A Quick Round Trip: Channel Islands–Marquesas–Tahiti and Back Again
In July’s Changes in Latitudes, Stuart and Marisa Jackson share the story of their “quick round trip,” which saw them sailing from Channel Islands Harbor to the Marquesas, Rangiroa, Tuamotus, Mo’orea, Tahiti, and back to the Channel Islands — an 8,000-mile voyage completed over 10 weeks.
Captain Stuart Jackson, a lifelong sailor, ARC veteran and pilot, had been planning this South Pacific odyssey for a year. We filed necessary paperwork through the Pacific Puddle Jump and set sail from Channel Islands Harbor on April 2 aboard JOIA, Jackson’s 2020 X-Yacht 49, a high-performance cruiser, elegantly sporty and configured for bluewater sailing: three lithium batteries, two AGMs, inboard diesel generator, Starlink, bow thruster, power winches, watermaker, AC (which we enjoyed in the sweltering heat), a bread maker, and even a cappuccino machine.
No matter how prepared one is, one can never predict Mother Nature’s moods nor how and when things break. Here’s our journey in three segments.
Leg 1: Channel Islands to Marquesas, 2,800nm.
We sailed through 30+ knot winds, heavy seas and gray rains for nearly a week before the sun came out. We changed our sails as many times as a Broadway musical changes costumes, relying heavily on our Code Zero. We spent our days splicing, repairing clutches, rewiring cables and filleting yellowtail. We swam across the equator and celebrated with a party en blanc.
After 16 1⁄2 days, we arrived in the Marquesas, greeted by a double rainbow, dolphins, and the bay full of yachts on the Oyster Rally. Nuku Hiva smells of frangipani and juicy mangoes. After exploring the island and provisioning, we swapped crew — Stuart’s wife, Marisa, and sister, Sue Dudley, joined the boat — and sailed to Baie de Taiohae, an enclosed anchorage surrounded by otherworldly mountainous cliffs, before setting sail for the Tuamotus.
“Compared to the ARC, we were able to push harder during this crossing — more reaching, changing sails and optimizing the trim with faster average speed.” — Madeleine
“I get it now: the sense of freedom, the stars overhead, being enveloped in nothing but sky and sea, and chasing the horizon. It’s intoxicating.” — Connor
Leg 2: Marquesas to Rangiroa, 600nm; Tuamotus to Mo’orea and Tahiti, 220nm.
Marisa and Sue had never sailed on an overnight passage and thought we were “island hopping.” Instead, there were several hundred miles of brutal sailing between those islands. Nothing is more frightening than when you hear the captain shouting, “All hands on deck!” in the middle of the night. We came topside to find the boom was wobbling and the whole rig shaking.
Find the full story in the July issue of Latitude 38. Continue here.
