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.