Galapagos to Marquesas – 5 May 2024 – Day 4 – Big Fish

Charles and I had the 5.00am to 8.00am watch and we were sailing fast and the wind strength in gusts were going up to 23/24kts. We therefore decided to put a reef in the main and in the genoa. We were a little off course and I downloaded the weather and the conditions were looking good with good trade winds at 15-19 kts with gusts up to 21/22 kts. The models wanted us to keep up and not go too far south so we needed to gybe at some to get some westing in as we were being pushed too far southwest due to the wind direction.

The batteries were quite low and so I knew we would need the generator. However I thought it needed more oil so in I went to the engine room and took apart the generator housing and filled it up. Then on went the generator and then I cooked bacon and egg sandwiches for all which was quite a challenge due to the waves which were 2-3 meters and rolling us a bit. However this went down well and the day had started.

At 7.30am we gybed and of course the wind started to back which made our gybe less effective but we stuck with it as at some point we would need to go more west and we stayed on this course for most of the day until about 3.30pm when we gybed back and are now back on track for our waypoints.

During the morning we lost about 3 fish who came on the line but came off when we were reeling them in. Mark was quite annoyed by this and one fish had bent the hook. Mark therefore straightened this out and he sharpened the hooks. Then about an hour later the rod ratchet went and we had a big fish on the line. He played it for a while and he pulled in a big Wahoo – part of the tuna family. It must have been about 10kg – see the picture. It took Mark some time to gut and fillet it. We will therefore be eating fish for a few days.

Keith and Ian did the boat daily checks on their shift and Charles and I took over at 12.00noon. We were sailing along quite well going westerly which made you feel we were going away from our route but I knew we had to do this. We had to check the fruit and vegetables and Charles found a few vegetables in the fridge which were going off and I found a melon and papaya which needed eating. I needed to turn the eggs which we do every day but this is not easy and guess what some fell on to the seat smashing a few which was very annoying. There was a bit to clear up. Hey how – the joys of a rolly boat.

We had a nice lunch and the afternoon passed and after we had gybed back I had a good sleep. When I woke we were zooming along about 8-8.5 kts and in the right direction despite the slightly rolly sea. We had another 159 nm run to 12 noon and are now over 450 nm toward our destination which is still another 2,700 nm odd away. We are sailing well and all seems good on board despite the egg loss!

Although we caught the fish Joyce was ready to cook a beef stew which we had taken out of the freezer. We therefore had a nice beef stew for supper with mash and vegetables.  We have not seen any dolphins or whales and we saw one boobie and some flying fish. There is no traffic and we have not seen any other boat for a couple of days now.

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