10 | Crossing the Pacific Ocean on a Wooden Boat

[Music] foreign [Music] we have long dreamed of sailing across an ocean it's an idea that sounded amazing but we never actually believed it would happen we had not planned to continue the voyage any farther Beyond Mexico but Whitney saw that the time was right and that there was no reason to defer the dream any longer [Music] once the decision was made we set about getting the boat ready with enough food and water for at least a month underway The Voyage from Mazatlan Mexico to nukuhiva in the Marquesas is about 2 800 nautical miles we were pretty nervous to be honest this was to be longer than any passage we had ever undertaken many times over pretending to be brave we backed out of the slip and pointed Julia's bow directly away from the land here we go here we go ready or not how many miles ago uh 2 800 miles to go [Music] see if we make it [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] the third day out the wind fell completely calm we had expected a period of light weather but thought that it would be enough to keep making some miles without any steerage way the bow insistently pointed straight back at Mazatlan and we drifted sideways in the current taking advantage of the calm weather we recaulked some deck seams that had started leaking with so many miles still ahead of us including the notorious calm bands around the equator we did not want to use up any of our fuel supply [Music] [Music] at dusk a light Zephyr would spring up and we would ghost along for a few hours in the right direction before it would disappear again for three days we bobbed Along on flat Seas working on projects and waiting for the wind [Music] [Music] when enough Breeze finally did materialize to make a steady three knots of boat speed we felt like we were moving twice that fast Whit took advantage of the last of the gentle weather to make a huge batch of granola and yogurt which would serve us very well in the boisterous conditions ahead so we're ending our fifth 24-hour period at sea and we've gone less than 400 nautical miles which is very poor performance it's pretty bad the next day we had a proper sailing Breeze and we started to suspect that we had found the fabled trade winds this band of winds sweeps down the west coast and across the Pacific and a giant Arc towards the equator we expected the steady reliable winds to carry us nearly two-thirds of our journey before we moved out of their influence [Music] thank you foreign [Music] the trade winds provided good sailing sometimes at night they would increase strongly and we would douse the mizzen and reef the main a few hours later things might get lighter and the sails would be hoisted again Seas Rose and then eased again more in relation to distant systems than the local wind [Music] thank you what do you think of the trade winds [Music] the mizzen is used as a throttle on a catch being a relatively small sail it is quick and easy to Reef as conditions build and can then be fully doused as the first serious reduction before needing to start work on the Mainsail some days we would set re forehand the missing multiple times to keep the boat moving fast and under control without having to touch the other sails a catch rig is very handy at sea foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] about 13 days out from Mazatlan it's hard to even think about how long it's actually been [Music] it's noon today we've been on a starboard attack and we just switched over the lane and now we're running wing on wing about midnight tomorrow we're gonna take a hard left and start to enter the itcz that's pretty exciting [Music] the inter-tropical Convergence Zone is the buffer zone between the differing trade wind systems and the two hemispheres it is an area of very light winds interspersed with frequent thunderstorms and squalls the itcz is located just north of the equator and it can be many hundreds of miles wide choosing a narrow point to cross the zone is critical and the strategy is to cut straight across it rather than staying on course for your ultimate destination and kind of hit a wall a few days ago conditions are perfect now the waves are big but comfortable and a couple days ago they just were super uncomfortable rocking this side to side every two seconds and it's kind of hard to eat sleep think so today's so you can see our wind vane has a new control arm on the ore it popped up on in a big wave yesterday came off the top and then was dangling loose and then the next big wave that came by splintered it apart broke it so I had to climb out there and retrieve the ore and then we made a new one and it's been going now for over 24 hours on the new part and it's working so fingers crossed that holds together we absolutely are depending on it foreign [Music] [Music] foreign disappeared in the itcz we motored to keep moving with all the squalls and lightning around it's not a place where we wanted to linger as we drew near the equator the heat during the day became oppressive and the stagnant air conditions felt like a hot blanket sitting on us [Music] after passing through a massive Squall line that stretched from Horizon to Horizon we found ourselves on a gentle close reach it felt so good to have a cooling breeze and to turn off the hot diesel engine This unforecast breeze was to carry us all the way out of the itcz a stroke of very good luck when sailing amongst squalls like this we often keep the Mainsail double reefed especially at night looks like we dodged the Squall and passed behind us with the full Genoa and mizen our sail area is still adequate for most conditions as a Squall approaches the Genoa is furled and then the misendoused this can all be done by one person without leaving the cockpit or altering course and it dramatically reduces our sail area the Mainsail on a catch is already fairly small and when double reefed it is able to withstand very strong winds without being overpowered after the Squall passes it's a simple matter to reset the sails without waking up the person off watch [Music] foreign fish going up crazy over there [Music] thank you [Music] all right zero zero zero zero zero Sam we're there [Applause] my face no kidding not exactly a champagne clue but all right Cheers Cheers to ensure our safe passage all right darling hmm happy equator we've got some brownies to celebrate with nothing like a hot oven on a rulante crossing the Equator has always been a big deal for Sailors according to tradition a sailor who has not crossed the line is a pollywog but after completing the ritual is known as a shellback sacrificing something to Neptune is a common part of the ceremony [Music] is noting the time and then I note my reading 0.8 minutes Which is less than the last reading which is good because the Sun is going down all right let's do the math on those see how close we were so in Latitude we were off five miles in longitude we're uh [Music] six miles it's really good good enough to find an island but we're not free of electronics because I'm using the calculator and the clock [Music] shortly after crossing the Equator we picked up the southern hemisphere's Southeast Trade Winds the sailing was very fast and we started ticking off new distance records we made good 158 nautical miles in 24 hours then the next day clocked 163 followed by another day of 159 miles this is very fast sailing for our 30-foot water line in ocean conditions day after day the ride was sometimes quite uncomfortable as the swell hit Beam on and rolled the deck under frequently we didn't mind the ride too much though as it felt amazing to be reeling in the miles and drawing so close to our destination [Music] [Music] oh the sailing was really good this was Tradewind passage making at its best the wind did not falter once south of the Equator small puffy clouds drifted over the electric blue ocean the weeks without proper sleep were starting to add up for the crew but the boat felt better than ever Julia sailed like a freight train on Rails eating up the miles it was clear that this was exactly what she was built for Galloping over the waves on a big stretch of open ocean we felt really proud of her she seemed to be loving it not showing any of the fatigue that was starting to grip the crew day after day she thundered along until finally we caught sight of the islands in the distance [Music] [Music] what day is today oh man I think it's the 24th day we've completed 24 days we're now starting on our 25th but we can see nukuhiva and how do you feel about having completed 24 days at sea when I think about some of the events on the first few days it seems so long ago we've been underway ever since [Music] [Music] I mean it wasn't bad in fact it couldn't have gone much better the uh [Music] I don't think we ever had wins over 25 knots made a few 10-foot waves [Music] I mean it wasn't bad just really long it was long yeah I guess we'll see when we get there if it was worth it I think if we had a third person it would have been a lot easier yeah only sleeping for three hours at a time in a four hour watch adds up we're pretty exhausted but we're almost there perhaps we should pause here for a little clarification this was filmed at our most exhausted point in the entire voyage after just one night of solid sleep the question of was it worth it would have been met with a resounding yes foreign we entered the harbor at nukuhiva in the dead of night Guided by the full moon as we neared the island the smell of the land was overpowering it smelled of leafy greens and flowers and wood ash after anchoring in the calm Bay we shared a dram from the good bottle of rum and then crashed hard the next morning we slept late and then sat in the cockpit gazing up at the Green Mountains the feeling of what we had just accomplished was surreal and we basked under the Glorious cloud cover that was stuck to the tops of the mountains breathing in the cool and fragrant air it took a long time before we were ready to launch the dinghy and head into the beach [Music] onshore we found a true South Sea Paradise chickens and horses foraged along the street and stone tikis overlooked the beach where kids played the trees were heavy with flowers and fruit and it was all framed by Soaring Cliffs and beautiful valleys [Music] we had wondered what it would be like to sail across an ocean and now we knew the satisfaction that we felt at having arrived in the Marquesas is hard to put into words it will certainly stand as one of the greatest experiences of Our Lives join us next time as we explore this magnificent archipelago we will see some of the most dramatic scenery and unspoiled paradises left on Earth these islands are the location for so many dreams and we were about to discover that they are even more spectacular in reality

Channel: Madison Boatworks

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Id: 3KAXDRxCGU0

Length: 23min 2sec (1382 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 26 2022