Passage to NZ: day 7

Date: Nov 7, 2014
30° 21' S 175° 57' E
24 hour run: 115nm
Previous 24 hour run: 75nm
Previous Previous 24 hour run: 108nm
Water Temp: 66
Log: 16391
Distance to go: 300nm (straight line to Opua, my destination port in NZ.)

This is being written in the afternoon of the 7th, and will be sent out tonight when the SSB frequencies I need are less noisy - they are pretty noisy these days. Could be sun spot, weather or some other cause.

I went through the trough on the 5th. Before it arrived, the winds turned northerly at low teens strength. I went through one side of the trough, and as I was fairly high on it, the winds simply turned NW for a while. Then the wind died off for two hours and then came back as south, eventually backing around to SE. A typical southern hemisphere trough! I lowered my sails when the wind died, and eventually, after one of my sleep cycles at night I heard the wind arriving and I was able to raise a sail, get turned around and then raise the other. Knowing the weather forecast and what to expect is so nice. I knew the trough was moving east and the calms wouldn't last long, so waiting was an option.

When I was in the NW wind section of the trough I came across my first ship on this journey - an AIS contact 45 minutes away, freighter, traveling at 12 knots. I first saw it on AIS at 12nm away and almost immediately my AIS unit started its buzzer warning me of a collision alert. It was calculating a closest point of approach at 1 mile ahead, then 0.5 miles behind, then 0.5 miles ahead, 1 mile behind etc - as my boat would ride the waves the solution was changing but when it becomes random, close and on alternating sides - ahead, behind, that's a good sign I needed to change something. I waited 10 minutes, the CPA stayed as random so I altered course, passing it port-to-port 1/2 hour later. I spoke with them, they saw my signal at 7nm, which seems typical for small boats like me. AIS pays off again.

Once I was clear of the trough the winds were expected to back around to the SSE, SE, ESE, and east, then hover between east and ESE for four or five days. My trouble was that with taking the trough high, and then going through the south winds, I had ended up further west than expected. Since then I've been sailing into the wind, as close to the wind as possible in order to make more southing. This is working, although sailing close to the wind as I am is not nearly as comfortable. Last night was the first night of the trip I didn't bother making a 'good' meal for dinner - I opened a can of Dinty Moore stew, added a can of corn, heated it up, added a few crackers and that was that. Even doing that is an effort. Moving around the boat is an effort. Every movement has to be planned and it ends up being very physical sailing in these conditions. Too bad all sailing can't be downwind.

In one day I had gone from warm downwind sailing, sailing in shorts and a t-shirt day and night, barefoot to something a little more harsh. I'm wearing shoes again - you end up bracing more strongly, more often with your feet when upwind, and you don't want to break a toe... The south wind has brought cold from antarctica, or so it feels like, so I'm wearing pants and four layers on top, with a light toque. I'm already missing the tropics.

I should add a note about these sailing conditions. I know some people who are considering going cruising read this blog - Hello! The vast majority of the sailing on this coconut milk run is really nice. At the moment, its not, it happens. Luckily, it doesn't happen that frequently, but when you do happen to need to sail through some weather to get somewhere, there is no turning it off. You can often heave to in order to avoid weather, but on this passage the longer you hang around this area the more likely you are to be hit by something really nasty. What I'm in is not as fun as going downwind but is nothing compared to what you can get in this area at this time. In fact, what I'm in is really nothing - upwind in 4 to 5 foot seas with the wind 10 to 20 - and I've seen the wind at all those strengths, back and forth, so reefing, unreefing, trimming. Its real sailing. This would be ideal for a nice afternoon daysail. But this sailing isn't daysailing and you've got to respect it. If you are outfitting a boat for these conditions make sure you have a solid handhold to grab everywhere. In the head, every path you may need to walk in the cabin, getting up to the cockpit, and in the cockpit. When I go up from down below to the cockpit I never carry anything - I put what it is I'm taking up and place it on the companionway top step, then brace myself carefully while very deliberately placing my feet, hands, then elbows and forearms. The boat will and often does suddenly move in an unexpected direction. The handholds need to be strong enough to support your weight and placed such that if you were to put your weight onto them you wouldn't dislocate an arm in the process. My dodge is super strong with plenty of handholds, make sure your cockpit has lots to grab onto. If you have weather cloths put them outside the lifelines. Sailing in these conditions resembles a carnival ride, the ones where you get bounced around, leaning this way and that, jumping up and down. Except once you are in these conditions and going somewhere there is no getting off - you're committed. Eat well, get plenty of rest, look after yourself and the boat, and try to stay amused. And remember, that it won't last forever, that the boat is well maintained and strong and that you are the weak link. I try not to let Luckness down during these periods. Anyway. Most sailing is really nice. I'm doing fine Mom, really! I realized recently that most of my writing about sailing is 'all good', I'll try to add some of the not-so-good to balance it out. I continue to have a lot of respect for this Crealock designed and Pacific Seacraft built boat, they got so much, so right.

I think I have 3 1/2 or 4 days left. This sailing close to the wind is slowing me down and I'm unsure the weather will cooperate with its forecast, so I'm going to overshoot my ideal bearing to Opua so that if the wind veers around I won't need to tack to get there. So far, I haven't had to run the engine on the passage, it would be sweet to arrive having sailed the whole way.

All is well onboard.

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Passage to NZ: Day 4

Date: Nov 5, 2014
27° 27' S 178° 37' E. (East!)
24 hour run: 140nm
Previous 24 hour run: 133nm
Water Temp: 71
Log: 16161
Distance to go: 513nm (straight line to Opua, my destination port in NZ.)

This is being written at 6am, which makes it still day 4, although day 5 is only 4 hours away.

The sailing so far has been wonderful. I think I'll look back on it and realize this has been the easy part of the trip. The winds have been mainly from the ESE and E initially, and overnight they have started to back around toward the N where they are blowing from now.

There is a weather feature up ahead, looks like a trough - an elongated low. I'll pass through it tonight or early tomorrow, after which the winds will come from the south and then clock around to be more easterly again. After that, there will be one more weather feature I may need to deal with, there may be a high centered on the northern tip of NZ, in which case there will be no wind in the area. From yesterday's GRIB weather data, it looked like I could slow down a little and then when I arrive in that area the high may have moved along and there will be wind. Fortunately (?) the wind where I am has turned a little lighter and I have indeed slowed down. I have been making a consistent 5.5 - 6+ knots on the trip up until last night, currently I'm doing 4 to 5 knots.

When I left the Vava'u group I thought I had the perfect weather window for the trip. Two days later I had changed my mind, as the GRIBs were showing a much more confused jumble of light wind, highs and lows in my path. Yesterday the GRIBs had changed again and I started seeing a reasonable path through everything which I could sail - I could turn on the engine at any time to power through light wind, but I would rather not if I can avoid it. Its part of the game. The other part of the game is to arrive in NZ before any really bad weather arrives in the area, as it has a tendency to do, and so far I'm looking good there. I'm not sure if there is a lesson in how fast the weather is changing other than that it is a challenging weather passage, as everybody who sails it knows.

I had a little squall yesterday, but aside from that its been beautiful sailing so far.

All is well onboard.

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Passage to NZ: day 2

Date: Nov 2, 2014
22° 44' S 178° 16' W
24 hour run: 156nm
Previous 24 hour run: 150nm
Water Temp: 78. Water temp in Vava'u: 82deg
Log: 15857
Distance to go: 970nm (this distance is along an approximate route, which I won't follow too closely..)

I'm two days out from Vava'u, heading approximately toward New Zealand, and all is well. The sailing so far has been fast and good. The days are warm although the nights are cooling down a little. This is the easy part of this passage, the weather up here is still pretty organized, lots of east and east-south-east winds right now.

I've decided to not stop at Minerva Reef. The weather patterns right now are changing quite a lot each day, but I generally like continuing on over stopping at the reef. I have heard really good things about the reef and it would be fun to join the Minerva Reef Yacht Club, and anybody who stops there can claim membership, but I think I'm better off continuing this journey.

I'm downloading weather forecasts, GRIB files, once a day. Their forecast keep changing and I think if I were to wait at the reef until they were perfect it could be quite a wait. A number of boats at the reef left yesterday and today. Yesterday the weather forecast looked a little more organized, I would have to cross one front a few days from now and then might have been able to make it into NZ without crossing another front. Now it looks like I may have to go through two of them. Things keep changing each day and I suspect a few days from now I'll have more detail on what to expect. Nothing I've seen so far looks too uncomfortable, although there is some light wind ahead of me and unless I motor quite a distance that might not be much fun.

I'll try to post again in a few days, but as usual, if I stop posting, please, nobody panic. There are lots of reasons why my ability to post could be compromised while at sea.

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Tonga Part 2 and onward

I've been in Tonga for almost 3 months now, its been a good stay but its time for me to move along. When I first arrived I thought that I needed to be out of Tonga, to be safe from the cyclone season, by around the first of November. After talking to many people here, I've learned that the people who sail a lot between New Zealand and Tonga often wait until the end of the month, they sail in late November to New Zealand. However, I've been wanting to move along for a little while now, and I think my weather opportunity is coming up.

I was preparing to leave a little over a week ago, but watching the weather systems develop I didn't like the look of the weather window that was opening, and so skipped that one and have been waiting to see what the next one looked like. I like the look of this next weather window, and will make the final call on it tomorrow morning to either stay or go.

There is a definite feeling of the place starting to close down here. One of the popular cruisers hangouts, The Aquarium, has changed its hours from 7 days a week to 6, and from 9am to late to the new hours of 2pm to late. Whale watching boats are coming out of the water, the mooring field has thinned out dramatically. There is still the occasional boat that arrives, but more boats are leaving these days. I heard on a SSB radio net this morning that there are 13 boats currently at Minerva Reef waiting for a weather window to continue on to New Zealand. 13 boats are in Tongatapu, the southern most group of islands in Tonga, waiting for a chance to sail to Minerva. The exodus is clearly on.

Minerva Reef is a stop along the way to New Zealand, roughly 4 days from where I am, leaving roughly 7 days remaining. It can make a nice stop along the way to wait until the weather develops until you like it, and then continue. It sounds like a beautiful reef, with an easy, large, deep entrance and good anchoring inside. I may stop at Minerva, but also may continue depending on how the weather systems look. Minerva sounds a little like Beveridge Reef, which I enjoyed so much, although Minerva sounds more comfortable as the reef is higher and offers more protection that at Beveridge.

Weather between this area and New Zealand is a little tricky, as there are migrating highs and lows which come from the west over Australia, traveling east, in a continual stream. There is low followed by a high, followed by a low, then high, etc. Each weather system is slightly different, with the highs being higher pressure or slightly lower, and further north or south, or wider or narrower, The same with the lows, they can be deeper, in higher latitudes, faster, more elongated, etc. The trick is that the lows are roughly a week apart, and it takes me around that long to travel from Minerva reef to New Zealand. You don't really want to approach New Zealand and be slapped by a front, as that will leave you with SW winds afterwards, then S, making travel towards the destination rather challenging. There are different strategies I've heard, and I'll choose something that makes sense to me at the time, depending on what I'm seeing in the weather forecasts as I approach Minerva.

Sorry, no pictures this time.

My next post will likely be from sea, when I'm underway. As usual, if my blog posts while underway stop, please, nobody panic. There are lots of reasonable reasons why I may not be able to send my blog posts out.

New Zealand, here I come!

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