We’re halfway there, whoa oh!
Earlier today Khulula and the Oceangybe crew crossed the half-way mark in our passage to the Marquesas. Interestingly enough, there was no sign-post, marker bobbing in the sea, or line to cross. The waves keep rolling passed us while the wind stayed steady and the sky and ocean stretched out until they became one in all distant horizons. However there was a change felt on the boat.
The past few days have been a little tougher for myself and the crew because of sailing conditions, staying positive has been tough at times. Sailing conditions? We’ve been beating. What’s that you say? First let me explain a bit about where we are and the winds we’ve experienced. We’re now below the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) also known as the doldrums. This zone is an area of low pressure near the equator characterized by variable winds and heavy rain squalls. We were fortunate enough to get through the actual ITCZ without too much difficulty, boats have been known to get stuck in the doldrums for weeks. We fought one nasty squall for 8 hours, motored another 12, and we were south of it. Once south of the ITCZ, air pressure is higher and the wind is drawn up north into the low pressure ITCZ. End result: Wind blows from the south. Normally. Unfortunately there has been another, deeper low-pressure system near the ITCZ in a direction North-East of us. End result: the wind is blowing from the South-West. South-West, East-North-East, North, West, Up, Down, Sideways, who cares? Well, the Marquesas are south-west of us, and as I explained the wind is blowing from the South-West, directly from where we want to go.
When in a sailboat and the wind blows directly from where you’re trying to go and you still try to go there, the act is called beating. You and the boat take a beating. It is an up-hill battle against wind and waves that is slow and uncomfortable. For the past three days we’ve been beating. Khulula pitches up and down, rolls sideways, and slowly, slowly makes her way south-west. Outside the cabin waves regularly crash over the bow, often coming all the way back to douse us in the cockpit. When the swells line-up just right the bow comes crashing down between waves with a ‘wack’ and the boat shudders sending a huge spray to either side. Inside movement and activity is done in a gracefully ‘Michael Jackson’ dance by sliding back and forth across the floor grabbing at hand-holds and trying to stay up-right (whatever direction that is) through 20 – 30 degree rolls.
We’ve been beating, and life aboard has been a bit uncomfortable. Amongst all this there are many things keeping us positive. The wind is slowing changing direction, and by late tomorrow we should have stopped beating and begun sailing down-wind towards the Marquesas. While we’ve sailed half the distance in 2 weeks, the 2nd half should take less than 2 weeks to sail because of favorable winds and waves as we get farther south. We’re not counting on that until it happens!
Despite limited time in actually sailing Khulula (not recommended) before we left to cross the pacific we haven’t had too many technical problems that we haven’t been able to fix with a bit of wire, duct tape, or screws. Inside the cabin is a bit damp though. I’ll explain that in the next blog.
This evening we ate a fantastic dinner in the cockpit while the sunset lit up the clouds and ocean. Khulula steadily rolled on with the sound of the waves against the hull and wind in the sails. I savored every moment.