Yacht Delivery Blog

Yesterday was a day of easy miles. We had a pretty consistent breeze that kept the boat speed up around 8+ knots. But then, around midnight, just as I came on watch, we got nailed by a huge squall! Thank goodness for a good radar! I saw the squall from several miles away and furled the headsail, bringing us up into the wind about 40 degrees hoping it would pass in front. But there was no missing it completely – luckily, we just caught the edge of it as it passed. I could tell what was going to happen as I got hit with an icy blast of wind and thought, "Hmmmmmm." As the wind started picking up to 25 knots, we dropped the mainsail, pulled out some headsail, and got back on track. We watched as the wind picked up to the mid to high 30s, and then we followed it around as it shifted from the north. It stayed gusty and rainy for a few hours. We finally got the mainsail back up at 4 am and are now back on track. The next leg of our journey takes us through the Torres Strait and in...

We saw land yesterday, which was extremely exciting. Another positive was that the land was exactly where it was supposed to be, which, of course, is a huge relief as it means everything is going according to plan. We are currently passing the next-to-last atoll and then have a small group of atolls to navigate between, namely Hikueru and Marokau, before heading south of Reitoru. This shouldn't be too challenging as the space between Hikueru and its neighbor is 15 nautical miles. But 15nm is only 7nm each side and if we are sailing at 7knts thats only an hour. During the night, the wind started to shift to the east. This meant we had to either head slightly south to keep the headsail full or drop the main. Since we were planning to go north of Amanu, heading further south wasn't an option. Therefore, we are sailing with just the headsail and still making good time. The sea remains quite choppy, and the sky is squally with patches of blue. Fingers crossed, the blue wins the batt...

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 arri...

I've realized that the focus of the blog has been slowly shifting towards flying fish and clouds, and even the clouds have started to take a backseat. so I decided to refocus the blog back on sailing and crossing the Pacific. Until last night, when I came off watch and went into my cabin, I didn't realize how much of my day had been consumed by flying fish (or avoiding them). I immediately knew something was amiss when I detected the telltale perfume of my scaly little flapping friend. There was a flying fish asleep on my bed! I poked it with the BBQ tongs, but it wouldn't wake up, so I picked it up by its wing and threw it off the back of the boat. Now, my whole cabin and bedding stink of flying fish, and our laundry facilities are slightly primitive, so I've had to soak all the bedding in a bucket of soapy water all night. I've spent the morning washing the smell out of my sheets. I'm aware the blog has not done a great job of shifting away from flying fish to...

This is shaping up to be the windiest Pacific crossing I've ever experienced. The wind is consistently blowing in the mid-to-high 20s from the southeast, and we're sailing with a double-reefed main. With plenty of fetch, we're encountering some impressively large waves. The flying fish don't even need to jump onto the boat anymore; they just wait to be washed aboard by the swells. We managed to cover 98 nautical miles in 12 hours, so it'll be interesting to see if we can break the 200 nautical mile ceiling. While I appreciate the speed, I wouldn't mind sacrificing a bit of boat speed for a more comfortable ride. The GRIBs are forecasting the possibility of blue (no wind), green (light wind), and orange (our current conditions) over the next few days. So, it's a waiting game to see what unfolds. We still have a substantial amount of fuel left, so a few days of 'blue' weather would be a welcome respite. On previous passages, I've always wished for ...

We’ve made great time yesterday, with an average 24-hour run that will be over 150 nautical miles, I will need to check at midday. We had a nice breeze for most of the day, steadily sitting at around 7.5 knots with 12-14 knots of breeze on the beam. The wind died off during the evening, so we dropped the sails and carried on motoring. There were a lot of fishing boats last night, not compared to Asian standards, but we could see six or eight at once, which seems like a lot for the Pacific. Presumably, they're local boats from the Galapagos. They had no AIS or visible navigation lights other than large white lights they used for fishing. I woke up for my watch just before sunrise, and Adam handed over to me and went to bed. I did a quick check of the instruments and surroundings before putting the kettle on. I then followed with my usual morning routine of chanting internally “COME ON!!! WHYS IT TAKING SO LONG????!! HURRY UP!!!” while staring at the kettle. Standing in the galley lo...