Friday, July 8, 2011

On route to Papeete

Colin and Sandy Cruising with Papillon
23h00 UTC 08 July
Course: 240°
Distance covered last 24hrs until 18h00 GMT: 135 nm
Distance to Tahiti: 108nm
Position 16°55' S 147°51' W
All's well on board.

Well the rain cleared mid morning after a large squall that got us thinking that we would wait another day. We are pleased that we opted to go as the rain and squalls have stayed away so far. The pass was a little tricky as the tide was going out into a fairly rough sea. As we got towards the outside of the pass the waves were very steep and close together with some breaking standing waves. Fortunately our friend had just gone through and radioed us to say it was very rough but not for too long and once they were out the sea settled down. So in we plunged.... The first wave over left us with waterfalls inside as two hatches were still on their breather openings. Fortunately one was the heads but the other was above the chart table. Luckily most of that water landed on the floor. We could not rush down to close them as the boat was being tossed around with waves coming straight in over the bow. Well we were soon through that and the rest of the trip so far has been good sailing. The 3m seas on the grib files seem to be a large swell now coming in from the SE that is about 50m crest to crest. They roll us a little but they are fine. We are a little ahead of our schedule but will keep pushing on as the wind is supposed to get lighter overnight. We should get in to Papeete early tomorrow morning.

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