Sailing Tahiti, Iron Wind & WHALES __ Cost & Fuel Economy of a Catamaran Sailboat.

Well that was good and exciting. Luckily we've had absolutely no wind this morning which is perfect. Good planning on our part. I have not touched a dock or we have not touched a dock in I don't know months. I guess the last time we tied up was in Ecuador before we left so that was I don't know almost three months ago. Probably three months ago. Anyway and then before that we hadn't been on a dock since Linton Bay. So then like almost six months before that. Anyway we've probably tied up to dock twice this year in all of 2018 so that's pretty awesome. But also I feel really out of practice like docking. I mean it's still fun. It's no big deal. You don't forget. It's kind of like riding a bicycle. You don't forget how to ride a bicycle once you know but it's nerve-wracking nonetheless like such close quarters to the boat and I don't know. It's always exciting. Good morning. Just checking if you guys are open and have diesel today. Yes but not just actually fuel today. Really? Because it's holiday today? That is a sweaty job every time. Dirty. But duty-free fuel here apparently is only Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. It's not good or available on the weekends or Wednesday for some reason which is interesting but she let us fuel up anyway which was really nice because we came in yesterday and she said come in tomorrow. Anyway duty-free fuel is 40% off approximately and we're paying about four dollars a gallon for diesel which is about what we were paying in Florida so it's really not that painful with the duty-free to fill up. It just kind of seems normal. Okay put this crap away. So that's what fuel costs and now you're probably thinking how much fuel do you burn? Well being a sailboat the ideal number would be zero but there are times when mother nature doesn't cooperate and that's when we turn to what we affectionately call the iron wind. Singha are you helping? Are you helping? What are you doing? Where are you going? Looking for love? Looking for love? Fuel economy on a boat is totally different than a car. When we buy a car it says right on the sticker the estimated miles per gallon. That's not the case with our boat. We aren't given any fuel economy stats so we have to track details from each sail to come up with our own estimates. Another difference is boat engines track hours used not the miles traveled like in a car. So in ideal conditions we burn a half a gallon per hour and travel at six knots of speed with one engine at 2,000 rpms. Being a two knots of speed by kicking on that second engine which seems like a total waste for a small 20% increase in speed. So we mainly motor with just one engine. It's zero wind. Happiness right there. Our sailing day has turned into not much of a sailing day. Here we've done at least 30 to 40 degrees of a turn and the wind is still directly into us. We're still in the wind. How that's even possible? I don't know. 60 degrees. Yeah like almost 90. I know and then like it was it was a serious turn. I thought oh for sure. Nope the wind is clocked around. I'm sure it has to do with because the island yeah creating its own weather but man. But it has brought a nice gentle breeze to cool off and blow in your hair. Yes. Can you see it? Anyway it's still a lovely day. Today we're sailing 35 miles from Papeete on the island of Tahiti to Chopu, the end of the road in Little Tahiti. We're sailing against the wind with an 11 knot breeze. Our starboard engine is at 2,000 rpm and we're fighting a one knot current. Our speed is hovering around five knots. So this short 35 nautical mile trip will take around seven hours. We'll burn around three and a half gallons and it'll cost us about 10 bucks. Oh my god. There's Holiday. They just hailed us and said there's whales. Oh they're so close. Yes. I just thought you were out here taking photos. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Literally yelling at you. Well apparently there are whales. I was inside talking to my aunt and I was like why is Jason stopping the boat? Why is he out there taking photos? Whoa there they are right there. Whoa. Oh that kind of scared me it was so close. They are massive. All right we're back on course. Almost there. Navigating inside the lagoon isn't as intimidating as I thought it would be. So far our charts have been pretty accurate and the channels are well marked. But there are massive coral heads spiraling up from 30 feet right to the surface. On a clear sunny day they're easy to spot but add in some cloud cover and the pucker effect goes up. While the locals music is entertainment. But this anchorage does not give me the warm and fuzzies inside. We are a short distance from a reef right behind us so yeah and then close to the other boats around us but there's not a lot of options. It's really deep right here or really shallow like reef shallow. Yeah I don't think I'll probably sleep real tight tonight but that's okay we'll wait until in the morning and scope it out and find a better spot. Until then have a beer enjoy the music. Next up Billabong pits the world's best surfers against the world's heaviest wave. Which turns this sleepy little village of Chopu into the party at the end of the road. Until then thanks for watching and we'll see you there.