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Fiji->NZ: Day 6

31nm to go to Marsden Cove. All is well aboard.

Here we are :

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Very, nearly there.

A fairly full last full day of sailing. The approaching squalls met us and gave us a good wash. Inside and behind the winds picked up and for a while we made 8-9 knots giving us an ETA of 2:30 Sunday morning. It was not to last though. Around lunch time the winds dropped and for nearly three hours we motor sailed to get out of that patch. Once again the sails filled and we spent the rest of the day sailing.

During Lissa’s morning watch I saw a tug on the starboard trolling line. I went to haul in our catch but the line went limp. Next the fishing rod sang. I had Lissa reel in the catch while I pulled in the port line to avoid a snarl up. On the way in I caught a fish too. We both had decent sized tuna, something that looked like a cross between an albacore and a big eye (ie, a big eyed albacore). I managed to bring my tuna aboard but sadly we lost Lissa’s. The one tuna we had was duly steaked and fileted and was on the table for lunch with enough meat left over for two more meals.

Lunch was delicious. The meat was quite light and not overly strong so chances are it was an albacore. Helen made a delicious sauce for the fish.

In the afternoon the fishing line again sang, the fish got away, and then the port line hooked another fish. Another tuna. This one was fully fileted and bagged to feed Lissa’s family and Paul our past crew who couldn’t make it on this trip but will be meeting up with us ashore.

Strange things happen at sea and this one I put down to sleep depravation. During Helen’s shift I popped up because the sounds had changed. I found her trying to slow the boat down. She’d mistaken the projected arrival time for a duration to arrival and figured we’d arrive at two in the morning. By that time the boat would have to be going about 18 knots to make that time. But despite all evidence to the contrary she took the initiative. I’m glad I checked. We’re going to have to review this watch schedule as I’ve experienced weird goings on too. The night before I was cuddled up to Helen trying to sleep when she vanished like in a magician’s trick. Seemed really strange at the time. Obviously what had happened was that I’d fallen asleep and woken later when she’d gone. But all in an instant so the effect was a vanishing Helen.

Shortly before dinner we heard our first blast of NZ Maritime Radio on the VHF from 60nm out. It must have been high on a hill as the only evidence we had of land nearby were some familiar cloud formations and an slight increase in the number of sea birds. Dinner was another force feed. Sausages, bacon, eggs, mashed potatoe, beans, bread followed by a huge and last helping of fruit cake. Even if we get stuck at sea for a week we now have enough inside us to last a week or two.

Over my 12-2 night shift things got lively. We had a tanker bearing down on us. Using the AIS I was able to project a very near closest point of approach. I was also able to determine the ship’s name. I hailed them and asked if they could see us 6nm in front of them. They assured me they could and would take evasive action if necessary. A few minutes later they turned and eventually passed 1nm ahead of us. At that time two other tankers were on the AIS and radar, one heading south and one north. I also notice that our forward navigation lights were out. Not a good time for that. With no moon in the sky it was very dark outside. I turned on our steaming light to light up the head sail and make us very visible and made the decision to leave the radar on as many ships carry passive sensors. I came to the conclusion we might have a voltage drop leading to the bulb. LEDs have a tendency to completely switch off when the voltage drops below a certain threshold. I turned on the cross charger from the drive batteries to the house and lo and behold, within a few minutes the light came back on. I left the cross-charger and the radar on all night, just to be sure.

While I’ve type we’ve passed the Poor Knights islands and crept out of their wind shadow. I used a bit of battery power to get us past as we were going quite slow. Power is now off and we’re making almost 5 knots in light winds giving us an ETA of around 1pm. I am worried we make get a bit of a land breeze soon which will counter the regular wind – perhaps we already are. We’ve made the decision to motor if our ETA goes beyond 1:30pm.

Feet on Terra Firma very soon. No more night watches for 6 months.

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