land ho !
Dietmar Petutschnig
11/13/2009, 40 nm to Opua New Zealand
land ho !
land !
now we see it . 09:21 AM Local 20:49 Zulu time
there it is - the land of the long white cloud !
we have crawled into merciless winds for 9 days beating at 3 knots an hour taking a bashing every 8 seconds.
a sort of crawling into an everlasting spanking ...
so overall 185,760 bashes since Minerva reef - 1 % of them hurt - those violent gasps in mid air - upon release the vessel shatters itself onto another rogue 6 - 10 foot wave - repercussions - percussions - shake rattle and roll - the bang - the roll - repeat .
this has been by far the most miserable part of the voyage thus far - it "almost" broke our spirits - a broken boom - a nasty and cold wind of 15 kts steady on the nose as high as 23 - consistent - relentless - but there on the horizon is the prize - the finish line - our home for the next 6 months.
no remorse .
new zealand - land ho !
Boom goes the Boom
Dietmar Petutschnig
11/09/2009, en route to New Zealand
It was a sobering sound - a loud boom and I scuttled up to the fly bridge of Carinthia. The boom was torn at the part where the preventer was attached to the last 3rd of the boom.
A simple mistake - a terrible ordeal - 700 n.m. from New Zealand in on eof the worst seas and no more methods to raise the main.
Good news - we have plenty of fuel to motor there - or so we hope - Bad news - in order to head directly for Opua we are bashing [ straight into SW waves and winds ] so we need to slow down - 2.5 - 3 knots in these high seas - so our daily average is dropping to 70 nm and even though we are "only" 300 n.m. out it will take us 4 maybe even 5 days to get there.
Every day adds the odds of a weather bomb and further slowing of the trip. So keep you fingers crossed - the waves low and the winds modest. There are currently 24 yachts on the morning Big Momma Net - vessels en route to New Zealand from Tonga -
We are the ones with the broken boom.
Good news is Sparcraft is ready with a replacement boom in Auckland so a new boom will be had before Xmas.
Boom goes the boom -
The adventure continues.
Minerva Reef
Dietmar Petutschnig
11/04/2009, Minerva Reef
Minerva Reef.
It's a mythical place. On the edge of the Southern Pacific.
A place between Tonga and New Zealand.
A shelter of sorts - an oasis to yachts in transit - a place to regroup for the final dash south to escape the
cyclone season of the winter months in the central Pacific.
3 nm in diameter a perfect reef rises out of 6,000 + feet of the ocean floor.
an oceanic castle.
sharks turtles parrot fish lobsters red skies and unforgettable clear night skies
no artificial lights other than anchor lights - 10 yachts left today -
we will leave tomorrow - a trek of probably 3 - 4 ships to get to New Zealand -
the weather looks good for the passage - although always challenging -
as the southern ocean spews up it's spring storms unannounced and in a cycle of 5 days
so you are guaranteed a whack - on a voyage of 6 days - the question is the order of magnitude .
there is nothing worst than knowing that one will suffer ...
see you in New Zealand -
whakadoodledo !