May 28

Monday, 28 May 2012  Dawn is the beginning of a glorious day.  There are five major islands visible.  From right to left, Fatu Uku, Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Mohotani and Fatu Hiva.  The first and last are just barely visible through the marine aerosol haze.  We spend most of the morning approaching and then passing along side Hiva Oa, as the anchorage is near the west end of the south side.  A pod of dolphins becomes the welcoming party to Hiva Oa.  They cavort on the bow of SUNRISE for about 10 minutes.

Nearing the anchorage, I start to de-rig the boat.  I remove the preventers on both sides.  These lines go from the cockpit to blocks near the bow of the boat and back to the end of the boom.  They hold the boom out and forward, preventing unintended gybes (the boom swing across to the other side) and stabilize the boom to minimize chafing of the sail on the shrouds and spreaders.  Having the preventers go back to the cockpit allows me to tension or slacken the one being used from the cockpit so I can change the trim of the mainsail, or gybe to drastically change course..  I remove the foreguy and afterguy, lines used to locate the outboard end of the whisker pole that is sometimes used to hold the aft end of the headsail out away from the boat.  I remove the 4:1 tackle in the cockpit used to tension the so-called "runner", a check stay that pulls the mast backwards at the upper spreader, counteracting the inner forestay pulling it forward.  Between the two, they stabilize that part of the mast, keeping it from "pumping", wobbling fore and aft.  There is a runner on each side.  You only use one at a time, the one on the side opposite the side that the boom is over.  The bottom end of each runner is connected to a loop of small diameter line going between the cockpit and the base of the shrouds.  The loop allows me to deploy or retract the runners without leaving the cockpit.  I have to go to the mast to reef or un-reef the mainsail.  When I do that, Lynne is in the cockpit tensioning or un-tensioning the mainsheet and vang that control the location and height of the boom.  Some modern boats have been designed so that "slab" reefing can be done from the cockpit.  However, our boat wasn't.  We looked at implementing cockpit reefing and decided that it was not good for SUNRISE.  Many modern boats have a spindle in the mast or boom on which the mainsail is rolled up.  This makes it easy to change the amount of sail being utilized.  As with many things is life, "There is no free lunch".  Roller-reefing mainsails have some drawbacks, including being more expensive, and a lot more expensive for "conversions".  From Lynne: Sunrise would not like sails that slow her down like in-mast roller furling ones.  This trip Barry has resisted the temptation to go on deck in bad weather and he almost always listens when I suggest preventative reefing.  We are now older and wiser so our sails are fine.

Time to put on clothes and drop the mainsail.  As we tuck into the small tight bay, we have returned to civilization.  The supply ship is in port and there are 31 cruising sailboats packed like sardines in the small bay, all with a bow and stern anchor out to keep from banging into each other.  The only spot left is at the shallow end.  Fortunately, SUNRISE has a shallow draft.  There is only one catamaran behind us.  We get the dinghy in the water and start getting ready to meet with our "agent" and the authorities.  Another cruising couple come over in their dinghy and gives us the bad news - it is a holiday.  Check-in will have to wait for tomorrow and we are stuck on the boat for the rest of the day.