March 28, 2014 LAND HO!
LAND HO! This evening at sunset, the mountains of Hiva Oa came into view on the horizon, 40 NM distant. It is unbelievable to see land after being so used to an empty horizon! Unreal.
We have slowed the boat down to 3.5 knots in order to make landfall in the morning ( we could have reached the harbor tonight at 2200 local). We are in great anticipation! Hove-to this afternoon and the ladies went for a swim around the boat, 14,000 feet deep! Topped up our water tanks and cleaned the boat for landfall. The gendarme will be closed tomorrow (Sunday) so we will be quarantined in the harbor for 24 hours at anchor, before we can head to shore. I’d normally say this would give us time to recover from the passage, but we are in top shape, well-rested, with full tanks!
Distance covered thus far is comparable to traveling from Minneapolis to Ireland, Minneapolis to Northern Siberia, or Minneapolis to Peru! All 100% under wind and solar power alone, and with a total of about 15 minutes touching the tiller. We are enjoying our last evening on the high seas, and a bit sad this this incredible leg of the voyage is coming to
a close.
0223 Zulu
9 22′ 31″ S
138 14′ 56″ W
SOG 3.4 kts
