So far the New Zealanders I have met on the water and land have been delightful.
My latest acquaintances are Richard and Charlotte on the lovely motor yacht D'Urville. We had a spontaneous potluck on board their roomy 70 foot boat last night complete with two types of bubbly, and too much red wine. Richard and Charlotte are neighbors at the Pier 21 marina of Grant, Sebastian, and Lisa, whom I met out at Great Barrier Island just after Christmas. They were spending the holidays there on Lisa's boat, 'Bama Breeze'. Grant and his son Sebastian also live on board a boat in the same marina in central Auckland. I first met them while sailing the Walker Bay, because young Sebastian has the same type of dinghy and sailing rig. He is an excellent sailor and soundly whipped me in a race around the bay. Perhaps feeling sorry for me, Grant and Lisa invited me on board, offered me a drink, and sent me home with a freshly caught Kingfish fillet for supper. Since then we have had meals on board both boats and they have helped me line up a berth for Ladybug so I can meet Rani in a few days.
Another couple on a Beneteau 42 named George and Liz were also remarkably generous and helpful. I mentioned a few posts ago meeting them while hiking on Great Barrier Island. Well they sailed over to the bay I was anchored in after the hike and invited me to come into town (Port Fitzroy) with them on their boat the next day to do some shopping and refill our water jugs. Later they gathered clams and oysters and we had a fresh seafood potluck on Ladybug. They were both very helpful in suggestions about anchoring and cruising in the area as well as getting work done in Whangerei, where George comes from.
Other people I have met only briefly have offered me a place to stay if I visit Tauranga or the Coromandel. This after talking to them for maybe 10 minutes, telling them about our trip to New Zealand. I cannot think of too many places I have cruised where this would happen.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Kawau Island
Ladybug has been anchored in Bon Accord Bay on Kawau Island for the past few days. A strong south westerly wind will keep us here for another day, when the winds are predicted to swing into the north and help us to reach Auckland. Mike and Karen on 'Chapter 2' left this morning bound for Whangerei, where they have arranged to leave the boat while touring New Zealand by car.
Kawau Island was named by the Maori for the handsome white and black cormorant that nests here. The cormorant is a symbol of strength and leadership in Maori culture. The island was home to two distinct Maori groups and was the scene of intense fighting and competition over a type of small spotted shark that was harvested in the waters around the island and could be dried for year long sustenance. Maori sites on the island can be identified by being sited on points with cleared areas and earth works for defence.
The first whites to settle here established a sheep farm in the 1830s, but soon after manganese and then copper deposits were uncovered. The copper was found when people noticed a blue stain on the cliffs in one bay and the rocks in that area still show blue stains (copper oxide I think) where copper is leaching out of the rock. The copper mine shafts were dug under the ocean and a huge steam driven pump house erected to keep the ocean out. The sandstone pump house with its elegant Victorian brick chimney is still standing more than 150 years after it was built. The copper mine only operated for about 10 years in total, but resulted in various settlements totalling 300 people spread over half a dozen coves. A smelter was built across from where I am anchored because the ore was too dangerous to ship abroad due to its high sulfur content which could result in spontaneous combustion.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) owns and runs much of the southwest portion of the island and has developed an excellent network of trails. I have spent three enjoyable days poking around this end of the island, trying out new trails each day.
In the 1860s, Sir George Grey, governor of New Zealand bought the island as a retreat. He extended the copper mine manager's house turning it into an elaborate Victorian mansion. DOC is restoring this property and I went through the house, much of which is still open to the public during this work. The museum contains some original furniture (all rosewood) including several elaborate Victorian pieces with huge lion's claw feet. The panelling in the rooms is Kauri wood, stained red with ox blood. It is not a cozy house with its towering ceilings, dark furniture, and blood stained walls.
Governor Grey brought in exotic species of animals and plants in an effort to find foreign species that would do well in the area's mild climate. This had a predictably devastating effect on the local flora and fauna, but has left an interesting mix of local and foreign trees and plants as well as a few unusual animals.
Before arriving on the island, Grey had traveled extensively in South Africa and Australia. He brought in dozens of types of animals from these continents including 5 types of wallabies (small kangaroos), zebras (which he reportedly used to pull his carriage), deer, peacocks (from India), and monkeys. The zebras did not fare well due to the cold, the deer are now all gone, the monkeys did too well, were judged a pest, and were destroyed. The peacocks are still there and 4 out of the 5 wallaby varieties are still present. I had the pleasure of seeing two wallabies when returning from my walk yesterday around dusk.
The island is also home to two flightless birds - the Kiwi, which is nocturnal, but whose call can be heard at night in my bay, and the Weka, a bird of similar size and colour to the Kiwi, but with a shorter beak. The Weka is omnivorous and will eat just about anything. Active during the day, these birds are a common site, although rare on the mainland where they fall prey to cats and dogs.
The forests of the island are covered in huge pine trees - an introduced species that dominates the canopy. These trees are big - as big as the large rain forest trees on Canada's west coast. I measured one of the typical larger trees at 25 feet in circumference. I would estimate their heights at over 100 feet. Imagine my surprise when counting the rings on some of the fallen trees, to find they were only 45 to 70 years old! A local boater told me that they typically harvest these trees commercially at 25 years.
Tomorrow I hope to sail south to Tirititi Matangi - another nature reserve island, and then on to the volcanic cone of Rangitoto, which I hope to climb before I meet Rani in Auckland on the 16th.
Kawau Island was named by the Maori for the handsome white and black cormorant that nests here. The cormorant is a symbol of strength and leadership in Maori culture. The island was home to two distinct Maori groups and was the scene of intense fighting and competition over a type of small spotted shark that was harvested in the waters around the island and could be dried for year long sustenance. Maori sites on the island can be identified by being sited on points with cleared areas and earth works for defence.
The first whites to settle here established a sheep farm in the 1830s, but soon after manganese and then copper deposits were uncovered. The copper was found when people noticed a blue stain on the cliffs in one bay and the rocks in that area still show blue stains (copper oxide I think) where copper is leaching out of the rock. The copper mine shafts were dug under the ocean and a huge steam driven pump house erected to keep the ocean out. The sandstone pump house with its elegant Victorian brick chimney is still standing more than 150 years after it was built. The copper mine only operated for about 10 years in total, but resulted in various settlements totalling 300 people spread over half a dozen coves. A smelter was built across from where I am anchored because the ore was too dangerous to ship abroad due to its high sulfur content which could result in spontaneous combustion.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) owns and runs much of the southwest portion of the island and has developed an excellent network of trails. I have spent three enjoyable days poking around this end of the island, trying out new trails each day.
In the 1860s, Sir George Grey, governor of New Zealand bought the island as a retreat. He extended the copper mine manager's house turning it into an elaborate Victorian mansion. DOC is restoring this property and I went through the house, much of which is still open to the public during this work. The museum contains some original furniture (all rosewood) including several elaborate Victorian pieces with huge lion's claw feet. The panelling in the rooms is Kauri wood, stained red with ox blood. It is not a cozy house with its towering ceilings, dark furniture, and blood stained walls.
Governor Grey brought in exotic species of animals and plants in an effort to find foreign species that would do well in the area's mild climate. This had a predictably devastating effect on the local flora and fauna, but has left an interesting mix of local and foreign trees and plants as well as a few unusual animals.
Before arriving on the island, Grey had traveled extensively in South Africa and Australia. He brought in dozens of types of animals from these continents including 5 types of wallabies (small kangaroos), zebras (which he reportedly used to pull his carriage), deer, peacocks (from India), and monkeys. The zebras did not fare well due to the cold, the deer are now all gone, the monkeys did too well, were judged a pest, and were destroyed. The peacocks are still there and 4 out of the 5 wallaby varieties are still present. I had the pleasure of seeing two wallabies when returning from my walk yesterday around dusk.
The island is also home to two flightless birds - the Kiwi, which is nocturnal, but whose call can be heard at night in my bay, and the Weka, a bird of similar size and colour to the Kiwi, but with a shorter beak. The Weka is omnivorous and will eat just about anything. Active during the day, these birds are a common site, although rare on the mainland where they fall prey to cats and dogs.
The forests of the island are covered in huge pine trees - an introduced species that dominates the canopy. These trees are big - as big as the large rain forest trees on Canada's west coast. I measured one of the typical larger trees at 25 feet in circumference. I would estimate their heights at over 100 feet. Imagine my surprise when counting the rings on some of the fallen trees, to find they were only 45 to 70 years old! A local boater told me that they typically harvest these trees commercially at 25 years.
Tomorrow I hope to sail south to Tirititi Matangi - another nature reserve island, and then on to the volcanic cone of Rangitoto, which I hope to climb before I meet Rani in Auckland on the 16th.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Double rainbow
One of the advantages of living on the water is that I have seen a lot more rainbows than when I lived inland. As I write this, the bow behind Ladybug arcs over a wooded headland framing a small flotilla of local boats on moorings and the fields and suburbs of Auckland.
Yesterday, I sailed Ladybug across the Hauraki Gulf, leaving Great Barrier Island after an early breakfast. The anchorage had filled up the previous afternoon until I was able to count more than 60 motor yachts and sailboats. Still, I was able to hoist the anchor and dodge out through the fleet under jib. My immediate neighbors on 'Elysium' were enjoying a coffee on the flying bridge of their motor cruiser. They were floating almost over my anchor, so close that I quipped to them that I would have a coffee with cream and sugar, please, as I worked the windlass. Later, I passed them fishing off Motohaku island, as I beat slowly out of Port Abercrombie.
Great Barrier Island protects Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf from the full brunt of the Pacific, but the waters of the gulf can still be quite rough. It is about 50 miles across from the island to Auckland and I reckoned that I would stop that night at Rakino Island, which lies about 10 miles out of Auckland. I had some company on the passage, for several vacationers were already returning after New Year's Day to their berths in and about the big city. I recognized several of the boats with whom I had shared anchorages over the holiday week. Strangely most of the sailboats were motoring and sailing, despite a fair wind that was moving Ladybug along at a pleasant 4 knots.
In the afternoon, the wind and swell began to build and swing behind us into the north. We were soon rolling along at 5-6 knots and I switched over from the autopilot to the more powerful wind vane. A lighter more racy boat that had been gaining on us fell back as the bigger swells slowed her down, shaking the wind out of her sails. I poled out the jib opposite the main, for we were nearly running before the wind, and Ladybug picked up her skirts and settled into a rollicking downwind dance.
In the middle of the afternoon, I put out a call on VHF to Mike and Karen on 'Chapter 2' on the off chance they were still in the area. They answered right away and told me that they were anchored close by on the south side of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. They invited me for dinner, so I altered course 30 degrees and took down the pole (first rule of single-handed cruising is never turn down a dinner invitation!). The wind was building and I quickly pulled in a reef in the main. While Ladybug charged along at 6 - 7 knots, I hurried below to start a lentil/carrot soup for supper, using a good dollop of Rani's pre-made curry spice mixture. Less than two hours later I dropped anchor in Okoromai Bay after a 48 mile crossing - tired and ready for a relaxing evening with my friends.
Yesterday, I sailed Ladybug across the Hauraki Gulf, leaving Great Barrier Island after an early breakfast. The anchorage had filled up the previous afternoon until I was able to count more than 60 motor yachts and sailboats. Still, I was able to hoist the anchor and dodge out through the fleet under jib. My immediate neighbors on 'Elysium' were enjoying a coffee on the flying bridge of their motor cruiser. They were floating almost over my anchor, so close that I quipped to them that I would have a coffee with cream and sugar, please, as I worked the windlass. Later, I passed them fishing off Motohaku island, as I beat slowly out of Port Abercrombie.
Great Barrier Island protects Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf from the full brunt of the Pacific, but the waters of the gulf can still be quite rough. It is about 50 miles across from the island to Auckland and I reckoned that I would stop that night at Rakino Island, which lies about 10 miles out of Auckland. I had some company on the passage, for several vacationers were already returning after New Year's Day to their berths in and about the big city. I recognized several of the boats with whom I had shared anchorages over the holiday week. Strangely most of the sailboats were motoring and sailing, despite a fair wind that was moving Ladybug along at a pleasant 4 knots.
In the afternoon, the wind and swell began to build and swing behind us into the north. We were soon rolling along at 5-6 knots and I switched over from the autopilot to the more powerful wind vane. A lighter more racy boat that had been gaining on us fell back as the bigger swells slowed her down, shaking the wind out of her sails. I poled out the jib opposite the main, for we were nearly running before the wind, and Ladybug picked up her skirts and settled into a rollicking downwind dance.
In the middle of the afternoon, I put out a call on VHF to Mike and Karen on 'Chapter 2' on the off chance they were still in the area. They answered right away and told me that they were anchored close by on the south side of the Whangaparoa Peninsula. They invited me for dinner, so I altered course 30 degrees and took down the pole (first rule of single-handed cruising is never turn down a dinner invitation!). The wind was building and I quickly pulled in a reef in the main. While Ladybug charged along at 6 - 7 knots, I hurried below to start a lentil/carrot soup for supper, using a good dollop of Rani's pre-made curry spice mixture. Less than two hours later I dropped anchor in Okoromai Bay after a 48 mile crossing - tired and ready for a relaxing evening with my friends.
Monday, December 31, 2012
New Years Eve on Great Barrier Island
It is 2013 in New Zealand and New Years Eve was one for the books. I moved Ladybug from Kiwiriki Bay to Kaiarara Bay so that I could access the hiking trail to an historical Kauri logging dam. It took two trips across the bay in the dinghy to find the trail head, which is located at Bushes Beach. Liz and George had told me that many thousands of dollars have been spent on trail upgrades, but I was still surprised at how 'flash' (as the Kiwis say) this trail is. From the picnic site at the beach, the trail rises gently - a full gravel path with a drainage ditch running its length. At intervals, pipes drain water in the main ditch under the trail, and sluices take care of surface run-off. Where the trail passes through wetlands there are beautifully built boardwalks and where it crosses creeks or river valleys, both fixed and suspension bridges. Most of the work is new and to a very high standard, using either stainless or galvanized hardware and plenty of treated wood.
From the beach, the trail runs along the side of a hill above the estuary, eventually dropping down to the river, which it follows first to the Kaiareara hut and then over a suspension bridge and up to a logging dam. The damn was built by lumber men in the early twentieth century to bring down the huge Kauri logs that used to cover these 2000 foot hills. Kauri trees can live for close to 2000 years and can grow to yards in diameter. The logs were floated in the ponds that resulted from the dam. When enough were gathered, a portion of the damn was suddenly released to allow a cascade of log-filled water to plunge down the mountainside.
Past the dam the trail steepened, ascending over 1000 stairs to reach the highest point on Great Barrier Island, the summit of Mount Hobson (Hirakimata in Maori). The visibility was quite good and it was possible to get a good feel for the overall shape of the island and the location of its bays, settlements, and beaches. Later, looking at a map, I saw that the hike I was on was just a tiny part of the extensive trail network that criss-crosses the Great Barrier Forest. You could spend weeks here just on the major hiking trails and forest roads.
I met some sailors who were also hiking the trail and they suggested an alternative route down that was more gentle and passed by a hut just under the summit. We descended to what proved to be a superb 'hut', with running water and gas stove tops. Two bunk rooms led off the main cooking and dining area and we enjoyed views through picture windows back out over the valley from which we had climbed. We had lunch here, sheltered from the chilly ridge-top wind. After a brief rest, I refilled my drinking bottles from the rain water cistern and followed my new friends down the trail. This led through a forest of red-tinged ferns and blosomming tea-trees and out and along the rim of a giant bowl. The views on the descent were remarkable, looking back across what may have been an ancient volcanic caldera. Rani will really enjoy this hike and I have told her to bring tea bags and dried milk to make a cuppa at the hut.
Back at the beach, the sailors I had been hiking with invited me to join them ashore later for a New Years Eve celebration. I took a refreshing swim, rinsed off, made a batch of Burfi - an Indian sweet - and went ashore to see in the New Year. We stood around a beach fire talking about life and our plans for the next year and drinking too much, and generally doing what people do at New Years.
From the beach, the trail runs along the side of a hill above the estuary, eventually dropping down to the river, which it follows first to the Kaiareara hut and then over a suspension bridge and up to a logging dam. The damn was built by lumber men in the early twentieth century to bring down the huge Kauri logs that used to cover these 2000 foot hills. Kauri trees can live for close to 2000 years and can grow to yards in diameter. The logs were floated in the ponds that resulted from the dam. When enough were gathered, a portion of the damn was suddenly released to allow a cascade of log-filled water to plunge down the mountainside.
Past the dam the trail steepened, ascending over 1000 stairs to reach the highest point on Great Barrier Island, the summit of Mount Hobson (Hirakimata in Maori). The visibility was quite good and it was possible to get a good feel for the overall shape of the island and the location of its bays, settlements, and beaches. Later, looking at a map, I saw that the hike I was on was just a tiny part of the extensive trail network that criss-crosses the Great Barrier Forest. You could spend weeks here just on the major hiking trails and forest roads.
I met some sailors who were also hiking the trail and they suggested an alternative route down that was more gentle and passed by a hut just under the summit. We descended to what proved to be a superb 'hut', with running water and gas stove tops. Two bunk rooms led off the main cooking and dining area and we enjoyed views through picture windows back out over the valley from which we had climbed. We had lunch here, sheltered from the chilly ridge-top wind. After a brief rest, I refilled my drinking bottles from the rain water cistern and followed my new friends down the trail. This led through a forest of red-tinged ferns and blosomming tea-trees and out and along the rim of a giant bowl. The views on the descent were remarkable, looking back across what may have been an ancient volcanic caldera. Rani will really enjoy this hike and I have told her to bring tea bags and dried milk to make a cuppa at the hut.
Back at the beach, the sailors I had been hiking with invited me to join them ashore later for a New Years Eve celebration. I took a refreshing swim, rinsed off, made a batch of Burfi - an Indian sweet - and went ashore to see in the New Year. We stood around a beach fire talking about life and our plans for the next year and drinking too much, and generally doing what people do at New Years.
Friday, December 28, 2012
A hike on Great Barrier Island
To celebrate the apparently successful leak fix, I decided to move over to the next harbour over, where there is better access to one of the island's many hiking trails. I am now anchored at the entrance to Kiwiriki Bay, between an off-lying island, which is little more than a tree covered rock, and a most beautiful tree-lined shoreline on my other side. The shore is fringed by the red blossoming 'Christmas Trees' - Putukaua, I believe they are named (although I am no doubt spelling this wrong) as well as Tea trees, which are also blossoming. The bird song in the small bay just to the east is remarkably varied and I spent 15 minutes just floating there and listening in the dinghy on my way to shore.
The hike to Mount Young (it also has a Maori name, which I cannot recall) begins at a beach near the head of navigation in the bay. It follows the bay to the mouth of a river and then winds along this river valley, crossing the stream once via a narrow ford. Tree ferns as tall as 30 feet and Tea trees shade the trail and give it a jungle feeling. Eventually the path leaves the river valley and scales the side of a hill, with little thought to erosion. A few switch-backs would have made this section much easier to climb and saved the trail from destruction. The soil here is a reddish clay and prone to washing away. It was also very slippy after all the recent rains.
I met a family on their way back down who were off one of the smaller sailboats anchored at Kiwiriki. They had set out to reach Mount Young, but found the going too rough carrying a very young baby as well as a 3 year old girl. I admired them for tackling even the first section of this hike with young children. The baby seemed quite taken by the whole experience, but her older sister was obviously bored.
A little further on I met an older couple, Liz and George, who told me they are training for a hike to Everest base camp in May. As we walked together, they told me that this year will be the 60th anniversary of New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Everest. A friend of their's, who is Hillary's niece, will be there for some sort of commemorative celebration later in the year. Liz and George are on a 42 foot Beneteau sailboat anchored a few harbours over from our anchorage. It is interesting how it is mainly the sail boaters who are the hikers. There are loads of power boaters here, but they seem to prefer fishing to hiking in general.
As the trail left the river valley, the flora changed to an attractive open mix of deciduous and coniferous trees - all second growth. Liz pointed out some young Kauri trees (valuable timber now protected and used mainly for fine woodworking and boat building). She also showed me a conifer whose male version has rough needles while the female is smooth to the touch. Reindeer moss appeared in quantity along each side of the path - a sign of a very healthy ecosystem, I have been told.
At a road intersection, I said goodbye to my hiking companions and wished them luck on their trip to base camp. A spur climbed quickly from here to the base of Mount Young's summit and the rest of the path was other rock. The views at the top were amazing - all the more so because most of the trail had been in the woods with only a few sections where there was any view. Mount Young, at 371 meters gives 360 degree views around the island and I could see beaches with smashing surf on the outside and the Coromandel Peninsula guarding the Hauraki Gulf to the south.
The forests in New Zealand are remarkably beautiful. I was told that New Zealand is very much like BC, Canada, but the forests in the north are quite different from those of BC - with a pleasing blend of textures and colours and a slightly tropical feel.
The trip down was much quicker, although I had to be very careful not to slip on the stretches of slick clay where the path must become a river when it rains. This is one place that a good hiking pole or stick would be invaluable!
Back at the boat, I dived in to wash off the sweat and scrubbed off 6 weeks of growth along the waterline. I also found a healthy coating of barnacles on the propeller, which would explain my slow trip between the bays.
I like this island, now that the sun has come out and the boat is no longer doing its best impression of a sieve. I think I may stay here until next year, although by New Years Eve, I have been told there may be as many as 500 boats in this bay! It seems unbelievable, because the place looks crowded to me now with only 30 boats...
The hike to Mount Young (it also has a Maori name, which I cannot recall) begins at a beach near the head of navigation in the bay. It follows the bay to the mouth of a river and then winds along this river valley, crossing the stream once via a narrow ford. Tree ferns as tall as 30 feet and Tea trees shade the trail and give it a jungle feeling. Eventually the path leaves the river valley and scales the side of a hill, with little thought to erosion. A few switch-backs would have made this section much easier to climb and saved the trail from destruction. The soil here is a reddish clay and prone to washing away. It was also very slippy after all the recent rains.
I met a family on their way back down who were off one of the smaller sailboats anchored at Kiwiriki. They had set out to reach Mount Young, but found the going too rough carrying a very young baby as well as a 3 year old girl. I admired them for tackling even the first section of this hike with young children. The baby seemed quite taken by the whole experience, but her older sister was obviously bored.
A little further on I met an older couple, Liz and George, who told me they are training for a hike to Everest base camp in May. As we walked together, they told me that this year will be the 60th anniversary of New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Everest. A friend of their's, who is Hillary's niece, will be there for some sort of commemorative celebration later in the year. Liz and George are on a 42 foot Beneteau sailboat anchored a few harbours over from our anchorage. It is interesting how it is mainly the sail boaters who are the hikers. There are loads of power boaters here, but they seem to prefer fishing to hiking in general.
As the trail left the river valley, the flora changed to an attractive open mix of deciduous and coniferous trees - all second growth. Liz pointed out some young Kauri trees (valuable timber now protected and used mainly for fine woodworking and boat building). She also showed me a conifer whose male version has rough needles while the female is smooth to the touch. Reindeer moss appeared in quantity along each side of the path - a sign of a very healthy ecosystem, I have been told.
At a road intersection, I said goodbye to my hiking companions and wished them luck on their trip to base camp. A spur climbed quickly from here to the base of Mount Young's summit and the rest of the path was other rock. The views at the top were amazing - all the more so because most of the trail had been in the woods with only a few sections where there was any view. Mount Young, at 371 meters gives 360 degree views around the island and I could see beaches with smashing surf on the outside and the Coromandel Peninsula guarding the Hauraki Gulf to the south.
The forests in New Zealand are remarkably beautiful. I was told that New Zealand is very much like BC, Canada, but the forests in the north are quite different from those of BC - with a pleasing blend of textures and colours and a slightly tropical feel.
The trip down was much quicker, although I had to be very careful not to slip on the stretches of slick clay where the path must become a river when it rains. This is one place that a good hiking pole or stick would be invaluable!
Back at the boat, I dived in to wash off the sweat and scrubbed off 6 weeks of growth along the waterline. I also found a healthy coating of barnacles on the propeller, which would explain my slow trip between the bays.
I like this island, now that the sun has come out and the boat is no longer doing its best impression of a sieve. I think I may stay here until next year, although by New Years Eve, I have been told there may be as many as 500 boats in this bay! It seems unbelievable, because the place looks crowded to me now with only 30 boats...
Leaks and underwater epoxy
For the second time, I dismembered the aft starboard side of the boat to try to determine where a persistent leak was coming from. In modern fiberglass boats, keeping salt-water from entering the hull is relatively easy, but keeping rain or salt spray from getting below from the deck area is much more difficult. The hull on our boat is almost seamless. It was made in two halves which were joined down the middle - 'welded' together by resin and glass fibers. The deck, while also in one piece is pierced in hundreds of places by fasteners, windows, and hatches. One area that I had not had any issues with until now is the join between the hull and the deck. This is a flange, strongly through-bolted and bedded in a flexible compound. However it turns out that this is where the current leak was located.
Fortunately on our boat it is possible to remove panels from overhead. The Coast 34's were manufactured in one yard and sometimes fitted out - that is, they had their rigging, sails, and interiors completed, elsewhere. Unlike many mass-produced boats, the Coasts do not have a moulded interior liner, which would have made getting at the hull to deck joint virtually impossible without major surgery to the interior. Instead, I had to remove the single sideband and VHF radios, the GPS, release some wiring from its ties, and unfasten the wooden panel into which the electrical panel and radio are mounted. This allowed me to slide out one ceiling panel, which lies over the navigation station. The other panel over the quarter berth requires only removal of trim pieces and some electronic wire fasteners.
Once the panels were out, I could see that the re-bedding of the genoa track had not fixed the leak. When I had last done this, it had not been raining and I had foolishly assumed that water was getting in through the track, based on a pattern of wetness on the ceiling panels and from where it ran down the sides of the quarter berth area. I should have tested this with a bucket or two of water, but I was impatient. In fact, the work I did on the track only made things worse and I ended up re-bedding a couple of bolts in the track that I had not bedded adequately.
The real culprit turned out to be an area where the hull to deck flange was broken up by a moulded in scupper. The scupper is what drains the deck water outside and there is only one on each side. At this point the flange is not continuous and I saw patches of improperly bonded fiberglass on either side of the scupper. Either someone had tried to fix this leak before or the original glassing job was not adequate and had gradually lifted away from the hull. I could see that water was leaking from a small gap behind one of these patches where the hull and deck came together.
The fix I carried out was to cut away all loosely bonded fiberglass with large and small chisels and remove the excess sealant in this area. It would have been nice to use a small grinding wheel to really clean up the surface, but the access was too small for the smallest wheel I had as a drill attachment. This is where a Dremel type tool would have been useful. I then cleaned up the area with solvent and mixed two batches of two part underwater epoxy, which I applied and worked into the gap with a Popsicle stick and my fingers. Ordinary white vinegar can be used to clean up epoxy before it cures - very useful when your fingers are covered in the stuff.
Ideally, I would have waited for the area to dry more completely and used regular epoxy with fiberglass reinforcement. However, given the weather forecast for the next week, I would be stuck here waiting for at least that long with no guarantee I would have better conditions in the following weeks. Underwater epoxy allowed me to make a proper bond in the presence of moisture. This stuff has saved my butt (and my boat) a couple of times before and was also invaluable in repairing 'C'est La Vie' after she went on the reef in Samoa. I have applied it underwater to a damaged rudder and one of our friends applied it to underwater holes up to one inch in diameter on C'est La Vie's hull. Highly recommended for you boating toolkit.
Knock on wood, my repairs seem to be water-tight. It is now raining outside and I see no signs of water dribbling over the back of the radios or into the quarter-berth! Hooray!
Fortunately on our boat it is possible to remove panels from overhead. The Coast 34's were manufactured in one yard and sometimes fitted out - that is, they had their rigging, sails, and interiors completed, elsewhere. Unlike many mass-produced boats, the Coasts do not have a moulded interior liner, which would have made getting at the hull to deck joint virtually impossible without major surgery to the interior. Instead, I had to remove the single sideband and VHF radios, the GPS, release some wiring from its ties, and unfasten the wooden panel into which the electrical panel and radio are mounted. This allowed me to slide out one ceiling panel, which lies over the navigation station. The other panel over the quarter berth requires only removal of trim pieces and some electronic wire fasteners.
Once the panels were out, I could see that the re-bedding of the genoa track had not fixed the leak. When I had last done this, it had not been raining and I had foolishly assumed that water was getting in through the track, based on a pattern of wetness on the ceiling panels and from where it ran down the sides of the quarter berth area. I should have tested this with a bucket or two of water, but I was impatient. In fact, the work I did on the track only made things worse and I ended up re-bedding a couple of bolts in the track that I had not bedded adequately.
The real culprit turned out to be an area where the hull to deck flange was broken up by a moulded in scupper. The scupper is what drains the deck water outside and there is only one on each side. At this point the flange is not continuous and I saw patches of improperly bonded fiberglass on either side of the scupper. Either someone had tried to fix this leak before or the original glassing job was not adequate and had gradually lifted away from the hull. I could see that water was leaking from a small gap behind one of these patches where the hull and deck came together.
The fix I carried out was to cut away all loosely bonded fiberglass with large and small chisels and remove the excess sealant in this area. It would have been nice to use a small grinding wheel to really clean up the surface, but the access was too small for the smallest wheel I had as a drill attachment. This is where a Dremel type tool would have been useful. I then cleaned up the area with solvent and mixed two batches of two part underwater epoxy, which I applied and worked into the gap with a Popsicle stick and my fingers. Ordinary white vinegar can be used to clean up epoxy before it cures - very useful when your fingers are covered in the stuff.
Ideally, I would have waited for the area to dry more completely and used regular epoxy with fiberglass reinforcement. However, given the weather forecast for the next week, I would be stuck here waiting for at least that long with no guarantee I would have better conditions in the following weeks. Underwater epoxy allowed me to make a proper bond in the presence of moisture. This stuff has saved my butt (and my boat) a couple of times before and was also invaluable in repairing 'C'est La Vie' after she went on the reef in Samoa. I have applied it underwater to a damaged rudder and one of our friends applied it to underwater holes up to one inch in diameter on C'est La Vie's hull. Highly recommended for you boating toolkit.
Knock on wood, my repairs seem to be water-tight. It is now raining outside and I see no signs of water dribbling over the back of the radios or into the quarter-berth! Hooray!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Christmas at Great Barrier Island
I am anchored in lovely Wairahi Bay on Great Barrier Island. My friends, Mike and Karen, on 'Chapter 2' are anchored nearby and we are spending Christmas here together.
The passage from the North Island of New Zealand was slow but mostly pleasant. The wind died down around 1 am and swung into the SE and I tacked slowly out to the island, putting in a couple of extra tacks to avoid one end of Little Barrier Island. A 3/4 moon helped light the way and later when it set, my wake kicked up alarmingly bright jets of phosphorescence. Overnight sailing on your own is made difficult by the temptation to sleep. I took short naps starting around 5 am with the alarm clock set to wake me every 15-20 minutes. It was a good thing I did keep a watch as a freighter inbound for Auckland passed within 1/2 a mile of us around 2 am.
I dropped the hook first in Kiwiriki Bay around 8 am, having first looked into all but one of the inlets of Port Fitzroy for my friends on 'Chapter 2'. We had provisionally agreed to meet here for Christmas, but I had not received a confirmation from them and my last email to them had mentioned I would likely stay in McCleod's Bay. However, after I anchored, I tried a call on the VHF and they answered right away. They were anchored around less than a kilometer away, just out of sight of my casual reconnaissance. I pulled up the hook and slipped around the corner to Wairahi Bay.
Later that day I rowed ashore and hiked up the hill following a cow path. The trail came out on a 4WD road, which led to pastures on the south side of the island looking back towards Little Barrier Island. Much of the land here is over-grazed, with poor sandy soil that erodes easily when stripped of its natural vegetation. Several hundred acres of pasture appeared to support only a few cattle. I walked along the rugged south coast - fringed by sea cliffs, pebble beaches, and dotted with crimson flowering 'Christmas Trees'. The coastal trail ended at a pebble beach where a lone kayaker was camped, presumably enjoying a reclusive Christmas. He answered my greetings with a "How are you going?" (a common New Zealand greeting) and disappeared immediately into his tent. I found another road leading up from the beach that, by pure luck, led directly back to the pasture above my dinghy landing.
The rain began the next day as the remains of cyclone Evan passed overhead, My re-caulking job on the genoa track began to leak worse than it had before I made the repair and so far I have gone through 3 towels trying to stem the flow. Hopefully the rain will abate on Boxing Day and I can locate and caulk the leaks.
Christmas Eve was blustery and wet, but I prepared a dinner of Chicken and vegetable crepes, herbed rice, and a Greek salad which I shared with Mike and Karen. Today - Christmas Day - I spent most of the day on board 'Chapter 2', first enjoying champagne and smoked salmon for breakfast and later roast lamb and all the trimmings for dinner, topped off with a light repast of cheeses and port in the evening. In between all the fine dining, we watched a movie and discussed our plans for the next few years. I wish Rani could have been here to share this wonderful day, although she would not have been impressed by how far I have fallen off the wagon as a vegetarian!
The passage from the North Island of New Zealand was slow but mostly pleasant. The wind died down around 1 am and swung into the SE and I tacked slowly out to the island, putting in a couple of extra tacks to avoid one end of Little Barrier Island. A 3/4 moon helped light the way and later when it set, my wake kicked up alarmingly bright jets of phosphorescence. Overnight sailing on your own is made difficult by the temptation to sleep. I took short naps starting around 5 am with the alarm clock set to wake me every 15-20 minutes. It was a good thing I did keep a watch as a freighter inbound for Auckland passed within 1/2 a mile of us around 2 am.
I dropped the hook first in Kiwiriki Bay around 8 am, having first looked into all but one of the inlets of Port Fitzroy for my friends on 'Chapter 2'. We had provisionally agreed to meet here for Christmas, but I had not received a confirmation from them and my last email to them had mentioned I would likely stay in McCleod's Bay. However, after I anchored, I tried a call on the VHF and they answered right away. They were anchored around less than a kilometer away, just out of sight of my casual reconnaissance. I pulled up the hook and slipped around the corner to Wairahi Bay.
Later that day I rowed ashore and hiked up the hill following a cow path. The trail came out on a 4WD road, which led to pastures on the south side of the island looking back towards Little Barrier Island. Much of the land here is over-grazed, with poor sandy soil that erodes easily when stripped of its natural vegetation. Several hundred acres of pasture appeared to support only a few cattle. I walked along the rugged south coast - fringed by sea cliffs, pebble beaches, and dotted with crimson flowering 'Christmas Trees'. The coastal trail ended at a pebble beach where a lone kayaker was camped, presumably enjoying a reclusive Christmas. He answered my greetings with a "How are you going?" (a common New Zealand greeting) and disappeared immediately into his tent. I found another road leading up from the beach that, by pure luck, led directly back to the pasture above my dinghy landing.
The rain began the next day as the remains of cyclone Evan passed overhead, My re-caulking job on the genoa track began to leak worse than it had before I made the repair and so far I have gone through 3 towels trying to stem the flow. Hopefully the rain will abate on Boxing Day and I can locate and caulk the leaks.
Christmas Eve was blustery and wet, but I prepared a dinner of Chicken and vegetable crepes, herbed rice, and a Greek salad which I shared with Mike and Karen. Today - Christmas Day - I spent most of the day on board 'Chapter 2', first enjoying champagne and smoked salmon for breakfast and later roast lamb and all the trimmings for dinner, topped off with a light repast of cheeses and port in the evening. In between all the fine dining, we watched a movie and discussed our plans for the next few years. I wish Rani could have been here to share this wonderful day, although she would not have been impressed by how far I have fallen off the wagon as a vegetarian!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tempting Fate
Well it is Dec 21, 2012 - the day the world is supposed to end, at least by some accounts. However, I was recently informed that while the Mayan calendar ends today, in fact, it just rolls over and starts at the beginning. So all those 5 year plans we made back in 2007 in anticipation of this being the last day may need to be re-thought...
It is also a Friday (here on the west side of the date line), so the fact that I have left on a trip out to Great Barrier island could be seen as tempting fate in two ways. I guess if the world is going to end today, I might as well be sailing, doing something I enjoy, when it happens...
I had planned to lay low in McCleod Bay, but the weather is better than expected and my friends Jo and Rob have their own plans for Christmas, so rather than be a third wheel, I figured I would make tracks. It feels great to be on the ocean again. There is a long slow swell moving Ladybug in a gentle rhythmic roll and the wind is a perfect light North Easter. I left on the afternoon ebb tide and will make an overnight passage. I will probably heave to until dawn rather than try to anchor in the moonlight.
It is also a Friday (here on the west side of the date line), so the fact that I have left on a trip out to Great Barrier island could be seen as tempting fate in two ways. I guess if the world is going to end today, I might as well be sailing, doing something I enjoy, when it happens...
I had planned to lay low in McCleod Bay, but the weather is better than expected and my friends Jo and Rob have their own plans for Christmas, so rather than be a third wheel, I figured I would make tracks. It feels great to be on the ocean again. There is a long slow swell moving Ladybug in a gentle rhythmic roll and the wind is a perfect light North Easter. I left on the afternoon ebb tide and will make an overnight passage. I will probably heave to until dawn rather than try to anchor in the moonlight.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Merry Christmas
Rani and I wish all our blog readers a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2013.
Rani is visiting her family and friends in England and I am still moored in McCleod's Bay. I have been having a lot of fun visiting with Jo and Rob off 'Blue Moon' who have a place overlooking this bay as well as with Holger and Roz, from 'Melody' who split their time between their boat on a mooring in Russell and an off-the-grid farm a little inland from here.
I had hoped to go out to the nearby islands for Christmas, but the forecasters are calling for a week of wet and windy weather. There is a cyclone in the area (the same one that hammered Samoa and Fiji) so I will probably stay put for Christmas.
Rani is visiting her family and friends in England and I am still moored in McCleod's Bay. I have been having a lot of fun visiting with Jo and Rob off 'Blue Moon' who have a place overlooking this bay as well as with Holger and Roz, from 'Melody' who split their time between their boat on a mooring in Russell and an off-the-grid farm a little inland from here.
I had hoped to go out to the nearby islands for Christmas, but the forecasters are calling for a week of wet and windy weather. There is a cyclone in the area (the same one that hammered Samoa and Fiji) so I will probably stay put for Christmas.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Manta Ray video from Suwarrow
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