The passage was 1,348 nautical miles and took about 14 days, since we left about midday on a Thursday and arrived about midday on the Thursday two weeks later. My journal indicates 15 days because I count calendar days but the ship's log counts full 24-hour days on-passage. The table below uses passage days.
We started the passage expecting to reach Isla Selkirk in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, which at the start of the passage was 1,530 nautical miles away. As you read in my journal, we didn't reach our destination; instead, on passage day 9 we turned around and headed back to Easter Island. Thus, the overall passage was about nine days heading away from Easter Island, and five days heading back. At the time we turned around, we were 927 miles from Isla Selkirk and 616 miles from Easter Island; our location was latitude 28° 48.470' S, longitude 097° 58.763' W.
According to David's calculations, our engine running time budget was 2.5 hours per day. This meant that we could run the engine for an average of 2.5 hours a day (usually to charge the batteries) and still reach the mainland with an adequate fuel reserve, based on the expected duration of the passage to the mainland. We assumed we wouldn't be able to purchase fuel on the islands. Our watermaker budget was six gallons a day, which meant that on average, we tried to produce six gallons of water a day to keep up with our water usage.
The table below provides information about each day of the passage, except for the last day's information which I forgot to write down. Statistics are for the end of each "day", mileage is in nautical miles, speed is in knots, engine running time is in hours, and water made is in gallons.
| Passage Day | Calendar Dates | Miles Run | Miles Made Good | Distance Remaining | Average Speed | Engine Running Time | Water Made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5/27 - 5/28 | 133 | 113 | 1417 | 5.6 | 1.33 | 7.0 |
| 2 | 5/28 - 5/29 | 110 | 97 | 1320 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| 3 | 5/29 - 5/30 | 93 | 79 | 1241 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 7.0 |
| 4 | 5/30 - 5/31 | 73 | 69 | 1170 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 7.5 |
| 5 | 5/31 - 6/1 | 119 | 107 | 1063 | 5.0 | 2.25 | 7.0 |
| 6 | 6/1 - 6/2 | 37 | 11 | 1052 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 14.4 |
| 7 | 6/2 - 6/3 | 78 | 61 | 991 | 3.3 | 1.45 | 9.1 |
| 8 | 6/3 - 6/4 | 77 | 53 | 938 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 8.8 |
| 9 | 6/4 - 6/5 | 22 | 21 | 595** | 1.0 | 1.1 | 10.5 |
| 10 | 6/5 - 6/6 | 122 | 118 | 477 | 5.1 | 1.1 | 7.0 |
| 11 | 6/6 - 6/7 | 114 | 113 | 364 | 4.9 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| 12 | 6/7 - 6/8 | 126 | 123 | 241 | 5.25 | 1.0 | 7.5 |
| 13 | 6/8 - 6/9 | 130 | 129 | 112 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 7.0 |
| 14 | 6/9 - 6/10 | 114 | - | 0 | - | - | - |
**We turned around on passage day 9; "Distance Remaining" switches to Easter Island.
The adventure continues in the next section as I revisit Easter Island, this time by myself.
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