2 October 2024 –Tahiti – Niue
Sean and I had the 11.00pm to 2.00am watch and we motored as there was not enough wind. It was a reasonably calm watch and the stars were out to entertain us. We went off at 2.00am and were on again at 8.00am although I got up at 6.00am. It had started to rain at about 5.00am and it was still drizzling and raining when we took over.
The wind began to show some interest but it was still variable. I did a download of the weather and the wind is supposed to increase by about 10.00am. The swell began to build a bit and it is going up to about 3.7 meters by midnight. When the wind came we upped the main and full genoa in about 11-14 kts and we started to sail along nicely on our course going a bit south toward Raratonga (one of the Cook Islands) where we would gybe North of it. However, it does have a small harbour which we could get in f necessary.
The wind began to build and we reefed the main initially from reef 1 to reef 4 and the genoa and we were flying along between 7-8.5 kts. Our run from Tahiti leaving at about 2.30pm to 12.00noon was 143nm.
The swell continued to build and started to roll us a bit but our course meant that we kept the bow into the swell which will hopefully reach its peak at about mid-night. The wind was now beginning to move into the 20’s and so we took down the genoa and put out the staysail which meant we were more under control. We even reefed that too and in about 22-24 kts we are still making 6.9-7.4 kts. Whilst under control, the swell is uncomfortable and makes doing things quite tricky. According to Alan Philipps, who wrote the book on which I have based this voyage, has always had a difficult passage from Tahiti to Tonga. Hopefully the waves will calm down a bit tomorrow and are then to decline over the rest of the week so we may have a few uncomfortable days.
I am sad to have left French Polynesia having spent nearly 4 months travelling round the Marquesas, Tuamotus and more recently the Society Islands. It has been so interesting and varied with the three different sets of Islands and the coral and sea life has been pretty unique, at least in my view. It is in the middle of nowhere really and a special place which if you get a chance to visit I would recommend you do so. It will be interesting to see how Tonga compares.
The afternoon continued with winds 20-27 kts and the sea swell but we were making progress. It soon came dark and Joyce had prepared a chicken casserole which she heated up and it was very good. It has been a grey day with no sun and quite cool so that many if us put on our light weather jackets. We hope it will improve overnight.
Crewing Opportunity Year Two
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 then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. 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 then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com