Wednesday August 22, 2007
\n4:00 P.M.
\nPosition: S15.10 W156.17
\nHeading: 274 degrees
\nAvg. Speed: 6.5 knots
\nWinds from the East North-east at 12-15 nm
\nInitial miles from Bora Bora to Suvarov: 690
\nMiles remaining: 390<\/p>\n
Here are are in the middle of the ocean once again. We left Bora
\nBora just before sunset on Monday the 20th having delayed our
\ndeparture approximately one week from our initial anticipated
\ndeparture date. On the day we left, we went back into town to do
\nsome final provisioning and went to have lunch in the town’s big
\nChinese restaurant. Our favorite gendarme, the strict guy who
\nchecked us out of the country the week before and insisted that
\nwe leave no later than the 14th of August sat at a table right
\nnext to us, just as he did when we ate there last week. Luckily
\nhe must see a lot of middle aged American yachties around here
\nand didn’t recognize us .<\/p>\n
We had delayed our departure because the weather forecast was
\nnot good for last week. First there was too much wind, and then
\nwas no wind for a few days. We waited until Monday because the
\nforecast looked decent for Monday and Tuesday, and then
\nexcellent for the rest of the week. Our friends on Rishu Maru
\nwill be leaving on Wednesday (today) and will be following us
\nto Suvarov. Most of the boats we know left Bora Bora about the
\nsame day as everyone was waiting for the right weather to leave.
\nWe have set up a “safety net” with everyone calling in to a
\npre-determined SSB channel twice a day. There are about 10
\nboats participating. It’s a nice system. We have not seen any
\nboats at sea yet.<\/p>\n
Our first several hours at sea were great with moderate winds
\nand very smooth seas. The winds died down pretty quickly though
\nand we passed most of Tuesday motoring. The skies were grey
\nand the seas were extremely flat. It was not bad though, and
\nthe best part of the day was when Mark caught a fish! A nice
\nfat tuna! It was a lot of work to bring him in and then pretty
\ndisgusting when Mark cleaned and cut him up, but definitely a
\nvery exciting event. We are not sure how big it was – guessing
\nabout 15 pounds or so. Definitely enough for us to be eating
\ntuna everyday for the remainder of our passage to Suvarov.<\/p>\n
Today the winds picked up and we have been sailing since early
\nmorning. It has been a beautiful day with smallish but
\nincreasing swells and a nice steady breeze behind us. We set the
\ntwo head-sails, one of which is a pretty red,white and blue
\n(French colors as well as American), and we are trucking along.
\nMark has his fishing poles set again, hoping he can get
\nanother lucky catch – this time maybe we will get a mahi-mahi.<\/p>\n
L.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday August 22, 2007 4:00 P.M. Position: S15.10 W156.17 Heading: 274 degrees Avg. Speed: 6.5 knots Winds from the East North-east at 12-15 nm Initial miles from Bora Bora to Suvarov: 690 Miles remaining: 390 Here are are in the middle of the ocean once again. We left Bora Bora just before sunset on Monday … <\/p>\n