Chapter 148: Are we there yet?!? – Part 2

Sunday, March 23, 2025 is Day 31 at sea for Meraviglia. That is 744 hours or 2678400 seconds. Wow.  When we set off we thought it would take around 30 days but hoped for less, more like 25 or 26 days.  The trade winds are typically consistent and often once you are past the Galapagos, it is literally smooth sailing. Notice I said “typically” not “always”.  We have not had the “typical” coconut milk run experience.  For those of you who have been following along since the beginning, I am sure you are thinking that nothing has gone as “typical” for Bob and I so far, so why would we expect that to change now??? You are not wrong! We are currently 353 miles from Atouna in Hiva Oa, our final destination.  The winds today are somewhere between 6-8 knots currently and that puts our speed between 4-5 knots.  IF that maintains, we would likely arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  If the wind dies out, who knows??? So how are spirits aboard Meraviglia you may wonder? Truthfully, it vacillates between feeling a bit low and frustrated by the slow progress to being more upbeat and incredibly thankful that we are getting to experience this journey, even if it is a bit slow! Week 4 had a bit of everything, comedy, action, drama, swearing, and lots of noise from slapping sails! But yesterday seemed to have it all and gave us a skills test and a test of our teamwork for sure!

We started out on Friday morning feeling a bit tired from another night of noisy slapping sails but were relaxing a bit in the cockpit.  Suddenly we heard a “pop” and looked forward to watch our headsail(genoa) crash to the deck, with part of the sail going into the water.  We sprang into action, quickly trying to get the sail out of the water and back on deck so we could assess what happened. The one benefit of a lighter wind yesterday was that we were able to quickly do this and we didn’t have the same amount of crazy swell that we had the day before.  Once we had it on deck, we realized that the shackle that holds the sail to the halyard had failed. The pin was missing along with the cotter pin that should have held it in place.  The shackle itself was also bent.  This was frankly better news than the halyard itself failing- it meant we could replace the shackle however to do that we needed the halyard down from the top of the mast. 65 feet in the air on the open ocean. Not an ideal situation and one most people try to avoid but with over 400 miles still to go, we really needed our headsail back in place. Given the light winds and reduced swell, we made the decision for Bob to go up the mast and retrieve the halyard.  Typically when Bob goes up the mast, he uses a device called the Top Climber which allows him to climb up himself with me monitoring his safety lines.  However, with being in the open ocean and still having some rolling – we decided it would be safer if I hoisted him using a halyard and a winch. It would hopefully be quicker (depending on my muscles) and minimize his time aloft, minimizing his chance of injury by swinging about 65 feet up. The challenge however was that we could not use our main halyard since we needed to leave the main up to stabilize the boat.  And we couldn’t use the staysail halyard as that does not go all the way up to the top of the mast. So that left the spinnaker halyard for hoisting Bob but did not give us a spare halyard for a secondary safety.  So Bob got to practice his prusik knot, using this as a safety on staysail for most of the way up, He was able to retrieve the halyard successfully but while up there he checked the main halyard and discovered it was chafed almost all the way through – meaning that would be the next sail to fail. With the halyard in hand, I lowered him back down to the deck slowly and carefully. 

Back on deck, it was time for  repairs.  In addition to the shackle failing, we discovered an area of chafing on the halyard near where it connects to the shackle. Step one was to cut the bad area out of the halyard and then use a halyard hitch to attach it back to the shackle.  With the shackle replaced, halyard reattached, we hoisted the genoa back up and deployed the whisker pole. Next up, main halyard repair.  In order to address that, we needed to lower the mainsail, and Bob needed to cut out the chafed area and reattach the halyard using a halyard hitch. Once that was completed we raised the main back up so we could take a breather.  As we were doing that, our radar reflector came tumbling down to the deck – the signal halyard holding that had also chafed through!!  Are you kidding me?!? Three things in the matter of a few hours?? Clearly ocean sailing, even when there is little wind, is very wearing on the boat.  I would argue maybe even worse since the sails slap around so much creating a lot of wear.  For our finale, we found another tear in the mainsail and needed to lower the sail AGAIN and do a tape repair.  By this time it was time to start the dog watches and boy were we ready for the day to be done! 

So the day definitely had it all, but despite the challenges, I am really proud of how we worked together to calmly address each item as it arose. I definitely have a much better understanding of what people told me about sailing being hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer chaos! Emily Nagel, a professional sailor and ocean racer, shared how these moments actually are great skills to translate in other areas of life. She said, “”Things will go wrong on the boat. And there’ll be people shouting and screaming. This ability to stay cool and not get upset by things but equally not get so excited is one of the biggest things I’ve gained from sailing that has translated across life.” I definitely think the skills Bob and I are acquiring on this journey will last beyond our time aboard Meraviglia.  Despite sharing how we get frustrated, we also are very grateful and appreciate the blessings of this journey.  Hopefully, our next post will be sharing our call of Land Ho and sharing the beauty of Hiva Oa! 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  Mark Twain