Sailing around the world

The night before, we removed the dinghy engine and stowed it under the transom seat, then firmly secured the dinghy on its side against the transom. This should stop us from being flooded by big seas, the dinghy filling with water and minimize the danger of losing the dinghy and all the gear off the back, solar panels etc. We left Tongatapu, the southern most island of the group early on Sunday 26th October, making steady albeit slow progress through the various reefs around the island. By midday we were only a few miles off the island with no wind. I am always reluctant to motor a sail boat but we were fully loaded with diesel, especially for this trip. I intended motoring when the wind died or when we were doing less than 2 knots boat speed according to the GPS. We had over a thousand miles to go. I was loathed to start the journey under engines. I was saving the diesel for when we were racing to get to NZ to beat the regular weather fronts that occur on route. The south westerly gales on the approaches to NZ can be really viscous with winds at the 60 knot mark. We had not encountered anything like that before and did not intend to. The most we encountered was a fifty knot gust off the coast of Columbia. It resulted in a wave breaking over the transom steps and I definitely did not want more of that.


We always intended to stop at Minerva reef 250 miles away and almost on the direct route to NZ. Hearing about the clarity of the water and the lobsters that walk across the reef ready for picking, made it more than just desirable. The weather grib files that we had downloaded from the internet before we left, indicated light wind in our area but picking up later with some quite nasty 30- 40 knot stuff, just after noon in 2 days time in the vicinity of Minareva. So our target was Minerva, 2 days time well before midday. Therefore, engine on!


Running just one engine at 1500 rpm we gently made progress but 2 other boats that left after us, “Mi Querida” a 40 something foot ketch and “Astra” and big 60’ monohull over took us about sunset then disappeared into the distance making great progress under engine with no sails up. Astra was making direct for NZ and “Mike and Rita” (the only way I could remember the name) was also heading for Minerva.


We ended up sailing together all the way to NZ. We first encountered Leigh, skipper and owner when we left Tonga Vavau group and headed for the Hapai group. We invited him for some fish we had caught but he went on to another anchorage.


The wind did come through and we could finally get some decent speed up without the help of engines. The next morning while we repairing a sail batten fitting we encountered a sister cat called “Sunset Sam” also making direct for NZ. We lost sight of them a few hours later as our courses diverged slightly. Early the next morning we entered the cut in the reef in less than ideal visibility as it was cloudy and raining at times but we could make out the reef quite clearly from a few hundred meters off. Mi Querida and Mind the Gap the only 2 boats inside the reef at the time. This seemed so bizarre, anchoring in what looks like the open sea but the reef gives great shelter even in strong wind conditions. By the afternoon the wind had increased and by the evening it was gusting over 30 knots but we felt very secure in an anchorage with good holding.

Approaching reef at Minerva


In Minerva


Mi Querida next to Mind the Gap at Minerva



Leigh had invited us over for some fish, he caught something nice just as we entered the reef. We declined the invitation as our dinghy was not in the water and we just wanted to rest. Later that evening we heard 2 boats in the vicinity, on the VHF, that decided not to stop at the reef but after sailing past, Moonduster’s autopilot broke down and decided to enter the reef after all. This was difficult at night, being pitch black out there and he was on his own. We helped him through by communicating way points of the cut which he double checked to correspond with his electronic charts. He then made it safely in without incident. Next, it was Shilling of Hamble who decided to turn back after sailing 15 miles past the reef. They heard that if they continued they would encounter some bad weather when approaching NZ so decided to lay up for a day or two. The next day we were joined by a number of other yachts – Lindisfarne, Iris, Pangaea and as we were leaving the next day, Pegasus. All these boats stopped over to repair some breakages encountered in the first 250 miles to NZ.


That evening we were due for dinner onboard Mi Querida. I untied the dinghy and without the motor fitted took it for a test row around our boat to ensure we would make it over to Leigh’s.

Test row at Minerva


Although the wind was strong I seemed to manage ok. Later with two up and our supper stuff, it soon became apparent that actually, it was not ok.


Mi Querida was anchored next to us, about 100 meters away but after rowing furiously for about 5 minutes we were drifting off slightly. Then the rowlock on the one side of the dinghy broke out of its slot and we really got into trouble, soon we were about 200 meters away and our boat 50 meters away and directly upwind. We were fast approaching Shilling that was anchored behind Mind the Gap, they thought we were coming to visit them. We drifted past them despite both of us still rowing like mad. Next up was Moonduster and Pangaea. Lorna and I do not row well together at the best of times and this must have looked like something from the Laurel and Hardy era. We now each had an oar and rowed, Lorna sitting on the left and me right hand side pontoon, facing forward and each of us rowing furiously. Lorna does not row as strongly as I do and the dinghy, instead of going forward just turns towards her side and I have to start rowing backwards, losing the little bit of hard gained ground. I now understand perfectly what making the hard yards is all about. What we then decided to do was, as soon as the dinghy veered to her side, swap sides without standing on the salads or wine glasses. This wobbly boat in the wind and wavy chop did not make this maneuver easy and by the time we were rowing again and ready to swap sides were definitely heading for calamity, the cut in the reef and the open sea beyond. We would be lucky to be alive to make landfall in Australia.


But then arriving on the scene was our hero Ben, rescuer from Pangaea armed with dinghy and small outboard who got us safely but wet back to Mind the Gap. Next on the scene was Leigh in the rowing taxi who got us safely but wetter on Mi Querida. We had a great evening together. Leigh had Jan as crew for the trip but she was laid low with Dengue fever and seasickness which resulted in Leigh sailing all the way from Tonga to NZ virtually single handed.


We left Minerva about eight the next morning when we heard other friends from a cat named AHU were sailing past the reef about 16 miles away. We finally caught up to them just at sunset. We had really good sailing that day doing about 200 miles over the 24 hour period. The rest of the journey was thankfully uneventful, we did have to run the motors for about 30 hours and had a good sail into NZ over the last 20 or so. We were in VHF contact with Leigh for most of the way and also some of the others that left shortly after us from Minerva.

Approaching Opua – NZ



We arrived at the customs dock in Opua at about noon on the 4th Nov and we became TV stars. There is a TV series being made covering NZ border controls and we were interviewed and our boat filmed during the quarantine procedures. We had to hand over any fresh veggies and fruit and some other stuff not allowed into NZ. We did it gladly and were thankful for arriving safely in NZ without any damage or having suffered any stressful conditions on our journey here.


Safely anchored in Opua

Sorry about that, I've been really busy since getting back to the UK. Job security has really had me worried, with the credit crisis. I wonder if this news has reached James and Lorna yet? Anyway, I had put off blog updates as I wanted to write up our own stories from Tahiti, but while we had a fantasitc time, things have been just too hectic for even a spare minute of writing. Anyway I can't put off the updates from James and Lorna any longer, so without further ado here they are:

http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/arrived-in-niue-26-august
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/arrived-in-tonga-1st-september
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/delayed-departure-due-to-storm-warnings-4th-september
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/give-me-a-cat-vhf-check-in-5th-september
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/the-kingdon-of-tonga-24th-september
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/scary-dive-to-underwater-cave-8th-october
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/galapagos-to-marquesas-3045-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/marquesas-to-tuamotus-477-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/tuamotus-to-tahiti-306-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/tahiti-and-her-islands
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/tahiti-to-maupiha-135-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/maupiha-society-islands-to-aitutake-cook-islands-350-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/aitutake-to-palmerston-203-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/palmerston-cook-islands-to-beveridge-reef-277-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/palmerston-cook-islands-to-niue-previously-known-as-savage-island-407-miles
http://my.opera.com/cjwilding/blog/2008/11/03/this-is-it

I include the story of a dramatic rescue of some friends whose yacht hit a reef and sank in stormy conditions. We met and spent some time with Cameron and Liz along the way in Atutaki and again in Tonga before they left for Fiji. We also met Ocealys (the rescue boat, similar to ours) in Tahiti before this rescue incident. Had it not been for Maurice and Sophie they would surely have died. It was a real shock when we heard the news while we were still in Tonga. It made TV news in NZ and Australia.
We count our blessings that it did not happen to us.

http://ocealys.blogspot.com/2008/10/sy-timella-rescue.html

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The Kingdom of Tonga

With a big bad weather system on its way we dropped the mooring at Niue about midday and in almost no wind started towards Tonga some 260 miles away. Desert Eagle, another cat followed hard on our heels.

It wasn’t long and we landed a huge 10 to 15 kg Skipjack Tuna. We cut off two huge steaks on one side and called Desert Eagle to motor across our bows and collect some supper. With a rope around its tail and the whole thing in a bin bag we scooped up the float trailed by DE at the end of their fishing line. A quick connecting knot and they were reeling in half a fish, tail first, the bin bag hopefully keeping any nearby sharks off the scent long enough for them to get it aboard. One way to catch a fish!

We made good speed as the wind picked up. Once again the Pacific Ocean isn’t what we expected. The sea is rough and bumpy, the sky grey and overcast and the wind is from here, there and everywhere. Still we make good speed and direction and keep in touch with DE and another yacht. We reach our waypoint in the lee of the islands in the early hours while it is still dark and drop almost all sails then take things slowly until daylight. The other two cruise up and we all motor past the steep sided rocky cliffs and into the long narrow waters towards the relatively sheltered anchorage in Refuge Bay.

Customs and Immigration insist we tie up alongside the dock with its large black rubber fenders, a slipway behind and the wind (even in refuge Bay) blowing us away from the dock make for some tricky manoeuvring.

We had been warned about bananas and coconuts in their husks not being allowed into the country. I am concerned about the fresh apples just purchased in Niue so we decide to eat one each by way of belated breakfast while we wait.

Before we get to the core the Immigration guy is aboard and seeing the apples asks for one. He helps himself to all he can see – for his children. Before they are packed away the Quaranteen Official is aboard with his own clutch of children waiting at home for apples. He checks out the fridge and spies our bunch of grapes. A rare treat and one we have been savouring. He agrees to leave us a few grapes and then snoops around the boat looking for anything else he thinks we could live without. One of the other yachties termed this “social lubrication”. We are really caught between a rock and a hard place. Say “no” and take the risk of making things much worse for yourself or hand over some goods.

It is Saturday so overtime rates apply plus the customs official is no where to be found and we have to come back in on Monday. It shouldn’t be Saturday 30th August. We left Niue Wednesday 27th midday and that was less than 48 hours ago. We were 12 hours behind UK time and 23 hours behind New Zealand time. In the last few hours Friday 29th came and went in a flash. We are now 12 hours ahead of UK and an hour ahead of NZ. Tonga lies 174’ west and they bent the dateline those 6 degrees in order to be the first country to welcome the new day rather than be the last country to say farewell to the old.

We pick up one of the last moorings available. All the yachts have taken refuge in readiness for the approaching storm. We take the brief walk around the town and James hears about a 72 ft monohull looking for crew to take the boat to Brisbane. He is taken on as the 3rd crew. They will leave as soon as the weather permits.

First the wind blows up out at sea, then the thunder starts up a continuous roll with the lightning flashing at disco light frequency and then it rains. And rains. And rains. All night and all the next day. The computer is packed out of harms way in the oven during electrical storms and after filling the water tanks and washing anything that might need freshening up, there is not a lot to do other than sit and read.,

Eventually it all calms down and the sun comes out on a beautiful and fresh clean boat. Not a grain of salt anywhere. During passage making there is always a fine coating of salt almost anywhere on deck. Nothing nicer than a fresh water rinse.

A few days later James is off to finish his Pacific crossing and I get to watch Mind the Gap on my own. We are safe on the mooring and there are more than enough other yachties around should I need company. I have our never ending job list to tackle and the sewing machine clocks up some more miles working on another dinghy cover plus all sorts of other things.

James makes it back in two weeks after a few surprises along the way. Arriving in Australia he found the Credit Card is no longer working. Not a good situation when you only have one card with you. There had been a takeover and our new cards have not caught up with us yet.

He managed to spend some time looking up old friends before flying back here where Immigration didn’t want to let him back in. The pre arranged paperwork although checked and agreed upon before he left was not okay on arrival. A small fine helped put it right.

We are now enjoying the Vava’u group of islands in Tonga together.

Thurs 4th September

Far Out finally left here at midday. They plan to stop at a bay a few miles away for the night.

Storm warnings around the Tongan coast with big seas meant a delayed departure. It makes no sense starting a voyage in a howling gale. It has been blowing 25 knots with gusts at 35 knots. Those were the predictions and we find we can always add more to the top range. Here in the well protected anchorage it is beautifully calm. We did have some stronger stuff when they first intended to leave and then rain like we have not seen before. Thunder and lightning all night, with the thunder rolling on continuously and the lightning flashes more like being at a disco. And then rain! All the next day it rained. We have topped up our tanks plus all our spare cans and the boat is floating very nose down with it all. Did heaps of washing too, whether it needed it or not. All that water had to be used first before running back into the sea.

So now I am all alone on the boat with a long list of jobs to keep me busy. Today I tackled one of the leaks on the dinghy. 3 more to go. They have all been patched already but have started leaking again. I think the glue may have been past its best. These are all the scars from dinghy docks. The one in the front that has held together was from Simonstown, the one next to it from an odd staple that ripped the cover and stabbed the tube a couple of times in Sint Maarten. The group at the back that are covered by 3 huge patches are from the heavy duty barnacles in Rio that made deep scratches which over time and sun exposure have begun to leak. The one underneath escapes my memory.
The problem with fixing it is leaving enough time for the glue to set before pumping it up again. I’ll have tomorrow on the boat.

After saying goodbye to Fung Yee and Charles in Bora Bora we said cheers to the rear cockpit seat cushion that jumped ship one night and despite our rough ride along the downwind coast in the wild weather we couldn’t find it. We still have some spare foam bits that will need gluing up to make the right size and then I will have to sew a cover for it. A few hatches need a smear of sealant around the edges and this is just the start of my list. All good fun!

And then the e-mail catch ups….

A quick note to let you know that we have arrived in Niue. Fairly strong winds and lumpy sea and now llight to non existent e-mail connection.

We stopped for two nights in Palmerston Island where all 40 odd of the population are descended from one Lancashire lad and his 3 polynesian wives. Fantastically clear water with perfect visibility down to the top of the coral 60 foot below. While picking up the mooring a whale was checking the next mooring a couple of boat lengths away.

Will catch up as the internet connection allows.

...

Leave Niue today 27th ahead of some bad weather that begins to blow in in the next couple of days.

A slow slower and stop sail towards Palmerston before we pick up enough wind to complete the journey passing close to a couple of whales having a ball breaching, thrashing their tails and flapping their enormous fins.

Palmerton is a group of tiny islands first inhabited by the Englishman William Marsters in1863 who along with his 3 Polynesian wives produced 26 children. Each family group was settled on a separate island with I guess William getting to know the lagoon pretty well.

The first family to see a boat arriving claims “dibs” and hosts these visitors. As we sail up we are directed to one of 9 moorings that have been set into the coral reef on the outside of the cut. No visiting boats go into the lagoon here. The next mooring to us is occupied by a whale that is intent on examining the ground tackle.

As soon as we are secure on the mooring Edward tells us he will bring the customs officials out to us and asks have we got his branch of bananas sent from his friends on Aitutake? Just as well they weren’t ripe, he may have got less than were sent. Those nice folk on Aitutake just used us as a delivery boat!

There is time for a swim in water that is the clearest yet. We can see the detail in the coral 65 foot below. After the formalities we are collected and taken through the cut for a late afternoon lunch with Edward’s family and the crew of Desert Eagle.

The islands rise no more than a few feet above sea level and the ground is white sea sand. The islanders struggle to grow anything other than coconuts that grow wild anyway and the supply ship stops by irregularly about every three months or so. They make their living from fishing and James is taken out early the next morning on a trolling trip while I do some baking. The fishing trip is unsuccessful but the muffins and biscuits are a hit. Other than the supply ship they gladly accept anything from the visiting yachts. We weren’t able to help out with the much prized and valued chocolate but I did have a tin of cocoa for that chocolatey taste.

Nadja (from the Namibian cat, Desert Eagle) one of the most competent and confident 14 year olds I have met is set to give a talk at the school. We are all invited along. The school is assembled outside under the trees on a few wooden benches.

After the talk and while a general question and answer session is in progress, there is a bit of fidgeting and lack of concentration from the restless ones and it is time for an injection of “Steve Irwin” enthusiasm. James takes the floor and tells them about London. To the 24 pupils on an island in the sun, of beach sand and palm trees and with a population of about 46 it is like a different world. James captures their attention with the crowds, weather and the transport system of tube trains travelling underground. He then explains how the tunnels were dug first then the long carriages bought but on a curved track sometimes there is a big gap between the train and the platform so they have an announcement as soon as the train stops telling everyone to “Mind the Gap”. He goes on to explain that it is appropriate for our boat a catamaran, also the gap between boat and dock, dinghy and boat etc.

The lesson is over and they are all given community tasks. A few go off with rakes to (I presume although I didn’t see) to rake the main street. It is a beautiful avenue amongst the trees with curb stones of tree trunks and it is kept neat and tidy. Later they are all back on the benches and we are on our way out and James calls back to them “What is the name of my boat?” They all knew it and yelled out in unison.

From late morning on our second day the weather brightens and we have a fair breeze from nearly behind. We sail along under spinnaker along with Desert Eagle, another cat from Namibia.

By sunset we are anchored in a manner off the reef at Aitutake (Eye two tar key). We have picked what we think is a shallow spot in between the coral. A snorkel around the anchor shows a mass of coral with deep chasms. Our anchor has landed in 30 – 40 foot on top of the coral obviously not dug into the rock and the chain has looped itself around some of the higher spots. We should hold. Glad to see that it didn’t drop down over 70 foot or more into one of the narrow chasms. The next yacht along had to get some divers out when they could not lift their anchor caught in the tight spots.

The other two cats arrive and anchor nearby. In the morning we all dinghy ashore for the check-in formalities and are met at the palm tree where we fasten our dinghies by the chief official. He tells us to sit on the rock under the tree. All 9 of us comply and we then hear that by sitting on the rock we are no longer foreigners.

We wander off around the island and make arrangements to hire scooters. One of the customs here causes some concern – many of the properties have someone buried under the patio or in the front garden. Maybe I have been watching too many recorded TV series. This is no Desperate Housewives or murder mystery just the way things are here. Keep the dearly departed close by. Some quite ornate marble topped structures neatly tended and cared for.

Aside from anchoring on the reef there is only a tiny harbour area at the town but it is through a long winding cut. There is no space there to swing a cat but after a night of rough sea the other two cats move in and anchor then set a stern anchor out over the reef to stop any movement of their boats. They want us to move in too. We are happy out with space around us but another even rougher night and the prospect of not being able to leave the boat safely while we explore the island changes our mind.

We are having our morning cuppa before moving when I look down and see weevils walking all over the floor. Squash as many as I can see, then investigate the food source that has the “extra added protein”. The food lockers are all clear but there are loads of weevils in the bilge. Don’t know where they have come from but they will have to go. As soon as we are moved and settled it looks like big clean up day.

Once in the tiny harbour there is no room to anchor. We tie up to a palm tree in front and to one of the cats behind us. While busy the Islands Quarantine Inspector calls out from the shore that he wants to come aboard. The weevils still have the run of the place but there is nothing we can do. By the time we have all the ropes secure the Inspector has given up waiting and we get down to weevil control. James is despatched to the lower floorboard and bilge while I take the top and food lockers. The food was all clear and we never found out where they came from or why they were mostly in the bilge where there is no food but anyway everything had a good clean out. James keeps calling them weasels but thankfully we don’t have any of them aboard.

The Inspector came back later on but by then a monohull that had also come in was in the way for when the expected supply ship needed to unload and this monohull (a Seadog) needed to be moved to the other side of us. All lines had to be undone and retied after they had moved through and so for the second time he gave up visiting us.
This tiny anchorage now had 3 cats and a dog and a lot of dead weevils. After the cleanup we didn’t see any weevils or the inspector again.

It was bonus time at the scooter hire with 11 of us ready to tour the island on 2 wheels. Another day we went out to Honeymoon Island by dinghy for a BBQ on the white sand beach and a lazy time under the cool palms. We tried having the coconut husk fire in a pit then loading coral on top to hopefully cook over the heated up coral but that didn’t work out so well. Our timing must have been out or the fire was not hot enough or maybe there was not enough coral. Went back to the tried and tested method of a big fire allowed to burn down to hot coals.

We went to a cultural show with once again the hip shaking girls and the thigh jiggling guys. We also went to a locals “Garden of Eden” where we all got eaten alive by the mozzies that had been allowed in. We swam around the reef and got up at 2am to watch South Africa play New Zealand at rugby and lose horribly making the effort of getting up at that hour a waste of time.

Aitutake was a delight. A calm, beautiful and peaceful Island and after one of our outings we came back to the dinghy to find someone has brought us a whole branch of bananas. We hung them up and to stop them all ripening on the same day, covered part of the branch up. Should it be the upper or lower half that gets covered? They mature from the top. We will watch and see along the way. It is time to move on and we never found out who gave us the bananas.

Maupiha is the westernmost island of the Society Islands. Another atoll! The prevailing wind is from the SE and like most of the others the cut is on the more protected NW side. The sea pounds the south and east sides washing into the lagoon but the islands and reef generally keep the lagoon well sheltered. Still all the sea coming in needs to get out of the lagoon on the north west side and continue its journey across the ocean. As the cut is the way out you can usually expect about 3 knots of current in the cut. When the tide is running with the wind and sea then you can expect 6 knots.

Coming into Maupiha we are chugging along nicely under engines and Whop! It is like sailing/motoring into a wall. The current wipes out our speed and we inch forward gaining ever so slightly on the sea that looks like it is writhing with sea snakes or other monsters. The surface is seriously agitated. This looks like a man made cut with sheer sided coral rising up from the sea bed about 10 foot or 3 meters away on either side. Not as much as it sounds. The current has us doing a kind of rear wiggling hoola-hoola dance but James controls it all and we get through fine bringing the total number of yachts in the lagoon to 5 and the islands population with the 13 visiting crew is tripled.

A fire with coconut husks on the beach at sunset makes a good BBQ with each boat bringing a potluck dish to share.

Next morning we have a 7 year old come paddling up on a small boat. He steps aboard with the authority and dignity of the President and helps himself to an inspection of the yacht. He woofs down a couple of bowls of breakfast flips through our book on fishes and he knows his stuff here recognising and telling us if they are found here or not. He then sets off for the next boat. He struggles rowing with a couple of tennis bats and we launch the dinghy and tow him along then tow him back home to the beach where he lives with his grandparents having been “given” to them. This is apparently the custom! He had found the boat washed up on the outer reef the day before.

We walk along the beach and around the reef until it gets too hot. It is one of our rare very hot and sunny days in the Pacific. Next day it blows up a storm and even in the shelter of the lagoon the sea is rough. The day after, we rocket out of the cut like a cork out of a bottle. We have current with us through the cut.

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.