Passage to Samoa (Peter)

Almost a year of fulltime cruising and several ocean passages has proved that Marcy is nicely suited to the job for us.


Here is a rare picture of Marcy at sea, on passage from Surawow to
Samoa, about 450 nautical miles. We hoisted anchor shortly after Paddy
West’s and passed her half a day later. Typical of boisterous trade
wind passages, we are double reefed and moving along comfortably at 7
or 8 knots. The wind vane is steering, the sun is shining, and the
miles roll by quickly. We are both on deck because of the excitement of
seeing another vessel, normally at sea just one of us is on watch at a
time.

Lucky for us, Linda on PW is an excellent photographer with a nice camera.


Marcy has a long enough waterline for some good speed, but still a nice
size to handle single or double handed. Full battens and lazy jacks
help control the big main, roller furling tames the jib, and our
spinnaker is set and doused in a sock. At the end of this passage we
had a long night of incessant squalls, which luckily we can handle with
just one of us on deck by furling the jib during the high wind.
Our watch schedule is the traditional 4 on 4 off, so we get plenty of
sleep in steady conditions. Only major wind shifts or sudden calms or
large wind increases warrant calling the off watch for help.
To keep the workload manageable, we rarely steer by hand. The Monitor
wind vane does the majority of the work, with the belowdecks autopilot
filling in the remaining 10 percent of steering duty – under power,
running in light winds, and maneuvers like jibing or tacking.

We like to sail rather than motor as much as possible, to save fuel, so
we often anchor under sail. On the approach to the anchorage we inflate
our tender of choice – either the canoe Red Dogfish or the dinghy
Sniffy. For a short commute to shore, the canoe is often more
convenient. Marcy handles very well under main alone, allowing for
drama free maneuvering through an anchorage to the chosen spot.

The truism goes: cruising is working on your boat in exotic ports. Once
the hook is down, entry formalities taken care of, and a short visit
ashore, we often need to take care of maintenance business. The sea is
a harsh environment. When we arrived in Pago Pago, we had two broken
stanchions and a loose gooseneck to take care of as soon as possible.
We are constantly inspecting and making small repairs, and cleaning the
bottom is a never-ending chore. Of course, in industrial Pago Pago
Harbor with its murky questionable water, we are in a no swimming zone.