Saturday 10 March 2018

Far from Anywhere

As I write this, we are eight hours short of the furthest point from land we will reach on this passage. At midnight leading into March 10, Mexican Isla Clarion will be 1230 miles to our northeast; Cape Kumukahi, the furthest point east in Hawaii will be the same distance ahead of us and tiny Eiao Island, an outlier of French Polynesia's Marquesas Islands will be just a hair further away to the south.

From midnight onward, our closest land will be Hawaii!

We were as far from land on our New Zealand to Chile sail a year ago but this seems infinitely less remote. The seas are gentler, the temperatures warmer and now, every few days, we sight the lights of a ship in the distance - we saw no one in the Southern Ocean.

Because of the length of the trip, things are starting to wear out (not least, us!). A few days ago we replaced the water-pump drive belt in our generator. Some things, like a failed courtesy light that keeps us from tripping over a step in the dark or some worn areas of the mainsail, are simply added to a list to be dealt with in Honolulu.

We are slowly getting into "arrival mode". We contacted US Customs today to discuss their requirements for our clearance into the US and we communicated with the marina near Waikiki where Traversay will be staying to arrange a berth.

The sea (and thus air) temperature, having been pegged at 28C (83F) for several days have finally started to drop as we leave the equator further behind. That 28C sounds more pleasant than it is. It is fine outside in the breeze but inside, with limited ventilation to keep the spray out and various machinery adding heat, it reached 34C (93F) in the cabin!

There are 35 days of sailing behind us. We are guessing 10 more days will see us tied to the dock.


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At 2018-03-10 00:23 (utc) our position was 11°53.79'N 133°52.34'W

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