Category: Voyages

May 18th, 2011 0915 UTC/2115 local time (Eastern Hemisphere)

Current Conditions: We\’re 20 miles north of Great Barrier Island, heading for the Minerva Reefs. 750 miles to go if we stop there. Position: 35 deg 44 min S 175 deg 23 min N Wind South 22 Swell South 1.5 meters Temp: 59 deg F, 15 deg C Heading: 020 True Speed 7.7 knots

\”Moondance\”….Van Morrison

Dear F&F,

Well, what a marvelous night for a Moondance. We\’ve a full moon and relatively benign conditions. When the prediction for the wind to drop down to \”20 knots\” finally occurred, Kate took the helm, headed us to wind and I raised the main to the 3rd reef point. Still a small bit of sail, but plenty for \”Beach House\” aka: Miss Piggy to get up and rock. I wanted to have a nice easy first day and the conditions are cooperating. The North Island of New Zealand is still providing us protection from Ms. Tassie, we\’ll loose that within the next 24 hours.

As I write, I\’m downloading the \”mean surface level\” fax from New Zealand MET (Meterology) to keep an eye on what\’s developing.

This afternoon, good old N6ABC got back on the roll call for the Pacific Seafarer\’s Amateur radio net and checked in. We were number 18!…Busy folks out here. I got to speak with old friends including Chuck from \”Jacaranda\” still in Mexico an Joan on \”Tender Spirit\” headed also to Savusavu but from the opposite direction in the Marshall Islands. She wants to \”race\” and only has a 500 mile head start….:) Yeah, we\’re faster, but that\’s a big handicap to give.

Kate is having her first offshore and night sailing experience, doing one of the most important things she can do….SLEEPING. It sounds normal and natural, but remember, we\’re moving around constantly 24/7. It\’s an important skill. We trade watches every 4 hours and keep an egg timer going to insure we take a good look around every 20 minutes. I have no boats in sight and our AIS (automatic identification system) isn\’t seeing anyone either. However, our radar detector does see a signal, most likely at least 10-20 miles away. We\’re watching.

According to the weather fax, we should be sailing into lighter but more South Easterly winds over the next few days. If conditions warrant, we\’ll put up more sail in the morning and let Miss Piggy stretch her legs a bit.

Hope you like the \”live blog\” posts, it keeps me company and away from my dreams….

Hugs, Scott with sleeping Kate

May 18th, Eastern Hemisphere, 0200 UTC, 2 p.m. local time.

Position: Hauraki Gulf 36 deg 25 min South 175 deg 01 min East Heading 020 True Speed 6.5 knots (taking it easy, staysail only) Wind 31 knots, SSW Sea 1 meter (protection from land), it\’s gonna get big once we clear North Cape and are exposed to the full force of the \”Tassie\”. (North Tasman Sea). 60 deg F, 15.5 deg C Clear Sky\’s, Barometer 1019.5 steady, but choppy Depth 100 meters, 300 feet

\”She came in through the bathroom window\”…..Joe Cocker

Dear F&F, Well, this is our \”weather window\” and the way it blew and rained this morning, I felt like the Joe Cocker song and we were in the shower! It\’s a bit of a Goldilocks and the three bears window. Too soon and papa bear will eat you (big wind!), too late and mama bear will swat you with a Nor\’easter in the face. We think we\’ve gone with Goldilocks, you\’ll know soon!… Some of the boaters who\’ve done this trip many times said, \”this is as good as it gets mate!\”. Hope they\’re right. This trip has seen much grief come to some boats, but with weather guru Bob McDavitt as our spirit guide, we should be good. The next window could have been a month out. Didn\’t want to sit and wait for that one. More cold and rain would not have been good for the disposition of Captain and Crew.

We were the third of four boats to leave Gulf Harbour today and got 40 knot gusts as we left the bay. Glad that\’s over with. Predictions are for 15 knots over the next 24 hours starting this evening. Hopefully it will be correct. The good news is that it is right on our \”six\” as they say in the airplane world; right behind us. Kate and I played, put up the staysail on the new spinnaker pole. She did great. We have only our staysail up and it\’s enough in this \”breeze\” to keep us at 6-7.5 knots. The odd 30 knot plus gust confirms this is a smart idea. We expect that at dinner time tonight (4 pm for we watch keepers), we may get to add a bit of main sail and then we\’ll be doing 8+ knots. Partly, we\’re also waiting to clear the two barrier islands of the north Haruaki Gulf; Little and Great Barrier Islands. We\’ll clear them around sunset.

First day\’s are always a bit nerve wracking and this one to me should be, but so far doesn\’t seem to be. Kate is very excited. I had to send her down for a \”power nap\” so she can get into the rhythm of the 4 hour on/off shifts we started at noon today. She\’ll have the midnight to 4 a.m., I\’ll have the two night shifts on either side of her. During the day, we keep the schedule, but it\’s a bit looser in terms of watch standing.

Kate has pre-prepared 35 meals. It\’s all heat and serve, she has been very organized, efficient and terrific in the galley as well as everywhere else.

Wanted you all to know we finally got off the dock. Said our farewells to friends in New Zealand and leave with desire to get to warmer climate. I need to move on for a whole lot of reasons. Within 4 days, it should be considerably warmer.

KIT, Scott with sleeping Kate.

Tuesday (Eastern Hemisphere), May 17th, 2011

\”Kentucky Woman\”….Neil Diamond

Auckland, New Zealand: Wind 8-20 knots, SW. Barometer 1011 and slightly rising. Temperature: 58 degrees F, 15.2 C. Rain Squalls. One cold front down, one to hit us in the morning, then off we go. Expect a fast passage with winds from the SW turning S, then SE, then ESE later in the program.

Dear F&F, Well tomorrow is \”jump day\”. We had a lovely dinner with friends Chris and Sandra Biggs. Returned the car, checked out with Kiwi Customs and got our routing/weather report from NZ Weather \”Guru\”, Bob McDavitt.

Luck was with us as the water maker part arrived just in time for Dave Holmes from Enertec Engineering to install it and now both of them are online.

On the way back from Chris and Sandra\’s house, \”Kentucky Woman\” was playing on the radio. I thought how odd. This song about a small southern state in the USA is playing while Chris, Kate and I were driving for the last time down Whangaparaoa Road. The song would have meant little to either of them for obvious reasons. But it made me feel both at home and out of place. Gulf Harbour in someways feels very much like home and in other ways I have no idea how I got here. The surrealness of the entire scene is something I think given the circumstances of my life (for those of you who know me well) was like being in Alice in Wonderland or Mr. Toad\’s wild ride. Things are so different today than I would have even possibly expected just a few short months ago. Today for you in the USA would have been Cindy and my 18th wedding anniversary. I tried to just have the moment yesterday here on the 18th, but I could feel all of you at home experiencing the day with me again.

I hope all of this wasn\’t a \”you had to be there\” to understand what I\’m feeling moment?

We\’ll start the daily blog (essentially live) tomorrow and put position reports on the website as well. Wish us well. Love and Hugs to you all, KIT, Scott with Kate…..last night in New Zealand

Tuesday (Eastern Hemisphere), May 17th, 2011

\”Kentucky Woman\”….Neil Diamond

Auckland, New Zealand: Wind 8-20 knots, SW. Barometer 1011 and slightly rising. Temperature: 58 degrees F, 15.2 C. Rain Squalls. One cold front down, one to hit us in the morning, then off we go. Expect a fast passage with winds from the SW turning S, then SE, then ESE later in the program.

Dear F&F, Well tomorrow is \”jump day\”. We had a lovely dinner with friends Chris and Sandra Biggs. Returned the car, checked out with Kiwi Customs and got our routing/weather report from NZ Weather \”Guru\”, Bob McDavitt.

Luck was with us as the water maker part arrived just in time for Dave Holmes from Enertec Engineering to install it and now both of them are online.

On the way back from Chris and Sandra\’s house, \”Kentucky Woman\” was playing on the radio. I thought how odd. This song about a small southern state in the USA is playing while Chris, Kate and I were driving for the last time down Whangaparaoa Road. The song would have meant little to either of them for obvious reasons. But it made me feel both at home and out of place. Gulf Harbour in someways feels very much like home and in other ways I have no idea how I got here. The surrealness of the entire scene is something I think given the circumstances of my life (for those of you who know me well) was like being in Alice in Wonderland or Mr. Toad\’s wild ride. Things are so different today than I would have even possibly expected just a few short months ago. Today for you in the USA would have been Cindy and my 18th wedding anniversary. I tried to just have the moment yesterday here on the 18th, but I could feel all of you at home experiencing the day with me again.

I hope all of this wasn\’t a \”you had to be there\” to understand what I\’m feeling moment?

We\’ll start the daily blog (essentially live) tomorrow and put position reports on the website as well. Wish us well. Love and Hugs to you all, KIT, Scott with Kate…..last night in New Zealand

May 16th, 2011

Dear F&F,

\”Anniversary\”….\”The Little River Band\”.

Auckland, New Zealand: Wind SSW 18-35 knots. Swell in the Tasman Sea 6-8 meters SSW (18- 25 feet). Temperature 61 deg F, 16.6 C. Squally….

Today is May 16th, 2011. Today would have been our 18th anniversary. We always called it our \”Humaversary\” after the Humuhumunukunuku a\’ pua fish. You know it as the trigger fish. It was our favorite due to it\’s behavior and color. We first found this fish together on our dives in Hawaii in the mid 1990\’s.

The translation of this in Hawaiian is \”Nose like a pig, put together like a puzzle\”. I always thought it was apropos of Cindy. Little did I know…. I loved her cute nose, the puzzle is well…..a puzzle.

Tomorrow we will check out with New Zealand Customs, finish housekeeping, return the car and say goodbye. We\’ll have a last NZ dinner with Chris and Sandra Biggs at their home and depart Wednesday morning (your Tuesday in the Western Hemisphere).

The weather is predicted to calm for a bit then, but will build steadily as we head north. The swell will be long period and large, but the \”seas\” not predicted to be breaking off the tops too bad. This is \”Beach House\’s\” bread and butter condition. The good news is, it will be behind us. It could be a fast and blustery passage to Fiji. Currently, we\’re thinking \”pass\” on Minerva Reefs due to probable \”re-enforced\” trade winds when we would arrive. That means 25 knots or more! If so, c\’est la vie. If it works, we\’ll stop at North Minerva. This window is narrow and lots of boats will be leaving with us. The next one is not predicted to occur until sometime in June. So…here we go.

Savusavu, Fiji is 1205 miles in a straight line (which of course we won\’t sail) and should take around 7-9 days to get to depending on if we stop in the Minerva\’s.

Six boats are going to leave on our \”window\” from just Gulf Harbour. Perhaps 30 or so from all of New Zealand. We are lucky that due to bad weather, the Auckland customs dock was damaged so they have agreed to come up to Gulf Harbour tomorrow and check us out. This saves us a 35 mile round trip in the wrong direction. Additionally, they have agreed we can depart the next day which is virtually unheard of here. Usually you have to leave immediately upon check out. I told them I didn\’t want to do that as to have a full day of daylight before night watches began to get our \”sea legs\”. They understood.

So I write you with a mixed heart. Glad to move on, glad to leave this part of my life behind. New Zealand and all the people I\’ve met here have been wonderful, it\’s just sad that the circumstances did not allow me to enjoy it more….Perhaps I\’ll return again another day with a lighter heart.

Hugs to you all, Look for our live blog to start on the 18th here in NZ, your 17th of May in the US and UK. KIT, Scott with Kate

May 16th, 2011

Dear F&F,

\”Anniversary\”….\”The Little River Band\”.

Auckland, New Zealand: Wind SSW 18-35 knots. Swell in the Tasman Sea 6-8 meters SSW (18- 25 feet). Temperature 61 deg F, 16.6 C. Squally….

Today is May 16th, 2011. Today would have been our 18th anniversary. We always called it our \”Humaversary\” after the Humuhumunukunuku a\’ pua fish. You know it as the trigger fish. It was our favorite due to it\’s behavior and color. We first found this fish together on our dives in Hawaii in the mid 1990\’s.

The translation of this in Hawaiian is \”Nose like a pig, put together like a puzzle\”. I always thought it was apropos of Cindy. Little did I know…. I loved her cute nose, the puzzle is well…..a puzzle.

Tomorrow we will check out with New Zealand Customs, finish housekeeping, return the car and say goodbye. We\’ll have a last NZ dinner with Chris and Sandra Biggs at their home and depart Wednesday morning (your Tuesday in the Western Hemisphere).

The weather is predicted to calm for a bit then, but will build steadily as we head north. The swell will be long period and large, but the \”seas\” not predicted to be breaking off the tops too bad. This is \”Beach House\’s\” bread and butter condition. The good news is, it will be behind us. It could be a fast and blustery passage to Fiji. Currently, we\’re thinking \”pass\” on Minerva Reefs due to probable \”re-enforced\” trade winds when we would arrive. That means 25 knots or more! If so, c\’est la vie. If it works, we\’ll stop at North Minerva. This window is narrow and lots of boats will be leaving with us. The next one is not predicted to occur until sometime in June. So…here we go.

Savusavu, Fiji is 1205 miles in a straight line (which of course we won\’t sail) and should take around 7-9 days to get to depending on if we stop in the Minerva\’s.

Six boats are going to leave on our \”window\” from just Gulf Harbour. Perhaps 30 or so from all of New Zealand. We are lucky that due to bad weather, the Auckland customs dock was damaged so they have agreed to come up to Gulf Harbour tomorrow and check us out. This saves us a 35 mile round trip in the wrong direction. Additionally, they have agreed we can depart the next day which is virtually unheard of here. Usually you have to leave immediately upon check out. I told them I didn\’t want to do that as to have a full day of daylight before night watches began to get our \”sea legs\”. They understood.

So I write you with a mixed heart. Glad to move on, glad to leave this part of my life behind. New Zealand and all the people I\’ve met here have been wonderful, it\’s just sad that the circumstances did not allow me to enjoy it more….Perhaps I\’ll return again another day with a lighter heart.

Hugs to you all, Look for our live blog to start on the 18th here in NZ, your 17th of May in the US and UK. KIT, Scott with Kate

May 15, 2011

Dear F&F, Hopefully Bobby Darrin, author of \”If I were a carpenter and she were a lady\” won\’t be too plussed about my liberties with his song title. (See paragraph below).

Current conditions: Auckland: 21 knots, SE (a first!), 57 degrees F, 14.2 degrees C. Rain and squally and rough outside the harbor. The backside of the low pressure system is starting to leave us. The incoming High Pressure system is very high and will have very strong winds (30+) knots as it approaches. A 1032 mb high is going to drive the wind from here to Fiji.

It appears our \”weather window\” is back for Wednesday, but we will get re-enforced trade winds about 500 miles north of New Zealand. At least it will be warm up there. Re-enforced means 25+ knots. Prediction is right behind us at 15 knots on Wednesday, a good get away wind. Tomorrow Kate will finish shopping and I will REALLY clean up the boat and get the packed stuff off to LA.

Today we loaded the final fuel, did massive laundry and checked weather. Kate cooked and did more organization. We had a lovely dinner at a Southern US Cuisine restaurant, \”Jambalaya\” owned by two American ex-pats. They wanted Mike to know they found the okra for the gumbo….Mike take note!
I tried to clean up the boat and was side tracked by adventures in plumbing….read on.

Adventures in Marine Plumbing:
Our water pumps both seemed to fail at the same time today. I thought that was odd? They both just kept running and running a sign that the variable sensors for water pressure have failed. So, I turned off all the water valves, and took apart Kate\’s bed to retrieve the spare pump. I put it in line AND…..broken right out of the box.

I noted that the other pump though seemed to work and I was okay with that as we only needed one. Then I opened the hot water valves and the now \”good\” pump started to run again. I quickly realized that Kate had forgotten to make absolutely sure she\’d turned off the hot water recycling valve in the shower and that answered the mystery of the \”broken pumps\”; we were just recycling our hot water around and around. When I went to put the (thought to be bad one, that wasn\’t) back in the system. The plumbing started to leak. ANOTHER \”O-Ring\” failed. Replaced, 2 hours chasing noisy pumps, and we\’re back in action. However, we did learn our spare was bad and we\’ll try and pick another one (or two) up tomorrow morning.

The weather window that is appearing is the first in over a month. The next one is most likely not to appear until at least the first week of June. Colder then than now (It\’s fast approaching winter here) and who knows what quality that window will be. Right now, the weather guru\’s say Wednesday. Let\’s hope for the best….

KIT, Scott with Kate