Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hiva Oa!

We made it! Hiva Oa is beautiful and we're really really happy to be here. I'm borrowing internet account time from a friend while waiting for the account that I tried to set up for myself to actually start working so I've got to be brief right now. I posted the only to blog entries I managed to write while we were on the passage so look back before this one. I'm also going to try to write some more later. I've also got a ton of photos to post but it may be awhile before I can find a good enough connection to do that.


The main conclusion about the passage was that neither of us really enjoyed it as much as we thought we would. The group of boats that left a week or two ahead of us had much better conditions but I guess that's just the luck of the draw. We spent a lot of time with too much or not enough wind and/or really lumpy confused seas that, while not threatening, were uncomfortable and really annoying. We really only had probably about 5 or 6 days worth of the idyllic "trade wind sailing" with consistent 10 - 15 kt wind and smooth seas that we'd read about and were expecting to experience for the majority of the trip. Despite the challenges, Architeuthis handled it pretty well with just a few minor breakages and equipment failures that we'll be able to fix ourselves or work around with no problem. Since arriving, we've spoken to people that came across on much bigger and far more expensive (like on the order of 4 - 8 times) boats that took about the same amount of time (and longer in some cases) and had far more significant problems. We certainly don't want to gloat over other people's problems but we are starting to feel better about our passage.


The anchorage here near the town of Atuona is a little bit on the rolly side and, because it's small and one of only two ports of entry in the Marquesas, is over crowded. Our friend's boat was damaged a few days ago when their neighbor's boat dragged an anchor and bumped them. We've had a couple of close calls with a nearby boat that also dragged so we'd like to get out of here within the next few days. We might have left earlier but we'd like to get some diesel and they ran out a week or two ago and everyone's been waiting on the supply ship that's due in tomorrow. Waiting a bit longer will also give us more of a chance to catch up on posting to the blog and emailing people. It looks like internet access may be a bit more spotty than I'd hoped. In the Marquesas, it may only be available on Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva and since we plan to visit at least two of the other islands we may be out of touch for a while.


Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully there will be more soon.



3 comments:

gitano said...

Congratulations! Glad you made it safely. Murre is right behind you. Keep an eye out for my friends Randy and Jenny on a Pacific Seacraft Mryiah 31 cutter with a green stripe.
Cheers,
Bruce

jkibele said...

Hi Bruce,

Murre is behind us? I thought he was going to Hawaii. Did he change his mind? I keep losing the link to his spot website. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

We met Randy and Jenny briefly in La Cruz and heard them checking in on the radio while we were making the passage. They seemed really nice. Hopefully we'll catch up to them at some point.

You should check out our latest post on things that we didn't like about the passage so that you might be able to avoid some of them. Hopefully I'll be posting on the things we did like and things we'd do differently here sometime in the not too distant future.

gitano said...

Randall changed his itinerary and is headed to FP. He is currently at Isla Clarion. He has a new blog, which you can check on the FEY website forum. I have known Randy and Jenny for many years and have rafted with them on many occasions. Very nice people indeed. Karen and I are almost ready for the cruise, albeit a year late. I am trying to get rid of my accumulation of stuff, or find a place to put it. Cheers