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by steve, on September 27th, 2010 ( Anthem, Bamboozle, Tonga) The problem with skipping a day is trying to remember what we did. Sunday seems a long time ago now. What I do remember is despite the mid-afternoon heat, we got round to putting the main sail back on the boat and retying all the reefing lines. The patching looks pretty good so we’re pleased about it.
Later in the afternoon I had a few of the net controllers over to discuss our last week of running the net. The net we started heading down from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus has had a good run and has been pretty successful in terms of the numbers of vessels checking in from time to time and certainly those listening. Now that the NZ bound boats are congregating in and around Tonga and the Australia bound boats have headed off west we’re beginning to find ourselves pulled in different directions. We’ve decided to call it a day but not without gathering some information together about other nets and weather sources and offering that out. Getting a few folks together we were able to get some ideas going about how we will communicate the information we have over this last week.
No partying for Sunday evening. We watched a movie and slept early.
Around 6:30am Monday morning we were off, heading back to Neiafu for the fun contest they’d named the ‘tridecagonathlon’. The contest comprised 13 separate events all of which had opportunities to get dirty and messy. It started with an egg tossing / spoon race and ended up with a pie eating contest. The point scoring was somewhat arbitrary and totally up to the judges with points being gained and lost for various things including flattery, complaining, bribery (drinks), etc. So many points were given out on the pie eating event that it largely determined the final result. We had been split into six teams which separated the three of us into different teams. For the last event one person had to represent each team and had to eat as much banana custard out of pies in six minutes without using their hands. Helen and Ben both represented their teams. Ben managed eight pies and Helen ten – sealing and overall win for her team. Needless to say, both of them lost their ‘lunch’ later on. It was all tremendous fun and once I have secured some pictures I’ll post them. (I have managed to upload some pics from the pub crawl and full moon party which I’ll add to previous blogs).
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In the afternoon we had a nice surprise. Jamie and Lucy offered to lend us their electric piano so Ben could get his fix in. We found compatible power sources so were able to take them up on their offer. Ben is now very happy.
We ended the day with Jack from Anthem aboard for dinner, chat and beers. Somehow this lasted some time and we weren’t asleep until late.
Today (Tuesday) is the last day of the regatta. There is a prize-giving ceremony for all the things we collected points for over the last week and no doubt a little partying after.
We’re looking forward to slowing down and that we’ll do once we get out of here and out to some of the anchorages around here.
What’s a bit frustrating is that we still haven’t been given the tracking reference for our allegedly shipped charger by CatCo. Without this we won’t be able to appoint an agent to clear it through the capital and get it here. Furthermore we have no idea about how much time we have to wait and how to plan our time in the anchorages. Seems just stupid to me.
One other annoyance is one of my email services has been hijacked and a bunch of our contacts emailed/spammed. Sorry if you’ve received some unwanted email from us. I am doing what I can to track this one down.
by KC2RIY, on September 25th, 2010 ( A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Desue, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Tonga, Trim, Tyee, Visions of Johanna) The Jackster’s showed up and anchored next to us around midday. We soon had them over to share our experiences of the last few months as well as abandoning our plans to hoist the main sail in favour of a few beers.
Around 6pm we headed ashore to Ano Beach for the ferry service to the Full Moon Party. Sadly, the ferry service was the weak link of the whole evening requiring some folks to wait over two hours for their turn to board and make the passage round to the party. Fortunately we made it over on the second one out so we didn’t have to wait too long.
The party was a lot of fun. A lot of the people we have previously mentioned on our blog were there. Most people on their way to New Zealand this year are either now in Tonga or soon to be arriving. I’m probably missing a few but those that we can put our heads together and remember are : A Cappella, Anthem, Bamboozle, Callisto, Delos, Freezing Rain, Imagine, Inspiration Lady, Jackster, Kamaya, Mojo, Paleides, Passages, Scream, Sea Mist, Trim, Tyee & Visions of Johanna. There were many others and we made some new acquaintances along the way.
A lot of effort had been put into things including three 10 minute shows of which Ben played a part (dressed as a skeleton) in the first and third. Not everything went smoothly but it was all appreciated.
We didn’t get back until after midnight. We didn’t see Ben until the following morning around 11am which I saw him on the ferry. I dinghied over and he jumped in the water to avoid the trip to the beach. He hadn’t slept at all having had the beer and food go free around 3am and partying into the morning followed by helping to clear up.
We have some pictures, courtesy of Ann from Callisto, which will be posted when we can get a connection.
Tomorrow the fun continues so we’ll be off early round to Neiafu.
by KC2RIY, on July 31st, 2010 ( Bamboozle, Society Islands) In the morning we set off on our planned 9 mile hike around one of the lobes of the island. The first stretch of the hike over the low saddle to the bay on the other side of the island was very pleasant. As we reached the other side it began to rain lightly. Usually this is pleasant as it means we don’t have the sun beating down and the light rain keeps us cool. This time the light rain was merely the forerunner for heavy rain for which we were not prepared.
We spent a bit of time standing under banana leaves before searching out a more permanent shelter under the roof of a small shack. After a break in the rain we pushed onwards only to get caught out again. This time we made crude umbrellas out of banana leaves and made our way back to our earlier shelter where we waited out the next period of intense rain.
After exhausting our I-Spy options the rain died and we decided to head back the way we came. It was a good decision as the skies began to darken again as we approached the dinghy. The winds were blowing quite strongly into the harbour we were in so the dinghy ride back to the boat was against the wind and chop. If we had a dry patch on us before the dinghy ride we didn’t when we reached the boat.
We settled down for a boat day as the outside weather remained grey and occasionally wet. We heard from Bamboozle who were on their way to this anchorage. We’d heard that they had a good keyboard on their boat and Ben was already in withdrawal. We soon had ourselves invited over for sundowners.
In the evening we had better luck working our way upwind to where Bamboozle was anchored arriving only slightly wet. There we met their friends Mark & Genevieve with their twin daughters. Both Ben and Lucy played the piano for us while we enjoyed good company and the occasional beer. Helen had a small tinkle on the electric ivories too.
Today we may go for another hike. Not sure yet. The weather overnight has again been windy and wet. The wind gen has been really earning it’s keep. The easterly horizon is looking quite gray so we may have to pass on this idea. We’ll see.
by KC2RIY, on July 10th, 2010 ( Bamboozle, Society Islands) In the morning we wanted to stretch our legs and go ashore. For a while intermittent rains pinned us to the boat but eventually the skies seemed to brighten so we headed out. On the way we dropped by Bamboozle to drop off a glass left the night before.
We tied up in a small marina and walked to the main road. Even though we were less than two miles from the end of the road it was a properly tarmacked road no doubt courtesy of the French taxpayer. The whole area is very lush which we reckoned was due to the geography precipitating a lot of rainfall. At the end of the road was a small river, muddy beach and a footbridge. We crossed the bridge and walked along a path through a settlement. We felt transported back in time. The place seemed so different from elsewhere with some pretty little homes.
On the way back we were caught by a bit of rain but were able to wait it out in a store where we picked up some baguettes. We again popped by Bamboozle to pick up some DVDs they were going to lend us. They invited us aboard for coffee but we declined as we wanted to push on.
When Jamie and Lucy from Bamboozle had been aboard the night before they had told us about the area behind the reef to our east. It sounded very attractive. As the skies were still overcast we wanted to enter the reef with as much light as possible. As soon as we were aboard we raised anchor and were off. Outside the nearby pass we turned east into 25 knot winds. We motored the 4nm to the next pass which only looked passable when we were on top of it. We found a spot to anchor close to the pass.
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The area is indeed impressive. The landscape is rugged but lush. Steep volcanic crags with high waterfalls are all around. With the bumpy passage and misty air we took few pictures on the way round. If the weather clears we may dinghy around inside the reef and get some more pictures of the stunning scenery here. The weather stayed pretty grim for the afternoon so we were unable or at least unwilling to go out.
Near to where we are anchored is a small river up which there is supposed to be an ancient grotto we can visit. It is supposed to have had some spiritual significance to the Polynesians. We will be visiting that today for sure.
We are quite happy with this position as a staging point for our trip south to the eclipse. The extra 4nm upwind means we’ll have an easier run. The edge of the totality is just over 10nm SSE from the pass although if we head south it’s nearer 11nm. We aim to be out of the pass before 5:30am tomorrow, an hour before sunrise and 3 hours before the eclipse. If we make 5 knots then we’ll be 5nm inside the umbra which should give us a minute of darkness. If we make 6 knots we’ll get nearer 90 seconds. I have the edge of the umbral path already entered onto the chart plotter so we’ll know when we’re in the path of the shadow.
Hopefully the weather system that has been going over us for the last few days will lead to clearer air. Certainly, once we’re away from the land we’ll lose the clouds created by the uplift of air over the land so it can only get better. My next blog will probably be after we have experienced the eclipse so keep your fingers crossed for us.
We’re continuing our push south towards a staging point for our run to eclipse umbral path on July 11th. This time we moved close to Teahupoo where Bamboozle are anchored. On the way we saw Imagine and Sea Mist heading out into rough water so we bid them farewell over the radio.
Shortly after arriving John and Kara, a young couple sailing on Orca a Cape Dory 30, rowed over. They’d bought one too many baguettes and offered us their spare. We invited them aboard and ended up sharing a beer and lunch with them. As they travel without a fridge the cold beer was a real treat for them.
We relaxed the afternoon away before preparing for a curry dinner with the Bamboozles in the evening. A jolly time was had.
This morning I’ve brought myself up to date with our passage log. Currently we stand at 9,384nm sailed to date with John covering over 6,100nm of that with us.
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