This passage as most certainly been the toughest one with three gales and winds as strong as 45 knots and seas as big as 7 meters. For the most part, Malachi has done very well as has the crew, the only problems we've experienced have been, once again, the generator and the auto pilot. We've spent the past 30 hours hand steering with two of us on watch at a time for a four hour shift, switching off as each hand steers for one hour. We have never had so much sea water on deck before, with all of those huge waves sometimes breaking on the bow and other times breaking on our side. Many of those waves splashed right into and over our canvas enclosure soaking everything in its path including the inside of the enclosure. We were even wearing our rain gear when we were steering and had to keep the companionway closed to keep the sea water from going down below. This past storm lasted 72 hours and was punctuated by a spectacular lightening show last night that lasted almost 12 hours!
Some big 7 meter seas.
Malachi just slices through those huge waves.
BUT, today, we awoke to sunshine, light winds and calming seas YAY! and if that weren't enough to lift the gloomy moods of the crew, it was calm enough to shower! It's amazing how much you come to appreciate the small and simple things in life so much more when you're on an ocean passage.
Orca III, the pot of gold!
We've got about 280 miles left on this trip to Tubuai in the Australs and we can't wait to be there. We're dreaming of steak and french fries, ice cream, swimming and snorkeling, not to mention a still anchorage.
This little chickadee hitched a ride with us for a few days.
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