News

Saturday May 8 2004
Position at 0630 hrs

11-38 S
142-22 W
Cog 235
Sog 6.5 kts
Wind 12 kts
Wind from the SE

Have been sailing all day and night under a full genoa only. The winds are favorable and we are making good distance. Have not seen anything. The little generator is running well and I use it when typing my log on the laptop and at the same time I charge all my batteries on board. With 10 gallons of gas I can run the generator up to three hours a day for the next 20 days !

It has been raining on and off all night. I have been plotting my chart and I will pass just north of one of the most northerly atolls, then will sail close by the famous island, Bora Bora, heading for Samoa, which is still 1600 nm away.

Friday May 7 2004
At first light I rowed to the quay, washed all my dirty laundry by hand and took a well deserved bath under the tap too. I Filled up my empty water bottles and rowed back to IT. We did not drift again and I was very relieved. Hitched a ride back to town and at a small eatery place ordered an ice cold Heineken beer. The owner could speak English and I told him about my problem obtaining diesel and gas. I told him I was willing to pay him 20 dollars (2000 francs) if he could help me.

He then took me back in his truck to the harbor where I rowed back to IT to get the jerry cans. He then went over to the same fuel depot where the lady refused to sell me diesel and gas(petrol). He then pumped 5 gallons of gas and 5 gallons of diesel and we went back to his place where he asked a friend to get me 5 more gallons of gas, as the fuel was low and everyone was limited.

He also took me to the bank where I withdrew cash to pay him. The teller at the bank messed up big time. I asked for 60 dollars(6000 francs), but he withdrew out my account $600 (60000 francs). I gave all the money to my helper, under the impression it was 6000 francs!! He saw the mistake and handed me back 54000 francs. Talk about honesty !!! I tried to deposit the money back into my account, but they cannot do that, instead they exchanged the francs into dollars.

A quick stop at the store for last minute items and back to IT. My helper asked not to have his name revealed and, giving each other bear hugs, I thanked him for his help. We parted and I rowed back to IT. I hauled up the anchor and set sail out of the little harbor and bay.

Taking pictures and video footage and under full genoa, we quickly caught up with a catamaran and two sloops, all of us sailing close hauled. The cat not getting good headway. But as soon as we rounded the head of the island, going on a beam reach, the cat got the upper hand and was soon a speck on the horizon. The other two yachts threw anchor in a small bay with white sanded beaches and then it was just me on the big blue sea again. Sailed all night, bearing 230.

Position at 0600 hrs
10-43 S
140-20 W
Cog 220
Sog 5 kts
Wind 10 kts
Wind from the SE

Wednesday and Thursday May 5 and 6 2004
With the wind down and another 25 nm to go, I ran the motor between the islands. The full moon came out but it was very cloudy and using the port entry of Atuona's coordinates and with the help of my radar, I navigated into the little bay and harbor at 0200 hrs in the morning. The moon and the clouds throwing ghostly images of the steep cliffs, breaking surf and small tiny islands scattered alongside the main islands. I read the entry directions carefully beforehand, but I must admit it was very tricky navigating into the unknown. I finally saw the pilot light against the cliff and the few tiny lights of the small town, they were beckoning to me. As I got closer, I finally saw the green light of the small harbor entrance. I motored around the 15 or so yachts already at anchor there, looking for a place to anchor myself. I saw a small buoy and hooked it up, it was tied to a chain in the 50 feet of water. I fell asleep immediately! Waking up at dawn, I saw that I was dangerously close to another yacht. There was a man on the boat waving his arms, trying to tell me something, but it was too dark to read his lips.

Then it hit me, I had tied IT up to his stern anchor which was about 100 meters behind his yacht. I started the motor and quickly let go of his buoy and apologised to him. He was flying a Belguim flag and if he understood me, I don't know. Well, I motored around and tried to come alongside the concrete jetty, but the swells were too big and we got one nasty hit against the big tires that act as fenders. I kept motoring around until it was light enough to see and then dropped anchor. As I had only one anchor, I needed a large enough space to allow IT to swing. I then hauled out my inflatable dingy, installed the floorboards and foot-pumped it up. I emptied the 4 five gallon water containers into my mainholding water tanks and with the empty containers rowed the 200 yards to the quay. I filled them up at a tap, rowed back, emptied them, rowed back to the quay, filled them up again and repeated this process three times. I then, with passport in hand, walked to the town which is about 2 miles from the harbor. I did not have to walk far as a pickup stopped, driven by a Maori, who offered me a ride. He dropped me off at the Gendarme's office, it was still closed, so I checked out the small stores and almost fell on my back when I saw the prices of the goods! I bought a pack of Malboros and a soft drink and walked back to the harbor, hitching a ride on the back of a pickup.

The place is truly beautiful and the aroma of the palms and the thick green forest was taking my breath away!

Got back to IT, collected all my papers and set off again, back to town. I found no problems with the gendarmes, just filled out the necessary paperwork, got my passport stamped and walked to the post office to buy the stamp for the clearance paper. Only cost me 6 dollars. Bought a phone card for 11 dollars and using the only computer on the island that has internet access, tried to send e-mail to Bev, but without success. There were a lot of people standing in line, so I called it quits after 10 min. Got back to IT, hauled out the climbing gear and climbed to the top of the mast, putting back the two spinnaker halyards through their blocks which I lost in the sudden squall offshore. The swells were giving me a very hard time, but I managed to complete the task. Took the jerry cans to the fuel depot, just to find out the lady in charge there refused to sell any diesel or gas to me! There I was standing and watching how the locals fill up their cars and trucks, dumbstruck!

She told me I can have some next week!

I got back to town, trying to find diesel or gas there, but without avail. Got back to IT, to find out she had drifted 100 meters. I rowed like hell back to her and motored back to my old spot, dropped anchor again. Went back to town, hitching rides, did some LITTLE shopping and back to IT again, to find out she had drifted again. Got her close to the horseshoe shaped breakwater and dropped anchor again. Since losing my big Danworth anchor, the spare anchor is obviously too small and I had to keep IT out of the current and winds.

Very tired and hungry, I got out one of the army meals and following the instructions on the bag, I had a steaming meal of meat, mushrooms and rice in 10 min! Doggone tired I fell asleep in the cockpit, waking up occasionally to check if we were drifting or not. Woke up at 0200 hrs, and feeling refreshed, I took out the laptop and am now typing my log.

I will try one more time this morning to get my hands on 5 gallons of gas (petrol), then I am off with or without it. I will leave no later than noon. Will have to rely solely on solar power from now on until we can get to Samoa.

Bev, the place is beautiful and I did not even have time to smell the roses, because I really want to share this beautiful place with you. Despite the fuel problem, I am pressing on. The water tanks are topped up.

Love you
Charl

Tuesday May 4 2004 - 1500 hrs Pacific time
"Then from the whited chart, and from the water, the island stands up. It was there. It has not only an existence as dark dots on a chart; but it is a different piece of land from that we have left. It is the islands to which we have been bound !"
&nbps;    -----Allan Villiers, "Falmouth for Orders"

ETA 1900 hrs
On my port side bearing 240 lies the island "Motane" rising 960 meters .
Straight on, bearing 267 lies the island Hiva Oa rising 1190 meters on its west coast. Hiva Oa is only 22 miles long and 7 miles wide. It havens Atuona, the main port, as this is were we are heading now.
On the south side of Hiva Oa lies another smaller island, "Tahuata" rising 1000 meters above sealevel. Sixty miles to the south ( I can't see it) lies another island, Fatu-Hiva". These four islands make up the SE group of the Islands of Marquisas.

I will use my radar to navigate into the harbor tonight, as I have no detailed charts. The moon is full too!!

Tuesday May 4 2004
Still sailing on a run after 24 hrs. I was hoping I would see some boats as we are getting close to land, but nothing. The sea is as empty as it has been the last 3 weeks. Absolutely nothing in sight.

I must come out with the truth now. I have kept this to myself as I did not want to scare anybody at home. The reason I am heading for Hiva Oa is that one of my water tanks is leaking. It happened during that big storm 3 days after we left Balboa. I noticed a lot of water in my bilges and checking the stuffing box on my propeller shaft and pendant tube for the centerboard's halyard, I could not find the cause until I opened the water tanks. 80 % of my 90 gallons was gone! With both valves open on the tanks the water could run from one tank to the other and with all the rocking and rolling somehow the water seeped out somewhere. The only way to find the leak is to fill the tanks up again. I have since caught as much rainwater as I could but it is not sufficient for another 1800 nm of sailing to Samoa. I could have altered course and sailed for the Galapagos Islands, but I did not have any detailed charts of the islands. I also do not have any charts of the Marquisas Islands, but I have the Sailing Directions edition of the islands and I will also use my radar to navigate into the bay at the port of Atuona. My diesel is also low and I depend heavily on my main engine to charge my batteries, as my solar panel is very small and the sun does not shine everyday.

You need a visa to stop at the islands but with Dave and Sharon Ragle's help, we have notified the officials and gendarmes at the islands of my problem and they are expecting and ready to help me as soon as I arrive.

ETA at Atuona is about midnight tonight. 90nm to go.

Position at 0700 hrs
9-53 S
137-26 W
Cog 267
Sog 5.5 kts
Wind 10 kts
Wind still from the East

Monday May 3 2004
Another quiet day for us. Still sailing on a run. Wind died around 1500 hrs yesterday and we were drifting again at 3 knots. At 1900 hrs a stiff breeze picked up and we were on our way. Sailing all night, bearing 265, speed 6.5 knots. Only 250 nm to go to Hiva Oa. At this speed, ETA around Wednesday morning, May 5th.
Position at 0600 hrs
10-27 S
134-48 W
Cog 260
Sog 6.8 kts
Wind 12 kts
Wind from the East

Sunday May 2 2004
No chance on wind or course direction the past 24 hrs. Still sailing on a run. Every now and then the rolling can get a bit out of hand,
but to deal with it is to go an lie down with a book. Still no ships.The wind is pretty constant now. We are sailing straight for Hiva Ou,
one of the Marquisas Islands and I will stop at the town of Atuona to get diesel and some gas for the generator. No sight seeing, may
sail around the island for video footage, then off to Samoa. Will come back one day with Bev then we can smell the flowers together.
Position at 0530 Pacific time
10-42 S
132-33 W
Cog 272
Sog 6.5 kts
Wind12 kts
Wind from the East

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