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American Spirit II - Day 85; Off to Hiva Oa to Pick Up Alex, 5th Green Flash, Two Fish Got Away and Lightning; Saturday, March 29, 2014



8:00 AM breakfast, followed by letting the air out of the dingy and stowing it below in the v-berth. To let the air out of the dingy we use the electric air pump and suck air out of the dingy. This process is faster than just opening the valves and we actually get more air out by sucking it out with the pump. We weighed anchor at 8:55 AM and headed back for Hiva Oa to pick up World Cruising Club representative Alex. Normally the WCC rep would fly to the next island, but since all the flights between the islands are booked, Alex needed to hitch a ride to get to Nuku Hiva. And we needed him to get there as he was organizing our rendezvous party April 2nd.

The first order of business while under way was to empty the holding tank; then turn on the boat inverter to charge the dingy lithium battery; and then to tourn on the water maker and make some more water.

As we left the anchorage we could see Hiva Oa 42 miles away. Awesome sight!

At 3:15 PM 6 dolphins joined us, swimming in front of the bow. They only stayed for 5 minutes. At 3:58 PM we picked up Alex in Hiva Oa, then headed out of the anchorage and bay and headed to Nuku Hiva. On the way we had 2 fish strikes on our 2 fishing lines. One, which was either a barracuda or cobia (?), we got within 5 feet of the transom when it escaped. It was 4 or 5 feet long and had dark vertical stripes along its body. When it spit out the hook, the lure shot out of its mouth and ended up on top of our bimini.

At 5:50 PM we saw our 5th Green Flash. Joel and I saw it; Mike and Alex did not. That's fairly common. That only 50% of those that look at the sunset actually see the flash.

Dinner was at 6:10 PM and consisted of two freeze dried dinners. Lasagne with Meat Sauce and Chicken Alfredo. Followed by corn and peas and carrots; and topped off with French bread and chilled mango and pears.

At 6:40 PM we saw lightning to the south of us. Only the 2nd time we've seen lighting on the trip. The wind was 9 knots, and we were motor sailing at 5.5 to 6.0 knots. Nuku Hiva was 90 miles away.

Alex and I had the 9:00 PM to midnight watch. Joel relieved us at midnight.


Brian Fox




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