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Starblazer - 26/03/2014 – Arrival on Hiva Oa



Tuesday was slow, though we turned the engine on just after 0800 because the boat speed was averaging just under 3 knots and we wanted to arrive in daylight. We hadn’t quite reached the 50 nM DTW but switched on the engine  anyway. By this time we had sailed with the cruising chute for 24 hours, a record for us. The engine pushed up the boat speed, this brought the apparent wind forward which increased the boat speed so we reduced the revs, the boat speed dropped, the apparent wind went aft, the speed dropped we increased the revs and the process repeated itself. It was frustratingbut the fuel lasted and we crossed the finish line at 2059 Galapagos time, 1959 ship’s local time and 1829 local Marquesan time! Confused? I keep looking at the clock which shows and subtracting 8 hours and 30 minutes to decide what the local time is!

We managed to anchor before the light went but by then it was after my bedtime. The planned dinner of fillet steaks was put on hold and John cooked a packet of pasta in sauce while I sorted out the forward berth and put a clean sheet on it. I fell into bed and slept for close to10 hours, bliss!

We checked in on Wednesday morning then got a lift into town, about 3 miles away. Our first task was to find some cpf, Central Polynesian Francs, very pretty and 80 = $1 US, 120 = 1 Euro so about 145 = £1. I think my little calculator is going to come in handy. We found one of the supermarkets which, as expected, was quite expensive. Tomorrow is ‘jobs’ day. John put our 15 litres of good water into the tank then refilled them on the quayside. I tested the water and it only just meets the UN specification of clean water so we will probably not put it in the tanks though the carbon filter might improve it. We shall see.

Tomorrow morning we are going on a tour of the island with two girls from another boat so boat jobs will happen later tomorrow, otherwise Friday. We shall see. One thing I must do here is visit the graves of Paul Gaugin and Jacques Brel then I want to go the the Espace Jacques Brel. I’m not sure I want to go to the replica ‘House of Fun’ as established by Gaugin! Watch this space. I’ll probably blog again in two or three days. (John: For those who don’t know I’ll get Joyce to explain who Jaques Brel is later)


Joyce

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