Swimming with Dolphins

I had the most amazing experience in the north bay of Motukawanui
Island (the largest of the Cavalli Islands). A pod of dolphins arrived
in the bay shortly after I anchored and spent the next couple of hours
swimming around the bay staying close to Sueno, a Canadian catamaran
anchored closer to the beach. I got in the water and swam with the
dolphins when they came over to visit Ladybug. These are the largest
dolphins I have seen and were quite curious, calling and whistling,
jumping and even walking backwards across the water using powerful
thrusts of their tails. There were two or three calves and the whole
pod numbered about 12. Following are some pics mainly underwater but a
few taken from water level at the surface.

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Sailing to Whangaroa

I left Opua yesterday just as the tide began to ebb, coasting down the channel under jib alone to the open beach anchorage off the town of Paihia. This tourist resort has a Countdown grocery store on its outskirts that promised cheaper provisioning than the smaller stores in Russell.

Roz and Holger take a break from working on their boss Tim's boat. I kept them company for a morning, helping with sanding and scraping Tim's 99 year old wooden yacht.

It turned out to be a good long walk through the town and out the other side to the store and an even longer walk back with 2 weeks of groceries including some chicken for my slightly non-vegetarian Christmas dinner (sorry Rani - your good influence is wearing off already as far as my bachelor diet goes). I walked the row-boat end for end down the beach, loaded the groceries, and rowed back to Ladybug, stopping to chat with Paul on Trumpeter, a local cruiser whom we had seen in Fiji earlier in the season. Paul told me I was a silly sod and could have anchored much further down the coast if I had sailed around a set of islands that fill the bay. This would have put me much closer to the store. I had already noted this fact on my long walk in but we had an amiable chat anyway.

A paint-spattered Tim looks like he would perhaps prefer to own a 2008 Beneteau just at that moment!

Once the groceries were stowed, I pulled up the hook, again under jib alone, and sailed dead downwind for the north entrance to the Bay of Islands, marked by a giant shark tooth rock named 'Ninepin Rock'. A lovely schooner crossed our bows at one point and several yachts criss-crossed the bay on their way to anchorages at Kerikeri and among the islands. As I passed between the rocky coast and the shark's tooth I left all this activity behind and entered a different world, turning west and sailing along a coast of rocky cliffs capped by green rolling pastures. The wind blew steadily off the land and the lowering sun reflected off a million wavelets like so many jewels.

Mike and Marni of Picara repaint their lovely steel boat. They rebuilt this boat virtually completely over a period of several years in Sidney, BC. They are taking a break from working on other people's boats in Opua to work on their own.

While I chatted with Mike and Marni, I helped clean up Picara's propeller. They plan to coat this with a special epoxy based compound that prevents growth from sticking to it. Most of the local yachts use this.

I had left Paihia around 2pm and was concerned I would not reach a safe anchorage before dusk at my sedate pace, so I hoisted a reefed main and was soon bowling along at 6-7 knots, the wind building and turning into the south west. I passed only one other boat - a small but speedy coastal cruiser hugging the cliffy shore for shelter heading for the Bay of Islands. A little further on I began to pass through rafts of sea birds resting on the water as Ladybug drew abreast of the Cavalli islands.

Panorama as we leave the Bay of Islands - click for a bigger image.

Shortly before 7pm, I furled in the jib and dropped the hook using the mainsail to coast into a small indentation on the Purerua Peninsula known as Orokaraka Bay. This bay is well sheltered by the cliffs of the peninsula and has stunning views of the Cavalli islands, which form a protecting ring to the north and east.

Without Rani's helping hand I have had to resort to unusual strategies when I need assistance on the helm.

Urupukapuka Pictures

I have had a few hikes on Urupukapuka island in the last 2 days. This is a large island that was once home to hundreds of Maori. There are archaeological sites all over the island including deep storage pits for the sweet potatoes they once grew here and Pa forts, guarded by defensive ditches. The oldest site dates from about 1340 but most have been built upon several times over the 600+ years of occupation. The island has trails all around its coast and the terrain is extremely rugged particularly on the north and east sides with drop offs of a few hundred feet.

Dotterel feeding on the beach. These little pipers nest here also.

Pohutukawa blossoms. The Tui birds and insects love these flowers that bloom around Christmas time. These trees are also referred to as Christmas Trees.

There is quite a large flock of sheep at the east end of the island. The wharf in this bay is used by passenger ferries who bring tourists daily. There was a restaurant here but it appears to be shut down.

DOC maintains the island and I met a warden who was patrolling with his terrier rat/mice dog. The island is pest free now, but they have had 4 incidents of introduced pests in the last few years. The terriers they use are crosses that are good ratters but also amenable to training, since the dogs and their trainers are involved in both public relation and extermination exercises. Apparently they have done genetic testing to determine that the rodents on the island have all come from the nearby mainland probably swimming over via the 'Stepping Stone' islands. Norway rats can swim kilometers and there are only a few hundred meters between these islands. DOC also maintains a network of baited rodent traps. Other rodents, such as mice, have likely stowed away in tents and come ashore at the campground on the east end of the island.

Panorama looking east. There is a Pa hill fort site to the right and the campground is on the left

"Rock and Roll Star "- a Baba 40 sailboat liesat anchor in a bay on the northwest end of the island. It's owner, Matthew and I explored this end of the island together.

Pictures from Russell, Home Port, and Roberton Island

I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures from our first week in New Zealand. Some of these are from Russell where we spent the first weekend visiting with Roz and Holger who make their home here on board Melody when they are not at their farm near Whangarei Heads, 'Home Port'. Others are from Home Port and the last few are from Roberton Island in the Bay of Islands where Ladybug is currently anchored. 

Holger discusses rigging issues with Chris 

This is the policeman's house in Russell. It is a historic home, built around 1860. The giant Moreton Bay fig tree was also planted around this time.

Cruise ships visit the Bay of Islands, anchoring off Pahia

View out over Russell to where our boat is anchored 

Hedgehogs are a frequent sight in New Zealand

This Tui is enjoying the nectar in flax plant flowers.

Chris taking a leek in Roz's garden at Home Port. Actually she gave us 2 leeks to take home.

Roz has looked after cows ever since she arrived as a girl in New Zealand from Australia. Samson and Delilah are her latest.

We visited briefly with Jo and Rob in Mcleod Bay Their health center and B&B is nearing completion and should open next year.

There is an underwater trail as well as one to the look off at Roberton Island. Jan and Rich from 'Slip Away' climbed the look off trail with me. 

Panorama from Roberton Island look off.

The look off has spectacular views in all directions

Matthew from 'Rock and Roll Star' arrived at the top shortly after us.

The island is rich in wildlife including parrots, oyster catchers, and bees.

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Boat Projects in Paradise

The winds have been light for the most part of the week we have been in New Zealand and the skies sunny. Rani with her knack for timing, has left this fair land in summer and returned to the darkest days of December to visit British Columbia where she has work lined up at a Pharmacy in Parksville. I will remain on the boat, working through the list of projects (about 40 at this point) and making her ready for a passage next season. I plan to do this work in various bays around the north end of the north island - Bay of Islands, Whangaroa, etc. I Will post pictures and descriptions of what I find.

Projects completed so far include cleaning 4 years of surface rust spots from the 'stainless'steel, taking off the running backstays, which had hairline swage cracks and bringing these in for replacement, a rig inspection (mentioned in an earlier post), removing the cockpit level anchor light and wiring in the mast-head anchor light after putting in a new LED bulb.

The price of 12 volt LED bulbs has fallen dramatically since we left in 2008. Back then I looked at replacing 25 watt anchor lamp with an LED bulb and the cost was $50 (Canadian)! It is now about $13 (Canadian) even in New Zealand where boat bits are expensive on average.

Removing the wiring for the cockpit light that I put in shortly after we bought Ladybug proved to be a chore. When I installed this, I did a very good job of tying off the wire and feeding it neatly through various bulkheads and lockers. This meant I had to remove everything from our 'closet' - the large quarter berth where everything that does not fit in a locker is stored - spinnaker, spare genoa, inflatable kayak, etc. This allowed me to wash off the staysail, which had got salty on the last passage and re-stow various pieces of gear that usually lived under the berth. The wire snaked through the lockers under the quarter berth, then into a book closet and finally through a bulkhead into the area under the cockpit.

In the process of crawling into the lazarette via the cockpit locker - a feat worthy of Houdini because you have to squeeze between the steering column, 2 cockpit drain hoses, and a bulkhead - I noticed the automatic bilge pump hose hanging in mid air. Its end had perished and When I touched it, it crumbled into fragments. I presume this is due to years of exposure to heat from the sun. It is in such an impossibly inaccessible place that it rarely gets looked at. I must have crawled in and out of this space 6 times, broken up by a 1.5 hour rowing trip into the marina area for new hose and a joiner in order to fix this. Thus a one hour long project escalated into a day long ordeal.

I am in Russell today and will do some grocery shopping before heading out to the Bay of Islands.

Good News about the Rigging

We had a rig inspection done today by Hamish from Cater Marine and he gave us a clean bill of health. He assured us that the light ripples in the tapered section of the mast are the normal results from the welding process. The mast taper is produced by cutting a section out of a straight mast and welding this mast section back together with multiple passes. The heat from the welding distorts the aluminum producing regular waves.  Hamish also told us that the rigging looked to be very well done and in good shape as well as being a little over-sized for our boat. We were very relieved to hear this!

We are having new running back stays made up because we found hairline cracks in the swages on the old ones. Once these are back in place we should be good to go.

Recovering in the Bay of Islands

The problem with booking a flight months in advance is that it can make you do silly things. Rani leaves on Saturday for Canada, so she has less than a week here to visit with friends and get herself organized for the trip home and a follow-on trip to the UK to visit her family. After our arrival and less than 2 hours sleep we spent a full day exploring Russel with our friends Holger and Roz. The next day we joined them on a drive to Whangarei Heads where we visited their farm at Home Port, did a little work around the garden, and enjoyed their beautiful property, which is set back from the sea with sweeping views of old growth forest. We also crammed in a visit with Rob and Jo (off Blue Moon) who are finishing up the construction of their spa and B&B just down the road from Home Port.

The next day, both our bodies said ENOUGH and we slept in and had a day 'off'spent with Rani trying to organize things for her visit to Canada while I cleaned and polished all the stainless steel fittings on the boat. Do you have any idea how much stainless steel can be found on a typical cruising boat? It took 10 hours of cleaning with an oxalic acid mixture and I still have half the wind vane and several blocks and fittings to do. Then these all have to be polished to slow down recurrence of rust staining. I have a list of 37 projects to complete on the boat and plan to tackle at least 1 a day for the next couple of months. Some are large and some a few hours long - nothing major.

Last year Rani left New Zealand without saying good bye to the friends with whom we had spent a a good part of a year crossing the Pacific. So, this year, we are busy filling the calendar with potlucks, meetings in bars and restaurants, and drinks on various boats. At last count we will try to fit in 6 engagements in the next couple of days. Then Rani has a bus booked from Opua to Auckland where she flies to Vancouver on Saturday evening. I will stay on the boat and work on boat projects while we figure out what we will do next year. 

Day 8 & 9 - Safe Arrival in Opua

We sailed on a broad reach for the last couple of days of our passage, arriving off the Bay of Islands early on Saturday morning. In the pitch black we motored up the channel to opua, following the excellent New Zealand charts on our computer with me on the bow as a lookout with a bright headlamp. Despite a slight current against us, we had no problem maintaining 3-4 knots of boat speed.

We arrived around 4 am and had a little difficulty coming alongside with a strong current setting Ladybug away from the dock such that I required Rani's help to get her lines on the dock cleats. We had no problems with our kava bowls and baskets and gave up only a few veggies and 1 apple.

We are now anchored up in Russell visiting our friends Holger and Roz who moor their boat here and work as painters in this lovely community. The back bay away from the ferry wharf is a lovely anchorage and very secure. We plan to go down back to Opua on Monday to meet up with our friend on 'Slip Away' and 'Gato Go' who are just coming in from their passage and to visit other cruising friends who now live and work in the area.

Day 7 - Broad Reaching toward Cape North

We spent yesterday under full canvas, broad reaching in a big rolling swell with a pleasant but light westerly wind. Row upon row of low cumulus clouds drifted past us - the type of clouds that look like people and monsters and geological features. At one point a huge middle finger appeared to be directed at us, but this fortunately morphed into a rooster.

The wind continued through the night, but lighter, and we saw the North Cape of New Zealand at dawn this morning.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 34 14 S and 173 16 E with a total 121 NM run in 24 hours, 109 NM made good.

Day 6 - Testing the Rigging and our Patience

Shortly after the morning radio net, we decided that the only way to go to NZ with a light following breeze would be to hoist the spinnaker. We always do this with some trepidation, which has only been increased by our recent forestay breakage. Still, the alternative would be more motoring.

The swells were large and confused - a big 2.5 to 3 meter swell from the gale force winds to the NE of us and additional north and northwest lumps mixed in. This combined with winds of from 2 to 4 knots made setting and flying the spinnaker tricky. When Ladybug was thrown on her side by the swell on her beam, the wind created by this motion would either cancel or accelerate the real wind, causing the sail to collapse or snap open with a bang. This put huge loads on the mast head, furler foil base (where the spinnaker tack is lead through a plastic glove that fits over the furled jib), and the spinnaker sheet. As the wind filled in, this jerky violent motion relaxed and we were able to make about 17 miles over a few hours sailing almost as fast as the wind. The loads we put on our rig during this time give me more confidence that we did a good job with our repairs and that the upper mast section is strong!

As the wind increased, we decided to drop the chute and continue under full main and jib, which we were able to do until 9:30 pm when the wind was so light that we were unable to keep the sailed filled. The big swells were still with us and in order to save damage to the sails and running rigging, we downed sail and motored through the night. Just before sunrise the wind filled in again, this time from the west. We hoisted the main and jib and are running downwind on starboard tack for a change. This was not a forecasted wind direction and perhaps it tells us that we are now sitting above the low trough that we know is currently giving northern New Zealand a pasting.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 32 22 S and 172 40 E with a total 107 NM run in 24 hours, 96 NM made good.

Day 5 - Windless

The wind continued to lessen through the morning still out of the northwest. Around 3pm the wind dropped below that critical threshold where it was enough to prevent us thrashing the sails in the large cross swell rolling in from the nearby low. We turned on the engine and have been motoring ever since, with a short break around supper time for the evening radio net. The forecast shows very little wind between here and New Zealand today, but hopefully something will come up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 31 04 S and 171 33 E with a total 98 NM run in 24 hours, 87 NM made good.

Day 4 - Ships that pass in the night

We were in the vicinity of two low pressure systems for 36 hours, finally coming out of them early this morning. Three reefs in the main and little to no jib for all this time with short lumpy seas making it difficult to move about below without two good hand holds at a time. We heaved to for 6 hours to let the low move further south of us hoping to avoid the higher winds forecast for just below us.

Early this morning the AIS alarm went off, reporting us on a collision course with the bulk carrier "San Francisco" en route from NZ to New Caledonia. I hailed her on VHF and asked her to watch out for us, giving our position, course, and speed. The officer on watch said he would, but the ship continued on her same course and speed and we were required to take evasive action, pulling in the jib and rolling off dead downwind. Even so, we passed well under a mile apart and could have collided had we not altered our course and speed. A half hour later a sister ship was also detected by the AIS on a parallel course to the other carrier. Again we would collide or come extremely close without action, so without bothering to call I turned Ladybug off dead downwind again and we passed about 1/2 a mile apart.

The wind has clocked into the west now and we jibed around 4 am and are running on starboard tack for the first time in 3 days. The seas are still rough amid drizzle and heavy cloud. It is noticeably colder and we are wearing fleeces for the first time. We have both not had much sleep for two days, but hopefully the wind and seas will steady today and we will have a pleasant couple of days as we approach the North Cape of New Zealand.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 29 42 S and 170 55 E with a total 114 NM sailed over 24 hours, 103 NM made good.

Day 3 - Serene to Stormy

Sunday began with a lovely sunrise, blue skies and beautiful beam reaching with 8-10 Knots from the northeast. We even managed to sit in the cockpit for a bucket bath! But, it was not to last. Puffy white clouds dotting the blue sky disappeared and were replaced by a sullen grey cloak and drizzle misted the decks. We watched an old Al Pacino and Robert de Niro movie, "Heat", while the computer could still balance on the dining table and then cooked a large pot of vegetarian chilli.

By mid-afternoon the winds were up to 20 Knots and we had a second reef in the main. The sea had become rougher and Ladybug was bouncing along merrily at 6.5-7 Knots. At 6pm we were in the middle of squally winds gusting over 30 Knots, so we put in the 3rd reef, and furled in most of the jib. The windvane was having issues with the short sharp high swells, so an hour later, we furled in the jib altogether and hoisted the staysail. Chris went out in his undies, a rain jacket and harness as the conditions were very rough with green water washing over the bow constantly.

At night we downloaded another GRIB weather forecast and looked at various scenarios to avoid being stuck in the low. Should we heave-to by pointing NW or East, slow down or run with it? In the end, we decided to run with it as we were going in the right direction. We beared off by a few degrees to avoid being tossed around so much.

At 10 pm, the alarm on the AIS went off. A motor vessel was approaching on a reciprocal course and would pass within 5 miles of us. It was 8 miles away and we could not see it visually. We watched its progress on the small VHF radio screen and were happy to see its lights as it passed us at 5 miles.

At 0320 we heard the staysail flapping. The steering line had broken on the windvane, due to chafing, and the boat had turned into the wind. Using the autopilot temporarily, Chris used the swim ladder hoist line to repair the break and soon had the windvane back in action. Back to the warmth of the cabin!

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 27 36 S and 169 35 E with a total 151 NM sailed over 24 hours, 148 NM made good.

Sanyo Eneloops

I like to promote products that we find to be very useful or particularly good value for money. On Ladybug I we used a lot of AA batteries for things like flashlights, clocks, and the SSB receiver. I found that the performance of NiMH batteries was good for a while, but they rapidly became useless because they would not hold a charge for any sort of reasonable storage period. This was a huge issue with the Pentax digital SLR that I had deliberately purchased because it used AA batteries (and was also water sealed). In researching the problem with this camera, I came across a post on a forum about a new technology that had been applied to NiMH rechargeable batteries by Sanyo that apparently cured the problem of rapid discharge during storage.

I bought a set of these Eneloop 'pre-charged' batteries and have only had to recharge them a couple of times in 2+ years of use in the Pentax SLR (which admittedly gets very light use). I recently bought more of these batteries, some from Duracell (apparently rebranded Sanyos) and have found that they work very well in the handheld GPS and in flashlights and head lamps. Highly recommended - we will be recycling our regular NiMH batteries or using them in very low drain devices like clocks.

You can buy these batteries at Canadian Tire or MEC in Canada. Just make sure the package says "pre-charged" or something to that effect. They cost about $15-$20 for 4 AA batteries.

New Caledonia to NZ - Day 2

We ran downwind much of yesterday on a rhumb line to Opua in less than 10 knot NNE winds. The seas gradually quieted and we had a very pleasant sail under blue skies with occasional puffy cumulus clouds. In the early hours of this morning, the wind freshened and gradually swung into the northeast and we are ploughing along, reefed down on a beam reach at 6 knots.



Our position at 1800 GMT (0500 New Caledonia time) on Sunday Dec 1 was 26 00 S 168 42 E. In 24 hours, we ran 138 miles and made good 124 miles toward our destination of Opua.

New Caledonia to NZ - Day 1

We eased into this 850 mile passage with a relaxed late morning departure from the Isle of Pines. A few hours earlier, three other boats had departed, bound also for New Zealand, but with a possible stop at Norfolk Island en route. We hummed and hawed, weighing the pros and cons of leaving or of staying until Sunday when fair winds were more likely and we should have less chance of running into the two lows that were forecast in the area a few days out. Rani baked a carrot cake and I snorkeled to clean the bottom. We pulled the life raft out of storage and began to make up our ditch bag (which we keep handy in case we need to abandon ship).

By 9 am the breeze was picking up (although this later proved to be only a sea breeze induced by the warming land), so we decided to make a start. We left at 10:20 under sail and once clear of the bay, found a large but well spaced southerly swell setting in and between 3 and 5 knots of wind from the SE. We set up the full main and jib on a close haul and sailed along at a very pleasant 3-4 knots until mid afternoon. Around 3pm the wind began to increase and swing into th east and we threw a reef in the main and switched to the wind vane steering. We were soon bowling along reaching more than 7 knots at times as the wind increased and moved into the northeast. This wind, caused by a high moving away to the southeast of us continued all night at 10 to 15 knots. We have been broad reaching, steering a bit south of a direct line to Opua to position us for when the lows arrive in a couple of days.

Our position at 1800 GMT (0500 New Caledonia time) was 24 10 S 167 36 E. In a little under 19 hours, we ran 97 miles and made good 93 miles toward our destination of Opua.

Leaving Noumea

It is getting late in the season and the chance of a Cyclone (hurricane) crossing our path is increasing. So, once we repaired the rig, we checked out of the marina, dealt with a few more pressing emails, and bought fresh produce and various dry goods for our passage back to Opua, New Zealand. We checked out of Noumea, visiting Immigration, Customs (where we obtained a duty free fuel paper), and the Port Captain who granted our exit papers.

We sailed early yesterday, filling Ladybug's diesel tank and spare jerry cans completely, in case we have further issues with our rig or learn of bad weather that we could avoid by motoring. The forecasts are for the current SW winds to veer into the SE and become light for a few days as a low passes us to the south, so we decided to sail for the Isle of Pines and wait for a weather window there.

On the 14 hour passage to the Isle of Pines, the winds varied from SW to S and from 6 to 20 knots (in gusts). Most of the day we sailed in the protection of Grand Terre's lagoon, enjoying smooth seas. It was peaceful enough for Rani to make a batch of chick pea humus and to enjoy a picnic lunch in the cockpit. The sun was shining and the repaired furler and rig were working well. We had an opportunity to test the rig in everything from a dead downwind run, 'wing and wing', to a beat to windward in 15+ knots. I was a little nervous about the new forestay because this is my first repair of this kind, using Norseman fittings. Every time I heard a noise, I would come up on deck and sight up the mast and check the tension of the stays, but there were no problems.

We broad reached down to the Canal Woodin where we calculated there would be a tidal current against us. Sure enough, as we approached we could see standing waves in the passage indicating wind against tide. I steered close in to the port shore, hoping to stay out of the worst or even catch a counter current. The worst current we saw was about 2 or 2.5 knots, and with a fair following wind, funneling through the channel, we ran through to the entrance to Baie de Prony.

We had heard on Tony's Net (a morning HAM radio net) that there were a group of highly experienced New Zealand bound boats heading for Isle of Pines, so Rani suggested that rather than stop at Prony, we press on. It was another 35+ miles to Baie de Kuto on the Isle of Pines, so there was no way we would make it in before sunset. In addition, the waters between us and the island are strewn with reefs. However the charts are very good here and there is a marked passage used by ferries between Noumea and the Isle of Pines, so we decided to risk the passage and entering the harbour in the dark. We would never have tries this in Fiji where reefs are often uncharted, charts are off by many hundreds of meters, and marked channels few.

The rest of the afternoon we close reached into 10-15 knots of southerly wind passing dozens of reefs on either side. We used the tiller pilot for the whole passage, because the wind vane requires more attention in the event of wind shifts. This makes it more tiring to use when working close to shore because the helmsman must always be watching for wind shifts and adjusting the steering vane. However when using the little tiller pilot, designed to work for boats half our weight, we have to be careful to trim the sails so that it will not be overloaded by too much helm force. We kept at least one reef in the main and at times tucked in a second and furled part of the jib to do this. We also made much use of the main traveller to de-power the main and reduce the tendency of the boat to round up into the wind.

The entry into Kuto was straightforward. There are flashing lights marking a safe approach transit line and the bay shoals up gradually. Using a bright headlamp, I guided Rani to a safe spot to anchor just outside a row of anchored yachts. We will stay here until we have good weather for the passage. Last night's GRIB weather forecast shows that Sunday (three days from now) may be a good departure day.

Forestay and Furler Fixed

Two days ago, I visited Papillon with the bits and pieces of the Profurl furler. Erik had assembled the necessary tools - circlip pliers, regular needlenose pliers, a ball peen hammer,  and a wooden plug usually used for plugging broken through hulls in emergencies. Two hours later, with the use of these tools, a brief interlude to modify a circlip plier with a dremel grinding wheel, and some colourful language, Erik had the unit re-assembled and greased up. Erik grew up on a farm and can fix pretty well anything. He loves a challenge and enjoys helping out other cruisers with their problems. I think his generosity sometimes gets him in hot water on his own boat where there are plenty of projects awaiting his attention!

Up the mast removing the damaged furler and stay.

The mast has slight ripples in the tapered section. I am currently trying to find out if these have always been there (apparently the welding of tapers in aluminum masts can cause slight regular ripples) or if this occurred when the forestay broke. 

I returned to Ladybug in her slip at the marina and with some neighbor's help we lifted the furler off the rails and place it on the main dock. Rani and I removed the mainsail and I took the furler apart into sections, by undoing a series of little grub screws with an Alan key. The sections came apart effortlessly, being joined by well anodized joiners and the screws being bedded in Loctite. One thing I will say for Profurl furlers is that the are fairly easy to work on and fix using non-proprietary parts (the bearings are standard steel ball races and the seals nitrile lip seals with non-stainless springs). Next we laid the old forestay and broken swage alongside the new 7mm wire and Norselock fittings. Some of the foil sections were slightly bent from the loads imposed when the forestay failed while beatings. These were easy to straighten out using gentle pressure with part of the section placed under a dock cleat.

Assembling the Norseman eye fitting. This will attach to the masthead. 

We taped the forestay wires together to make transferring the measurement more accurate. I added an inch extra so that if and when we replace the furler with a new one, we can simply cut off one of the end fittings and re-use the new wire. There is enough slack in the tensioning turn buckle to allow this.

Attaching extra halyards to lift the repaired furler foil and forestay into place

The next day I woke early, re-assembled the furler foil over the new forestay wire by sliding each section on with the bearing unit/joiner  at the end I first inserted. The Profurl foil has plastic bearing sleeves inside each section joiner. This makes it impossible to slide a new wire through a complete foil unless one has the foresight to use the old stay to feed a messenger line, hence the need to disassemble the foil. The re-assembly went smoothly and I used Loctite to refasten the little screws that hold everything together.

Putting on the Norseman end fittings proved to be very simple. You un-lay the outer wire strands for a few centimeters, insert a tapered hollow cone over the core wires to a precise distance from the end and then re-lay the outer wires evenly around the cone, making a bulge in the wire. Then, if you are me, you undo all this because you forgot to put the body of the Norseman fitting on the wire first (I made this same mistake at both ends!). Once this is done, you screw the head onto the fitting and tighten it with two wrenches. You take it all apart to make sure the wire strands are evenly space and re-assemble with a sealant to keep out water.

The sky was quite spectacular yesterday.

Up the mast for the last time, fitting the Windex wind indicator.

We asked our Polish neighbor, Voytek, to help us raise the foil and with three halyards and two control lines, we soon had the foil raised to the masthead. The rest was relatively easy, requiring two trips up the mast to fasten off the forestay and set up the halyard anti-wrap and our new wind indicator. I slid the furler drum over the bottom and tensioned the forestay by feel because we have no gauge.

Everything back together!

We will head out to anchor today and await a good weather window for New Zealand. It looks like we may be another week here because there are low pressure systems and troughs moving across south of us for much of this week.

Roller Furler Progress

Earlier this week I left the damaged roller furler assembly at a machine shop in the industrial are of Ducos, about a half hour bus ride out of central Noumea. After a lengthy conversation in my stilted French, the manager told me to come back on Friday afternoon to pick it up and said he would email me if there was a problem. Hearing nothing I made the trip out to Ducos again yesterday with my friend Erik off Papillon. Eric was interested in visiting the machine shop to see if they could do some aluminum welding in support of a repair to better support his prop shaft.

When we arrived at the shop, the man I talked to brought out the roller furler in much the same state as it was and explained that he could not disassemble it because the drum was forced to one side in the barrel. Erik speaks fluent French and helped translate the bad news. I felt terribly deflated by this. If the assembly was not repairable, we could end up in New Caledonia for the cyclone season or at the very least miss Rani's flight home from Auckland. I thanked the manager for trying and offered to pay for their time, but he declined payment since he could not fix the problem.

Next, we headed off down the hill to visit an aluminum welder that he had suggested for Eric's job. On the way back from this visit, Eric suggested we look into another machine shop on the off chance they could help with the furler. To my surprise, the men in the shop had some knowledge of Profurl furlers and were able to remove the circlip that retains the bearings. They then used a large press to push out the drum and took off the old bearing and additional clips.

We walked for another couple of hours in the hot sun around Ducos, eventually buying a set of very overpriced seals and a bearing race for the furler rebuild job as well as some material for Eric to mock up the aluminum plates he would need for his job.

At least we are making progress. Today we go into the marina to take apart the furler foil and make up the new forestay. Despite being very busy arranging his family's stay in New Caledonia and work in Australia, Erik has offered to help me rebuild the furler. This is a job that requires a vice and some very heavy circlip pliers, neither of which I have on Ladybug. We are fortunate to have the help of such capable and generous friends.

Fromage and Fruit

We have been eating cheese twice a day in Noumea. Why? Because it is quite delicious - creamy Brie, earthy blues and spicy peppercorn Rondele - all served with fresh crusty baguettes - mmmmm! The cost is reasonable - about $3.50 for 250gm of Brie or Camembert and $1 for a baguette  Flavourful canned  Greek black olives imported from Morocco make a favourite accompaniment. You can see the results on my Buddha belly!

On the other hand, the price of fruit and vegetables makes me wince - apples, oranges and bananas cost around 50-60 cents each, aubergine, carrots, courgettes and onions all cost around $4/kg, a small head of cauliflower can set you back $6 and green peppers around $6/kg. Oh, how I miss those heaps of vegetables for $1-2 in Fiji markets. Being a vegetarian is tough in New Caledonia!

Walking with Wild Horses

Horses graze near the bay in which we are anchored

Chris tries to tempt them with a feed of oats

Our friends Roz and Holger had written that there were good walks on Ile Ducos in Baie St. Vincent, about thirty five miles north of Noumea. We anchored in Baie des Mustiques on a windy afternoon between two local yachts and launched our dinghy to explore the nearby beach where our closest neighbours' inflatable was already parked. The hills were parched, with crisp dry grass rustling in the breeze. A couple of houses hid under a cluster of trees a short distance in both directions along the beach and a wire fence, leading up from the low tide line, divided the land. There was a dusty track just above us, so we walked along it toward the nearest house/ranch. An old rusting Dodge truck with surprisingly shiny chrome lights and wipers lay in our path. Low level thorn bushes that reminded us of the Torote Blanco in Mexico's Baja scratched a few etchings on our exposed legs here and there. I was happy to be wearing my hiking boots, but should have worn trousers.

Fossil clam shells on the beach

What looks like a fossil crab

The path was easy to walk, well-trodden by horses as evidenced by their drying droppings, and we reached the stand of niaoulli trees behind the house quite quickly. Not wishing to disturb anyone, we skirted the stand and came out in a flat valley where many trails criss-crossed the grassland. We headed inland and then up a hill onto a ridge. The wind was pleasantly refreshing on the top and we had superb views of the passage we had sailed that morning and saw many possibilities of walking across the island. Small groups of horses,half a dozen to a dozen, grazed on just about every hill on the island. We descended to a forest on the north side of the island where I spied a deer that leapt away at our approach. As the day was late, we returned to
Ladybug for supper and decided on an early start the next morning.

Ile Ducos Panorama

We rowed ashore around 8am when the tide was out and struck out along the beach in the opposite direction to our previous hike. We did not see any signs of life as we walked past a house near the barbed wire fence. However, a small kids' slide on the beach and a flower garden spoke of recent occupation, maybe ranchers visiting from the mainland. The sandy beach turned into a rocky beach with sharp volcanic terraces. We continued along the shore and at one place found fossilized shells in soft sandstone rocks. The fossils were all small clam or scallop shells, except one which appeared to be a crab, with distinct claws and round body.

Horses run from us even though we are close to a km away

A little while later we climbed up the bank and came close to a clan of horses. We had brought along some oats and tried to entice them to come closer. They were very shy and skittish and kept their distance, eyeing us wearily. A few had beautiful shiny brown coats but most looked half-starved with their skin stretched taut over the ribs. A very young foal stood close to its mother and peered at us curiously. I was a little anxious myself while trying to tempt them with an open dish of oats. They were edging away from us but stopped to stare. Then Chris took the oats and crouched down in the grass while I took a few steps back towards the beach. One brave mare slowly approached Chris but turned away as if she thought the better of it. I guess they are not used to people offering them food. So we continued our way up the hills and left them in peace.

Rani hikes into a forest where she saw a deer

We switch-backed up one tall hill and saw a settlement on the lagoon side of the island. There was a palm plantation around the 4 or 5 houses but it was too far away for much detail. The white-capping bay would not be great for fishing boats other than landing small skiffs on the beach. Ladybug was anchored on the opposite, protected side of the island.

The dry  plains here are a stark contrast to the lush jungles of Fiji

It was tempting to continue walking and we hiked along a long undulating ridge to another headland where a herd of goats grazed. Despite trying to approach them from a blind side, they must have seen us from afar and scampered down before we reached their pasture. Piles of manure attested to their preferred hangout and who could blame them? They had a magnificent view all around - the islands to the south, the lagoon to the west, the mainland to the east and their own island laying at their feet. The horses outnumbered the goats (we could count a couple of hundred within our sight) and we wondered where they all went for water.

More horses in motion

After a light picnic lunch at "goat point" we reluctantly began our circuitous tramp home. We had to sail out early the next day to Noumea to check on some overdue important emails. Little did we know of the drama we would endure on that passage (described in a previous blog post)!