11/25/2009, Bay of Islands
What a beautiful place! We are at anchor in a snug postcard-worthy bay in the narrow pass between Moturua Is. and Motukiekie Is. (still more vowels than we can pronounce). The weather is early summer perfect, a bit cool in the evenings, warm to hot during the day, and unbelievable on cloudless days and we have settled back into the old routine of school in the morning and playing on the beach in the afternoon. The island is a beautiful nature reserve with hiking trails to protected inlets and quiet beaches. We hiked to an old army base with an abandoned gun emplacement and have played hours of frisbee together on the beach. The kids both started their new Calvert curriculum for school and the initial report is that the very structured program seems to be working much better for everyone.
The water here is a chilly 62 degrees, but I bought a new wetsuit and have been the spear fishing fiend. Once the ice cream headache clears, it is not too bad. There are schools of very tasty and slow fish called Moki; they are not very bright and one fish is ample for a meal which suits me perfectly. This area is renown for the variety of fish, lobster and scallops, but I have not seen much yet, despite going out twice a day for fresh fish at lunch and dinner.
Yesterday was a wake up call though. I cleaned a fish before dinner, threw the carcass overboard, and two of the largest sharks we have ever seen showed up and circled right under our stern for about =BD an hour. These were beautiful creatures, longer and broader than our kayak which puts them both around 8 - 9 feet. We oohed and ahhed and took photos from the stern, and used the fish book to ID them as big bronze whalers. Timothy tied a chunk of fish on the fishing line and had an exiting moment with the rod bent and the reel singing as the enormous shark swam away effortlessly with the bait. These dwarfed the tropical sharks we have seen, and I think that I should fish from the dingy today.
I am working through some boat chores and just added a big one to the list. Mary hoisted me to the top of the mast to retrieve a halyard and inspect the rigging. Checking the headstay was a shock; about 20 percent of the strands have pulled out of the swage fitting at the mast head. (In non-sailor speak, the headstay is the cable from the front of the boat to the top of the mast and when it breaks the mast falls down.) I am glad that we did not have heavier weather on the trip here, and probably will not be doing any sailing until we can remove the furling unit and replace the stay.
The plan for the moment is to sit in our beautiful bay until we run critically short of food and then anchor off the town for a grocery run. As soon as we are recharged and motivated, we will take the boat into the marina to start necessary repairs.
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Comments [3]
11/22/2009, New Zealand
Sorry for the long lag once again. It has been an eventful and busy last couple of weeks, but the short version: Successful sail to New Zealand! Whirlwind tour of NZ with dad. Re-provision, get organized and out of the marina.
Today is our first day together without visitors in the last three weeks and it is wonderful to finally have everyone home. This morning we woke up at anchor in a peaceful nook in the Bay of Islands in the north of New Zealand. The Bay of Islands is considered to be one of the best cruising areas in the world (by the NZ-landers of course) and is similar to the San Juans with wooded islands, rocky coves, and large tides uncovering long stretches of beaches. Everyone is looking forward to slowing down, exploring, hiking, fishing and just relaxing for a while.
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11/21/2009, New Zealand
We drove the wheels off Dad's rental car and managed to see much of the North Island before he left. Small towns quickly give way to rolling green hills with wandering two lane roads and the ever present sheep. North Island is beautiful and we were told that there are no points more than 120 kilometers from the ocean. Around every corner was a beautiful vista out over lush green valleys with the blue South Pacific waves crashing against the rocky coast, or tiny fishing villages nestled into the head of a quiet bay. We visited the Kauri tree forests and learned that these 500 year old trees are considered youthful by Kauri tree standards. The Kauri wood is spiritually important for the Maori people who arrived in NZ 1000 years ago, finding groves of Kauri with trees up to 2500 years old. Pretty amazing!
After 3 days in the car, the hills did start to look like green hills. Beautiful with a touch of the exotic as we drove past Jurassic looking fern trees, but still green hills and sheep. It is time for a bit of exploring by water now.
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11/20/2009, New Zealand
Wow, we are in New Zealand!
The sail from Tonga to New Zealand can be daunting and sometimes ferociously rough, and some speak of it as a rite of passage, but our trip was mostly slow and uneventful. Our 11 1/2 day passage included some modestly bumpy weather, days of beautiful sailing slowly upwind, and a 1/2 day of motoring to dodge a bit of forecast heavy weather. The coast of the North Island emerged from the clouds on the 17th of November about 20 miles out, and we made landfall, at 18:00 local time. I really missed being able to rely on Mary and the boys, but had a wonderful time spending two weeks with Dad.
For the boaters who want a few more specifics (all others can happily skip this): The first 48 hours were beam reaching in 15 -20 knots, with a 1-2 meter sea, keeping speeds in the 5.5-7 knot range, becoming lumpy and quite loud as we crashed through the mixed waves. It was difficult to move around the boat, but basically good sailing. We opted to pass Minerva Reef as the breeze was light but holding and the forecast predicted breezes dropping as an unusual series of four high pressure systems passed through. If we had stopped, we would probably have needed to wait for over a week for the wind to pick up much.
As forecast, the breeze did drop and swung to the south south-west and our long slow slog started. For nearly a week, we sailed upwind in unstable 5 - 8 knots of wind heading roughly west and counting on the wind eventually shifting to the west. We had days of wonderful flat water and gentle sailing mixed with short squally periods followed by intermittent calm, but making little progress toward the destination in Opua. We were only logging 50 -80 miles of actual distance covered toward land and our low point was one 36 mile day.
The forecast low pressure system finally came north and 15-20 knots filled in from the WSW. We turned South and boomed along at 6 -7 knots in waves building to 2- 3 meters. We spooled off 160 miles one day and another 80 or so miles that night until the wind died completely then returned to light from the S.
Bowing to the desire to make landfall the next day, and the forecast of 35 knots from the SE the next evening, we motorsailed through the night and into the mid morning. The wind filled from the NW and we sailed downwind into the Bay of Islands in the late afternoon sun, dropping sails just off the customs dock.
Given that it was a relatively calm trip, I had tools out a shocking number of times. The binoculars succumbed to too many days in the sun and the hinge broke into a nice pair of monoculars. (Fix: Two Part Epoxy). We hit a wave hard and Finn's book shelf tore off the wall and dumped everything into the forepeak. (Fix: Too big a mess - deal with it in port). Spectra control line on the Wind Vane broke in the middle of the night. (Fix: Splice in a new one.) Salt water pump failed and sucked air so that none of the sink pumps worked. (Fix: Spare pump cannibalized for parts.) Bilge pump running constantly and not pumping. (Fix: Disassemble everything, finally diagnose blockage in the discharge hose, tack to get the through-hull over water line and clear hose.) Shackle came off the top of the jib furler, dropping the jib in the middle of the night. (Fix: New shackle and rehoisted jib on spare halyard, much fun in the dark on the foredeck.) During one of the about 25 times we reefed and unreefed the main, a 1.5 inch tear appeared above the second reef point. (Fix: I still have no idea what it caught on, but sail repair tape is holding for now.) Sailing upwind, the mast pumps pounding into the waves. (Fix: Stopped to tweak standing rigging several times.)
All in all, it was a great passage.
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11/15/2009, Paihia, New Zealand
Well, Scott and his dad are inching toward us, and though they had a couple of really slow and uncomfortable days with a variety of gear failures, it seems like the wind is finally cooperating. This is what he sent this morning:
"The westerly finally filled and we have 15 -25 from the beam and are moving along nicely. Yesterday the sailing was unbelievable as the wind gradually filled and we had 12 hours of screaming sailing in almost flat water. About 2 in the morning the waves started building, but we have fallen off a bit and it's a bit behind the beam, so livable but not particularly nice.
We have 159 miles to go as of 10:00 this morning, so if the wind were to hold we could potentially make it on Tuesday evening, it not we will slow down and come in on Wednesday morning. "
So while the three of us have enjoyed land life we are all ready to be home with Scott, and ready to start exploring the Bay of Islands.
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11/09/2009, Paihia, New Zealand
Well, it's been a while since I've written and after receiving a few requests for "my voice", here you go. Actually, if Scott weren't seasick in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, he'd probably be writing this, but as he is, and I am not (being on land) you get me.
Scott and his father left last Friday on their way to New Zealand and his email to me Sunday read: "We are doing great, the conditions are pretty awesome. We sailed in 10-12 knots from behind the beam all day yesterday and today are sailing in 8-10 from ahead but in smooth water with about a one meter sea. I am expecting it to stay very light and we are working our way west to pickup the forecast SW'ly." My first reaction was relief that conditions were so good. My second was that he must be lying to make me regret flying to NZ, and this impression stayed with me until I read his email today: "Most of the day, we skirted the edge of a frontal system with gigantic clouds so it was really rough, beating into 15 -20 knots with steep choppy 2 meter waves all day. We had three reefs in the main and the jib mostly furled and were just plowing into everything. Even dad thought that the boat was noisy and too rough to sleep on the settee. I felt gross and just lay in the cockpit and ate crackers for dinner. I was really happy that you were in NZ." Ok, I guess he wasn't lying in that first email after all. Anyhow, the good ship Whisper and crew are making their way toward us and will hopefully be here by early next week. As of Sunday they had about 750 miles to go, so they might have around 550 miles left.
The boys and I arrived in Auckland last Monday, leaving behind sunny Tongan skies and temperatures in the low 80s to arrive in clouds, rain and temperatures in the high 50s. We felt like we had arrived home, and were happy to put on our sweatshirts. We had one night in an airport hotel and we took full advantage of all the amenities. In the 20 hours that we had our room I took two baths and two showers, Finn had two baths and one shower and Timothy had one bath and two showers. I figure we used more water in those twenty hours than we've used on the boat all year, and it was glorious.
After a six hour bus ride, we are now in Paihia, a small tourist town in the Bay of Islands, staying in a rental apartment and still reveling in those things that we never thought twice about -- unlimited hot/cold water (icy cold, too), refrigerator, a big (though empty) bed, a tv, and a local grocery store that has everything we would want. We have really been enjoying the local food -- milk, wine, apples, cheese, ice cream, pears, kiwis, lettuce, wheat bread, broccoli, carrots, beer, tea, nuts, jam - and eating all of the things that we couldn't get for the last 6 months, or at least not consistently and inexpensively. The boys have been drinking almost one gallon of milk everyday (so much better than powdered milk mixed with warm water), and have finished four tubs of cream cheese in six days. I expect see some fat rolls on Timothy soon as he has been out-eating Finn, which is pretty impressive as Finn out-eats me.
We are enjoying New Zealand but have really only seen Paihia. Unfortunately there is no public transportation in NZ outside of the big cities, so that means that residents have to have a car and visitors either rent a car or hire taxis, neither of which my "birthday gift" budget can afford. I was disappointed, thinking that NZ was a little more progressive than the US in such ecological matters, though I suppose there just isn't the population here to support a bus system. Thus, we're hoofin' it all over town, and while it's very beautiful, I have a feeling it'll be much more beautiful from a boat's view. Yesterday we took a really nice hike and covered almost nine miles, after which we were completely exhausted. Tomorrow we hope to walk to the marina in Opua where Scott will check in next week and where some of our boating buddies are now. It's six miles to the marina, so we'll have to get a car back. I keep meaning to ask if it's safe to hitch-hike. That may be our saving grace.
So, we're well and sane(ish) and looking forward to being all together soon and we look forward to hearing from all of you. Cheers!
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