Oso is settled in the well-protected anchorage directly in front of the village of Rikitea, and after several days to adjust to not sailing anymore it’s time for a passage summary:
Total distance sailed: 4079 nm
Total sailing time: 23 days, 21 hours
Average speed: 7.1 kts
Number of hours under motor: 30
Top wind speed: 27 kts
Number of times reefing for high winds in squalls: 1
Number of flying fish found on deck: 46
Number of squid found on deck: 10
In our experience, every passage is a little bit different. This one was notable for both the light wind conditions and for the absolutely fantastic weather nearly the entire duration of the passage.
This marks our fifth passage in the trades, and this one was unlike any of the others. We had a few very good sailing days, but a lot of very light wind days that are less common in the trades, in our experience. We’d have 3-4 days of good wind, and then 3-4 days of 10-12 kts, interrupted by patches of even less wind than that. It was a challenge to keep the boat moving, especially when the wind shifted nearly due east so that our course was nearly dead downwind. Given the conditions, we feel pretty good about the average speed that was achieved.
For all the negatives about the light wind, the weather delivered in a hugely positive way. Nearly every day was sunny with mostly clear skies. We had one evening of fairly heavy rain as we left the ITCZ and first entered the trades, and then one additional day of gloomy, overcast skies as dark clouds swallowed what little wind there was, leaving Oso to drift slowly at 2-3 kts. So more than 90% of the voyage, the weather was beautiful.
A typical trade wind passage includes a regular stream of squalls, especially at night. During this passage, we had very little squall activity. We only needed to shorten sail for high wind in a squall once, and that was only for 5 minutes or so. That’s probably a side effect of the gentle winds we had – less energy in the atmosphere means less squall activity.
Overall, it was a great passage, and we’re happy to have arrived in French Polynesia!
