Leg 4

NZ-Tahiti Leg 4

10 Oct 2008

We drifted all night with a gentle N breeze. At 7 AM there was some useful wind but was from the NE, exactly the direction that we wanted to travel. However, by 8 AM after we had finished our breakfast the wind had veered to the SE and we resumed sailing with full main and jib. We had lay ahull for 15 hours and lost 8.5 nm miles from our southerly drift.

It was a cloudy and drizzly day. Soon we thought that there was enough precipitation to allow us to collect water so we put in a reef to get a fold in the sail. The first taste of water was very salty but soon the sail was rinsed and we started to collect water. It was a slow process because we were working with drizzle and not rain. But pot by pot we collected 60 liters off good water in about 90 minutes. 50 liters went into the starboard tank and 10 liters went into a portable plastic container for washing. By the time the process was over my clothing were soaked under the wet weather gear so I took advantage of the need to change into fresh dry clothes by having a quick cockpit bath with salt water followed by fresh.

11 Oct 2008

At 1 AM we dropped sail for lack of wind. At that point we were 300 nm from Raivavae.

At 1.30 PM a steady wind and moderate wind sprung up. Unfortunately of all the points on the compass this wind was coming directly from our destination or Raivavae. We spent the rest of the day beating to windward. That was fine at first because the sea was still relatively calm and I was able to lash the tiller to let Pachuca steer herself. However, we were not able to steer within 40 degrees of our destination.

12 Oct 2008

It was another hard day of beating. With the effect of lee drift, the adverse constantly knocking our bow to the side and occasionally stalling the boat, and an adverse current that we estimate to be at least 1 kt our tack-to-tack spread has been a dismal 130 degrees. We have been doing little more than holding our ground until we get a fair wind. As of noon we were about 230 miles from Raivavae.

This is the first serious adverse current that we have encountered so far in our journey. I have looked at the charts and we had favorable currents across the Bight, Bass Strait, the Tasman, and down the east coast of the north island of NZ. We had minor adverse currents around Cape Naturaliste and the leg from Bass Strait to Eden.

The fabled SE trade winds have not materialized even though we are well north of latitude 30 degrees. The procession of low pressure zones south of us and high pressure zones around latitude 30 degrees seem do dominate the wind flows.

13 Oct 2008

This was a third day of beating against that stubborn N/NE wind. Beating is not the proper word because from before dawn the wind was so weak that he had trouble maintaining steerage – the slightest correction required a full lock of the helm. At lunch time I hove to because I figured that with a speed of just over 2 kt steering over 30 degrees from Raivavae we would not lose much. After lunch we found that the wind had dropped even more. I used the lull to track down a leak over the galley stove. I removed the ceiling over the stove and put controlled amounts of water over various parts of the deck. From these experiments I concluded that the leak was from underneath the dorade vent over the galley. I removed the dorade, cleaned it up, removed the old Sikaflex from the deck, cleaned everything up, and let it dry for a few hours. I then reinstated it with fresh Sikaflex. After that little job there was still no wind so I figured that we must all make the best of it. I went for a leisurely swim and thoroughly enjoyed the water which was at just the right temperature. I then rinsed with a tiny bit of fresh water, went and had a shave, and emerged feeling like a million dollars. There were hints of an easterly wind which we had predicted from our reading of the weather chart but they were just hints. We had drinks at the cockpit at sundown (neat brandy for Brenda and myself, Bacardi and coke for Arnold) then a nice dinner over white wine and The Eagles on the sound system.

We were all set for a game of scrabble but became aware of a steady easterly breeze. This was a big deal to us because it represented the first significant shift in wind direction in three days. We scrubbed the scrabble game and hosted sail at 8 PM after laying ahull for about 8 hours. Soon we were sailing under a full moon on a starboard beam reach doing over 5 kt in a gentle sea with Raivavae directly ahead of us. Life started looking real good.

14 Oct 2008

But it wasn't to be. By the time I took over the watch at 1AM the wind had backed to the north and we were sailing close hauled to the west of Raivavae. The wind was brisk so we decided to put in a reef and roll out some jib. Unfortunately the wind started to die and at 4 AM I was forced to drop all sail. This little interlude of wind had gotten us 30 nm closer to Raivavae, but now we were back in the same dismal situation of a 5 kt wind head on. At about 6 AM Brenda woke me with the announcement of a new weak wind. The wind was now from the east which though weak provided a good point of sail. I nursed the fretting jib for several hours doing 1-1.5 kt with a 5-6 kt east wind on the beam. After Arnold woke up we motored for an hour to charge our batteries and to get 5 precious km closer to Raivavae.

My biggest worries regarding provisions were water and diesel. So far our fresh water supplies had held up well. We expected the starboard tank, which supplies the galley, to empty first. At that time we would plumb the port tank go take good stock of our water supplies. We also had a 10 liter container of emergency water on hand. Fortunately we had managed to collect about 100 l of rain water on the way and the water supply was holding.

I did some rough and conservative calculations and concluded that we could safely motor another 20 hours, or about 100 nm. If the tanks went dry we would fall back on our two 10-liter containers of emergency diesel to get us through the reef into the Raivavae anchorage – after bleeding the system, which we had never done before.

But in truth the water, diesel, and other supplies had held up remarkably well. Brenda had been providing us with a fresh loaf a bread each day. We were still having good lunches of bread, cheese, pickled onions and great thick soup. Evening meals were still substantial, varied, and interesting with pasta, rice, beans, various meats, and vegetables. We still had fresh onions, sweet potato, a “surprise” vegetable that Brenda would not reveal, garlic and 8 eggs with bacon! Our cask wine was almost gone – a bit of white left – but there was still enough beer for 1 bottle a day per person, and plenty of hard liquor (e.g. brandy, rum, scotch)

After our hour of motoring we found that the breeze was stronger and cooler after a squall had passed south of us. We unfurled the jib and raised the mainsail trying to get as much benefit from this fresh wind that was probably associated with the squall and would die soon. However, our luck and the wind held. I took to my bunk after lunch leaving Arnold to cope with a marginal wind of 7-8 kt which was already causing some thrashing of the sails or rigging. However I was delighted to wake up at 3 PM to the sound of the wind charger humming and water rushing around the hull. Pachuca was doing over 5 kt directly toward Raivavae with all of her sail up on a beam reach with a 10-11 kt east wind. At 3.20 PM we crossed the 100 nm threshold and we had begun our final run to Raivavae. The wind held up and got stronger and stronger. At dusk we put in the first reef in the mainsail. By midnight Arnold was experiencing winds in the high 20's and we put in the second reef before I took over the watch. It was a boisterous night of clouds, squalls, high seas, winds varying from 17 kt to 29 kt, a lot of weather helm, and constant working of the wheel to keep the boat on track.

At 5.30 AM we made landfall. I could just make out Mt Hiro which rises to 1433 ft against the cloud and mist. Initially the island looked fuzzy and camouflaged against the background of cloud and mist. As we got closer and the sun got higher we could see a jagged “mountain” line rather than a peak, with the upper parts of the mountain in in granite and the lower parts covered in green vegetation. To my untrained eye it said “volcano” and “relatively new”.

We sailed until we were NW of the island and only 5 nm from the turn into the harbour at which time we started the engine and downed sails. The sea eased because of the protection of the island from the easterly winds and big southerly swell. This gave me the opportunity to set up the anchor and our courtesy and Q flags.

The entry taught us a valuable lesson on the use of GPS and chart plotters. After some confusion we realised that there was a discrepancy between the chart on the plotter and the reality of navigation markers in the channel. The chart plotter was in the order of .2 nm out of true. We checked the C-map chart later and discovered that it was accurate. Lesson for all: never ever go into a new anchorage in poor visibility and rely completely on the chart plotter. In the final analysis there is no substitute for a good pair of eyeballs looking at terrain and navigation markers.

We dropped anchor at 1.30 PM at Rairua bay in 12 m of water. It is a superb natural anchorage, with the hills of the island protecting us from the North and East, and the fringe reef acting as a natural breakwater. We could see buildings, few in number but modern. The chart marks “gendamerie”, “Temple”, “Hopital”, and “Rairua (Village)”. We know from Noel (see below) that there is a post office, a store, and that we are very lucky because the supply ship will arrive in about two days.

There was only one other yacht in the harbor, a French boat. The skipper of the boat, Noel, paid us a visit and we exchanged information on our movements. He arrived from Papeete a few days ago and in two or three days they will set sail for Chile where they plan to spend a few years. Then at last light Brenda noticed sails on the horizon. It was a schooner working its way through the rough weather to the anchorage. The story of a boat trying to get to safe haven resonates with all yachties. We all felt concern from the comfort of our dry, warm, and secure haven and were glad to see it arrive and drop anchor between us and the settlement.