Crossing The Pacific: Longest Crossing Yet!
The major crossing event has begun and we are finally underway for French Polynesia. This has been a trip Rob and I dreamed of and discussed for ten years, but I would not leave my practice when my patients really needed me during the Covid "crisis" and aftermath of the vaccines. (That is another subject for another blog/substack). I delayed my retirement for over five years, while I got myself mentally ready for what I would do with my newfound time and freedom. I had been working hard for the last thirty-four years, and I did not intend (nor know how) to slow down. I had been collaborating with researchers on interesting cases that resulted in NIH grants, including a red tide fatality (that later ended up also being a shingles vaccine related fatality!), and aggressive neurologic cases. I wanted to continue and expand that research and I have been able to do so with the help of Children's Health Defense and other researchers from Miami and FIU. I love helping people and did not want to stop providing medical care or making a difference in other more meaningful ways than seeing patients in the office.
The blessing is that as we sail around the world, we have been providing medical care along the way to cruisers and locals as needed. I can finally concentrate on digging deeper into the research I began in 2021, and various case reports that need to be published. I am hoping that our local hospital in Sarasota will accept my research proposal, I can only imagine why they wouldn't.
Back to the story: The passage across the Pacific to French Polynesia involves sailing over 2,500 miles over the course of 28 or more days. This gives ample time for self-reflection and research. The week-long stopover in Galapagos was quite fruitful and enjoyable and did break up the voyage, splitting the passage into eight days Panama to Galapagos and then 21 days from Galapagos to Marquesas. The chart below shows the navigation routes for the "Pacific Puddle Jump" and others traveling to French Polynesia and onward. (Big Thank you to Sharon from Whangarei Marinas in New Zealand for giving me your copy!) Our tentative schedule was added on but has since changed a bit.
The chart below shows the Five Archipelagos that make up French Polynesia (FP), as well as many of the larger islands and atolls. Prevailing winds are the Tradewinds from Panama through FP and sometimes referred to as "the Coconut Milk Run. There is usually current running east to west along the equator as well. This makes for a more pleasant down wind sail with following seas, for the most part.
We did cross the equator and have our ceremony for King Neptune, even though I was half asleep at 3 am!
Rob and I have divided watches into four 6-hour shifts, with him taking midnight to 6 am and noon to 6 pm, and me taking the other two. This has worked out great, even as we crossed 5.5 (yes, half time zone in Marquesas, UTC -9.5). So far no jet lag, but I swear by melatonin which is the ONLY treatment to safely and effectively counter jet-lag. (Sorry to offend any Ambien fans but that drug is BAD!) It also has now been more widely publicized to fight cancer with even more peer-reviewed studies. Perhaps I will have to take some time and resume my medical blogs on this site as well. Just because we are sailing does not mean I stopped reading and researching!
Part of our days we had alone time that we can get reading done and work on projects. There is constantly something to clean or fix on the boat...or just hang out on the front and wait for dolphins, whales and flying fish to entertain us. Rob has sewn a beautiful cover for our movie-watching/dining area in the salon, and we have made mosquito screen for the large galley window and for the forward heads. Also, we made two mosquito enclosures around the two main cabin beds. (I do not want to have to worry about mosquito-born illnesses like malaria and dengue fever...much less whatever else they have bio-engineered to control the human population. More fodder for medical blog!)
While underway we have been fishing during daylight hours, using one hand-line and another rod and reel rigged for big game. We have hooked a couple of marlin and a few huge tuna, but were not able to bring them in, several times these huge fish just straightened the hooks! It is impossible to slow the boat down enough when you are under sail, especially with a spinnaker flying! We have also had almost two dozen flying fish land themselves on the deck and about fifteen squid! Some of the other cruisers collect them and sautee the squid with garlic...by the time we find them they are dried up!
The dolphins use the boat's wake to surf but also to stir up the flying fish which allows them to feed. We did not see dolphin as often as we expected, but today we saw a large pod that was really having a blast chasing fish!
We noticed our solar output was rather shitty (pun intended) due to boobie guana (poop)! This new solar array we added brings our solar yield up to over 3500, which is great, but depends on having the panels kept clean. We also added a lithium battery bank of another 600 amp hours, so this means that we rarely have to run the generator. It also added about 500 pounds to the aft of our boat, and three feet, so now the boat is charged as a 53 foot catamaran at marinas! I think next time we haul out for any length of time in South Africa , New Zealand of Malaysia we may add another 3 feet of fiberglass to the sugar scoops on back to improve the waterline and boat speed back to its original, or possibly even better.
While Rob cleans up bird poop, I have had ample time to cook up new and exciting dishes with all of the fresh Mahi and Tuna we have had. My sushi rolls are always a hit, especially when I make them with lobster salad. I also have tried coconut bread French toast and a new favorite, chocolate crepes. (We have to start eating French food, "while in Rome, do as the Romans"). We definitely eat well, but the locals do not eat like this! Since there are no great pictures of landscapes in this segment, I will share food pictures!
And for dessert, or breakfast, Crepes au chocolate!
With all this good food and no cardio workout in three weeks, I sure hope the TRX and yoga work-outs are doing the job! We can't wait to go hiking, biking, diving and kite-boarding in French Polynesia!
The sailing community is definitely that: most everyone is very helpful since often they have been in similar situations of needing a part repaired or finding out how to clear into customs, or get provisions delivered in the most remote recesses of the world. We have several boats within a few hundred miles that we are communicating with on an app called "No Foreign Lands". I highly recommend that app for learning about the various locations and seeing who many of your neighbors are in the anchorages.
We share info on weather, sailing and other navigation hazards, cooking and provisioning, and offer any other assistance when needed, including medical care when requested. I have already provided surgical wound repair, doppler ultrasound services for DVT (deep venous thrombosis) detection, evaluation of sudden hearing loss (following covid shots) and barotraumatic ear injury, advice on ciquetera poisoning, provision of medical supplies for porphyria, and a few other medical issues, some on my own crew (Rob and me!). It is still very rewarding to help people, especially pro bono.
Back to the races: Of course, anytime two or more boats are going in the same direction, it IS a race, and so I update the log-book every 1-3 hours to show our average speed, and daily to show how far apart we are from the other boats. Although we are one of the last few boats crossing to French Polynesia this season as part of the "Pacific Puddle Jump", I think we should get an award for "Last to leave Panama and Galapagos, but not the slowest". We are averaging about 6 knots an hour, our max boat speed over ground ever was 20.5 knots (yes, a bit scary), but max on this trip has been 10 knots and we are being more conservative. We were predicted to have about four days of motoring, but we have put less than 40 hours on each of the engines thus far. Our diesel tanks are still nearly 80% full...one of the benefits of sailing rather than motoring.
In order to sail in most any conditions, we have a quiver of six sails: three are for light wind and down-wind sailing. These are the spinnaker, asymmetric spinnaker, and the Code 0. We don't use these at night or in squally weather since they do best under 18 knots. Rob and I have gotten a lot faster at changing sails underway, sometimes changing sails three to four times in a day.
It's hard to believe that the two of us have been on this boat together since December 6th and sailing non-stop since May 23rd. How is that for a marital stress test? "If you want good crew, you have to marry them". I certainly did that! June 24th marks twenty years that Rob and I have been married. We started it all with our honeymoon sailing trip in Thailand in 2006. Who'dathunkit? That's a long time! We will be celebrating it in French Polynesia, God willing. Anyone want to come out and join us?
So many islands, so little time!
Next Stop: Fatu Hiva! Less than one week away!!! Fatu Hiva is the southernmost island in the Marquesas Island group. This beautiful island spans 33 miles and has two nice anchorages. This island is known for its breathtaking hikes and rugged terrain, so we are looking forward to getting back on land to do some trail runs and mountain biking. I promise to have more great pics on the next edition, including drone footage!!
This, by far, was my favorite blog! I love your spinnaker. It’s unique and beautiful. The dolphin…….are they Pacific spinner dolphins? We experienced their speed while fishing at Tropical Star off of Panama. Rob is an artist, when it comes to designing covers for the settee, mosquito netting and repairs to the Code 0. And, not to mention, your culinary magic. Your dining finer than that of a Michelin ranked restaurant , in the middle of the Pacific! Who does that? What happened to the days when sailors ate out of cans? Magical photography. Give a hug to Rob from me. Mama Honey is so proud of you two!
Dynamic duo, almost there! Reminds of mostly favorable (?) Kon-Tiki conditions, but no sewing machine for them. "Ample time for reflection," indeed!