09 July 2015 | Roses Costa Brava
05 June 2015 | Torrevieja
29 May 2015 | Aguilas Costa Blanca ES
28 May 2015 | Garrucha ......Mineral loading ,Fishing Port & Yacht Marina .Costa Blanca Spain
27 May 2015 | Garrucha .......Costa Blanca.. Spain picture Cabo de Gata
21 May 2015 | Puerto Caleta de Ve'lez
15 May 2015 | Benalmadema.
Gibraltar
28 April 2015 | Gibraltar
Trev .Warm :Light wind .calm
A fast painless trip through immigrasi .The lack of compitition amongst the few local taxi drivers causing a long wait with many other passengers . finally delivered to the Rock Hotel. A beautifull old established hotel well up on the rock overlooking Gibraltar Town harbour & Bay.and across the straights to Morroco & Africa...
Famous visitors including Sir Winston Churchill etc.
The Adventure Begins Auckland to LA
26 April 2015 | Los Angeles
Trev
Capt,n Bill & TB.Rush to Tidy up last minute work& domestic details to make the 5.pm bookin deadline for the Flight to LA. 1st leg of trip to Gibraltar to rendezvous with he Bulk Carrier Muntgratch .Transporting the Shalimar from Tauranga NZ to Gibraltar...
11.5hrs & 1/2 a sleep later we are over Santa Catalina island the dry sierras backing LA & the large flat laid symetrically laid out streets suburbs huge industrial areas & massive 5-6airstrips of La Airport .After a quick passage through immigrasi. Ino the busy traffic of La airport to catch the Westin Hotel connection bus.
After a brief rest .Down to Venice beach via marina del Ray o take in the cool local scene...
Ile Te' Maye' to Poudioue' Ils. Balade.
30 September 2012 | Balade NEcoast New Cal
Trevor
After a slightly rocky rolly nights sleep . with the breeze lifting to 15knts after midnight and the se swell sweeping around the protecting reef and island .
We got underway to start down the north east coast of Grande Terre. Motoring into a light se wind which steadily increased through the day to its normal 15 to 20 knts. We wound our way through the islands, reefs and passages to drop anchor behind a tiny sand cay .Poudioue' Is ,or named by Cook as Observation Island a km away from the town of Balade. . An area steeped in history of early European discovery & colonization.
1774 , 4th Sept .
Balade was the area Cook 1st landed when discovering NewCaledonia on his second voyage .Before proceeding to circumnavigate ,and map the country . Poudioue' or Observatory island is where Cook observed an eclipse of the sun.
1793 ,6th May .
Huon Kermadec .The captian of one of D,Entrecasteaux,s ship was buried on Poudioue' Is , after succumbing to tuberculosis, during a French expedition to the Pacific in search of the vanished La Pe'rouse Expedition of 1788. The suspected remains of which were found on Vanikoro . Santa Cruz Islands .in 1826 ,by a passing Irish trading captain .A story in itself. Peter Dillion :
Your text to link...
1843 :A Marist Mission was set up nearby in Balade. One the ist churches in New Caledonia
1851 : A trading ships landing party was massacred at Balade ,except for one man. By local Kanak tribesmen
1853 : French took Possession of New Cal @ Balade & Ilse of Pines.
NB: A very busy area for one minute piece of sand
Tongatapu to Vava,u.
15 May 2012
Trevor:.... Oh No its a Double Rainbow Ahhahhaha
So thursday morning saw us up anchore at 7 am and follow the chart plotter 10 miles north to clear the reefs and islands of the Tongatapu area. Sailing 60 miles north we made land fall in the Hapai group anchoring at Nomuka iti with 3 other yachts to take shelter from a brisk 20knt westerly wind, Nomuka iti being a small uninhabited island that once housed a penal colony.,we went ashore to explore gather coconuts ,hone our skills at husking cocnuts with a sharpened stick pushed into the ground, and and take in the coral formations ,Nomuka island a mile to the north was a place of rewatering for Captain Cook and many passing sailing ships centuries before , from a good fresh water spring now overgrown on the island..After a days rest we then made our way via the various reefs and uninhabited islands to anchor at Unoukuhahaki island a long stip of coral and palm trees in the eastern edge of the Hapai group.on overnighting we then traveled around the ocean side of the reefs and islands to anchore at Uoleva a beautiful coral and palm covered island . At dawn the next day with very overcast a squally conditions we threaded our way through the reefs and islands of the Hapai group to have a fast sail north to enter and anchore at Port Maureil using radar and spot light at 11.0pm total darkness in the Vavau group to keep pace with our cruising schedule. The next day entering Nieafu harbour to clear customs and spend some trime in port catching up with emails and enjoying the sheltered waters and cafesand facilities of Nieafu.harbour.
South minerva Reef to Nth Minerva Ata Island & Tongatapu
07 May 2012 | Auckland
Trevor /Overcast 15c
After 1 day and night at Sth Minerva it was time to sail 20miles nw to North Minerva reef to anchor for 2 days awaiting a small tropical trough to come through which would give contrary winds for a few days .
Before exciting the reef we delivered a few fillets of fresh tuna to Yacht Maharangi . one of the yachts taking care of the daily radio scheds for the regatta fleet.A mighty over-arm throw from Pat, was skilfully plucked from the air in a very fine jumping ,reaching ,baseball catch ,by the skipper ,from the decks of his rolling yacht . To the loud cheers & applause of the Shalimar crew.
Nth Minerva reef was busy with 23 or so yachts anchored awaiting for the" flick "as it was termed by the weather gurus. to occur. So a walk on the reef and more fish dishes were prepared to fill the time.
One of the highlights of the voyage was the standard of the meals prepared. with fish the family dish being the favorite with most crew members,
Served in many different ways .Thinly sliced Tuna covered in Panco .a form of Japanese bread crumb ,and fried in rice bran oil.:Baked with a squeeze of lime and lemon and served with grated garlic & ginger ontop .Just the best.: And in fish curries ,of which there were many .
Unfortunately for the culprits ,and most others aboard. A surreptitious plot was uncovered. To raid the condiments cupboard,in the wee small hours of the morning and dispose of Captn Bills, "Chinese Fish Sauce ",which goes on many of his dish,s '''' by slipping it mercilessly overboard.
Under threat of a royal enquiry and keel hauling . This brave act was thwarted by our ever observant and wary Captn. However Capt,n Bill ,did relent under intense pressure and allow a democratic vote to be taken . Most of crew electing , not have ,their fish cooked with . the lets say, exceptionally strong smelling brew
N.B .Even dictators have soft spots.Except never let them know.,,,
On the morning of the 3rd day at nth Minerva we up anchored and circled until the rain lifted a little, then made our way through the reef entrance , hoisted sail and set course for Ata island .
It was not long before the reel screamed again and a beautiful large Mahi Mahi was landed to compliment the fish stocks aboard .Beautiful eating.
Ata island is the most southerly of the Tongan group laying about 80 miles south of Tongatapu. A tiny volcanic outcrop that used to be inhabited by surely the most tenacious of people. for there is hardly a surface of less than 30deg.on the whole island . The Tongan king of more than a 100 years ago moved all the inhabitants to Eua Is close to Tongatapu to thwart Blackbirders .who stopped from their dastardly trade in Africa with the abolition of slavery by Americans and British. Turned to the Pacific ,to lure unsuspecting islanders aboard their ships and then run their captives to Chile where they were put to work in the mines ,never to be seen again.
3 days from Nth Minerva land was sited again. in the early morning and the southern part of Tongatapu lay close by .
So on saturday morning 12 days from nz we negotiated the small ships channel through the reef and anchored at Pangimotu island to await customs clearance. Which is a whole other story.
Opua to South Minerva reef
01 May 2012 | Nieafu,Vavau .Tonga
Trevor Weather ,overcast winds ,sth east light
Hi
With an overnight sail to beat an incomming weather system Shalimar anchored at Robinson,s island to get a little rest before proceeding to Opua.Marina A hectic 3 days ensued repairing the topmast Tri colour lights , tracing an intermitant fault with the wind instruments .Finealy detecting a failure of the topmast wind speed&direction unit . New oars adapted , to fit the rubber ducky . Information meetings ,provisioning up ,gathering of straggling crew members,duty free aboard .customs clearance etc etc.
Shalimar finally ready to depart Opua 1st may 11am winds light 10knts from the south . The regatta fleet motored out of the bay untill about 2pm when the wind increased enough to hoist full sail and switch of Mr Detroit. As the evening progressed the wind gradually increased to between between 18 & 25knts from the south east with the occasional 35knts in rain squalls . The seas gradually increased over the day to become moderate to rough with overcast skies.
It took a few nights of tracking down squeaking and banging objects and wedging them into place before the ship quietened down a little.
With the wind ranging between 18 & 28 knts sometimes every 15 minutes or so it took some time to settle down to a 1/3 reefed mainsail and small working jib to be comfortable through the wind range .With the combination selected we settled in for a moderately rough but pleasant sail to South Minerva Reef.
The precooked meals were a treat with Dave,s contributions beef stroganoff.and one other dish with a name to exotic to remember, All especially prepared and flown from his kitchen in Paraparaumu.Joanne Mathews beautiful signature dish Spaghetti bolognaise with the spaghetti beautifully prepared with 1/2 1/2 ocean &fresh water followed by my mums Pea & ham soups as only mums can make them .And then my hastily prepared Lazagna,s. All filled out by a good supply of marinated steak & beef and Bacon sausages from Sams Butchery .The best in the west .
The corned beef disappeared on the second day after a lightening fast dawn raid on the fridge by Capt,n Bills in his incessant and ruthless drive to keep the fridge clear of any degrading material, such as broccoli and lettuce which did not keep at all and any other potentially suspicous packages etc etc. There were some very nasty lurking suspicions it could have gone over the side in the frenzy .Thankfully. but far to late it was discovered cast into the bottom of the freezer 3 weeks later .
With the amount of food aboard everyone eat very heartily. Even our hard working ex flight controller & instructor who was more satisfied when the dishes were of a less exotic variety .And of course washed down by a red wine or an occassional , Jim Beam Kentucky Fried Bourbon .
So it was a moderately rough 5 & 1/2 day passage to South Minerva reef . As we sailed along the western edge of the reef early morning of the 6th day . the reels started to go off . and an hour later 3 yellowfin tuna 1 skipjack and 2 rainbow runners . lay flapping on the back deck .
Due to a cosmic glitch . for Dave only seems to operate in cosmic glitches . Dave Steel had been reading the NZ boating cookbook . while being tossed around on the ocean. perhaps pine ing for the sunday roast of Paraparaumu, and came across the recipe for South Minerva Reef Tuna So of course to keep protocol Sth Minerva Tuna was prepared and served for dinner. Result superb,,
Safely anchored in Minerva ,with the ocean swells breaking on the reef
South Minerva provided a peaceful and calm anchorage for a pleasant nights sleep and a beautiful days walk on the reef to check out the old Japanese fishing vessel wreck site . Motors still remaining but the Australian built survey cairn nearby has been destroyed possibly by hurricane action .