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Weary

by steve, on May 2nd, 2011 (Delos, New Zealand, Passages)

Sitting in a large anchorage with constant 25-35 knot winds peaking higher at times with the boat constantly moving in a short steep chop with occasional hull slaps from bigger waves is a wearisome thing. We’ve been at it for days now and it seems like a life time. Each night we’ve gone to bed with the anchor alarm which wakes up up every now and then when the wind shifts. The anchor has stayed firm. There are better alarms which allow one to set up guard zones around where the boat will naturally swing. We can’t do this so we get woken when the boat has moved a certain distance. This is worse than passage making.

Furthermore the starboard bilge has been gathering water slowly and that alarm has gone off every few hours. I know water is coming from the stern locker via the drain tube and the problem became more apparent yesterday, perhaps related to our removal of the dodger which keeps rain water (and there’s been a lot of that) out of the cockpit area. Being in and official storm is not the time to troubleshoot or fix this sort of thing so we just had to put up with it. We know we need to seal the stern rail – one of our last chores before we leave – and it might just be that. We’ll see.

This morning we’re seeing winds actually below 20 knots. The boat is still moving around and normally these conditions would be deemed totally unsuitable for an anchorage – we’d find something more sheltered. But now it feels like peace. And it’s surely only going to get better.

At first light yesterday we braved the elements and took down the dodger. We found the main sail lazy bag had been blown half open. How the main sail itself had not been caught and dragged out I don’t know but it surely would have been had we not dealt with this and the winds increased as they did yesterday.

We spent the day locked inside the boat. We communicated with a few people via email and VHF and there is a growing number of us 2010 puddle jumpers looking to grab this up coming weather window which is now looking to be this Thursday.

We played some cards for a while and the rest of the time got on with our own thing. I managed to nail five more Euler problems including two I’d previously been stuck on.

After this morning’s weather forecast I’ve put us on a positive decision to leave at the end of this week. That means that our crew Paul now expects to come to the boat which we’d agreed over yesterday would be Wednesday at noon.

Today we’re heading back to Whangarei for final provisioning courtesy of John and Pam from Passages. This had been planned for Tuesday but they made the sensible decision to do the provisioning while the weather was still bad and use Tuesday for boat work.

My final plan for today is to call out for volunteers to help run a radio net up to Fiji for safety/assistance purposes with an idea to get together at the yacht club this evening. We may end up having an evening out as we’re desperate to get off the boat for a while. Delos is in the anchorage and will be coming. We’ve not seen them for a long time it seems.

Shaken & Stirred

by steve, on May 1st, 2011 (New Zealand, Passages, True Companions)

Before getting out of bed I decided to fix an old problem on this blog. From way back, somehow the pictures on our ‘Round Long Island‘ sequence had been lost. They’re now all recovered.

Once I’d bothered to haul myself up it turned out to be a short measure to resolve the remaining issues with John’s WiFi device. In choppy water I dinghied to the dock and handed it back giving it all a quick test. All was fine.

I ran a few errands before heading back to the boat where we stayed until early evening. Having had enough of the bouncing around in the 15-25 knot winds pounding us all day we decided to go ashore to eat at the yacht club. We bumped into Steve and Vickie from True Companions and shared a table with them. The place was packed with a cruising rally that was supposed to have left this week but are pinned down by the weather with the rest of us.

The place ended up being quite noisy which resulted in us leaving a little early. Helen ended up feeling quite unwell – perhaps reverse sea sickness having been on a bouncing boat for the last few days. Heading back into wind and back to the boat we got a little wet. However we’d made sure we had hot water ready and showered as soon as we had the dinghy up on it’s davits.

During the evening and overnight the winds strengthened. The GPS/anchor alarm again went to bed with us and kept us awake for a while us we swung on our very firm anchor. I ran up a fever for a couple of hours so perhaps we’ve eaten something disagreeable.

This morning the winds have not let up. They are forecast to reach 40 knots gusting to 50 by midday before easing off this evening. As soon as it’s light enough we’re going to remove our dodger to prevent damage. I will also tie together the end of our sail bag facing the wind. Then we’ll just have to hunker down and spend the day in this washing machine of an anchorage.

Looking ahead our weather window for Friday is still there with a possibility of leaving Thursday evening now presenting itself. We are so ready to leave here.

A Very British Day

by steve, on April 30th, 2011 (New Zealand, Passages)

British in three ways.

1) The weather was lousy.

2) I did my UK taxes. The observant ones amongst you may wonder why considering that I only recently did them. But last time I was late. And I was fined for being late. We’re sitting here in this miserable weather. Do I want to do my taxes when we’re up in Fiji. No way. They’re done. Yay.

3) The Royal Wedding. Yes, we did watch it. I bought a new months worth of internet on Thursday going for an option with lots of Gb so we could watch live streaming video of the wedding. Mainly for Helen but partly for me too I guess. It seems the Royal Family has taken a big step into the modern age with this new addition and the way in which they’ve handled the wedding. I’m kind of on the fence as a royalist but I find it hard to think of being British without them so I welcome this fresh update.

Helen spent part of the day baking cakes and biscuits. Fresh in the evening they were delicious.

In a brief lull in the weather I spent some time on Passages looking into a problem they had with their new internet antenna/device. We made some progress before I was called in for dinner (how old am I?). I brought it back with me and made further progress in the evening. Although the fix is not complete I feel close enough now to believe it is possible. Right now it’s too cold to get out of bed I finish it off.

The weekend weather forecast is dire. Lots of wind and lots of rain. The vague hint of a weather window I mentioned yesterday is actually less vague now. I don’t trust forecast much beyond 3-4 days but the forecasts are showing a weather window forming Fri/Sat next week. I will be glued to this one. Please keep your fingers crossed for all of us waiting here.

A Day in the Bay

by steve, on April 27th, 2011 (Emily Grace, Imagine, New Zealand, Passages, Pursuit)

With bad weather threatened in the afternoon we went ashore in the morning to get a few things done. On the way out we dropped by Emily Grace to say hello. He’d been reading our blog and had a spare irrigation syringe for us and our efforts against the leak. Ashore we dropped off some trash and then checked our the Bursco chandlers. I was able to pick up an off cut piece of hose which I can use as a chaff presenter for our sea anchor. Their prices for a new reefing line was a bit steep.

We then said hello to Phil at Cars for Cruisers before heading onto the customs office to double check procedures for exiting the country. We then visited the marina office to pick up a key for the facilities before going to Catermarine to look around there. Their prices for lines were much cheaper so I bough the replacement line for our 1st reef. Our seal hadn’t arrived yet but nosing around the store we set out eyes upon a good man over board pole which we’ve been looking for for ages. I also had a discussion with one of the staff about trolling rods/reels as I want to lose fewer lures and catch more fish. Before leaving we asked to have the pole set aside. Later Helen acquiesced and allowed me my new fishing rod which I picked up in the afternoon.

As a treat we had a late breakfast/lunch ashore before heading back to the boat. When I returned in the afternoon to pick up the pole/rod I ran into March/Pam from Passages as well as Gary from Pursuit IV. On the way back to the boat I dropped by Imagine as I’d heard they’d had dinghy motor problems but that was now resolved.

The threatened bad weather never arrived but we ended up moving the boat anyway. The boats near where we were were all on submerged moorings which was not obvious until we swung on our anchor/chain and they didn’t. We’re a bit more exposed now but feel safer.

The shaft seal didn’t arrive yesterday but I’ve received confirmation it was signed for by Catermarine this morning. We’ll pick it up today. I need to pick up some fishing line. I could have sworn I had a reel but couldn’t find it when I looked yesterday. I’m looking forward to using that on our next passage.

The long term weather outlook still offers no sign of a passage opportunity. A low is projected to barrel down from the tropics a few days from now but it turns and heads west of New Zealand. If it goes east instead we may have a chance. Slim hopes indeed. The upside is that while we wait for our window it’s inevitable more and more of our friends will show up here in and around Opua.

Back to Russell

by KC2RIY, on April 23rd, 2011 (Blue Penguin, New Zealand)

We had a relaxed start to the day. We didn’t have a lot on our plates so there was no rush. We read a little and I tackled another Euler problem, finding a smarter algorithm than the last time. I checked on our part and it was still on hold in the East Midlands so I escalated my concerns to their support service hoping to encourage things along.

After breakfast I took a look at the shaft seal again. It had been dripping a couple of times a second all through the night. I squeezed in a liberal amount of grease in three separate places and stopped the leak. We tried some gentle turns of the shaft in forward and reverse and things looked good.

Leaving the access to the shaft seal open we set sail for Russell. We made 5 knots in 10 knots of wind which was simply impossible on our old set of sails. It’s really quite exciting to have such an improvement. I checked the leak while on the move and the drip had returned. I wondered if squeezing the seal might work the grease around so I tried that. I learned this was not a good thing to do as the drip returned with a vengeance. At least the containment tray/tube was working well and all the water was taken cleanly away to the bilge. We soon anchored in Matauwhi Bay around the corner from Russell not far from where we anchored here previously.

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Back at the shaft seal my only option was to squeeze yet more grease between the shaft and the seal. The leak again stopped. This time we performed some aggressive testing and the drip did not return. The battle between man and leak may go on but I feel that I’m gradually winning the war.

The weather was fine so after a brief lunch we went ashore to walk to Russell and wander around town. We visited the mission/printing museum and took a tour around. It was interesting but it made me feel very sleepy. We walked around town some more. I checked out a couple of stores to see if I could get another irrigation syringe as the one I’m using to drive the grease deep into the shaft seal is getting a little battered and worn. No luck with that but I did bump into the Blue Penguins and had a chat with them.

Back on the boat I rechecked the leak. It was still dormant so I put back all the gear under our bunk. Helen set about making our seasons supply of chillies while I set about some serious testing of our new hammock. This was the first time in weeks I’ve really been able to slow down enough just to spend some time chilling out. I put on some music, cracked open a beer and settled down for a couple of hours of contemplation and occasional snoozing.

After dinner we returned to Russel to meet up with Tracey, Lew, Dave and Helen to watch the rugby in the pub. It was a great evening. Good beer, good conversation and good rugby. Lew and Helen are both in medicine and we had a fascinating conversation regarding what medical instruments would be useful for further attacks on the shaft seal. Helen’s specialty is urology and she of course came up with the idea of a catheter syringe. Makes me wince to think about a tool like that but the idea sounds sound to me. They’ll be back at work on Tuesday and if we’re still looking at staying in the area for a few days then they’ll mail us some.

This morning I’ve checked the weather forecasts for the next week. As it stands it doesn’t look good for a departure this month. A couple of deep lows are forming and dancing around the west of New Zealand but seeming to stall. The second one could bring in some very strong weather a few days from now. The trade winds between here and Fiji have collapsed and show no signs of reforming. None of this is conducive to departure. The systems may decide to join and head off east in which case we’ll need to be ready to head off behind them.

I’ve checked on the progress of our new shaft seal. It’s been to and now left Germany. I received a response from the courier. They expect the part to be here on Tuesday.

We’ve decided to stay put today. It’s time to slow down a little. We may even perform sea trials of our new kayak.

Life is good.

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