It's Saturday evening in SavuSavu, our 3rd day here, and things continue to improve. The first 2 days there was little breeze, and the humidity was so high it was slow getting anything we rinsed off to dry. Today the breeze picked up to about 15 knots so it was more comfortable, and easier to finish drying things so they can be put away. Sequester is small by the standards of cruising boats these days, and it doesn't take much gear out of its storage place to produce an unbearable clutter. Things will improve even more when we get to Also Island and unload most of the tools and spare parts we're carrying. For now, at least we can move around in the cabin. Karen spent many hours the last 2 days getting the laundry washed, and packing all the cold weather clothes in Ziploc bags for storage in the inaccessible nooks and crannies of the boat, hopefully not to be retrieved for 4 or 5 years.
Saturday is the big market day for local growers, so we loaded up on more fresh fruit and vegetables, and Karen learned to cook taro leaves with coconut milk and spices. Good chow! As usual, we keep meeting people who know people we know. A catamaran came in yesterday with a couple and their three children on board. The boys came by to ask if we knew where a good restaurant was. I’m guessing they chose to ask us because we were the only other multihull in the moorings. We ended up socializing pretty soon, and it turns out they are from Block Island, and know our friends Rick and Mary from the yacht Tranquility. We spent hours with them today, visiting the markets, exchanging books, talking boats, books, and places. Good company.
There are some disadvantages to being moored right in front of the town. Although the water looks crystal clear, the probability is high that runoff from the septic systems will have the bacterial count in the creek here too high for safety, so swimming is discouraged. Steve and Carol have taken Red Sky out to the anchorage near the reef entrance, where they can swim and fish, and incidentally the radio reception is vastly better. We're thinking that tomorrow we'll probably do the same. Access to town is still not that hard from out there. It's just a couple miles walk along the shore road, and especially with most things shut down for Sunday it will be a nicer day out there.
We have quite a lot of water on board in jugs now, so we can continue with the cleaning at a leisurely pace, and I have a good bit of drawing and writing to do, as well as a stack of books to read, so it should be a good day. As the sky starts to darken and the breeze drops, we can see the big fruit bats flying across the creek from the little island nearby, looking for fresh papaya. A background drumbeat has settled in, emanating from one of SavuSavu's waterfront nightclubs, but it's faraway and not too intrusive. We can hear children laughing and yelling along the shore, free of school for 2 days. The air is warm, the future is bright. Ted
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
2007-06-19 (2nd)
It's 8:30 AM here, and we're about 7 miles off the lighthouse at Savu Savu Bay. Just spoke to friends already there who say that for unknown reasons the Customs dept closed down for 2 or 3 days starting yesterday, so we don't know what the status is there, but we'll go on in and figure it out. The sun came up and the breeze dropped to about 8 knots, so we're down to about 4 knots boatspeed. No rush, it's VERY pleasant here. The hills are quite beautiful, steep and forest covered. Looking forward to getting lots of fresh water and rinsing things off. I have a list going of things to repair or change, but nothing real expensive or critical. Hard work part of the voyage, but in truth, never really dangerous as long as we didn't do anything stupid. And if we DID, we must have gotten away with it! We'll do some more writing in the next week, and will have access to broadband (I think) at the internet cafe in town. Thanks for the nice, supportive, informative, short emails along the way. Sailmail is excellent. T&K
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
2007-06-19
My Chicago cousin has requested a little less "how to sail the boat" and a little more about what it looks like and feels like out here. I actually do think about those things, so I'll try to give you a word picture of some of the situations we live in daily.
A couple days ago when I came up on the Rag of the Air I was giving Jim some stick about how much nicer it was where we were than where he is. Comments to the effect that with all the light pollution from the neon signs in Thawaro he couldn't see the spectacular star show we had. That is, of course complete bull. There are no electric lights in Thawaro. But it was no bull about the star show.
It's a new moon this week, so we've had either just a sliver of bright moon, with the shadow of the disc showing, or no moon at all. On the nights with little cloud cover, it's astonishing how much light just the stars provide. There must be ten times as many stars visible out here as there are near a town. There are so many stars visible; it becomes more difficult to pick out constellations. The shapes just get lost in the profusion of sparks. The Milky Way sweeps across the middle of the sky like a phosphorescent streak of cloud and that changes the color of the sky, leaving a hard, sharp line at the horizon, with a slightly luminous charcoal gray sky over an inky black ocean.
Close in toward the boat, the ocean starts to show some texture, with the roughness and motion of the waves just barely visible. And then, along the hull sides, and trailing out in a glowing, sparkling plume 50 feet behind the boat we see the phosphorescence of millions of light producing plankton, flashing bright for a few seconds when they're disturbed, then relapsing into darkness. On a night when there's a bit of a break on the waves, the crests light up just as they roll over, showing a line of glowing froth along the top of each swell. We've been surprised that these plankton are the only living thng we've seen since the end of the gale last week. While the wind was thrashing the sea into a fury, there were a couple of small albatross, some boobies, and storm petrels swooping and diving between the waves. As the wind died out, the birds disappeared. We've seen no porpoise, no whale, and now not even a bird for a week. The consensus among the sailors who've traveled these waters for years, some for decades, is that the wildlife is a lot more rare than it was in past years. Even 6 years ago I don't think we ever went more than a day without a bird sighting.
We had one night when there was 100% low cloud cover, so thick there was only an occasional glow in the sky where Venus was blasting a few photons through. It's frankly spooky to be streaking through the sea at 6 or 7 knots, unable to even discern a horizon, the whole visible world defined by the dim circle of light from the tricolor navigation light at the top of the mast. Part of me spent that whole night waiting for the crash. I guess if there'd been a ship nav light to be seen, it would have stood out like a neon sign, but there was nothing, and there are things out here that don't have lights on them. Personally, I rather like having some moon. Everything is shades of silver gray, as long as you don't spoil you night vision. They found during WW2 that red light doesn't cause your eyes to readjust from night mode, so we keep a couple of small red lights on in the cabin, so we can find our way around. I've discovered the utility of the head strap mounted lights now, but mine has a piece of red cellophane under the lens, so I can see to work, then shut it off and see the horizon immediately.
Right now, we're sailing between some of the smaller islands of Fiji, northeast of Suva, bound for SavuSavu. We can see the shapes of the mountains on the horizon. We need to get about 60 miles further north, then can angle in around Koro Island and head for the bay entrance. Should make the turn about 2:00 in the morning. Without GPS, this would be one hair raising navigation job. Present position, 18 deg 16 min S, 179 deg 24 min E. Time for rest. I'll be up most of the night, enjoying the tropical air.
Ted
A couple days ago when I came up on the Rag of the Air I was giving Jim some stick about how much nicer it was where we were than where he is. Comments to the effect that with all the light pollution from the neon signs in Thawaro he couldn't see the spectacular star show we had. That is, of course complete bull. There are no electric lights in Thawaro. But it was no bull about the star show.
It's a new moon this week, so we've had either just a sliver of bright moon, with the shadow of the disc showing, or no moon at all. On the nights with little cloud cover, it's astonishing how much light just the stars provide. There must be ten times as many stars visible out here as there are near a town. There are so many stars visible; it becomes more difficult to pick out constellations. The shapes just get lost in the profusion of sparks. The Milky Way sweeps across the middle of the sky like a phosphorescent streak of cloud and that changes the color of the sky, leaving a hard, sharp line at the horizon, with a slightly luminous charcoal gray sky over an inky black ocean.
Close in toward the boat, the ocean starts to show some texture, with the roughness and motion of the waves just barely visible. And then, along the hull sides, and trailing out in a glowing, sparkling plume 50 feet behind the boat we see the phosphorescence of millions of light producing plankton, flashing bright for a few seconds when they're disturbed, then relapsing into darkness. On a night when there's a bit of a break on the waves, the crests light up just as they roll over, showing a line of glowing froth along the top of each swell. We've been surprised that these plankton are the only living thng we've seen since the end of the gale last week. While the wind was thrashing the sea into a fury, there were a couple of small albatross, some boobies, and storm petrels swooping and diving between the waves. As the wind died out, the birds disappeared. We've seen no porpoise, no whale, and now not even a bird for a week. The consensus among the sailors who've traveled these waters for years, some for decades, is that the wildlife is a lot more rare than it was in past years. Even 6 years ago I don't think we ever went more than a day without a bird sighting.
We had one night when there was 100% low cloud cover, so thick there was only an occasional glow in the sky where Venus was blasting a few photons through. It's frankly spooky to be streaking through the sea at 6 or 7 knots, unable to even discern a horizon, the whole visible world defined by the dim circle of light from the tricolor navigation light at the top of the mast. Part of me spent that whole night waiting for the crash. I guess if there'd been a ship nav light to be seen, it would have stood out like a neon sign, but there was nothing, and there are things out here that don't have lights on them. Personally, I rather like having some moon. Everything is shades of silver gray, as long as you don't spoil you night vision. They found during WW2 that red light doesn't cause your eyes to readjust from night mode, so we keep a couple of small red lights on in the cabin, so we can find our way around. I've discovered the utility of the head strap mounted lights now, but mine has a piece of red cellophane under the lens, so I can see to work, then shut it off and see the horizon immediately.
Right now, we're sailing between some of the smaller islands of Fiji, northeast of Suva, bound for SavuSavu. We can see the shapes of the mountains on the horizon. We need to get about 60 miles further north, then can angle in around Koro Island and head for the bay entrance. Should make the turn about 2:00 in the morning. Without GPS, this would be one hair raising navigation job. Present position, 18 deg 16 min S, 179 deg 24 min E. Time for rest. I'll be up most of the night, enjoying the tropical air.
Ted
2007-06-18 (2nd)
Hi all; This will be short, just to get something away before it's too late
on the other side of the planet. The grib files said we'd have about 12
knots from the southeast. Since well before dawn it's been about 20 from
northeast. Not best direction. Took a reef in and furled some headsail at 4
this morning, and we're strapped in climbing over the lumps. Broke another
furling line, but it was easier to fix in the daylight with Karen up to
help, and with a better formulated plan. This one will get us to Savusavu.
Mom.great to hear about another little girl. Congrats to all. Antonia
Alexis; point taken. Will do better when it flattens out a little. Too
rough to think much right now. Present position, 18 deg 48 min S, 179 deg
16 min E, about 140 miles to Savusavu. Should make it by tomorrow afternoon
if we drive her. More tomorrow. ted
on the other side of the planet. The grib files said we'd have about 12
knots from the southeast. Since well before dawn it's been about 20 from
northeast. Not best direction. Took a reef in and furled some headsail at 4
this morning, and we're strapped in climbing over the lumps. Broke another
furling line, but it was easier to fix in the daylight with Karen up to
help, and with a better formulated plan. This one will get us to Savusavu.
Mom.great to hear about another little girl. Congrats to all. Antonia
Alexis; point taken. Will do better when it flattens out a little. Too
rough to think much right now. Present position, 18 deg 48 min S, 179 deg
16 min E, about 140 miles to Savusavu. Should make it by tomorrow afternoon
if we drive her. More tomorrow. ted
Monday, June 18, 2007
2007-06-18
One of the great things about onboard HF email is that we can get weather
maps known as grib files. They are surface wind projections, and really
have been pretty accurate, and helpful in deciding which course to lay when
conditions won't allow us to follow the rhumb line. But like all
predictions, they aren't perfect. We were supposed to have about 7 knots
SSW from yesterday right thru today. Well, a couple hours before dark we
had to drop the spinnaker because it won't stand up in less than about 4
knots wind, and we didn't have that. By midnight we had the outboard idling
in gear to maintain steerage way. That let us take advantage of the few
little puffs of breeze that did come along, but the whole night only gave us
a total of 18 miles. Then at dawn it filled in from the east at about 8
knots, and there it stayed all day. Too high a point of sail to use the
spinnaker, but a nice comfortable reach with all plain sail up, for about
4.5 knots average. Quite pleasant.
It was an odd radio day. We're too close to Fiji now to get good
reception on the Rag of the Air. The 8 megahertz signal just skips right
over us on its way to the ionosphere. So we made contact thru a relay with
George in Opua NZ back to Jim in Fiji. Lower frequencies have shorter skip
angles, so I had Jim come up on a 4 megahertz frequency after the Rag was
over, and we had a good conversation about how the Also Island business was
going, and what the power cat I'm drawing should have for capabilities.
We're both anxious to start that project. Then, at 3:00 PM we came up for
the Pacific Seafarers rollcall, to find that there was no land station on
frequency qualified to be net control. Turns out they were all away for
fathers day functions. But that was to our advantage, as Don got his rig
tuned up perfectly in Canton Ohio, and we had a pretty good contact for
about 10 minutes on the Seafarers frequency. I know it was hard work for
Don to hear our weak little signal on his end, but he got most of it, and
his signal was booming in. Right after we talked I finished what I hope
will be a better antenna for that frequency, and I'm back to thinking about
getting a little signal amplifier. There's just something magic about
having a conversation with a friend halfway around the planet using a couple
of little black boxes.
I'm pleased to say that the onset of darkness hasn't hurt the wind much.
It's swung a bit more north of east, so it's now forward of the beam, giving
the boat a bit more of a lurch as it bucks the waves. But boatspeed is
about the same, 5 knots, and the wind generator has higher windspeed over
the deck, so we're charging enough that I doubt I'll have to start the gas
generator tonite. That's a blessing. All is well at 20 degrees, 10 minutes
south and 179 degrees east. Ted
maps known as grib files. They are surface wind projections, and really
have been pretty accurate, and helpful in deciding which course to lay when
conditions won't allow us to follow the rhumb line. But like all
predictions, they aren't perfect. We were supposed to have about 7 knots
SSW from yesterday right thru today. Well, a couple hours before dark we
had to drop the spinnaker because it won't stand up in less than about 4
knots wind, and we didn't have that. By midnight we had the outboard idling
in gear to maintain steerage way. That let us take advantage of the few
little puffs of breeze that did come along, but the whole night only gave us
a total of 18 miles. Then at dawn it filled in from the east at about 8
knots, and there it stayed all day. Too high a point of sail to use the
spinnaker, but a nice comfortable reach with all plain sail up, for about
4.5 knots average. Quite pleasant.
It was an odd radio day. We're too close to Fiji now to get good
reception on the Rag of the Air. The 8 megahertz signal just skips right
over us on its way to the ionosphere. So we made contact thru a relay with
George in Opua NZ back to Jim in Fiji. Lower frequencies have shorter skip
angles, so I had Jim come up on a 4 megahertz frequency after the Rag was
over, and we had a good conversation about how the Also Island business was
going, and what the power cat I'm drawing should have for capabilities.
We're both anxious to start that project. Then, at 3:00 PM we came up for
the Pacific Seafarers rollcall, to find that there was no land station on
frequency qualified to be net control. Turns out they were all away for
fathers day functions. But that was to our advantage, as Don got his rig
tuned up perfectly in Canton Ohio, and we had a pretty good contact for
about 10 minutes on the Seafarers frequency. I know it was hard work for
Don to hear our weak little signal on his end, but he got most of it, and
his signal was booming in. Right after we talked I finished what I hope
will be a better antenna for that frequency, and I'm back to thinking about
getting a little signal amplifier. There's just something magic about
having a conversation with a friend halfway around the planet using a couple
of little black boxes.
I'm pleased to say that the onset of darkness hasn't hurt the wind much.
It's swung a bit more north of east, so it's now forward of the beam, giving
the boat a bit more of a lurch as it bucks the waves. But boatspeed is
about the same, 5 knots, and the wind generator has higher windspeed over
the deck, so we're charging enough that I doubt I'll have to start the gas
generator tonite. That's a blessing. All is well at 20 degrees, 10 minutes
south and 179 degrees east. Ted
2007-06-16
A few days ago, as I was bailing out the float hull, it crossed my mind that
we could sell the spinnaker in Fiji and get something more useful. Light air
sails didn't seem relevant. We've made literally thousands of miles under
the big red and black nylon, but it IS work to set up and stow, and I
couldn't imagine doing more than the minimum to keep the boat going. We
were SO tired. By late this morning the nice breeze we'd had all night was
easing. Boat speed had slowly dropped to around 3 knots from the high of
over 8 last night. This could mean landfall Wednesday rather than Tuesday.
I'd slept well. The spinnaker seemed possible. It took about a half hour
of leisurely setup to fasten and reeve the four turning blocks, the guys,
the sheets, and the halyard, and clear the sock control line. It's been at
least 3 years since I did this, so I reviewed it all. Finally I had Karen
take over the cockpit and I hoisted and set the sail. It took another 10
minutes to remember how to read the shape and adjust it with the strings.
So now we're coasting along over a smooth 3 foot swell at about 6 knots.
Downwind in light air we have nothing that compares. Just like the trip
from the Galapagos to the Marquesas, except we won't be leaving the 'chute
up in the dark. It's tempting, but you can get in a lot of trouble with
that much cloth if a squall sneaks up unseen. So we'll take the extra 30
miles a day we can get while the sun's up. We're about 300 miles out of
SavuSavu now. If Neptune smiles we can do that in 2 days. Right now the
forecast looks good.
The contact with the Seafarers Net had a little excitement yesterday. I
was in the bunk, Karen was set to do the readout, and was listening to the
warmup. She heard a station trying to call in that was too light for the
net control to hear, so she did a relay of his call sign. Just as she
called it out to the control she realized it was K8DON, Don Lebo, from
Canton Ohio, who ran the Good Old Boys net and followed us all the way from
Florida to Opua in 2001. He talked to us every single day of that year long
trip with is big beam antenna, and provided us with a radio phone patch to
call home on Mother's Day from right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Don's a great friend, and even though radio conditions didn't allow for much
of a conversation yesterday, it was just fantastic to hear his voice.
I mentioned that one of the last purchases in Opua a couple weeks ago was
a little gasoline powered generator. Well, it's been worth far more than we
paid for it. Since we got into these downwind conditions there's not enough
wind speed over the deck to run the wind generator. And for half the day
the mainsail has been shading the solar panels. And for two days, cloud
cover has kept output to a minimum. Without the gen set, we'd have been out
of radio contact by now with low batteries. As it is, I tuck it in behind
the canoe on the side deck, string some wire down the hatch to the charger,
and fire it up. A liter of fuel provides a day's worth of electricity. The
Chinese figured out, unlike Briggs and Stratton, that people don't much like
noise. The little set is about half taken up by muffler, so it just makes a
mild buzz when it runs. Until I find a better way to back up the system,
I'll be taking good care of it. Things do look better today for charging.
Another plus of the spinnaker....we can drop the mainsail and have full sun
on the panels. 5 amps coming in....more than I've see from them since we
left these latitudes.
Time to wrap this up and see if the Firefly, Australia sailmail station
is awake. Position now is 22 deg 08 minutes S 178 deg 36 min E.
Greetings from the middle of nowhere. T&K
We got word that Roddy, A Salthouse boatbuilder for 30+ years, a good man
and a good friend, succumbed to cancer this week. Peace be with you Rod.
Our thoughts are with Viv.
we could sell the spinnaker in Fiji and get something more useful. Light air
sails didn't seem relevant. We've made literally thousands of miles under
the big red and black nylon, but it IS work to set up and stow, and I
couldn't imagine doing more than the minimum to keep the boat going. We
were SO tired. By late this morning the nice breeze we'd had all night was
easing. Boat speed had slowly dropped to around 3 knots from the high of
over 8 last night. This could mean landfall Wednesday rather than Tuesday.
I'd slept well. The spinnaker seemed possible. It took about a half hour
of leisurely setup to fasten and reeve the four turning blocks, the guys,
the sheets, and the halyard, and clear the sock control line. It's been at
least 3 years since I did this, so I reviewed it all. Finally I had Karen
take over the cockpit and I hoisted and set the sail. It took another 10
minutes to remember how to read the shape and adjust it with the strings.
So now we're coasting along over a smooth 3 foot swell at about 6 knots.
Downwind in light air we have nothing that compares. Just like the trip
from the Galapagos to the Marquesas, except we won't be leaving the 'chute
up in the dark. It's tempting, but you can get in a lot of trouble with
that much cloth if a squall sneaks up unseen. So we'll take the extra 30
miles a day we can get while the sun's up. We're about 300 miles out of
SavuSavu now. If Neptune smiles we can do that in 2 days. Right now the
forecast looks good.
The contact with the Seafarers Net had a little excitement yesterday. I
was in the bunk, Karen was set to do the readout, and was listening to the
warmup. She heard a station trying to call in that was too light for the
net control to hear, so she did a relay of his call sign. Just as she
called it out to the control she realized it was K8DON, Don Lebo, from
Canton Ohio, who ran the Good Old Boys net and followed us all the way from
Florida to Opua in 2001. He talked to us every single day of that year long
trip with is big beam antenna, and provided us with a radio phone patch to
call home on Mother's Day from right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Don's a great friend, and even though radio conditions didn't allow for much
of a conversation yesterday, it was just fantastic to hear his voice.
I mentioned that one of the last purchases in Opua a couple weeks ago was
a little gasoline powered generator. Well, it's been worth far more than we
paid for it. Since we got into these downwind conditions there's not enough
wind speed over the deck to run the wind generator. And for half the day
the mainsail has been shading the solar panels. And for two days, cloud
cover has kept output to a minimum. Without the gen set, we'd have been out
of radio contact by now with low batteries. As it is, I tuck it in behind
the canoe on the side deck, string some wire down the hatch to the charger,
and fire it up. A liter of fuel provides a day's worth of electricity. The
Chinese figured out, unlike Briggs and Stratton, that people don't much like
noise. The little set is about half taken up by muffler, so it just makes a
mild buzz when it runs. Until I find a better way to back up the system,
I'll be taking good care of it. Things do look better today for charging.
Another plus of the spinnaker....we can drop the mainsail and have full sun
on the panels. 5 amps coming in....more than I've see from them since we
left these latitudes.
Time to wrap this up and see if the Firefly, Australia sailmail station
is awake. Position now is 22 deg 08 minutes S 178 deg 36 min E.
Greetings from the middle of nowhere. T&K
We got word that Roddy, A Salthouse boatbuilder for 30+ years, a good man
and a good friend, succumbed to cancer this week. Peace be with you Rod.
Our thoughts are with Viv.
2007-06-15
This part of the trip would drive some folks nuts. A lot of us don't deal
well with slow, having been trained for speed and efficiency most of our
lives. Well, when the wind alternates between little and none, Sequester is
slow, but we've adjusted. It's pleasant enough at sea here and now. We've
been doing a good bit of low speed motoring the last 2 days to get north of
the windless zone we see on the weather charts,which we can now get via the
Sailmail system. The technology does help with making decisions. Idling
along on the motor for 6 hours thru the day was mildly irritating with the
noise, but motorsailing got us about an extra 25 miles, and it seems to have
been enough. About dusk we started getting a steady 5 to 7 knot breeze from
the west, so we've been reaching along at 3 to 3.5 knots since dark. Must
have reached the edge of the active wind zone at the north edge of this high
pressure system. If all holds to the model now it will slowly build and
back to the east as we approach Fiji, but we don't see more than 15 to 18
knots predicted now. We used the calm time to advantage, running the water
desalinator to make fresh water, and washing and rinsing the salt from the
inside of the boat, beating out rugs, rearranging things to work better
since we're no longer on the mooring. And my hands are a lot better today. I
don't think I had mentioned that my hands were giving trouble for the last
few days. The night before we got into the gale the furling line for the
jib broke. I'd tried using a polypropylene line spliced to a nylon tail, as
the polypro is slick and moves well thru the guides. Well, it isn't strong
enough. When it failed I had to get the jib furled again in a hurry, so I
braced myself on the foredeck, grabbed the broken tail of the line and
pulled to rotate the furler. But the polypro is SLICK. So I had to wrap it
around my hands a few times, and still it would slip a bit. I was afraid I
was literally breaking my fingers as I got the furler started, and it tore a
couple patches of skin off the working side of my hands. The damage wasn't
as bad as it felt at the time, but every time I slept the last couple days
it took 10 minutes with the linament and some exercise to get the hands to
be able to grip a line, and Karen kept having to clean the bloodstains off
the new white mainsheet. Tonight I can play a little guitar; even worse than
usual, and I miss having Patrick and Bernie to cover up the worst mistakes,
but it's nice to be able to pick a few chords again, and to have it calm
enough to play out in the cockpit. Karen's enjoying respite from
seasickness. She can cook, navigate read, write, and do the Seafarers Net
schedule on the radio. We're perfectly happy to trade off fast passage for
calm seas. As many cruisers say, "If we were in a hurry, we'd be on an
airplane."
Time to go out and let my eyes adjust back for night vision, so I can
keep a proper watch as required by the international regulations for
avoidance of collision at sea (COLREGS in seafarer parlance). Hope you're
all enjoying life as much as we are now. Ted
well with slow, having been trained for speed and efficiency most of our
lives. Well, when the wind alternates between little and none, Sequester is
slow, but we've adjusted. It's pleasant enough at sea here and now. We've
been doing a good bit of low speed motoring the last 2 days to get north of
the windless zone we see on the weather charts,which we can now get via the
Sailmail system. The technology does help with making decisions. Idling
along on the motor for 6 hours thru the day was mildly irritating with the
noise, but motorsailing got us about an extra 25 miles, and it seems to have
been enough. About dusk we started getting a steady 5 to 7 knot breeze from
the west, so we've been reaching along at 3 to 3.5 knots since dark. Must
have reached the edge of the active wind zone at the north edge of this high
pressure system. If all holds to the model now it will slowly build and
back to the east as we approach Fiji, but we don't see more than 15 to 18
knots predicted now. We used the calm time to advantage, running the water
desalinator to make fresh water, and washing and rinsing the salt from the
inside of the boat, beating out rugs, rearranging things to work better
since we're no longer on the mooring. And my hands are a lot better today. I
don't think I had mentioned that my hands were giving trouble for the last
few days. The night before we got into the gale the furling line for the
jib broke. I'd tried using a polypropylene line spliced to a nylon tail, as
the polypro is slick and moves well thru the guides. Well, it isn't strong
enough. When it failed I had to get the jib furled again in a hurry, so I
braced myself on the foredeck, grabbed the broken tail of the line and
pulled to rotate the furler. But the polypro is SLICK. So I had to wrap it
around my hands a few times, and still it would slip a bit. I was afraid I
was literally breaking my fingers as I got the furler started, and it tore a
couple patches of skin off the working side of my hands. The damage wasn't
as bad as it felt at the time, but every time I slept the last couple days
it took 10 minutes with the linament and some exercise to get the hands to
be able to grip a line, and Karen kept having to clean the bloodstains off
the new white mainsheet. Tonight I can play a little guitar; even worse than
usual, and I miss having Patrick and Bernie to cover up the worst mistakes,
but it's nice to be able to pick a few chords again, and to have it calm
enough to play out in the cockpit. Karen's enjoying respite from
seasickness. She can cook, navigate read, write, and do the Seafarers Net
schedule on the radio. We're perfectly happy to trade off fast passage for
calm seas. As many cruisers say, "If we were in a hurry, we'd be on an
airplane."
Time to go out and let my eyes adjust back for night vision, so I can
keep a proper watch as required by the international regulations for
avoidance of collision at sea (COLREGS in seafarer parlance). Hope you're
all enjoying life as much as we are now. Ted
2007-06-13 (2nd)
Today we're moving along the rhumb line to Fiji at a steady if stately
3.8 knots. Not much wind, but what's there is a consistent port beam reach.
It was pretty busy til midnite with squally winds, but since then we've had
leisure to read a bit and try to learn how to use some of the things we got
last year and haven't had time to study. Karen's decided to learn to play
the ukelele we got in Aitutaki, since I'm not applying myself beyond the
guitar. She typically set her sights high.....first project, Eagles Hotel
California ( the acoustic version from the Hell Freezes Over tour!) So it's
been tune up new strings and figure out how to find, play, fast forward,
repeat etc on the Creative Zen MP3 player we got last year. The device is
complex, and the manual is poor, but once you figure it out it will do a LOT
of stuff. We have over 1400 tracks on it now, and can play it thru
headphones (night watch in the cockpit) small AA battery powered speakers
or, for best audio, thru the amp for the boat radio and speakers. By the
way, most of our electronic gadgets will run on AA or AAA batteries, so we
have a stock of the rechargable NiMh types and a couple of chargers, and we
cycle them around quite a bit. I couldn't stand to be throwing a few
hundred alkaline batteries away each year, but the rechargables are great.
I'm having to charge the ships batteries with the little gas generator on
the forward net, as the mainsail is shading the solar panels and there's not
enough wind for the Aerogen. I need good hot batteries in the morning as
Jim will be gone from Also Island again, and I'll be running the Rag of the
Air radio net for the cruisers. I have a great signal and good reception
out here....nothing to interfere for almost 600 miles! It 's quite nice to
think it's calm enough now that I can run a radio net while at sea. I
helped with relays etc for the last few days, but it was tough writing down
the list data. Now it's calmer than some days in Lucas Creek.
Took about 12 minutes last night to download all the sailmail. We've
been getting great little notes from a number of you out there, and it has a
positive psychological effect when things aren't that great on board.
Sailmail requests (STRONGLY) that users keep time on frequency to 15 minutes
or under per day, so we're doing OK on that, and really enjoying the luxury
of email at sea, despite having to continue to find out why certain glitches
occur. I guess if ya wanna play, ya gotta pay. But our bill has been a
bargain, with all the help and contributions from all of you. Tim; no
cracks yet around the wing repairs, and it would be hard to give it more of
a test! Don and Pete; we live in the harnesses 12 hours a day, they're
outstanding. Jen, Bernie and the crew of Alice Colleen; the Aerogen wind
generator kept us in lights and radio for the 2 days (was that really all
it was???) of gales, and you all contributed to making that work.
Andrew,and Jeff, different rope lines of critical importance came from the
two of you at different times, and we think of you every time they save our
lives again. I don't have the email time to list the specific things so
many of you have done for us, but every one of you has made this trip
possible with your moral support as much as your labor and gifts. I would
surely have had a nervous breakdown without you while we were on the
hardstand at Salthouse. A million thanks. Time for me to go over the
charts Karen has been working on. More report tomorrow. Ted
3.8 knots. Not much wind, but what's there is a consistent port beam reach.
It was pretty busy til midnite with squally winds, but since then we've had
leisure to read a bit and try to learn how to use some of the things we got
last year and haven't had time to study. Karen's decided to learn to play
the ukelele we got in Aitutaki, since I'm not applying myself beyond the
guitar. She typically set her sights high.....first project, Eagles Hotel
California ( the acoustic version from the Hell Freezes Over tour!) So it's
been tune up new strings and figure out how to find, play, fast forward,
repeat etc on the Creative Zen MP3 player we got last year. The device is
complex, and the manual is poor, but once you figure it out it will do a LOT
of stuff. We have over 1400 tracks on it now, and can play it thru
headphones (night watch in the cockpit) small AA battery powered speakers
or, for best audio, thru the amp for the boat radio and speakers. By the
way, most of our electronic gadgets will run on AA or AAA batteries, so we
have a stock of the rechargable NiMh types and a couple of chargers, and we
cycle them around quite a bit. I couldn't stand to be throwing a few
hundred alkaline batteries away each year, but the rechargables are great.
I'm having to charge the ships batteries with the little gas generator on
the forward net, as the mainsail is shading the solar panels and there's not
enough wind for the Aerogen. I need good hot batteries in the morning as
Jim will be gone from Also Island again, and I'll be running the Rag of the
Air radio net for the cruisers. I have a great signal and good reception
out here....nothing to interfere for almost 600 miles! It 's quite nice to
think it's calm enough now that I can run a radio net while at sea. I
helped with relays etc for the last few days, but it was tough writing down
the list data. Now it's calmer than some days in Lucas Creek.
Took about 12 minutes last night to download all the sailmail. We've
been getting great little notes from a number of you out there, and it has a
positive psychological effect when things aren't that great on board.
Sailmail requests (STRONGLY) that users keep time on frequency to 15 minutes
or under per day, so we're doing OK on that, and really enjoying the luxury
of email at sea, despite having to continue to find out why certain glitches
occur. I guess if ya wanna play, ya gotta pay. But our bill has been a
bargain, with all the help and contributions from all of you. Tim; no
cracks yet around the wing repairs, and it would be hard to give it more of
a test! Don and Pete; we live in the harnesses 12 hours a day, they're
outstanding. Jen, Bernie and the crew of Alice Colleen; the Aerogen wind
generator kept us in lights and radio for the 2 days (was that really all
it was???) of gales, and you all contributed to making that work.
Andrew,and Jeff, different rope lines of critical importance came from the
two of you at different times, and we think of you every time they save our
lives again. I don't have the email time to list the specific things so
many of you have done for us, but every one of you has made this trip
possible with your moral support as much as your labor and gifts. I would
surely have had a nervous breakdown without you while we were on the
hardstand at Salthouse. A million thanks. Time for me to go over the
charts Karen has been working on. More report tomorrow. Ted
2007-06-13
We're getting to see the ocean in ALL it's moods it seems, and getting to
use ALL of our equipment on this trip. Today the wind slowed all morning
until it was flat calm by early afternoon. We dropped all sail, opened up
the float hulls, and bailed out the 10 liters or so that had leaked in thru
the hatch gaskets during the last few days. Then took showers, did some
gear maintenance, and I went up the mast to replace the staysail halyard
with a new shackle. Watched a big motor yacht pass a couple miles west of
us, headed north. With no wind for the wind generator, and still not enough
angle on the sun to get full use from the solar panels, I ran the little gas
generator for about 45 minutes to charge batteries while I tried out the new
water maker. It desalinates about 1.5 liters an hour, drawing 4 amps of
power, and the charger will put out 10 amps, so we about broke even on
electricity use making 3 liters. After talking to the Seafarers net, about
5:00 PM I went for a sleep while Karen got the boat moving under slow motor.
I woke about 7:00 to hear her getting sails set, and then she shut down the
motor, and told me to sleep some more. We had a light sailing breeze. Woke
again at 9:00 to hear the boat charging along, and then the hiss of rain on
the cabin. I got up and had Karen open the plugs for the rain collection,
and after rinsing the salt off, caught 16 liters of fresh water, with NO
electricity used. That brings the tank back almost full, so not likely to
have to run the maker again before we get to SavuSavu. Wind is quite
variable in and out of these squalls. and it's about the end of Karen's
watch, so I'll get this sent and take over the helm. about 600 miles to
Fiji, and all well. Ted
use ALL of our equipment on this trip. Today the wind slowed all morning
until it was flat calm by early afternoon. We dropped all sail, opened up
the float hulls, and bailed out the 10 liters or so that had leaked in thru
the hatch gaskets during the last few days. Then took showers, did some
gear maintenance, and I went up the mast to replace the staysail halyard
with a new shackle. Watched a big motor yacht pass a couple miles west of
us, headed north. With no wind for the wind generator, and still not enough
angle on the sun to get full use from the solar panels, I ran the little gas
generator for about 45 minutes to charge batteries while I tried out the new
water maker. It desalinates about 1.5 liters an hour, drawing 4 amps of
power, and the charger will put out 10 amps, so we about broke even on
electricity use making 3 liters. After talking to the Seafarers net, about
5:00 PM I went for a sleep while Karen got the boat moving under slow motor.
I woke about 7:00 to hear her getting sails set, and then she shut down the
motor, and told me to sleep some more. We had a light sailing breeze. Woke
again at 9:00 to hear the boat charging along, and then the hiss of rain on
the cabin. I got up and had Karen open the plugs for the rain collection,
and after rinsing the salt off, caught 16 liters of fresh water, with NO
electricity used. That brings the tank back almost full, so not likely to
have to run the maker again before we get to SavuSavu. Wind is quite
variable in and out of these squalls. and it's about the end of Karen's
watch, so I'll get this sent and take over the helm. about 600 miles to
Fiji, and all well. Ted
2007-06-12
This afternoon Karen said "Now we're starting to have fun." That sort of
sums it up. The
nightmare seems to be over. It didn't end suddenly, though. All night we
sailed thru a
cold front, in and out of rain squalls packing 30 knots of wind, steep seas
up to 14 feet.
After the nights rest on the sea anchor and the repairs made we could deal
with it, but only
just. An example of fatigue based stupidity; I got up at dawn to find
Karen hand steering,
unable to leave the cockpit to get me up to help her. She couldn't get the
autopilot to
steer, couldn't reach the controls to add some headsail, which she was sure
was needed to
make it steer over the big sloppy seas in the slowly decreasing wind. I
reached over and
eased out 2 feet of sheet on the staysail, a five second maneuver right in
front of her, and
the helm went neutral. The autopilot was immediately happy. She was so
tired she had
forgotten the most basic rule, that sail trim controls the steering. Sort
of in the same
category as me yesterday, not thinking of the spinnaker halyard to replace
the broken one
for the staysail. Truth is, I don't know how she copes at all having to deal
with seasickness on top of the fatigue. Mostly stubbornness, I guess.
Anyway, the fresh one has to do the thinking. I'd had a 3 hour sleep, so I
took over, and she went to sleep for 5 hours. The wind settled at 18 knots
from the West, the sea smoothed, I added a little jib, and spent the morning
cleaning up the small mountain of wet clothes and towels from the dinette.
We'd used half of our towels keeping the water off the nav station and
computer shelf.
So when Karen got up, I took a good rest again, and
things eased up even more. This afternoon we slowly put things in order, as
we made a
steady 6 knots on the rhumb line to Fiji. No more water surging down the
decks. No more
drips from the hatches. No more slamming and crashing, and lurches that
send you across the
boat groping for a handhold. Just the hiss and gurgle of water past the
hull, warm sun
drying the rain that finally rinsed off the salt from the topsides, and all
the controls
basically working again. Had a couple of nice visits with friends on the
radio, and now
we're looking forward to an easy night coasting under a sky full of stars.
15 knots of
breeze just abaft the beam. This is more like it. Ted
sums it up. The
nightmare seems to be over. It didn't end suddenly, though. All night we
sailed thru a
cold front, in and out of rain squalls packing 30 knots of wind, steep seas
up to 14 feet.
After the nights rest on the sea anchor and the repairs made we could deal
with it, but only
just. An example of fatigue based stupidity; I got up at dawn to find
Karen hand steering,
unable to leave the cockpit to get me up to help her. She couldn't get the
autopilot to
steer, couldn't reach the controls to add some headsail, which she was sure
was needed to
make it steer over the big sloppy seas in the slowly decreasing wind. I
reached over and
eased out 2 feet of sheet on the staysail, a five second maneuver right in
front of her, and
the helm went neutral. The autopilot was immediately happy. She was so
tired she had
forgotten the most basic rule, that sail trim controls the steering. Sort
of in the same
category as me yesterday, not thinking of the spinnaker halyard to replace
the broken one
for the staysail. Truth is, I don't know how she copes at all having to deal
with seasickness on top of the fatigue. Mostly stubbornness, I guess.
Anyway, the fresh one has to do the thinking. I'd had a 3 hour sleep, so I
took over, and she went to sleep for 5 hours. The wind settled at 18 knots
from the West, the sea smoothed, I added a little jib, and spent the morning
cleaning up the small mountain of wet clothes and towels from the dinette.
We'd used half of our towels keeping the water off the nav station and
computer shelf.
So when Karen got up, I took a good rest again, and
things eased up even more. This afternoon we slowly put things in order, as
we made a
steady 6 knots on the rhumb line to Fiji. No more water surging down the
decks. No more
drips from the hatches. No more slamming and crashing, and lurches that
send you across the
boat groping for a handhold. Just the hiss and gurgle of water past the
hull, warm sun
drying the rain that finally rinsed off the salt from the topsides, and all
the controls
basically working again. Had a couple of nice visits with friends on the
radio, and now
we're looking forward to an easy night coasting under a sky full of stars.
15 knots of
breeze just abaft the beam. This is more like it. Ted
2007-06-11
Now I'm not saying things are all roses out here, but compared to yesterday
it's been OK. Things have about stopped breaking for the moment. Well,
with the exception of the furler rope clutch, and we can work around that
easily. Karen suggested that the spinnaker halyard should be usable for the
staysail, and she was right. The direction of lead is a bit off, but
nothing's perfect, and we've been flying only the staysail almost all day,
so it's clearly good enough. Started out with half the jib in about 20
knots wind, but well before noon it was gusting to 30, so we tried the
staysail, it worked, and we haven't changed since. We're making almost 4
knots close reaching, and most of the time Sequester is climbing cleanly
over the seas. They've become more regular, about 12 feet but relatively
smooth, as the sea state matured, so only once in a while does one break on
deck now. I wish I'd made the storm covers for all the hatches, as I
planned to do a couple years ago. In these conditions all the hatches leak
a bit, so there are only a few dry places now. If we still don't have the
sense to quit this foolishness after this passage, I'll be making some
changes in the next few months. Need more handholds on the cabin top.
Especially with the new deck paint. The non-skid is more durable and easier
to clean than the old housepaint and sand we had before, but it's a lot
slicker. I really hate it. Did a LOT of work to make things worse!
Anyway, things are going well enough for us to both eat and sleep regularly,
and that's better. The weather guys all say it should drop to about 15
knots and swing west tomorrow. I hope they're right, but we take what comes
(not always with grace!) Time to sleep before my 2:00 AM watch starts. More
tomorrow, conditions permitting. Ted
it's been OK. Things have about stopped breaking for the moment. Well,
with the exception of the furler rope clutch, and we can work around that
easily. Karen suggested that the spinnaker halyard should be usable for the
staysail, and she was right. The direction of lead is a bit off, but
nothing's perfect, and we've been flying only the staysail almost all day,
so it's clearly good enough. Started out with half the jib in about 20
knots wind, but well before noon it was gusting to 30, so we tried the
staysail, it worked, and we haven't changed since. We're making almost 4
knots close reaching, and most of the time Sequester is climbing cleanly
over the seas. They've become more regular, about 12 feet but relatively
smooth, as the sea state matured, so only once in a while does one break on
deck now. I wish I'd made the storm covers for all the hatches, as I
planned to do a couple years ago. In these conditions all the hatches leak
a bit, so there are only a few dry places now. If we still don't have the
sense to quit this foolishness after this passage, I'll be making some
changes in the next few months. Need more handholds on the cabin top.
Especially with the new deck paint. The non-skid is more durable and easier
to clean than the old housepaint and sand we had before, but it's a lot
slicker. I really hate it. Did a LOT of work to make things worse!
Anyway, things are going well enough for us to both eat and sleep regularly,
and that's better. The weather guys all say it should drop to about 15
knots and swing west tomorrow. I hope they're right, but we take what comes
(not always with grace!) Time to sleep before my 2:00 AM watch starts. More
tomorrow, conditions permitting. Ted
2007-06-10 (2nd)
True to the forecast the wind is down to about 20 knots here this morning.
After the morning radio schedule with Rag of the Air we retrieved the
parachute sea anchor and got under way, making better than 5 knots with
about half of the roller furling jib set. Sea is still too rough to allow
us to go any faster comfortably, but everything we need is working well at
the moment, so we'll try to keep it that way. Parachute recovery was easier
than expected, and I have it all packed and stowed, ready to use again if
needed. Would really like to NOT use it again....it's a lot of work to set
and retrieve. We both just had pasta with tuna and Thai chili for
breakfast, so I guess the seasickness is under control as long as K stays
out in the cockpit. Feels much better to be moving again. More later.
Ted
After the morning radio schedule with Rag of the Air we retrieved the
parachute sea anchor and got under way, making better than 5 knots with
about half of the roller furling jib set. Sea is still too rough to allow
us to go any faster comfortably, but everything we need is working well at
the moment, so we'll try to keep it that way. Parachute recovery was easier
than expected, and I have it all packed and stowed, ready to use again if
needed. Would really like to NOT use it again....it's a lot of work to set
and retrieve. We both just had pasta with tuna and Thai chili for
breakfast, so I guess the seasickness is under control as long as K stays
out in the cockpit. Feels much better to be moving again. More later.
Ted
2007-06-10
Whenever the subject of parachute sea anchors comes up with other sailors,
they have always been amazed that we have sat out 3 storms on ours. We're
now making that 4. We tried to beat the oncoming low pressure system coming
north, but it came a bit faster and a lot stronger than early predictions.
We tried to just push on thru the Eastern edge, but it was producing such a
sharp, confused sea that the autopilot couldn't cope with the steering, We
kept reducing sail until we only had up the storm staysail. Then the wind
started to ease. I figured putting on a bit bigger sail would give us the
power to steer more easily, so started to set up to change staysails. Then
saw the pivot socket for the autopilot was starting to be moved around by
the force on it. started to set up the sea anchor, as we couldn't face hand
steering, then decided to give the sailing one more go, and see if I could
fix the pivot tube on the move. As I hoisted the other staysail, a gust hit
and the shackle for the halyard broke, dropping the whole mess back on the
deck. I tied it all down and deployed the parachute, while hoping we
weren't making ourselves sitting ducks for the following low. Spoke to
Pacific Seafarerson the radio and they checked Metvuw Weather to find that
the next low is weakening and going south. Should be getting light wind and
flat sea in about 1 day. Have the tillerpilot pivot beefed up now, will
explore using the spinnaker halyard for the staysail tomorrow when it's
light again. Tonite we just go to sleep and rest. We really need to.
we're so tired we;re sick right now, but feeling better even after a couple
hours sleep. Position 31 deg 47 min S, 175 deg 09 min E, hardly moving at
all except up and down about 20 feet. Karen now able to drink water and eat
a little licorice, so things are better than this afternoon, even though
it's dark, raining, and blowing a low end gale. We're going back to bed.
Ted
they have always been amazed that we have sat out 3 storms on ours. We're
now making that 4. We tried to beat the oncoming low pressure system coming
north, but it came a bit faster and a lot stronger than early predictions.
We tried to just push on thru the Eastern edge, but it was producing such a
sharp, confused sea that the autopilot couldn't cope with the steering, We
kept reducing sail until we only had up the storm staysail. Then the wind
started to ease. I figured putting on a bit bigger sail would give us the
power to steer more easily, so started to set up to change staysails. Then
saw the pivot socket for the autopilot was starting to be moved around by
the force on it. started to set up the sea anchor, as we couldn't face hand
steering, then decided to give the sailing one more go, and see if I could
fix the pivot tube on the move. As I hoisted the other staysail, a gust hit
and the shackle for the halyard broke, dropping the whole mess back on the
deck. I tied it all down and deployed the parachute, while hoping we
weren't making ourselves sitting ducks for the following low. Spoke to
Pacific Seafarerson the radio and they checked Metvuw Weather to find that
the next low is weakening and going south. Should be getting light wind and
flat sea in about 1 day. Have the tillerpilot pivot beefed up now, will
explore using the spinnaker halyard for the staysail tomorrow when it's
light again. Tonite we just go to sleep and rest. We really need to.
we're so tired we;re sick right now, but feeling better even after a couple
hours sleep. Position 31 deg 47 min S, 175 deg 09 min E, hardly moving at
all except up and down about 20 feet. Karen now able to drink water and eat
a little licorice, so things are better than this afternoon, even though
it's dark, raining, and blowing a low end gale. We're going back to bed.
Ted
2007-06-09
been in a gale since 3:00 AM, sailing NE as fast as possible to clear the
system. Seem to be gaining on it as barometer is rising, but hard on the
crew. Will keep this short to minimize risk of damage to laptop. Reports
say expect easing in 12 to 20 hours. Have radio scheds at noon with Rag of
the Air and at 3:00 with Pacific Seafarers Net. Til then we hold on and
sail. More when it eases. Ted
system. Seem to be gaining on it as barometer is rising, but hard on the
crew. Will keep this short to minimize risk of damage to laptop. Reports
say expect easing in 12 to 20 hours. Have radio scheds at noon with Rag of
the Air and at 3:00 with Pacific Seafarers Net. Til then we hold on and
sail. More when it eases. Ted
2007-06-08
Things always change. Wind started to come down late last night, and we
added sail to keep up the boat speed over 6 knots. On my late watch, around
4:00 AM, I kept hearing a loud clack from the rudder. Didn't want to spoil
my night vision, as there was just a hint of moonlight thru the cloud, so I
felt around the rudder head and found the linkage for the wind steering vane
was disconnected, and the linkage was too high to engage it. ODD!! felt
around the shaft for the rudder trim tab, and gave it a little pull,
whereupon it jumped straight up, disengaged the lower bushing, and the force
of the water flowing past broke it off at the waterline. No more windvane
steering until we get to Fiji. Sat there a bit more, then wondered more
about the linkage being high. Got a light, and could see a pin was gone,
and the rudder shaft was sliding up out of the gudgeons, already out of the
lower one. There's the clack! Not so good. Hove the boat to (stopped)so
no force on the rudder, and managed too work the shaft back down, and clamp
it. Then needed some centerboard down to get her sailing again.
Centerboard control line was jammed. Woke Karen in case things got worse,
then took the cap off the centerboard trunk. Fortunately it was pretty easy
to get the line free from where it had gotten caught next to the board. By
the time we got her moving again, all sail up, wind was down to about 5
knots, boatspeed about 2 to 3. It's been that way (or less) for 4 hours
now. We have a bit of a window between two systems, where we can get some
favorable wind if we can make about 80 or 90 miles today. Not gonna happen
sailing, so I just lit up the Suzuki. Also, no wind for th wind generator,
and not much sun for the solar panels, so I put the little Chinese generator
on the forward net and strung some wire into the boat for the battery
charger. We need about 40 amp hours a day to run the nav lights, autopilot,
and radio/email. We'll get about 1/3 of that from one hour of the
generator. So we're a motorboat with a generator for this morning. Not
perfect but better than the alternative. At least it's already noticably
warmer here, 150 miles north of Opua. So, all well on board, as long as the
autopilot keeps piloting! Ted
added sail to keep up the boat speed over 6 knots. On my late watch, around
4:00 AM, I kept hearing a loud clack from the rudder. Didn't want to spoil
my night vision, as there was just a hint of moonlight thru the cloud, so I
felt around the rudder head and found the linkage for the wind steering vane
was disconnected, and the linkage was too high to engage it. ODD!! felt
around the shaft for the rudder trim tab, and gave it a little pull,
whereupon it jumped straight up, disengaged the lower bushing, and the force
of the water flowing past broke it off at the waterline. No more windvane
steering until we get to Fiji. Sat there a bit more, then wondered more
about the linkage being high. Got a light, and could see a pin was gone,
and the rudder shaft was sliding up out of the gudgeons, already out of the
lower one. There's the clack! Not so good. Hove the boat to (stopped)so
no force on the rudder, and managed too work the shaft back down, and clamp
it. Then needed some centerboard down to get her sailing again.
Centerboard control line was jammed. Woke Karen in case things got worse,
then took the cap off the centerboard trunk. Fortunately it was pretty easy
to get the line free from where it had gotten caught next to the board. By
the time we got her moving again, all sail up, wind was down to about 5
knots, boatspeed about 2 to 3. It's been that way (or less) for 4 hours
now. We have a bit of a window between two systems, where we can get some
favorable wind if we can make about 80 or 90 miles today. Not gonna happen
sailing, so I just lit up the Suzuki. Also, no wind for th wind generator,
and not much sun for the solar panels, so I put the little Chinese generator
on the forward net and strung some wire into the boat for the battery
charger. We need about 40 amp hours a day to run the nav lights, autopilot,
and radio/email. We'll get about 1/3 of that from one hour of the
generator. So we're a motorboat with a generator for this morning. Not
perfect but better than the alternative. At least it's already noticably
warmer here, 150 miles north of Opua. So, all well on board, as long as the
autopilot keeps piloting! Ted
2007-06-07
After a few days of watching weather patterns, pacing in very small
circles, and shifting from foot to foot, we have decided it looks OK for
tomorrow morning, so we clear Customs at 9:00 AM, haul anchor at 9:30. Next
stop, Fiji, probably SavuSavu on the Eastcoast of Vanua Levu island. About
1200 miles. Good days runs are 150 miles, great days are 200. So we'll be
in limited contact for anywhere from 8 to 14 days. Watch for forwards of
our sailmail. All of you take real good care of all the babies. Luv, Ted
circles, and shifting from foot to foot, we have decided it looks OK for
tomorrow morning, so we clear Customs at 9:00 AM, haul anchor at 9:30. Next
stop, Fiji, probably SavuSavu on the Eastcoast of Vanua Levu island. About
1200 miles. Good days runs are 150 miles, great days are 200. So we'll be
in limited contact for anywhere from 8 to 14 days. Watch for forwards of
our sailmail. All of you take real good care of all the babies. Luv, Ted
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