South Pacific « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Weather or not

by KC2RIY, on November 6th, 2010 (Boree, Larabeck, Tonga)

The morning weather session turned out to be quite useful. Members of 6 or 7 boats came ashore and we all sat around a long table with out laptops looking at various weather sources. There was a lot of discussion and sharing of ideas. I noticed Bert from Boree had a more up to date version of the software to view my downloaded wind/wave files and soon I was up to date seeing my wind, rain and waves in glorious technicolour. We’ve agreed to keep meeting at 10am each day although noone is individually bound to come.

The outlook for a passage to New Zealand right now is not good. A low pressure system is forecast to hang around about a 1,000 miles to the east of New Zealand with a high pressure system stalling to the west of New Zealand. Between them they squeeze some strong southerly winds and swell which would not be fun to beat through. For me, these systems are the thing to watch right now as everything is governed by them. We could be here for a while.

In the afternoon Helen and I went for a walk around Pangaimotu which was a pleasant leg stretch. At 6pm Sandra from Larabeck had agreed to play the fiddle. This was excuse enough for a number of us to come ashore and listen in. Soon we had Bert (the same one) accompanying her on a guitar from Imagine. All good fun and very memorable.

Disaster did strike yesterday in the form of running out of beer. The last of our reserves, topped up in the duty free store in Niue, are now exhausted. We’re also down to two bottles of wine. The rum is gone. We have gin but no tonic and some tequila fumes. Had we been leaving today this would have been perfect timing. Looks like we may have to go into town tomorrow to hunt down some essential provisions – tonic being the top of the list.

This morning we listened to the traffic on the Penguin net largely comprising the vessels who left here last Sunday. We know they’ve had a hard time over the last couple of days but it was great to hear things we settling out and they were mostly all past the bad weather and looking to arrive in New Zealand over the next few days. The one theme that did come through was ……. it’s cold down there.

Checked Out – Now for the Weather

by KC2RIY, on November 5th, 2010 (Leu Cat, Sea Mist, Tonga)

Quite a lot accomplished yesterday. At 7am we were up on the deck working on the head sail. Once the sail was down on the deck I could more closely examine the tear. It was about 2 feet long and away from the sun strip. By it’s position I think it may have caught on the spreader during one of our maneuvers. That will mean a trip up there soon to sharp for any sharp edges. I decided to sew the tear then tape it over. That should be enough to get us down to New Zealand. It took about an hour of work to repair the sail and then get it hoisted and furled again. Fortunately the early morning air stayed light enough for us to complete this work.

At 9am it was all aboard the water taxi to do our checking out and final (?) provisioning. First stop was immigration. This went smoothly. Immigration is opposite an excellent bakery (I may have mentioned this before) so we all sampled sausage rolls and doughnuts.

We then walked to the fruit and veg market and picked up some fresh food. We’re currently provisioning for two weeks with the last few days being tinned stuff. If we leave now we’ll have fresh food all the way. If we leave in a few days the tins will come out. If we leave later we’ll being reprovisioning.

We then blew the next few minutes walking through the center of town stopping at a cafe for some very tasty samosas and coffee. With the day heating up (another rare sunny day here) it was nice to sit somewhere air conditioned while we passed a few minutes. Overall we were aiming for the 1pm water taxi back so we didn’t want to rush.

Next we took a taxi to the port authority office where we cleared out there. Again we suffered (as in the Galapagos) from overstated tonnage on our ships documentation as this was the basis of our fee for clearance. We must fix this on our next papers renewal. Not too far away was the customs shed. There was no-one there so we had to find a customs officer in the wharf to clear us out. The guy we found was not overly pleased I had not checked into Nuku’alofa but did the paperwork anyway after making his protest for our failed adherence to full formalities. Our final bit of beaurocracy was a visit to another customs office back in the port authority building where we obtained our paperwork for duty free fuel. Having been delayed by having to find a customs officer earlier we just made it before they closed for lunch. Phew.

Another taxi ride, this time to a supermarket to pick up the rest of our provisions. This being done our final taxi ride of the day was back to the dock with a detour by the palace (Tonga is a monarchy) to have a teeny bit of sight seeing.

The 1pm water taxi ended up leaving 20 minutes late so by the time we were back on Dignity it was time to set off to fuel up at our prebooked 2pm slot. Soon we were back in the dock area. Another cat, “Two if by Sea”, was on the dock shifting forward to make room so we waited for them to complete their maneuvering before heading in. With the wind blowing off the dock and the rocky wall of the inner dock off our starboard beam we needed to be reasonably quick. Once we were tied up to the dock we discover the fuel line would reach neither of our stern fuel openings so we had to untie, reverse out, switch the fenders and lines over then reverse back onto the dock. Having done this the fuel line reached our starboard filler which, fortunately, was the one that needed the most fuel. To fill the port tank we had to fill jerry cans and bring them over and siphon the fuel out. We were lent a siphon with a jigger by the other boat which saved me tasting diesel.

Once we had fueled up I had to run to the cash machine to get enough cash to pay for the fuel and to pay off our tab at Big Mamas. As soon as I returned and paid up we were off so as the next vessel waiting to fuel could come in and do so.

It was nearly 4pm by the time we dropped the hook more or less at the same spot as before. At 4:30pm we’d been invited over to Leu Cat with the Sea Mists where David offered Ben and Ian cigars. The cigars were open for all but none of the rest of us were up to them. We were all made Manhattan’s which are part of David’s daily ritual which he has with his cigar.

Back on the boat we finally relaxed watching a few TV shows. We’re still working our way through Prison Break – now in season 2 which is not so good but we’re soldiering on. More weather watching too. The GRIBs are not looking promising for a start south any time soon. The general advice is to wait for a ‘Big Fat High’ to pass which will bring steady trades behind it for approximately 5 days. No BFH’s are on the horizon and we have a good period of southerlies foretasted ahead of us. Our current strategy is to wait here until a BFH shows and set sail hoping that the trades will fall in behind it. If, after two days, they don’t we’ll stop in Minerva Reef 240 miles out.

Because weather watching is what we’re all doing here I’ve organized a daily morning meet up at Big Mama’s where we can pool our respected thoughts and perspectives on the most recent forecasts. If nothing else it’s something to do each day. Given the current picture we could be here for a while. At best we will learn new perspectives and sources of information from each other which can only enhance the decision making process. If we get pinned here for too long we may adjust our strategy and go for Minerva Reef and wait there. On the upside it knocks over 200nm and a couple of days off our final transit to New Zealand making it easier to shoot for a weather window. On the downside it’s a two day passage (which we don’t like) and, if we do get trades, it takes five degrees off our course which will make it closer and more bumpy for us. We’ll see.

Helen is almost finished her two year perspective. She’s been at it for a while now. She’s been cursing and swearing just now because she lost a paragraph while moving it around and now has remember and rewrite it.

Getting Ready

by KC2RIY, on November 4th, 2010 (Leu Cat, Sea Mist, Tonga)

Thursday was a work day. We have a possibly tough crossing ahead of us so it’s necessary to check the boat all over and make things good. It was a little too windy and wet to bring the sail down but a lot else was accomplished. Most the checks went fine. I wasn’t happy with the bearing on my steering gear so I dismantled the rudder posts and greased them up. Batteries, sale cars and shrouds look ok. We washed out the bilges and tested the pumps. All good.

In the evening we went ashore to Big Mamas for beers and food with Sea Mist and Leu Cat – we all had a good time.

Today we’re going to clear out. We’ll do all our formalities, load up with fuel and provision for the trip. We’ll also try to get the head sail fixed. Then we’ll be set to go whenever the opportunity arises. I’m currently loading GRIBs 3 to 4 times a day to watch the evolving weather models. It’s a complex picture but it does look like an opening will arrive soon. On this one we could well start with some rare north westerlies followed by a calm and variable patch followed by a resumption of the trades. A decision will be made each day.

Pangaimotu

by KC2RIY, on November 3rd, 2010 (Boree, Imagine, Leu Cat, Sea Mist, Tahina, Tonga, Visions of Johanna)

Our sail down was slow and drizzly but uneventful. We’d aimed for the eastern passage into Tongatapu hoping to see whales outside in the deep water. No luck there. We arrived around 3pm, anchored behind the island of Pangaimotu on first try and settled down exhausted. We’d all had a troubled night’s sleep and were all ready for a rest.

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Not without first checking the internet. This was fortunate really as although it is free here, it is insanely slow. So we all started downloading stuff then slowing down and resting.

In the evening we went ashore to Big Mama’s where we ate out along with Sea Mists, Imagines and Tahinas. Later, the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was shown but we didn’t stay. The Visions of Johanna’s came for the movie so we had a chance to say hello and catch up. There are others in this anchorage we know. The Leu Cats are here as well as the Borees and another number of other boats we recognise but know less well. All are waiting here for their preferred weather window. A whole load of boats left last Sunday. I wouldn’t have but I keep my fingers crossed for all of them as we know a few.

This morning I took the 9am water taxi to the main dock a mile away to clear in. I shared a taxi to the Immigration Office with the Borees. There I discovered my visa was all in order and they said I didn’t need to do anything until I leave. Same was true for customs and the port captain, they said. It may be incorrect but I’m still cleared into Tonga so I can’t go too far wrong.

My next problem was that the return water taxi was at 1pm. I picked up some supplies based on a list that Helen gave me and wandered around Nuku’alofa for a while. I covered most of it in fairly short order and still ended up with plenty of time. I ended up at the dock an hour early. I sat in a cafe and read a magazine to kill the time.

This afternoon I’ve been back on the boat sorting out my ebook collection. Helen has spent all day on her year two perspective – still not finished. Ben has been stuck into his actuarial studies. It’s been too windy today to take down our headsail. Frank on Tahina offered us the use of his sail sewing machine which I’d like to do after taping up the tear. The quick and dirty fix of putting marine compound on the sail repair tape can wait until if and when it recurs.

A new headsail and a service of our old one was already on our to do list for New Zealand. I think the tear is a result of our old problem of the sun strip being a tad too narrow. We look after the sail by furling it tight but the initial damage may be quite old.

Last day in Ha’apai

by KC2RIY, on November 1st, 2010 (Tahina, Tonga)

Our morning started with our new Tongan friend showing up in his dugout canoe offering us a couple of octopii. We knew he needed a razor so we had four we didn’t want and some shaving foam we didn’t like the smell of. Along with a couple of tins of vanilla flavoured rice pudding we had a trade as well as thanks for our tour of the island.

The octopus were quite fascinating as their skin was still changing colour and their suckers, out of reflex, would still cling on to things. Our friend showed us how to turn the octopi inside out and to remove the guts. The guts make good fishing bait so we let him have these pieces as this was his livelihood.

Ben and I chopped the octopi up into pieces and Helen put the tougher parts of the tentacles into the pressure cooker to soften up.

Around 10:30 Frank from Tahina came over and we all dove the reef. We explored the caves some more, sometimes going in. We also explored the wreck of La Tortue being able to get inside that too. I found a fishing reel under the wreck which I kept and later cleaned up. If we meet Marie or Nicolas I’ll give it to them, otherwise it’s my salvage booty.

For lunch we battered and fried the octopus pieces. The novelty soon wore off and we ended up eating the batter leaving most of the octopus which ended up in the sea. I thought the pressure cooked octopus tasted like corned beef.

In the afternoon Ben and I finished off cleaning the hulls before putting all the hookah and dive gear away ready for today’s passage.

I found it hard to sleep last night so I spent a lot of time organizing my ebooks.

We set off early this morning. We motored out of the reef and put the sails up. A new problem. We noticed a small tear in the head sail, no doubt from the bashing to wind we’d been recently doing. A quick discussing about the pros and cons led us to decide to pull in the head sail and press on. We couldn’t lower the head sail to repair it on passage and going back to the anchorage would cost us a day and I didn’t like the forecast for tomorrow.

So here we are alternately sailing, motor sailing, sometimes with the genset on, sometimes running on batteries. Our ETA is late this afternoon as we don’t have the speed we would like but enough to get there in good time.

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