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Mischief - Mischief making Log 15 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes



Day 32 Saturday 31 March 2018

We were ashore really early to get fresh provisions from the local market as we were warned that many items would run out before 0700. So we managed to get some tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, but no onions - they don't grow them on the island seemingly. So we had to substitute onions for the one thing you would try to avoid on a boat: leeks! We could have bought some fish off the dockside too as there was a small but thriving market going on but we decided to put our faith in Trevor and his fishing skills and forgo the easy option. No pressure there then Trev! I would have asked one of the fishermen to toss me a tuna and then I could truthfully tell the girls that I had caught it.

By 0900 we had the anchor up and we were away towards the Taramoto Archipelego about 460 nm away to the south west. Whilst pulling up the mainsail by hand on deck I noticed a giant cockroach climbing up the sail, certainly not the sort of uninvited passenger you would ever want on a boat and it was really persistent, hanging onto the seam stitching for all it was worth. It took a decent well aimed clout from the boat hook to eventually dislodge it into the water.

There wasn't much wind to start with in the bay but it soon filled in from the east and we had a great view of Ua Pou in bright sunshine as we passed by on a course of 200 degrees. Trevor had his lines out but all he caught was the other fishing line and both ended up in a complete cat's cradle. Dave had the patience to sit and untangle it all whereas I would have probably have given up and cut the lines well beforehand. It's probably why we didn't catch anything all day, either that or a lack of ability.

We have moved onto the next time zone meaning the clock has gone back another half hour; we are now 10 behind UTC, making us now 9 hours behind UK on BST - don't quote me as it gets very confusing! But it meant that it was dark at 1800, just when we were eating dinner (Chicken Risotto). It was to be Jean's first night passage but it was a very full moon so it promised to be a very clear night. However, as always, clouds got in the way of the moon early on and several squalls came through, one of which before 2100 blew nearly 30 knots with horizontal rain. Luckily Jean had just gone below so missed the worst of it but yours truly got a right royal soaking! In fact once it had blown through as the moon was so bright we noticed a rainbow - an amazing thing to see at night and quite a surprise!

We reefed down and remained so for the rest of an otherwise peaceful and moonlit night. The weather is set like this for the next few days so it should be a really pleasant sail, squalls aside. But we still are not sure which of the atols we are going to try first as it depends what the timing of arrival is - you are warned very strongly not to approach any of these atols at night but in sunshine with the light behind so you can see the coral heads; it is really a little bit hairy by the sounds of it! we shall decide tomorrow no doubt so watch this space.



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