We made it!
On day 21 after departing from Panama, we saw the island of Nuku Hiva looming out of the ocean ahead of us. The voyage had been uneventful, fortunately. The last 4 days, the water was quite unsettled and so it was hard to do anything significant. Frank did not put any fishing lines out, we had a testy experience a couple days earlier with a Marlin, we had to stop in the ocean, the fish went under the boat and Frank eventually decided to get in the water to make sure the line was not tangled in the running gear. And after a long fight, the fish was alongside. I don’t know what we would have done, we needed to get the hook our of its mouth and let it go but how do you do that when it has a meter long spear sticking in front of it? The fish took matters into its own hands and took off like a rocket, taking the hook and very expensive lure with it.
I did all the laundry on the last day, and did a bit of housework to make the boat a bit presentable, and Frank slept till a bit after sunrise, although on that morning there was not much of a sunrise, but that allowed me to be the one to announce ” land ho”. I was very happy to see that land. All the while out there, it took some resolve to not think too hard about the magnitude of what we were doing, the distance between us and well, anything. The engine and all its associated equipment, hydraulic pumps, water pumps, the shaft, shaft bellows, cooling systems, hydraulic systems, performed flawlessly but Istill sometimes wondered, what if… It is 53c in the engine room. Imagine having to work in there for any period of time if Frank and to fix anything.
So there we were, 3900 miles later, patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. A huge achievement. The longest ocean passage conquered. I would not say this was a bucket list item for me but its done now. Yay!!