Our allotted time of six nights in Nuku Hiva passed in a hot, hazy blur and was over all too quickly. We had just enough time to catch up on a month’s worth of emails as well as some much-needed boat repairs, washing, cleaning and provisioning.
We tried to get as much sleep as we could, but my body clock just loves a 0450 wake-up call – not surprisingly as it’s been doing it naturally for four weeks, so why stop now? With another five-night passage looming to get to Tahiti, I didn’t fight it, so just got up early and enjoyed a quieter time of day to get some much needed writing done.
While Skipper made it to land; I was on lockdown on the boat, gradually getting grumpier and grumpier as I stared, longingly, at the stunning vistas around us. To not even be allowed to swim around the boat while in the anchorage was also very frustrating. Although we did hear tales of 10ft Tiger sharks lurking in the shallows, especially after the fisherman had been in with their catch, so perhaps being confined to the boat was a good thing!
At one stage, I took myself off for a walk around the boat, doing 40 laps including going up and down the stairs to the bridge. Not being one for having a fitbit, it was difficult to ascertain exactly how far I walked, but we called it a round kilometre and I felt so much better for it!
The authorities have asked us to now sail to Tahiti, where we expect to officially check in to French Polynesia. So, we will soon find out our fate, as to exactly how long they will allow us to stay in the area for.
We left the anchorage at sunrise on Thursday, buddy boating with our good friends, Ian and Ann on Tourterelle, on a 775-nautical mile journey to Tahiti. Our route will take us past a couple of the islands in the Tuamotus, another beautiful island group we hope we will one day be able explore.
The winds started off light but it was rather nice to be back on the bridge in the breeze again. Except…as the sun set there were rather a lot of clouds around and, while it was quite beautiful with the sky awash with colour. It wasn’t the only thing awash, a few hours later, as the rain began to fall, we were surrounded by a French Polynesian welcoming committee of lightning storms and windy squalls.
As I swapped shifts with the Skipper, I was rather pleased to escape to my cabin. Although, I had a rude awaking with some particularly loud thunder at 3am, and then realised I had very wet feet, as it had been raining so hard, water was coming in through our hatch and onto our bed. Needless to say it was a very long and wet night for us both.
With similar weather forecast, our sofa sailors should be advised to batten down the hatches and keep a mac, umbrella and a large drink to hand!
Total miles sailed in 30 hours: a very slow, 130 miles
Dates: Thursday 16 April to midday Friday 16 A pril
*****
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