Yes, we made it! We are safely at anchor in Baie Tahauku, Atuona, Hiva Oa. Our passage across from Punta de Mita, at the northern tip of Banderas Bay in Mexico, took 26 days in total, covering a distance of 2,850 nautical miles. It wasn’t quite the ‘Coconut milk run’ that we’d been expecting and, in retrospect, we should’ve waited longer for the North East trade winds to be well and truly established.

 

But we’re quite happy that we didn’t have too bad a time in the ITCZ (the International Tropical Convergence Zone, also known as the doldrums) as we’d been prepared for intense squall activity. We didn’t even end up using the engine on this stretch as although we had some slow or becalmed days, they were always accompanied by gentle sea states so were quite bearable.

 

Now that we’re snugly ensconced in our nice little anchorage here we can stop, recover, regain our energy and set about planning what comes next. More here soon but for now we’re going to rest up, gorge ourselves on brie and baguettes and play with Rocket.