WHEN: Thursday April 14th 2100Local / 2200EST / 2300BRZ / 0200UTC
WHERE: 05:23S 136:53W
MILEAGE: 2,783 miles since La Cruz, MX (sailed), 319 miles to Taiohae Bay, Marquesas (straight line)
It was October 2015 in San Carlos, MX, and we were having an unpretentious dinner with our friends from sv Sangvind. They’d come to pick up their kids and stayed over for drinks and a nice chat. And then, Franz asked the question that would change it all. Just one question but which nailed it on the head: “Why have you not considered going to the South Pacific instead of the Caribbean?”. On went Adriana and I explaining our reasons, but as we spoke, we realized our reasons weren’t strong enough. I don’t think he was trying to influence us. Rather, he was curious as to why us, already being here in the Pacific, were we planning to go all the way to Panama, then through the Canal, then on for 1,000 miles against the Atlantic’s Trade Winds and the Gulf of Mexico’s currents if we could, instead, simply “turn right” and reach Polynesia.
As Franz, Sylvia, Dylan and Jayden left that night, we stayed back with our thoughts. And the more we thought, the more tempting the idea of coming to Polynesia became. In fact, to me it felt very “logical”.
One month later, Adriana and I were sitting at a café in Miami, and it was then that we ratified the decision to sail to the South Pacific. It was a major change of plans, and a huge enterprise to be accomplished, requiring a lot of preparation on our part. Off from the backpack came a piece of paper, pen and an iPad, and we started to define a to-do list.
Fast forward to January, and we were in La Cruz, MX, executing frantically the items of the “Miami list”. There were times it was all work and no fun at all. But the faith that we’d made the right decision kept us moving on.
And here we are now. 2,800 miles into the passage, 300 miles to the Marquesas. We have seen Boobies, flying fish, sailed Trade Winds of the North and the South, stuff broke, stuff were fixed, and we dodged the wicked squalls. Still today, we were all four in the cockpit, being drenched by torrential rain, and reducing Pesto’s sails in the middle of a 35kt gust that hit us in the middle of yet another squall. Ordeal? Nah – after the sails were furled and Pesto back under control again, we all started laughing.
It is amazing how quickly Ideas can turn into Resolutions, and Resolutions into Plans. It is turning the Plans into Action that takes the most energy, but it is only that last part that really changes us.
We are wet, tired, and counting the miles one by one to reach Taiohae Bay. But above all, we are glad that Franz asked that question to us right there and then. We are glad to be here.
Pesto out.
Almost there!