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American Spirit II - Day 91; Mike's B-Day; Leaving Nuku Hiva, One More Shark, Mainsail and Racing to Ahe; Friday, April 4, 2014



Mike Mogavero, who flew home on Thursday, had a B-Day today. If we'd have known that Wednesday night, we would have announced his birthday during the native dance like other Rally crews did.

The rain shower came later this morning, at 5:25 AM. As the 2 previous days, had to get up to and close the boat hatches. Got up at 8:00 AM.

From 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM we were at the snack shop using their internet. I picked up a few final provisioning items: a bunch of green bananas, that we'll hang on the transom; mango's, and a papyra. I also hiked to a hardware store at least 2 miles away to buy some caulking for our head window gasket.

Once back on the boat, we deflated the dingy and stored it below and weighed anchor at 4:20 PM. We were heading to Ahe in the Tuomotos Archipelago. On our way out of the anchorage/bay, we saw one more shark fin heading to where we were anchored. It would poke out of the water, then descend, then up again. A black tipped shark.

Once out of the bay we turned the engine off and sailed under mainsail and jib. This was the first time we've used our mainsail since March 15, when we had an uncontrolled jibe and blew up the mainsheet traveler car. As we headed southwest to Ahe, we passed Nexus about 2 1/2 miles away. They were returning with the crew of Vivo from a day of hiking to a waterfall on Nuku Hiva.

Once clear of the bay and miles offshore, we emptied our holding tank. What some call a 'black water' tank. Whenever we're in an anchorage, all the boats use their holding tanks instead of pumping waste overboard, as we do when off shore. We then started making water with our water maker, as our water tank was only 1/4 full. We were only making 2.1 GPH. Must be because our 5 and 20 micro filters need to be replaced.

No green flash tonight as there were clouds on the horizon. Dinner after sunset consisted of freeze dried: New Orleans Style Rice with Scrimp and Ham; and Noodles and Chicken. We also had left over peas, carrots and corn; peach halves; and French bread. Because it was so wavy, keeping everything on the cockpit table was a challenge.

I turned the generator on at 9:50 PM for a couple of hours.

During my 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM watch, the wind continued to freshen. It was blowing 18 knots and we were traveling between 7 and 8 knots. Just before midnight, as Joel was coming on watch, I had a string of black clouds race towards the boat. I immediately closed the boat's hatches; zippered up the dodger window; and put the recliner cushions under the dodger. We got a few drops of rain and no appreciable increase in wind. Go figure.

Brian Fox

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