Untitled Document
We left Bora Bora two days after our visas expired. There was a series of low pressure systems to our south that were creating confused winds between us and Suwarrow, our destination. We were not the only ones leaving. Eight boats in all left within that same 24 hour period. This is not unusual as we all arrived in French Polynesia at about the same time so our visas also expired at the same time. We know most of the boats and started an SSB net so we could all keep in touch. The first day the weather was pleasantly consistent. It was sunny and the winds were on the beam at about 15 knots. Besides the SSB net we were in constant contact with the other boats via VHF radio which has a range of about 30 miles.
As the sun went down the winds went with it. They died down to about 5 knots and start to shift around. This is closer to what the weather forecast showed so it wasn't unexpected. A few of the boats fired up the motor but Fearless is a good light wind boat and we were still making ground so we continued to sail. Some time before midnight boats south of us started to get hit by a squall. They told us over the VHF the winds were gusting into the 30's. We were not seeing it yet but I decided to triple reef the main and put out the tri sail instead of the jib. It took about an hour for the squall to get to us and when it did we were ready. We were very lucky to get the advanced notice as to put in a triple reef I have to leave the cockpit which is not fun when the winds are heavy.
As promised the winds jumped to the mid 20's with gusts into the 30's but it wasn't too bad as we had plenty of time to prepare and the seas were still small. The next morning we were still in it. The winds built up a bit and were now blowing consistently in the 30's. The seas had also come up and a southerly swell joined the southeast wave train we were already in. This can make things difficult as you now have to watch out for waves from two directions. The swells from the south were sporadic but big. We were heading southeast with the dominant swell and the winds. Every once in a while a southerly wave would smack the back of the boat and send her off way off course. The autopilot would work hard to correct and get back in line but while this was happening we would be beam on to the dominant waves.
This went on all day. We downloaded another set of weather files which promised lighter winds in the next 30 hours. That night things stayed the same and Naomi and I got into our passage making schedule. The next day I woke up and from bed it felt like the wind and waves may have subsided a bit. When I pulled open the companion way hatch I saw immediately that had not. Naomi was sitting in the captains chair and behind her an enormous wave was crawling up our stern. The winds had actually increased to mid 30's with gusts into the 40's and of course the swells were building as well. We took in the jib and were now sailing on a triple reefed main alone.
The boat was well balanced and performing well. Wave after huge wave would come at us from behind and pass under the boat. Every once in a while one would break right behind us and each time we thought it would be the one crash on us but again the back end would rise up and Fearless would excelerate down the face. By that afternoon winds had settled in the mid 30's.
We kept in constant contact with the other boats. Each boat has someone at the helm 24 hours so there is always someone to talk to. It was not unusual to be sitting in the cockpit at 3 am telling jokes to pass the time.
Day three and its getting worse. The weather forecast says it will die down in about 30 hours. Where have I heard that before? The waves are now 12 to 15 feet with a few that must be 20 feet. The winds are still in the 30's and 40's with a few gusts getting very close to 50. The waves are pushing wind with them and often we can feel the waves coming. The tops are getting blown off and they are occasionally breaking. Water blows across the ocean vertically and the sea is a mix of blue and white. We are starting to get tired and are doing 3 hours on and 3 hours off shifts. We are not tired because we are doing anything, just because it is hard to sleep with the boat pitching about.
While all this is happening the person on watch is sitting in the captains chair watching the waves attack from behind. Occasionally we need to make a course adjustment to the autopilot to keep the wind behind us. The triple reef main is still ok but only because we are running with the wind. We don't have anything smaller and when the gusts reach the high 40's we can feel the boat starting to get over powered. The only other option is bare poles which would work but if we get pushed too far off course and the autopilot could not adjust quick enough we would lose our momentum and stall bean on to the waves. The boat handles well under bare poles but if we end up on a beam reach we are not able to get back off the wind.
Despite this we don't really feel we are in any physical danger and I have no problem going to bed and leaving Naomi at the helm. I know she knows what to do and is paying attention. There are other boats close by and we are all in constant communication. Its about this time we find out that it may not be possible to enter the atoll at Suwarrow with the swells the way they are. This is not what we wanted to hear. We are still a day away and the idea of having to tack on another 500 miles to the trip is terrible. Our friends on 'Island Time' have ended up too far north and don't want to have to beat into the wind to get to Suwarrow and decide to skip it and continue on to Pago Pago. You know its bad when you decide to divert to a place that is 500 miles away because you don't want to have to beat into the wind 20 miles.
Near the end of the day Naomi and I were sitting in the cockpit when we saw a huge wave from the south about to break on us. I was not able to turn off the autopilot in time and it hit us on the port stern rail. This shoved the stern down as a wave rolled into the cockpit filling it with water. My pajamas got wet and I had to take a shower. It happened again a few hours later, the conditions were getting worse. We would later find that water from the cockpit had made its way into the aft stateroom and soaked our mattress and bedding.
Day four and no end in sight. The forecast says the winds will die down in 30 hours. What the F@#!. One of the other boats had a weather router. This is a service that some sailors pay for that tell you when to leave on passages. He called them on his satellite phone and they told him he should be in 20 knot winds. He fired them. At this point we all started to wonder how it is we all ended up in this. Why were the forecast so wrong?
As the day wore on and the weather was at its worst things started to happen. A few times I heard people announce that they had gusts hitting 50 plus. 'Argonaut' a Cal 40 that held a transpac record for 40 years got knocked down. They were hit by a wave and got pushed over until the mast hit the water. Fortunately the boat righted itself with only minor damage to their dodger. Just before sunset we heard a pan pan over the radio. This is one step under a mayday and were horrified to hear it was from our good friends on 'Little Wing'. We were just out of VHF range from them and it took us a bit to get the detail.
Naomi and I sat there feeling helpless. We were about 25 miles ahead of them and knew they were close to several other boats. Soon after that we heard that our friends on 'Elusive' had jibed and ripped their boom from the mast and tore the main sail.
As night set in we knew we would be arriving at Suwarrow three hours before sun up. To slow us down I turned on the engine and put the boat in reverse and were still doing 5 knots. We arrived at 7:00 am and were happy to see the pass didn't look too bad. We dropped the sails and motored toward the entrance. About a half mile before the pass the waves died down and we easily made our way to the anchorage and dropped the hook. Once the anchor was set Naomi and I were standing on the bow and hugged each other. Thankful for our safe arrival but still concerned for our friends who were still out there.
We put the boat away and tried to get some sleep. We were both exhausted but too amped to actually sleep. By this time we had the detail as to what happened to 'Little Wing'. They had the jib on a pole and were in the process of putting it away and putting on the tri sail when they got hit by a huge wave. The wave hit them on the beam pushing 'Little Wing' over 110 degrees. They were in the cockpit and found themselves fully submerged. Their dinghy broke lose from the deck and sheered off a dorado vent allowing several hundred gallons of water into the boat.
The boat righted itself but they soon realized the damage was worse then expected. While attempting to pull the dinghy back on deck they realized the shrouds where no longer tight. After assessing the situation it was soon obvious what had happened. When the mast was pushed under water the pole holding out the jib had been shoved into the mast bending it seven feet off the deck. The mast above the bend twisted into an 's' shape. They did what they could do to secure the dinghy and dropped the sails. They were forced to motor the last 90 miles to Suwarrow by hand as their autopilot was also damaged.
We were very happy to hear them hail us as they approached Suwarrow. Craig was exhausted from hand steering so we dignied out to help guide them in. I boarded 'Little Wing' while Naomi lead in the dinghy and they were soon anchored. We had a few drinks with them and then collapsed into sleep. While we were sleeping the rest of the fleet pulled in and anchored.
Suwarrow is a national park owned by the Cook Islands. It is famous because a guy named Ted Niel lived on this remote island for several years. Now it is populated by a family of five who act as caretaker of the property. The entire island is less then a square mile and the closest city is Pago Pago which is 500 miles away. There is nothing their except the caretakers house which also acts as the yacht club. The snorkeling is excellent and this is one of the most remote places of our entire trip. This is great unless you have a damaged boat.
I spent several days helping Craig rig support struts for his mast. The mast was still standing but in bad shape. They still had to go 500 mile to get to Pago and wanted to be able to at least fly a tri sail and staysail. Everyone in the anchorage helped in any way they could. We collected diesel from several other boats and one supplied us with a 20' whisker pole which would be the meat of our stabilizing rig.
We also has some things to take care of on Fearless. We had a mattress, mattress pad, duvet, duvet cover and bedding to clean. I also fixed the leak that allowed all this stuff to get soaked. This doesn't sound too bad unless you consider the fact that we do our laundry by hand.
We did manage to do a few fun things while in Suwarrow. We went to the caregivers wife's birthday party which was a big pot luck. We fed sharks almost by hand in ankle deep water and managed a few snorkels. Our last snorkel we saw a 10 foot manta ray and got some nice footage of him which I have loaded onto the site.
We volunteered to be 'Little Wings' hospital ship. This means we would stay with them while they motor sailed to Pago Pago. The boat was ready and the weather looked good so we decided to leave while the leaving was good. We followed as 'Little Wing' exited the atoll and headed west. The conditions were perfect with small seas and 15-20 knots of wind on the stern. We had to double reef the main to slow down enough to keep 'Little Wing in sight.
The 500 miles to Pago Pago was some of the hardest sailing we have ever done. It is one thing to set the sails and head to a destination. It is something else entirely to keep another boat in sight. Especially a boat the is disabled and going very slow. We did more sail changes to stay with them in 500 miles then we have done in every mile of sailing we have done since we got the boat. It was frustrating for sure but they are good friends and I know with out a doubt that they would do the same for us if the roles were reversed. Fortunately the weather stayed consistent until the last day when the winds picked up a bit and the seas got choppy.
We arrived at Pago about five hours before sunrise. We decided to hove too offshore and wait for daylight to make our entry. We had a difficult time getting Fearless to hove too in the choppy seas and after six different sail combinations my stomach gave out and I puked for only the second time ever on Fearless. We finally got her stopped and I went to bed.
A few hours later 'Little Wing' hailed us and said the mast was making bad noises and they had decided to start making way. We pulled out of the hove too and sailed on bare poles for three hours to keep our speed down. We followed 'Little Wing' in to Pago Pago much to the relief of us, them and many of the other boats in the anchorage who know we were coming. Craig and I went to shore to go through customs and immigration.
We were guided through the process by Gorden on 'Vari' who had already helped Craig arrange shipping for their new mast. We stumbled around like idiots because we were so tired. Finally getting all the paperwork done we returned to the boats and went to sleep.
We have been in Pago Pago for three days nows and are starting to get the lay of the land. We have already been to a party at the Yacht club, went shopping at their version of Costco and been to see an island dance and music show. We arrived just in time to miss a huge international arts festival but in time to see a few of the stragglers before they left the country.
The people here are crazy friendly and you can't walk past anyone without saying hello and smiling. Much different from FRENCH Polynesia. Also, thing cost 1/10 what they do in Tahiti. Self serve laundry is $1 instead of $10, bottle of vodka is $20 instead of $80 and on and on. We have been in French Polynesia for so long we had gotten used to the ridiculous prices and unfriendly natives. We are happy to be hear and are doing laundry, provisioning the boat and getting ready for the next passage. We are not sure how long we will be here but with good internet and cheap food we are in no hurry.
August 14, 2008
We have been in American Samoa for about two weeks now and I am ready to leave. The place is great but we are anchored in an industrial harbor next to a Starkest Tuna plant so every once in a while we get a major whiff of what smells like rotten tuna blowing through the boat. The water in the bay is so dirty we can't make water or swim in it. I am used to swimming every day and have not been in the water in two weeks. This being said it is very easy to get things shipped here and we are still waiting for the last few things we ordered to arrive. This is an american territory so things can be sent US priority mail and they usually arrive in a few days. I have order all sorts of things and gotten myself into a few boat projects. These projects include adding a tri-sail to Fearless, replacing the generator wet muffler as the old one melted, rigging a preventer that we can manage from the cockpit and installing a permanent wifi antenna. The weather we just went through motivated me into a few changes.
We have managed to squeeze in a few play days . We rented a car and tour the islands with our friend from Myah. Outside of Pago Pago it is a beautiful islands but the shore is rough and not conducive to snorkeling or swimming. We took a tour of the local NOAA station where they do all sorts of atmospheric studies and went to the Barefoot Bar which is about the only tourist place I have seen. Other then that we have just been enjoying being able to eat out once in a while and the excellent internet service which we can actually pick up from the boat.