An unforgettable greeting

Hello from Baie de Taiohae! Flyer and her crew of five souls arrived here safely yesterday, Saturday March 14 at around 5:30p boat time (PDT) or 3pm local time (GMT -9:30).* Yes, optimistic Paul did win the arrival pool and with it he chose to disburse some bars of Theo Chocolate among the crew. 

Since the last update, our remaining miles under sail were enjoyable and swift. We were fortunate to have a fresh easterly trade wind that pushed us along at an average of 6.5kn. As dusk fell on the 13th it appeared the breeze was freshening, so we tucked in a 2nd reef in the main and braced for more action. It was not to be, so by midnight we shook out both reefs and powered Flyer up to full speed.

We sailed at a great pace, swapping the genoa for the A3 at 11am. It was great to get that sail up in the air (and sun) since it had spent the prior 48 hours lashed to the foredeck getting absolutely drenched by the swells coming over the deck. It also made for a picturesque scene on deck, Flyer under full canvas as the first sights of land were spotted; first it was the island of Ua Huka and a couple of hours later the foothills of Nuku Hiva became visible beneath the low clouds surrounding its shores.

As if on-cue, a pod of porpoises welcomed us, and the boys and I sat on the bow together to watch them play with the dramatic cliffs of Nuku Hiva just to leeward of the A3. It was a scene and feeling I won’t soon forget.

Flyer made great mileage until we were within the geographic effect of the islands, around 5nm offshore. We made a few final underway calls to family before deciding to fire up the engine one last time just before 4p boat time. The breeze continued to die and the seas around us turned into a veritable washing machine. The near vertical coastline of the SE coroner of Nuku Hiva sends ocean swells rebounding offshore and, mixing with the already somewhat jumbled seas from storms far away and making a pretty nasty few miles before reaching the anchorage.

Under power we were all business beginning the slow process of furling and stowing sails, coiling lines, and preparing the boat to anchor. Kristen was working the remaining bits of spray-foam insulation out of the hawse pipe for the anchor chain as we approached Taiohae bay when all of a sudden a speeding RIB buzzed us with none other than King Neptune himself at the helm! He congratulated us on our passage and tossed celebratory packets of Skittles aboard while his friends Paul and James hooted and hollered at the sight of another human soul, their good friend Griffin Barckert nonetheless!

We followed Griffin into the anchorage and buzzed his famous boat Rocket Science to say hi and gain anchoring tips from his parents Mara and Greg. We found a nice spot just a couple hundred yards east of them, dropped the hook and with their help set a stern anchor to keep our bow facing south and the incoming swells. (The common easterly breeze in the harbor has a tendency to keep boats facing east, making a monohull like Flyer roll considerably in the southern swells.)

Mara, Greg and Griffin all came aboard and after copious hugs and giddy smiles presented us with a basket full of local bounty, a 6-pack of cold Hinano (the local Tahitian lager), and fancy, printed certificates from King Neptune congratulating us for our passage! Sitting in the cockpit together, Mara read us a poem she wrote for us to commemorate the occasion. We were all a bit teary eyed realizing what we had done together and how special it was to celebrate together with such wonderful friends in our new, spectacular setting. 

Pelle was thrilled to be on the decks once again and made her way to her favorite spot atop the mainsail on our boom. It’s hard to imagine what is/was going through her mind, but we can only imagine that she’s smelling new, curious smells and aware that we are now in a place that’s a little different than Baja.

Now that the passage is behind us, I think I can say with certainty that it was a success and exceeded my expectations. We were fortunate to have decent conditions most of the time, exceptional conditions for some of the time. There were no major gear failures. The crew was generally in good spirits and healthy throughout. We landed several bucket-list fish, basked in the wonder of the cosmos, and we all stayed on board! We even had one remaining crunchy apple when we arrived. Not bad for 3,000nm across the Pacific.

We’ll be settling into island cruising mode here over the next few days and will send an update when we’ve had a chance to get through a few of the formalities (namely checking in to country), go grocery shopping, and getting a better lay of the land. Until then, thanks again for reading and commenting -it’s been so fun to know you all have been with us all along!