May 18th
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PENGUIN DIARY 18 May So here we are on the 18/may engine
running at 2200 revs {not usually allowed above 2000] the time is 1100hrs we are
desperate to reach Ahe in the Tuamotus before it gets dark, we have 36miles to
go and are traveling at 6 knots. The sun goes down at 6 and by 6.30 it will be
pitch black, if we do not arrive by 5 we will have to spend another night at sea
or end up trying to get into a coral lagoon in the dark with 4or 5knots of
current very Scary. We are just starting our fifth day the engine has been
running at 1600revs for 3.1\2 days we have had no wind since leaving the
Marquesas, so now you know why we are so desperate to get in tonight, the
prospect of sleeping tonight at anchor with no engine noise will be a real
pleasure.[so much for the environmentally friendly sail
boat] Well that’s today story. So now for
what has been going on since the last entry. We are still not able to communicate
with the outside world very well, only when we get ashore and either use local
phones or internet can we achieve anything, most of the facilities have been
very basic, so if anyone who still remembers us, has been trying to contact us
we are sorry. Norman our now shore base communications expert is trying to get
us another Iridium Phone which will restore our e mail and phone link with home.
The other big breaking story that I expect most people
already know of is that Jacky will once
again be joining Penguin in The last time I wrote we had just
reached Wreck Bay Galapagos, we spent two weeks traveling around the islands,
They are a fantastic place to visit for anyone who gets the chance, the wildlife
their seems to know that it is the stars of the show and go about their lives
aware of us human audiences but not concerned. The Highlights have been swimming
around with playful seals, going to Isobella to see the Penguins they are tiny
smaller than the boobies, [Blue footed Booby its a sea bird i promise] we also
visited a coastal lake area surrounded by lava rocks this was a resting place
for large numbers of big turtles. Niamh finally got to see her Hammer Head Shark
sadly she was not in the water at the time but on deck as it swam past Penguin
going in the opposite direction. We also went for a walk along side a shallow
lagoon Swimming in the warm waters were a dozen white tipped reef shark only
4..5ft long there was also a young seal at one end who did not seem worried by
the company he was with. The prehistoric Iguanas were either sunbathing or in
the water eating, they certainly looked big under water through the glass of a
mask. And so it was time to do our final stock up on fresh food the last calls
home, Colin got his last surfs in, don’t ask him about any of the wildlife he
only saw them if they were either on the beach, riding waves, [dolphins and
seals do this when they need some fun] or on the various paths used to get to beaches. On the 15 april after lunch we set
off to travel 3000 miles to the Marquesas. During our land visits we had met up
with a number of boats traveling the same route as ourselves and after a day or
two we connected up with a radio calling net of boats on passage to Marquesas,
during the morning call up we gave our positions and current weather, we were
also able to keep in contact with other boats and monitor their progress, we had
a special interest in a 40ft fast Australian catamaran which had left
Galapagos thirty hours before us. It took us
17days to reach the coast line the aussie was still a day ahead of us, all other
boats on the net could not live with Penguins Pace. Many times we would check in with the net having flown the spinnaker
for 10 hrs the previous day expecting to be catching the aussie only to find he
had matched our 24hr run. Maybe
next time we will have him. Penguin
flew across the Pacific in the strong tradewinds, which seemed to be directly
behind us always, we covered 190miles plus on many days but we still cant claim
to have beaten the 200 mile barrier.
The days we covered around 200miles we were also using the sextant for
navigation so no GPS and no accurate log measurement. So 200miles barrier stands still to
be beaten. We all took turns at fixing our position
using the sextant and tables, we had two days each with no GPS the final fixes
had Niamh within a mile of our position so she won the prize of the cocktail of
her choice at the next decent bar. The result of 17 days at sea is that all
three of us can now get a fix. Niamh also spent the time perfecting her Culinary
skills and I am sure her family are shocked to hear was quite often to be found
with her head stuck in the Good Housekeeping Recipe book choosing the dish she
was going to prepare for the evening meal on her turn. Colin proved to be a
master bean Chef which was very handy as we still have bag fulls bought from
The winds had been consistent all
the way so we were all pleased that we would final be sailing into a bay and
anchoring and we would not be charging across the ocean on our rolling magic
carpet. Little did we know that The Marquesas make a very dramatic
landfall they rise high out of the ocean are volcanic mountains which are
extremely green lush steep and inhospitable there was little sign of
life other than large amounts of sea
birds. dredging. All the locals were
friendly and gave us an excellent taxi service from the harbour to the town sat
in the loading space of their 4x4s. We stayed 12days visiting the islands spending our
time walking around snorkeling the
highlight being the Rays, we were at one point completely surrounded by about 30 enormous
Manta Rays, Collin went out snorkeling with 20 Sting Rays, his first ever encounter with Rays.
The population of the Marqueasas is migrating to all
corners of the world and you certainly got
the feeling of being that the rest of the world was a long
way away, it was certainly amazing to
think that these traveling from
stone carvings and areas for their
religious gatherings and sacrifices.
The Penguin fruit and veg nets were replenished with mangoes
lemons bananas, and coconuts as well as anything else vaguely edible that we could scrump
on our travels. Before leaving Marquesas we heared
that Gypsy Moth had run aground in
the Tuamotus and Efforts were being made to rescue
her lets hope it was successful anyway that’s were we are Going next but with no wind and
solid motoring it certainly has not been the best journey.
The Bright side is that there is not
much moon and the stars are putting on amazing displays
each Night, we have also been fixing our
position at twilight but not as
accurately as the We will just have to do more
practice. So to answer your anxious curiosity, we
motor sailed into the pass at 4.30 the tide was rushing In with us. We had then to motor
another 8 miles to anchor in the lagoon near the village, the
sun Set as we reached the anchorage and
one of the other yachties came out in his dinghy to guide Us in through the coral heads which
are just below the surface of the water but we were unable To see because of the light
conditions. The anchor went down and the engine went off and complete silence
once again was restored. It was time for us to have a well earnt glass of wine
and watch the stars come out. We
were anchored in the lagoon at Ahe the home for a period Of the French long distance sailor
Bernard Mortisiere another mile stone in the Journey. Well by now it is perfectly obvious we
have far to much time to waste and so must you if You have managed to wayed through
this in one sitting. With a bit of luck Colin and Niamh Might add something to keep litary
critics happy and I am sure Jacky
will once again feature Large when she has got over her
Flying adventure . So this is The End
ROB. It’s Wednesday afternoon and
we’re en route from Apatake (one of the Tuamotu Atolls) to
Despite lots of talk on the net this morning about lots of squalls and a building low pressure, we’ve had a very pleasant so far this morning…down wind with 3reefs (with due regard to Norman’s good influence we decided to be particularly sensible this morning!) and a little genoa. Or at least…until now - Rob has just caught a lovely big dorado, and was mid-filleting it, when all of a sudden one of those promised squalls hit. Colin made the big mistake of taking over the wheel from me about 2mins before hand….I’ve hidden myself away merrily down below as the boys are working away up there in rain that would make any Scottish man proud…though he is complaining of feeling cold at the moment! So I’m delighted to report that chivalry is well and truly alive…and all for the small price of a “little cup of tea”. Rob has filled you in on all our adventures in the South Pacific to date. We’ve been to some really interesting places and met lots of new friends to share “fish catching stories” with. The snorkeling and diving has definitely been the highlight for me….sharks everywhere!!! Even yesterday in Apatake, we were amazed to find whole new species of fish that we had never seen before, so I reckon we’ve got lots more exploring to do in the Pacific yet! …Niamh
Breakfast guests at
Bonkers!!
Yes I do exist
A chill out pool
Underwater beasties….a manta procession
Baby sea-lions play with Penguin
And finally…..the shark! |
