29 October 2024 –Tonga -Tongapatu to New Zealand -Day 7
We motor sailed through the night making progress but were unable to sail properly due to the angle. However, it is expected to change in the morning and the quicker we continue the less we will have to cope with the forthcoming storm. Watty and I were on watch 2.00am to 5.00am and we had an easy watch really as the poor engine did most of the work.
We had some rest after our watch and then had yet another bacon and egg breakfast at about 9.00am. I checked the weather and it seems that by 12.00 noon we shall see 20 kts of wind and by 3-5.00pm it will be strengthening and by 8.00pm it will be underlying 25 kts with gust of up to 35 kts with heavy rain from 8.00pm to 12.00 midnight. By 2.00am the front will begin to fade and the wind will back to west then southwest 15-20 kts.
I prepared a plan for this and also a diagram of the directions from the entrance of the Bay of Islands where I had placed a waypoint, so that we knew which bearing to go on and which lights we should see on our route. I talked through our plan which was essentially to continue sailing through the front if we can and if not either heave to (keep the sails where they are and turn the wheel without touching the sails and one will back against the other holding so you are in a sort of stationary state and upright- it is a tactic used in heavy weather sailing). If this did not work we would take down the sails and slowly motor ahead and into the bay. Once near the bay and inside we should be in the shelter of the island.
We talked through what we needed to do and how we would do this. Joyce set about packing everything away so it would not fly across the cabin etc. Watty made a large fruit salad and we had planned our evening meal which we will have early at 6.30pm. Keith W and I took the fishing rods out of their holders and tied them down and checked the deck for any items likely to be blown away or become dislodged. We took the crane arm down and tied it to the pole and checked everything to see if it would come loose.
At about 11.00am the wind had veered enough for us to sail and so up went the staysail as the main was already up, with two reefs. We then started to increase our speed and we were able to turn off the overworked engine which had not missed a beat. Our plan is to sail as quickly as we can to the Bay of Islands, as the quicker we can get there the sooner we will be in the lee of the land and the less we have to endure the front.
As I write this in about 20 kts of wind we are doing 8 kts and hope to get to the waypoint at the Bay by about midnight. The question is how we will cope when the winds increase. I know Stormbird will cope and we will reduce sail. I have checked the weather again and we could see a period of 35 kts winds underlying so we will have to adapt accordingly.
We had a sandwich lunch and we got prepared. Watty and I are on watch now (2.40pm) and we should start to see the wind strengthening shortly. The sun is out and you would never know what is coming and we are enjoying a good fast sail with only 1-1.5-meter swells at present. We have 73nm to go and at this rate that will be 10 hours. The sea has lots of white horses and is a deep dark colour. We hit the occasional wave which sends up spray and/or comes on to the deck and you hear the gurgling sucking noise of the deck drains straining to cope with the volume of water running down the deck. We are in our wet weather gear and prepared.
The whole crew are in good spirts and looking forward to getting to New Zealand. There are any yachts doing this trip at present. As I have reported before one yacht lost its mast and are now having to motor the rest of the way. I have also just heard on a Whats’App group, which I am on, that another boat had an engine shaft problem and they have had to scuttle their boat as it was likely to sink. Not a decision that I would have liked to have made. They have been picked up by another boat and are on way to NZ having had to make that difficult decision otherwise it would have been a hazard to shipping. The ocean can be quite harsh sometimes and you have to respect the sea.
We sailed on toward the front and could see clouds gradually forming and more dark clouds off our starboard bow. The wind began to build and we had an early supper of chilli and rice which was warming and tasty. By about 8.00pm we were seeing early 20’s kts and reefed down to Staysail and 3 reefs in the main. We saw a lot of dark clouds move along our starboard side. About 9.00pm we had 25 kts and then the rain came and we were suddenly in 35kts and then 38 for a brief moment. This meant reefing the staysail quickly. Stormbird took it her stride and heeled over a bit and sort of said here we go -let’s get on with it. We sailed fast with a little role as the swell came under us and it was a bit like being on a rollercoaster with the water swishing under us as we were doing about 9-10kts. The wind calmed down and I wondered whether we had more to come.
In fact, although we had further gusts up to 28-32 kts occasionally most of the time we had 20-25 kts and then for the last 30 nm about 14-17. I think we were lucky being south as we were because I think it was worse further North. I called customs on the VHF radio about 20 nm out and they gave us authority to proceed to the Bay of Islands marina. We sailed on to our waypoint just in the entrance to the bay. As we approached we identified various lights and we could see the lights on the shore. We had arrived – 6 days and 14 hours – 1,122 nm which makes an average speed of 7.1 kts. We had two fronts to contend with but we arrived safe and sound for which I am very grateful.
We then had to navigate into the bay and through the Veronica channel navigating round and identifying various buoys and then entering the Bay of Islands marina and then mooring on the Quarantine Berth. This was not easy but we did it. We had a quick celebratory beer and then straight to bed. Phew!.
The picture of the day is of Watty enjoying the last of the sun before conditions worsen.
Opportunity Year Two
In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.
If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com