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Luna Quest - Thursday, 26th March, 2015



Noon Position: 8.59S 134.14W

Daily run: 102 miles

Yesterday I reported that there were only 5 boats left to make it to Hiva OA, Luna Quest being one of them. There are actually 6, but the sixth one does not carry a long range radio and did not therefore appear on the radio fleet list of boats from which I counted the number of boats left to battle it it out not to be the last to arrive. It is now expected that some of the 6 may arrive on Saturday and some on Sunday. The winds have picked up a little and we have all enjoyed some good sailing except one, whose genecker (i.e. a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker) got twisted round his furled-up genoa without any hope of untwisting it.

Our deck is littered with lines that help us manage our parasailor. In 9 knots of wind or above it stands beautifully and overcomes the effects of the cross swell and awkward waves that assail Luna Quest. One swell is a long and lazy one, which we estimate to be some 10ft high with a valley of several hundred yards. It must travel at about 20 knots from the Southeast. Then we have a shorter swell set up by the easterly wind that propels us to Hiva OA. That swell travels could be 5 feet high with valleys of no more than a 50 yards and travels at about 15 knots. On top of these swells are the waves, which are not in any way unkind, just uncomfortable. Underlying these water masses is a sea current that travels from the Northeast. The result of these forces is that Luna Quest gets thrown about a bit under less than 10 knots of wind, causing much wear on the gear and making sailing a frustrating experience.

Eric

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