A Personal Assessment of the Voyage
By any measure the crossing from Hawaii to Tahiti must be considered a great success.
We sailed 2470 miles, calculated on 1000hrs -1000hrs plots, in 19 days. Our highest daily mileage was 158 and the lowest was 98. We used the engine for only 35 hours so the vast majority of the journey was done under sail.
We all arrived in Tahiti without illness or injury and in a boat that was undamaged in any important feature.
We ate well throughout the trip and on arrival were in a physical and mental condition which would have allowed us to continue for much longer had that been neccessary. Moreover we arrived talking to each other and more comfortable in each others' company than when we set out. There were no acrimonious disputes and nobody left precipitously on arrival.
We also had a tremendous range of experiences, some good and some not so good; some tedious and some exciting, and some very exciting!
The weather created many challenges which were met successfully and created a voyage of much more interest than a long, easy, down-wind slide could have provided. It wasn't what we all thought it would be like, but it was no worse for that.
Could it have been better? Of course it could. But that in no way detracts from the achievement. It was a great experience which I will never forget and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of it.
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