Bad Memories and Good Neighbors, a Photo from Niue

The shredded mooring line.  The shredding of this line could have been the death of Sunrise on the reefs of Niue were it not for the goodness Sockdollager, Orcinius and Charisma on neighboring boats.

Daily Beauty

Barry used to watch here for dinosaurs 
but has since been watching for a moa
 to poke its head up at any moment.

Almost every day we go for a walk to keep in shape.  We have 3 routes.  One goes along the bay  from Port Opua to Paihia and the other goes from behind Ashby’s and Legge’s boatyards up very steep Lyon St and has several variations.  The third route follows the railroad tracks from Opua to Kawakawa.  All routes are birdy, bushy, scenic and historically interesting.  They go through bush (forest) and are, therefore,  “bushy”.   The one going up Lyon St has giant tree ferns and that is why Barry always keeps his eyes peeled for a dinosaur or a moa which you would expect to see in just such a habitat.  Moas are like  giant ostriches, were present in great numbers when the Polynesians arrived about 1400 and are now extinct. 

This is the route of one of our daily walks.

OPUA WALK ALONG BAY OF ISLANDS

POHUTUKAWA TREE

WHITE FACED HERON abundant native

October 20, 2012 New Zealand is Beautiful

Chinese toons

It is so much fun to be in New Zealand on a 3-day weekend - Labour Weekend - especially if you are in a marina.  Families are going out for a cruise to the Bay of Islands with its hundreds of beautiful anchorages or to the east coast bays where we are.  New Zealand is so incredibly beautiful!! You might get sick of the word "beautiful" but how else to describe this beautiful country?!  Big, burly Kiwi men are hauling sails to ready their boats for racing, race boats are coming in from the Auckland to Russell race and on-lookers and celebrators are all about.  There is a food fair in Paihia and a craft fair in Russell.

Tuesday afternoon we left the boat and drove to just north of  Auckland enjoying the road we have traveled so often.  It is hilly and rural most of the way and, yes, beautiful.  We got on a ferry making sure our luggage and food were free of ants, any insects, stoats, possums, seeds, cats or dogs and being sealed so none could get in as we walked from car to ferry.  We were on our way to Tiritire Matangi, a predator free island in the Hauraki Gulf where Auckland is.  Tiri has been restored with native vegetation and trees and endangered native birds and the tuatara (sort of like a giant iguana) are flourishing there.  We went specifically to see the Spotless Crake.  It is known to be on that island so how could we miss?  We asked the volunteers on the island and they said, "Oh, we haven't seen the Spotless Crake for years!"  No, we didn't see it but we saw and heard all kinds of strange and beautiful birds.  New Zealand has no native land mammals, although they do have 2 native bats and sea lions and seals on their shores.  Whales and dolphins in the sea.  They make up for the lack of mammals with every weird and amusing form of birdlife you can imagine.  I'll send  photos.  Too bad I can't send the sounds they make.

We have made several trips to Kerikeri to tend to business, shopping, boat work and a medical appointment about my ear with the "barotrauma".  Again, the road is beautiful, rural, winding and one we have enjoyed many times in past years.  It is spring in New Zealand and there are lambs in the pastures,  wild calla lilies in the pastures and  Chinese toons (trees with pink leaves in the spring) in peoples gardens.  Heavenly.  

We have only seen 2 dead possums on that road where we used to see 20 or 30.  They must be making progress in eradicating these pests from Australia which decimate the bird population.

Sacred Kingfisher

Tui at Tiritiri Matangi

Brown Teal

Takahe

Kokako

Sacred Kingfisher

Lists of birds we have seen at sea and in New Zealand

Barry snorted when he read that Sunrise is "almost flat". OK. "Heeling less horribly than she was."  Another thing: the paper towels that we bought in French Polynesia Barry says are made out of recycled toilet paper.  We think we have the wind theology figured out - we didn't have this problem with it being contrary when we were naked.

At sea closing in on New Zealand:
White-faced Storm Petrel
Australasian Gannet
Buller's Shearwater
Cook's Petrel
Black-backed Gull
No Little Blue Penguins

Near Kerikeri:
Pheasant male & female
California Quail many

Opua:
White-fronted Tern on marina breakwater/Quarantine dock, many
Black-backed Gull few
Red-billed Gull many
House Sparrow
Blackbird (Turdus which I think is same genus as our robin)
Swamp Harrier near Roadrunner Tavern
Kingfishers in marina
Grey Warbler (Gerygone) heard not seen
Dove (?)

Road to Paihia:
New Zealand Pigeon
Mallard
Variable Oystercatcher, black

Safe and sound

Opua, New Zealand  Safe & sound. Beautiful good final day! 

Position :  35 18.80' S, 174 07.36' E
Speed : 0.0 knots,  Course : 291 degree

October 4, 2012 LAND HO!!!

We see land by naked eye and radar. In 32 miles we will be in the Bay of Islands.  Blue Penguins, Australasian Gannets, Buller's Shearwater and Cook's Petrel await us.

Position :  34 58.16' S, 174 14.84' E
Speed : 7.0 knots,  Course : 199 degree

October 4, 2012 Moaning and maybe.....

Everyday we look at weather faxes, weather GRIB files, inmarsat weather from precise location in NZ and NZ weather in text over the inmarsat.  Everyday we strategize, carefully plot our course and calculate to make sure we are on the most efficient point of sail.  The forecasted wind direction varies daily and we take all that into consideration.  And everyday day the wind blows from the southwest blowing away with it all our plans!  Sunrise beats, slowly going SW into a SW headwind.  The only variable has been the wind speed - anywhere from 3 to 30 knots.  In case anyone cares, we would like a northerly wind - got that, NORTH, not SW!!  

If there ever is a next time we will hire some fool who is willing to spend 2 weeks of his or her life in misery for cash.  I would quit bellowing and go out and look for birds and pumice but it is cold,  gray and wet out there.  OK. I gave up and went out and there are zero birds, zero pumice and the wind is SW 20k.

The genoa has a hole in it and on a regular basis Barry goes out to look at it and lament that it is getting baggy and worn, not driving well (or pulling, lifting or whatever it does).Now the dinghy has come loose on the deck.  Imagine the damage a flailing dinghy could do wrapped up in the genoa, whacking against the boom, mast, sheets and rigging! Thankfully, the dinghy is not insecure but has only shifted slightly.  

I almost forgot to mention that the mast boot is leaking and has been since we left.  No big deal - a little rain water.  Now, however, there is the Pacific Ocean flowing over our deck and down the space where the mast goes through the deck to the keel and we have salt water raining down on my clothes, the settee, the file box and the rugs on the floor.  To plug that up we have rags stuffed in there now and over aforementioned items so you can imagine the décor of  the main salon.  

Oh, and, let's see.  The sink won't drain on this tack (design flaw) so I pass pitchers of dirty sink water out the boat to be poured overboard by Barry.  

Sailing from Niue to NZ has got to be the dumbest thing we have ever done.  Other than that, everything is just fine!  Heavy sarcasm.

8 hrs later:  Wait! The sun is shining!  The wind has shifted W and we are headed for Opua.  NW wind forecast for tomorrow (they usually lie, but it could happen).  We could even get there tomorrow afternoon.  We have communicated with Opua Marina and NZ Customs and Sheryl has even talked on the phone to NZ customs.  They are lovely she says and we know that.  Customs in Opua are lovely people, for sure!  

Sunrise is almost flat, going a moderate speed and not moaning and groaning like she was.  Maybe, just maybe, there is a rainbow out there.

Barry snorted when he read that Sunrise is "almost flat". OK. "Heeling less horribly than she was."  

Another thing: the paper towels that we bought in French Polynesia Barry says are made out of recycled toilet paper.  

We think we have the wind theology figured out - we didn't have this problem with it being contrary when we were naked.

Position :  33 15.28' S, 174 38.24' E

Speed : 6.6 knots,  Course : 152 degree

Getting close, slowly......

Pumice foot scrub

I asked my mom, "Did you get a pumice foot scrub?"
Her response, "No, thank heavens!!  My feet have been nowhere near the deep dark ocean.  They stay high and dry on deck! And that's the way we'll keep it, thank you." I'm glad mom has some priorities. 

Oct 3, 2012 Nothing but pumice....all without chocolate

Oct 3  You thought the earth was filled with lava around an iron core didn't you?  We are here to tell you that it is made of Styrofoam!  One little volcano forms a hole in the skin and Styrofoam oozes out all over.  And WE HAVE PICTURES TO PROVE IT!  I'd talk about something else besides pumice but that's all we've got going on around here.  We are just bobbing around out here waiting for the wind to go the right way.  Not even a bird - just pumice. We would be motor sailing and getting there shortly but, as you recall, we can't use the aft fuel tank with the gushing leak and thus are short of fuel.  Here's how we are occupying ourselves:  The Will Hamm autopilot bit the dust about two weeks ago.  We have a back up autopilot but, at the moment, it would take too much of Barry's time and energy to dig it out from storage and install it.  So we have be relying on the Monitor.  As you recall, Sir Monitor (notice the change in status and title) doesn't work if there is no wind.  For those occasions we put Will Helm (the WH Autopilot) to work and when it doesn't work, we have an electric tiller pilot.  Heaven forbid we should have to steer ourselves.  That is the ultimate in boring and exhausting!  Sir Monitor starting coming apart this morning and that genius, Barry, the saint, is out there fixing it.  This is not unusual to have things start to unravel after the approximately 6000 nautical miles Sunrise has just sailed; therefore, if you go sail long passages bring a physicist with horse sense.

I'm starting to feel repentant about eating, almost single-handedly, the 10 or so big chocolate bars that Vince and Noelle brought us in August.  Now I'm deprived.  But we are no longer deprived of news.  Our favorite daughter selects and sends us very interesting news.  She entertains us while Vince minds the coffers.  That's the other thing you need for long passages and long term cruising - good children to keep your affairs in order and provide human contact.  Speaking of human contact we have not seen a single ship since leaving Niue.  And speaking of birds (right?) several sightings of Sooty Shearwater.  Those birds are everywhere!

October 1, 2012 The Bad and the Good of It

Oct 1 (New Zealand time) Too much of a good thing - 5 days of pumice.  Pumice in the sink, on the dishes, in the toilet, clogging up the knot meter which then can't feed data to the true wind speed display which means we don't really know how hard the wind is blowing - or not.  It's in the raw water inlet causing work cleaning it up and out.  It seems this pumice doesn't just float on the surface it is under the surface too and that is how it is getting into our through-hulls.  Furthermore, we are cold - scrounging around trying to find blankets and warm clothes left over from the days sailing in the cold California current in May.  And it is taking FOREVER getting from Niue to NZ against contrary wind.

The good:  The sky here is much brighter and clearer for some reason.  Hole in the ozone layer?  Full moon.  Calm seas.  Cape Petrel.  Grey-faced Petrel from Kermadec Islands.  Maybe Kermadec Petrel.  I'm even starting to miss those rascals, the boobies.  Now we have, instead of boobies, the look-alike gannet.

Position :  30 35.04' S, 176 24.12' E

Speed : 4.4 knots,  Course : 286 degree

Pumice raft....for days!

Pumice

Our friend, Gene, sent us this:

August 9, 2012
An "island" of floating pumice rocks bigger in area than
Israel has been spotted in the South Pacific, New Zealand's Royal Navy said.

Officers on a Royal New Zealand Air Force ship saw the rock raft southwest
of Raoul Island yesterday (Aug. 9). It measures an astounding 300 miles
(482 kilometers) in length and more than 30 miles (48 km) in width, the
Navy said.

Lieutenant Tim Oscar, of the Royal Australian Navy, described the rocks as
"the weirdest thing I've seen in 18 years at sea,"

"The rock looked to be sitting two feet above the surface of the waves, and
lit up a brilliant white color in the spotlight," Oscar told AAP. "It
looked exactly like the edge of an ice shelf."

Pumice forms when lava from a volcano cools rapidly. Trapped gas in the
hardening lava creates pores in the rocks, which allow them to float. The
Navy said scientists believe these chunks off New Zealand's coast were
likely spewed to the surface by an underwater volcano, possibly the Monowai
seamount, which has been active along the Kermadec arc.

We are not sure of the date.  Maybe you can find out.  We are still seeing it
after a day and a half.  That is heaps of pumice!  And it is below the surface also and is coming through the salt water we use in the toilet, the sink, the cooling water for the engine, etc. When it was calm Barry made himself secure, leaned over the side of the boat with a colander and retrieved some big chunks.

We are 160 mi NW of Raoul Island mentioned in pumice article.

September 27-28. A 2 hour Birthday

Sept 27  While looking at the weather forecasts during our passage to Minervas Reefs  it was clear that the wind would be changing direction while we were there.  When you are anchored somewhere, you try to get some protection from the wind waves.  If the wind is going to be changing direction, this means that you may need to re-anchor the boat.  Since the lagoon has coral heads, you need to anchor in good visibility.  The problem is that the wind may change direction at night or early and late in the day when visibility is poor.  In addition, the forecast did not show a propitious time to leave Minerva Reefs for New Zealand.  With all that and "Heading for the Barn Fever", the Admiral says, "Turn left toward New Zealand now!"  So, Minerva Reefs will have to wait for another year.

Sept 27, 10:19 pm Watching the GPS  at 179 degrees 59 seconds and in 1 second we will cross the international date line and  it will be Sept 28.

Sept 28, 179degrees 59 seconds East.  9:20 pm .  So there you have it - I will have a 2 hour and 40 min birthday.