19h00 UTC 23 May
Course: 253°
Distance covered last 24hrs until 18h00 GMT: 163 nm
Distance to Marquesas: 51nm
Position 09°45' S 138°10' W
Well this is it... hopefully our last day on this leg. We are pushing like crazy to get in before dark tonight. It is 10h00 local time and sunset will be at 18h20. So the race is on. Our friends in front of us saw the islands from 35nm away this morning when the sun came up so we should see them starting to rise out the ocean in about ten miles.
Yesterday was frustrating trying to keep up the speed as the wind was variable and light (8-10kn) and at times the breeze was not enough to keep the spinnaker full as the boat rolled on the swells. As a result we had the spinnaker wrap around the forestay a few times. This is always a worry as it pulls tight and can be very difficult to get free. Lucky for us most times it came free easily. Once we had a real battle with it.
The entry into the bay tonight is a good one as there are navigation marks/lights and there is open water all the way in. We will have to anchor out of the harbour area as we do not have a second anchor to deploy off the stern to keep us facing into the swell that rolls into the bay. As the other boats will have theirs out, we cannot swing around in circles on a single anchor. If we get in early enough we will be able to sort a stern anchor out...so it depends on time of arrival.
Yesterday our autohelm gave up the ghost and Colin needs to remove the wheel to fix it. We think that the gearbox has failed... the same thing that happened to us as we approached St Lucia after the Atlantic crossing. So that will have to be done at anchor. We have a spare gearbox as well as spare cogs to rebuild this one if necessary/possible. The wind is too light for the Aries to give us an accurate course as it wonders around all over.
So here we are a full day to steer and watch the peaks of the Marquesas rise out the ocean.
Till next time...
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