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Mischief - A certain amount of Mischief Log 24 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes



Day 47 Sunday 15th April 2018 - passage to Papeete, Tahiti

Woken up early this morning with the tide rushing around the boat, indeed didn't really get much sleep at all to be honest with the boat rolling and rocking about and waves slamming under the back of the boat. Still, the anchor had held as steady as a rock.

We watched with interest as a charter catamaran went out of the entrance with full sail up at an hour and a half before slack water with the tide ripping out. Actually, they didn't have too much trouble so we were happy to attempt to retrieve our anchor around 0930 even though the tripping line had sunk again and Dave rightly didn't want to tangle it around the prop so I took in the chain entirely on the windlass with no engine propulsion just in case. The tide was running at 2 knots and the wind was head on so there was a bit of strain on the windlass but the anchor came up as sweet as a nut and the tripping line with it.

Heading off into the channel the tide was pushing us out quite hard but it decreased actually in the channel itself as per the tidal prediction and it was a little bouncy when we hit the ocean surf but nothing too bad at all. We turned west along the island then south west and we were on our way to Tahiti! The course takes us direct on 210 degrees 200 nm but it is touch and go whether we can make it a daylight landfall, it will depend on the boat speed we can achieve, presently 7 knots which will do.

Dave and I tried to effect a repair on the dinghy but the glue we acquired was firstly out of date and secondly was for hard PVC i.e. drain pipes and the like. It was entirely useless which was a real disappointment.

1200 Position: 14 degs 55.1' S 147 degs 52.3' W C: 235 W: NE 11

A bit cloudy today but a pleasant enough sail under poled out genoa which we dropped as we headed further south around the end of the island. The course passes by a small uninhabited island of Makatea which used to be home to a number of mineral mining operations but now defunct.

2400 Position: 15 degs 56.8' S 148 degs 32.2 W C: 209 W: NE 17 SOG: 6 knots

There was literally nothing about. It was a starry night but no moon so quite dark but passing by Makatea 7 miles away, although there were no lights we could smell the scent from the flowers this far away. The sea state was light and occasional squalls brought a little rain in the night, thankfully not on Wendy and my watch! Lets hope that stays the case til morning.



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