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Onwards To Tahiti

As we make our way across the Pacific, it's hard not to reflect on the unpredictable nature of this journey. Last night we saw our first boat in weeks, and it came extremely  close, forcing us to change course by 30 degrees, and then its long line was almost directly across our path so we had to avoid that. Luckily the long line had a flashing LED on the end.

With challenging weather ahead and a chain of atolls and reefs to navigate, I've decided to head slightly south to improve our position for the final leg of this 10,000-nautical mile trip. The southern end of the Tuamotus is a bit more spread out, and sailing slightly south will allow us to keep the wind further aft, giving us more options for our route as we bear away in a day or so when the forecast is showing a bit of a blow.

While the electronics on board modern boats are fantastic and make my job much easier, they can also create a dangerous situation if something goes wrong. Not long ago, we relied on timing all arrivals for daytime, using phrases like "all the wrecks are on the rocks" or "another night at sea never killed anyone." Nowadays, people routinely navigate through reef passes at night using only chartplotters. However, something as simple as a blown fuse could suddenly put you in an extremely dangerous position. Some of the passes through the northern Tuamotus are only 10 nautical miles wide, which might seem like a lot, but when you're dealing with 35-knot winds, waves, and currents, those 10 nautical miles can seem much smaller. It's easy to find yourself in a perilous situation at night, especially if you're tired, stressed, and trying to navigate through reefs while dealing with a long line wrapped around your rudder and a boat that's starting to fill with water from a leak you can't locate but turns out to be fresh water but your so tired and stressed you didn't think to check.

Yesterday, we topped off the fuel tanks even though they were still 60% full. It's essential to avoid running out of fuel in poor weather, and you never know when you might need to do some hard motoring. We've left 100 liters in jerry cans as an emergency reserve. It's good to know exactly how much fuel you have on hand, especially if one of your fuel tanks is compromised or contaminated. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket, as they say. In the case of a catamaran, the metaphor isn't entirely apt, but I can't think of a suitable two-basket alternative.

We motored most of the night in very light winds. This morning at sunrise the breeze picked up to 10 - 15 from the south so the main was hoisted, the engines shut down and we are humming along nicely. Sailors have very complicated relationships with engines. when it's calm the gentle throbbing its pleasantly relaxing as you get pushed in the right direction, however at the first sign of breeze the sails go up and the chant goes out "shut that noisy thing down, lets have some peace!" and then as you have to motor off a lee shore, get a comfortable distance from a container ship or try and clear a headland there is nothing better than pushing the button and the engine instantly fires into life filling the boat with noise and fumes and you think "ah, fantastic".

Don't let the vast distances of the South Pacific deter you from your dream voyage. Yacht Delivery Solutions offers comprehensive delivery solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring your yacht reaches its destination with the utmost care and professionalism.

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