Tag: Featured

October 2018, South Pacific, The South Pacific, Tonga

New Zealand Bound … The Captain’s View

The time has come for us to say goodbye to the wonderful islands of the South Pacific as we watch Nuku’alofa rise and fall with the southeasterly swell.  The cruising season is winding down and we are now en route to Whangarei, New Zealand.  Dazzler is in need of some maintenance and some minor repairs and we plan to enjoy time in a new country.

As we prepared to leave, I was watching the weather daily and sometimes twice a day.  There has been a high pressure in place over the east coast of New Zealand for more than a week.  The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) was somewhere near Samoa and southeasterly trade winds have accelerated in velocity as a squash zone has developed with 20-30 knot winds.  Additionally the swell generated by these increased trade winds has grown to 2.5-3.5 meters.  Here in our anchorage we have had steady 15-30 knot winds out of the southeast for the entire five days we’ve been here.  The wind generator has been doing an awesome job while the days have been filled with clouds and the occasional shower.  

The questions, not just in our minds, but the minds of cruisers on the other 13-16 boats anchored nearby is when will the weather subside and when should we leave for New Zealand?  You can hardly head to shore without encountering another cruiser with the question of “when are you leaving?”  

We don’t have the luxury of Al Roker weather forecasting available to us.  We rely on weather downloads using our single side band radio (SSB), satellite or some other forms of electronics to obtain our weather information.  This is a new weather pattern for us that we haven’t experienced before. In Southern California or in the sea of Cortez when the wind was 15-20 knots, most of us held off for a better weather window.  That is not the case here in the southern Pacific Ocean.  With cyclone season closely approaching, brochure sailing days ARE 15-25 knots with 2.5-3.5 meter swells.  You get what you get.  So, it’s time to put on our big boy pants, throw on the foul weather gear and accept that it’s going to be a wild ride for over 50% of the eight day passage.  Buckle up Buttercup!

We decided in addition to the weather tools we have, to enlist the assistance of a Weather Router. There are a couple of them available for hire.  We chose to use Bob McDavitt aka MetBob.com.  Bob has been weather forecasting for over 30 years and his specialty is the South Pacific region.  Information from Bob indicated that our weather window was narrow and not really much in the way of 10-15 knot warm tropical breezes with easy following seas.  No!  In fact, it was more like 18-25 knots from the Southeast with 2.5-3 meter swells at 10 seconds.  Okay, I guess if he says “go”, we go! The reason for our departure into this kind of weather is the back side of our passage.  Eight days from now a series of pre summer trough patterns are going to start up.  That means a series of troughs riding over New Zealand from west to east with 15-25 knot south westerlies.  Since we will be arriving on the north island’s east coast our arrival would be into those winds and swells which I hear would not be pleasant.  Hummmm!   So, we decided to go!  We had already checked out of Nuku’alofa and were in standby mode for departure on a good weather window so we were prepared to leave but  that nagging question came up again, “when do we commit and actually go?”

Our option was Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.  MetBob had set a time of 1300 hours departure for Thursday, but he indicated that we should try to leave a bit earlier because one of those troughs was possibly going to be greeting us on our arrival date.  We chose to leave on Thursday morning.  After a nice diner, a few adult beverages and a good night’s sleep. Check, check and check! We’re ready to go.

I was up about 30 minutes earlier than normal at 0430 hours.  I wanted to sit back with a cup of coffee and go over the weather router’s suggestions and view the weather sources available to me one more time.  Those of you who know me know I’m not anxious about many things.  This trip, on the other hand, had me a bit on edge.  Sailing in weather you have not experienced before would make anyone anxious, right?  I mean I had a package of Depends on stand by if it got too bad, a drogue, an EPIRB and a flare gun. What could go wrong?

Just after dawn we were anchor up and underway making way towards the northwest entrance to the Nuku’alofa bay.  An hour and a half later we were out of the bay and setting course for our first waypoint.  This isn’t so bad.  Duh!  We were in the lee of the Nuku’alofa island group.  Wait for it!  

Motor is now off, we have a double-reefed mainsail and the jib hoisted and we’ve settled into about 6-6.5 knots.  Once we passed the protection of the southern edge of the Nuku’alofa island group and Duff’s reef, there they were, the 2.5+ meter swells.  It’s a bit daunting when you’re standing in your cockpit and you look off your port side and see nothing but a large swell of water…Gulp!  I reminded myself that we must endure this to get to New Zealand.  Okay all better now.

It’s now been two days into our journey and we are approaching Minerva Reef where we make our next course change.  A little more to the west please.  We still have over eight hundred nautical miles to travel to our destination.  The winds have eased a bit to 18-20 knots and the sea state has also eased to 1.5-2 meters.  All in all it hasn’t been too uncomfortable for me.  I’m sure Jilly would tell you different from her perspective.

The evening after passing Minerva Reef I was on the evening watch.  I was running the main engine to charge the batteries for the night.  About an hour after staring the engine, the high temperature engine alarm went off.  After letting it cool down for a bit, I restarted the engine and because it seamed to be working I shut it down. A short time later I started the engine to charge the batteries and it seemed to still be working fine. For now!

The next evening, the same thing occurred again.  High temperature warning alarm.  I immediately shut down the engine and woke Jilly.  We needed to diagnose what this issue was.  I first removed the companionway stairs and cowling to expose the front of the 4JHE Yanmar engine.  There were no visible fresh water leaks and the fresh water reservoir had an ample amount of water in it.  Next item to check was the raw water system.  I closed the raw water valve and removed the hose to check for any obstructions.  There was a generous flow of sea water that flowed in when I opened it. Next step was the raw water pump. I removed the cover of the raw water pump and observed all the vanes to be in place.  I did not actually touch the vanes or wiggle them but they looked just fine.  So, I put the cover back on and moved onto the exhaust heat exchanger mixing elbow.  Everything seemed to be in place.  When I restarted the engine the high water alarm came on again after a short while.  Keep in mind we were sailing in 18-22 knots of wind with 2.5-3 meter swells from the port quarter and by now it was 0200. I needed to get some sleep so I decided rest needed to happen before I could continue working on the engine. I left Jilly on watch and hit the bunk. 

A few hours later after some sleep I was ready to tackle the diagnosis.  I decided that whatever was going to happen I was going to replace the raw water impeller first. Whatever else needed to be fixed I would work on next. But first we needed a calmer work environment. We decided to hove to which is like parking the boat in the ocean.  With a double reefed main and a patch of headsail we put Dazzler into the hove to position.  Once she stabilized we were sliding sideways at about .5-1 knot and we were heeled at about 20°. This made for a much calmer work environment.

I got the stairs and cowling removed which gave me good access to the raw water pump cover.  Once I had the impeller removed the problem was very obvious.  Six of the eight vanes had splits along the hub with about a ¼” holding them in place.  When the impeller is not spinning they looked good from the open cover.  The newer Yanmar impeller had 12 vanes on it.  Once it was all slapped back together….success!  We put everything away and were ready to get back underway.  We were only hove to for about an hour and a half.

For the next several days the weather continued to improve in our favor.  We were still striving to get ahead of a low pressure system that could potentially cause us some issues upon our arrival.  The winds had dropped considerably requiring us to supplement with the Yanmar motor so we could beat the approaching system. 

The morning of our eighth day we were just off the northeast coast of New Zealand.  It was a cloudy, cold morning when we arrived at Bream Bay Head.  We encountered a small pod of dolphins prior to Bream Bay Head and at the headland there were thousands of birds floating on the water.  We decided that some more of Jilly’s dad’s ashes should be spread over the water at this point.  After a short stop we continued into the bay where we stopped at Marsden Cove Marina and cleared in with New Zealand Customs authorities. 

We had travelled just over 7500 NM from Banderas Bay in Mexico to Whangarei, New Zealand in seven months and one day. It was quite a journey.

Cheers!

Captain Dan and Jilly

P.S. Stay tuned for more about the whole New Zealand experience.

Kingdom of Tonga, October 2018, South Pacific, The South Pacific, Tonga

Ha’apai to Nuku’alofa … The Fun Continues

We left Uoleva early in the morning and arrived in Nomuka Iki around 1500 hours. As we approached the pass between the main island, Nomuka, and Nomuka Iki there is a mother humpback and her baby playing near the shore. It never gets old watching these amazing and beautiful creatures perform their water ballet.

We only stop here for a short rest on our way to Nuku’Alofa but seeing it now I wish we could stay longer. The beach is absolutely beautiful and the water….crystal clear. Nomuka Iki used to house a prison but now is uninhabited. SV Begonia, a catamaran, is in the anchorage and SV Nala Danica arrived just behind us. They too only plan to stay just a short time as well. We are both trying to get out before the big blow that’s going to bring 20+ knot winds on the nose.

The sail from here to Nuku’Alofa is just an overnight sail of around 60 NM so we plan to leave after dinner. The winds are already beginning to pick up but unfortunately they will be right on our tail tonight. Dazzler doesn’t do well dead down wind (DDW) so we will likely be motoring the whole way. Just in case, we take off the sail cover and prepare to throw up the main.

After dinner and while it’s still light enough to see the bommies we haul anchor and head out of the pass. Once we’ve cleared the islands I go below to get some shut-eye before my midnight watch begins. I wake up after just an hour because I feel Dan throttling back our speed. That’s unusual so I get up and out of the port light I see lightening. That is NOT something we sailboaters like to see out here. I go topside to check on Dan. He’s intently watching the weather. He says we are slowing down as he wants to wait this out. It’s not just cloud to cloud lightening right now. It’s bolts and we want no part of it. I ask if there’s anything I can do and he says, “Get some sleep. I’m going to need some when my watch is over.”

Captain’s order are Captain’s orders so I head below and hit the bunk. It seems like only minutes before the “gallows man” shows up to roust me from my slumber. I make my normal grumbling noises but climb out of the bunk and start getting dressed for deck duty. Dan says it’s not all that warm out so I throw on some pants and a long sleeve shirt. He gives me the lowdown on what’s happening then kisses me goodnight as he heads forward for some much deserved rest.

I do my normal routine. Get dressed, don my life vest, make my Coca Cola and grab a snack. Usually it’s homemade granola bars but we’re out and I’ve been too lazy to make them. Tonight Grape Ape and I are having chocolate chip cookies! Dan calls them biscotti. I grab my iPad, snack and soda and head to the cockpit with Grape Ape.

It’s a little roly out here tonight but not too bad. The lightening has pretty much stopped but Dan told me if it starts up again and appears to be getting closer to wake him up. For now, I check the instruments, do a visual check of the boat and then I open my iPad to do a bit of reading.

Around 0100 the lightening starts to kick up again. Initially it’s coming out of the southeast but soon starts moving to the southwest and now there are bolts from time to time. I start counting the seconds between the strikes and it appears they are getting closer. Damn! I hate waking him up but it’s what has to be done so down I go.

“Honey, we’ve got lightening and it appears to be getting closer. You want to come up?” I query as I gently pat his leg. He grumbles a bit but up he comes. You know what it’s like when you have a funny noise in your car for weeks and the moment you take it to the mechanic it disappears? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me. Almost the moment Dan steps on deck the lightening seems to start to dissipate and he’s looking at me like I’m out of my mind. But, he’s so kind and sweet. He says it looks like it’s okay now and kisses me before heading back to bed. I love how patient he is with me out here.

Now that he’s decided all is good I’m feeling a bit more relaxed. Of course there is a large container ship headed almost directly at us but I’m confident they will alter course to avoid collision and while it is always a bit unsettling at night, they do as expected. They pass on our starboard side about 2.25 NM away. All is well now and I’m enjoying my watch, the brightly lit stars and the cooler temperatures.

We have a watch commander alarm that goes off every 20 minutes. It’s a safeguard we use when we are on passage. At first it is this rather annoying beeping sound but if you don’t reset it after about 30 seconds it becomes a very loud, high decibel alarm. This is to notify the rest of the crew that whoever is on watch isn’t responding to the alarm. It’s not something you want to hear if you are down below as it instantly brings with it a bit of panic wondering where the person on deck is when the alarm sounds. It’s happened to each of us more than once. Usually it happens when you’ve gone below to use the head. It always seems to go off the minute you have your drawers below your knees. HA HA. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone racing from the head to the nav station with my britches at my ankles just trying to keep the loud alarm from sounding and waking Dan. Yes, it can be annoying but we use it and I’m glad we do.

Just before 0300 the watch commander goes off. When it does I do my normal check around deck and I take a look at the instruments. When I look at the radar I see a large storm cell headed our way. There’s no lighting so I assume it’s just a typical South Pacific squall. You know? The Captain Ron…they come on ya fast and leave ya fast type of thing. This one looks pretty large so I figure I’m going to get wet. I head below to grab my foulies.

I arrive back on deck dressed in my bib pants and jacket. I’m ready. Just about the time I clip into the jack line it starts pouring and I mean pouring. And this rain isn’t coming straight down either. It’s coming sideways from the starboard side and pelting me like shots from a BB gun. The wind that was on our stern has now clocked around and is coming from the southwest at about 18 knots. The rolling seas are becoming a bit choppy and I start doing some figuring on the plotter. I measure the size of the cell and it looks like it’s at least 10 NM wide and at least 5 NM deep. Our speed has dropped from 4.8 knots down to 1.8. We’ve got a little over 2.5 knots of head current going too. So, what do you do? Well, I pushed up the throttle to 2500 RPM and said, “Let’s get the heck out of this crap.”

I don’t want to take shelter under the dodger because I want to know what is happening. The blowing rain lasts for about 40 minutes and I stay and the helm the entire time because the wind keeps going from one side to the other. Finally I see some clearing skies and stars ahead. The rain starts to subside and the winds drop back from their high of 22 knots back down to 9 or 10 knots.  I spend the next 20 minutes drying the cockpit so Dan doesn’t have to come up to a soaking wet mess when he comes on watch at 0400.

I’m just settling back in when Dan starts stirring below. Once I hear him I head down to make coffee. It’s another one of those mornings when I’ll stay up because we are so near our port. I give him my account of my watch and he looks like he’s just happy it was me. Honestly I’d have given him the same look had he been the one on watch at the time.

We arrive in Nuku’Alofa around 0900. As we come near the main island we can see King Topou VI’s palace on the waterfront. The anchorage we will set down in is at the Pangaimotu. Big Mama’s Yacht Club is there and we’ve heard a lot about it. This is a bit over a mile from the main island of Nuku’Alofa but it’s where all the cruisers tend to go.

It’s cloudy and pretty yucky out as we near the anchorage but just as we drop anchor the sun comes out and it’s a beautiful day. As we sit to have our anchor down beer we are looking across to Big Mama’s place and the sunken ferry that sits out front. After some rest we’ll probably head in for a bite to eat but for now we’re just going to enjoy the scenery and be thankful for yet another safe passage.

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan