March 28 to April 2, 2025
From the Captain’s Log
March 29
I have the morning watch that ends at 6:00. No other ships in sight or on the radar, we are all by ourselves. Miriam takes over and I go for a nap until 9:00.
At 10:30 we turn into the wind to test the main sail again. This time the reef lines are attached properly thanks to Miriam’s and Regis’ Jr’s acrobatic actions on the boom yesterday. We also discuss and implement a Bullenstander, just in case.
Raising the main with the third reef works all right. We are sailing without motor for the first time.
Speed with it and the jib is somewhere between 2-3 knots. Windspeed is around 10 knots. We try the second reef but run into problems with the reef line. When trying to drop the main for fixing it, it does not want to come down. The sliders at the mast are worn out. Maybe we can order some and have one of the crew joining later bring it.
Otherwise a pretty uneventful day. Everybody had something to do. I started fixing the tender with epoxy and wood that was on board, continued sorting and making an inventory, set up the life savers, and worked with Regis Jr. on understanding the autopilot that currently does not work either.
Passed by close to an Island in the evening to get brief Starlink broadband access.
First watch, so I can go to bed before midnight. Yee ha.
March 30, 2025
In an attempt to turn the boat as quickly as possible a lot of strain was put on the port engine. There seems to be no damage, so we continue on planned course.
March 31, 2025
The starboard engine overheats after we shift engines. There is no cooling water. After cooling it down the engine vibrates very badly. We shift back to the Port Engine. Will need to check the Starboard engine at the next opportunity.
April 1, 2025
We set the main sail again, this time with all reef lines sorted out. First try with the third reef, then we move it to the second reef. We sail for a couple of hours without motor, for the first time.
I just went to bed after my shift when Miriam knocks and reports Tak-Tak-Tak sounds at the port engine. Oh no. More problems with the second engine? I do a visual check and cannot find anything. The sound disappears after a while. We will have to continue observing it.
April 2, 2025
Regis Jr. hands over to me at 3:30. We made good progress, so I have to take it easy if we want to arrive at sunrise. I try to decrease the engine speed, but vibrations increase and Regis Sr. is on deck quickly to figure out what happened. So back to cruising speed, and drifting a quarter of a mile outside the port entry of Arutanga Wharf for about an hour before the first daylight shines behind Aitutaki.
We cannot go inside the ward because the entry is very narrow and the risk of the engine on starboard failing and leaving us without steering at low speed forbids it, and also because we were instructed by the Port Authority via email to anchor until we are cleared.
There are supposed to be two mooring lines in the Angora area but we can’t find any (later when snorkeling we see one but the float is so small that it is almost submerged). The see ground drops very quickly, at the first attempt to anchor we get too close to the reef, it takes a second try to anchor safely.
It takes the landing party a while to find the customs office, which has moved to a small hut due to renovation of the main office. The immigration officers are very friendly and accommodating. After around 15 minutes Regis Jr. and I are cleared since we could fill out and sign our immigration cards on the spot while we got cards for the rest of the crew to fill out on board and return them later.
We meet Gael and Aileen in the Warf, they had spent the last days with a local family and their host had driven them to the Warf.
There is a lot of work to be done on the boat before we move on or return to Tahiti depending on the success of repairs.