Our passage from the Galápagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands was 3100 nm and 20 days. We left the Galápagos Islands on March 4th and arrived in Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia on March 23rd, 2020. Our course was mainly SW and West. We used a combination of sails including Main/Genoa, Main /Code 0 and BWR- double poled as shown below.
Tim’s Big Catch!
Tim, our friend from Park City, Utah who had accompanied us on the ARC+ from Las Palmas to St. Lucia in November 2019, joined us in Santa Cruz for this passage. Our watches were scheduled 4 hours on and 8 hours off, since he had joined us. We were very happy to have him on board!
DAILY LIFE
Our passage was beautiful. Days of watching fantastic sunrises, sunsets and night skies filled with zillions of stars. Good steady wind except for a day at the beginning of the passage. Some swell but not too bad.
Garmin text to Table!
Both Tim and I each have a Garmin inReach, so our world news was obtained through text messages from family and friends. I can always depend on my dear friend Joan Howarth, especially when it comes to cooking. So when we found ourselves with a huge amount of maturing bananas, I texted Joan via the Garmin and received a great recipe. The Garmin has also been perfect for contacting friends and family with my Garmin plan of unlimited text messages.
World ARC SSB net at 0900 and 1800 were the the highlights of our days! It was a pleasure to interact with the 33 boats of the World ARC fleet via radio and get to know the crew during our daily quizzes and conversations. It was also a way to get world news as the development of the Corona virus during the passage changed the world as we knew it. Giorgio also used the HF-SSB with Pactor modem to obtain the routing daily emails from the World ARC regarding positions of the other boats and weather updates. Giorgio downloaded weather GRIB files twice a day.
We did not use the VHF radio much since all the boats were out of range most of the time. It was rare to see a boat or ship on the horizon.
CORONA VIRUS DETOURS
Our only psychological discomfort was the thought of the corona virus and the development of the pandemic. Over the last week of the passage, we changed our destination at least 4 times in reaction to the directives of the World ARC. They wanted us to make landfall initially in Hiva Oa, then changed to Nuku Hiva, then Tahiti. Since Tahiti was an additional 1000 nm and we needed to top off with fuel in case we had to motor in periods of little wind, we decided to stop in Nuku Hiva for fuel and to restock with fresh provisions, especially fruit and vegetables.
Nuku Hiva, Marquesas “CONFINED TO PARADISE”
We approached the island late at night but did not want to enter an unfamiliar bay in the middle of the night. Therefore, we closed the sails almost completely in order to slow down and enter Taiohae Bay with daylight. As we motored into the bay the morning of March 23rd, we were welcomed immediately by the daily VHF Radio Net on channel 68 at 0800 and we were updated with the local rules, regulations, and announcements. The community had been placed in confinement due to the Corona virus.
We provided the local agent, Kevin of Yacht Services, with our completed applications. We received word from the French authorities that we had been allowed to stay until we completed any needed engine repairs and got fuel and provisions. At the time, one person from each boat was allowed onshore once a week to provision. As we were concentrating on our re-entry to the world, we were constantly thinking about our sons and loved ones at home. Covid19 was affecting the whole world.
Taiohae Bay in the south of Nuku Hiva is a lovely bay with green plush hills and mountains all around.
The two weeks we stayed at anchorage in the Galapagos had filled our hull and seacocks with barnacles and vegetation! We spent several days cleaning the hull of the boat (after obtaining the permission of the local Gendarmerie since we were not supposed to leave the boat, even to swim). Giorgio snorkeled several times to remove the barnacles from the hull and seacocks. The bay has several large sharks but apparently they do not bite humans. In addition Giorgio is quite skinny…not an enticing meal!!
All flights out of the small local airport had been canceled but the boat Serendipity organized a flight to Tahiti on March 28th so that, those who wanted to, could make the last flight out of Tahiti to SFO on March 28th. Tim decided to take the flight and made it home safely so we were happy about that.
Our days were filled with cleaning the boat inside and outside, washing clothes, scraping the hull, reading and resting. We were still exhausted from our 3 weeks of round the clock watches. The highlights of our day were the VHF radio contact we had with the other boats in the bay: along with the daily VHF Net at 0800 on Channel 68, we had Trivia Quizzes every evening at 1900!
We were slowly preparing for our next passage as we waited out of the confinement. Not sure where to head next but we were considering either Hawaii or Tahiti-Papeete.
The Adventures of SV JAN 