Amanda reducing the pitch of the Max Prop

MT being launched

Installing the recently serviced injectors

Bob McDavitt-MetService NZ’s W track in black and our actual route in red

With all of our boat chores accomplished, we invited our Leg 1 expedition members to meet us at 4 PM Thursday, the day before the expedition started, for safety orientation. We’ve found this really makes the start of the expedition easier as expedition members know what to expect, know where their berths will be, and shortens our orientation on the starting day so that we can set sail sooner.

I had been watching the always-changing weather for a month, and had made a couple visits to our friend Bob McDavitt MetService NZ’s Westhaven Marina office, but Wednesday night, the weather picture changed. A low formed NW of NZ and was predicted to deepen and very slowly meander toward the northern tip of NZ. Thursday night Bob was working late preparing a detailed countrywide forecast, and when I dropped by, he ran a detailed analysis of predicted winds and where we would be and on what point of sail for a week ahead, based on our leaving Friday noon. The computer showed what it recommended to be the most efficient routing, and it looks like the letter W! Our first goal is to get to East Cape, the eastern tip of NZ, to catch the tail end of the large high pressure that had favored NZ with sunny, dry and relatively calm conditions for nearly a week, avoiding storm force winds forecasted for northern NZ. With this goal in mind, we asked for our crew to join us two hours earlier than planned, and scheduled an appointment to clear outbound customs and the customs wharf.

New Zealand customs officers at the dedicated clearance berth downtown Auckland

Bob signing his signature for customs officer

The customs officers were cheerful and told us to keep an eye out for a group of traditional NZ Polynesian wakas, or voyaging canoes that had recently cleared out and to sail to Tahiti or Rarotonga.

We had moderate conditions leaving the Hauraki Gulf and cleared Channel Island to set sail ESE for East Cape. Last night we were able to sail occasionally, but mostly the winds have been around 5-7 knots. Every chance we get, we shut down the engine and sail, sometimes for a few hours, and sometimes for a few minutes, but always with the goal of getting far enough south and east to avoid the bumpy conditions. The GRIB weather file that we just received from www.saildocs.com (you can download this free program with tutorial and use it for forecasts anywhere in the world) shows an even more favorable forecast for the next three days now, based on our reaching East Cape before turning NE towards Tahiti.

John and Bob transferring fuel in calm conditions

Not the tuna we were hoping for!

James tries his hand at filleting one of the mighty three tuna we caught

We have a strong crew, all eager to gain more offshore skills for very different reasons. We have a Columbian couple, keen to buy a boat to take part in the Blue Water Around the World Rally, and another keen sailor who will be taking delivery of he and his wife’s nearly completed Malo 40 in Sweden this July, as well as a couple of keen SF Bay sailors and a vet from North Carolina. I’ll fill in the details with the next log entry.

By the way, if you haven’t yet checked out our new Google Earth satellite link, look at the bottom of www.mahina.com for our actual recent position. You may have to download Google Earth plug-in, but that just takes a minute or two.

 

Leg 1-2010, Update 2
May 19, 2010, 0730 hrs, 27.10 S, 160.54 E, Log: 137,697 miles, 591 miles to Rurutu, Austral Islands
Beam reaching at 8 kts in 16 kt SE winds.
Single reefed main and full genoa
Baro: 1017.2, Cabin Temp: 73 F, cockpit 65 F, sea water 77 F

The past week included the most difficult sailing we’ve seen in several years. At one point, Commanders’ Weather, the commercial weather routing service we use for volatile or difficult passages sent the following message:

"I know you do not want to hear this but I wanted to run past you the possibility of returning to East Cape, NZ to wait for a better pattern. I have tried routing you in many different directions but nothing can keep you out of N-NNE winds of 20-30+ kts for at least a week and that is the best solution that keeps you S of 35S and actually moves you E to Rurutu because you can get NO northing in.

Returning to NZ will not be pretty either with also N-NNE winds of 20-30+
kts for the trip but at least you have a refuge after about 2.5-3 days."

Seth braves the elements to seal plastic bags over the dorades

Needless to say, we didn’t return to NZ. It would have meant returning 535 hard-won miles back to Auckland for there are no storm-proof harbors near East Cape.

As it turned out, two fairly intense lows parked over New Zealand for nearly a week, with storm-force winds knocking out power in Auckland suburbs and causing damage in Northland. The cause was a very large, unmoving 1032 high pressure cell that parked east of NZ on May 10. For us, having thought we had left NZ on favorable weather system, the resulting stationary squash zone (compression of isobars between the high and the lows situated over NZ) was forecast to have 50 kt NE headwinds and very large seas for quite a few days. A tropical low was forecast to come down from Fiji, making another very strong wind situation to the north of NZ, and was predicted to last several days. From our position at latitude 35 S there were no easy or comfortable options. Bob McDavitt of NZ MetService recommended a course NNW, toward the Kermadec Islands, NE of NZ, telling us to expect up to 50 kts in squalls and swells to 6.5 meters (20’).

Big seas viewed out the dodger window

In an effort to avoid the worst weather we reefed down and tacked over to a course of 340 M, headed toward Fiji. It was disheartening to see VMG (velocity made good toward our waypoint of Rurutu Is.) drop to 1-2 knots and I wondered if we would ever be able to get back enough easting to reach Tahiti.
By 0600 on May 11 we had the third reef in the main and 50% of the 130% genoa reefed as the ENE winds gusted into the low 30’s. The seas, which had been large and crossed since our departure, became even more confused. By 1600 on the 12th the winds reached solid 30 kts, gusting to 45 and we shifted tactics from close reaching to forereaching by furling the headsail and continuing on under triple-reefed main alone. This dropped our speed from 6 to 3 kts, but forereaching meant we weren’t dropping off the breakers with mega crashes into the following troughs. The boat felt more comfortable and the off watch crew could get some rest. We now found ourselves situated at the convergence of the low from the north, a warm front, and the fast-overtaking cold front.

Big seas viewed out the dodger window

The barometer plummeted from 1023 to 1011 as we tried to sail around the north end of the weather system. We thought we had seen the worst on May 12 at 2000 so made the decision to tack towards the east. We were too early and ended up sailing smack back into the intense conditions which were now stalled to the east. We tacked back to the north until 0500 on May 13 when we again tried the easterly tack. Finally, after the seas calmed enough for us to shake out the third reef, we were starting to head in the right direction. By 1000 that morning the winds dropped to 9 kts and we resorted to motorsailing in very large confused seas until 0200 the following morning.

By 0600 on May 16 the same pesky front (this time shown on the NZ weatherfax charts as a combination convergence zone and occluded front) had sped up and came roaring over us again. We resorted to forereaching in 30+ kts with gusts peaking at 46 kts. The seas were huge and rather confused but at least this time we were able to steer our course. Again following the frontal passage and torrential rains the winds dropped and we motorsailed for a few hours to maintain some headway in the lumpy seas.
During one of the lulls between systems I decided I’d best replace one of the two compass light bulbs that had burnt out. This is a rather tricky operation and not necessarily one that I relish is bouncy conditions. Bob elected to be my assistant in holding the compass once I’d pulled it out of the binnacle thus enabling me to access the tiny bulbs. Just as Bob had the compass balancing in his hands I heard an aircraft. Looking up, one of the two Royal NZ Air Force P-3 Orion turboprop planes came roaring directly overhead at 500’. I quickly ducked below and called them on VHF Ch 16. After asking our details, destination and ETA told us they were completing a fisheries patrol and heading back to Auckland.

Meanwhile Bob arms remained in a holding pattern as he balanced the compass in midair, unsure of what to do with it.	Jim getting ready to spell Seth on the helm	Rig check class
Marta takes a “girlie moment” in trying a no water need hair shampoo treatment	The heat is on as this crew race for their third all out Mahina Expeditions knot tying competition record	Jim reckons a person could get used to this spinnaker stuff

Yesterday was our best day to date, a measly 132 miles but after 12 days at sea it was a huge accomplishment in the right direction. We’d sailed an extra 400 miles in the wrong direction. With 12 knots of breeze at sunrise we couldn’t resist setting the spinnaker which we flew until sunset. It was interesting to note that with the wind relatively forward we were able to keep the boatspeed up to 5-6 knots in winds as light as 7 kts. Last night the wind filled in and the swell dropped until we were flying at 8+ knots, and this morning, with winds touching 17-18 kts, we tucked the first reef in the main only to discover we sailed slightly faster and flatter.

This crew has been amazing. In the worst of the weather Marta would be on the wheel dodging spray and singing away in French or Spanish. Each has said, "This is great experience, and exactly why I chose Leg 1!" Are they nuts, or what?

Leg 1 Crew James Floyd, Bob, Jim Kerr, Marta, Felipe and Seth

Here they are:

I am Marta Ripoll de Urrutia, 54, a Columbian mother of two girls, (26 & 19) and a boy (24). I grew up in Cartagena and have been married with Felipe for 31 years. We live in Bogota where I own two MaxMara Italian fashion shops. We have bareboat chartered for 25 years and now Felipe is trying to convince me to buy a sailboat and sail around the world with a rally. For that I would need to know much more about sailing and that is why I am here.

Felipe Urrutia, 55 from Columbia where I have always lived at 8000’ in Bogota and need a change, so I am planning a round the world cruise with my wife. I signed up for this expedition to get real experience of crossing an ocean. For 18 years I have had a rose farm, exporting flowers worldwide.

Bob Mass, 55.  I’m a recently retired physician from the SF Bay area exploring options for the next phase of life. I sailed small keel boats on the Bay with my wife Sheila until our kids arrived and she refused to take them onboard. Now that they are off to college, I have joined this expedition to gain more skills to enable the dream of a slow circumnavigation, hopefully aboard a Hallberg-Rassy.

Seth Siegal, 63 from Seattle. Since retiring in 2006 from a career in software development, I returned to my teenage passion for sailing. I have been cruising the coastal waters of Puget sound and Canada and later this summer we take delivery of a new Malo 40, on which my wife and I plan to circumnavigate Vancouver Island.

Jim Kerr, 63 from San Francisco. I retired from an accounting business last fall and am thinking about taking my CS 36 on the Baha HaHa race this year. I joined this expedition to sharpen my offshore skills and to make sure ocean sailing is for me. Jim is a keen cyclist and is already talking about renting a bike once we reach Rurutu.

Jim Floyd, 61. I am a professor of veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University. I am a novice sailor, having just completed Offshore Sailing School’s Fast Track to Cruising course before joining this expedition. My goal is to become a confident, competent skipper capable of chartering in different countries. This has been a fantastic learning experience in the company of wonderful companions. Shortly after this expedition ends I have volunteered to go to Afghanistan to help the farmers with their cattle. I had a similar deployment to the Horn of Africa in 2008.

 

May 20, 2010, 0530 hrs, 25.58 S, 158.22 W, Log: 137,865 miles, 437 miles to Rurutu, Austral Islands
Flying along on a beam reach at 8 kts in 14 kt SE winds.
Single reefed main and full genoa
Baro: 1017.3, Cabin Temp: 74 F, cockpit 72 F, sea water 77 F

Amanda even made her first batch of date scones

Seth takes a sun sight

Yesterday we had another record breaking run of the passage, 162 miles, close to what we normally we would be clicking off. Conditions have been extremely uniform something we’ve rarely seen; our winds have not dipped below 12 or peaked above 16, not a single squall for days, and just gorgeous tradewind skies. We’ve been taking advantage of the smooth conditions to get fully caught up on teaching including the hands-on aspects of splicing and sail design.

However, a couple glitches popped up. After using my laptop to run our PowerPoint screen for sail trim class, I plugged it back into the Iridium satphone to download the weather GRIB files. The Iridium wasn’t about to cooperate – it’s little screen would read, Call Forward On, and then it would drop calls after two seconds. I tried every trick I knew; shutting everything down, pulling the batteries out of the phone and computer, and then trying again, then going into the Iridium menu to see if perhaps some setting had been changed. I finally got a message off to UUPlus, our satellite compression service and received an almost instant reply that the entire Iridium system was down because of a switch they had changed. UUPlus was now in the queue waiting for a fix.  This was the last thing in the word I expected and during the 13 years we’ve used the Iridium system it’s the first time a problem like this has occurred. Hopefully the system will be back working today. We carry an entire spare Iridium phone, docking station and antenna, but I haven’t actually rigged it up before, something I must do.

Over the last couple of days Amanda and I had both noticed our Frigoboat fridge didn’t seem as cold as normal. Both thinking things might get better we just put it (hopefully) down to the fact that a few times I had forgotten to turn it back on after switching it off to make weatherfax chart reception clearer. Last night I tried turning the tempertature control down but when the box felt warmer than early this morning I decided something was wrong. At 4 am I checked the refer saltwater cooling pump in the engine room, which is always warm, but it was dead cold. To see if the pump was the problem I checked for voltage coming to the pump when the fridge was on, and there was none. I next rewired the pump to the identical bilge sump pump next to it and found that the refer pump was ok. Then I zeroed in on the small 24 volt to 12 volt step-down transformer under the sink that powers the pump and Bingo! I discovered a blown fuse. Upon replacing the 5amp fuse everything is working fine. The million dollar question here: do fuses ever die of fatigue and old age, or is there a short somewhere? I think I’d best order a spare transformer from HR Parts in Sweden. Even better, I should switch to the newer system that eliminates the troublesome seawater circulation pump, simply using an external small keel-cooler to dissipate the heat from the fridge and freezer.  It’s been on the market now about ten years so was not an option when MT was built.

Leg 1-2010, Update 3
May 24, 2010, 2030 hrs, 21.12 S, 150.52 W, Log: 138,422 miles, 225 miles to Tahiti!
Flying along on a beam reach at 7.5 kts in 16 kt SE winds.
Full main and 10% of the genoa reefed
Baro: 1016.5, Cabin Temp: 79 F, cockpit 77 F, sea water 82.4 F

Our winds that had been so steady for days dropped off and we spent the last half day motoring in calm winds with the goal of reaching tiny Rimatara, the westernmost of the inhabited Austral Islands before dark.

Marta reflecting on the passage….plenty of bruises and winching, along with steering, muscles to show for a  rough voyage.

James on lookout post as we approach Rimatara

The view ashore from our reef anchorge

By 1630 we anchored well off a white sandy beach in 30’ depths and without any encouragement everyone donned masks and snorkels and jumped in for a swim. The water was crystal clear, with visibility over 100’. We saw three fishermen in small outrigger canoes and a handful of people on the beach, but that was all.

As Rimatara is not a port of entry we couldn’t go ashore, so before dusk we raised anchor and set sail on what turned out to be a fast 82 miles reach then run towards Rurutul. Upon rounding the northern tip of the island at dawn we decided to heave to briefly off the tiny Moerai Harbor to let a small squall pass and gain a little more daylight.

The harbor was built specifically for Tuhaa Pae II, the small freighter owned by the Austral Islands which calls at Rurutu every couple of weeks. There were only two fishing-speedboats in the water and a few racing outrigger canoes visible onshore so we could choose between dropping an anchor and backing up to the harbor wall, or side-tying alongside the large black rubber ship fenders at the quay. We chose the second option and dropped the anchor several boat lengths off the wharf to help hold us off. This worked well and with an unusual westerly wind there was almost no surge in the basin. By utilizing eight dock lines along with anchor, Mahina Tiare rode quietly; only occasionally would our fenders touch the black ship’s fender.

As soon as we had completed mooring I hiked a half mile to the Gendarmerie, not expecting them to be open at 9am Sunday morning. After buzzing the intercom installed on the outer gate a gendarme answered. He said he would stop by the boat at 2 pm and that in the meantime we were free to explore the island.

MT anchored and tied to the quay

Island shoreside view with MT in the basin half way along the reef

Crew receiving gifts of pamplemousse and bananas

We each signed up for one hour mooring watches and those not on watch took off exploring. The mooring watches turned out to be very entertaining as following church many locals came to check us out and take pictures. They all said it had been many years since a yacht had stopped at Rurutu although two years ago they’d seen a yacht sailing past the island in the distance, but it hadn’t stopped. We invited many of the visitors aboard as they were very curious to see below, often wondering what we ate and how we showered. Before long gifts of fruit were piled high on the decks and invitations to tour the island were pouring in.

John meeting with the Gendarmes

Mid-afternoon the two friendly and efficient Gendarmes pulled up in their shiny blue Land Rover, coming aboard to check us in. They said we were the first boat they had ever cleared in and weren’t really sure what to do, so I helped them filling in their radio report form. They had both been stationed on Martinique before Rurutu, and said that compared to the rest of the world, there were very few problems on Rurutu, and that they really enjoyed living and working there.

Timothy, a young retired interpreter and his wife took all of our gang off to lunch and to see the largest cave, complete with massive stalactites and stalagmites.
 
Marta was a special hit with the local ladies. A woman named Tiare arrived at the boat asking for Marta and we explained the Marta was out touring and would be back later. Tiare had brought us generous portions of her families traditional Sunday feast which had been cooked in the underground earth oven. The food included pork, taro, and taro leaves along with grated coconut fermented with a special small crab. When Marta returned she was rather baffled by the gift from Tiare as she’d never even met her before. Tiare, who was extremely shy, had brought with her friend Marie Boucard, a vivacious young French-Italian, to act as translator. Marie had arrived in Tahiti three years earlier when she had been working as a crew aboard a mega yacht and had become captivated by island life. Both Tiare and Marie eagerly accepted an invitation to come aboard. Tiare, like nearly all of the locals had never been on a yacht before and was very intrigued as to how everything worked. Tiare’s three children were too scared to come aboard at first but once mum was on the aft deck it then seemed ok and they were soon leaping aboard and scurrying around to check out everything.

Marie, Tiare and Marta on the aft deck

Marie had come to Rurutu two years earlier, having landed a job as a receptionist at the small Rurutu Lodge for her first year, after a stint working at a resort on Bora Bora. She’d then applied to teach mathematics at the local high school. While joining us aboard for dinner she offered many insights into the local culture, saying that the Rurutu people have a very strong tradition of welcoming visitors; they want to make everyone feel comfortable and at home. Marie said that from July to October each year every guest bed on the island (55, mostly in family-run pensions) is fully booked with visitors from around the world coming to gain the opportunity to watch dozens of humpback whales mating and giving birth. She said that the few fishermen put aside fishing to instead take whale-watching guests in their boats, and that many people take the opportunity to swim with the whales.

Marie, Marta, Filipe and James enjoying Tiare’s traditional dinner

The one thing that also impressed us during our last visit in 2005 was how polite the kids were. They hung about on the dock for hours, occasionally asking questions, but were always polite and friendly to talk with. On this visit many of the boys had boogie boards and they loved to tell me about surfing waves up to seven meters (must be a bit of an exaggeration!) near the harbor entrance. Amanda enjoyed chatting about dance and sports with the girls.

This morning Amanda and I went for a dawn run along the coast and got to view a few limestone caves. Everyone we passed waved and smiled and when we stopped in one of the three Chinese stores, the owner saw our Hilo Bay Paddler shirts and asked if we had been to Hilo. She and her family had just returned from attending the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo and said they loved visiting the Big Island of Hawaii.

One the many limestone caves

Amanda taught winch servicing following breakfast, and as she got to the end of her class, a bevy of young beauties, all boarding students from Rimatara stopped by on the wharf. Before long they enticed Amanda was on the wharf to exchange and demo Polynesian dance moves which brought gales of laughter from the girls. Our last visitors were a French couple from Brittany, both sailors. They happily helped cast off our lines as Marta guided Mahina Tiare out of the little harbor. There were people on either side of the harbor entrance, waving, laughing and shouting, BON VOYAGE!

It felt a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful and friendly island so soon and before long we watched Rurutu, this magical little piece of paradise recede into the horizon.

Our sailing conditions have been perfect, with the wind varying between 12 and 20 knots and from a beam to broad reach, so MT has been just eating up the miles.

May 26, 2010, 0230 hrs, 18.04 S, 149.47 W, Log: 138,636 miles, 28 miles to Tahiti!
Beam reaching at 6.5 kts in 22-34 kt SE winds with 4.1 m crossed swells. Very bumpy.
Triple reefed main and genoa
Baro: 1015.5, Cabin Temp: 82 F, cockpit 80 F, sea water 84.4 F

Jim sets the preventer as sail out of the lee of the island

We covered 166 miles in our first 24 hours since leaving Rurutu and the winds and seas have been building since morning. We kept reducing sail to keep our boat speed below 8 knots, wanting to arrive off Tahiti’s Passe Taapuna before dawn. Amanda taught sail repair, demonstrated double braid splicing this morning and gave the crew Turk’s head knots to master this afternoon, made all the more challenging by the strengthening winds and building seas. Tahiti and Moorea started to give slight radar returns at 28 miles, and we are wondering if the bulk of Tahiti will provide some lee from the confused seas. With a full moon out, landfall along the Papara coast of Tahiti should be spectacular.

May 29, 2010, 0600 hrs, 17.28 S, 149.48 W, Log: 138,690 miles, at anchor off Moorea
As we neared the Taapuna pass Wednesday morning, our winds died to 4-5 knots but we managed to ghost along whilst enjoying amazing images of Tahiti and Moorea at sunrise. Previous expedition members Laura and Giogio were moored at Marina Taina aboard their Nordhaven 47 Lisa Maire. They’d spoken with the marina manager, finding us just-vacated slip across from theirs in the very full little marina.

When I headed to town to check us in Amanda was in the process of covering going aloft for rig check and I’m happy to report that every one of our expedition members made it safely up and down the mast. While I made lunch crew practiced using our new Sailrite sewing machine and after lunch Amanda covered double braid splicing and how to build fishing lures. James created a spectacular blue and sliver lure named Chepito (singing debt collector) while Marta’s pink passion lure was christened Conchita. They’re rigged and ready so well report soon on how they perform.

MT arriving at Marina Taina

James, Marta and Amanda in full lure creation

We all enjoyed sunset drinks aboard Laura and Giorgio’s boat and an excellent dinner ashore before heading to Moorea yesterday morning.

Wow, Leg 1 is over and our crew departed with many praises and thanks for a rewarding experience. Amanda and I now be will be working on varnish, laundry, sewing projects, chores while mixing in some fun reef swims, runs up the valleys and kayaking. Surprisingly, there are very few boats here on Moorea. We’re not sure if that’s because we’re early in the season, or if there are fewer cruising boats this year. Cook’s Bay usually has 15-20, but I only counted four on my sunset kayak paddle last night. Still... we've got a couple of more days here on Moorea so I’m sure we’ll encounter a few more boats and perhaps some old friends.