Friday 1st April 2016
It is our final night at sea, I’m doing the 3-6 am watch. It’s quite lively, I’m dressed in waterproof trousers as all the seats are wet from a succession of rain squalls, lightening flashes frighteningly in the distance and we are storming along at about 8kts. We have 52nm to go, the island of Hiva Oa is 4000ft high at its peak so we hope to see land soon after dawn. We are looking forward to getting there, this has been rolly trip.
At the end of our second ocean passage I thought I’d note down a few important things we have learnt.
Don’t buy the traditional large bunches of bananas, they arrive full of spiders and cockroaches and their sap stains the teak decks. However green you buy them and however many different places and conditions you find to store them in they all ripen together on day two and have to be chucked, for fear of banana gas poisoning, overboard by day four.
The satellite link is essential, not just for weather forecasts but for the emails we receive from everyone that, in the absence of whales, brighten up our days.
Weather forecasts are almost always wrong – well should be read as trends rather than truths.
Be prepared for copious amounts of facial hair, it seems it is obligatory for most men to grow as much as they can for the duration of the passage.
Have plenty of spectacle mending kit/spare pairs onboard, Raya seems to be a glasses disaster area.
Develop daily routines to give the day structure, like the morning “what shall we eat today?” conversation, the 4.30pm crossword and the boys afternoon cockpit snooze.
Rotate the watch system, everyone deserves to experience the uplift the dawn brings after a dark night watch.
Yes you can sleep in those sheets for a couple more nights, it is shocking how disgusting the bedding can get without any adverse effects.
Don’t rely on the fishing rods to provide dinner, or the freezer to keep things frozen, enjoy the challenge of what can be created with one green pepper, half a carrot and slightly mouldy lump of cheese.
And finally, beware of flying kettles!
Raya 
Well you’ve arrived. I for one are pleased about that. What sort of spiders 😲. You done so well. Enjoy the islands xxx
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Sounds remarkably like our systems here!
Today we picked up ricks replacement glasses, hanging the ‘Pravda twos’ in pride of place in the kitchen where their most redeeming feature, the cheery red ‘sugyu’ can be best admired.
Hope the island gives you some respite from rolling, tho I understand you may need to go ashore for real terra firma. Xx
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Hi Roz and Richard have just read your last blog. I assume you had some red wine with the mouldy cheese. I thought you would have heard that bananas on boats are supposed to bring bad luck-anyway that is the wisdom down under. Looking forward to catching up with you both in Fiji and then I think the plan is to sail on to NZ with you Cheers Greg
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Love to have you aboard when ever you both fancy it but planning to meander here for a bit and aiming for Tonga by about September then on down to NZ in October. Back up to Fiji next April.
Didn’t know about bananas being bad luck but certainly not having more than a couple on board at any given one time.
Hiva Oa as exotic as we imagined it.
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Love to have you both on board any time. Planning to meander through French Polynesia so aiming to only go as far as Tonga this Summer before sailing down to NZ in October. Will sail up to Fiji after the cyclone season in around April.
Didn’t know about bananas being bad luck, but decided not to have more than a couple onboard at anyone time from now on.
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