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Moonshadow’s 16-Day Crossing

John and Debbie opted to sail past Hiva Oa because they arrived in the Marquesas at night. So this is where they dropped the hook instead. 

© 2016 John Rogers

"Ia Orana, to everyone!" write John and Deb Rogers of the San Diego-based Deerfoot 62 Moonshadow.

"The two of us have completed the 2,837-mile passage from Puerto Vallarta to the Marquesas in 16 days, 8 hours, an average of 7.2 knots. And we’re still happily married.

"Our passage was delightful, with many days of excellent sailing. The dreaded doldrums, which seemed to stretch on forever on the GRIB files, were not what we expected. We were able to sail through half of the area of light wind with a spinnaker up. And upon exiting the doldrum area we had our best day’s run — 230 miles in 24 hours with the chute up on a beam reach.

"We arrived too late on a dark evening to attempt to anchor in the crowded harbor at Atuana on Hiva Oa, so we carried on to the little cove of Hanamoenoa on the nearby island of Tahuata. The anchorage is just 10 miles from Atuana, where we must return to in order to check-in, and it provided an easy place to arrive at night. Little did we know what a gem this place was until the next morning! We woke up to a pristine white sand beach backed with glistening palms at the doorstep to a lush valley. We also awoke to the fragrances from land, including earth, jasmine, gardenia maybe some vanilla. The water is 40 feet deep, and we can see our anchor in white sand on the bottom. Luckily for us, we cannot check in ’til Monday, so this is home for the weekend.

Debbie and John on the bow of Moonshadow, having made landfall in the Marquesas.

Moonshadow
©2016Latitude 38 Media, LLC

"As the photo indicates, the drone survived the trip across the Pacific."

We’ll have a more detailed report on John and Debbie’s crossing in the June, not May, issue of Latitude 38.

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A group of Singlehanded TransPac racers (past, present and future) and volunteers gathered at Oakland YC for a cruise-in last weekend.