Footnotes from Water Music

Sicily to New Zealand on Water Music Wauquiez Centurion 45

Vessel Name: Water Music
Vessel Make/Model: Wauquiez Centurion 45
Crew: Stephen Foot, Grace Foot, Charlie Foot, Fergus Mutch
08 November 2019
08 November 2019
31 October 2019 | Opua, Bay of Islands
31 October 2019 | Opua, Bay of Islands
27 October 2019 | 250 miles North of New Zealand
26 October 2019 | West of Norfolk Island
25 October 2019 | West of New Caledonia
22 October 2019 | West of New Caledonia
21 October 2019
21 October 2019
21 October 2019 | Musket Cove
20 October 2019 | Navula Passage, Fiji
19 October 2019 | Muskett Cove
14 October 2019
14 October 2019 | Nanuya
12 October 2019
12 October 2019
09 October 2019 | Makongai in Fiji
26 September 2019 | Vanua Mbalvu in the Lau Islands of Fiji
Recent Blog Posts
08 November 2019

08 November 2019

And so to bed!

31 October 2019 | Opua, Bay of Islands

And so to bed

The last week has passed in something of a blur as we have put the boat to bed and sought to balance this with some more fun things to do in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

31 October 2019 | Opua, Bay of Islands

Journey's end

When we last completed a blog, we were looking for some wind to get some respite from the mirror flat seas we were experiencing. We found it!

27 October 2019 | 250 miles North of New Zealand

Signs of life

Our position: 30.00S, 170.07E

26 October 2019 | West of Norfolk Island

Turning for New Zealand

Our Position: 26.47S, 169.21E

Safe in Niue

11 August 2019 | Niue
Stephen
Our last Blog was written immediately after we had left Rarotonga en route for Niue. What we didnt comment on in our last message was about the harbour in Aviatu. It was quite the most uncomfortable one that I have been in for a very long time - with a big surge coming even in pretty calm weather. The surge would then bounce off the sea wall and reflect back into the harbour. That meant that the bow and stern were slamming continually for the first three days of our stay and only stopped when the wind died completely. The slamming gave us a few uncomfortable nights on board - but more serious implications came out later.

The trip overall to Niue was difficult to say the least. First of all we had no wind for nearly 24 hours and made slow progress - our first 24 hour run of less than 120 miles. On the second night, the autopilot failed - yet again - and we were back to manual steering. Nothing we could do that night made any difference and it wasnt until the morning that we discovered that one of the cables to the drive unit had parted in all the rain we had had. Once found, it was quickly repaired. Problem one dealt with.

Then it started to rain and got cold. So cold that the only difference between sailing here and in the North Sea was the colour of the sea and the fact that the nearest land (excluding the sea bed) was about 200 miles away. By that point we hadnt located all of our wet weather since putting it away after the Atlantic crossing. So we just got wet and cold.

The following day - by which time we were just under half way to Niue we found rather a lot of water sloshing around in the bilges. The float switch on the automatic bilge pump had evidently not worked - meaning that the pump wouldnt trigger - and this seemed fine as we could drain the bilges quite quickly. At that stage nothing to worry about. About 1/2 hour later, Grace reported that there was a lot of water sloshing around down below. This was more than a case of the bilge pump not working. We clearly had a major leak somewhere, which was a serious threat to us all. We had no idea where it was coming from and could have ended with us sinking. We knew we hadnt hit anything (whale, containers, logs etc etc) so no obvious source of a problem.

That evening we joined the SSB Radio net - which links together yachts doing the same thing as us - and found that the best reception we got was from two of the yachts about 2000 Nm away from us. We reported our difficulties and between the net, they passed on our challenges to the local coastguards in Tahiti and New Zealand. As we were getting to the limit of French Polynesia, the radio station in NZ took over responsibility for arranging any consequent search and rescue operation in the event that we might sink. We werent actually calling a MayDay, but pretty close to it.

Our main problem was that we didnt know where the leak was coming from. We checked all the skin fittings and they were all fine. ie anywhere there was a hole in the hull to let water in/out - which would include the galley sink drain, loo inlets and outlets, engine/generator cooling water intakes etc etc. there was no problem with any of them. there was no clunking around the keel, so no evidence of keel bolt failure and so the options were either then the ingress was either catastrophic failure of the hull or something happening at one end of the boat or the other. Not knowing was a major worry for us.

What was equally a major worry for the rescue authorities (they were on Mayday standby) was that we then had a problem with our SSB. I can now admit that this was pilot error (I hadnt realised that we had jumped off the Upper Side Band and were on AFB instead) and thought we were transmitting when we werent. It was only the following night when I was on the radio and Grace asked me to double check that we had all the right settings on the new frequency that i realised we were not broadcasting at all. I corrected the "mode" on the radio and heard a blaze of "where is Water Music/ has anyone heard from them since the problem was broadcast". You could hear the sighs of relief when we were able to break in and stress that we were OK. Interesting to note that our signals were best picked by yachts as far away as North of Hawaii and West of Australia - a range of some 4000 miles. Fortunately NZ coastguard were also listening and so they knew we were OK. We agreed to report in to them on an hourly basis to assure that we were still surviving.

Our pumps worked and were able to contain the leak - although we couldnt find it. The pumps consisted of the boat's automatic pump (we knew the automatic bit wasnt working, but the pump was), a handheld bilge pump and an electric crash pump. So we knew we were OK. Things did get worse as we started to sail faster - but at least that meant we were getting to safety quicker. We also knew that we were being monitored by rescue services, so if we needed to abandon ship the NZ authorities (albeit some 1500 Nm away) had some vague idea of where we were. We also knew that a yacht bound for Niue from Palmerston Island (also in the Cooks) was only 100Nm away. So the chances of rescue from our liferaft were reasonably good.

To cut a long story short, you will imagine our relief when, just before sunset, we saw the distinct shape of land as we approached Niue. It looked like we were going to make it after all. At that point we were being monitored by the Puddle Jump network, the NZ authorities, the police, yacht club and rescue services in Niue. The latter were on the point of launching their rescue boat for us.

At 2300 local time (most people are asleep by 2000) we were guided in to a mooring buoy off the main village in Niue by one of the concerned yachts in the bay. The relief was enormous as we were still taking in water and having to trigger the electric pumps almost continuously. A huge sigh of relief followed that we could now swim to safety if need be and so we reached for some food and the whisky bottle. Food - I forgot to mention that at the height of the crisis we had a double tuna strike on both fishing lines. By the time we landed them one was drowned (when we knew would live, it tasted delicious) and we threw the other one (still alive) back.

No sooner had we stopped moving, the ingress of water also stopped. The bilge was dry and remained dry throughout the night. Not only did that mean we got a night's sleep, but it also meant that the problem could not be in the hull, but had to be at one end or the other - which would only be under water when the boat was moving.

The following morning, we filled the watertight anchor compartment with sea water. It held and so we knew the problem was at the back of the boat. Brian (the oppressed bosun) stripped out the lazarettes and immediately found a split 2" pipe. This pipe was underneath a 20l gerry can of diesel that had been bouncing around on top of it in Rarotonga and had severed it. The pipe was designed to take any gas leak straight out of the boat - as it turned out it was acting as an open hole in the bottom of the boat.

Fixing it, once diagnosed, took very little time. We had the spare pipework on board and were able to fix the problem. We now have a great many friends to thank throughout this trying period.

The next blog will describe in more detail the wonderful reception we have had in Niue - from officials, yacht club and fellow yachties.

We are delighted to be here - not just because it is such a beautiful place. We are also in awe of the reach and breadth of the rescue services and fellow yachties as to how far they will go to provide help and assistance.

From a skipper's perspective, I know i have made mistakes. the only answer I have had from officials has been "that is what we are here for" and from fellow yachties "you would do the same for us"...
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Water Music's Photos - Main
Photos from Charlie and Fergus, from Tongatapu to Vava'u
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