Friday 4.04.08 3pm
Up at 6am (yesterday morning) and away by 7.30, sailing in company with Tramontana. We’re sorry to be leaving so soon – the Marquesas have far exceeded our expectations. The dramatic scenery, history, people, flora and fauna (and sailing!) has been exceptional and although they are some of the most remote islands in the world, we are sure we will return! We’ve also learned how the Marquesans regard themselves as quite separate from the rest of French Polynesia; their language is Marquesan – as we discovered when we tried out a bit of Tahitian in a restaurant! – and apparently their food and traditions in dance are completely different to the rest of the country. We shall soon see for ourselves as we move on to our next destination, the Tuamoto Archipelago.
We set the sails on a course of 216’ heading for our first Island of choice – Kauhei – 520 miles away. We’re on a broad reach,15 knots of wind doing a steady 8-9 knots SOG. Fishing lines are out. Tramontana report on VHF that they have already caught a 40lb dorado and a yellow fin tuna by lunchtime. We agree a watch system of 3 hours on ,first and last overlapping and the middle hour a single watch ,then 7 hours off. Mid-afternoon we’re watching boobies flying above when one poos right above our heads – Karen and Annie recoil in horror as it trails through the sky towards us….. luckily (as we’re going so fast!) it lands just behind the transom. We think this could be a lucky sign and sure enough, seconds later, the line screams. We’ve caught a big one – we see it leaping about, but by the time Stewy and Ronnie get up it’s off and away. This happens a couple of times and later Ronnie discovers the plastic covers weren’t removed from the hooks! – no wonder they’re getting off so easily! We enjoy the sunset, then settle down into our shift pattern for the night. We’re trying out our new MOB (man overboard ) wrist bands tonight for the first time . Unfortunately they keep going off unprompted at regular intervals so none of us get any sleep!
It’s a clear sky all night with a vast dome of stars all around us from the horizon up.The new moon doesn’t rise until 5am. We hook another couple of fish in the morning, but never for long enough to get them landed. We chat to Tramontana -they’re letting themselves fall behind now as they don’t want to arrive in Kauhei in the dark. We will now have to decide whether or not to do the same. By 7.30 am, we have covered 204 miles in our first 24 hours. We’ve slowed down a bit to 6-7 knots but still on course. By the afternoon we’ve caught more fish but still none landed! No-one’s very energetic today and we all take it in turns to try and catch up with some sleep before the night shift! Stewy also had a few problems with Avril lastnight – he was fighting with her( Avril the sail )all night as they both wanted to be on the same side of the bunk – such are the trials and tribulations of a life at sea!