Marquesas to Tuomotus Passage

 Day One 

In the morning we ran to shore to get a little more produce from the vendors by the dinghy dock. We finally exited the bay after “borrowing” a filter housing from a fellow Shilshole/Taco Tuesday boater who miraculously is here too.  It was fairly chill sailing, a little too hot of an angle for a spinnaker and we were going fast enough anyway. Everyone tried to nap during the day but we’re not tired yet. We did decide on 3 hour watches for Greg and I, 6pm I start and it carries on throughout the night. During the day we’ll do whatever makes sense. It feels great to be back on the ocean. Griffin and I put on Scopalmine patches and haven’t felt ill at all. The clouds and sunset and moonrise and shooting stars are stunning all over again… it’s great to be out here.

Day Two

I drove the midnight to 3am shift and enjoyed not only the sailing but my audiobook as well. Night driving with a bright moon, only a few clouds, and relatively smooth water is a pleasure that speeds by. We switched shifts smoothly each time but didn’t sleep much, still not tired enough. At 6am I made coffee and got out the premade crepes with Nutella and delicious little bananas, such perfection at sea! Greg didn’t go right to sleep because the stupid Starlink wasn’t connecting to satellites. He decided to replace the power over ethernet box (again?) and I helped him with the last few screws holding it up on its mount on the arch. He took the box below while Griffin and I managed a squall and lost another lure to a big strike. Earlier in the morning Greg and Griffin saw a shark come by and likely eat whatever small something was on the hand line and it took the lure too. Later I tried another type of lure and also lost it to a big fish, what the heck.  I know it’s “fishing” not “catching” that we’re practicing but we’ve got room in the freezer to fill and have now lost both my favorite wood plugs. Maybe I should use a stronger leader on the lures.

Greg did some math and if we keep our average speed where it has been we’ll arrive at the pass into the atoll at about 7p, no good. It’s way better to arrive in daylight and I’d especially like to set the anchor with chain floats for the first time in daylight too. Now we’re trying to slow down a so we’ll get there just after sunrise. Another squall came through. I tried to nap but “fish on”! We got a small tuna which came off the lure after jumping around quite a bit. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to reel it in so quickly? It’s just so exciting. Griffin is singing made up lyrics to known songs as added efforts in fishing. “Come, bite the hook, tasty dinner for everyone”

Going slower isn’t working too well- double reefed main and partially furled jib and we’re ripping along at 8-10kts in 15-17kts of breeze dragging two lures behind us. 

Day Three

Waking up for my 6am watch was a pleasure after sleeping hard for maybe 2.5 hours. Then things fell apart a bit- Greg was upright but mostly asleep in the cockpit, I spilled coffee but then found out the cream in it was rotten anyway. Back down below I dropped the top of the little espresso maker on the top of my foot, or really, I used my foot to save the floor, and now it’s throbbing. The cats are both in the way, wondering if today is the day I will feed them breakfast. Cleo asks insistently and jumps up on the counter despite sliding on the rolling back and forth. Gabi is first in line on the floor, her new interest and insistence on food surprising us.

Out at the helm, Griffin joins me for the sunrise which seems a perfect reverse of what happened just 12 hours ago when the sun set. 

Clouds march in a parade across the bow as Griffin and I name their shapes. A skiing pig, an alligator chasing a rat, a camel being led by a snail, and many others. 

The day passes quickly and it’s glorious. Greg mentions during dinner how we’ll likely reminisce about this perfect passage years or decades from now. 

I’d been being lazy about getting the fishing lines out of the water for the night since nothing had been happening with them. After dinner and watching the sunset the reel starts unwinding with a fish on! At first it seems like we’ll lose it again but I’m able to play it. The boys scramble with the gaff and somehow we get the tuna over the transom and onto the cockpit floor. The alcohol spray bottle is missing in action so I gave the fish knocks with a winch handle and cleaned it quickly. Fillets going the fridge to be dealt with later, Griffin is thrilled to have finally have caught something on our own. In the morning we’ll arrive at Fakarava!

Passage Stats:

• Nautical miles sailed: 666
• Average speed: 9.3 kts
• Max wind 23kts
• 0 sail changes
• 3 lures lost
• 1 tuna landed
• 2 tired and hungry cats
• 0 other boats seen
• 100s of animal shaped clouds
• 5 teeny tiny flying fish on the deck
• 6 merges of the sun and sea