Wow, can you believe I actually made it across the Pacific Ocean!?!?!?!?

Well I DIDN’T.

Well not yet, turns out that Marquises is less than HALF way, so in addition to the 3000 miles I just sailed, I have about 4000 more to go before I get to Australia. But screw the technicalities, YAY I MADE IT!!!!!!!!……. It took 28 days to sail a distance of 2981 miles, that’s averaging about 106 miles per day or an average speed of about 4.5kts. Certainly not any record breaking times but considering that I nearly never used the motor and on a 30-foot boat I think that’s pretty damn good. Not to mention my course was a good bit longer that the 2981 mile rum line since sailing in a straight line to your destination generally isn’t the quickest route. I’ll post a much more detailed report as soon as I have a chance, probably in about a week when I arrive in Nuka Hiva. Right now I am in Hiva Oa, and my landfall this trip was in Fatu Hiva. These are all islands of the Marquises here in French Polynesia.



Here are the trip basics, I departed San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos around 2PM April 16 2009. I used the motor for about two hours to leave the anchorage and get around the side of the island were there would be enough wind. I didn’t start the motor again for propulsion until arriving in the Marquises however I did run the motor about a total of five hours during the trip to charge the batteries, and for the very last two hours as I approached the anchorage here. I had ALL KINDS of wind, strong, weak, and from all directions. There was a total of about 24 hours with no wind at all where I just dropped the sails on the deck on finally get some rest. I caught (only counting fish that made it on deck and in my belly) 3 Dorado or Mahi Mahi, One Yellow fin Tuna, and one Wahoo. Plus a few ugly sea monster fish that I didn’t want to eat and some HUGE fish that broke the 300LB test fishing line I was using and stole my prized lures and hooks! I had plenty of power to run my little refrigerator, keep the radar on at night watching for ships, watch a few movies, plus the lights, radios, etc, BUT only for the first two 10 days. Then the batteries got low, no more movies or computer use, and about half way through or two weeks into the trip I turned off the fridge, besides all the fresh stuff was eaten by then. After that the batteries started to charge back up a little each day. Fresh fruit lasted about half way or two weeks, eggs, potatoes and onions lasted all the way here and are still good. I passed VERY few boats, I think a total of two freighters early on, two fishing boats, and two sailboats. In the middle there was over two weeks with no signs of human life at all, no boats, no airplanes, nothing!

The damage report probably sounds worse than it is but I think it is about normal for such a long passage. I had to repair the Main Sail as it became detached from the sail track cars (parts that hold it onto the mast), I broke my whisker pole (like a spinnaker pole but lighter) but managed to jury rig it back together, I also broke a piece of hardware off the mast that the pole attaches too. Had to make a very minor repair to the windvane, and re sew some stitching on the spray dodger. I’m sure there are a few other minor things but those are the basics. Ill go into more detail on the next update.
Overall I felt very good about the passage, never felt like I was going crazy, scared, or terribly lonely. I was a little depressed when my whisker/Geona pole broke. It was awesome to see these amazing islands after so many days at sea! I arrived in Fatu Hiva and spent two days, I didn’t want to stay too long since it is not a legal entry port into French Polynesia. There were rumors of other boats getting heavily fined for visiting this island before checking in with customs. I was just too tired to proceed to Hiva Oa, and I wanted to see Fatu Hiva anyway. The first day I cleaned the bottom of Salsa, it had huge goose-neck barnacles on her that was really slowing her down by a knot or two. I also finished some minor repairs, and filled up on water, I think I only used about 25 gallons the entire trip. I went to bed early the first day and the next day I hiked to an amazing waterfall and took a fresh water swim, very very nice after all that saltwater! The second night I left at 3AM for the next island, Hiva Oa to check in with customs. However I passed a good friend of mine along the way in another anchorage and stopped for one day there to catch up before I finally got here to Hiva Oa to officially check in, and that hasn’t gone so well either but again Ill explain in the next update. Overall everything is going very well. Salsa is in good shape, only needing a few more minor repairs, I’m healthy, happy, and excited about seeing the islands here, from what I’ve seen so far it’s hard to describe the beauty of the landscape. The local Polynesians have been nice, and there are plenty of other cruisers and friends around if I get bored. Everything here is expensive, internet is over $5 per hour.

That’s it for the so called short update, there really is a lot more to say after a month at sea but Ill get to that soon. Here are my cruising plans through the Pacific in case anyone would like to join me at some point. I will be in Nuka Hiva, Marquises, French Polynesia, in about one week and will stay there for at least a few days, that would be a potential point for someone to fly in, and possibly even sail to Tahiti which is only a few days away however it will take several weeks as I will be stopping in several Atolls through the Tuomotus on the way. In about 1 Month I will be in Papeete Tahiti, the Capital of French Polynesia, and probably the very best place for anyone to join me. There is an international airport, and reasonable rates from the U.S. I will spend at least a few weeks sailing in that area exploring the Society Islands, including Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora, etc. From there I plan to sail to the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, and probably Fiji around late September or October, and I believe that is the only other international airport I will be near. I expect to spend around a month in Fiji island hopping before stopping in Vanuatu, and New Caledonia on the way to Brisbane Australia for the cyclone season starting in December. If anyone wants to visit just email me and we can discuss the details.

I wish I could write more but I HAVE to get out of this anchorage, its over crowded, and the anchor holding isn’t very good, huge waves are rolling in from the ocean, only God knows why they make boats check in for immigration here. So I have to go, and my not have internet for another week or so at which point I should be able to answer emails!. Hope everybody is well! -Kirk

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