Galapagos to Marquesas –11 May 2024 – Day 10 – Birthday Day

It is a special day today. It is Keith Watson’s 65th birthday and it is the first birthday we have had on board on our trip so far. Happy Birthday Keith.

At 8.00am when Keith came on watch we all wished him a happy birthday and gave him a card and some presents. He was particularly taken with a copy of his brother’s bands CD!! There was chocolate etc and overnight a cake had been baked – see the picture.

I cooked Keith’s favourite breakfast of bacon and eggs which we all enjoyed followed by Skipper’s coffee. After breakfast we had a large pod of dolphins come to see us (ordered by me to say happy birthday) and they proceeded to give Keith a great display by jumping and leaping out of the water without a care in the world -splashing regularly. It was a fine tribute.

Keith and Ian completed their daily checks of the boat and the rest of us read and chilled. When Charles and I had come on watch earlier at 2.00am we were sailing far too far south and were only making a course of 205 degrees when we really needed 260 degrees. This was because the wind angle was East Northeast – not helpful at all but it would help us on the other tack when northing. I checked the weather again and this wind angle was not forecast. I therefore decided to gybe and we were then making about 295-305 which was quite good and we needed to get north to follow the models. Sailing courses do not really teach this sailing tactic. The issue for me is how do I keep us sailing well and with wind and in the right direction when we are handicapped a bit by the angle we can sail without the mainsail flapping too much as this may cause serious damage. I can look at the models and generally try and follow them, but they can and are proposing angles that I cannot sail. There is therefore quite a lot of considering and trying to make the right decisions.

It was right to gybe in the night and by midday we were quite nicely positioned up north and could either continue or gybe. One of the weapons I do have is the Parasail which can sail a deeper angle and it does not flog with the roll of the waves. However, this can only really be flown up to about 15/16 kts (the max recommended is 20kts) and the stronger the wind the more effort it is to get down and tie down on deck. The conditions were such that the wind was not too strong, so we decided to fly the Blue Baron. We are getting better at this and we were soon flying along at 7-8.5 kts and the motion of the roll was flattened. It would be good if we could put this up for the whole passage, but we do not feel confident flying it at night or if we did and we needed to get it down we would have to wake everyone which would not be great. The afternoon rolled on and we had lunch and then by about 3.30pm the wind strength rose to 16-18 kts so we decided to get the Blue Baron down. This was a shame as we were going well but sensible.

We put our main and genoa up again and we are heading as best we can on a course of about 245 which is not bad and when reviewing the weather we will gybe from time to time to keep in this course until about 17 May 2024 (a great day!! for those that know why) when all the models sail northeast and then sail down to the Marquesas. The afternoon passed with a few jobs and I contacted a chandlery in Tahiti to see if I can get another battery and to reserve the fridge compressor for the freezer. There was another visit from a large pod of dolphins who also gave us a jumping display with gay abandon.

At 4.00pm we had a birthday tea for Keith with a large slab of cake Mark and Joyce had made and some banana pieces rescued from the freezer. This was a great treat and then at 6.00pm I agreed we could have one can of beer (Joyce a glass of wine) and some crisps to celebrate as a sundowner for Keith’s birthday and also due to the fact that we are about halfway. We enjoyed our drink and had a laugh and also toasted Stormbird for looking after us.

Ian and Keith (we tried to stop him, but he insisted) cooked a chilli con carne which we all enjoyed in the cockpit. It had been a good day and we did 164 nm over the 24-hour period until Noon. We had some slower periods during these 24 hours.

Crewing Opportunity

We will arrive in the Marquesas in French Polynesia about 20-23 May 2024 and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world.

Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we head off to the Marquesas and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk