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Leaving Manihi

03-07-2008 Just leaving Manihi for Rangiroa.
Marquesas to Tuamotu Islands

Arrived Rangiroa lunch time today 3rd July and will stop a night or two.
We have our skates on and plan to be in Tahiti by 9th for the visitors arriving 11th.

Stopped at Manihi for a night. A break in the journey and a full nights sleep then left late afternoon for the night sail to Rangiroa after a swim in the beautiful clear turquoise water and saw that the port side hull outside had grown an inch long beard of green grass. It must have had the most sun since the Marquesas. We put the much repaired spinnaker up before sunset to check it out and decided against risking using it in the pitch black moonless night and had a slow sail until it got so slow we hoisted old “Threads”.

These atholls are rings of islets of varying sizes with a large lagoon in the centre. Entry into the calmer lagoon waters is usually only through one narrow channel and can be tricky in the rip of an in or out going tide not to mention the coral patches rising up all over the place. The anchorage here is beautiful if a bit rolly. Rangiroa is the second largest atholl in the world. The islets are so low lying you can only see them within about 10 miles and the lagoon is endless. About 40 miles across.

Holiday Booked!

Fung Yee and I are flying out to Papeete on the 11th July to meet up with James and Lorna.

Looking forward to see Tahiti immensely, I have always wanted to travel to Polynesia , it is supposed to be "the" best place to see marine life, with volcanic tropical islands rising out of the sea, good weather and warm crystal clear waters, we both can't wait, so it's a good job we leave in ten days! This has been a pretty last minute decision. We decided to go three days ago, and then booked our flights the following day. To get there we catch three flights, which take a total of 24 hours. So we're hoping we are still conscious after the journey.

Right now, were trying to source a couple of parts for the boat, then catch up with work and then were off. We've got a visit to a Hindu temple on the 5 July, and Church/Guildfest on the 6th, so we really only have the next nine days to get ourselves organised.

We will definitely be doing some writing from Tahiti, so stay tuned.

Regards

Charles

The Marquesas

The Marquesas Island of Nuka Hiva is beautiful. I love the high green clad mountains with the rugged rocks. The steep ravines and sharp peaks. It reminds me of Table Mountain in Cape Town and more especially the Kirstenbosh area with the sea right up to the parking lot of that world famous garden paradise. The island is kept immaculately clean and tidy. Every afternoon there are little fires where they burn the leaves just raked up although I wonder why they don’t allow them to compost down in a neat corner somewhere.

We were given some Pampelmouse. Delicious grapefruit like fruit. So juicy and not as sour or bitter as the usual grapefruit.

Hoping to stop at a few more bays and islands in this group but for now have been busy with all the fix-ups. I can’t remember that camp fire song with actions but our boat reminds me of it.

The windows are not so good so tape the windows.
Then the dinghy has sprung a leak so pump the dinghy, tape the windows.
Then the spin rips so sew the sail pump the dinghy, tape the window.
Then the ….

You get the idea.

Along the way although the mast gate track was fixed properly the sliders fell out and were lost overboard. Not too bad but we knew we would have to drop the main rather than reef and once it was down we would not be able to rehoist it until making some sort of replacement parts. Shortly after dropped the main to hover around the vicinity of another yacht having some problems with their spinnaker overboard and wrapped round their props and later we spent the night chopping the chopping board for a piece of plastic to round down into a 8mm dowel. Early next morning we are back in business sailwise and no noticeable difference to the bread board that has already donated a part of itself to the base of the jammers.

One night needing to reef we started the engines to come head to wind and the port engine won’t start. The battery has died. Just like that. Dead as a dodo. No hint of a problem before back in any other part of the world where the battery will cost a fraction of what it has here in the Marquesas. But that is the nature of boats for you. We continue working on the boat in exotic locations or in one word, cruising

Lorna and James

Cruisers (Chinese Whispers) Net

There is an informal cruisers net at 8 am each morning on SSB radio. We can receive but not transmit. Positions and conditions are exchanged. The SSB range is far greater than that of the VHF but there are a lot of bubbles and squeaks to listen through. This transmission quickly becomes the highlight of our day. It is like a game of Chinese whispers by dyslexics.

We sail on without coming within VHF range of any one else. We hear others asking about us and between them, the yacht with the best SSB reception and the net controller Mind the Gap becomes Mind the Step.

We listen intently to the conversations so that we can plot the other boats positions on our chart. We would then estimate where each one would be the next day and became fairly good at the predictions as most would be only a few miles from our estimations.

The conversations became really interesting and we were so frustrated when we could not correct or intercede when obvious (to us) mistakes were being made.

We would hear one yacht report their position as 112 degrees west instead of 122 degrees. We immediately knew it was wrong, numerical dyslexia had firmly set in, they could not possibly have gone that far backwards. This is our version of some of the transmissions we heard:

Te Harinui - “Callaback, Callaback this is Te Harinui do you copy”….

Silence

Hanne Danske – “Tararahooey, Tararahooey, This is Hanne Danske I will try to contact them for you”

Hanne Danske – “Calabash, Calabash this is Hanne Danske”

Falabrach – “Hello Dancer, Hello Dancer this is Falabrach”
…….an exchange of positions.

- “Callabrack, Callabrack do you have the position of Wizard?

Blizzard - “Belly Dancer, Belly Dancer this is Blizzard. Our position is….”

Temaraire – “The net controller is asking if there are any other yachts wanting to report their position”

Doucorcy Spirit – “Tia Maria, Tia Maria Our position….”

There was a bit of chit chat between Doucorcy Spirit and the others.
The next morning and for the following week there was always someone asking where Corsica was. It was so frustrating. We knew the name had been confused in the bubble and squeak of the SSB with Doucorcy Spirit. We were dying to get in there with the position of Corsica just north of Sardinia in the Med.

Without intention the yacht names changed and took on whole new meanings……

Te Harinui (from a Maori song meaning blessings from the sea) became Tiara Newy, Tarara Hooey, Tamara Hui, and a variety of others just stopping short of becoming Banana Gooey.
Falabrach (Italian for naughty boy) became Callaback, Callabrack, Falafel and Calabash.
Hanne Danske (Hanna the Dane) became Canadansa, Kelly Danza, Hanna Dancer, Can-Can Dancer and the favourite, Belly Dancer.
Arbuthnot (Norwegian and Scottish for where the river meets the sea) became Abernot, Agernaut, Aga Nought, Argernaut, Butternut.

And then there was Flame, what can be funny about Flame, well you had to be there to appreciate it and you also had to have watched a Blackadder series where he and Baldric were in the trenches during the 1st world war and Baldric proudly announced “I have written a poem sir”. – “Oh very well then lets hear it” says Balckadder. Baldric -
Boom, Boom, Boom, BOOOM. Second verse.. BOOOOOM boom etc. well that is what the call to Flame sounded like as they were out of range and the call kept being repeated.
.
This is Lorna aboard “Duck your head”, “Watch your step”, “Mind the Gap” standing by on e mail.

The Rise and Fall of Threads

We blew the spinnaker. What’s new! It shouldn’t have gone though. Not in 11 knots of wind.

Only just put it up, no flapping or flogging or sudden gusts. At first I thought the halyard had slipped as all I could see was the spinnaker dropping down but as I clambered along forward I saw it had ripped. Starting from the luff tape, and while I unwound the snuffer lines, ripping before my eyes all the way across the crown and then carrying on all the way down the long leach just in from the tape edge. James makes it forward in time to drag the bits on deck while I drop the halyard.

It took hours – no make that days of hard graft, sewing patches back and front. First tacking it in place by hand after carefully lining up the torn threads to keep the shape, then machine stitching it roughly before all the zig zags to hold it all down and give it a bit of strength. Not too much stitching in one place to avoid strengthening it too much and make the bit alongside weak.

The machine can only do straight stitch so to get the zig zag effect I have to turn the fabric around the machine needle.

The first couple of days I got the bulk of placing the patches done and then we were off in a fair breeze. Sewing at the cockpit table was impossible with the wind catching the thread and wrapping it around other bits of the machine in between stitches. Sewing inside is not so comfortable.

A couple of days out and the wind started easing. I knew in the morning it would be spinnaker weather and my shifts through the night were spent climbing in and out of my spinnaker cacoon either to check on our sailing progress or to get behind that other wheel and turn some stitches. Sometimes I would only just find my place and I would need to climb back out of mountains of fabric to make some adjustment to the boat trim.

Eventually I had it all patched up. And here the photos are so disappointing. (will upload asap) They make it look like a tiny tear across the top point. In reality the red section coming down along the side is about two meters. The one whole side needed work and patches went on back and front. Also it was not a neat straight tear. There were great holes of missing fabric, inches of waft threads with all the weave threads in a fuzzy ball at the nearest seam, and horizontal, vertical and diagonal rips.

Up it went early morning only to have to come down for a quick fix in a unrelated spot showing some daylight through a small tear. A few hours later and a another safety measure patch on a patch repair was done. We dropped it for the night late afternoon as the wind was starting to pick up.

Next day with the lighter wind it went back up and it stayed up for the following night with me watching it like a hawk and adjusting our course so as to keep the pressure off “Threads” even if we sailed a little slower. With James on duty and me trying to sleep through the nightmares of a freshly broken spinnaker I am woken with the thing hanging it tatters again. I think James has gone for the speed and direction option as opposed to the “save the threads” option.This was supposed to have been a heavy duty spinnaker. It has now ripped all the way across again but just below the last repair. I have been chopping up the old spinnaker for patches but I think I should have chopped up the new one to repair the old.

I am not impressed. My back and neck still ache from the last lot of sewing. I do not want to see the thing again and tell James to leave it in the locker on deck. In all his wisdom James insists on examining it and bringing it back to the cockpit. For the next few days I get to stomp over it umpteen times. Eventually I tackle it without enthusiasm and no more carefully matching threads I put in a huge overlap with darts and puckers in the wider lower part so that it fits to the narrower head section. It can now only be used in very light winds and no more tight angles to the wind. There will be days when it will come in very handy.

Sew, sew and more sew and early one morning after a relatively slow night up it goes. I am not convinced it is the right thing to do. The wind is light but patchy. We have had a day of this patchy stuff and the full main has been up then as it starts flopping and flogging with the wave action it has been reefed. Hardly done and the wind has picked up that tiny bit and the reef has been taken out. No sooner done and it has started flogging again. Reef in. Reef out.

Now the full main is up with the spinnaker. This is good as it will shield the spin from any strong puffs but then it is also a problem in that during the lulls it takes all the wind and the spin flops.

The spinnaker is only just up when it flops gets caught up on the spreader which pops a hole in it near the leach tape and hooks out the leach line running up the tape. The spin doesn’t rip but it is stuck up there on the spreader. In our efforts to get it down we cause some damage and I have yet again more sewing to do. After all that sewing the spinnaker has flown for a maximum of 36 hours.

I had really looked forward to this particular leg of our journey but I have found it the worst. Too much sewing and repair jobs to enjoy the journey or was it the race effect of having other yachts also sailing the same leg. When one yacht sails a journey it is a cruise, when more than one yacht sails the same journey it is a race! Give me cruising any day.

Galapagos and heading for Marquesas

We left the Galapagos island of Christobal after a couple of days. Time enough for the sea lions to make themselves at home aboard Mind the Gap and have a snooze on the transom steps whenever they fancied. They are smaller and friendlier than their Cape Town cousins and leave as soon as requested. None of that teeth baring and lip curling snarl at your approach.

Went on a tour to see the giant tortoises, a volcano crater, and flora and fauna along the way and the iguanas. These big land based iguanas have adapted to diving into the cold waters for their food. They have to lie on the rocks in the sun to get their body temp back up to normal. There they lie baking in the sun and sneezing salt.

Head for Isabela sailing past the rim of a volcano that is just above sea level in places but the leeward side still rises high above the sea, making a beautiful crescent shaped bay. Unfortunately facing the wind and sea but what remains is probably the result of the wind and sea eroding the rest.

Isabela is beautiful. Sand roads compacted hard and flat and the street lamp posts made from almost straight 4 – 6 inch diameter length of tree branches with a lamp on top. A field of dried lava looked like the rumpled skin of some huge old beast. We had the erupting volcano lighting up the sky with a red glow of fire and brimstone for two nights but we were safe enough about 20 miles upwind.

No bank on the island which caused a bit of a problem when the port captains “problemo” needed settling. An obliging hotel helped out.

The day we are due to leave Te Harinui and two other yachts sail into the bay. The Port Captain is there quick sticks and wants us all out by late afternoon. Isabela is not really an allowed stop for us yachties.

We were lucky to have a couple of days even if not allowed to go swimming with the Hammerhead sharks or go on any of the other tours. I think I am done with tours. You do get to see some extra sites but it all turns out a bit too organized and fake. I much prefer seeing a snippet naturally, like the turtle tracks on the beach in Barbuda with no one else around, no signposts and yackety guide.

A quick trip ashore for the others after their all night sail and before sunset all four yachts sail out of the bay. Next stop Marquesas about 3000 miles away.

You’d think sailing the ocean is lonesome, by the morning there are nine yachts in a twenty mile radius around us. That is the range that our VHF radio receives and transmits. All have recently come through the Panama Canal and all heading ultimately for NZ or Australia with stop overs in the Marquesas, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji plus other islands on the way.

We all left a Galapagos island within days of hours of each other and are following the desired course just south of the rhumb line to make the best of winds and currents.
Channel 16 is for emergencies but can also be used as a hailing channel before switching over. Out here on the ocean with only us cruisers in range all the chit chat between the yachts is listened to by all the others. Being about mid fleet one morning we found ourselves to be the relay station with yachts almost out of range up ahead hearing one side of our conversation with friends of theirs almost out of our range behind us. Messages were being relayed back and forth then other boats joined in asking about conditions further left or right. I had no sooner said “Mind the Gap clear” when another yacht would call us up asking for a relay to someone else.

It doesn’t take long and although we are all headed in the same direction each boat sails differently and a degree or two change in course makes a big difference and we all fan out sailing the best course for our own boat. The seas are lumpy and bumpy and the wind is not blowing according to the expected pattern. We are pleased to have “Blizzard” behind us and “Delicate Dawn” ahead.

Two days later and we are all alone on an empty ocean.
Not quite alone but out of VHF range.

Lorna and James

Arrived in the Marquesas

Hi All,

Being Sunday the internet cafes were all shut and the mails couldn’t get sent.

We are now in The Marquesas after 3000 plus miles of some quite fast days clocking up near the 200 mile per day mark.

I fixed the spinnaker, fixed it, fixed it, fixed it, James broke it. I fixed it again, James broke it again……. Mast track sliders got redone, engine fan belt replaced and the list goes on.

Will be in touch soon.

Lorna and James

(PS. Our google Earth file is now up to date)

Last day in the Galapagos

Isabela 90 miles or so from Isla San Christobal and last in the Galapagos island chain.

We left San Christobal after waiting for 2 days to get our exit documents. The day we arrived, the port Captains officer came aboard, took our details and promised to deliver our exit papers the next day. Next day, no papers. The day after I tried to find out what was going on. The Naval base officers said try at another office. I tried there but it was like speaking a foreign language to them. To be fair, they were Spanish. Anyway, left without the prepared documents, which couldn’t be found anywhere, but I still had a copy of my Panama exit papers.

We were not 5 miles away, doing over 9 knots when we again had problems with the main sail track and sliders, return to Christobal and fixed things as best I could and left again early the next morning. We arrived at Isabela just before sunset and anchored inside a very pretty sheltered reef. Good stuff to see out here but the tours are very expensive.

I got on with repairs to the mast gate track. It is now better than new. I will go into details about the repair if some of you are interested - let me know. The main head board sliders are worn and I will replace those as soon as I can.

We were visited by the local Port Captain and he said we have a “problemo” but that the problemo could be sorted out for $125. We now have exit papers for Marquesas but we can only stay here for 2 more days to fix our broken spinnaker and we are not allowed to visit the tourist sites. Fine by me. How many seals, white tipped sharks, boobys, tortoises, iguanas and lava rocks do you want to see? Well, maybe I always like seeing the boobys.

Then there was the fire and brimstone event. The local volcano is fortunately downwind of us and gave a spectacular display at night, the red lava shooting skywards. We are far enough away for it not to pose a threat to us. Lorna has been working very hard in trying to make our spinnaker operational again. Hopefully we will be able to use it on this trip to Marquesas if we treat it gently.

3 other boats, including Te Harinui has just turned up at this anchorage and we will be leaving with them tonight. (Sun 1 Jun).

All news for now.

James.

PS Happy birthday wishes to the following and belated wishes to Julian.

Lynn
Chris
Henk
Rachael
Finnley

Happy Birthday. We will be thinking of you while we are somewhere between Galapagos and Marquesas Islands. If I get the spinnaker sewn up we could be there in 27 days. If I don’t or it doesn’t fly maybe 35 or so and if the new improved sliders and mast track …….no James has fixed that good.

Lots of love,
Lorna and James

Dracula

...continued from last post.


So Ngaire and I hop off the bus from Panama at the supermarket stop and head for the taxi rank. The supervisor sees us coming, finds out where we want to go and while she explains to the driver where to take us, and he understands, (which is a good sign as it is not the usual route for the locals) we hop into the only taxi available.

It is a battered and clapped out wreck, but not as much of a skedonk as the one James and I took in Margarita. When we asked for a taxi, the group of men with their heads under the bonnet, hammering away, simply dropped the bonnet with a clang and said “hop in”. The doors closed with a two inch gap all round and I won’t go into the rest. But that was back in Margarita.

The driver partly turns round to Ngaire and I and I see his one eye is very clouded over. No health and safety issues here about being allowed to drive or even drive public transport. The rules of the road are equally casual. We reach the busy junction of cross country motorway, shopping precinct and downtown main road. Cars, busses, trucks and taxi’s all criss crossing the 5 or 6 way intersection. We have seen very few traffic lights and stop signs. All the four way junctions appear to be controlled by each driver’s sense of fair play and patience. Somehow it usually all works out.

At the sound of a blaring horn and a squeal of brakes and with our bonnet protruding into another lane beyond the back of a bus, our driver turns to reassure us and we see he is ideally suited to these junctions at rush hour – his eyes work independently of each other.

We make it across the BBQ grating over the locks while the water surges below with the pressure of the draining lock and to the end of the forest track just before dark. With a smile our driver offers us his card in case we need a taxi again. His name! - Dracula. I kid you not! You can’t make up stuff like this.