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
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
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
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.
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!
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!
Monday, October 1, 2012
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
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 |
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, 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.
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