Wednesday, after all our jobs were completed for the day, we did our pre-passage checks and then had a quiet night on board.

Thursday morning we had breakfast in the marina cafe and said hi to Paul and Karen (SV Gigi) who had just arrived from New Zealand. It was lovely to see them again, albeit briefly. At 11 am we slipped away from Copra Shed Marina and headed out down the creek and along the coastline to the end of the island near the Cousteau Resort.

We dropped our anchor and got what we thought was a good set but Richard wasn’t sure as it felt ‘wrong’. So he jumped in and snorkelled the chain to find out that it disappeared into a deep crevasse and there were coral bombies around – so we decided to pick up and move down to a sandy bottom anchorage tucked behind passage point reef. It took a bit of manoeuvring to pick the anchor up as, yes, it had got wrapped. We then motored to our next spot and got a great set in about 5m of sand. Richard snorkelled again and was very happy this time.

So we sat in the cockpit and had dinner as the sun went down…..and then this big French catamaran drove fast through the anchorage and dropped his hook right in front of us with very little scope out and ended up sitting right over our anchor. Now, I’m always fed up about this happening but rarely does Richard get exercised about it. But this time he did! All his protestations were met with a Gallic shrug but later on they picked up and moved further away from us. Phew! So we did manage to sleep soundly with just the noise of the waves crashing over the reef in front of us keeping us alert.

At 6.15 am on Friday morning we were underway towards Paradise Resort, Tavenui Island. This was a 40+ mile run so easily achievable at our average 5 knots. Or is until you get a swell head on, confused seas, and quite strong winds dead on the nose. So we worked hard, sailing close hauled and tacked backwards and forwards but the current was also pushing us towards the reefs of Vanua Levu. So we had to make a call – run for our secondary port Fawn Harbour which was now about five miles away – or motor sail to reach our destination before dark?!? So we motor sailed and arrived just after 5pm and were met by a young woman on a kayak to tie us up to a mooring ball and welcome us to Paradise. Well, it certainly looked like it from the anchorage! But we were tired so didn’t go ashore.

Saturday morning we tidied up and did some boat jobs before heading over to the resort around 2pm. The people were so friendly and welcoming it was great – we were shown the complimentary facilities for yachties (such as hot showers, use of the mooring ball and use of their gardens and pool). Fantastic. We had a few cold Fijian beers sitting by the pool.

I did bob on my own for a while but Richard thought it was a bit too chilly, so I gave up and returned to the lounger. We had a lovely afternoon just chatting, chilling and enjoying the beautiful gardens and views out across the bay. We even saw a humpback whale spouting and broaching in the channel – it doesn’t get much better than this. We enjoyed the sunset and headed back to Morphie just before dark to have a quiet night in.

Sunday morning we decided to tackle some cleaning – I worked my way around doing all the stainless steel while Richard cut and waxed the cockpit. Pretty tired at the end of it so we rested up before heading ashore to get hot showers, enjoy happy hour, and then had dinner on a communal table and, as it was Sunday, it was a Fijian roast dinner which was absolutely lovely. We enjoyed chatting with our neighbour in the anchorage who were an American catamaran on the World ARC. We knew they were heading this way so expect crowded anchorages for the next two weeks LOL. A very sociable evening was had by all.

Monday morning we were up very early and headed to the resort to go diving. There were nine other people on board (excluding staff) but we were the only divers.

So we first dropped two couples off at a deserted beach in Viani Bay along with cooler, mats and member of staff to serve drinks (seriously!).

We then headed out to the Rainbow Reef. We kitted up and jumped in with our dive leader and then I assume the snorkellers jumped in with theirs… Both Richard and I descended easily enough but struggled to get our buoyancy sorted out in the first 10 minutes or so. But once we had settled down we thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular reef, fish and amazing soft and hard corals. I don’t think I have ever seen clams quite so big either! The colours were amazing and we even found quite a few Nemos but our favourite was a nudibranch called a Spanish Dancer. We did the maximum 50 minutes at 19 metres so were happy with our performance in the end. During our service interval we were served complimentary cake and fruit and were entertained by spinner dolphins. Amazing.

The second dive was also on the Rainbow Reef (which is renowned as one of the best dive spots in the world) and was called Cabbage Patch. When we saw the reef we understood the name. Neither of us had ever seen anything quite like this before. The ‘cabbages’ housed a mass of beautifully coloured baby fish, almost like a nursery, with the odd bigger species like grouper and parrot fish coming through. Spectacular. We thoroughly enjoyed this dive – another maximum 50 minutes at 18 metres – and were delighted to be back in the water after quite a while.

After the diving was over we returned to the beach and picked up the guests from their Robinson Crusoe experience and headed back towards the resort. On the way we were surrounded by a combination of dolphins and pilot whales – hundreds of them – and they were pretty happy to come up close. What an experience!

Back at the resort we had showers and rinsed our kit before having lunch and a few cold ones. Again we stayed until the sun went down and returned to Morphie. In the meantime a large Oyster on the ARC turned up and we asked the guys to move him as he was too close for comfort. Most of the staff do not understand about swinging room. Anyway they did this pretty quickly so we were happy.

This morning, Tuesday, and we were awake early as the anchorage was a bit rolly in the night. So we spent our time wisely in checking out the weather looking for a possible routing towards the Lau Group of islands. Sadly the forecast is absolute rubbish. Strong winds are coming through on Thursday night into the weekend (with gusts to 35+ knots) and then calming down briefly before another blow comes through. The direction remains from the east / south east and it doesn’t look like there is much hope of getting to these islands (which are against the prevailing winds and tides) in the next few weeks. As our mooring here at Paradise is exposed we will need to get out of here tomorrow to seek shelter. But the question is which way? East or West? We have realised, sadly, that time is against us in sitting out a perfect window to get to this group of islands and we still may not make it. So we have decided tomorrow to return to Savusavu and wait there for the winds to die down before heading west along the bottom of Vanua Levu and over the top of the main island Viti Levu. This northern route will take us behind the reef and through many villages so we will see the ‘real’ Fiji as well as the reward of some spectacular anchorages and resorts over on the west towards the end of our stay here. It is sad that we will not get to see the Lau Group but, as the famous Curly of Savusavu says (the routing guru), it takes at least three seasons to see it all.

Oh yes and remember what I said about the ARC boats, well, this is the anchorage this morning when we woke up. We are surrounded…..

Bye for now

Jan

Friday morning we picked up our 4WD truck to go exploring along with Sarah and Phil (Serenity of Swanwick). And it wasn’t raining – yay! We headed out of town, realised we had taken the wrong road so turned around until we found the right road to the Waisali Rainforest Reserve. Maps and road signs are pretty scarce and not detailed so we were led by instructions like ‘turn right at the bus stop’ LOL.

The walk through the rainforest was billed as relatively easy and I was up for it, particularly when we found out that the whole trail had a footpath. So we started off – expecting it to be about 30-40 minutes stroll – and it was very muddy, the steps were large, and it kept on going downhill flattening off for a while then continuing downhill. The forest was lush and green and we heard the sounds of barking pigeons and frogs but actually never saw anything of note throughout the walk. But the plants were amazing.

At the bottom we came across a stream with a picnic area so we took a little while to sit, enjoy and get our breath back.

Then we started the long walk back uphill….through the mud which, in places, looked like it had been disturbed by something snuffling through it, so we thought perhaps wild pigs?!? They do exist here apparently.

Eventually we ended up back on the road and not a minute too soon for my poor old legs! Wow had been quite a struggle for me towards the end of the trail as it had taken at least an hour and a half to get round. We then spotted the ‘scenic lookout’ but laughed at the view which was just into the jungle….

Moving on from here we headed back down the hill towards Vuadomo. This was a bit off the beaten track but we found it OK. Once parked we duly donned our sulas and headed over to meet the chief. The chief wasn’t there but his daughter was so we handed over our kava and they did a little bit of clapping and a few words but no actual sevusevu ceremony. We then wandered the village for a while. We asked about the chapel and were surprised to find that this village was Methodist so that is why visiting on a Sunday (when they have to attend church three times a day) is taboo. The villagers live on tourist income ($10 pp – just over £3 – to visit the waterfall) and they mainly eat fish and vegetables which they grow themselves and then supplement their income by selling any surplus in the town market. Their fishing rafts are pretty basic….

We then walked to the waterfall and thoroughly enjoyed our dip in the cool water which was especially refreshing after the heat and humidity of the forest, and we all felt very clean afterwards.

It was now past lunchtime so we headed back into Savusavu admiring the beautiful views along the way. We also saw, for the first time, the extent of the reef that we had sailed around to enter into the bay towards Savusavu.

We had difficulties getting back up the hill from the village due to a slipping clutch but made it back into town and went to the local Korean restaurant (called The Grace Road Kitchen) which prepared a fresh and excellent plate of food. This was the cleanest place we had been in since we arrived in Fiji. Afterwards we headed to the coast road to see if we could go swimming.

We took the wrong road (again) and, this time, we ended up at the Cousteau resort. Never mind, ready to turn around, and then the clutch went completely!!! We managed to get it off the main road and rang the hire guy. He wasn’t surprised at all (we think he knew it was dodgy) and turned up with another jeep for us which was a bit small but at least we were back on the road.

We then went back through Savusavu and headed past the airport to the coast road expecting to be able to access the sea. Sadly that was not the case as the waterfront was predominantly taken over by large private resorts and private islands with big ‘no entry’ signs on them all. There were a few villages that were waterfront but we didn’t want to impose ourselves on them either. Slightly disappointed we headed back to Copra Shed marina and had a few cold ones watching the sun set over Morphie. Had been a tiring but fun day.

Saturday we had a bit of a lazy one after the exertions of the previous day and headed to meet Chris to go to the Planters Club for an evening BBQ. Of course it poured with rain just before we left but we managed to avoid the worst of it by staying at Watui Marina for a beer before heading down the road further. This was an experience as a lot of local guys were in there and appeared quite drunk and exuberant! We were surprised, on arrival, to find the Club pretty empty as this had been billed as a special event with live band the works. Well there was no music and no other cruisers….. Then a few turned up and we made up a big table and that was it. The BBQ was OK but nothing special and no music – never mind. The other cruisers headed back to the Copra Shed later (as they wanted a dessert) but we stayed put for the remainder of the evening.

Sunday morning it was more boat jobs…..stripping beds, cleaning the fibreglass down below (there was signs of some mould developing in this hot and humid environment) and we also polished all the wood. Phew….hard work! We dropped the laundry off and had a quiet movie night on board.

Monday morning we started to look at waypoints and doing a bit of planning. We are not exactly sure of our destinations right now but know that our first stop will be to anchor just off the point here to enjoy swimming in blue water. Really looking forward to that. We then plan to move to Paradise Resort on Taveuni Island which is about 40 miles away. This resort is right across from the Rainbow Reef (which is a famous dive site) and has free mooring balls and welcome yachts to their facility. So we intend to do some diving with them and, if it turns out to be good, we may stay a little while. After this there are a few routes we could take but our next destination will probably be the Bay of Islands in the Lau Group which are supposed to be beautiful. Navigation looks a bit tricky so we spent quite a bit of time doing that – we are also getting a letter from Copra Shed to give us permission to anchor in a private bay over there that they own.

During all this planning which we did on the verandah of the bar here in Copra Shed (but we were drinking coffee, honest) we met Kyle and MaryAnn (SV Begonia) who we had not seen since Nuie. What a coincidence they would end up here at the same time as us so it was nice to see them again.

Tuesday we headed into town as we needed to purchase items to give to the villages that we visit. So we purchased 1kg of kava and had it made up into five bundles for future sevusevu ceremonies with the chiefs. Richard was bitching because he could have bought two slabs of beer for the cost of the kava ($150 = £52 for some twigs!).

The idea of this ceremony is to receive approval to anchor and fish in their bay; visit their village; and generally be hosted by them. To supplement the kava we also purchased small bags of rice, lots of ramen noodles, cheap teabags and breakfast biscuits which we will give away as gifts to families that are particularly helpful to us on our journeys. We have also purchased some beautiful local material so if we give away 5 yards to each family they will have a lasting gift from us when they turn it into a shirt or a sula etc.

In the evening we had sundowners on board Morphie with Chris, Sarah and Phil coming aboard for drinks and pizzas. Was a nice evening and probably the last time we’ll all be in one place together as we start heading out as the weather improves.

It is now Wednesday and Richard has headed into town for a couple of things we need while I’m blogging down below. We plan to leave on Thursday just to the anchorage at the point and then cross to Tavenui the following day. All very exciting.

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday morning after a really good sleep we headed into town in the drizzling rain. We got cash, fruit and veg from the market, some fresh bread from the bakers and a SIM card for our internet hotspot. The town was bustling and busy but very friendly with BULA (hello) being called out to us by everybody. Back at the boat we caught up on the hundreds of emails we had missed and after dinner on board we went to our marina’s bar for a nightcap.

Sunday morning it was still raining. We were up early and went to church to say thank you for our safe arrival. We are not particularly religious but this was something we both felt we wanted to do. So we wandered up the hill and found a multi-faith, multi-racial chapel and joined the 8am service. It was in Hindu and English (as we had stumbled across the Indian service) and we were very much welcomed and included. It was a very intensive couple of hours with lots of clapping, swaying, singing, praying combined with loud and passionate speakers. What an experience!

Back at the marina I got all the laundry delivered to the on-site lady who does a ‘wash, dry and fold’ service for a very reasonable £4 a bag. So we got our duvet laundered to be put away for the next time we are in colder climes…plus all the damp sailing gear and passage sheets. Was nice to get it all off the boat. We did some cleaning and filled up with water (and, again, we needed to buy new connectors). In the afternoon we went to Curly Carswell’s seminar about sailing in Fiji and cultural requirements when anchoring near villages. Got pages and pages of waypoints and some chartlets – all information is helpful as charts here are woefully out of date and Fiji is ringed by reefs. Afterwards we went out to eat with Chris, Sarah and Phil at a nearby Chinese, which was OK but nothing special. Afterwards we returned to our marina bar for a pontoonie (in the rain) enjoying live music from a local band.

Monday morning and I made myself scarce by heading to the shops on a mission for a few things. I then sat in the marina bar blogging whilst Richard dealt with the diesel mechanic as I would be trapped either in the cockpit or our cabin once the companionway steps were removed and tools were scattered in the saloon. A few engine issues were resolved and identified, but more to do. In the evening we went out for an Indian with Chris, great food but an unlicensed property, so we made do with pontoonies after in the marina. Eating out here in Fiji is cheaper than cooking for ourselves – the Indian Thali plate was only just over £3 each! In the evening the mosquitos and no-see-ums come around and they have decided to leave Richard alone and feast on me….

Tuesday and I took off again – armed with another list – and also had coffee with a neighbour whilst Richard got on with a few things. Unfortunately our mechanic (having the only tow truck on the island) had been called to an emergency so wasn’t coming today after all. We carried on with boat jobs and resolved the network issue with the instruments (which was, as expected, just a plug that had come loose) and I collected the laundry. We did some more general tidying / cleaning (all the rugs and foulies this time) before having a quiet night on board.

Wednesday and I went to the customs office to get our inter-island cruising permit made official. So we are good to go once we have an engine and if it ever stops raining LOL.

Later on our mechanic returned and, finally, the engine was fixed. Lots of little problems – impeller not working properly, water pump being sluggish, thermostat failing and cruddy heat exchanger – and they all came together at once. Having swapped everything out plus a complete service we now have a working engine with good water flow throughout. Yay! We celebrated over sundowners in the bar with our marina neighbours Julie and JP.

This morning Thursday and it is still raining and we continue to go through the boat job list that we generated on our passage. Early afternoon we headed into town for more cash and to organise a 4WD truck for tomorrow to go exploring and have fingers crossed that it will stop raining by then. We also purchased sulas (Fijian skirts, think plain sarongs) and Fijian shirts in order to be respectful when we do sevusevu (kava drinking ceremony) at the local villages…..

Bye for now
Jan

Well, we finally arrived in Fiji after a pretty eventful passage of 1244.3 miles. We started out in strong winds and had to work hard not to get blown too far to the east. Gusts of 40-50 knots were experienced in very short interval swells. We made good time and worked our way north as quickly as we could to avoid the next low coming through. The early part of the trip was very tough. Then we hit low winds and our engine started playing up. So Richard went down the hole and I kept the boat running. We ended up doing this numerous times so neither of us got as much sleep as we needed. But, at this point, we were optimistic that he would fix it so not a problem.

Despite numerous attempts and efforts dismantling and checking the systems end to end the result was that we couldn’t fix it in a seaway. By then we were closer to Fiji than New Zealand (and don’t forget that deep low now being felt over New Zealand) so we carried on. The passage was stressful in the circumstances but we had good strength winds most of the time and, although the sea was lumpy and bumpy, we made good time. But then, of course, we had no wind and got pushed by a current towards an island. We realised what was happening so made sure we moved in the opposite direction (at less than 1 knot but it kept us out of trouble) until we were able to start back in the right direction. We encountered some beautiful skies whilst at sea and check out the colour of the deep water.

With no wind forecast for entry into Savusavu we wanted to organise a tow from outside the passage….this was done but people just didn’t reply in a timely fashion to emails. I understand that they are just emails to them but, for us, it felt like we were sailing into oblivion heading towards a tow which may or may not be there waiting for us. We prayed a bit at this point…..

We arrived, 15 minutes late (on Friday 7 June) only to find no tow there waiting but, hang on a minute, the wind just blew up from nowhere and also from the right direction. We sailed through the passage on a reach, hardened up and went at 30 degrees to the wind to sail up towards the creek. At the top we were then hip tied to two boats and were taken in and placed on a mooring ball.

Within 10 minutes the biosecurity guy was on board, followed quickly by customs and immigration – then, voila, we were legally in Fiji. All very easy and pain free. We were then pulled across into the marina berth by a long line and were secured in place. Fantastic!

That afternoon a diesel mechanic (recommended by the marina) came to see us. Chris (Sea Bear) and Phil and Sarah (Serenity of Swanwick) came over to say hi and later on we went to a BBQ with them and caught up. I have to say we might have had one too many beers that night! What a relief to be here….

Bye for now
Jan

For those of you who had been watching the tracker you may have been wondering what has been going on in terms of both speed and direction. So here was a quick explanation.

During the night the wind died and our speed crashed. The wind has still not picked up and we were getting blown down towards one of the islands. Hence the u-turn you see which was designed to get us further back up above the rhumb line.

We have now turned towards our destination again but know that we are unable to get there in daylight hours with the current low wind speeds we are experiencing. So we are now planning to make landfall tomorrow morning (Friday 7 June). So we are going to continue to move very slowly towards our destination.

All is well on the good ship Morpheus.

Bye for now

Jan

Monday 3 June (continued)

In the afternoon Richard continued to troubleshoot the engine while he waited for some advice. It is increasingly looking likely that the problem is not something we can fix at sea. So we need to start thinking about sailing in. Not something either of us relish but we need to be realistic. Just hoping that Seapower can come up with something to suggest. So crew stress levels were quite high.

Tuesday 4 June

We heard from Seapower and they think the same….but have gone away to consider further advice. In the meantime we were at least able to contact Copra Shed Marina to alert them to our predicament. Not totally sure they understood but at least they are now in the loop. We ran the engine lightly to see how long before it gets overheated…and the answer was 23 minutes. So, if the wind is on our nose (worst case scenario) we can have engine assistance through the passage into Savusavu. Once through we can perhaps do an emergency anchor while we await assistance and use the time wisely by getting dink down, motor on, and then hip-tied to Morphie just in case we have to do this on our own. The distance from the gap (which is 1 mile wide) to the beginning of the creek (where the marina is situated) is 6 miles and we don’t know whether it will be possible to sail this until we are physically there.

Richard continues to spend time inside lockers working hard at eliminating and double checking everything. He is working really hard and is frustrated that this has happened – he checks / double checks the engine all the time and keeps a maintenance log so that services are done at appropriate intervals etc. And the engine has been absolutely fine with no sign of any issues until this.

What is also causing annoyance is that the wind continues to blow from the north east so we are beating into it….and then it goes very light and we slow down horrendously…and then comes back with a vengeance. All very challenging. We are determined to remain high of our rhumb line as the next waypoints have islands to port and, with a predicted east trade wind and current, they are lee shores so we want to give them as wide a berth as possible.

In the afternoon we had a SSB conversation with Serenity who remain around 45 miles ahead of us and are heading to the same place. So they will also help to alert Copra Shed on their arrival to our need for assistance. It was nice to hear a friendly voice out here.

Wednesday 5 June

We had a slow night in terms of speed trying to sail 45 degrees to the wind on a starboard tack. Not something Morphie likes doing much. So this morning, at first light, Richard spent time on the bow and fixed the staysail. We then deployed it immediately – so we are running with all three sails in 15-20 knots of breeze. Immediately it made a difference with Morphie feeling more stable and we picked up speed. If we can maintain 5 knots or better we should make landfall on Thursday afternoon….if the wind drops again then we might have to stay out here a little while longer. We will not consider arriving after dark as it would be just too dangerous.

We are passing our first Fijian island Matuku to starboard right now and usually we are really excited about land ho! Sadly it doesn’t have the same effect this morning.

Despite our tale of woes we are excited to be back in the tropics with beautiful deep blue seas and sailing in t-shirts LOL.

Bye for now
Jan

Saturday 1 June (continued)

Late in the afternoon the wind direction changed so we furled the main and started running downwind on the genoa alone.   By the time we had eaten dinner it had switched back so we pulled out the main (again) and reefed down the genoa for the night.   Immediately we picked up speed to 7+ knots and we were screaming along.   Was bumpy though as the seas built.

Sunday 2 June

The wind hovered between 15-23 knots all night and we had a really good run although it remained bouncy which is not an aid to good sleep for either of us.   In the morning it was clear that the swells had increased and it was another grey squally one with showers although there was at least a pretty sunrise.

We tried the engine and got the high temperature alarm again.   By this time Richard knew the results of the Champions League match and declared that everything had gone a bit Spursy!  Anyway, he left me running the boat in the cockpit while he went back down the engine hole.   He also checked the engine manual and I read Calder’s boat bible to see if I could help shed any light.  Obvious stuff like fan belts, coolant and impellers had already been checked numerous times.   Everything pointed to the sea water flow/intake so Richard started at the thru hull and worked systematically throughout the boat checking all hoses and couplings along with everything in its path like heat exchangers, water pumps all the way through to the exhaust.    At numerous points along the route he checked water flow levels all of which were good.   Finally at the exhaust he realised that the flapper had come apart and the following large sea may well be causing water to flow up the pipe so he tied himself on while I slowed the boat and he leant off the transom steps to replace it.   All done (he was a bit soaked and pretty fed up by this time) and we started the engine.   And it stayed on.   And it didn’t alarm.   OMG looks like it could have worked.   But I’ll reserve judgment for another day without problems (fingers crossed).    Richard’s reward was a hot shower and a pasta bake for tea.

During the day we also lost connectivity between some of our navigational units although they are all working individually.   So we know that they have not failed it is clearly a problem with the network itself.   It could be something simple like a cable coming loose or getting frayed during all the banging and crashing through the waves we have been doing.   But the brain is buried beneath lee cloths below and behind the port saloon so, as we still have access to all the information we need, it will wait until we get to Fiji.   It doesn’t matter how much time, effort and money anyone puts into a boat something always fails on an ocean passage.   Very frustrating but that’s life!    Our boat jobs list is growing again, sigh…..

During the night we had light winds 8-14 knots so just coasted along slowly running abaft the beam but not quite downwind as the waves were causing Morphie to roll from side to side.

Monday 3 June

Despite best efforts to keep the rolling to a minimum we found sleeping difficult, but at some point sheer exhaustion catches up!   

At 6am (shift change) we gybed across our rhumb line and are sailing under genoa alone downwind in light airs.   The wind is definitely switching and we anticipate south winds shortly then, as we near the islands, it will shift to the east which are the normal trades for the area. At this point in our passage we had done 795 miles, with the best 24 hour period racking up a 151.5 miles which, for us, is a record run.   There was also a fantastic red sky this morning.

The wind dropped to around 8 knots and the batteries needed charging so we started the engine.   Within 20 minutes we had a high heat alarm again.   Richard has done everything suggested in the manuals and we are flummoxed, so he has written an email to our mechanical guru, Bruce at Seapower in New Zealand, asking for advice on what else it could be and what else he suggests we try to resolve this.   We anticipate a Thursday arrival into Fiji so there is still some time to get this resolved.

In the middle of all this we had a pod of humpback whales pass by within 15 metres of us going down both sides of the boat.   But by the time the camera was to hand they had gone. They were very close to us and they certainly startled Richard LOL.   How amazing……

Bye for now
Jan

NOTE: Just found out that we are having technical issues with automatic posting to our blog and Facebook page. Paul is on the case to resolve as we speak but apologies if you are all getting fed up seeing the same posts multiple times!
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Thursday 30 May (continued)

The afternoon was beautiful – flat seas, blue skies, the sun was out and we could even discard a layer of clothing. Sadly it wasn’t to last for long. The seas started to build early evening making it lumpy again and the wind picked up steadily throughout the night. The moon never showed up either through the dense cloud cover. Thankfully the engine high temperature alarm did not recur so we made good speed motor sailing northwards.

Friday 31 May

It rained, it drizzled, it was freezing cold and the wind continued to be on the nose so we cracked off to 60 degrees and continued sailing to the north west. During the night it was not pleasant in terms of wet and cold but the wind was manageable at around 23 knots plus higher gusts although we were being cautious and were sailing on main and staysail alone. The benefit of this sail configuration is that the staysail is self tacking so if the wind shifts suddenly (as predicted) then the sail just tacks across on its own.

This morning we were continuing to make good progress and were looking at the weather patterns to decide our next course strategy. We appear, currently, to be just on the upper fringes of the next low pressure area sweeping across New Zealand.

Still drizzling, cold and grey at lunchtime so nothing to report other than we have overtaken our friends on Serenity of Swanwick much to their disappointment and disbelief. The funny thing is that we haven’t actually clapped eyes on them yet! In the afternoon the wind had settled at around 18 knots and, at 60 degrees to the wind, we were enjoying a nice sail (albeit a bit bumpy) under full genoa and reefed main. The staysail is sadly now out of action as the furling line parted from the drum – an easy fix, but I prefer Richard not to go on the bow with tools to take things apart when at sea as the opportunity for bits to disappear over the side is very strong LOL. We can do without it……

By the evening the conditions were sublime. Flat seas, wind coming from the right direction at around 12-15 knots, no rain squalls and we were moving along beautifully. We could even plot a course to directly follow our rhumb line and that is a rare happy moment.

Saturday 1 June

The same conditions made for a comfortable sleep and overnight watches. And, happy days, it continues this morning. We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves right now.

And, of course, within 30 minutes of writing that everything went manic. I was on watch on my own – the wind went behind us, so I furled the main, eased the genoa, ready to run on that alone. Then the wind died….then it changed back and filled in. So out came the main, hardened up on the genoa, and just got her sailing nicely again. Huge rainbow and fast approaching squall with white out conditions….quickly reefed down and took cover. It came through quickly so I let out the sails again. Then the wind died.

I rested up and Richard took over. And it happened all over again…. Our speed really suffered through all this activity dropping to 3 knots at one point. Things appear to have settled once again so we are back on a reach doing 5 knots. Fingers crossed it stays consistent for a while. At the minute we are running the generator to top up the new battery bank.

Bye for now Jan

Tuesday 28 May

We got cleared out by Customs at 9am and had coffee before settling bills and saying our final farewells. This was quite emotional with lots of hugs – this had been our second home for a while now – and we have both fallen in love with New Zealand. The scenery breathtaking, mesmerising and spectacular; the culture was fascinating; the people were warm and welcoming; and the weather can be lovely and horrible in equal measure. The only negative was the red tape and bureaucracy, but as they probably learnt it from us who am I to criticise LOL.

As we were having a quick lunch (only soup and bread) a huge gust of wind blew through with torrential horizontal rain from the north. OMG what have we done??? Too late, knuckle down, and any anxiety about the future passage was alleviated by a team hug. At 1pm we slipped away and the seas were lumpy with short intervals, so pretty uncomfortable. The wind increased to 25 knots and we headed out, at 60 degrees to the wind, under heavily reefed main and genoa.

As we finally got into deeper water the conditions worsened and the wind was now 30+ knots sustained with higher gusts. Then the emergency radio calls started with incidents of taking on water; crew illness; shredded sails; and steering problems. It was sobering to see so many of them turn back towards Opua on the AIS.

We carried on into the weather with waves breaking onto and over us on the port side combined with pretty nasty sea conditions. We both felt rough so took seasickness pills and decided to be careful so only had drinks and the occasional munch on a biscuit to take us into the blackness of a moonless night. As we got to our normal night watch times Richard decided to sleep in the cockpit rather than leave me alone on the helm. But it was way too cold and he eventually retired below. Later on we got hit by a 50kt squall and a wave that broke over us so I got clobbered being sat on the helm. My scream woke Richard up but I was securely tethered so perfectly safe in the cockpit just soaked, cold, and a little shocked. Thankfully two companionway boards were in situ so no water got into the saloon. I was also glad that my life jacket didn’t auto-inflate LOL.

Richard relieved me from duty and refused to let me back up into the cockpit until the conditions had moderated somewhat. I was uncomfortable down below but he was adamant. My hero!

Wednesday 29 May

At 3am the seas moderated as the time periods between breaking waves and swells lengthened. The winds then backed so we were not so pressed and were able to turn towards our rhumb line. By 10am the wind had died completely and we were motor sailing and the sea was flattening constantly. What a difference a day makes! Morphie, as always looked after us amazingly well taking it all in her stride. Thank you Morpheus, love you.
Having had no dinner the night before we ate a delicious breakfast of baked beans and sausages…always tastes so good when at sea. Just like camping LOL. Richard did a walk around of the deck to check for anything awry and I re-fixed the dodgers which had lost their fastenings during the night. At this point the engine high temperature alarm went off. What now?!? Richard did usual checks and all fine – very mysterious. So he checked everything again, particularly the water flow, the belt and the impeller and nothing awry. But, of course, we were now sailing in very light airs and losing ground. Engine back on and within 20 mins the alarm had gone off again. Engine off, Richard down the hole, while I try to keep our speed up. A while later and we restarted the engine – and gingerly left it running at only 1400 rpm. This helped our speed slightly but way below what we need to be doing to get far enough north to avoid the next low pressure system coming through.

Thankfully this time all was well and we gradually increased our revs. Phew! We caught up with Serenity of Swanwick over a very poor radio transmission so were relieved that they had come through unscathed also. Although not buddy boating we are going to check in with each other once a day on this passage. We had a lovely beef stew dinner watching the sun set before moving into our traditional night shift patterns.

Thursday 30 May

The night was perfect….flat seas and no rain although it was pretty dark as the moon didn’t come up until 3am. But the Milky Way show kept us entertained. The sun rise was spectacular and both of us slept really well. Difficult to imagine the very challenging conditions of such a short time ago. So we are just enjoying this peacefulness while it lasts utilising the plentiful hot water and making ourselves feel better by showering and changing into clean clothes.

Bye for now Jan

Sunday morning we were up at a reasonable time and had coffee in the marina cafe. The weather was overcast and chilly with lots of squalls coming through so we returned to the boat and started looking in earnest at passage weather again. Tuesday was starting to line up on all the models as a potential departure date so we talked to Bob, the NZ weather guru, and he agreed to look into it for us. The rest of the day was just spent down below relaxing with the occasional spurt of activity.
Monday morning and we headed to the cafe for coffee and bumped into Phil and Sarah so we had a weather chat with them. We were all feeling a bit confused by the various models and the changes that were happening on an almost hourly basis! We returned to Morphie and decided to do our last preparations in stowing everything properly and getting grab bags ready to allow for a relatively feisty passage combined with high seas….but continued to sit on the fence about our actual departure time. The main concern was over a large low which is coming across North Island at the weekend and extending out into the Pacific – so we needed to be at 25 degrees south (which is about 500 miles offshore) to be certain of avoiding the strongest winds. So we talked, we prevaricated, we ran the weather models again and again and got Bob’s detailed passage information for both a Tuesday and Wednesday departure. By the evening the low had dropped further south so a very early Wednesday mo rning departure was looking more comfortable. So decision made we emailed customs to request a Tuesday check out for early Wednesday departure.
This morning, Tuesday, we awoke to an email from NZ Customs stating that they would only clear us on the actual day of departure – and the office opened at 9am on Wednesday. Very frustrating as they had cleared the Tongan rally participants on Monday for a Tuesday departure, so they can do it when it suits them! But this threw us into another debate – leave today into strong winds or risk leaving later on Wednesday and not getting far enough north to avoid the low. Or, even, abandon the whole thing and stay put for up to another two weeks?!? In the present circumstances we have chosen to leave this afternoon although the conditions aren’t great. We have faced this type of weather before though without too much difficulty and, if necessary, we can run with the wind on our port quarter and back to the rhumb line when conditions ease. We just need to get our sea legs back and had hoped for a more gentle reintroduction to ocean sailing LOL.
Anyway, you may have noticed no photographs with this blog. This is because I am now submitting via the Iridium Go! and testing out my new automated system for posting to our Morpheus of London Facebook page. So many ways of tracking us during this passage – you can follow the posts via FB; you can watch our progress by checking the Where are we now? page on the blog; or by subscribing to the blog itself so you receive email updates. Please note that when we are at sea we are unable to read your comments until we get internet coverage again.
Anyway, lots to do, so bye for now and I’ll keep you posted from the ocean when the conditions allow.
Jan