Friday, August 13, 2010

And We Thought It Was Blowing Hard LAST Week!!

Current Location: Hanavave (Bay of Virgins), Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia 10°27.90'S 138°40.06'W

We knew it was going to be windy--the forecast is for 18-22 kts for a few days. But we expected some shelter in the lee of this biggish island (and we did have a pretty nice anchorage when we first arrived). However, we hadn't counted on the venturi effect of the wind funneling through the valley into the anchorage.

We're not quite sure why it is so much worse today than it has been the last 2 days--the forecast is the same. But we clocked a gust this morning that was 62 knots, and we have seen several more in the 45 knot range. We had one of our heavy hatches propped a tiny bit open on a wine cork, and one gust got under the hatch and blew it back. They are all latched down now--something we've never done before in an anchorage (except for hurricane conditions). We also have had to tie our solar panels in place.

Since we're not leaving today, we talked about doing a little more exploring ashore, but it doesn't feel safe leaving the boat unattended at anchor in these conditions. Looks like a "boat project" day today.
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At 8/10/2010 5:09 PM (utc) our position was 10°27.91'S 138°40.06'W

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