Pacific Crossing, West to East

In our excitement of being in Chile, we jumped straight into posting about Patagonia, but our Pacific crossing from Tahiti is definitely worth a mention; in a way, it was a bit of a highlight to be honest.

We had decided to go to Patagonia via Tahiti, rather than fighting the Humbolt current down the coast of South America. We knew it was the wrong time of year to attempt a West to East transit in the Southern Pacific ocean, but knew that if any boat could handle it, it was Ugly Betty. Looking at the pilot charts, we could see that the worst time of year was August; we could expect plenty of gales if we pushed low into the Westerlies. We were doing it in September! The alternative was to sail along about the 25th parallel, and take what the variables had to offer. We decided we would wait and decide, depending on the forecasts.

With today's sophisticated weather software and the invaluable addition of Starlink satellite internet, we had hugely accurate forecasts and were able to follow (what we call) the Big Blue Bayou (BBB) (the blue areas of calm on the weather routing charts). Along the 25th parallel were the Gambiers, a little explored archipelago in French Polynesia, Pitcairn Island (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame), Easter Island, and finally Robinson Crusoe Island. If we could possibly stop at any of those, it would be incredible.

To say that this was the most dreaded Pacific crossing I'd had to look forward to, it delights me to say it was by far the easiest. This was my first crossing on a power boat and unlike with a sail boat, we were searching (and waiting) for areas with less wind, and not looking for a stiff breeze to propel us. We got very lucky indeed, and practically followed the BBB all the way to Chile!

With four of us onboard, Jon (Captain), Steve (Engineer & our relief skipper), Bob (a sailor and old friend of ours from our days cruising in the Caribbean) and me, Nicki, the lowly cook :-).

Our first stop was Mangareva in the Gambiers, to pick up fuel that we'd had delivered a couple of weeks before. It was only a 4 day sail, and we left Tahiti in glorious conditions. We did have to wait for a few days in Mangareva (happily) for our next weather window to Pitcairn (more on that in my next post), so once we had fueled up, we were able to relax and enjoy the beauty of the island. I think the photo's speak for themselves.