Here are the posts I made to our PredictWind Tracking Page. I have added a few photos to show life along the way.

Day 0: And Away We Go!

We left Punta de Mita just after noon today. Winds are light but it feels good to be underway. When I started up the chart plotter this morning it said we had 2775 nautical miles to go. So far, we have gone 22.5 of those miles.

–Rob

Day 1: Just 20 – 25 More Sleeps

We successfully passed a uneventful night last night–our first night of this passage. Now we have just 20 to 25 more sleeps to go!

Winds were light last night which helped us ease into the passage. We ran the engine twice during the night in order to keep some way on. I was hesitant to use up any of our fuel so early in the trip, but I also couldn’t take the banging coming from the sails. There wasn’t enough wind to keep them steady as we rocked in the swell.

We have been sailing steadily since around 3:00 a.m. so the boat is happy and so is the crew.

All in all it’s been a good start to the passage. The forecast is for the winds to build a little today and be more consistent through the night. That’s good. We will head west for a few days to get into the more consistent ocean winds before turning southwest towards the Marquesas.

Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 96.5

–Rob

Day 2: Zooming Along

The winds built yesterday as forecast and before we knew it we were zooming along. The swell also built making it a bit uncomfortable. After trying several sail configurations, we found one that was comfortable and had us moving along at 6.5 – 7 kts through the night.

The winds dropped a little today but we’re not complaining. We are averaging over 6 kts and we’re comfortable. We have a long way to go. We don’t want to tire ourselves out in the first two days!

Miles travelled in the last 24 hours: 154
Squid found on deck this morning: 7

–Rob

Day 3: Squid Stink

The last 24 hours have been good. We’re making good time as we head west. We are working to get out, well away from land so we can pick up the steady ocean winds. Once we hit the ocean winds we will turn more southwest towards the Marquesas.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 143

–Rob

Day 4: Squid Search

The winds were light last night and are even lighter today–less than 5 kts as I write. We made the most of what wind we had and managed to sail through the night. Around noon today we gave up and started the motor. Our watermaker runs off the motor so we are taking advantage of this time to top up our water tanks. Unfortunately, our tanks will be full long before the wind returns.

We can still smell rotting squid. I have searched along the decks and in behind the fuel and water tanks we store there but cannot find anymore dead squid. The mystery continues.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 134
Deck buckets claimed by King Neptune: 1

–Rob

Day 5: Dolphins

We worked hard for our miles over the past 24 hours. The winds were up and down. Also, they moved around from the NNW to the NE. Finally, as the sun when down last night we were having a great sail. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. The winds dropped and that’s when they moved around behind us. There was no moon, so it was near impossible to read the wind or the waves.

Normally we can get Cambria into a groove. She’s like a train on a track and she just follows the track. Not yesterday. Near midnight we gave up and motored until daybreak. With the rising sun the winds became more consistent. Also, the wind is now aft of the beam, so we put up our code-0. It has been pulling us along comfortably all day.

For those not familiar with a code-0, it is a large sail that we use in lighter winds that are more behind us than in front of us. Today’s conditions are perfect for our code-0.

To add to our enjoyment, we were visited by a group of dolphins. They crisscrossed in front of us for 10 minutes. Some even rocketed into the air just meters from our bow.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 111
Smelly squid still hiding somewhere on deck: Too many. These squid must use invisible ink.

–Rob

Day 6: Mystery Solved

The Mystery of the Stinking Squid has been solved. This morning Sharlene discovered a rotting squid caught under our dodger. It had slipped up into the space where the dodger meets the cabin top. What I found particularly amazing is that it was dead center in the middle of the dodger. In other words, it was right in the middle of the boat. This means it had jumped approximately 1.5 meters clear of the water and 2 meters across the boat before lodging itself up and out of sight in the seam between the dodger and the cabin top.

It seems fitting that Sharlene found it. I can’t find anything on board. If you’re not a boater you might find it surprising that things can go missing on a 43-foot boat but they do. We use a spreadsheet to keep an inventory of our spare parts and miscellaneous equipment. We do our best to keep it current because we have so much stuff crammed into various nooks and crannies. Without the spreadsheet, we wouldn’t be able to find things. Even with the spreadsheet I can’t find things.

I try. Really, I do. I pull drawers apart searching for things–usually without success. Then I give up and ask Sharlene where said item is. She will go to the same drawer that I had been looking in and immediately find the thing I wanted.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m lazy, that I don’t try hard enough or that I lack focus. These are all things that could apply to me but they don’t in this context. I can’t find things on board because Sharlene purposely moves things around on me. She waits until I’m not onboard or she gets up in the middle of the night and she shifts things around so that I can’t find them. She has taken her deception to a whole new level by moving a squid around. Who knows what she’ll do next?

We continue to sail comfortably with the wind from the NE behind us. Last night proved challenging sleep wise as we were up several times helping the person on watch change sails in order to make the most of the light and changing winds. Once the sun was up, we got the code-0 up and it has been pulling us along quite well since then. As I write the wind has filled in very well. We are making 7 – 8 kts to our next waypoint. We should reach it late tonight. From there we will turn more south. It will be the first time we’ve made a turn in three days.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 124

–Rob

Day 7: Port Tack

After a week of sailing on a starboard tack, we turned. We think it’s the first time since leaving Banderas Bay that we have the sails on the other side of the boat. That’s our excitement for the day.

Last night was a rollie one. Probably the rolliest night so far. We sailed wing on wing with the jib poled out, but it meant the boat had an uncomfortable corkscrew motion. When we made our turn this morning we put our code-0 back 0up and it pulled us along more comfortably.

Sorry my post is a little later today than usual. I couldn’t find my iPad.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 134

–Rob

Day 8: No Boobies Please

For several evenings now we have been visited by Boobies. They have arrived around sunset. They want to land on the boat for the night. SV Icaros is a catamaran that started out from Banderas Bay around the same time we did. We’ve never met the folks on board but we’ve been chatting on the radio each evening and morning of the trip. They warned us about Boobies. A few days ago, some Boobies took up residence on their boat for the night. They weren’t good house guests. When they left the next morning, they left their crap all over the place–literally.

When Boobies circle the boat, we quickly wave our arms and shout in order to scare them away. They are very persistent. Sometimes Sharlene will blow a whistle or bang a pot in order to deter them. Mike likes to whistle. I just yell and wave my arms like a madman. They don’t give up easily. On a couple of occasions, they’ve persisted in their attempts to land for 20 or 30 minutes. So far, we have prevailed, and Cambria has been Boobie free.

The seas are a bit sloppy today but the winds are good. We continue to tick off the miles. We passed the 1000 nautical mile mark sometime today so we’re about a third of the way to the Marquesas.

We had two slight rain showers today. Sharlene and I can’t remember the last time we had rain. It might have been July or August back in Canada.

Miles in the last 24 hours: 124

Days 9 & 10: Tim Cahill

Tim Cahill is an American travel/adventure writer. He used to have a regular column in Outside Magazine that I enjoyed. I read an article about him where he was asked what makes a good travel story. He replied that something has to go wrong. A family beach holiday where everything works, where everything goes right, isn’t memorable. It doesn’t make for a good travel story. We remember the trips where the car breaks down or someone is stung by a jellyfish and spends New Years Day in a hospital in Queensland, Australia.

Based on Cahill’s criteria, we have plenty of opportunities to make memorable stories on board Cambria. All boaters do. We are not unique. On boats, things go wrong. Cruising on a boat has been described as working on your boat in exotic locations. It’s true, but yesterday’s exotic location was a little too exotic for me.

We are currently 1285 miles into our passage. Mexico is 1285 miles behind us. The Marquesas are another 1888 miles in front of us. Yesterday afternoon I heard a metallic clinking sound coming from the front of the boat. I looked up to see our inner shroud had broken free and was swinging wildly through the rigging.

For those that are not familiar with how sailboats are rigged, they have cables that hold the mast in place. They are attached to the hull of the boat and run up to various spots on the mast. The cable that broke is an intermediate one that attaches about a third of the way down the mast and runs out to the end of the lower spreader. (Sorry for the jargon. Feel free to stop reading and google “sailboat rigging” or “shrouds” for a better explanation.)

The bottom line is, a cable that helps support our mast had broken free. The only way to fix the problem was to climb the mast. I don’t really like climbing the mast. I do it because it has to be done but I don’t enjoy it. I went up the mast two weeks ago. At the time we were in a marina. Cambria was tied to the dock. The water was flat calm. This time it wasn’t.

When I went up the waves were one to two meters high, so the boat was rocking back and forth in the swell. Now imagine how much more the boat is rocking when one is 10 meters up the mast. It made for a rough ride.

I made four or five trips up the mast yesterday. On the first trip up I found that a fitting at the bottom of a turnbuckle had broken. Back down on the boat we went through the spare parts we have on board but couldn’t find the exact part we needed. The next trips up were to try a variety of the bits and pieces to see if they would secure the shroud. As the sun went down I had the shroud reattached but I wasn’t happy with the repair.

This morning I spent close to an hour and a half back up the mast. This time the repair is better. It will get us to the Marquesas. We’re sailing again.

I’m exhausted and a bit beat up. I feel like I went a round with Mike Tyson. Ah, who am I kidding? I couldn’t go 10 seconds with Mike Tyson. Let’s just say, I have bruises on my bruises.

Shortly after we finished the repair and got the boat moving again, Mike and Sharlene noticed hundreds of birds coming toward us. Soon after they arrived, a pod of 40 or more dolphins arrived. They darted all around us. Some jumping into the air. Some zipping in front of the boat. Others diving under us. At one point we saw a tuna jump out of a wave. I don’t know if the dolphins were after the tuna or there was something else around us that the dolphins and the tuna were after.

I’ve never seen anything like it and I wouldn’t have experienced it if I wasn’t out cruising–working on our boat in exotic locations. Something went wrong and I have a story.

I should mention that the view from up the mast was amazing. It was blue as far as I could see. Three hundred and sixty degrees of blue. Blue ocean interrupted by the odd white flecks from waves. Blue sky with a few white cotton ball clouds.

Miles on day 9: 136
Miles on day 10: 99

–Rob

Day 11: ITCZ

Today has been a day to experiment with various sail configurations. We are approaching, or may already be in, the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Go ahead and google it for a more thorough explanation but basically, it’s an area of inconsistent winds just north of the equator. It’s also an area with lots of thunderstorms.

We need to get across the ITCZ in order to find consistent winds again. In the old days before sailboats had engines, boats could spend weeks in the ITCZ. We won’t. Our plan is to sail as long as we can but when we lose the wind, we’ll fire up the engine and motor across the ITCZ taking as short a line as possible. Hopefully, we won’t have to motor for more than 24 hours but time will tell.

Once across the ITCZ we’ll soon get to the southern trade winds. They should allow us to alter our course and head more directly to the Marquesas.

Miles in the past 24 hours: 113

–Rob

Day 12: Squalls

The ITCZ is known for its squalls. We’ve had a few over the last 12 hours.

Squalls are intense but short-lived storms that happen late in the day and into the night. They can pack strong winds, rain and sometimes lightening. So far, we’ve been lucky and not had any lightening close by.

The first squall hit around 02:00 am this morning. I was on watch. Mike got up and helped me reef the sails to make things more comfortable. Our jib was poled out so we rolled it in and tucked a second reef in the main. We stayed that way for the next four hours. We used our radar to watch and track the squalls. We managed to avoid the worst of them.

We’re using a weather router on this trip. He can access weather resources that we can’t. In the morning he sent us an email recommending we head straight south to avoid the worst of the squalls. We changed course and have been heading south since then. Since we made the turn, we’ve had one more squall that packed winds to 28 kts but we were reefed and comfortable through it. It didn’t last long and once it passed the wind completely died so we motored.

We had wind again this afternoon so were able to sail for a few hours. It didn’t last so we’re motoring again. I think we’ll be doing this for the next 24+ hours or until we’re clear of the ITCZ. From there we should pick up the southern trades and point our bow to the Marquesas!

The engine sure seems loud after barely using it the last 12 days. Ah well, it will soon be off again.

24 hour noon to noon miles: 105 😦

–Rob

Day 13: Changing Sails

Today has been great though from a sailing perspective it’s been challenging.

Last night we motored south and managed to avoid the squalls of the previous day. I awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine. As we’ve travelled along we have had cloud bands on either side of us, but we have been able to follow a lane of blue skies between them. We’ve had a couple of showers drift across us but nothing of consequence.

Unfortunately, we haven’t reached steady winds yet. We have sailed most of the day but have found the winds fluky. We have swell from the NE and more swell from the SE. Between them they knock down any speed we generate. I keep looking at the wind gauge and thinking, we should be able to sail better than we are, but we can’t. The opposing swell makes it difficult to maintain reasonable speed.

The good news is that we are heading south and the further south we get the better the winds and seas will be for sailing.

24 hour noon to noon miles: 107 😦

–Rob

Day 14: And On We Go

We continue motoring south to get across the doldrums.

I awoke this morning to glassy seas. There was a lazy swell rolling in from the NE but there were no wind waves on top of it. We had very little wind all day. What little we had was because of convection clouds. At one point we decided to try sailing, but we keep two reefs in our mainsail when we motor because it keeps it from banging. Unfortunately, by the time we shook out the reefs and got ready to pull out the jib, the wind had died. We put the reefs back in the mainsail and continued to motor south.

The weather forecast shows that we might have enough wind to sail tomorrow. We might. The forecast doesn’t show good wind until the day after tomorrow but we’re staying positive and looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

24 hour noon to noon miles: 111

–Rob

Day 15: That’s Better!

We’re sailing again! We woke up this morning with 8-9 kts of wind from the SE. That’s enough for us to sail comfortably. We’re not breaking any speed records but that’s okay. We’re not having to listen to the engine anymore so that’s what’s important.

We’ve had a very pleasant day sailing under sunny skies. The wind switching around to the SE means we are in or nearing the SE trade winds. They will take us the rest of the way to the Marquesas.

In other news, Mike caught a mahi mahi yesterday. Unfortunately, it was a small one, so he threw it back. The lines have been out all day today but so far, we haven’t had any luck. I thought after putting the mahi mahi back yesterday, King Neptune would have been on our side today and let us have something. I guess it doesn’t work that way.

24 hour noon to noon miles: 107 (Not good but things should get better from here on.)

–Rob

Day 16: The Equator The Shellbacks

We are now officially Shellbacks. As the sun broke the horizon this morning, Cambria and her crew crossed the equator. We are no longer Pollywogs. We are Shellbacks! I have heard that other boats have elaborate ceremonies and even parties when they cross the equator. We did not. We did toast our good fortune with a can of Hoyne Dark Matter–our favourite beer from back home, but other than that, we had work to do. The wind was building so we had to deal with the sails. Also, the propane solenoid was acting up again so I had to fix that so we could make coffee and tea.

We have had a good day of sailing though we’ve had a few squalls hit us. They haven’t had much wind but after they have moved across us they have taken the wind with them. There are more squalls around us but so far, we’re moving along at about 5 kits. Hopefully, this will continue.

As I sat down at the nav station to write this post, I noticed a fishy smell. Just forward and above me is a hatch that we have had open for the last couple of hours. I assumed that there was a flying fish on deck near the hatch. I planned to finish this post and then go looking for the fish. Sitting at the nav station I shifted my foot to stabilize myself and stepped on the fish. It was on the floor under the nav station. It must have flown through the hatch!

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 110

Day 17: Squall, Squalls and More Squalls

Just after dark last night and through the night and into this morning, we’ve encountered numerous squalls. Some of them have packed high winds, others have brought torrential rain. Some have had a bit of both. They don’t tend to last more than 15 or 20 minutes but because one never knows just what they’ll be packing, one has to be ready for (them) it all.

If we see the squall coming, we can furl the headsail and that is usually all we need to do to have a comfortable ride as they pass over us. Last night on Sharlene’s watch one hit us with winds in the low 30’s. Mike and I both woke up when it hit. I climbed into the cockpit to find Sharlene steering to keep it more or less on course as we heeled over more than we’ve ever done before. It was too much for our windvane to steer through. Sharlene had to take over for it. Between the pouring rain and the waves slapping the side of the boat, we were both soon soaked. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about getting cold when it rains here.

After the excitement died down, Mike and I went back to bed. An hour later, Sharlene woke me as there was another squall approaching. This time we would be ready. We quickly reefed the sails in preparation. This time we had a quick burst of rain and a slight increase in wind speed but basically nothing. It was a nonevent. That’s the way most squalls are but it’s hard to tell which ones will be minor and which ones will pack a punch.

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 121 (something to build on)
Flying fish found on deck after the big squall: 2

Day 18: And the Winner Is!

You will have noticed that I post the miles we travel every 24 hours. Posting miles travelled in 24 hours is a bit of a tradition among sailors. I’m not sure how far back it goes. Before electronic navigation tools like GPS, sailors would use a sextant to determine their position. With a sextant they would take a sighting of the sun at noon each day. It was known as a noon site. From that noon site the navigator would calculate the boat’s position on the earth and be able to calculate how many miles they had travelled since their last noon site. Some days would be cloudy so they wouldn’t get a shot of the sun. Sometimes they would go many days before they could get a good sun shot. That means they would go several days without really knowing just where they were. I’m glad we don’t have to navigate that way anymore.

We have multiple devices that tell us our exact latitude and longitude whenever we want to know. But we still like to know how far we’ve travelled each day. We calculate the distance we’ve travelled in 24 hours at noon each day. We have a little competition going among ourselves to see who can guess the 24 hour distance. We keep score. We didn’t initially, but we do now. A tally sheet is posted on the wall down below.

Each day we write down our guesses and wait in eager anticipation while the results are calculated. There are daily prizes for the winner. Popular prizes have been, “spending the afternoon with the skipper” or “sitting at the captain’s table for dinner.” You can see why the crew is so motivated to win.

I won today. Sharlene and I are tied.

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 124
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 3 Sharlene: 3 Mike: 1

— Rob

Day 19: Ticking Off the Miles

Not much to report today. We have consistent winds just aft of the beam. Seas are 2+ meters but the waves are spaced enough that we are comfortable. We are making pretty good time and ticking off the miles.

We lost the use of our Code-0 sail yesterday. The hardware that attaches it to the halyard broke. Perhaps it just came apart. We don’t know. It is attached to the halyard and is at the top of the mast. The only way to get it back down is to climb the mast. I’ve climbed the mast enough this trip. I’m not going up again. The sail ended up in the water, dragging beside the boat. Mike and I were able to haul it back on board and get it stowed in its bag where it will remain for the duration of the trip. Did I mention I’m not going up the mast again?

We’ll finish the trip without the code-0 which is fine. The winds are a bit too strong for it now anyway.

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 142
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 3 Sharlene: 4 Mike: 1

— Rob

Day 20: We’re All Winners Here!

If you look to the bottom of this post, you will see that I won today’s Daily Mileage Poll. That makes Sharlene and I tied–again. But when you look at the bottom of the post you will see that we did 154 nm. That ties our other best day so far on this passage. Considering that we have the sails reefed, it is blowing 20 kts and we have 3m of swell, I think we’re all winners for keeping the boat going well in these conditions.

Regarding Mike’s score, he has placed second two days in a row. Don’t count him out yet!

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 154
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 4 Sharlene: 4 Mike: 1
Flying fish that have ricocheted off of Mike and down into the cabin: 1

— Rob

Day 21: Rolling Along

Another day closer to Hiva Oa! All is well on board. Just 355 nautical miles to go!

Mike’s mileage guess was second closest again. Unfortunately, there are no points for second place in this game. He’s good at dealing with flying fish though. One landed in the cockpit on his watch last night. He got it back in the water before it died.

Miles travelled in 24 hours: 150
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 5 Sharlene: 4 Mike: 1

Day 22: Thirty-nine Years of Bliss

Today is Sharlene and my wedding anniversary. It’s been thirty-nine years of bliss. My brother, Chris, emailed me this morning and asked what we were doing to celebrate our anniversary. That’s a tough one. We are already on a month long South Pacific cruise. Really, what more could one ask for?

We keep rolling along. The winds continue to be steady. The seas lumpy. We had a few squalls last night which necessitated some sail changes but we’re getting pretty good at sail changes. It was nothing we couldn’t handle.

The next challenge is timing our arrival to Hiva Oa. It looks like we’ll arrive after dark. We can’t speed up enough to make it in before dark so we’ll either have to slow down so we arrive after sunrise or heave to once we get there and wait for the sun. We’ll make that decision when we get a bit closer.

Miles to Hiva Oa: 215
Miles travelled in 24 hours: 150 (How can it be exactly the same as yesterday?!)
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 5 Sharlene: 5 Tips Mike: 1 (This one is going right down to the wire, folks!)

Day 23: One More Sleep!

We are heading into our last night of the passage. The winds have dropped which is okay. We were facing the prospect of entering the harbour in Hiva Oa in the dark but because of the light winds we’ll arrive right around sunrise tomorrow morning.

Other than that, things are fine. We are cruising comfortably, trying to squeeze what speed we can out of the light winds. We have seen two ships on the AIS in the last 24 hours. They are the first ships we’ve seen in days. Also, I heard some chatter on the VHF radio this afternoon. It’s been so long since we’ve heard anything that I’d forgotten it was turned on. Clearly, we are approaching civilization.

And now for what you’ve all been waiting for. The grand champion of the mileage guessing completion is Sharlene! Sharlene won today’s mileage competition which puts her ahead in the overall competition by one point. Well done, Sharlene.

Miles to Hiva Oa: 68.5
Miles travelled in 24 hours: 153
Daily Miles Score: Rob: 5 Sharlene: 6 Mike: 1

–Rob

Day 24: Anchor Down!

As the title says, the anchor is down. We made it!

Right up to the end we had to earn our miles. Light winds and a good-sized swell meant it was hard to keep the sails filled. Through the night we tried various sail combinations to stop the sails from banging. We had “limited” success. It doesn’t matter now. We’re here and it’s beautiful.

Early this morning, before dawn and only a few miles from our destination, we were visited by a pod of dolphins. We could barely see them in the darkness, but we could easily hear their breathing as they broke the water’s surface and caught a breath. It was a pretty cool welcoming committee to French Polynesia!

It’s a long weekend here so we can’t check in until Tuesday. We’ve stopped for the night just across from Hiva Oa on Tahuata Island. We heard that the water is not great for swimming at Hiva Oa so we came here. We weren’t disappointed. The water is beautiful and clear. We’ll head over to Hiva Oa in the morning so we’re ready to check in first thing Tuesday morning.

Miles to Hiva Oa: 8
Total Miles Travelled: 3025

Baie Tahauka, Hiva Oa

We are anchored in Baie Tahauka, Hiva Oa ready to check into French Polynesia in the morning.

We enjoyed the morning at Tahuata and picked up the anchor around noon. After a pleasant upwind sail, we arrived at Baie Tahauka. The anchorage is very crowded, After several unsuccessful attempts to anchor we gave up. We resigned ourselves to the idea that we would have to anchor outside the harbour where it was very rolly. Shortly after dropping the hook outside the harbour, our friends on SV Captain Musick, called us on the radio to say that a boat had moved making room for us.

We picked up our anchor, returned to the harbour and found a perfect spot for us. Thanks Captain Musick!

We will complete the check in formalities in the morning. After that, we’re not sure what we’ll do. As you know, we have some rigging to fix and a sail that needs our attention. We’re not sure if we’ll do that here or elsewhere. Time will tell.

Miles to Hiva Oa: 0
Total Miles Travelled from Mexico: 3039