Passage Panama to French Polynesia, days 12-14, Friday 31-Mar to Sunday 2-Apr:
By early hours of Friday 31-March, we can say we are firmly in the SE trade winds that come off the Peruvian coast and move NW up to the equatorial zone. These great sailing winds blow between 10-20kts from an ESE to SE direction. There is a long (12s) ocean swell from the south and shorter (6-7s) wind waves from the SE. When the 2 sets of waves positively combine (constructively interfere for you physicists!) we get a short peaky wave that throws Cloudy over as it passes. Probably once every 2 minutes, or so. These are the ones that make you hold on tight, slide you off the shower seat or roll you in bed, preventing deep sleep.
Our next WP (waypoint) is 1500nm ahead at 12.5S, 120W. It’s also a decision point whether we continue to Iles Gambier or divert to Marquesas. The course bearing to it is 250T, cutting across the trade winds. While this trajectory puts us on what may seem a perfect broad reach, this angle is not without its challenges concerning the foresail(s).
Sailing with mainsail and genoa, the apparent wind on this bearing is in “the annoying zone” of AWA (apparent wind angle) of 115-135degrees off the port bow. Sailing with the genoa on the same side as mainsail, anything less than 115AWA and the genoa is powered up nicely. But greater than 115AWA the genoa flutters around in the dirty wind off the mainsail, not powered up at all. And with a wing-on-wing setup (genoa poled to windward, port side) the tightest angle this works is 135AWA. Less than 135 and the genoa occasionally backs then “bangs” violently back into shape. Hence the genoa no-go zone of 115-135AWA.
Now replacing the genoa with the spinnaker would solve this “unsailable angle” because the spinnaker is good for anything from 100-180AWA. But in these wind speeds it would be overpowered in the gusts, leaving my sphincter twitching for all the time its huge 228m2 material is hoisted up there. The spinnaker is like a naughty child, it requires constant attention.
So what to do? Well, taking advantage of small wind shifts we sail to the left of our trajectory with main and genoa on the same side, then occasionally gybe the genoa onto its pole to windward and sail to the right of our trajectory. In essence, broad-reach tacking (there, I’ve just invented a new sailing term!). And if/when winds do lighten below 15kts, then Mr. Spinnaker will go up. So that’s the plan, and it’s how we sail for the next few days.
There we are trade wind sailing in the Southern Pacific. The motion is a bit rolly, due to the cross swell, but we are making good mileage of around 200nm per day, helped by a touch of favorable current. The daytime skies are clear blue with the occasional puffy cloud, only one of which gave us a light shower. And during nights the half-moon illuminates a glittering sea until it sets in the early hours. Then there is a dark stary sky from horizon to horizon. I LOVE night sailing with clear skies. It’s quite magical to look up and see the sails silhouetted against the Milky Way.
The only other thing worth mentioning here is our AIS. On Sunday 2-April a ship pops onto our screen, finally. Such a good moment. It’s been several days now since I wondered if our AIS is still able to transmit and receive. I call the ship, which is ~20miles away, on VHF radio and he confirms that he can also see us on his AIS. Brilliant. What a relief.
It also gives me chance to try the backup antenna, taking an output from our multi-channel masthead antenna. And that works too. So now I know I have a backup antenna option should the current one play up again.
During these days life on board is quite quiet. Oana’s been feeling the ill effects of the side-on swell and isn’t her usual self. Not sick, but not comfortable either. We also discuss at length our options with regards to destination, Gambier or Marquesas?
I was under the impression that from Gambier we could day-hop NW along the Tuamotus chain of atoll islands. But now that I’ve researched it more, using OpenCPN satellite views of the atolls, I discover none of the eastern end of the Tuamotus chain of atolls are accessible. Either there is no navigable entrance into the protected atoll lagoon, or access is not allowed, busting my notion! In fact, the first atoll we can actually enter is a 470mile sail (~3days) from Gambier. And that one is just as easily reached from Marquesas. Hence our conclusion is that Marquesas are now looking more likely for us to arrive at French Polynesia. But we’ll continue our current track and decide firmly in the next 1-2 days.
