Marquesas –Nuuk Hiva 28 May 2024 – Crew Change

We woke early and had a cooked breakfast thanks to Keith. It was a cloudy day and we had some rain in the night. I had arranged for a diver to clean the hull as it was so dirty and he started about 8.25am. After this we went ashore early as Keith and Fiona had to check on their flight home situation as they had been to the Air Tahiti office the day before to enquire about flights back to Tahiti from Hiva Ova and potentially the Tuamotus. Without asking they then found that their original flights from Nuku Hiva had been calncelled and they had been booked on the Hiva Ova flights on the 10th June – 3 days before they needed to leave. It was also as Andy Marshall, a new crew member was arriving about 11.30ish. He had been on the Biscay trip in July 2023.

I was waiting for my duty-free certificate for fuel from the Yacht Services and this we should get early afternoon. Joyce and I bought a whole load of fruit and vegetables from the market and then went off to the chandlery. The lady there had downloaded material to help with the Tuamotus but when I tried it on my computer it showed nothing, I showed it to her and she redid it and then it worked. Joyce and I had a quick Croc Monsieur and a drink and then we headed to the supermarkets to get some more provisions. We bought most of what we needed and headed back to the Snack Bar to have a drink and to wait for Andy’s arrival. We had a beer and waited and Andy arrived about midday and we introduced him to the Hinano – Tahitian beer.  

We returned to Stormbird for lunch and for Andy to settle in. We had put 100lts of diesel into the tanks from my jerry cans the day before. I received notification that my duty-free certificate was in. Keith and I headed ashore and Kevin the Yacht Services man was there to help us. He took us to the service station and we filled 15 - 20 lt jerry cans from the Yacht Services man and 5- 20 lt cans of my own. We had to ferry these by dinghy and we could only take about 10 at a time. We then had to empty these individually into the tanks and this took some time and they are quite heavy. We then went ashore to get the rest of the jerry cans and to take the empties ashore. We returned again and used up all Kevin’s cans then then we used 4 of our own. We therefore put in some 480 lts in total. We then went ashore again and took Kevin’s empties. Kevin then took us back to fill our Stormbird jerry cans so that we have a 100 lts spare. This was all quite tiring in the heat.

Whilst we were doing this a large manta ray was swimming around the boat. You could see his mouth open and his wings must have been about 5 feet across. He swam around the boat for a few hours and it was a magnificent sight.

When Andy arrived there also seemed to be a problem with the front heads and we needed I thought to clean the Joker valve. This Andy did and when he put it back the heads would not flush out. He took it out again and the pump was working. However, it seemed there was a blockage somewhere. We took pipes off and blew a pump down them etc. Eventually after a few hours we got it working which was a relief. A cold beer was called for.

Fiona was cooking supper when suddenly the gas turned off. I assumed the cylinder was empty so I went to switch over to the next cylinder but even though there was gas in it, it would not work. I tried a number of cylinders we had and  none worked. I wondered therefore whether the solenoid (gas safety switch) had a problem or there was a problem we do not know about. Luckily the chicken was cooked but we had to eat it with some bread as the potatoes and beans were not cooked. We enjoyed the supper as cooked.

I hope I can get a gas expert soon. I have a spare solenoid but well I have not got the expertise to know what the issue is but you cannot much about with gas. How frustrating after a busy productive day – I guess that is sailing sometimes. We do now have a clean hull as he did a god job.

Crewing Opportunity

We have arrived in the Marquesas in French Polynesia and will explore these islands and 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 move through French Polynesia 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