Jeez, guys… it’s been a while! We’ve been in a rut recently, but we’re feeling optimistic now that our time in French Polynesia has come to an end. We’ve spoken about our struggles in past videos/blog posts and have been even more honest in our Crew/VIP Only posts, but to summarize our time here, it has been more challenging than fun. We’re tired. Now that cyclone season is over, we are eager to move along! We thought we’d kick things off by bringing back our daily blog posts for our ~7-10-day passage from Bora Bora to Tonga. So without further adieu…
We were cutting it close—checking out of the country the day our visas expired. I thought the three weeks I had scheduled between our insurance’s cyclone season restriction end date and our visa expiration would be plenty; who would’ve thought it would take 25 days for a weather window to come along? Outrageous! At one point, we figured we had to be being misled, so we hired a second weather router and reached out to a friend who is a meteorologist for a second and third opinion. They all agreed it was in our best interest to stay put. So, we made the most of our time, tackling some boat projects and exploring the beautiful island we’d found ourselves “stuck” at. ;)
We finally set sail this morning, ditching our mooring ball and exiting the pass around 8:30AM. We hoisted the sails and turned off the engines shortly thereafter.
We had our mainsail at the first reef, and our jib on a barber hauler. The seas were rolly, but as we settled onto our course, they were mostly at our stern/aft starboard quarter, pushing us in the right direction. It felt so good to be on the move again.
By lunchtime, the wave height had doubled. Between the heat and the boat's motion, I got a little dizzy while cooking in the galley, so I spent the next few hours at the helm: the best place to prevent sea sickness. I kept my eye on a couple of squalls that had formed on the horizon while Sabado surfed onward. We’re starting on a North path to avoid a cold front to the South. The plan is to jibe on Tuesday/Wednesday.
We’ve read a few too many reports recently of boat troubles in the South Pacific. A catamaran had an escape hatch fail and tragically sank in the Marquesas; all passengers were rescued after drifting for seven hours on an inflatable paddle board. They are now trying to get their passports replaced to organize a return to their home country. Another catamaran was dismasted, and both engines failed. Passengers were rescued by a nearby cruise ship. Our hearts go out to both vessels and their crew. Events like this always prompt lengthy discussions between Ray and me about what we’d do in such an emergency. It’s easy for us to get complacent living on the boat year-round but rest assured, we are taking every safety precaution possible for this passage. Ray took the helm around 3pm, and I napped beside the ditch bag in our cockpit.
We had an early dinner because I prefer to do the dishes in the daylight when we’re underway. This saucy braised chicken taco recipe is my go-to for passages. I prepped a double batch of the meat ahead of time, and we‘ll use half for tacos and half for chicken chili tomorrow. The sun is setting as I’m posting this, so I’ll leave you with this beautiful view to conclude Day 1 of our passage from French Polynesia to Tonga.
Fingers crossed tonight is uneventful. See ya tomorrow!