Slow trip to the Gambier Islands
Author: Shirlz
As soon as the food lockers, water and fuel tanks were full I left the Flamenca anchorage and headed for the Perlas Islands. My first stop was Contadora. It was my final opportunity to use the internet and I was able to settle the last of the outstanding problems I’d been having with my rental property in Hout Bay. A pretty island with an exquisite powdery white sand beach. On 8th May, which happened to be my 70th birthday, Debbie and Bob arrived on the yacht ‘Dakini’ which they are delivering to Australia. The owner, Renata, was with them for the first leg of the trip and I spent the evening with them in their luxurious cockpit.
Then I moved on to a few more beautiful spots among the small islands spending my last night at the southern most tip in a sheltered bay at Punta Cocos.
On 15th May I started the voyage to the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. 3800 miles to go. I did not plan to stop at the Galapagos Islands but wanted to pass north of them so I headed off in that direction. Winds were variable with calms and squalls. A strong current slowed us down. After a few very slow and uncomfortable days, I changed my tactics and turned south hoping to encounter more favourable winds. This was a good move and we made encouraging progress to the south before turning west again. I had been able to pick up the occasional weather fax using my SSB receiver and the app on my tablet. It showed SW winds until a little south of the equator.
I pressed on, slow and uncomfortable. After nearly a month we were approaching the Galapagos. I stuck to my plan to pass north of them. There was an amazing number of birds in the area. Many boobies, masked and red-footed. The red footed variety decided that Speedwell made an excellent roosting place and at times I had as many as 10 or 12 birds squabbling over the best places to perch. One actually got down below. A big bird. I had to lift him up and put him outside as he was very clumsy with his enormous wings in the confined space down below.
I kept heading West for a few more hundred miles and crossed the equator at 95° W. Now I could turn and head directly for the Gambier archipelago. For some days we had really good weather and I thought it was going to be an easy ride. Not so. The weather became very fickle with many days of intermittent squalls and calms. Then there would be a spell of strong NE which I took full advantage of. Unfortunately during one strong blow I heard a loud ‘crack’, which must really have been loud as I wasn’t using my hearing aids and it still startled me. I looked around to see what could have caused it and saw that the second batten from the top had snapped neatly in two about a third of the way from the leech.
I hove to and lowered the sail so that I could reach the broken batten and managed to lash it snugly to the next one down. I left the sail reefed as the wind had strengthened and the sea was quite rough. We carried on like that for a few more days until the weather moderated again and I raised the remaining panels. It looked alright and was not going to be a major problem.
But, I had been struggling all along to get the Navik to steer accurately and it wasn’t doing a very good job. There seemed to be a lot of play at the supporting rod and it was wobbling about. Wear and tear I thought. I hung over the stern to get a proper look at it and saw to my horror that the linkage to the paddle had broken off leaving it flopping helplessly about. It was a part that I had had repaired by a welder in Puerto Lindo. I lifted the paddle assembly in and stowed it safely below. I couldn’t see how I could fix it with the tools I have on board so I would have to reconcile myself to managing without it.
Just under 2000 nm to go and mostly dead downwind. I searched around and managed to find a suitable length of sturdy bungee cord which I looped around the tiller and tied off to a handy cleat on the side of the cockpit. Then a rope to the opposite side made it possible to fix the helm in position and balance the sail to hold us on a steady course with the wind roughly on the beam. The sail needed to be sheeted quite tightly in to maintain a reliable heading so we were not sailing very efficiently but it was a workable compromise and freed me from having to sit permanently afixed to the tiller. I had not taken in the wind vane part of the Navik and it made a very useful indicator of our attitude towards the wind which I could see from down below.
Day followed interminable day. When we strayed too far off the rhumb line I would gybe and have to spend a while getting the steering settled again. I had plenty of reading material and became addicted to a killer sudoku app. I kept a detailed log and found plenty of small maintenance jobs to do. I had enough water and was managing quite happily on 1.5 liters per day. Using sea water for washing and some of the cooking water. I baked bread and crunchies and tried out new recipes using the pressure cooker on my primus stove. On the good days I was happy to just sit in the cockpit enjoying the endless view of the ocean.
Once past the Galapagos the birds virtually disappeared except for an occasional shearwater or petrel swooping and soaring elegantly about us before disappearing in the distance. I had seen a small group of dolphins soon after leaving Las Perlas but no more for the rest of the trip. A group of Mahi-mahi or dolphin fish stayed companionably with us all the way. They were about a meter long and brilliantly coloured with an iridescent blue body and bright yellow fins. Quite spectacular at night as I had a bright cockpit light which they seemed to be attracted to.
After some weeks the broken batten started to cause problems with the sail and as soon as there was a calm day I hove to and was able to remove it completely and stow the pieces safely below. The sail was chafing badly where it rubbed against the lazy jacks despite having covered them with plastic hose.
All along I had resisted using the engine as it would have not been much help against the awkward currents approaching the Galapagos and I don’t carry enough fuel to do long distances. However, as we were nearing the point where we only had 1000 miles left to go the wind dropped completely and I decided to motor for a few miles just to cross this important psychological threshold. It started easily but, oh dear, no water coming out of the exhaust. The cooling water inlet must have become overgrown with barnacles. I shut it down quickly to avoid overheating. I considered going over the side and trying to clear it but was not brave enough. So we waited for the wind.
I became so accustomed to the leisurely pace of life on board that I was not particularly anxious to arrive but I realised that people might be starting to wonder what had happened to me. With only 50 miles to go we had two days of bad weather which stopped us in our tracks but at last when it cleared I was able to see the islands. A tropic bird flew by. It seemed we had almost arrived.
At 4pm on 4th August I turned in to clear the entrance through the reef. There was just enough wind to keep us moving. Dark comes quickly after sunset in the tropics and we still had about 10 miles to go before the first possible anchorage. Fortunately the Navionics charts on the app I was using are very accurate and I decided to carry on putting my faith in the GPS. The water in the lagoon is deep with coral heads scattered about. Now it was pitch dark and the wind was dying. At last we reached a designated anchorage area where I found depths of just under 20m and decided to stop right there. Dropped the anchor, popped the bubbly and celebrated life.
Early the next morning I found my mask and snorkel and went over the side to clear the cooling water intake and check the prop for barnacles. Got the engine running and we motored the remaining 10 miles to the anchorage at Rikitea.
August 11th, 2018 at 16:55
You are one hell of a woman Shirlz. Very surprised you didn’t dive right in, even I. The middle of the ocean and get to grips with the barnacles. Are they edible? LOL.
Yes, I’m pretty good with a paint brush so maybe see you in the Bay of Islands for a few tinnies.
Sooo kind of the French to give you a whole 15 days. Didn’t they realize what a rock star you are? Bastards!
I hoe the next 1300 bm are painless.
Hugs
August 13th, 2018 at 00:17
Really very happy and reassured that you have arrived! You are an exceptional person and it is you who gives me the courage to move forward in my project. I thank you. I do not know if the expression is good but:
ones fair winds and the following seas.
julien french admirer
Thanks to ‘Speedwell of Hong Kong’ to sail you on the oceans …
August 15th, 2018 at 11:59
Wow, and I thought I was being adventurous building an en-suite bathroom with just my hammer, rusty saw and an old chisel! Amazing achievement Shirley. Love from Ian and a bark from Wellington x
August 17th, 2018 at 11:30
So pleased to hear youbarrived safely hugs from Bert and Michelle
August 18th, 2018 at 14:20
My dear Shirley , so so pleased you are your inimitable self…
A jolly good read ?
If I can help with Hout Bay. , let me know…
Looking forward to your next update – hugz – hughie is bemused by your adventures ….
Kris