Pitufa.at

Yesterday evening we had a tough decision to make: if we raced like crazy and the wind held out we’d just be able to make it to Maria in daylight today. We were contemplating slowing down and planning for an early arrival on Tuesday, but in the end we couldn’t resist–we let all sails out, let Pitufa run as fast as she can and were making around 7 knots all night long.

Today we’re racing the sun to make it to Maria before dusk. 43 nm and 9 hours of daylight left… We’ll arrive with westerly winds, that should then shift during the night to SW and later S. We’ll therefore have to search for an anchorage on the eastern side of the barrier reef when we arrive and change anchorge tomorrow morning to the western side of the barrier reef. We hope everything will work out and that we’ll be able to stay on Maria for a few days.

The seas are calm, the wind’s blowing steady, it’s sunny and warm–sailing can actually be nice sometimes
200 nm to go to Maria!

The passage from Aitutaki was warm and sunny, but when we reached Rarotonga yesterday afternoon we already saw clouds hanging over the island. We tied up in the harbour med-mooring style and had a quiet night. Unfortunately the weather’s grey and rainy today…

The weather forecast is as usually messing with us. Instead of steady northeasterlies we had fickle E to SE yesterday, played with the gennaker, but ended up motorsailing (which we hate). During the night the engine was also running partly and now that the wind is officially dying down (according to the forecast) it’s blowing merry 15 knots… We haven’t caught a fish since we left Tongareva–a boat reported on our SSB net that they saw a big Taiwanese fishing vessel. Such a ship can empty a whole stretch of ocean…

Yesterday we spent all day anchored off Manuae. We got the dinghy ready (not easy in rough conditions), but the passage through the reef looked way too dangerous in the swell that was getting bigger every hour. In the end we gave up and instead of spending a rolly night at anchor, we left and spent a rolly night at sea (with lots of squalls).

At first light we arrived in Aitutaki (Southern Cook Islands). Aitutaki is a hilly main island with a shallow lagoon around and some motus on the barrier reef. Unfortunately the narrow pass is too shallow for Pitufa, so we’re anchored on the outer reef next to pass. We’re getting better at this outer-reef thing: we use our CQR-anchor with 10 m chain and rope (we don’t want to risk our good Bügelanker) and the anchorage is calm and nice despite the fact that it’s blowing hard from the SE.

The wind is playing games with us, so we have decided to make a stop-over off an uninhabited island while we wait for wind to sail to Aitutaki. We managed to anchor on the outer reef despite rainy and grey weather. Now we’re rolling in the swell that comes around the island from both sides, hoping for a sunny spell. The island’s a national park, but we see neither birds in the sky nor turtles in the water

Right when we arrived 3 humpback whales came by (2 adults and a baby) and they’ve been hanging out around the boat and singing so loudly that we can clearly hear them through the metal hull

The weather forecast threatened with a calm period, but fortunately it only lasted 4 hours and we could start sailing again at midnight. This morning dawned almost kitschy beautiful: sunny, flat seas and Pitufa gliding along with 3 knots in a gentle breeze. 88 nm to go!

After a perfect sailing day yesterday we had a squally night and didn’t get much sleep. 197 nm to go!

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Last night we sailed into a dark bank of clouds that brought quite some rain, but fortunately also wind from the right direction. This morning we sailed out on the other side into blue skies, but the wind kept blowing and we’re making good progress!

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This passage is starting slowly, but pleasantly. There’s just a light breeze, but the sea’s so calm that Pitufa is still moving along with an average of 4 knots. We have all hatches open (incredibe on an ocean voyage) and this afternoon we even had a bath–hanging on to the swimming ladder even 3 knots feel incredibly fast

The forecast is constantly changing, this morning’s grib didn’t look great, but we’re hoping for the best and trying not to get impatient in the light winds with the miles slowly ticking down.