Golfito, Costa Rica, to The Marquesas, French Polynesia
Days 3 & 4, Sunday & Monday, 21 & 22 March 2010

Our plan had been to motor through the windless zone off the coast of
Costa Rica for some 200 Nm until we could pick up NE Trades that still at
this time of year characterise the weather north of the ITCZ (Doldrums).
The pilot charts tell us this and Jimmy Cornell's excellent routing book
for bluewater mariners confirms it. One can make use of the NE Trades and
wait until even as far W as W.128o to cross the ITCZ. Unless of course you
do it earlier. Not sure how that helps.

Our weather remains pleasant, though the light winds coming directly
towards us from the West slow our speed and mock the reference works.
Fortunately the seas are calm so we make relatively good progress along
our rhumb line. And, we are only making about 3-4 knots under power,
enduring the noise and heat of the Lister engine for two days and nights.
Why weren't we going faster?

Finally, some 175 Nm from Golfito, we decide we should get up all sail,
and if we cannot sail directly to westward we can at least tack back and
forth and perhaps make some headway whilst sparing our supply of diesel
fuel. After all, that's what cruisers do, isn't it? You don't just throw
on the engine if the winds are not totally to your liking. At one point,
however, we take advantage of the relatively calm seas and empty ten
gallons from our deck jugs into the port tank (a messy business, as it
turns out) while we review out strategy for getting to Nuku Hiva.

We are after all only a couple of days out on a voyage that may take 40
days or even more. Sailing on a starboard tack at present is pleasant
going, but it is taking us increasingly to the South far sooner than we
wanted. Our hope to pick up NE Trades had so far been in vain, on the
other hand. So, why not just sail southwards until we encounter the ITCZ,
motor through it if we need to, and sail (or motor-sail) on the other side
until we pick up SE Trades that are bound to appear around the equator. We
finally opt for this plan.

The weather remains during the day sunny after the original cloud cover
has dissipated. After the first 24 hours there have been no other ships or
boats on our horizon. At night there are frequently dark clouds and
localised squalls around. The electronic tiller pilot works only
sporadically earning it more curses, and we are glad to find now enough
wind to operate the Cap Horn windvane steering. Doesn't bear thinking
about a long voyage without some sort of self-steering! Steering is the
most boring of jobs and, if you rig up a Rube Goldberg system of bungee
cords, you find that it is not self-correcting and you have to stay in the
cockpit night and day to make sure it is working.

(Rest in next blog)