Passing by Ducie Island

As predicted, last night for a couple of hours we stayed hoved-to, drifting at 0,2-0,5 knots south west along Ducie Iland in an about 4 miles distance. With the sunrise we finally saw this round atoll, waves forcefully breaking over the sandbanks and reefs from all sides. We had low water so we could see a good part of the reefs and as much as we tried we could not find an entrance to this paradies despite all the breaking waves. And even if we could have managed to surf inside on a wave it looked very shallow from the outside, so most probably we would have surfed right onto a riff. And IF with tons of luck we would have made it inside, we would sit there for LONG to wait for this one day a year where wind and seas are absolutely calm and let you out with the tidal current. So we decided to not take the chance that was not even there. When I upload the pictures you will see why. And all that although we had the calmest day, no wind and windwaves, only a long swell from south west, which produced the breaking waves over the riff. So we sailed by slowly, taking pictures and imagining ourselves on that island in complete solitude. So beautiful. White sandy beach all around and a stripe of lots of green trees along the center of the round sandbank, 1,3nm in diameter in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, near the most solitude /distant spot of the world. Maybe, during high water, all you see are the green trees. We could smell the sand and enjoyed the view and the birds around us. We felt life.

On this beautiful morning I decided to make pancakes and Kaiserschmarrn with Apple Sauce, the latter a treat for me. Then we tried to set the Spinnaker, but the wind was even too little for that. So we ended up having just a little bit of the Genoa out, to stay stable, just enough so that it would not beat all the time, and enjoyed a relaxing day. Marcus opened the back plattform and went into the water, holding on to the ladder, to cool down. I followed and later Gyuri. I even went back a second time. THe water here is so incredibly warm, clear and of the most beautiful blue I have ever seen. You could easily see a whale swimming 20 meters below us. But none showed up. I went to bed just after sunset to catch 2 hrs sleep before starting my shift. Here I am, tired but happy about this calm day.

As of tomorrow - or I should say later today now, as it's already the next day here, April 25th - we expect a constant 10-20kn wind from the east to carry us first to Adamstown (Pitcairn) within a day, where we hope to be able to anchor in the west and see the island, and then the last 2 days trip to Mangareva.

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