A conversation with the Chief Officer
The September update from the intrepid Tom Robinson & his shore team
Dear Sponsors, Supporters, Family and Friends
Tom in Maiwar reached the half way point between Lima and his first port of call, the island Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, at 9.30pm AEST on Sunday 28 August. His position was 3.05 S, 107.8 W. At the half way point, MAIWAR had travelled 1,903 nautical miles (3,524 km) as the crow flies, at an average speed of 1.39 knots. Of course, because Tom followed an ocean-current-chasing route, he had travelled more than half the straight-line distance from Lima to Hiva Oa which is approximately 1,823 nautical miles. This means he had travelled an extra 80 nautical miles (measured in a straight line) to enable him to get most benefit from the fast flowing currents.
On what Tom called “halfway day” he said he treated himself to cornflakes for breakfast and was allowed to drink twice his usual daily water ration.
Tom’s half way position is shown as 2 in the Windy.com map above, with Lima at position 1 and Hiva Oa at position 3. Due to the difficulty of transposing distances of thousands of kilometres to a few centimetres on a computer screen, the distances shown on the map are only approximate, but we’re sure you get the idea.
The photo below is of the shore team’s diary log book. It shows a freehand-drawn box in which are printed the relevant coordinates, and the time the half way mark was reached. The initials MT in the circle indicate that this information came from the Marine Traffic website which gives approximate real time positions for MAIWAR rather than those given at six hourly intervals by Tom’s tracker. The scribble to the left of the square box show calculation of the extra 80 nautical miles travelled on Tom’s current-chasing route.
Tom’s latest text report to the shore team was sent on Thursday last week (8 September). Here it is verbatim:
“last week spotted ship. it came within 2 Miles. was able to raise them on the radio. spoke to chief officer for some time. first conversation in 64 days. what a novelty! they were bound for china from chile, carrying iron ore. I learnt war still ravishes ukraine, and now conflict in taiwan? sad news. opened some letters over lunch, very nice, then caught a tuna for dinner. A good day indeed.”
The letters mentioned by Tom were given to him by a few close friends and family before he left Lima with instruction that they should be opened at his discretion … interesting that he chose to open them more than half way to the Marquesas!
Tom’s last commentary on his progress reads:
“almost halfway across the paddock now. Current good and pulling hard. Heading north again. shame.”
It is clear that Tom is finding it challenging to make his way south to the latitude of Hiva Oa. In spite of the strong westerly-flowing current, the force of the south easterly trade winds is making it difficult to hold a course south of west. The forecast for the latter part of next week is for lighter winds which should help. Also, as he moves further west, the current should start to flow in a more south westerly direction, and the winds come more from the east.
Returning to Tom’s last update story about his visit from the crew of the Ecuadorian fishing vessel, it has been reported that some of his young followers were delighted about his receipt of party treats (potato chips and powerade) but couldn’t understand why he would have preferred to be given bully beef, onions and rice!
In this second leg of his journey to Hiva Oa, Tom has, with the assistance of the equatorial current, greatly increased his speed. Whereas he had averaged 1.15 knots for total distance travelled up until early August, by mid-September his speed over the whole distance travelled had increased to 1.4 knots. Over recent days his daily distance travelled has consistently been over 40 nautical miles (74 km) giving an average speed of more than 1.8 knots.
Yours sincerely
Tom’s Shore Team
For background on this adventure visit
https://southernwoodenboatsailing.com/news/design-build-and-row-how-to-cross-the-pacific
https://southernwoodenboatsailing.com/news/maiwar-amp-tom-arrive-in-peru
https://southernwoodenboatsailing.com/news/and-were-away
https://southernwoodenboatsailing.com/news/the-equatorial-current-beckons
https://southernwoodenboatsailing.com/news/current-affairs-squid-squeeze-and-relaxation
And don’t forget to check Tom’s tracker and GoFundMe Page