We’ve been playing “dodge the storms,” since 7am, they’re all around us. Black skies and squalls threaten over calm seas; with little wind to move us forward, we’re limping along at 5+ knots. With only 600 miles left to go to our destination, i’m getting impatient and wishing the storms to Halifax.
We’re all starting to look a little jaded, 3 weeks of night watches and unusual sleep patterns are beginning to take their toll on us. I haven’t wanted to run the washing machine while underway because the boat is rolling so much, so I’m almost out of clean clothes and bedding, i’ll be down to wearing dresses soon, which are not really suitable for sailing. Daisy will be reminiscent of a Chinese laundry boat once we arrive in Hiva Oa. I’ll probably have the washing machine running for 3 or 4 days to get it all done.
The anticipation of seeing land again is reminiscent of the excitement one feels waiting for Christmas morning. This journey seems to have taken us months not weeks, the first week wasn’t too bad, but the middle 2 weeks have been really horrible and dragged by. We finally seem to have come across better weather, even though the wind is not what we would like, the seas have been kinder for the last few days, and aside from the odd squall I can’t complain.. Daisy has not been rolling quite so much, which has made life much more bearable and enabled me to function about the boat, cleaning and cooking.
I’ve read so many books over the last 3 weeks, I’m just starting my 11th book. I’ve also been reading about ‘Hiva Oa’ which is our first planned stop in the Marquises, it sounds perfectly idyllic, I‘m so excited to see it. Sadly we will only have a week and a bit there, before having to move on to Nuku Hiva, as Louis has his flight home on the 13th April.
The other thing we have to bear in mind is that the World ARC is due to arrive in Nuka Hiva in about a week, which will be just before us and will mean all supplies on the island will have been depleted, gas, food and other essentials will probably all be in short supply if available at all. We will just have to deal with that when we get there.