Bitter Sweet Recap

Captain Kurt Lorenz and Jamie Orr on the approaches to San Francisco

I am just back from a delivery run from Victoria, BC to San Francisco. The trip was a repeat of the first long passage that Rani and I made on Ladybug in 2008, only this time we took the near shore route and did not stop until we reached Drake's Bay just north of San Francisco. It was a good trip both weather-wise and in terms of crew, but it felt sad to be closing a chapter in our cruising lives, since this will be the last long trip for a while.

Trawler passing astern

Here is a brief synopsis of the voyage, the purpose of which was to deliver Raven, a West Sail 39 owned by friends of ours (Kurt and Nancy) to San Francisco. We met Raven and her owners in Mexico a few years ago and cruised with them on board Ladybug in the Sea of Cortez and on Raven in the Gulf Islands. Nancy did not fancy the trip south, so Kurt asked me and our mutual friend Jamie Orr, to join him for the delivery.

We left Sidney around 10 am on Sunday, motoring south between James and Sidney islands, past the Darcy Islands, and through Baines Channel, past Oak Bay and Trial Island. Crossing the strait to Port Angeles, we cleared customs and bought fresh provisions at a nearby organic market. We departed Port Angeles at dusk and motored to Neah Bay, which we entered around 4 am and tied to the fuel dock.

Jamie piping us into Drakes' Bay

Monday morning we refueled, topping up 6 jerry jugs, which we lashed to shrouds. A fishermen at the fuel dock on a small wood double-ender said we were lucky with the return of summer weather pattern after weeks of lows. He told us that it was usually not a good idea to leave after Sept 15 on this passage.

We motored out of Neah Bay, but soon had the sails set and were beating into a south wind. The wind then died and swung into the NW and we reefed and proceeded south under about half sail. Crew were sea sick and not much cooking was possible. Much fishing traffic that night. Humpbacks and later, gray whales were sighted.

Tuesday
Wind continued N (NW to NE) as we rolled down the coast. We ran off to the south under main and jib, tacking downwind and sailing between 20 and 60 miles out from the coast. As the wind rose to 20+ from the NNE we struck the jib and ran down under prevented 2 reefed main. The 2nd reef line had come undone inside the mast so we tied the clew in with a spare mainsail tie. The below deck autopilot handled the small main well despite following breaking waves.

Morning coffee

Wed-Thurs
The wind rose to 28-32 knots sustained so we turned north into the wind under motor and struck the main. We rolled out about 70 sq feet of jib and ran off under this. Some rolling in seas to 3 meters but much better on the helm and less danger from an accidental jibe. The boat was quite dry with only a few breakers slopping into the cockpit. Took some spray through the open main hatch once. Boards were left in after that. Crew recovered from sea sickness and able to eat hot food and enjoy life again.

Approaching the Golden Gate

Motoring under the Golden Gate Bridge - Video by Kurt Lorenz

Fri-Sat
Wind died to 10 knots and less, directly aft, so after an initial attempt to sail, tacking downwind, we turned on the diesel and motored for 36 hours, hoisting sail near Bodega Bay. We sailed the last few hours into Drakes' Bay, which we reached on Saturday evening, anchoring in heavy fog in company of several boats. We made much use of AIS and radar on our approach.

San Francisco Bay!

Sun
Up at 4 am to motor in fog through salmon fishing boats and under the Golden Gate Bridge its fog shrouded piers just visible. We turned across the shipping lanes and ran to the Presidio area to avoid oncoming commercial traffic. Much use of radar and AIS. Fog thinned and we put out the jib alone to sail dead downwind past Fisherman's wharf, Alacatraz, and Angel island. We passed Treasure Island and ran down to the Berkeley Marine where we tied up in the early afternoon. Commercial shipping was light but there were plenty of yachts to avoid.

Raven safe and sound in Berkeley Marina

Summary
About 800 Nautical miles - Est 64+ hours (approx 3 days) of motoring, 15 hours at 2 docks and anchor, and about 90 hours (3.5+ days) of sailing. The passage from Neah to Drakes took from Monday at about 8 am until Saturday at 6 pm or 5.5 days. We were lucky with having good following winds and clear weather for much of the passage. The GRIB (weather forecast) files we downloaded on passage showed that a low offshore interacting with one below us was causing the stronger winds we experienced, but these disappeared when the Great Basin high returned. So we were able to sail behind the low and use the nice North winds at its top left edge for a few good days.

Food eaten - homemade granola, bread and cheese, pasta and beef/sausage, chili, roast potatoes and omelette, tortilla eggs, potato cheese hash, salads, porridge, chicken coconut curry, many energy bars and 4 large chocolate bars. One bottle of wine and a few tots of whiskey during the last 2 days.

Ladybug II For Sale

Sorry to say that we will be taking a break from cruising for a while. We need to go back to work and want to spend more time with our parents. Ladybug is for sale in New Zealand.

Sentence handed down in Nuku Hiva for murder of cruiser

When we visited French Polynesia en route to New Zealand in 2012, rumours were flying of a German cruiser had recently been murdered and possibly eaten while pig hunting with a local guide. The cannibalism was juicy material for tabloids but was not proven during the trial. This article describes the sentencing of the Polynesian man and outlines what happened.

Our friend, Randall was in the area at the time and has a more detailed report you can read on his blog.

Stormy weather in the bay

Just received an email from friends, Jos and Logan, who have a boat moored next to Ladybug in McLeod Bay. They attached this picture of their boat and a couple of others that was featured in the Northern Advocate, a local newspaper. Ladybug is just out of the picture to the left, and our friends tell us she is still there and OK!

Storm in McLeod Bay, North Island, New Zealand

New Blog

I have started another blog to document some of what we are up to outside of the cruising world. It is called "Go The Wrong Way" and can be found here.

The first main thread will look at the building of a gypsy wagon on our lakefront lot in Nova Scotia. Actual construction will begin in June - I am currently deep into the design phase.

Off to Canada

I am now back in Canada, leaving Ladybug in the capable hands of my friends Jo and Rob in McLeod Bay. Preparing her for her extended stay in New Zealand took a good part of 5 days. The picture below shows the interior 1 day before departure, drying out the spinnaker after rinsing it, packing, and folding other sails. A bit crowded!

This blog will be quiet for a while. We plan to return to New Zealand for the next cruising season.

Limestone Island

Limestone Island is well named - for it is almost entirely made of Limestone. Once the site of a quarry, it is now managed by the municipality of Whangarei with support from a local cement company. There is a caretaker on the island and much work has been down to restore native vegetation, stabilize historic structures, and provide paths and signage. While I was ashore visiting, a tour boat arrived and 20 or 30 visitors rambled around the ruins and walked the paths that circle the island.

I anchored off one of the quarries and rowed ashore, landing on the beach under Victorian ruins of the manager's house. The quarry here is small by modern standards and I am glad that the mainland provided a more suitable place for a quarry early in the last century, preserving this little island for visiting boaters and tourists. Following are pictures I took while walking around the island.

The edge of the quarry reflected in an excavated hollow - now a thriving
 pond. The broad leaved plant is flax, which was once cultivated here and grows all over the island

I like the edgy textures of the rock contrasting with the soft bushes above.

Panorama from the quarry looking toward Whangarei. Onerahi is to the right. A derrick at the water edge was used to load the limestone on barges.

Manager's house. This was abandoned after a decade and the residence moved to the mainland quarry operation. It was re-roofed and occupied in the 1950's by a family who mined limestone here for fertilizer.

House as it would have appeared in the late 19th century. What a difference a roof makes!

Walk to the cement works and lime kilns on the other side of the island. Shipwreck beach lies just past the flax plant.

Iron from the wreck of the Victoria - a coastal scow wrecked here more than 100 years ago.

More great textures and colours (with saturation increased for effect)

Lime kilns used in cement manufacture appear to be in good condition

I love the echo between the curve of the vine and that of the brick arch

The structure of some of the columns is laid bare by the weather making interesting patterns

View back to McLeod Bay with old cement wharf to left

A Maori Pa (hill fort) looks out over the new cement plant on the mainland shore. These wooden survey marks are common in NZ.

Returning along the central ridge - Onerahi to the left. An airport covers the flat top of the hill just out of the frame.

Leaving Limestone Island.

Just half a jib and making 5-6 knots in 20 knots of south wind.

Shopping Triathlon

Living on board an ocean going sailboat at a mooring and going to 'work' every morning is loses some of its novelty after the first few weeks. It feels slightly wrong to stay in one place on a boat that is used to seeing different pastures every week or two. So, rather than do the sensible thing and cadge a ride into Whangarei to do my grocery shopping, I decided to take Ladybug out for a little exercise and sail up the river. The rains had finally let off by early Saturday morning but a thick mist hung over the mountains and the other side of the estuary was but a faint outline.

A tiny breeze filled in around 8 am, so I peeled off the sodden sail cover and hoisted the full main. Of course the wind then went elsewhere, so I made breakfast and waited 'sailing' at the mooring. Around 9, I gave up and turned on the engine, dropped the mooring line and motored past a steel schooner which had just arrived in the bay.

The navigation at the mouth of McLeod Bay is tricky - a sandbar fills much of the bay and then, if you head straight for the channel, another one lies in wait in what looks like perfectly clear water. I checked the chart and ran between the two bars, passing a succession of small fishing boats out for their weekend session.

A very faint waft of SW wind filled in and I optimistically unfurled the jib, but the breeze when elsewhere and half an hour later I resorted to the engine, which got a good run on the trip up to Onerahi. I had intended to anchor further upstream, but the anchorage off Limestone Island looked interesting, especially when a scan with the binoculars revealed it was a DOC park.

The second leg of the triathlon was a row across the river, being pulled gently upstream by the tide. I hauled out Ladybug on a rocky shelf just above the tide line and tied her off to a post. Hoisting a a backpack full of shopping bags and consulting a sketch I had drawn of the roads into central Onerahi, I began the third leg of my triathlon, walking the mile or two up the hill to the town. Much of Onerahi is populated by native (Mauri) - the first place in New Zealand where I have walked through such a community. I was reminded of the south sea islands we had visited when I passed yards full of several families exuberantly sharing a meal on the front lawn and spreading out into the street.

One thing I used to do when I lived a more regulated life was to try to see something unusual and noteworthy each day on my trips back and forth to work. I thought of this on the walk into town and found my noteworthy items in a graveyard. Several graves were in the form of the most beautiful sculptures. One sandstone carving depicted a mother lovingly embracing her boy child - echoes of Madonna and Christ - over the grave of a boy who had died as a teenager.

I picked up some sticky black tape to make a temporary fix to the hatch drip and filled a small cart at the New World, being careful to buy only as much as I wanted to carry back down the hill. The humidity was high and it was sunny and about 28 degrees as I sweated my way back to the dinghy. The waterfront was now full of swimmers and picnicking Maori families. A big fellow swimming off where I had hauled up the dinghy offered to help me put her back in the water, and despite a shoreline of sharp rocks climbed out of the water and lifted in one end of the boat. The kindness of strangers can make life so much easier - it had been a real struggle to get the boat out onto the ledge and the tide had gone out since then.

It rained heavily last night, and the new sticky tape was given a good test. With any luck the hatch will remain water tight until I replace or re-seal it. Today I plan to visit Limestone Island. I will bring a camera and post something on this later.

Wet Times in Port Fitzroy

We have had two days of rainy weather - the first very windy also and the second very wet. I managed a quick walk ashore on the first day, hiking the Warrens Track to some small but pretty waterfalls. This can be done as a round trip using the road to Port Fitzroy from the campground. I approached the falls from above (the route from the village of Port Fitzroy) and missed the round trip aspect of this, which requires that you walk down the stream bed for a ways before finding the trail again. So I walked in again the other way from the campground so as to see the whole loop. A recommended hike if you want something less strenuous than the typical Great Barrier tracks that always seem to climb serious hills

I did not think to lower our solar panels despite the gale force winds forecast. The wind was so gusty where I was hiding under the lee of a high hill that one gust broke the plastic clip I use to suspend a panel. Another gust actually bent the aluminum cross bar that secures the panel to the stanchion rail. I bent it back today, so no harm done, but next time I will bring the panels down and tie them off.

The rain yesterday was impressive and filled the dinghy to the brim. I baled her out around 11 pm and then noted the leak I had been chasing for a while had made its appearance again - dribbling water into one of our clothes closets. We had noted this problem on only one or two other occasions and always after the fact. This time I was able to watch things in action and learned by removing ceiling panels and trim that the leak is the same one I have on my list to fix in the seal around the hatch acrylic lens that is over the passage to the v-berth. The hatches on Ladybug are are good quality (but probably original) Lewmar Ocean Series and the seal has dried out on one. I will see if I can re-bed this before I leave Ladybug. If not, it will be a tape and tarp solution until we get back.

Today the rain and mist cleared and I did a wash to make use of the fresh water. I also hiked to what I thought by its name would be an easy track - the Old Lady Track. Well because of the rain, the streams it crossed required nimble feet and some cunning to stay dry and upright. It also climbed a goodly hill and I took the easy way out on the return trip and walked down the lovely winding road back to Fitzroy.

Panorama from Lookout Rock over Port Fitzroy

Port Fitzroy harbour. Ladybug is just out of sight to the left.

Lovely lush vegetation -  I can see why, with all the rain they get here!

Hike to Hirakimata

Hirakimata as the Maoris call it or Mt Hobson by its English name is the highest peak on Great Barrier Island. A nice day hike can be had from the anchorage in Kairara Bay by landing at Bush Beach and walking in to the Kaiarara Hut and thence up to the Kauri Dams.

Tree Ferns and Tea Trees dominate the lower elevations

Remains of a Kauri Dam. The rivers were dammed to make it easier to transport logs to the sea. The logs filled the dammed pools and were released when there was plenty of water. The resulting cascade was apparently terrifying to behold.

Historical photo of this dam

From the dams you proceed up endless flights of beautifully built stairs until you reach a small viewing platform at the top.

View out over the bays of Port Fitzroy with Little Barrier Island in the distance. Ladybug is somewhere in the center bay.

Wider panorama shows the lush green estuary lands on the other side of the island. There are also impressive beaches on this side. 

This time of year is the season for cicadas to make a real din. I suspect they are mating. The noise is almost deafening in places - a shrill pitched chirp combined with clacking multiplied thousands of times.

Cicada

Kaka - native brown parrot eating insects.

Same kaka. Sorry for the quality of pics - these were the best of about 50 shots if you can believe that.

Coming down I took the gentler route via the South Fork track - longer and still heaps of stairs, but most of the stairs are over quickly (by the time you reach the hut that lies at the head of the valley) The trail then follows the rim of an ancient volcano before joining Forest Road and returning to the Kaiarara hut.

I have been working on re-bedding windows on Ladybug. It takes about three hours for each window and I did the hike today because my hands were so sore from doing two yesterday. I finished another one just after sunset tonight. Only 8 to go.