Pacific crossing

The entire 3100 nautical miles crossing from Galapagos to French Polynesia took us just under 22 days to complete. We had favorable winds for most of the crossing as well as a westerly current of about 1 knot. Despite the fact that the weather files we downloaded every day recommended other routes, we were able to maintain a fairly straight course towards our destination, the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas archipelago. The average speed we maintained was almost 6 knots, which can be considered a good average speed for Anastacia.

On all longer crossings, we write down our position every few hours and plot it on a paper chart as part of “dead reckoning”. The data we obtained showed that on some days we maintained a good speed and covered 170 nautical miles/day with an average speed of over 7 knots. One day we had almost no wind at all and did 75 nautical miles in a whole day. Then we took the opportunity to swim holding on to a rope behind the boat. A wonderful experience to get a proper clean! 😊. Then we also discovered how much growth Anastacia had on her hull. A lot of gooseneck barnacles had gotten stuck under her… That means more hull cleaning in the future for us…😒

During most of the sailing we were able to use our downwind sail (Blue water runner) either fully on both sides of the boat (goose wing) or double-folded as a large gennaker. The experience from the Atlantic crossing, where the halyard was chafed in the mast, had taught us the importance of sewing in extra chafing protection in the halyard where the wear was the greatest and also being careful to, at regular intervals, change the positions of both halyard and sheet to avoid too much chafing at the same spot. It paid off and despite the hundreds of hours the sail was up, nothing serious happened. The only thing that occurred was that a small line in the halyard fastening broke one night, but we were able to quickly fix that by hauling down the sail and securing it with a new piece of rope. Our third crew member, the wind rudder, had to work non-stop and had done its job brilliantly. We are still amazed by this mechanical marvel that steers the boat after the wind with such elegance. The autopilot has been allowed to rest during the entire trip, which also contributed to low power consumption. We are also a little proud that we have not had to use the engine for anything other than sporadically charging the boat's batteries and running the water maker. We have really been able to sail the whole time! 😊

We have also taken the opportunity to practice the so called heave to, which we have never done before with Anastacia. It required a little trimming of the sail and rudder until we could reduce the speed from 7 to 0.8 knots in relatively high waves. Now we have agreed that we will practice heave to until both of us can solve it on our own. It can be important to slow down the boat in rough weather or emergencies.

At regular intervals, we have had text contact with family via Iridium Go (satellite phone) and the crew of the Swedish boat S/Y Kerpa who also sailed to the Marquesas but started the crossing from Panama. Being without internet for so long was a challenge for us at the beginning but something we also got used to relatively quickly and eventually didn't miss at all…

The voyage has otherwise been quite uneventful. We created routines to be able to get through the days. We ate all meals together and made sure they ended up between our four-hour watch shifts. The waves were sometimes big and caused the boat to roll a lot. Sleeping was sometimes a challenge and we had to help each other give each other extra sleep time when possible. We have done daily inspection rounds of the boat to check the ropes, mast, boom and sails. We have devoted ourselves to cooking in a kitchenette, where just about everything is moving all the time and, at regular intervals, baked bread, made yogurt, etc. We have spent time on maintenance, such as renovating the chafing protections for the ropes and stays. We have read books, learned a little more about sea weather and navigation with a sextant. At night we could observe the starry sky of the southern hemisphere where only a few stars and constellations were familiar to us. The North Star had disappeared below the northern horizon and the guidance for the compass directions was replaced instead by the constellation of the Southern Cross to the south. The moon appeared to lie like a small smiley in the sky when it was new. We noted that at no time during the voyage did we see any airplanes in the sky, nor have we seen any other boats. We have seen storm-petrels, however, almost every day. It is incredible that these birds can fly out to sea when the nearest landmass is 1,500 nautical miles away! We have looked in vain for whales. However, we were able to see large schools of dolphins in the distance, a few days after we left the Galapagos. They jumped several meters into the air before landing with a thunderous splash! A real spectacle! Christer caught two tunas (Skipjack tuna). They were enough for a week's dinner for the two of us, but after that there was a fishing ban on Anastacia! Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing! 😊

Now, after the longest sailing we have ever done, we have finally reached land and are anchored outside the village of Taiohae on the main island of Nuku Hiva. We celebrated with a beer and some chips in the cockpit. A bit festive as there is an absolute ban on alcohol on the boat while sailing… After an uncomplicated clearance at the French gendarmerie on the island, we went to bed and slept for over 12 hours! Now a few months of exploring the different island in Polynesia awaits 😊

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