for every item someone said broke on a passage, we would essentially need to tow another Pacific Seacraft 34 behind us. Put some penetrating oil on there in case you need to take the broken one off.’ Mine broke early on in a passage and it took me a couple rough days to fix it. He saw our Monitor Windvane and wisely cautioned, ‘You need a spare sacrificial tube for that thing. ‘That guy’ would be Bruce of Bruce and Gina on s/v Dream Catcher. With my hand now on the tiller to steer the boat, I know there’s no way that would be fun.Īndrés Jacobo climbs to the stern, clips in his tether and tries to grab the paddle. If we lose that paddle, we don’t have a spare and it will be 4 days of hand steering in 2-hour shifts. ‘I gotta get dressed and get my life jacket.’ ‘I NEED YOUR HELP!’ My call down to Andrés Jacobo must have had the right amount of urgency because he pokes his head up almost immediately. I glance back at the windvane itself and oooomyyyyyyygooosh the paddle has come off the windvane and it’s trailing behind us as we surf these waves at 9 kts. She keeps rounding upwind and I must scramble to bring the boat back downwind to avoid getting these 10 ft swells on our beam. So I am surprised to see just 10 minutes later, she isn’t doing great at all. End-boom preventer in place.Ī Tale of 3 Wise Men (…well 2 wise men and a wise woman)Īndrés Jacobo has just headed down for a nap, one of our last exchanges being ‘How is the monitor windvane doing?’ ‘Doing great.’ Sail plan: Double-reefed mainsail and genoa pulled out on whisker pole then genoa only. We’re pleased as punch with the panels and system performance, with our fully charged batteries AND cold food.ĭistance sailed: 152 nm - without current (!!!!!) We foresaw this challenge and followed Don Casey’s unpopular but sound advice: we filled in our spacious fridge with insulation, converting it to a tiny but efficient fridge. Ana María can’t carry enough fuel for that so we rely on our 2 solar panels to charge our batteries and power our instruments, lights, radar, fridge, and electric autopilot. Many passagemakers run their engines for an hour or two each day to top up their batteries and ensure the fridge can continue to keep food cold. We are uptight about our solar panels because they are the only source of energy we can afford on the boat. It was the first time on the trip…but I doubt it will be the last. This morning Andrés Jacobo and I spent 20 minutes cleaning up the solar panels. It took me a good five minutes and a number of tactics to set him loose and send him on his way. I’m all alone in the middle of the ocean, minding my own business, when a boobie dives between the stern pushpit and the bimini, landing in the cockpit right next to me, squawking and flapping like a bird possessed. They shoulda sent one with a bit more tact. ![]() My resentment still seething, I was settled into my night watch when they sent a peace emissary. It’s incredible to believe that much poop came from such a small bird. So they did what birds do when they want to spite you: They dropped a gallon of poop on our precious solar panels. But NO sitting on the solar panels!Īnd how did our adversaries respond to such a proposal? They laughed in our faces. ![]() You can ride on the warm radar or the perfect little perch next to the radar. So we proposed a peace treaty: You can land and ride on the bow from here to Hiva Oa. We know this must feel like to them a miraculous provision of much needed respite. They circle and circle and circle Ana María, trying over and over to land. Once we entered their turf, they consider all of our turf fair game. We find ourselves both out here yet there is no camaraderie despite misery loving company. They probably study us and wonder ‘Why would humans choose to come out here, battling 30 kts of wind, horrendous cross swell and nary a safe harbor?’ They must fly against 30 kts of wind and fish in huge swell with nary a place to rest. Though we do wonder why they have chosen offshore for their home. We admit: we are the aggressors in the turf war. One attacked Cindy in the cockpit - something straight out of the movie The Birds - thinking Cindy had stolen the fish the boobie had caught for a midnight snack. They had several boobies land on their bow and get a free ride. We’d read about the turf war between boobies and sail boats in Rick and Cindy Patrinellis’ account of crossing the Pacific on Cool Change, a Pacific Seacraft 31. Sail Plan: Double-reefed mainsail and genoa pulled out on whisker pole. Distance to Hiva Oa (as the albatross flies): 2,045 nm
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