Day 195, Year 1: Rockin’ and Rollin’—Day 9
Date: Sunday, April 30, 2006
Weather: Sunny Day with Scattered Clouds
Water Surface Temperature: Didn’t Check Today—Too Rough
Air Temperature: Daytime 79 degrees F
Latitude: 06 degrees 48 minutes S
Longitude: 110 degrees 16 minutes W
Location: Passage from Galapagos to the Marquesas, Day 9
Miles to Go: 1733 (~ 164 miles last 24 hours)
Miles to Date: 1210
Today was sunny with no rain, but other than that nothing has changed since yesterday. We are still being tossed about – with the great winds come the rougher seas. We are making great time and even though it is a bit uncomfortable, the conditions are safe. Our friends on Quantum Leap, a catamaran out of Mobile, Alabama, have passed us. They are making 200 plus miles a day. We are making about 160 to a 170 a day, but that is about as fast as our little monohull will go. There is also a Benateau 45′ that was still close to us this morning, but they should be ahead of us by this evening. Randy and Sherri on Procyon are well behind us, as well as a couple of other boats that we don’t know. We enjoy our contact twice a day with everyone and continue to enjoy the passage.
This afternoon I mentioned to Mark that I wanted to hear the song “Old Time Rock and Roll” as that is what we are doing-rockin’ and rollin’. That prompted him to get the MP3 player out. We hooked it up to its little but powerful speakers and searched through the music that our daughter Heather and her husband Jed put on the player. No “Old Time Rock and Roll” but we came across songs from the 1950’s and had a blast listening to Fats Domino, Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and on and on. There was plenty of rock and roll music to go with the movement of Windbird. We also found some Bob Marley on the player. I was reading this morning that the chief in Fatu Hiva likes Bob Marley CD’s, so we might have to burn one for him before we arrive.
Some of the first wave of boats have arrived in Fatu Hiva. We don’t have radio contact with most of them, but on the evening Pacific Seafarer’s Net, Mark has been able to keep track of Bud and Kathy on Invictus out of Mountain Home, Arkansas. They are a great couple and they should have arrived in Fatu Hive this afternoon. I keep talking about Fatu Hiva as if anyone reading this knows exactly where that is, but I, as most people, had never heard of this island until well into this trip. There are a number of islands in the Marquesas, the first group of islands you come to when crossing the Pacific on the classic route that we are taking. There are 10 islands and numerous rocks and islets that make-up the group. Fatu Hiva is the southern most island. Although it is not an official port of call, we have heard from other cruisers that the gendarme is currently allowing boats to stop there for a few days before heading north to Hiva Oa, the largest island in the group and the one where we will officially check into the Marquesas. There are a couple of reasons that we want to come into Fatu Hiva. One is that it will be an easier path to sail north-west through the other islands and second, it is the most beautiful island in the Marquesas. As you come into Baie Hanavave (Bay of Virgins), you first see the rocky spires near the head of the bay and on either side of the bay there are dark green steep-sided mountains. The spires are supposed to be even more dramatic in a setting sun. This Baie des Vierges (Bay of Virgins) is said to once have been named the Baie des Verges. This translates as the Bay of Phalli, so named because of the shape of the rocky pillars. Evidently when the first missionaries arrived, they didn’t approve and they inserted an “i” changing Vierges to Verges. Whatever, I look forward to arrival there.
