Monday 28th June 2010 (NZT) - "Nereida" sails N across the Equator after almost exactly 8 months in the Southern Hemisphere

What a superb day!! Blue sky, hardly a cloud in sight, a bit of a swell banging into us at times but nothing too bad, sailing beautifully with full headsails, close-hauled on an excellent course at good speed. We crossed the Equator at 0222UTC (mid-afternoon here) - in perfect weather and it was party time on board to celebrate the occasion! Normally, we're a 'dry' boat on passage, but I opened a bottle of G and gave Neptune a good drink of G&T in thanks for safe passage-making .... and, hopefully, more to come. Then it was music and dancing on board in the sunshine, along with party fare including contributions from friends in New Zealand and Guernsey (Thanks to Liz, Graham and Leeann).... the music also bringing memories of good friends. I often think, at such perfect sailing times like this, that people who wonder why I like to spend most of my time sailing on "Nereida" should be here to see how fabulous it can be. We even had a variety of birds come by to share in the celebrations.

The wind had picked up enough by evening on Sunday for me to need to reef the mains'l again to reduce heeling and it had already veered slightly to ESE over the day, so by daybreak we were making not only good speed but also some Easting. We need that badly if we're to lay our course to Hawaii once we reach the NE Trades after getting through the ITCZ at about 4-7N. After nightfall, as I write this, the wind has dropped a little, to 14 kt, but we're still making a little East of our rhumb-line course to our waypoint at a speed over the ground, SOG, of 5.6 kt, with boatspeed of over a knot more - that's the effect of the W-going Equatorial current.

We're just 150 miles SE from Christmas Island in the Kiribati Group, which lies at 2N - not to be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, belonging to Australia. I wonder if that's why I'm suddenly seeing so many different birds after a noticeable absence of them.

24 hr daily run (DMG): 128 n.ml. DTF (Direct distance to Kauai): 1347 n. ml. at 0000 UTC

Sunday 27th June Sailing gently without motor at last - lovely peace and quiet!

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W. Issued by Fiji Meteorological Service Jun 260800 UTC.
SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 270600 UTC.

CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ2 EQ 159W 03S 155W 04S 145W SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN 120 MILES OF CZ2.

Just received this with "Nereida" in position 03S, 156W at 1300 UTC - headed straight for the line... 60 mls away... grrr!!! Hope it's not too bad...

Had a squall this morning well before sunrise.. but nothing like the heap of them I was expecting with this Convergence Zone close by. I'm hoping it's dissipated - can't see any more grey clouds anywhere... Fingers crossed!! LATER: Sure enough - it was NOT on the next Fiji (2000 UTC) weather forecast... Great news!!

I'm still struggling NOT to go W of N - I really want to head NNE but it's not often I can make that AND keep up a decent speed because of the strong West-going Equatorial current and light winds - I keep finding us heading due North, which would be OK if it weren't for the NE Trades coming up, not far south of Hawaii... Constant 'tweaking' of sails and heading relative to the wind is the order of the day... Looks as though light winds are set to continue for two days.... Must go check my fuel level...!!

Overnight, I found a fishing vessel dead ahead about two miles off: Xinshiji69, according to my AIS display (try saying that name three times fast!!). A real worry, with us very close-hauled on starboard tack in light, varying winds at the time, so falling off the wind would have put us even more in their path.... even more of a worry when I failed to get any response calling them by name on VHF or even from sending a DSC call. (Not the first time I've had no response from a DSC call - I think people turn off the alarm from sounding ...) They were making way very slowly, if at all, and were clearly busy fishing if their erratic motion was anything to go by. I had no idea if they had even seen me. In the end, I switched on both bow & stern navigation lights (in addition to the tricolour I was displaying) and the deck light - which shines on the headsails and makes us highly visible. I kept a close eye on them, ready to turn on the motor .... but eventually, they passed off to port and out of my way.

DMG Sunday: 121 n.ml.

Fri/Sat 25/26 June Calm motor-sailing in light wind & hot sunshine - NO SQUALLS!!! A partial lunar eclipse.

Friday was a great day for relaxing and catching up on much-needed sleep in increasingly light winds - NO squalls all day, although there was a fair amount of cloud around by late afternoon. I saw one or two rainshowers in the distance, but there were no dark clouds to threaten.... I was so psyched out by the previous 2 days' experience, that I got all lines and halyard ready to reef the main immediately (it being by now full), when I saw the first line of clouds ahead!

The swell was slight enough that I had decided it was a good time to top up the main fuel tank from the jerry cans in the cockpit locker - essential in view of all the motoring I was expecting to have to do through the light winds, set to continue for some way yet. Easy enough to do with the filler cap right beside the locker, given my little 12V in-line fuel pump and some hoses... just needed some time....

We've been fighting a strong Equatorial current in trying to head NNE. It flows to the west near the Equator (Los Testigos islands in the Caribbean off the Venezuela N coast were named by Columbus as 'witness' to the similar current in the Atlantic being proven to exist there).... and it's very strong .. I found that, together with a light wind , it cut our speed down by two knots, from 4.4 to 2.5kt, when I tried heading due east in just 7 knots of breeze on Saturday (NZT) afternoon.

I was trying everything possible in an attempt to make more Easting when I realized just how light the wind had become, giving me, I thought , the chance to try motoring due East for a bit ... change tack, headsails in & out one by one (to see what effect they had), engine off, engine on, push harder ....all to no avail ... So I ended up back on starboard tack, as close-hauled as I could while still making a fair speed, with the engine 'pushing' just enough to keep our course as near to the NNE we needed - a difficult balancing act.... and very frustrating. So often, the wind seemed strong enough that surely I could cut that motor.... No - it was needed, if only a tiny bit, just to give us that much more forward momentum to keep our course E of N against that strong W-going current... I can't afford to allow the boat to head W of N for long, as often happening when the wind swings to E-ENE, since we've fought so hard to get the Easting we have - and really need more, ready for those NE Trade Winds, N of the ITCZ which lies around 6-8N. So all day long, I'm constantly monitoring our speed and course and 'tweaking' the sails, trying to keep the motor use to a minimum.... The wind is so variable and light..... and we don't have much fuel. (At this point, I'm seeing boatspeed of 5.8 kt, SOG 5.1 kt) > I'm praying that the wind strengthens before I run out of fuel....!!

Tonight, I'm writing this as the bright full moon is being eclipsed by the Earth's shadow - there's a great big bite taken out of its northern half! I'd set alarms to wake me up at different times so I wouldn't miss it... It always looks so weird - pity it's only partial. By 1220 UTC, the 'bite' has moved to the upper N-to-SE portion of the moon... by 1300 UTC, the moon will almost be back to its bright fullness.

In 2 days' time, I should be crossing the Equator......

Distances run, noon-to-noon: Friday: 118 n.ml. Saturday: 127 n. ml. DTF(0000 UTC Saturday): 1579 n. ml.

Wed/Thurs 23rd/24th June Days 21 and 22

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA: EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W. SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 23 1800 UTC.

CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ ......10S 169W, 14S 155W...... SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN OCCASIONAL RAIN AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN 150 MILES OF CZ.
OVER BROAD AREAS SOUTH OF CZ AND WEST OF 145W, EXPECT EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS AND GUSTS UPTO 35 KNOTS. ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH SEAS. MODERATE SOUTHEASTERLY SWELLS.

"Nereida" was at 11S, 158W - and suffered the sudden strong winds and rainstorms from before dawn to early afternoon... scattered squalls at first but then we had to pass through a big, solid line of dark grey, high, spreading rainclouds - with nearly zero visibility in HEAVY rain and strong winds. I'd just let out full genoa in the calm well beforehand.... had to do some fast winching!! We heeled over like crazy for quite a time & sped along at 7.6 kt - had me worried for a time, but we came through OK. Winds backed to NE for quite a time & forced us N-NNW. I got drenched: soaking wet hair, clothes & body. Fortunate that the air temperature is 32C, although in the strong wind, I soon cooled down, despite my exercising, and was pleased to be able to strip off my wet gear when things got calmer. It was a refreshing long shower which removed much of the salt... Pity I was too busy to get some soap & shampoo to take full advantage!

Sky cleared totally and wind veered to its usual ESE after leaving line of clouds behind....

What a difference Wednesday afternoon and evening were from the morning's series of squalls and calms.... We passed Tongareva Atoll (Penrhyn Island) about 6 miles off soon after midnight, early on Thursday. I'd wanted to be up on deck to keep an eye on the depth gauge .... depths are 1000m or more until very close to the reef..!!! And there are no lights, so far as I can make out from chart... I think I gave a textbook illustration of why it's best to pass to leeward of dangers when possible! Because I was up anyway, I was writing an email to a friend: " beautiful night now - clear sky, hardly a cloud in sight!" But as I was writing that, the wind got up & I went up to find a big grey cloud overhead. NOT a big squall, I thought, just a few drops of rain and a touch more wind. I unfurled the rest of the genoa, changed course slightly to put us off the wind more to give a better speed until the cloud had passed over... But the wind suddenly increased to 24kt & I'd just let out the full genoa ...... We were heeled like crazy again, careering along at over 7 knots, being forced well off our course by the wind backing eventually to NE from ESE.

Having chosen to pass to leeward of the island, we were in no danger of running aground on the unlit reef, but I wouldn't have liked to have been to windward at that point in time. After the first black cloud, there was another one shortly after - no rain, but black and threatening ...& plenty of wind again to heel us over at speed. ....... I was left wondering how ever could I have done that yet again! The number of times I've been caught out like that before, you'd have thought I'd learned the lesson by now: It's really got calm... so let's unfurl some more genoa/let out a reef. But soon after, the wind rapidly increases and you wish you'd left the sails alone - you always pay the price of a lurking cloud upwind, all ready to catch you out......!! (The advice runs: If you think of reefing, DO IT! If you think of un-reefing.... go make a cup of tea...!!) Trouble is, the calm before the squalls here is so long lasting and the wind dies down so much, that it's sometimes difficult not to want to get the boat moving and to associate the calm with the upwind cloud - sometimes a good distance away still ... patience...!!

Tongareva Atoll looked like a lovely place to have stopped off at if I'd had time. I'd received an email from a friend about having passed by another 'picture-postcard' atoll - Palmerston Island.
"Did you enjoy your swim in the Lagoon at Palmerston? Even if you didn't stop, you could have used your imagination, as you were less than 40 miles away. Just think, warm water, crystal clear, a lagoon surrounded by palm trees waving in the breeze, catch a fish by hand for dinner (they are not people shy), a drink of coconut milk fresh from the nut before a quiet siesta on a beautiful white sandy beach. " Mmmm...!!

Thursday continued in a similar way - in the calm of the morning, I sat in the shade on deck, enjoying the refreshing breeze for a long time. But by mid-afternoon, the clouds had built up again - and we were back playing the winching game.... wind backing and dying,... strong wind under a grey cloud, maybe some rain, maybe heavy,... pass between two clouds if you can manage it... And all the time, trying to get a bit further East if at all possible, in readiness for those NE Trades after the ITCZ (aka Doldrums).

DMG: Wed: 101n.ml. Thurs: 120 n.ml. Distance to finish (DTF): 1807 n.ml. at noon Thursday

Sun 20th June (Day 18)

MARINE WEATHER BULLETIN FOR ISLANDS AREA EQUATOR TO 25S BETWEEN 160E AND 120W.
ISSUED BY FIJI METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE Jun 192000 UTC.

SYNOPSIS AND FORECAST VALID UNTIL Jun 201800 UTC.

WEAK CONVERGENCE ZONE CZ1 14S 164W 16S 155W 17S 150W 20S 147W SLOW MOVING. POOR VISIBILITY IN SCATTERED SHOWERS WITHIN 100 MILES OF CZ1.

IN THE AREA BETWEEN 08S AND 15S AND BETWEEN 175E AND 144W,... (and) IN THE AREA SOUTH OF 15S AND BETWEEN 175W AND 144W, EXPECT EASTERLY WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS AND UPTO 30 KNOTS AT TIMES. ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH SEAS. MODERATE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST SWELLS.

"Nereida" was in position 15S, 161W on June 20 at 0600 UTC (6pm local time).... getting exactly the weather as forecast!! We were slap-bang in the middle of the convergence zone and winds were 25-28 knots! Sky was full of dark grey clouds before it got too dark to see them... and we got rain... and veered wind... and rough seas...! A spot-on forecast!

Mon 21st June (Day 19)

Nasty weather continued overnight and until mid-morning - with a big squall at dawn... and then we were out of the murky stuff and into clear skies with scattered cloud and sunshine.... and making a decent speed without quite such large, rough seas! I've been kept busy all day and evening with sail trimming - the wind has varied a lot, but is definitely dying - I hope not too much...

Tonight was been one of those lovely tropical evenings that are absolutely wonderful: stars, bright moon, brilliant Venus, cool breeze (after heat of a sticky day) and sailing along gently under full genoa and stays'l at around six knots in a far calmer sea than yesterday... I saw the Great Bear for the first time since last November when I sailed south towards Cape Town. No Pole Star visible as yet. I sat out on deck for a long time just relaxing and enjoying it all! Of course, a few hours later, there were squally rainclouds both upwind and downwind.. and when they'd gone, along came a solitary one, blotting out the stars, with lightning and deep thunder .... they always worry me! The wind had dropped to around 7 knots and backed to ENE so we had to motor-sail from midnight on so as not to head NNW-NW.

I spent quite a time today comparing my passage plan with current grib files showing the Trade winds up to & around Hawaii- and decided I needed to make more Easting if the winds will permit it .... By the time I reach the NE Trades, which are likely to be quite strong, it will be too late to get further East. Another concern is the hurricane season starting up - it starts with a bang on the Pacific side of Mexico - and I see hurricane Celia following TD Blas, already. I hope to be too far west to be affected - but you never can tell...

Tues 22nd June

We were faced with crossing another Convergence Zone soon after dawn this morning ...a long line of BIG rainclouds stretching across my path with a thin line of 'rolled' cloud along it... The wind backed further to NNE... I managed to pass between two enormous rainclouds in the strong winds they generate .... How can I possibly get further East in these conditions? I'm cursing myself & feeling really bad about not having taken enough time earlier to see what was needed, never mind alternator & generator problems... I had the wind strength and direction to enable it at times, but headed too N instead ..... fatal mistake!! I was aware that I'd be on a very close reach through the NE Trades when closing on Hawaii, but hadn't downloaded grib files for the region to study them carefully enough until quite recently. Unless I can get to 150W before reaching 8N, I might well find I can't lay my course to Kauai.....

The day continued as it had started - regular rainsqualls, totally unhelpful wind from the N-NNE, mostly very light - except when it gusted up & shifted in no time because of a big raincloud nearby. I'm trying to make plenty of Easting whenever I can. I'm having to motor a lot and just hope I can make my fuel last by not pushing the engine too hard - which means our speed is way down, of course....

I was up from before dawn, busy with sail-trim, trying to decide all the time what was the best course of action, given the unhelpful, variable wind, dealing with squalls - so I was grateful that conditions looked calm enough near midday for me to take a nap - I needed it badly!! Breakfast had to wait!

This evening is looking calm - we're motoring NE in 7-8 knots of ENE wind - not something I enjoy doing but sailing alone would give a speed of around 2knots in the wrong direction!

I'm downloading weatherfaxes from KVM in Honolulu and just received a text weather forecast for the area - showing, again, that I'm still in a Convergence Zone, although from the bank of clouds to my WSW, I think it must be behind me now - there'll probably be another one lurking, come daybreak - or before!

Noon-to-noon distances made: Sun: 147 n.ml.; Mon: 140 n.ml.; Tues: 103 n.ml.

Perhaps more relevant, particularly in view of the difficult winds forcing me to head every which way, is the rhumb-line distance to Kauai: at noon Tuesday , that was 2005 n.ml. I need much better wind to reduce that quickly - and that's not likely for quite a few days... so I'll be forced into lots more motoring, which I hate...

Friday-Sunday 18th/20th June 2010 Days 16-18 N.Z. to Hawaii

I'm relaxing, treating myself to a fresh coffee, on 'Sunday' morning (NZT - I still haven't 'repeated' a day yet after crossing the dateline!).... So how have the last two days been? ..... The answer all depends on whether we're talking sailing or genset/alternator repairs!

Sailing - has been fabulous! The winds have been consistently good and strong at around SSE 5 (mainly 18-19 knots, occasionally down to 16 or up to 22) so we've been beam- to close-reaching, making excellent speeds of 6-8 knots, as shown by DMG over the days:
Friday: 136 n.ml. Saturday: 147 n.ml. Sunday: 157 n.ml.! (Just took readings for noon report) Distance to Kauai at 0000 UTC Sunday: 2238 n.ml.
Bear in mind that the actual distance covered will have been much more since these are distances measured in a dead straight line from one noon position to the next.

The swell of 3-4 m has made life a bit difficult down below, especially working on the engine or generator, with regular extra-big waves coming along, splashing some water into the cockpit as the crest breaks a bit as it hits the boat and heels us over like mad ... Reducing the genoa a little helped somewhat. The staysail has definitely helped our speed - I've never regretted adding that to the rig for one moment and it's been a blessing in really nasty conditions.

The air is very warm: 29C now, the sea even warmer: 32C! It's lovely not to be encumbered with layers of clothing!! I've had very few rain squalls so far - those joys are probably yet to come with the ITCZ, presently around 8N. It's not looking very wide so, hopefully, the region of squalls, if any, shouldn't last too long.

Last two nights have been 'storybook' tropical nights... warm but refreshing breeze, full of millions of stars, waxing moon near sunset, Southern Cross in clear view, Sagittarius overhead, a planet (Venus?? - or a geostationary satellite??) high up in the early evening sky, so very bright that a few days back I thought it was a plane or helicopter with a searchlight coming my way...!!

The generator/secondary alternator problems? Haven't gone away .... I was having to run engine regularly (& very inefficiently) to charge the domestic batteries via jump leads to the start battery - until it occurred to me that the reason for no input of power from my normally good & reliable KISS wind generator was simply a blown fuse ...Yes!...I hadn't noticed it had a 20A fuse in place, not the 30A it needed, and it must have blown in the stormy conditions leaving N.Z. Changed it Sat. a.m. & now have plenty of power going into batteries. (Solar panels have been a help in the strong sunshine, also) Haven't run engine at all since before dawn Saturday, despite radio & hydraulic autopilot use. Why A.P.? I'd been puzzled that Fred, my Hydrovane 'crew-member', had not been coping too well in gusty strong winds for several days - until I had a look at the rudder. Something weird & big seemed to be attached to its starboard side... I took the boat hook and tried to free whatever it was ... not totally successful at the speed we were making, but good enough that he's back in full control... that means even less battery power needed.

Generator: Spent quite a time Saturday carefully cutting out a replacement paper gasket for impellor cover, having finally managed to undo the last of the wing nuts holding the cover in place only to find impellor looked fine... But when I ran genset again, it had no water coming into the seawater strainer from the seacock and so no water getting into pump - so it shut itself down (as it ought to!). I checked the fresh cooling water level, & also the hull intake by opening the seacock with the strainer cover off (- it's just above water-level!). Water has come almost up to the strainer so it seems the intake up to that point is not blocked, so either the pipework from there to the pump is blocked or the leaking pump hasn't enough suction to pull the water through. I might try to fill the seawater strainer and pipe
supplying pump with water to prime it in hope it would help get the water through.. & once through, pump might keep on running... I don't fancy trying to get the pump off to replace the leaking seal (which I have in my spares). I'd started trying to do so by removing nuts on the bracket holding pump in place but soon realized not that easy to remove pump - belt needs to be removed and rubber pipes not as flexible as I'd hoped .... I'm inclined to prime the strainer and try one last time - if it won't run, then clearly water-pump is leaking too badly so seal needs replacing, impellor will definitely also need replacing, and it'll have to wait to Hawaii !

Secondary alternator: I've been chatting on & off to Allan Miell of American River Radio on Kangaroo Island, NW of Adelaide in S. Australia, since first making a chance contact as I headed S of him towards Tasmania. He runs a station that helps all boaters with regular weather info and also gives practical help to anyone in difficulties - including going out to them and towing them in, if close by. He's built many boats in his time and has been full of very practical suggestions for overcoming my present difficulties - for which I'm very grateful! It was he that suggested I check the alignment of the pulleys on my secondary alternator system after the belt had come off a second time - and sure enough, alternator pulley is forward of drive pulley by 2mm - enough to cause my present difficulty. But fixing it is another matter! Obviously, when the new engine was installed in Cape Town, not enough care was taken to check the alignment when mounting the non-standard bracket on the engine to take the second alternator - which had behaved fine on the old engine... I'm still trying to see if his latest suggestion is workable from my perspective - he's not seen my system and it's not a conventional one.... Can't say I'm too hopeful.... (LATER: It won't work - pity! In fact, will have to wait to landfall to be dealt with in a workshop.) At least now, having realized the problem, I won't be trying yet again to replace the belt only to see it shredded again shortly afterwards! So I'm "still working on that"....!

Just to add to my problems, I suddenly found my Airmail propagation window being stupid & not showing ANY values...! Drove me mad for a time, until I suddenly found it righted itself after I'd updated my position in the window.... grrr!!! No idea why that happened.

Downloading very useful weather faxes now from KVM (Honolulu), having reached limit of coverage by KZLF (Auckland). They show me where the ITCZ is. That's in addition to grib files and text 'S. Pacific north of 25S' area forecasts, using Winlink. I got very useful emails on weather info from Dave & Patricia on 'Chameleon' who came up on 'Tony's Net', based in N.Z. (he's a retired meteorologist).

Phew! .... A long one ...!!

Remainder of coffee just spilled everywhere as we lurched in a big wave! Oh well,... tea-time?? Maybe I'll read my novel - and leave deciding what job to get on with until later.. or tomorrow... It's Sunday, after all!

Still sailing beautifully - and fast!

Wed 16th June Definitely lost my birds ... getting flying fish on deck instead!

Sea temp up to 28C! Pity I can't get in for a swim! Quite strong conditions (wind 24-28, gusting 30) have meant good speed made over the day - but seas always get up with the wind and we've been sailing downwind, so we've been rolling about and heeling lots in big swell.

11pm - Gybed onto starboard tack in big seas but under a dark, starry sky. We'd been headed more & more to north of our course and with the wind set to keep backing - to SE eventually - and stay there over several days at least, it seemed the right time to do it - especially since it seems best to make as much easting as possible well before crossing the equator. It looks as though the winds I'll be very soon are the true SE Trades - in which case I've been lucky to have avoided not only the worst of the bad weather around me but also the 'no-wind' high pressure area to the north has been squeezed out by the weather to the south which has given me these good, strong winds....

Thursday 17th June Belt goes again.....

5.20 am ... First light...... Had been up on deck from dark 0500 to check on sail-trim. Made log entry - and decided time to charge batteries since voltage had dropped too low... Started engine - charging fine. Played around with wind-steering and autopilot, with S wind over 20 knots . Seas have got even bigger - easily 4m now, and being knocked about a lot when a really large one catches us. Suddenly realized charging had stopped .... Oh, no!....damn!!.... Alternator belt had gone again....

Then proceeded to spend an age in aft cabin. With change of tack, several items, including a bulky over-mattress not in use, had not been well enough secured & needed sorting out before I could begin to think of getting to the batteries - both domestic and start.

My plan was to use jump leads to get power into the domestic battery bank from the start battery which was being charged by the usual engine alternator whereas the domestic bank was being charged by the secondary alternator alone. I'd been a bit dubious about that arrangement, since I was sure that previously I'd had a system that somehow incorporated charging from both alternators, keeping the start battery isolated but charged as priority, then putting all remaining charge into the main bank..... but was told that wasn't feasible...I wonder???

Of course, to get jump leads in place meant exposing more area under the aft cabin bunks ....so more time was spent organizing items so they wouldn't slide about in the heavy swell.... Initially, I thought it wouldn't matter which end of which jump lead I left to connect until last -for when engine was running - but on connecting both positives and leaving one negative end off, I checked the voltages - and clearly, electrons were getting from start battery into domestics without the negative joining them - so I hurriedly unclipped one end of the positive jump lead and connected both negative lead ends instead - readings looked better, so I was ready to start the engine .... by now it was 7a.m.... NO display telling me r.p.m. or hours.... grrr!! No matter.. Went down and connected positive lead.... Great! Charging of all batteries was happening as it should. So I'll have to leave jump leads available for future use - means aft cabin is in total disarray, but no matter ... and I must NEVER forget to disconnect the positive cable before stopping engine ....

Jobs top of the list: Replace alternator belt again with new one.... and have another go at the genset - I'm thinking if I can move the pump off its mount, it has some short rubber hoses to it, so I might be able to give myself access to get at the last wing-nut holding the cover on... Oh, the joys of boating..,..!!!!!!

Total cloud cover ...to go with my mood.....! Sea temp 30C today! Wind has backed to SSE now & should back a bit more and stay fairly strong from SE for several days more, according to grib files, by which time we should be in the SE Trades.. which look as though they merge into the NE Trades ... so at least the weather is playing ball! Don't know what the ITCZ is up to just now, but might not be too much of a problem - we can hope...!! I'll be heading almost due north, so will minimize time spent in it.

DMG Wed: 141 n.ml. Thurs; 137 n.ml. DTG Thurs 0000 UTC: 2650 n.ml.

Mon 14 June 2010

3pm - Sun is getting out, weakly, and scraps of blue are appearing, after a boisterous night and morning of increasingly strong winds (to around 30kt) under a cloudy sky - finally backing from NW to W-WSW - so the 3-4 m seas which had built up are now confused, with some from a different direction from others. As they meet, they heap up and we're thrown around even more!! Hopefully, with the winds beginning to die a little now, the seas will lie down ...

There's no changing the generator impellor at the moment, I'm still being thrown around far too much. I'll just have to use the main engine for charging temporarily, since the replacement alternator belt is doing fine. With wind-steering and a wind-generator in use, shouldn't be necessary too often.

The birds haven't all disappeared, athough no albatross seen today, ... but a few Grey-faced petrels and a prion just came by - and a couple of blue flying fish unwittingly flew out of the water below them.

The air is so much warmer now, despite the stormy weather... really noticeable when I go on deck - bare feet & not much clothing are no problem now for a quick trip up to the cockpit to adjust Fred, the windvane, although bare feet are not a good idea in general on deck - I've broken or badly damaged both little toes at different times through not wearing deck shoes when I should have done.... stubbing them on deck fittings is so easy. And when adjusting the sails today, I've been drenched several times with seas washing over so violently they shoot over the canopy & land on top of me in the cockpit! I keep putting on the same wet hat just to stop my hair getting completely soaked as well - I should get out the sou'wester hat I acquired when in CapeTown!

Tues 15th June Not a good day on board!! And not a bird seen all day .... I shall miss them!!

To sum it up: ...very little wind and total failure on the generator front... Having often to run engine gently to make slow progress motor-sailing in just 7 knots of wind. Every so often, I see the wind get above 10 knots and triumphantly turn off the engine only to see the wind die back down again..... It's well abaft the beam (at WSW most of the day), so the apparent wind is even less...

Just been having a mug of tea on deck, gazing around at the seascape & playing my favourite music to sing along to, to cheer myself up with generator repair having ground to a halt..... Felt thoroughly depressed at thought I couldn't fix it... Need a spare sea-water pump I don't have. Present one is leaking badly so seal inside must have gone, not a simple impellor replacement . Just can't get last wing nut off cover anyway. It's stupidly facing away from me (who designs these things?) - it's not in view at all and out of reach and access for getting leverage on it... Why

didn't they put simple nuts there to get a small spanner onto??..... grrr! (Must change that!) Presents a problem since genset takes so little diesel and is so much more efficient at re-charging batteries than running main engine.... so I hope we survive the next 3 weeks or so of fuel usage before making landfall - a relief to have successfully changed the alternator belt on the main engine so at least that's charging OK now... I'm still mulling over how to get that last nut off - if I could change the impellor, it's just possible the pump might work - at least for a bit...

TG for music...... I'm still singing along....!!!!

DMG local noon-to-noon: Mon: 124 n.ml.; Tues: 136 n.ml. Distance to Kauai at 0000 GMT (local noon!): A mere 2927 n.ml.!!

Sunday 13th June Problems never come singly when Murphy's around...!

Spent today entertaining Murphy !! Wind well abaft the beam and light - so spent ages first thing, organizing poling out of genoa (first time since in S. Atlantic, on way to Cape Town from Canaries!).. Downloaded a weather fax... studied it ... Spilled coffee all over chart table (luckily no laptop there!!) - major drying-out operation needed ... Noticed batteries' charge well down ... started genset... died... overheat warning light on .... Started main engine.... not charging... and wind had almost died, so almost no boatspeed without 'iron sail'.
Off with motor .... and all instruments off to conserve charge... Not enough wind for wind-generator to input any charge. Tilted solar panels for maximum sun effect... gave 1-2A input to battery bank - voltage up, nearer to 12V with trickle charge - better for batteries!... Checked oil level & water strainers in both motors - all OK... so impellor probably gone in genset - access not that easy...( must check if time for oil change, while at it.).
Looked at engine problem - alternator belt gone... Searched for spare (not listed ...grr!), since I felt was easier to replace belt than genset impellor (will be first time of doing it on generator). Started trying to loosen nuts on alternator belt tensioning system ... fixed by a 'gorilla' ! ....
Checked on deck ... wind had unexpectedly veered to NNW from SW... so started to down the pole to take genoa over to leeward ... Suddenly noticed was noon - so wrote position/weather report in logbook ... Back on deck... got boat closehauled under windsteering... Back down...kept trying to loosen nuts.. finally managed (after judicious use of rubber mallet!).... belt too small?.... kept trying... finally figured out how to get it on..checked in briefly to Pacific Seafarers Net... Tensioned belt...tightened nuts... steps back.... Started engine.... yippee!!!!! We have battery charging..! Closed up engine compartment forward access.... was being difficult.... Sunset, so decided to leave genset impellor to tomorrow - one success/day is plenty, I decide, with all that time & effort...
No food all day, so time to eat, drink & catch up on emails, gribs etc... Murphy's staying the night on board, waiting to see what he can do to 'help' the genset problem along tomorrow....

Saturday 12th June Wind to 36 kt and seas to 4m - and very steep...

Had N-NNW 32-34 kt, gusting 36 kt, from sunset to this morning! Died down slowly ... W 24 kt by midday and WSW 17 kt around midnight. Seas were 4m and steep-faced this morning, but much calmer by night time. The sky cleared by noon to give bright sunshine but the seas were still big and the strong conditions brought lots of birds - they always seem to enjoy the strong winds!
Yet again, the top mains'l batten has broken - and worryingly, it has torn the sail vertically at the luff - about a 30cm tear. The batten end holders are just not sturdy or large enough at the luff for the flexing of the battens when the sail is backed occasionally - often by swell, especially in light winds, despite the boom being prevented. (On Sunday, I saw the second batten had also broken at the luff - this is the third set of battens.....)
Had a good sleep in the easier conditions of the afternoon - I was feeling very tired, having had very little sleep over two nights with Thursday night's very changeable winds and Friday night's strong conditions.

DMG to noon today: 128 n.ml. DMG to noon yesterday: 118 n.ml. (Positions posted on Winlink/Yotreps/Shiptrak - use 'Travels' page links)

Sea temperature has been slowly increasing - it was 14C over the first week out from N.Z. & 16C at noon on Thursday but has rapidly gone up since to over 21C now. Air temperatures have increased in line with sea temperatures, generally being about 2C higher - so quite early on today, after working on deck, I finally took off all my fleeces and my ski socks - I feel as though I'm headed to warmer climes at last!!

Fri 11th June A calm, sunny day ends with more of the strong stuff overnight..!!

I was so pleased to hear Abby is safe, despite her rig failure. I'd had several emails and satphone text messages over the day telling me of her Epirbs being set off in the S. Indian/Southern Ocean. I feel for her plight - I've been getting winds, with corresponding seas, building to just over 30 knots since sunset, whereas I hear she had 60 knots...!! That's Southern Ocean weather!

Today was a bright sunny day with seas having calmed right down from yesterday with just a long, slow swell from the SW. Wind was very light and gradually veered, forcing us more & more towards the east.

Pressure dropped slowly over the day as a deep N-S trough to the W and SW of us headed east - I was hoping it would give me stronger, but not too strong, winds since a lot of today the wind had been only 4-5 knots - so I'd been using the 'iron sail', as well as full canvas, in an effort to keep our speed up. By sunset, stronger N winds had arrived and slowly built to around 30 knots - I furled in most of the genoa and reduced the stays'l as we seemed to rush along in the pitch dark with triple-reefed mains'l, the wind making a lot of noise!! I say, "seemed to rush along" since, in fact, we were making very little speed with our reduced canvas - but I needed to see the speed display, or lit water surface with my headlamp, to convince me of that. Eventually, after a very late-night email from busy Bob, I changed course to run more downwind, unfurling some genoa.... much more comfortable and speed right up to well over 6 knots in ~30kt WNW wind. At daybreak Saturday, as I'm about to post this, the wind is still up around 30kt and I expect it to back slowly over today, staying strong, as a front approaches . At 10am local, I'll download a current weatherfax to show me where the trough & fronts have got to - pressure has risen very slightly.

Distance-made-good (DMG) (local) noon Thursday to noon Friday was way down, as I expected... only 111 n.ml. - and that was only made vaguely respectable with the help of some gentle motoring.

I'm wondering how much longer I'll be enjoying the albatrosses and other birds I've seen regularly soaring around "Nereida". I'm sure they don't enjoy the warmer weather - and warmer waters normally mean less life & so less food for them. Of the albatrosses yesterday & today, I've seen a definite immature and an adult Wandering Albatross, (probably, & appropriately, a 'New Zealand albatross' !), .... distinctive juvenile in its all-dark plumage, except for a white face and some mottling on its back and the adult having distinctive white splashes on its dark upperwings. Also a Northern Royal albatross, several Yellow-nosed and, I think, a Chatham Islands albatross. The Grey-headeds I saw yesterday were distinctive! A smaller dark albatross came by this morning with a greyish back - looks like a young Sooty since dark underneath so not a Light-Mantled. Pairs of Cape Petrels have come by regularly - handsome birds and they enjoy circling the boat close by! Pretty prions have flown by - Antarctic ones, I think, but I've not seen any for several days. Several White-chinned petrels were around today - all-dark plumage and a distinctive yellow bill - but then I saw a dark petrel fly right by me with a dark bill and a pale patch around it - clearly a Grey-Faced Petrel, endemic to New Zealand!

Wednesday/Thursday 9/10th June 2010

Around 9am Thursday, I was just reading an email about a Dutch couple rescued off the NW end of NZ's North Island early on Monday when they were dismasted in the strong conditions of the Low I also experienced, when I suddenly became aware that the wind was rising - lots! Seeing 30 kt on the speed display, and with the boat heeling madly and making over 9 kts at times, I dived up on deck to furl in the (full!) genoa as fast as I could.... Took it down to 3rd reef mark... wondering at the fact that there was no dark grey raincloud overhead - just misty, fine drizzle, almost nothing, and just very light cloud. Conditions seemed to ease fairly quickly and our heeling became far less with reduced canvas. I looked over to where the cloud was a short while later - most odd... a white mushroom shape with the stem down to sea and a very flat wispy top - I wondered if it had been some kind of localized eddy .... The wind dropped afterwards to around 15-20 kt and things became calmer very quickly - but it was a big concern at the time!! I'm still seeing another raincloud upwind, so I'm not letting out the genoa again just yet!!

LATER: Well, that cloud became another squall, less than the first, and I furled in a touch more genoa - just to be safe... The centre went just ahead of us so maybe that helped reduce its effect. Looks as though there's a whole line of squally clouds upwind, so I'm leaving the sails as are and thinking about breakfast instead! Apart from this one line of grey clouds with rain clearly falling from several of them, the sky has just puffy little white cumulus... I'm just unlucky enough to be in the firing line! But it doesn't look too bad ... LATER AGAIN: Well, it looks as though the squalls might now be passing ahead of us, as the next cloud is - keep my fingers crossed! I just downloaded a weatherfax which shows a 992hPa Low passing just to the south, with a front coming off it this way - so it seems that's what I'm getting the tail-end of. At least it's given me good wind to make excellent speed overnight - mostly around 7 knots , often up to 8 kt, in WSW of mainly ~23 kt.

MUCH LATER: So frustrating now!.... It's been a day of wind up & down, genoa in & out... and mostly, this evening, wind well down.... to mainly 4-7 knots, in fact.... I'd far rather be in strong conditions - at least you can go fast then, whereas with no wind, you can't go anywhere, struggle to make your course... and often still suffer the big swell if it's not lain down yet. The bright side of today has been occasional sunshine and the continued presence of 'my' 3 Yellow-Nosed albatrosses (see 'Wed', below), joined at times, by an even larger Wandering Albatross, soaring with hardly a movement of its enormous out-stretched wings, and the occasional petrels.

Noon-to-noon DMG to noon today: 165 n.ml. .... yahooooo!! That's a sliver under 7 knots average over the 24 hr period, in an assumed dead-straight line....!! (I hate to think what tomorrow's figure will be....)

Wednesday was pleasant with fairly easy, good conditions (except for the good-sized swell) over most of the day, apart from a front coming through early in the afternoon so the wind backed from NNW, slowly & erratically, to SW. Also had 3 albatrosses - a pair and what looks like an immature one - plus several other birds for company over the day.

I'm spending a lot of time each day getting weather info: gribs, weatherfaxes, text weather and Taupo Maritime Radio weather broadcasts. Conditions have been so nasty ('unusal', I hear!) and it being midwinter now, that I want as much information as possible, even though I'm getting expert weather advice and help on routing from Bob McD just now.

Thursday evening I had the last of my broccoli. It's lasted quite well by being placed in the fridge - about 2 wks, in fact. Far longer than it would have done out of the fridge. I joined it with fried steak and onions, & potato - food 'Chez Nereida' is often not too bad when conditions are fairly calm! Dessert was several delicious, tasty, N.Z. mandarins - they are so much sweeter having been picked really ripe off the trees for 'home' consumption.

Tuesday 8th June 9.30pm (Sticking to NZT, despite having crossed the Meridian Sat night! Strictly speaking, I should have celebrated Saturday all over again... and today should be Monday 7th ... go figure!)

We're just in the middle of a front coming through - bumpy and 'vigorous'! But at least, with the wind backing, as it has, we're finally on our rhumb-line course, something we've not managed since soon after leaving the coast of North Island.

I was just downloading a fax when I realized that the wind had got up. From the NNW5 (16-20 kts) that we had been seeing since early today, it's now got up to NW 6-7 (26-30+ kts). The 0600 UTC fax I was looking at showed me that we were positioned just ahead of a cold front when it was produced a short while before. Being pitch dark now, I was pleased I'd not been tempted to unfurl more genoa after taking some in during an earlier gust in a rainsquall late this afternoon. If the wind pipes up much more, I'll have to furl in more. Definitely not a time for relaxation...! And I thought the strong stuff was finished with for a day or two...

Today had started so nicely .... after some heavy rain at first light, the clouds had cleared away by sunrise to give a clear blue sky and sunshine for most of the morning. The wind settled down to a pleasant NNW 4-5 (~16 knots) and the seas were a lot smoother - unlike now! I even cooked a proper meal - the first for several days - and spent some time trying to find the source of a small diesel leak I 'd noticed earlier. I'm still seeing the occasional albatross, petrel and prion - always lovely to spot them close by.

And the gale of Sunday/Monday? Could have been worse!! It peaked over the dark hours of Sun/Mon and I saw 34kt early on Monday, with the wind fairly constant at around 27kts all day, not easing until well after dark. That's true wind, of course, meaning the apparent wind was around 30 knots all day, with the seas building up quickly to 3m or so, and quite close together - so we got to crashing about quite early on & seas washed the decks regularly. Around 3pm, I spotted some sunshine and went up on deck to find us under an almost clear patch of sky, surrounded by cloud on the horizon. Pressure had dropped way down to 995 hPa and I'm convinced the centre of the low was passing over us just then. A few hours later, during the evening, things were beginning to calm down and so I had some good sleep - until the heavy downpour early today, and the resultant necessary sail-trimming, that is! I hear that the Wellington area had heavy hailstones and a temperature of 6 C - at least the temperature I'm seeing is 16-19 C during the day - and so far no hailstones!

After these strong winds have eased, it looks as though, before getting to the SE Trades, I'll have to get through an area of light winds in a high pressure area that I'm told by Bob McDavitt is way further north than it usually is... My luck...! In an effort to stay near the edge of, & so reduce the time spent in, this 'no-wind' zone, I'm heading almost due north - towards the little island of Niue - which I visited in 2007 after a 10-day 'no-wind' passage from Bora Bora - let's hope I find wind sooner than that!

Sunday 6th June 2010

I often think the worst part of bad weather at sea is knowing it's coming ... the waiting... the winds increasing....the seas building and the boat crashing as we drop off waves every so often. "Will it get as bad as they say?..... Are we ready for whatever?..."

This afternoon, I decided the best place (and safest!) was to be in my bunk reading a good novel ...or sleeping!! It feels so much better - and the noise is so much less than on deck!! I'd been on deck to furl away the genoa & reduce the stays'l, which had the effect of reducing our speed quite a bit but also cut down the heeling a lot - which was welcome. With the wind set to increase more, our speed would go up soon enough! I also retrieved & secured some sheets and lines which had been washed overboard and were trailing in the water - and realized I'd lost one. A short preventer line through a block on the toe rail had been led into the cockpit at both ends but the force of the seas regularly washing over the side-deck had pulled it free - so it was gone, despite a knot in one end... annoying!

The wind is presently around 28-31 knots - up from the gusty 24 knots of earlier in the day - and the barometer has dropped to 1011 hPa from the 1024 of noon yesterday. It'll be interesting to see how low it goes.... and how strong the wind gets. It's supposed to peak around midnight local time - that's 5-6 hours away. If I feel too uncomfortable, I"ll heave to. The wind now is from the N - NNE, so I've no choice but to head E, but as the wind backs eventually, the wind-steering will take us more onto the NE course I'd like to be on.

It's good to chat at times with people on the HF/SSB radio from time to time - friends on shore or on other boats. I also check in daily at 0330 UTC with the Pacific Seafarers Net, giving position and weather info which is made use of by weather forecasters.

Sat 5th June

So nice to see Cape Petrels and occasional big albatross still soaring around the boat...!

Wind eventually got up this morning, after having finally started crossing the southern Cook Strait on Thursday in almost NO wind (2-4 kt!) - so had to motor through the calm for 2 days until this morning ...

But nasty low-pressure system coming my way overnight tonight and on into Sun/Mon, with winds expected to get up to over 35kt on Sunday and swell up to 6-8m - that's BIG!... Like being in the Southern Ocean all over again.... Thought I'd finished with that kind of weather! Have Bob McDavitt helping me to try to avoid worst of the gale - heading East now in hope of getting less strong wind than if continued heading NNE, as I was yesterday, off the East coast of N. Island ... We'll see what comes - just hope it's not as bad as forecast! Wind is gusty and up to 17 knots at present (3pm), from 12-14 kt earlier - will reef down sooner rather than later!!

Position at local noon (0000 UTC) is updated daily on 'Travels' page...

Thursday 3rd June

Talk about a see-saw of emotions and stress...!! So many times over the last two weeks I've thought I was going to be able to leave (friendly) New Zealand - and so many times the winds have been strong and unfavourable (i.e. heading me on my proposed passage...). The winter so far has seen mostly strong southerlies, with corresponding large seas, in the narrow Cook Strait with its horrendously uneven seabed and resulting upwelling of cold water. Against tide, a sure recipe for disaster..!

Initially, I thought I'd be able to sail away directly from Nelson - simple, I thought: I just need to sail through French Pass at slack water and then keep on going, south through Cook Strait and then NNE to Hawaii once I'd rounded Cape Palliser.... Simple?? NO!! That was the first time I became aware that the short distance south through the Cook Strait was likely to become a major obstacle. So with winds not in my favour just then, I made a sudden change of plan ... get through French Pass from Tasman Bay and then make for Mana Cruising Club, a short distance north of Wellington & on the Cook Strait northern entrance approach, so as to be poised ready for transit through the Strait, to continue on as before..... Simple?? NO!! Mana C.C. was a great little place to stop in but the weather gods were not on my side - this was definitely winter weather and it seemed I'd never get S through the Strait. 'Weather windows' have seemingly appeared, only to disappear on the day. Monday 31st May had looked fine for getting through the Strait - but I would have then found myself headed by 30-35 knots of SE wind.... So I got through the worst part of the Strait (finally!) only to have to decide to 'hole up' at anchor in a tiny deserted bay in Port Underwood - 'one of the safest anchorages in the Southern hemisphere' - in order to avoid gales due the following day and night....

I was forced to anchor well after sunset in pitch darkness - in a totally strange, uninhabited little bay, bounded on the north side by a line of unlit rocks, with a fish-farm close by where it there should have been none, and with the chart-plotter showing a totally different picture from the radar (calibration problem?, I wondered)... An absolute nightmare... both when rounding the rocky promontory at the SE point of the Port Underwood entrance and on the final approach, heart in mouth, into tiny Pipi Bay ready for anchoring!! Fortunately, having decided to use the radar image as more relevant, and also. of course, using my recently-calibrated (TG!) depth display to keep in a safe depth, I was relieved to find us anchored right in the middle of the little steep-sided bay come morning - having small lights on one or two of the fish-farm corners helped me to avoid getting too close to them also - but they weren't that far away... (My previously plotted anchoring position, at the end of my proposed track, turned out to be well on shore....!!) It's been an excellent, well-protected place.

So now I'm waiting, yet again, to sail off around Cape Palliser tomorrow around midday, having thought I'd be starting that at noon today (but today's forecast gave 30kt SE headwinds for this afternoon) .. and then midnight tonight... but delayed due to a deepening Low headed SE from Vanuatu - the next item to avoid as I head north over the weekend... The good news is that Bob McDavitt is keeping an eye on the weather for me - I couldn't want for more experienced S. Pacific weather knowledge ... and he thinks I should get to Hawaii in early July... so I may even make the SHTP10 Finish Line before the last of the racers - even if from NZ rather than from San Francisco, as I should have been...

Dare I hope for an uneventful passage to Hawaii?? That would be a first..!!

Friday 28th May - Visit to Bob McDavitt at Metservice Office in Wellington on Wednesday, out to country north of Wellington on Thursday, catching up with a few boat jobs on Friday...

   A cheerful Bob McDavitt in Metservice NZ office in Wellington, in company with Winlink sysop Graham Ridding, ZL2ABN.

Was driven in by car to Wellington by Winlink sysop Graham R., ZL2ABN, to take up invitation to visit Bob McDavitt at NZ Metservice Office - high up, with a great view over the bay and city, in a lovely old park area, close to the Observatory telescopes. Spent an enjoyable time with good-humoured Bob (whose official job title is 'Weather Ambassador'!), being introduced to everyone in the different sections at the Metservice Office and discussing weather possibilities with him for my passage from here to Hawaii. Caught fascinating old cable-car from top station for steep ride down to Lambton Quay in Wellington city at foot of hill and then walked on to station to catch train out to Paremata, near to Mana. Collected by Mana C.C. member John to be taken to club members Paul & Jayne's place for dinner & an enjoyable evening.

Taken out to Masterton next day, again by car, to visit Graham's mother - stopping on the way for me to buy a Tiki in green stone, to replace one I'd lost when my old boat was lost. Scenery en route was beautiful - a really well worthwhile trip up the Hutt River valley and on over the steep hill beyond. G's mother was full of interesting recollections of old times in N.Z.

Good news on my return came in an email from Bob McDavitt saying that it looked as though Monday was a distinct possibility for me to transit the Cook Strait safely & to sail away from N.Z. towards Hawaii - to be confirmed on Sunday... So I'm getting boat ready with that in mind. Spent a very pleasant, highly sociable evening with Club members at their regular weekly Thursday get-together - Mana Cruising Club has been an excellent place to stop at while awaiting my weather window - I've been made very welcome by so many members who have also been really interested both in my boat and my travels.

This weekend will be spent making sure I'm all set for Monday - Customs have already been informed of possible Clearance needed - they literally wave people off when paperwork has been completed to make sure they leave the country to 'go foreign' as soon as they've been checked out. Strong S winds over Sat/Sun are expected to die down by Monday and turn north over the day... Fingers crossed...!!

Well, I later saw this, and began to wonder if I would actually be able to leave when I'd hoped to....  Bear in mind, I need northerly wind for the 12 hr passage down south through the Cook Strait before getting away from the NZ coast....

Issued by MetService at: 4:00pm 28 May 2010
Valid to: 12:00am 30 May 2010

Forecast:
*** STORM WARNING IN FORCE ***
Southerly 35 knots easing to 25 knots for a time tonight and in the morning, then rising to 50 knots Saturday evening. Sea becoming high. Southerly swell 4 metres easing. Poor visibility in rain.

Outlook:
Outlook following 3 days: Southerly 50 knots with high sea, easing Sunday night to 40 knots, early Monday to 30 knots and late Monday southeast 15 knots. Moderate southerly swell easing Monday

N.Z. winter weather being most unhelpful! I'm in Mana, north of Wellington, on the Cook Strait, awaiting a weather window to leave for Hawaii....

(See 'Nelson Mail' photo & story - posted on 'Articles & Interviews' page)

   Mana Island, on east side of Cook Strait.

Tuesday 25th May 2010

I can't believe how time is slipping by!

I thought I had a weather window to get through the Cook Strait last week - but the forecast storm coming shortly after looked too bad sensibly to leave N.Z. to make for Hawaii, as I wanted to.... So here I am in Mana, at the very friendly, hospitable Mana Cruising Club, a short train ride north of Wellington, hoping to leave for Hawaii just as soon as a suitable weather window presents itself....

Well-known N.Z. weather 'guru' Bob McDavitt has kindly invited me to meet him for a tour of the NZ Met Office in Wellington tomorrow - and to look at the weather outlook for the next few days. Winter has set in here with a vengeance and nasty lows seem to be sweeping the country every few days. An added complication is the need to get the wind and tide right through the notorious Cook Strait. To head S through the Strait safely & avoid problems with overfalls etc, I need to avoid strong southerlies (a N wind is clearly to be preferred) and the tide must also be in the right direction through the narrowest part from here at Mana Island to Cape Terawhiti & on past the Karori Rip due west of Wellington Harbour entrance. The Cook Strait, with its highly irregular seabed making for nasty rips and overfalls, has a reputation akin to that of the Bass Strait and the Agulhas Current - to be treated with the utmost respect & not to be transited in the wrong weather conditions.

I arrived in Mana from the South Island, having come through the scenic, narrow French Pass in daylight from Nelson to Catherine Cove where I stopped overnight so as to make a daylight entry on a rising half-tide through the shallow entrance over the bar to Mana marina.... French Pass is another place where getting the tide right is vital. Like some passes in British Columbia, the spring tides here can cause whirlpools and it's highly dangerous to try to pass through against the tide - slack water is ideal for a relaxed transit!

  Approach to French Pass from Nelson   Anatakupu Island, on way N from French Pass.     View S to French Pass from Catherine Cove anchorage near sunset.     Ninepin Rock.     Chetwode Islands with Ninepin Rock.     View past Cape Jackson towards Cape Terawhiti across Cook Strait.  

I was delighted to see an occasional small penguin on my way and was joined by a Black-browed albatross for a short while, as well as seeing lots of sea ducks and two small groups of dolphins. Four handsome black-and-white Cape Petrels joined me in the middle of Cook Strait - where I was finally able to raise the mainsail & have a good, if short, sail towards Mana, having started the day motoring in a flat calm with just 1-3 knots of wind. Mana Island is a nature reserve and made for a very pleasant approach to Mana itself. The shallow, narrow, dog-legged entrance channel to Mana with its transits definitely concentrated my mind on coming in... As it was, the depth showed just 2.1m at one point (Nereida's draught is around 2m!) .... & I'd calibrated the depth instrument before leaving Nelson so I knew that was spot-on!!

The previous week in Nelson had been spent generally sorting out the boat after my long passage from Cape Town (62 days), trying to resolve ongoing reefing problems and making sure the rig was OK (helped by sailmaker John Heydon and rigger John Foulds), with time taken over provisioning for the passage to Hawaii and regular walks along the river to the lovely Nelson Library to catch up with emails and general Internet access in between meeting up with my relatives. I was happily surprised to get a visit, among several people who dropped by to say 'Hallo', from Annie Hill and Ulla Norlander - I hadn't realized they were in Nelson, which they'd decided was a good place to work on their 'new' boats, & they promptly invited me for a thoroughly enjoyable, sociable dinner before I left. (Nelson has a great micro-climate & a reputation as the calmest, sunniest spot in all of N.Z.!) It was on realizing a possible weather window had disappeared, with a bad storm forecast as imminent, that made me decide to sail to Mana on the Cook Strait as a positive step toward leaving N.Z. so as to retain my sanity .... There's nothing more frustrating than to be forever on the brink of leaving but then finding the weather has changed to prevent it.....
   View of D'Urville Island on way to French Pass from Nelson, in Tasman Bay

   Sunrise over North Island on way to Nelson past Farewell Spit, South Island - Cook Strait entrance close by to the South.
.

30April - 16th May 2010: On through Bass Strait past Tasmania and across Tasman Sea to Nelson, South Island, New Zealand - Into the Pacific Ocean!!

30th April: Headed through Bass Strait in good winds (SW 20-25 knots overnight, 15-20 later) after heaving to several times in the stormy weather of the previous week while crossing the Great Australian Bight. I passed unexpectedly close to the gas platform 'Nyacine' near the edge of the shallow Bass Strait shelf and on past the shipping lanes off Wilson's Promontory by dawn... Not many ships around and none at all once I'd sailed on to between the Hogan and Kent Groups of islands north of Tasmania, since they all seemed to be hugging the coast whereas I was headed across the Tasman Sea. Amazing numbers of albatross were seen for a day or so as I passed north of the Kent island group. Also Mutton birds - smallish birds, dark on top, white underneath, who seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time underwater, occasionally coming to the surface where they pattered across the water with stumpy wings beating furiously, before diving under again.

I gradually found myself chatting on the HF radio to a lot of people from Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand which made life on board very sociable. It got to the point where I needed to write out my daily 'contact list' to avoid missing a 'sched' in between all-important (non-computer) weatherfax downloads!! I chatted to Mary Kay of Smithtown Radio on 4483 every night all the way over to N.Z. after she'd given out the weather (she was the one who identified the 'Mutton birds' for me & told me all about them) - and then I usually found Coast Radio Hobart and others coming up on frequency for a chat also! Allan of America River Radio on Kangaroo Island also kept in daily contact from Tasmania to N.Z. and gave me lots of useful weather info for my passage. Occasional check-ins with Tony's Net in N.Z. led to chats with various other people in Oz and N.Z. also. I was in constant contact with Graham, ZL2ABN, the Wellington Winlink sysop (himself a sailor) both by email and finally on HF radio. He has been extremely helpful in contacting people in N.Z. for me - initially to see if I could stop without a food problem (I needed to know that my long-term stores wouldn't be confiscated if I were to stop for a short visit - MAF in Nelson were very understanding and said they could seal in a secure place until I left those items they might otherwise take away) and, once my stop here was agreed, he contacted lots of others to organize things ahead of my arrival... I'm really grateful for all the help I've had from him - Thanks a lot for all your time and effort, Graham!!

It's turned out to be a good thing I decided to stop here in Nelson in order to get a variety of important items seen to - including more rigging and ongoing sail problems (...!), a first engine service for my new engine ..... and, unexpectedly, a replacement needing to be sent for the vane on my windsteering gear which I found broken off a few days out from Nelson. Graham also found a Nelson Ham, Brian ZL3BCO, to look at my 'dead' computers and fix the connector on a dodgy 12V charger - so one laptop at least is now functioning fine and I'm able to email from onboard again - thanks so very much for that, Brian! Another 'Thank you' is due to Nelsonian Peter Halifax of 'Electronic Solutions' who very kindly gave freely of his time to mend corroded connectors both on my VHF radio in the cockpit and also on a handheld GPS. (I've had a lot of kind words from well-wishers here in Nelson, especially after the local paper splashed a photo of me on their front page...!!) I also want to give a big 'Thank you' to Graham Griggs, ZS2ABK, of the South African Maritime Mobile Net who daily posted my position and weather reports to the Winlink website all the way to New Zealand from text messages I sent him daily using my satphone, so everyone would know where I was and that I was safe while my computers were down. Also I'd like to thank the friends who sent me text messages to my Iridium phone - those were lovely to receive when I couldn't get emails! (Unfortunately some didn't give me a phone number to reply to...) And, of course, I also want to thank Bryan, who has made such a great job of my website over the last few years, for posting occasional news to my website when I was unable to.... My cryptic, abbreviated text messages got quite challenging for him to interpret at times!

My crossing of the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand was almost without incident - just one cold front halfway across causing a bit of a problem with NNE winds at 25-30 knots for 2 days. I hove to for a very short while when the wind strengthened to 30-39 knots & was forecast to be stronger, with nasty, short, steep seas and was then able to sail on once things had calmed down, with the wind backing first to SW & then to SE. (The seas crashing onto us caused pasta to jump & be spilled everywhere out of two containers in the galley & I spent several days finding lots of pasta shapes in different places!) Mostly, I was fortunate to have good sailing winds, lots of sunshine and lots of birds for company as usual - but different ones: Grey-headed & Black-browed Albatrosses.... and two days from landfall, I was thrilled to see a pair of New Zealand Wandering Albatrosses around 'Nereida" for a time.
       Cape Petrel soars past "Nereida"

New Zealand is the 'Land of the Long White Cloud' - and I felt privileged on my last complete day offshore, with the sun shining from a clear blue sky overhead, to see a long line of white clouds over land in the distance... I looked through my binoculars and was amazed to see high mountains above and below the line of clouds .... What a landfall!! (It's my first visit here.) To cap my feelings, several beautiful Cape Petrels turned up to keep me company for the rest of the day, to add to the big flock of prions & several albatrosses & other petrels I already had nearby.... I was exhilarated,... ecstatic ..... singing out loud for joy!! Overnight, I headed around Cape Farewell & the long sandy Farewell Spit, and as Day 62 from Cape Town dawned, with a cloudless sky & beautiful sunrise over North Island in the distance, I made my way south towards Nelson, already visible in the distance...... Greetings, New Zealand!

......................................................................................................................................................................

Mon-Sun 10th-16th May 2010 Notes from Port Nelson Marina, South Island, New Zealand

Mon 10th May
10 o'clock - tied up alongside tug for Customs and MAF paperwork - 6-mth visa (standard) plus form to exempt boat purchases from GST. Calm & sunny day. On to marina berth D22. Ambled over to nearby chandler to look around & on to organize timing of pre-arranged engine service. Cousin Stephen arrived in afternoon - he hadn't realized it was me he'd watched coming in to the marina earlier! Took me to my aunt's place - fresh fish&chips on way - lovely!

Tuesday 11th May
Laundry!! Cousins and aunt came by to see boat in morning. Interviewed by 'Nelson Mail' plus photographs - publication on Wednesday.
Graham (ZL2ABN) arrived to help with jobs on board. Also Brian, ZL3BCO, came to take computers to see if repairs possible... and 12V charger for repair of connection to PC.
John (sailmaker) came to check sails and discuss reefing problems and broken battens - need to replace several broken ones and change position of cuts in sailcover to re-position 1st & 2nd reefing lines where tied around boom.

Wednesday 12th May
Brian brought computers back - one is now fine. Also brought Nelson Mail and the local Ham Radio club's Newsletter - in which he (as President) had printed photos of 'Nereida' coming in towards Nelson on Monday, from AIS screen!!
Engine first service carried out. Hydrovane vane arrived. Graham R. placed ferrites on variety of leads to attempt to stop interference from AP and instruments and also from Iridium on SSB radio. Checked Winlink on radio and downloaded emails outstanding. Later, walked over to chandlers & on into town for Internet - having problems with slow connection, failing to get laptop online to download emails.
Heavy rain and strong gusty wind overnight.

Thursday 13th May
Peter repaired VHF radio connection at helm - had corroded power terminals. Took handheld GPS unit away to see if repairable - corroded metal in battery compartment from leaking battery. Refused payment ... very kind. Gave me lift into town to see about seeing to mobile phone/NZ simcard - new NZ simcard bought.
Library for Internet... slow! Walked back & on over to Tasman Bay Cruising Club - very welcoming.
Back to boat - rigger John was waiting & was highly impressed both by my lovely seaboots and the red ski socks I was wearing - a feature of Kiwi sailors after Peter Blake set a trend, he said. The genoa foot shackle was replaced - pin had gone when retaining ring disappeared. Other rigging issues looked at - split pin gone from clevis pin at foot of lower shroud on starboard side, emergency forestay needs fixing, some shroud tensions need adjusting & there's chafe on 1st & 2nd reef lines at exit sheaves in for'd end of boom - sheave edges seem to be too sharp.

Friday 14th May
Heavy rain on & off over night and day... Library for Internet - too slow to achieve much... Went & bought new cellphone - old one misbehaving. Sail battens replaced but sailcover couldn't be cut for reeflines 1 & 2 because raining too heavily all day long.. hoping to do on Sunday.
To Tasman Bay Cruising Club with aunt and cousins for meal - lots of people there, all very pleasant & friendly.

Saturday 15th May
Cousins drove up from Christchurch to visit me on boat - had good long chat. Spotted leaking overhead hatch - very wet bedding ... needed drying out... useful to have loan of electric fan heater for that. Too wet for rigging jobs to be finished, postponed re-fuelling to Monday for same reason. Stocked up with lots of the 'Back Country' dehydrated meals I'd heard several good reports of, in readiness for my 6-7 month 'around' repeat attempt from Victoria B.C. later this year. Got them mainly at the outdoor store 'Mountain Designs' where Manager Mike kindly gave me a good discount . Then took time off for a small tour by car of countryside around Nelson, including Trass Valley area where family had been brought up, & saw some other relatives I'd never met.
Back on board to get on with jobs over the evening - but totally sidetracked by visit from friendly Richard McBride who came along waving a bottle & suggesting a pizza, but who then stayed for a long, thoroughly enjoyable, 'sailing-stories' chat, ending with going off to nearby 'Anchor' for a lovely meal of Marlborough mussels.... Back to try to catch up on jobs, but no joy - postponed to Sunday!!

Sunday 16th May
More heavy rain overnight and day.... I'm being told it's unusual...!!! Discussion with Graham of timing of possible French Pass transit towards Cook Strait over Tuesday/Wednesday for leaving N.Z. towards Hawaii. I'd hoped S winds would have died away by then - but late morning heard that weather forecast is for strong S winds into late Tuesday/Wed ... so now definitely being held up by weather... will see what forecast is later today. Still several jobs to do onboard but will be frustrating if weather stops me from leaving for several days now. Trying hard to get this 'blog' (finally!) written up - about to head into town to Library which I believe is open for Internet now... then on, in cousin Vivien's car, to supermarket for provisioning ready for leaving - whenever that might be..... 

(Postman got lost...!)

Crossing the Bass Strait, north of Tasmania.. lovely moonlit night... Southern Cross high overhead... seas calmer after strong (30-40knot) winds of past few days. 
Hove to midnight Tuesday for 16 hours - 5m seas washing the decks & crashing into us frequently!!
Bumpy...but OK - I read a lot and took refuge in my bunk!
Repaired autopilot yet again - keeps coming loose on rudder stock.
Was prepared to wait to get aross the shallow Bass Strait - now have a 2-day weather window... wind 25-30knots so making good speed (150miles today!) ..seas still 4m - the birds love it when the seas are rough!!
Still seeing albatross and prions but also saw my first gannet here today.
Weather forecast shows I might run out of wind coming Sunday/Monday as I begin to cross the Tasman Sea to New Zealand...

(Posted from Nelson N.Z. after safely arriving this morning (10th May) .... will post report of crossing and arrival as soon as I can get to Internet...

Saturday 24th April  2010

Recovering from storm last night - 14 hours of steep, 6 metre swell, wind 35-46kt with occasional lull to 28 kt.  No sleep.  Seas calming down now, at 7pm, but still big.  Sailing gently. 

Australian Coast guard plane flew by at noon.  Called me on VHF - but called "Ella's Pink Lady".  I asked him to let me know where she was when he located her. He came back and reported that she is 56 ml to my NNW.   My worries confirmed - we must have crossed paths in the stormy weather of the last few days but at least I now know she's safely astern of me.  Like me, her team will have wanted her to be north to avoid the centre  of the low and the worst of the weather. More cold fronts coming Monday and Wednesday with strong winds.

Saturday 17th April 2010

South of Cape Leeuwin, crossing Great Australian Bight. 

Replaced the rudder on the Hydrovane in flat calm -  celebrated with beautiful shower!  Also wired the shackles I've put in place on the genoa foot to the Furlex to overcome problem of shackle pin having gone missing.

Calm overnight but NNE 12kt wind soon after dawn. Sailing nicely - despite weather forecast!   Making for New Zealand for a brief stop in Nelson.   Windstrength is fine.
 

Thursday 15th April 2010

Ella's Pink Lady and Nereida

I’ve had quite a few messages about having got close to Jessica now I’m near to Australia on my way to NW America from Capetown.

Jess sent me a very nice email in February to say how sorry she was to hear of the repairs needed in Capetown and asked me to email her when I left so we could talk on HF / SSB radio as we both sailed east.

While my computer was still working, I was able to email her several times wishing her well and giving her my position. But I never received a reply. So for over 5 weeks now we have not made contact.

I don’t have her sat phone number, though she has mine.  Unless she or one of her team calls or texts me, I have no way of finding out her position or how she is getting on.  She could be close by just over the horizon for all I know!

It would have been fun to chat and compare notes every so often, as we both sailed across the Southern Ocean. If she still wants to make contact, my phone is always on.

I wish Jess and all her backup team the very best and hope she has a successful completion back in Sidney very soon.

Jeanne
Nereida
15th April, 0300 UTC
Position 38 38 S 110 25 E

PS How is Abby doing?

Sunday 11th April 2010

Just a reminder, if you would like a return text from Jeanne, please remember to include your cell phone number in the text you send her from Iridium's website!

Jeanne is currently hove to in 30-40kt winds awaiting a storm to finish. Her autopilot has failed, and she will work on it when things calm down.

Monday 5th April 2010

2 dead computers means that Jeanne has NO EMAIL capability, but her positions continue to be posted daily. Tasmania is 2500 miles away and she is making excellent progress towards San Francisco for the start of the Transpac Single-Handed race to Hawaii in June.

She can receive text messages on her Satellite phone at +881631641746 (free from www.iridium.com) and her SSB is working!

Maundy Thursday 1st April (Day24)

Easter Greetings!

I hear the daffodils are out in England! Here, there's a murky grey overcast - and definitely no daffodils!! But we did set a speed record on 'Nereida' last night in strong conditions... sailing 104 mls in 13h 40m, giving an average speed of 7.6 knots over the period! We were regularly making over 8 knots with double-reefed main, although I have to admit I was forever on the verge of taking in the 3rd reef.... but kept waiting to see how we fared - OK, in fact! Conditions got rather rough with the continuing strong wind making for a good-sized swell but nothing too bad. I bore away (came off the wind) a touch, to make life a little more pleasant. This morning, we're back down to just 18-20 knots of wind and a more sedate 7 knots of speed - which is very acceptable! I'm still waiting for a cold front to pass by which will put us on to a starboard tack - should be sometime today. It will give a windshift to SW from the present NNW, although I'm hoping the windshift will be more gradual than the usual sudden one...

I forgot to mention that while I was putting in the 2nd reef strop on Wed, the topping lift, which had just beforehand come loose & was flying wildly all over the place in the wind & swell, came close enough for me to grab .... Most unusual - it's normally impossible to get hold of once it's come away from the boom end but I was perched up high in the cockpit, leaning over the boom tying in the strop at the time, so I was lucky for a change. The topping lift is now safely stowed at the mast, ready for possible use as a trysail halyard.

Good Friday 2nd April (Day 25)

Well, we certainly got that windshift yesterday afternoon. I was at the mast looking carefully at the two reef lines 1&2 leading from the boom, wondering what exactly to do about the chafe there, as the wind got lighter and lighter... Then it started drizzling. I'd centred the main because the boom was flopping around in the swell & light wind and had managed to gybe the genoa by changing course slightly to put the wind aft. I let out the full genoa, released the portside running backstay & prepared the starboard one, ready for the expected gybe on to starboard tack... and then realized the wind was backing and building rapidly..... very rapidly!! I had to winch fast to furl in all & more of the genoa that I'd just let out.... and then more... The wind built to around 30knots from the S and we were making good speed (very!) on a broad reach under double-reefed main. Initially, I didn't reef the main further ... but with the boat being so often knocked over by strong gusts & the big seas that soon built up, together with the uncomfortable heeling all the time, I realized I had to. As usual, it took a time and a lot of effort, but finally it was done, in time for nightfall and an uncomfortable night of crashing about and seas breaking on deck... I decided not to tension the kicker as much as before so as to leave the boom higher - I had seen it touch the water at least once when we were knocked around by the steep-sided waves, so a higher boom seemed eminently sensible!

The birds, a different albatross among them, certainly enjoyed the conditions, unlike me! I cannot say I spent a comfortable night, For a start, I'd allowed myself to get soaked yet again and wet hair doesn't dry too well around here (air temperature is down to 16C) and clothes hung up to dry that I picked to change into were, I found, still very damp. But I did go & find some lovely dry thick fleeces so now I'm warm. (I'm writing this cosily tucked up in my bunk, listening to music!) It's so difficult moving around safely to do anything, even just crossing the cabin to get to the chart table, in such strong conditions - It's "two hands for the boat"... not the usual "one hand ..."!

I was absolutely delighted when I found a bumper load of 'post' with Easter greetings and news from friends in my email Inbox later on .... Thank you so much for those lovely emails - I'll reply over this weekend - but they really cheered me up just when I badly needed it!

One problem overnight was my course - with a S-SSE wind, I was forced to head ENE-NE ... and, quite close to that course, I suddenly spotted Ile St Paul - less than 100 miles away. Fortunately, we were able to make a course of 070T which kept the little French island a good 50 miles away at its closest today - but I kept checking until we had passed it..... The bigger, nearby island of Amsterdam, also French, is another 50miles further N. Both important bird nesting places. The wind is expected to shift more to the SW, maybe W, over tomorrow, so then I'll be able to head more S & get back nearer to 40S which in turn would keep a couple of high pressure areas to N of me, which would give me a good wind direction for heading E. (As I wrote that, there was a loud 'crash' & the whole boat shuddered and jumped, as it was hit by a wave crest..! ....water rushing all over the decks...!)

Good distances covered in these strong conditions! But all jobs are on hold, waiting for calmer conditions!

Noon-to-noon (UTC!) distances covered (DMG: distance-made-good) (see 'Travels' page on website for link to my track on Google Earth)

Thursday: 168 n.ml.
Friday: 141 n.ml.