svbeachhouse

Category: 2015 March Blog

  • Beach House – Ship\’s Mini Blog and Position Report….Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/09/13 19:57
    LATITUDE: 15-29.81S
    LONGITUDE: 154-14.74W
    COURSE: 272T
    SPEED: 7.8
    MARINE: YES
    WIND_SPEED: 21
    WIND_DIR: ESE
    WAVE_HT: 0.5M
    WAVE_PER: 8
    SWELL_DIR: ESE
    SWELL_HT: 1.7M
    SWELL_PER: 8
    CLOUDS: 25%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1018.7
    TREND: 1
    AIR_TEMP: 30.0C
    COMMENT: Beach House – En ROUTE – Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands (Day 1 – 170 nm)

    We posted our blog on Tahiti to Huahine yesterday in Bora Bora, got some last fuel and provisions and were off at 09:30 local time. We hired a car the day before and did the round island drive. We\’ll report all that in our next photo blog from Huahine to Bora Bora. We\’re sorry we didn\’t get to spend any real time on Huahine, which is my favorite of the leeward islands of French Polynesia. We yet again had a last minute generator problem, which Nikki and I were able to fix by swapping out an alarm probe on the generator. The exhaust temperature alarm has been an issue this season and this probe only lasted 200 hours. It\’s a bear to change due to it\’s location. The job took the two of us about 2 hours. Fortunately, engines, steering, hydraulics and now gen set all seem to be working fine. We\’ve a leak in one of the water makers, but I\’m afraid to over tighten the metal nut into the plastic fitting and possibly knock it out of commission for the season. I\’ll live with the little leak.

    The first 30 miles of the sail yesterday were light conditions and we used the genoa poled to starboard with a full main. We passed the last main island (to the north) of French Polynesia – Maupiti. Though very pretty, we are just too far behind and still have 3000 miles to go to Sydney with lots to see.
    The winds were shifting from East to Southeast and getting light, so we flew our big reacher on the pole till 02:30 am when the big shift and bigger winds came in. We rolled it up just in time and have been in more or less 20 knots ever since from the SE.

    Were headed to the island of Suwarrow, one of the very remote northern Cook Islands. This is the island where a self imposed, \”Robinson Crusoe\” type, Tom Neale lived for many years before his death in the 1970\’s and wrote his autobiography, \”An Island to Oneself\”. It is now the only national park in the Cook Islands. The good news is, it\’s a park and we can visit. The bad news is, the coconut jungle on the radio nets is telling us of very bad experiences with the two Park Rangers. They are Cook Islanders (and will speak English) and may be a Father and Son team.

    They have very restrictive rules about what you can and cannot do here (which we are aware of), but the recent visiting yachties have had a few horror stories about abuse of power and literally felt physically threatened. We\’ll be good citizens as usual and follow the rules. \”Yachties\” are about the most
    Eco Friendly folks on the planet, so I\’m not sure what \”rules\” exactly were supposedly broken? We\’ll stay anywhere from 2-4 days before possibly attempting the two day sail to Rose Atoll. A very much smaller version of Suwarrow and completely uninhabited. It is part of American Samoa and as such, US territory.
    We then think we\’ll head to Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango)which is the main port of American Samoa.

    Should plans change, we\’ll of course let everyone know.

    Right now, we have brisk sailing conditions with the wind pretty much dead behind us. Port pole with full genoa and main, we\’re zipping right along about 15 degrees south of our desired heading, but that\’s the price we pay for the wind directly astern.

    We expect to be in Suwarrow sometime Friday (hopefully). There\’s a bit of a front to our south which we\’ll miss but may get a bit of rain squalls before our arrival. We\’ve 525 miles to go and all is well. We heard lots of friends on the local nets today scattered all over the South Pacific from the Cooks, Tonga, Niue and Fiji.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House – Ship\’s Mini Blog and Position Report….Bora Bora YC – Isle Bora Bora – Leeward Islands …..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/09/08 23:39
    LATITUDE: 16-29.38S
    LONGITUDE: 151-45.71W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 20%
    VISIBILITY: 20
    BARO: 1015.6
    AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Bora Bora Yacht Club – Isle Bora Bora – Leeward Islands

    We had a lovely evening at our mooring last night and with winds predicted to be 18-25 knots today, we knew it would be a blustery sail.
    This gave us a good chance to check the new gooseneck attachment which worked perfectly. With a single reef and our staysail poled out to windward, we made the 20 mile sail on one tack, averaging about 8.5 knots. There are lots of boats here and I looked in the log and was last here
    in June of 2010 with Cindy, Clark and Vincent. This is my fourth time sailing into this island including when I did in 1977 aboard my 32 foot ketch, \”Triad II\”. Lots of memories and we placed a California Yacht Club Burgee here last time around, so maybe if it\’s still here, we\’ll get to update our log and re-sign it.

    We should be here for 2-3 nights awaiting a bit calmer conditions and then head for the very remote Suwarrow Atoll about 650 miles to ENE.
    We\’ll update the photo\’s and main ship\’s blog if we can find any decent internet.

    Engines and steering seems to be good. No runs, no drips, no errors!!!

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House – Ship\’s Mini Blog and Position Report….Bora Bora YC – Isle Bora Bora – Leeward Islands …..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/09/08 23:39
    LATITUDE: 16-29.38S
    LONGITUDE: 151-45.71W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 20%
    VISIBILITY: 20
    BARO: 1015.6
    AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Bora Bora Yacht Club – Isle Bora Bora – Leeward Islands

    We had a lovely evening at our mooring last night and with winds predicted to be 18-25 knots today, we knew it would be a blustery sail.
    This gave us a good chance to check the new gooseneck attachment which worked perfectly. With a single reef and our staysail poled out to windward, we made the 20 mile sail on one tack, averaging about 8.5 knots. There are lots of boats here and I looked in the log and was last here
    in June of 2010 with Cindy, Clark and Vincent. This is my fourth time sailing into this island including when I did in 1977 aboard my 32 foot ketch, \”Triad II\”. Lots of memories and we placed a California Yacht Club Burgee here last time around, so maybe if it\’s still here, we\’ll get to update our log and re-sign it.

    We should be here for 2-3 nights awaiting a bit calmer conditions and then head for the very remote Suwarrow Atoll about 650 miles to ENE.
    We\’ll update the photo\’s and main ship\’s blog if we can find any decent internet.

    Engines and steering seems to be good. No runs, no drips, no errors!!!

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House – Ship\’s Mini Blog and Position Report….Bay Tapuamu – Leeward Islands …..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/09/08 02:43
    LATITUDE: 16-36.86S
    LONGITUDE: 151-32.72W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 15%
    VISIBILITY: 25
    BARO: 1015.6
    AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Bay Tapuamu – Isle Tahaa – Leeward Islands

    We finally got our parts and after great difficulty getting off the dock (pinned by 20 knots of wind), we went out with Robin the mechanic and tested everything. At first, we thought we had a dead battery on one engine, but that turned out not to be the case. Once underway, friends Pete and Sue Wolcott on \”Kiapa Nui\” went sailing by and gave us a thumbs up on the engines.

    So far, all appears to be going well and to give it a good 4 hour test run. Nikki and I motored completely around the island of Tahaa where we are now moored for the night. We\’re so far behind schedule, we suspect we\’ll sail off to Bora Bora tomorrow which we are now watching the sunset over as I write!

    It\’s about 25 miles and will give our new gooseneck a good work out and of course we\’ll check the engines thoroughly before we depart.

    I\’ll write up in the \”big blog\” exactly what we think happened, but suffice it to say, they didn\’t install the motors correctly in alignment with the transmissions which caused a lot of vibration and stuff just broke and came loose. This seems to now all be in good order including our two new oil seals in the upper parts of the transmissions.

    Whew! Good to be in a calm spot, enjoying the remains of the day.
    More when we get to Bora Bora and if internet allows we\’ll get one or two more Photo/Ship\’s Main Blogs out before we depart for Suwarrow in the Cook Islands.
    That will be about a 3-4 day sail.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House – Ship\’s Mini Blog and Position Report….Bay Tapuamu – Leeward Islands …..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/09/08 02:43
    LATITUDE: 16-36.86S
    LONGITUDE: 151-32.72W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 15
    WIND_DIR: E
    CLOUDS: 15%
    VISIBILITY: 25
    BARO: 1015.6
    AIR_TEMP: 31.7C
    COMMENT: Beach House – MOORED – Bay Tapuamu – Isle Tahaa – Leeward Islands

    We finally got our parts and after great difficulty getting off the dock (pinned by 20 knots of wind), we went out with Robin the mechanic and tested everything. At first, we thought we had a dead battery on one engine, but that turned out not to be the case. Once underway, friends Pete and Sue Wolcott on \”Kiapa Nui\” went sailing by and gave us a thumbs up on the engines.

    So far, all appears to be going well and to give it a good 4 hour test run. Nikki and I motored completely around the island of Tahaa where we are now moored for the night. We\’re so far behind schedule, we suspect we\’ll sail off to Bora Bora tomorrow which we are now watching the sunset over as I write!

    It\’s about 25 miles and will give our new gooseneck a good work out and of course we\’ll check the engines thoroughly before we depart.

    I\’ll write up in the \”big blog\” exactly what we think happened, but suffice it to say, they didn\’t install the motors correctly in alignment with the transmissions which caused a lot of vibration and stuff just broke and came loose. This seems to now all be in good order including our two new oil seals in the upper parts of the transmissions.

    Whew! Good to be in a calm spot, enjoying the remains of the day.
    More when we get to Bora Bora and if internet allows we\’ll get one or two more Photo/Ship\’s Main Blogs out before we depart for Suwarrow in the Cook Islands.
    That will be about a 3-4 day sail.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House Ship\’s Mini Blog & Position Report – Oh What a Night!….

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/06/07 18:49
    LATITUDE: 16-30.36S
    LONGITUDE: 145-27.35W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 10
    WIND_DIR: SSE
    CLOUDS: 90%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1016.2
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House -MOORED – South Fakarava Atoll Tetamanu – South Pass

    Oh what a night!
    So much for the best laid plans of mice and sailors.
    We moved from the anchorage (Hirifu Motu) in the northern part of the east corner of the atoll yesterday as the winds went North and we were in the long fetch of the lagoon.
    We found a lovely spot 7 miles to the north which protected us against the NWesterlies perfectly and the weather said the wind would be light and hold till late this afternoon.

    This of course is where the best laid plans of mice and sailors can often go awry. The winds shifted 18 hours ahead of prediction and we ended up with a SSEasterly at 20 knots. The three boats spun stern to the reef and it was anchor/motor watch from 2:30 a.m. onwards till first light.
    We\’d anchored in 38 feet of sand, we ended up in 6-9 feet of mixed sand and rock! Our underwater lights and search light helped spot to \”bommies\” (big boulder rocks) and the good news was, they were close, but not too close. The other two boats were even closer. Bubbles had to shorten his anchor chain (scope) length and Swiftsure chose to use motors and hold off.

    All three of us could feel the \”bommies\”, nipping at our sterns. All held their cool and we simply watched and made minor adjustments as necessary till dawn. We then all picked up and moved. Bubbles and we are back at Tetamanu and Swiftsure went back to yesterdays anchorage.

    Winds will essentially pick up and go ESE over the next several days with strength. There is a stubborn trough of low pressure that is feeding the normal South Pacific High and it\’s made a squally mess of the Tuamotus. We saw lots of lightning last night, but fortunately, it was all distant.

    We\’re back on a mooring and Kyle dove them to insure they\’re in good shape.
    The word was excellent, like new. The lines are big and appear to be less than six months old, the hold down is a mighty beast as well.

    As such, we\’re likely to relax, dive and enjoy South Fakarava for then next several days awaiting the weather. This may cut our planned trip to Kauehi Atoll out, but such is life.

    Standing by and glad all we got was a bad night\’s sleep and a sea story out of the experience. 160 degree wind shifts are rare – but out here, \”stuff occurs\”….:-)

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House Ship\’s Mini Blog & Position Report – Oh What a Night!….

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/06/07 18:49
    LATITUDE: 16-30.36S
    LONGITUDE: 145-27.35W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 10
    WIND_DIR: SSE
    CLOUDS: 90%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1016.2
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House -MOORED – South Fakarava Atoll Tetamanu – South Pass

    Oh what a night!
    So much for the best laid plans of mice and sailors.
    We moved from the anchorage (Hirifu Motu) in the northern part of the east corner of the atoll yesterday as the winds went North and we were in the long fetch of the lagoon.
    We found a lovely spot 7 miles to the north which protected us against the NWesterlies perfectly and the weather said the wind would be light and hold till late this afternoon.

    This of course is where the best laid plans of mice and sailors can often go awry. The winds shifted 18 hours ahead of prediction and we ended up with a SSEasterly at 20 knots. The three boats spun stern to the reef and it was anchor/motor watch from 2:30 a.m. onwards till first light.
    We\’d anchored in 38 feet of sand, we ended up in 6-9 feet of mixed sand and rock! Our underwater lights and search light helped spot to \”bommies\” (big boulder rocks) and the good news was, they were close, but not too close. The other two boats were even closer. Bubbles had to shorten his anchor chain (scope) length and Swiftsure chose to use motors and hold off.

    All three of us could feel the \”bommies\”, nipping at our sterns. All held their cool and we simply watched and made minor adjustments as necessary till dawn. We then all picked up and moved. Bubbles and we are back at Tetamanu and Swiftsure went back to yesterdays anchorage.

    Winds will essentially pick up and go ESE over the next several days with strength. There is a stubborn trough of low pressure that is feeding the normal South Pacific High and it\’s made a squally mess of the Tuamotus. We saw lots of lightning last night, but fortunately, it was all distant.

    We\’re back on a mooring and Kyle dove them to insure they\’re in good shape.
    The word was excellent, like new. The lines are big and appear to be less than six months old, the hold down is a mighty beast as well.

    As such, we\’re likely to relax, dive and enjoy South Fakarava for then next several days awaiting the weather. This may cut our planned trip to Kauehi Atoll out, but such is life.

    Standing by and glad all we got was a bad night\’s sleep and a sea story out of the experience. 160 degree wind shifts are rare – but out here, \”stuff occurs\”….:-)

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki

  • Beach House Ship\’s Mini Blog & Position Report – Arrival at Fakarava Atoll…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/06/03 04:10
    LATITUDE: 16-30.48S
    LONGITUDE: 145-27.52W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 13
    WIND_DIR: NE
    CLOUDS: 70%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1012.2
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House – Moored – South Fakarava Atoll

    The sail yesterday from Tahanea to Fakarava was big squalls with lots of wind, rain and then poof!
    We ended up motoring the last 15 of the 52 miles.

    The pass was a bit of a challenge with current up to 4 knots against us on entry and if I hadn\’t been here before, would have been quite daunting as the
    engine saga continues. I took the thermostat out of the port engine and determined that our coolant leak might be from the thermostat housing not sealing well despite having even put in a new gasket? The engine after running for well over an hour never even completely warmed up and the coolant leak was far less.

    Our generator gave an error code yesterday and in today\’s squalls and rain, I\’ll try and sort it out. (It never ends folks…:-)

    We\’re on a mooring that I was on 7 years ago and this is a magical spot where there are hundreds of Grey Reef Sharks that you can swim with on every dive.
    The pass has to be flowing in and the local owner of Teteamanu at the entrance knows when that happens. This was one of Cindy and my favorite anchorages and where we first met our friends Bruce and Alene on \”Migration\” Bruce and Alene are now headed toward Japan to sail back down the US West Coast and come back to the Pacific.

    Kyle on \”Bubbles\” caught a big tuna as he came into Fakarava yesterday and we all went aboard \”Water Music\” for sashimi and a nice evening.
    When they cleaned the fish, they started a bit of a feeding frenzy off their transom as the sharks came for the freebies….

    We also caught up finally with David and Amy on \”Starry Horizons\” and had a quick catch up before they\’re off for the two day sail to Tahiti.
    We may get some real catch up time late this month while we\’re down for repairs in Tahiti.

    We\’ll be here a few days before hopefully heading off to yet another new atoll to us – Kahuei about 45 miles to the NW.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki – South Fakarava Atoll

  • Beach House Ship\’s Mini Blog & Position Report – Arrival at Fakarava Atoll…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/06/03 04:10
    LATITUDE: 16-30.48S
    LONGITUDE: 145-27.52W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 13
    WIND_DIR: NE
    CLOUDS: 70%
    VISIBILITY: 10
    BARO: 1012.2
    AIR_TEMP: 27.2C
    COMMENT: Beach House – Moored – South Fakarava Atoll

    The sail yesterday from Tahanea to Fakarava was big squalls with lots of wind, rain and then poof!
    We ended up motoring the last 15 of the 52 miles.

    The pass was a bit of a challenge with current up to 4 knots against us on entry and if I hadn\’t been here before, would have been quite daunting as the
    engine saga continues. I took the thermostat out of the port engine and determined that our coolant leak might be from the thermostat housing not sealing well despite having even put in a new gasket? The engine after running for well over an hour never even completely warmed up and the coolant leak was far less.

    Our generator gave an error code yesterday and in today\’s squalls and rain, I\’ll try and sort it out. (It never ends folks…:-)

    We\’re on a mooring that I was on 7 years ago and this is a magical spot where there are hundreds of Grey Reef Sharks that you can swim with on every dive.
    The pass has to be flowing in and the local owner of Teteamanu at the entrance knows when that happens. This was one of Cindy and my favorite anchorages and where we first met our friends Bruce and Alene on \”Migration\” Bruce and Alene are now headed toward Japan to sail back down the US West Coast and come back to the Pacific.

    Kyle on \”Bubbles\” caught a big tuna as he came into Fakarava yesterday and we all went aboard \”Water Music\” for sashimi and a nice evening.
    When they cleaned the fish, they started a bit of a feeding frenzy off their transom as the sharks came for the freebies….

    We also caught up finally with David and Amy on \”Starry Horizons\” and had a quick catch up before they\’re off for the two day sail to Tahiti.
    We may get some real catch up time late this month while we\’re down for repairs in Tahiti.

    We\’ll be here a few days before hopefully heading off to yet another new atoll to us – Kahuei about 45 miles to the NW.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki – South Fakarava Atoll

  • Beach House Ship\’s Mini Blog & Position Report – Arrival at Tahanea Atoll…..

    AIRMAIL YOTREPS
    IDENT: N6ABC
    TIME: 2016/05/31 17:48
    LATITUDE: 16-51.07S
    LONGITUDE: 144-41.51W
    MARINE: NO
    WIND_SPEED: 17
    WIND_DIR: 191T
    CLOUDS: 40%
    VISIBILITY: 15
    BARO: 1015.2
    AIR_TEMP: 28.9C
    COMMENT: Beach House -Anchored – Tahanea Atoll – north of center pass

    Sorry this got out a day late.
    For those of you who knew my Aunt Barbara Kantro, she lost her year long battle with cancer yesterday and we send our condolences to all of our extended family.
    She was a wonderful woman and we will all miss her very much. Barbara was the last of her generation in my immediate family and was the glue that held us together. I hope we\’ll be able to continue to do so.

    We had a nice night sail from Raroia (Kon Tiki Atoll) to the now un-inhabited atoll of Tahanea. The pass was easy to enter but then got very bouncy
    as we came into the lagoon. \”Blowin\’ Bubbles\” is with us here as well as now \”Enchanter\” and \”Amarulla\”. The rocket ship catamaran \”Water Music\” with Pascal and Tom were here yesterday and we all had a lovely evening together aboard \”Beach House\” with the \”Bubbles\” crew. Friends on \”Swiftsure\”, continued directly to Fakarava and we\’ll meet up with them I\’m sure tomorrow evening when we plan to arrive there.

    Today, The Bubble\’s crew and we will try a dive outside the pass at slack tide and tomorrow we will head to the magical atoll of Fakarava with good winds predicted for the approximately 7-8 hour sail. After that, we may have to hunker down for another couple of days awaiting some rain, squalls and \”weather\” again?

    All is well except of course for our \”boat bites\” which we continue to manage. The steering, the engines and now the hydraulic boom vang. It further lends credence to to old adage, that \”cruising a small sail boat is all about doing boat projects in exotic locations\”….:-)

    We are planning stops at Fakarava, Kauehi, perhaps back to North Fakarava and finally Anse Amyot at the East side of Toau. From there we will head to Tahiti
    and effect repairs. That should be within about 2-3 weeks from now.

    Happy Anniversary to my daughter Skye and son-in-law Sean on their first year of marriage which was yesterday. We\’re looking forward to our big family reunion in Sydney this December.

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki
    Tahanea Atoll – The Tuamotu Islands