Galapagos to Marquesas – 7 May 2024 – Day –7

Charles and I had the 2.00am to 5.00am watch and we needed to charge the batteries and this all worked thank goodness. We were sailing well but we were a little off course as the wind was coming round more from the east. This pushed us further south and Predict Wind was rying to keep us from not going too far south. I therefore thought at some point we will need to gybe to get us further North so that we can keep north enough to meet the proposed route we need to take. We were trying to sail on a bearing of about 264 degrees and we were only able to sail between 240 and 258 depending on the wind.

We handed over to Mark and Joyce and went to bed. I woke about 7.30am had a cup of tea and then made bacon and scrambled eggs for everyone and it was a lovely sunny day.

Ian had had a tooth operation before this trip and which involved stitches and these needed to be taken out. The cockpit became an operating theatre with Ian lying on his back and Keith attempted to cut the stitches but his hands were shaking so much Mark volunteered to operate. Mark got his headtorch out and he had a white tee-shirt on and looked like a surgeon. Mark therefore had to cut the stitches with small scissors and then pull the stitches out with tweezers. This was successfully done and Mark commented that Ian’s chin was like Desperate Dan, as he had not shaved for a few days.

I came up to chat to Keith and Ian before their watch ended and I could see the wind still pushing us south and we needed to get further north so we decided to gybe (go on the other tack). This meant we were on a course of about 320-340, ( we wanted to steer about 264) which was not helpful but we just needed to get north so we stuck with it from about 11.30am until 5.00pm. This gave us some 30nm of northing and it is a little annoying as we are not really going toward our destination. Hopefully the wind will be kind and we will not have to do this again.

We were excited about our 24 hour run to 12.00noon and our guesses were all very close together. We knew it would not be as good as the day before as we had some slow points in the night. However, it came in at 193nm which was only 2 short of yesterday’s record. This gave us a distance so far in 6 days of 1,067 nm – which is an average of 177.8 nm per day which is respectable.

I commented on our sail this pm that we had hardly seen any wildlife – no dolphins or whales. We had seen flying fish and eaten some and saw the odd bird which seemed strange being so far from land. Just as I said this I saw a turtle swim by and we thought it may be going to the Galapagos to lay its eggs. We did, however, see a tiny bird which looked like a chaffinch come and land on deck. It was a sweet little bird with a red ring round its head and a white line just above and between its eyes. It had brown feathers but it had a blue/green tinge on the top of the feathers. He flew around and kept landing and we thought this was for a rest as he was a long way from land and did not look like a sea bird. He then came and landed in the cockpit right near the winch and we watched him closely for some time and vice versa. He did not seem worried and appeared to have a constant scowl. We offered him some banana cake and some orange but he was not interested. Eventually he few off and we hope he gets home wherever that is.

We had gybed back and we are on course gain and hope the wind is not unkind. I cooked chicken in wine and garlic with butternut squash and broccoli which seemed to go down well. This was followed by the rest of the banana cake and watermelon. My father emailed me today to say that he liked the idea of the carrot cake and could he have some. Well today’s picture is me having a slice for my Dad!. Sorry there is now none left.

After supper I was charging the batteries and making some water. All was going fine until I heard a change in tone and realised that the watermaker and chargers were off although the generator was still on. I diagnosed that the issue seemed to be the electrical leakage circuit breaker. I flicked it back on again and got things working again but then it cut out. I started again and all ran. Charles thought that it may be to do with the watermaker so suggested I turned that off and make sure we could continue to charge the batteries and ti worked. I thought – no – not another problem but we will explore the issue tomorrow. At least we can charge the batteries but may not be able to make water but lets see tomorrow what the issue is. In the meantime we will only use water for essentials. This is boating sometimes.

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