February 28, 2023

We Made It!

Arrival in French Polynesia

Land Ho, yet again! This time, the island of Hiva Oa part of the Marquesas chain of French Polynesia. What a great feeling to encounter these remote, rocky, beautiful oases after what seems like ages of nothing but blue water. The total distance from Panama measured around 3850 nautical miles, but our sailing distance was over 4000 miles. Elapsed time was almost exactly 21 days. It would have been much faster, but you may recall that we spent many days motoring at low speed. Just to recap, we experienced excellent sailing out of Panama for about 36 hours, followed by a long windless spell which required 5 days of motoring (and nearly all of our diesel). Finally, we picked up the trade winds, and we had a beautiful sail for the next two weeks. What did we do during this time? We got into a rhythm with daily chores, exercise, quilting, guitar practice, reading, and, of course, happy hours. The autopilot continued to function flawlessly. Night watches were very straightforward because there was no land to run into and other boat traffic was extremely rare (we only identified a total of three boats during the entire passage!).

We will check into immigration here on Hiva Oa, and then we will be free to roam about the massive island nation of French Polynesia which stretches over 1200 miles in the South Pacific and comprises 121 islands and atolls. But first, maybe we will relax a little bit here on Hiva Oa. We have earned some shore leave.

February 23, 2023

Medical Emergency at Sea

Jake and Pogo have been excellent crew on board Leviathan. We were dismayed several days ago when Jake lost interest in eating and developed swelling along his left neck near the jawline. He also demonstrated an uncoordinated gait and leg weakness. We thought he must have an infection with lymphadenopathy, so we started intramuscular ampicillin and gentamicin. He showed significant improvement, but the neck swelling persisted and became fluctuant. We aspirated the lesion and obtained pus. Despite complete evacuation and continued antibiotics, the lesion persisted so we performed an incision and drainage under local anesthesia. This was quite successful and we initiated standard wound care. The wound began to granulate within a day or two, and Jake regained his appetite (fortunately, he drank water throughout this process). We transitioned to a Penrose drain to ensure that the wound not close prematurely, and we plan to remove it tomorrow. It looks like Jake will make a full recovery. The etiology of the lesion remains uncertain. We are fortunate that we brought an elaborate medical kit (and a cone of shame).

February 18, 2023

The Ocean is Big

When Yong first stepped on Leviathan many months ago, she remarked to one of our instructors that our boat might be too big. The instructor responded, “Yes, but the ocean is big.” Darned if he wasn’t right. The ocean is really big and we feel really small. We have passed the halfway point, but we still have some 1800 nautical miles to go. To recap from our last episode, we were motoring out of a large wind hole/doldrums area surrounding the Galapagos to reach the trade winds. We became increasingly concerned as our supply of diesel dwindled to a mere 1/8 tank. Fortunately, our gamble paid off as we finally hit the mother lode, going from no wind to too much wind! Stress-free sailing for the remainder of the trip! Not so fast. If you recall, we rely on a combination of solar power and hydrogenator to recharge our batteries which are essential for water-making, navigation, refrigeration, and autopilot. Given our current situation, we simply don’t have enough diesel to recharge the batteries with the engine alternator. Four nights ago, our hydrogenator stopped working. The next morning we began troubleshooting, but to no avail. The skies were cloudy, so not much solar. What do we do now? We transition to extreme energy conservation mode. Our highest priority (given that we have full water tanks) is the autopilot. It is too exhausting to hand-steer 24/7 with only two crew. Daylight hours are okay, but nights are nearly impossible without a full moon. The concentration that night-steering demands is truly exhausting. To this end, we turn off the fridge and freezer and every non-essential electrical device. So far, so good. Over the next few days, we are able to break even every day with just enough solar to get by.

The hydrogenator is really a simple device. It is comprised of a propeller that is linked to an alternator which generates dc current when the propeller spins. The physics is easy. The packaging, on the other hand is needlessly complicated with multiple controllers, interfaces, and hydraulics. I have emailed the company and our friends at Outremer Yachting, but I have not gotten any response at present. Perhaps on Monday. We will continue to persevere on Leviathan! It is disappointing that much of our provisioning is going to waste, but we have enough rice, beans, and dog food to sustain us to the Marquesas Islands.

One interesting astronomical note: we recently experienced what is known as “Lahaina Noon.” This describes the phenomenon of the absence of a sideways shadow due to the sun being directly overhead at local noon. As some of you may know, the sun appears to cycle its position in our sky between 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south declination throughout the year (in reality, this is due to the earth’s tilted axis, but from our geocentric frame of reference, the sun appears to make this annual cycle). In the United States, the only region that is far enough south is in Hawaii, hence the name Lahaina noon. In our case, we were located at nearly 10 degrees south latitude when the sun’s declination coincided exactly with our location. We will talk about the related topic of celestial navigation in a future post.

February 12, 2023

Deja Vu

We departed the Pearl Islands on February 7. As expected, we made great time for the first 36 hours with a strong following breeze. Also as expected, we then entered a gigantic wind hole preventing further progress under sail. Just like our passage down the coast of Africa in December, we have been forced to turn on the engines for propulsion. We need to get south of the equator to encounter the Southern Hemisphere trade winds which will take us to French Polynesia. Unfortunately, that means that we have 4-5 days of motoring ahead of us. Did I forget to mention that we only have 6-7 days-worth of fuel on board? We are cutting it close, but we are not allowed to stop in the Galapagos even for a brief refueling.

After a long, dry spell, we finally reeled in a huge mahi mahi (hand line, squid lure). We enjoyed fish tacos for lunch and ceviche for dinner! Plus, our freezer is now completely full!

There is a time-honored tradition that celebrates a sailor’s first crossing of the equator. The ceremony documents the transition of the individual from a pollywog (tadpole) to a shellback, and usually involves a salute to Neptune, a toast, and sometimes hazing rituals. In our case, Queen Neptune made a special guest appearance while the crew of Leviathan offered a libation and a quick swim in the ocean.

As we coast by the Galapagos, we are sad that we cannot visit these storied isles. Perhaps the next time around. We are reaching the limits of our internet access, so we will probably be silent for a couple more weeks at least.

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