DAY 20 - LAND AHOY!!!!

DAY 20 - LAND AHOY!! only 20 nautical miles to go

POSITION 08D54.480s 138D37.308w

At 6:40am I saw land. The outline of Hiva Oa came into view albiet a foggy one. Ian felt too tired to be excited as he had been awake most of the night adjusting our heading and watching for other vessels. The winds are not as predicted at present and we are finding it difficult to point directly at the anchorage. This is quite normal at sunrise as the winds usually are a little bit variable. In about another hour or so things we will settle down. The sea state has also reduced which makes sailing more comfortable.

We are hoping that by the time we drop anchor that we have only motored for 1.5 hours for the entire 20 day passage. So far all our motoring has been done when we left the Galapagos Islands. We hope to sail directly into the Tahauku Bay anchorage of Hiva Oa at mid morning today.

This afternoon I think we are going ashore for a long walk and to find a tree to lie under. A nice couple on a South African catarmaran called 'Two Ticks' gave us a bottle of champagne in Panama. It is now on ice so we will celebrate the crossing tonight with some bubbly.

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