A Trip That Took Forever ... And a Day

We left Niue mid-morning on Sunday after a stormy, windy and very uncomfortable night at anchorage. We normally start our trips at first light, but this time we left a little later so we wouldn't arrive to Tonga in dark. The distance we were sailing was 248nm and if the wind is good we easily cover 140 miles a day. Our calculations had us making this crossing in 38 hours.

It all started fine. The sun was shining and the wind had settled to about 13 knots coming from North-East which was just what we needed. We left the anchorage with both sails up and happy to be back at sea, looking forward to Tonga and the promise of whales. For the better part of the first day, the wind was in our favour and even though the sea swells were against us, we were making good time.

It was sunset (my shift) when everything started to fall apart. We ran into a few rain squalls which had the wind playing tricks on us. Unfortunately it was a little more than I could handle alone, so Jens came up and took over. We had two or three squalls that night, each time turning us around trying to chase the wind. Eventually, the wind settled but it was coming directly from West and right on our nose,

We were still just barely at the halfway mark. It was a little too early to start motoring and the wind, even if it was from the wrong direction, was still blowing at 15 knots. So we did what good sailors do and we took a long tack, hoping the wind would change again at some point. We sailed on our North-West tack for 67nm before tacking again and sailing another 60nm. By this time, we had succumbed to the fact that we would be at sea a little longer than originally planned.

Such is the life of a sailor. There is either too much wind, not enough wind, or the wind is coming from the wrong direction. And to complete our experience this trip, the wind actually died out completely. There we were, 80nm from our destination in a sea that was completely calm, a beautiful full moon rising but no wind. Jens and I are both a little too impatient to wait these things out so we started the engine, changed our course to a direct line and motored the rest of the way.

We did arrive in dark, a full day later than expected. No, wait. We have to add another day to that. At some point in the night we crossed the line. The international date line that is. So our little sail that should have been a breeze, took us forever...plus a day.