The fleet got underway at 12 noon on Sunday. We had a great start and enjoyed seeing the boats under sail from Santa Cruz. This is the beginning of our first long passage and it should take us about three weeks to reach Hiva Oa. Maybe less maybe more depending on the tradewinds. But, we are all hoping for favorable winds to make this a enjoyable cruise. We sailed for a portion of the day but ended up running the engine during the night. We went back to sailing early this morning. Lew and I are enjoying a peaceful sunrise while the rest of the crew is sleeping.
We had an unfortunate incident on our last night in Santa Cruz! A water taxi collided with the transom while we were disembarking from the taxi. It cause some minor structural damage and caused a vibration to the recently installed generator mount. Today, Lew will check out the generator and assess the damage. Most likely we will have to remove the generator to make the repairs to the transom. It was less than ideal conditions for the water taxi but it left us with a less than ideal situation.
Our new crew, Diana & Hubs, joined us in the Galapagos for the leg to Marquesas. Diana & Hubs participated in the ARC with Lew and Clark in November and they are a great addition to the crew bringing a lot of experience - sailing and otherwise. Hopefully, they will survive being on board with the Wallner family for 3 weeks!
The girls are heading back to school this morning after "Spring Break" in Galapagos. They are not happy about it but we have a bit to catch up on. We should be ahead of our school schedule by the time we reach Hiva Oa.
Now that we have left the Galapagos Islands we are able to fish. First line will be out shortly....maybe fresh fish for dinner!
Corinne & Crew