Today’s noon day distance was not record at all. Merely 104 NM we made since noon yesterday.

At around 1100 board time MaRe, which is now UTC-7, the sky had mercy with us. Sky saw that monkey with the tin tool stole a big part of our wind. Sky can’t make the wind, thus cleared itself from strato cumulus clouds so we could hoist the gennaker again. No promises until when it will stay clean but at least a few hours gennaker is better than nothing. Thanks sky!

So MaRe draws hey double track faster to West.

The last night’s main characteristics was a weakening wind due to the monkey with the tin tool’ s successful attempt to steal our wind.

Currently it is around 3 – 4 Bft only. Hoisting the gennaker is not possible due to too many strato cumuli decorating the sky ready to lash down on us poor dinner lots of wind and rain. I don’t want to be hit by a squall with the gennaker up.

So we will tell us many times through the day that we all enjoy the slow sailing before we speed up for the final leg in the next days.

Also we still have to sail 2000 NM to the Gambier Islands, they are moving into my focus already.

I plotted already the WPTs from the “GambierReef N” WPT into the large lagoon. The reef has a diamond shape with corners into each compass point. Extension NS is 20 NM and WE is about 18 NM.

There is one entrance channel marked in the sea charts through a reef opening on the west side. It goes around the southern side of the main island Mangareva on leads to its eastern side where the main settlement Rikitea is located. Also there are markers in the sea charts, it doesn’t mean they are in the water. Maybe they were planned or really set-up in the past, they might have disappeared or become invisible by time. Thus, we will go along the indicated route using GPS, the sea chart and most important eyeball navigation.

What will be at the island? From reports we read there will be no supermarket, no fuel station.
SIM cards for internet access are said to be available at the post office, which also provides WLAN for everyone. Once every 2 weeks a supply boat is coming, which also is supposed to have fuel on board in 200 l drums.

That’s what we know! It looks like real adventure. At the end we will know more of the SE corner little group of islands of French Polynesia.

What is of interest for me is how the people are living there, what their daily life is. The good things and the bad things.

Walking around, try to talk to people, hiking, snorkeling will be parts of our exploration of the islands inside the large lagoon.

This island is off of the beaten tracks of yachts rushing through the Southern Pacific Islands with a fixed schedule, and this makes it attractive for us.

Night watches are lonesome hours.

I’m sitting at helmsstation and look often up to the sky. A larger area of the sky is uncovered with clouds.

Half over the mast, when MaRe swings a bit to PRT, i can see a the belt of iron.

Tonight I finally found the Southern Cross, which I remember having seen clearly when I traveled, felt 100 years ago, with a friend in NZ. By the end of the year I might arrive there. But no fixed plans.

Now I’ll get myself another cup of tea.

I studied intensively the wind forecast, which we downloaded this morning.

On the 24/25th, the low wind zone extends to North and cuts into our way. This means that for 1 – 2 days, we will face winds around only 5 – 10 KN. If we are unlucky we even will drift again. Such things can happen on a sail of around 4500 NM and taking already 32 days.

Nowadays, nobody without sailing experience can imagine what it means, traveling for more than a month. People are used to board planes and get off about 12 h later on the other side of the world. Here we do slow travelling without jetlag. Traveling just by the wind.

Today the wind pushing MaRe forward weakend a bit. Enough to pull the joker; the gennaker. With this sail we make more speed than with only the genoa on running course. So please wish us good luck an the right winds.

The sea became smoother, which helps to keep a constant speed.

The sun, now going now into her bedroom straight ahead of us is already preparing for her night. An hour maybe to go. Right now hidden almost completely behind a cloud her warm light reflects on the waves with their metallic grey reflecting surface.

On board preparations for dinner have started. Tonight, we will have spaghetti with??? I don’t know what Tjasa has in mind. Dennis yesterday created a nice creamy sauce with canned tuna. Tasted really great. But today, as Tjasa is on the pantry, we will get our beloved tiramisu as desert to an excellent dinner.

Bon appetit!

MaRe has – for a boat of her size – quite a big red light district. The red lights are illuminating all which must be seen and leave a bit in the dark, which should stay in the dark.

The seating is simple but comfortable and can also be used to lay down for while.

Should someone like to sit a bit higher that’s possible as well. The seat for 2 people is simple but comfortable and functions well.

Add typical for MaRe’s red light district it’s now in full swing.

But, I will first have another tiramisu.

Tjasa, our specialist for potatoes and tiramisu prepared today for lunch mashed potatoes and steamed cabbage. Excellent!

For dessert, Tjasa makes every day tiramisu. It’s our favorite desert.

Come on board and enjoy it with us!

Over the last days we watched the development of low wind area north of Gambier. This morning with the latest wind forecast analyzed, and an input from our weather consultant and friend in Switzerland, we decided to go dead West and see how the wind develops. (Thanks V. in CH!)
The low wind area is also a bit of a higher pressure area where the wind turns left on the southern hemisphere.

Now let’s see how good the decision was.

Such decisions are not easy because they influence strongly the arrival time at the Gambiers. The 2 shorter sides of a triangle are always longer then the longest side.

This is also a good example on how sailing in remote areas of the world changed. We can download 2 x / day the lasted weather forecast for 6 weather models, we can discuss the course with another boat and we have a “weather consultant” in CH. Bernhard Moitessier, a sailor of the 60s, who influenced me most, didn’t even have a short wave radio on board. Before he departed from somewhere, he got from somewhere the latest weather forecast, sometimes just handdrawn by himself and off he took for several thousand miles sails.

And we? We have satellite communication systems on board. Also the narrations you read are uploaded via such connection.

Currently I’m sitting in the cockpit and look astern. Watching the 2 swell systems rolling towards MaRe. There is a shorter one from ESE with a period of about 8 sec. And there is a very long one from SSE. It’s period is very difficult to get because the system from ESE gets in between. I assume its period is twice as long. When I see it, I really love to see how it develops in the distance. A huge wave with a height of at least 3 – 4 m rolling directly on to MaRe. She just lifts her bums and let’s the wave pass under her. She’s a very good girl.

The crew is scattered over MaRe. Tjasa sits at the bow, reads dreams, or writes or does all together. Dennis lies In the shadow of the cockpit sleeps or listens to music or podcasts.

I’m writing this but now will go inside to make my 1200 entry into MaRe’s logbook and send the noon position, which is now
12 27.8 S
105 22.3 W.

For some this might be too long of a time confined on a boat with estimated 86 m2 to live on. However for the three of us out it’s not. We are in good mood and enjoy the sailing, watching sea animals under and above water and all the phenomena above the horizon. The sunrises and sunsets and very interesting formations off clouds.

We had for a few days a passenger on board, a red-footed booby. It not only sat at the bow pulpit but also on the reeling close to the helm station. Only 2 m away from the person at the helm station. Or it sat on the middle of the traverse suspension between MaRe’s hulls. From there it took off to catch a fish and then return to MaRe. What a life as hitchhiker at high seas.

Life is much the same every day but the same time it’s also very different. Difficult to explain.

The influence this very long sail will have on us, we only will see when we meet with others who haven’t gone through such an experience. We only can wonder how we will look at ourselves later on.

A special thing today. Dennis caught a tuna. Tuna are really fish with a lot of meat. Tomorrow we will eat it.

Also tomorrow I have to make a decision on the course. There is a larger low wind area developing north of the Gambier Islands stretching roughly east to west. Currently, with 2 wind forecasts to come for final decision, I tend to change course to dead West between 12 deg and 12.5 deg S. The apparent wind will then come from about 150 – 160 PRT and we would be on running course with only the genoa. Let’s see and hope that i make the right decision.

Currently, 2230, it looks like this.

Since I started my watch at 1900, the wind stabilized in direction and speed. We have ESE wind of about 18 +-1.5 KN. This gives a good speed of around 6.5 KN STW, which would result in a day distance of a bit more than 150 NM. However, using this value already it’s dangerous. The wind can fall asleep and than the good speed just evaporated.

Let’s see what the people of the next watches will report tomorrow morning.