Yes, we have finally arrived at the Hiva-Oa – in the Marquesas Islands
after 15 days and 6 hours at sea – not bad when you consider we travelled
3,065 miles ( only 80 more then the rhumb line, averaging 7.9 knts ) and
have arrived safely in one piece – ( well one of the spinnakers is still in
one piece and Daniel is in one piece, albeit with a few mementos of the
passage!) – with last minute jibes that an Americas cup team would be proud
of we finally crossed the finish line at 1750 – local time

So a big thanks to all for making it such a memorable and safe crossing,
Jens & Adrian for their endless supply of kiwi humour and great food and not
least great sailing skills. K8 in one piece, in fact in great shape, thanks
not only to Oyster yachts but also to Adrian’s skilled maintenance programme
and repairs. Rosie for keeping us sane at times, Nick for his Irish wit and
Daniel for his enthusiasm and help all over the boat and as ever, David for
his leadership and never ending quest for more boat speed! we must be only
boat peeling kites at 2am !!

So some funny things about this little island we have landed on – yes it is
French – so things are a little different – like it is 9 hours and 30 Min
behind GMT. We will report more on the blog once we get to explore a little
- but have already been warned about the “no no” flies………

Now for a quiet drink to celebrate the longest sea voyage some of us (Kiwis
do it longer!) have undertaken, quiet only because once again we are the
FIRST mono hull to the finish!
NZ’ers – pse get our cricket team to pull finger…the Kiwis on K8 are
taking a battering from the UK’ers!!!!
Finally thanks to K8 for looking after us so well – what a safe ship

The Crew of The best mono Hull in the Round the World trip
David Holliday & K8
Adrian and Jen Osborne
Nick O’Donnell & Rosie Russell
Daniel Hearsum

Sorry we have been quiet for a few days , we have just been having so much fun . The wind continues to push us west (although we could do with a little more SE winds and less NE). Some are looking a little nervous on their arrival predictions, if the wind holds we hope to get to the Marqueses Monday/Tuesday next week – so much sooner then some had expected , although Jen assures us there is enough food and drink for a 3 week trip – somehow I worry about the egg count as there may be no Carrabonara on this trip ! .
Rosie and Jens have done a great job in keeping fresh vegetables, now on day 13 we still have a wide range of fresh veg , and lots in the freezer ..

Adrian’s Birthday passed – another record year older, and despite receiving lots of fishy presents – our strike rate has not been as good as we hoped – he says we’re going too fast ( v good excuse), and we have put some back on the grounds that we are now getting quite choosey about what we will eat – bring on more yellow fin tuna .

St Patrick’s day was one to remember for all – between Irish jigs, and Crac, a huge response to our fleet quiz and lots of wishes, – what was supposed to be a bank holiday turned out to be anything but , as David and Adrian had us working v hard , putting up and taking down various sail combinations ( I think 4 spinnaker hoists) all to get us there sooner.

Daniel is settling in well, and keeping us all on our toes, shaming us with the detail he can get into -regarding the correct use of the diving kit and the washing machine , coupled with an endless stream of good suggestions and offers of help in the galley .

Good news is that we are all learning a great dice game called Puerdo (liar dice) – somehow David seems to have a knack for games of bluff .

Bad News – 2 of our spinnakers have enjoyed the pacific so much that they are completely exhausted and have decided to rest ( Until we can find a sail maker ) – and yes this did include our much loved Pinkie .. don’t worry we still have one left and only 540 miles to go – so you can imagine we are looking after that very carefully !

Moral continues to be high, with all aboard now hooked on Jack Baur and “24″ – we found the 45 min format perfect for after dinner viewing – David is resisting claiming he wants to save something for the Indian Ocean ( I don’t think DVD’s float)

So it being Good Friday – our fingers are crossed that Adrian will land a big fish for supper – we hope you are having a great Easter wherever you are.

So we are fully in the trades , and ripping along averaging 10knts per hour , of course, with Pinkie up ( she was launched this morning at 08.00) . Radio contact with the rest of the fleet is becoming more challenging as we are so far ahead . but hay ho , tomorrow we will move to another frequency on the SSB -

All are enjoying the wind ..and hot air as we prepare for our St Patrick’s day celebrations and Adrian’s B’day

Who says we are not racing ..

Imagine our surprise to come across a mid Pacific race track right in the middle of the steeple chase season, thanks to Adrian & Jens we had a ” night at the races”- formal attire required – close run thing between Daniel and David for best dressed man – ( Daniel won by a hair on account of the G&H blazer )- best dressed lady went to Jens -

Rosie’s horse Shopaholic – looked so close to winning for such along time , it was a shame to see her pipped at the post by O’Donnell’s ” Millarkey” winning the much coveted – Blue Boobie footwear Prize.

The K8 St Patrick’s day quiz is going well, with early irreverent entries received from some of the fleet.

All is well on board, only 1730 miles to go !

We have mad e the trade winds and are bowling along at 9/10 knots. The
forecast is that the weather will stay the same for 4 or 5 days which is
great. A south easterly wind 15/20 knots is just what we want.

The sea is a wonderful blue colour, the sun is shining and we are having a
great time.

Preparations are well advanced for St Patrick’s day which as we all know is
Sunday, we had thought that our project would be to turn the pacific green,
but that is too large a challenge even for the crew of K*.

The nights are wonderful, so many stars to look at, it is perfect here at
the moment, long may it continue.

And so we have started the longest leg of the trip – in fact the longest
passage any of us have ever made ( NY to HK flight does not count !!). too
early to say but early estimates think we could be doing 3200 miles.

Now you would expect a boat such as K8 to take preparations seriously , we
were delighted that the race organisers chose to have the official prize
giving dinner on Friday night , – avoiding the last min rush , hangover ,
food poisoning that could come about from a WARC dinner the night before the
start . That said – with prizes for “the tortoise” -(the slowest boat) ,
the Spirit of WARC(a family boat), and tea towels for voluntary radio
operators, to name a few – we knew we were never going be justly rewarded
for our performance (under engine)on the last leg.

Thus, with the boat in good shape, other then missing the DVD series 3 of
Lost and a couple of pints of Guinness for the K8 St Patrick’s Day party ,
we saved our energy and $$ for a proper last night quiet dinner . which
started out sane enough in the Rock Restaurant -which unfortunately make
great Mojheatos , so after a little while and once we had paid the dinner
bill, it was time to come to grips with the restaurant music computer -
5000 tunes mostly in Spanish , however MC:NICK , managed to find 3 hours of
fun entertainment , which had everyone joining in ( even the locals ) at
one point 20 people dancing on tables, with people joining via the windows
as they had closed the main doors ( ah… the benefits of not been able to
post photos from sea) – ( Brian Collins and Robbie Williams – would be
proud of the live version of Angels preformed by all in the bar)

So we woke the next morning – thankful for the invention of Berocca , some
last min runs ashore , Book & DVD swapping and we were ready to go . Alas
not all boats mad it to the start line – we were down to 25 boats for
various reasons , mostly last min repair and provisioning challenges for
some fellow competitors. Our new weatherman “Bruce” ( one guess what country
he comes from) has been most diligent in his advise – and has so far
provided fair winds ( and not too many thunderstorms ) although we did have
to motor for 7 hours in the first 24 just to get away form the islands .

So we are back in pole position (again), steaming along at 9+ knots and ETA
bets are in a sealed envelope .

That’s all for now