can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Starblazer - 16/05/2014 – We have arrived!



First of all, an apology is in order because this log is very late. John says I can blame him because he didn’t wake me up for my second watch, instead he let me sleep through so I didn’t sit at the chart table to write this straight after I did the 0600 logbook entry, which I obviously didn’t do today.

The night was interesting because we got trampled over by a large squall. This time it was my turn to get soaked to the skin holding Q’s hand, or rather yanking on the steering wheel when Q was overwhelmed. Most boats try to turn towards the wind when there is a sudden gust and this is what happened last night. The wind suddenly increased from 14 knots to 24, the bow of the boat immediately shot round more than 45o and Q lost control. I was worried because I couldn’t see what was happening to the twin genoas which were poled out to windward. As it happened, we rocketed along and when the wind got the wrong side of one of the genoas it helped to push the bow back so Q could take control again.

The morning passed quite quickly as we closed in on the waypoint off Suwarrow (Suvarrov). The wind also increased so we scooted along and crossed the race line at 1232. At one point, a few days ago, we were progressing so well we wanted to slow down a little to avoid arriving during the night then the worry turned to wanting to go faster to avoid arriving during the next night. We got it right!

Suwarrow is an atoll belonging to the Cook Islands, it is an uninhabited national park though wardens arrive in June for a few months and a New Zealander called Tom Neal lived here for 20 years and wrote about it. The pass into the atoll is a little daunting because you have to zigzag between coral reefs however the chart plotter was remarkably accurate. As we anchored two baby black tipped sharks about 24 inches long swam alongside us. John wanted to know their intentions before jumping in to snorkel over the anchor. They are usually harmless, especially the little ones. A little later their bigger brother, at least 3 feet long, cruised past. It leads you to wonder where the parents are…..

We decided to devote the afternoon to boat jobs so we can enjoy exploring the island and snorkelling tomorrow. We are allowed to stay here for a maximum of 72 hours though we’ll probably leave earlier to avoid missing a BBQ on Niue. Watch this space.

Dinner at sea yesterday was paella with chicken and (tinned) baby clams followed by homemade Greek yoghurt and apple slices. Tonight’s dinner was cold chicken legs with chips (fries to any American readers) and homemade coleslaw.

Joyce


Previous | Next