Walkabout - Day 1 - Nuku Hiva to Tuamotus

S10:39 W141:22

The biggest tuna we did catch!

Walkabout is once again on the move and are currently on passage to the Tuamotus. These are an archipelago of atolls rich in sea life, coral reefs and tidal ways that can be tricky to navigate.
We are looking forward to exploring a few of the atolls before making our way to Tahiti and rendezvous with Bron on 3rd June!

It wasn’t long before we left Haahopu Bay yesterday morning that the fishing line was out. We had our share of near misses with some BIG fish of late, namely a 10kg+ Tuna we weren’t able to land and then a Sailfish that we fought with for 20 minutes before it took our line and lure! And boy did it put up a fight, jumping and somersaulting out the water!!
On this occasion, we happily landed a large 8kg black tuna, not 100% sure what type of tuna it is without the internet but we will look it up as soon as we have signal.

We are all still getting over this horrid illness that has hit most of us on the ARC Pacific fleet, so I was in bed resting when I heard a very odd quick succession tapping noise coming from the cockpit! When I poked my head up through the hatch, Tom was kneeling and holding down a huge black tuna that they had just managed to land and about to dispatch. I hurried up to locate the alcohol and syringe to assist and then we were able to look at and appreciate this magnificent fish.

We have enough tuna to see us through to the Tuamotus and beyond! But no freezer space so its tuna for lunch and dinners until we arrive.

Dinner last night was onion buttery rice with fried plantains and cubed tuna with soya. Tom was the only one with an appetite back, Andrew managed half a bowl and for me, rice and plantain only.

We rendezvoused with John and Susie from Casamara yesterday morning and are buddy boating to the Tuamotus. We are heading to different islands but in the same direction for 90% of the way.
The G1 light wind sail was up for most of yesterday but as we wanted to slow down overnight we are now back to genoa and mainsail. The wind is light with a TWS of 10 knots (True Wind Speed) and SOG of 5 knots (Speed Over Ground). So we are gently cruising along in no particular rush to ensure we arrive in the daylight hours to navigate the pass which has big tides and are narrow so we need to be there at low water to ensure our passage is straight forward.

Casamara is out of eye sight and not visible on the chart plotter via AIS but the plan is to catch up twice a day on SSB morning and evening to see how we are both going. Mary Doll and Seaside my also join in on the SSB comms as they too are on passage.

A few easy days sailing are ahead of us, low winds, calm seas and fairly downwind, perfect.
Thats my kind of sailing ...