The sailing adventures of SV Meriwether and her crew
30 nautical miles to the north of Hakahetau is an intimate, and well protected (finally) cove; Hakatea on the island of Nuka HIva. The wind was still blowing the day we chose to hop islands, but at least the wind would be on our beam for the day. The wind was not going crazy or anything, but it was on...
After the struggle to get our anchor back on the boat, we did make the 140+ nautical mile journey to our next destination with ease. With ideal sailing conditions through that day, night, and the following morning we couldn’t have asked for a better sail. Heck, even the local pod of dolphins came to see us on our way early...
It was time for us to raise anchor to leave the Bay of Virgins and it’s 100 foot depths. This we have done before, and I intended to use the same plan as those other times; run the line through a block attached at the mast, and back up to the other side of the windlass that can haul in...
Restocked and ready to get away from Hiva Oa again, we set out for the short return hop to the island of Tahuata, just to the south. A fairly uneventful sail repeated our path – in reverse – almost to the exact anchorage we had stayed at a few days prior. Looking for something different, we moved on an extra...
We left the north-west anchorage on Hiva Oa to begin exploring the other islands of the Marquesas Island chain. First logical choice was the island just a few short miles south of Hiva Oa; Tahuata. 18 miles from where we had been anchored the past few days. Once again we expected to motor the majority of the way down the...
Getting straight to the exploring as soon as we could, we left Atuona for new adventures to Bay Hanamenu at the north west corner of hiva Oa. It was forecast as a fairly calm day, but after making some water for a few hours before leaving the battery bank would appreciate a bit of motoring anyway. Not that it happened...
We made land fall in the Marquesas Islands. Hiva Oa to be exact. The village of Atuona to be even more exact as it is the only location we can check in to the country of French Polynesia. This means it is also the only place for everyone else who is making their way across the Pacific, and you would...
Woohoo! We did make it across the Pacific ocean – from Mexico to French Polynesia. I would say that we made it in one piece, but that would not really be accurate. But, before I get into that let’s talk about the stats (I do love my stats). The total distance of the passage ended at 2,908 nautical miles taking...
We have begun our Pacific Ocean Crossing to French Polynesia. This page will be used to show our progress and update anyone caring to be updated. I hope to provide quick daily (or every few days) updates in this post. In the map to the right; The black line is our general path, broken into 1 week – or 700...
We left the island of frigate birds in the early morning, with enough time to make the 40 mile sail to La Cruz before the sunset, and all went smoothly. We even got to sail the vast majority of the miles with favorable wind the whole day, picking up later in the day as we approached La Cruz. By the...
