0800 Position 10-28S 138-40W. Days run 204 miles. At anchor in the Bay of Virgins, Fatu Hiva.
We had been fishing for days without success. After lengthy discussion in the cockpit, we decided that the fish couldn't stand the hot water either and had descended to cooler depths. Besides, if we caught a fish in water this hot, it would already be cooked when we landed it. Yesterday was the penultimate contest day. Longy had a lure out, I had one out, and Rob had his cedar plug out. Nothing happened all day. Just before dinner the lines came in and there was no lure at the end of mine. It had apparently been hit by something pretty big and it broke at the swivel. Too bad. It was the lure Fred Morelli made for me that caught the sixty pound ahi near Raivavae in 2014.
The trip wouldn't have been complete without a little tough weather, and we got it late yesterday and this morning. Squalls rolled through all afternoon and evening. The wind would shift forty degrees and increase from five to twenty five knots. We had a big south swell and a south east swell that knocked the stern around. And it rained… hard. We had to stay on our toes all night with lots of hand steering during the heavy stuff, and ended up putting two reefs in the mainsail early this morning.
At 6AM this morning we dropped anchor in Hanavave Bay on Fatu Hiva. This is a popular place. There were eighteen boats here when we arrived and a couple more have come in since we did. We are smack dab in the middle of the "Pacific Puddle Jump" fleet, the annual organized coconut milk run caravan across the South Pacific. We will likely run into these same boats all the way to Australia.
There is a reason this anchorage is popular. It is one of the most spectacularly beautiful spots on earth with 3,000 foot peaks that fall away right into the sea on both sides of this protected gorge. There is a waterfall that empties into the ocean 200 feet off to starboard, and lava spires on the hillside to port. During my eight month South Pacific cruise in '86 I shot five rolls of film. One of those five was used up here. We are planning to go ashore to do some hiking and exploring today, and then we will likely be off to Tahuata, the next island in the group, tomorrow.
We were fifteen and a half days getting here sailing 2,900 miles at an average speed of 7.8 knots, pretty quick for a light air trip. Except for last night's rough weather, it was probably my smoothest crossing ever.
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