Glory Days June 99

This log covers our third season of cruising, beginning with our return to New Zealand and our travels back to the tropics. It is our plan, this year, to sail back (northeast 800 miles) to Tonga via Minereva Reef in late May, spend a month in Tonga, then sail west 500 miles to Fiji in early July, and back (south 1100 miles) to New Zealand in late November.

March 11, l999	We fly back to New Zealand after spending three months in the States, staying either with Rod's parents or Brenda's Mom. It is nice to be back to our home. We find Glory Days in good shape. The Burman family that stayed on our boat left her clean and even did a few items of maintenance for us in our absence.
March l2 - May 22	We spent almost this entire three months working on the boat. For six weeks we climbed up and down a ladder while the boat was out of the water. We hired two men to sand the bottom of Glory Days and then Rod applied 5 coats of barrier coat epoxy to the top l5 inches of water line and 3 coats of anti-fouling paint to the entire boat bottom. This process took longer than we expected because it rained very often and interfered with the drying and application times. In between sunny days, Rod spent a lot of time working on the engine, including sanding off massive rust, acid etching the rusty metal and repainting it (the rust was caused by a leaky muffler-leaking salt water). Finally in late April we got the boat back in the water and boy did it feel good to be floating again after five months of living on land! Rod also took this opportunity to redo the exhaust system (to prevent the salt water leak), service the cooling systems, rebuild the water pumps, replace the old copper fuel lines with rubber fuel lines and clean the heat exchangers. We have also had our anchor chain regalvanized since the galvanizing was ground off anchoring in corral last year and the chain was turning into a rusted mess, and pulled and had the windlass motor (the motor that pulls up the anchor and chain) rebuilt. Besides my(Brenda) normal chores like cooking three meals a days, cleaning and laundry, I have been sanding and varnishing all the teak, bleaching out mildew, waterproofing sunbrella, working on sewing projects and planning and shopping for the groceries we will need for the months we are in the islands. Oh yes, and I did join a gym and have been exercising 4 times a week. It is like working on a house only 10 times more maintenance. However, there are 30 boats at this yard doing the same thing day in and day out so we are learning that this is normal. The harsh salt water environment attacks everything so aggressively that annual maintenance is a must. One of Rod's worst days was the 10 hour day it took to install a new fuel lift pump. The spaces were so cramped that he wore blisters on his fingers trying to install the nuts. The weather here continues to get cooler as the season moves from autumn into winter. We now have two blankets on the bed and are wearing the few long pants we have. It is especially cold here when the wind blows from the south (Antartica). In mid May Rod made it a priority to get our heaters on the boat working. This improved our spirits and also helped with the mildew problem.
May 22	We finally cast our lines and sail out of Whangeri. Our friend, Chris Chapman, arrived three days ago from San Francisco. He will spend a month with us. Our first day out we motor down the l4 mile river and drop our anchor in the last river cove before the river joins the ocean. We spend a lovely night in still water with a beautiful sunset.
May 23	In the morning we spot several dolphins playing near our boat. Oh how we have missed living on the sea! Today, we have a leisurely sail north to Tutukaka. Again we are in another marina, however this marina is not a haul out facility and a much nicer environment. There are at least a dozen sailboats here waiting for a "weather window" to sail north to the tropics, just like us. We are ready to make the 1200 mile trip to Tonga and are glad Chris is here to make the passage with us. Now we are waiting for storms to pass and for the wind to come from the south to push north.
May 24 - June l	We wait patiently for the weather to change. We review two or three weather faxes per day. We talk to the other cruisers and get their opinions regarding the weather. Some impatient sailors leave earlier than us but are stuck with heavy southerly winds or very light northerly winds; neither conditions are desirable to us. Finally we feel there is an opportunity to leave that will allow us a comfortable sail. It is always tricky to predict the weather a week in advance, but our next stop is 5 or 6 days away. We are headed for Minerva Reef, an unique piece of geography. In the middle of the ocean (400 miles south of Tonga), there is an circle of coral, several miles across. This coral sits on an old volcano cone. The circle of coral has an opening about a half mile across, which we will sail through. Inside the reef we will be able to drop anchor in about 50 feet of transparent sea water. Not many people ever visit here and the snorkeling is suppose to be spectacular. We will probably spend several days at the Reef. Then it will be a 2.5 to 3.5 day sail to Tonga. Tonga is composed of over l00 islands, so we will spend the rest of Chris' vacation there.
June 2	After an agonizing wait for the "right" weather to leave New Zealand and journey to the tropics, we leave Tutukaka on an overcast day with a biting chill in the air. The weather prognosis is reasonably good for a pleasant sail to Tonga. The weather systems the last 2 weeks have been unconventional and very difficult for the forecasters to predict with any degree of accuracy. We hope the McDavitt report is accurate in predicting only one day of light winds and 5 days of 10 to 15 knot winds. All together a reasonable scenario with which to head north. We close reach all day and have a pleasant "START".
June 3	The autopilot goes into alarm at 02:00and suspends control. The error message is one that I (Rod) have seen before so I wake up Chris Chapman and have him hand steer the boat while I crawl into the engine room and look for loose connections. The installation of the autopilot has resulted in 2 previous problems with loose terminations and, although I think I have corrected the deficiencies, I find some questionable wires so I clean them up and try the A/P again. No go. I tear apart the aft stateroom to access the drive unit and inspect it. All seems normal. We do a "Master Reset" of the software in the unit and go through the 45 minutes of calibrating and entering tuning constants. No go. Fortunately, while reporting our position to Russell Radio, I noticed static on the HF radio, which coincided with the motor movements from the autopilot. Chris and I disassemble the motor brushes, while Brenda drives, and we find one brush isn't properly seated on the stator. After a little emery cloth and re-assembly the unit is back in operation. The repair took ten hours. I installed this auto pilot drive unit while in New Zealand. It was a warrantee replacement for the original unit that failed last year while crossing from Mexico to the Marquesas. My fix on the "old" unit worked last year for 7 months. It was nice of Robertson to provide me with a new drive unit. I only wish it had worked without presenting this challenge. The rest of the day was dream sailing in 20 knots of wind wing on wing.
June 4	The wind died at 01:00 so we motored at 1700 rpm throughout the night. The southwest wind filled in at 11:00 and provided nice beam reaching in 10 to 15 knots of wind. Again the wind died at night and we motored throughout the night.
June 5	Air temperatures are not appreciably warmer but I notice an increase in sea temperature from 66 degrees Fahrenheit to 72 degrees. As soon as we escape the abnormal weather patterns we are expecting the air temps will rise. Brenda is doing all of the cooking amidst the mild protests of Chris and Rod. The food is outstanding and we are contemplating extending our sail just to keep the cuisine coming. We motor through the night and sail through the day. The fishing lure is trailing but we catch nothing. The weather faxes don't represent the weather we are having so I am putting little faith into the 30-hour prognosis. Looks like we are in a hole and it will take time for the system to move and give us wind.
June 6	The front that was supposed to have reached us 48 hours ago finally arrived bringing winds of 20 knots. It is heavenly to hear the water rush by the boat without the hum of the diesel in the foreground. Good sailing all day and night. South Minerva Reef is only 150 nautical miles away at 22:00. However, the wind dies to only 10 knots and changes direction so we are not pointed at Minerva. This will extend the sail. Although never a pleasant thing, it is just as well as the faster speeds would have placed us at South Minerva tomorrow night during the dark night hours. We would have to stand off and wait for daylight before entering into the lagoon. I would rather be safely sailing in open waters at night instead of approaching a reef.
June 7	The winds lighten to only 10 knots and are still coming from the south. We cannot sail directly to S. Minerva but make the best of the conditions by setting the spinnaker and floating along as fast as the conditions allow. Although it is pleasant, we make only 20 miles towards Minerva during the 5-hour spinnaker sail. The winds are supposed to be turning to the southeast but they are determinedly continuing to blow from the south. Argh.
June 8-10	At 8:00am we can see the 5 miles of coral that make up Minerva Reef. By l0:30 we have the anchor set in 50' of water. The water is so clear we can see it sitting on the bottom. It is very strange to see the depth meter reporting such shallow water with no land in sight. We are still 300 miles from Tonga and last night as we sailed the charts told us we were in 6000 feet. But now we are sitting in what use to be a volcano crater. Ages ago the volcano sunk and all that remains is this coral ring. Our water temperature gauge reads 73 degrees. After putting the dingy in the water and attaching the outboard we don our wet suits and start the pursuit of the huge lobsters we have heard so much about. The coral reef is very beautiful and Chris remarks that this is first time in years that he has seen live coral of many colors. We do not see even one lobster. There are three other sailboats anchored here, so the next step is to ask for advice. After instructions by a fellow Kiwi cruiser, we went back out the next day and discovered their hiding places. However, they are quite fierce looking and grabbing them with gloved hands (the sporting way) proved more difficult than expected. The feelers just break off and they are gone like a flash. After a second consultation with the Kiwis we learn that you must grab the lobsters by the head or the base of the feelers. OK! Chris and Rod are ready. Before going out the 3rd day, we visited with the third boat, a young couple from WA. He told us to just shoot them with our spear guns and be done with it. This is considered illegal in some countries, but out here in never-never land whose jurisdiction are we in? Day 3 rewards us with 3 big lobsters, each about three feet long with tails that must weigh two pounds each. We cook them immediately, eat some and freeze some. Success is so sweet, literally. While fixing a leaky diaphragm on the Onan genset, Rod breaks the lift pump. Fortunately, we can run the genset with the aid of the fuel-priming pump so we can still run the freezer twice daily. We'll have to get this fixed or get a replacement in Tonga.
June 11	We wait for the sun to get high in the sky to enable us to see the coral heads that we must maneuver around. By 11:30 we are out of the pass and on our way to Tonga. Two hundred and eighty three miles to go. We hope to make this trip in 36 hours. Although we have good winds (20-25 knots) it is coming from the east and that is the direction we want to go. We pull the sails into a close haul position and resolve that we will go as fast as we can. This means we will have an uncomfortable sail, bashing through the waves and healed over 20-30 degrees.
June 12	We have more of the same. We increasingly understand why the saying, "gentlemen don't sail to weather" is so popular among sailors. Beating into 25-knot winds on the bay is one thing. Beating into 25-knot winds in 10-foot seas is very uncomfortable, wet, and makes sleeping and cooking difficult. Now instead of lobster omelets we are eating cold cereal.
June 13	At 01:00 we only have 34 miles to go to our way point. Unfortunately there was a huge wind shift and now in order to keep sailing we must bear off and head almost 60 degrees away from our destination. After many tacks we finally have the anchor set along side a lovely tiny island (motu) at 3:30 PM. The wind shift cost us an extra 8 hours.
June 14-15	First thing Monday morning Rod does the Customs, Quarantine, Port Captain, and Immigration visits to get us legally entered into the country. It takes us two days to run our errands such as laundry, shopping, banking and making phone calls back to New Zealand to get the fuel pump parts ordered. We find the Tongans to be very friendly and helpful. We meet numerous Tongans who have relatives living in the Bay Area and communicating is not difficult. The air temps are in the low eighties and walking is pleasant. We also take the bus to the city center of Nuku'alofa.
June l6-l8	We set anchor at Pangaimotu, a small motu just a short way from the harbor. There is a small rustic resort and restaurant and we treat ourselves to cocktails and dinner ashore. We met Trevor and Heather, Australians off of a 50 foot catamaran named Bluewater Dreamer, and had a pleasant visit. The next day we return to the harbor, to wash Glory Days free of the salt layer acquired during the passage, then sail to the island of Fafa. The setting is beautiful, the snorkeling is good (no wet suits needed) and the anchorage is very comfortable. Chris and Rod spent several hours scrubbing the layers of Whangarei Harbor scum off of Glory Days' bottom and rebed the starboard chain plates. We'll rebed the port ones later. After a walk around the Fafa motu (including a look at the exclusive German resort ) and the deserted motu of Onevai, we decide to sail to Atata, a motu located along the western edge of the Tongatapu barrier reef. Unfortunately, our afternoon plans are hampered by rain, so rather than snorkeling we play cards. Brenda teaches Rod and Chris how to play "canasta".
June 19	The rainy weather has stayed with us. We wait patiently, in the morning, for the skies to clear but it does not happen . So we haul anchor and retreat back to the city of Nuku'alofa, sailing in light rain showers. It takes us about two hours. By the time we have the anchor set, the dinghy bailed of water and motor to land, it is 3:00pm. Time enough for a late lunch and a long walk past some very interesting old churches and the King's palace. At sunset we find ourselves several miles from the harbor so we hail a taxi and make it back to Glory Days before dark. We have fun playing Canasta for hours in the cockpit. The rain has cleared and the weather is comfortably warm and we are surprised when we look at our watches and realize it is 0l:00 am. We haven't been up this late for a long time.
June 20	We get up in time to run the generator, take showers, eat a quick bowl of cereal and then we are hop in the dinghy and go to church. The church service is entirely in Tongan and we don't understand a word but our surroundings are lovely and it is interesting to see hundreds of locals dressed in their Sunday best clothes. Light rain again today, so we have a lazy day of naps and reading.
June 21	Chris' last full day with us. We spend the day taking a paid tour of the island. A young man drives us around the island in a van, stopping a various points of interest. We see burial tombs of ancient and current nobles, some dating back to 1300BC, a coast line of blow holes where waves are forced through natural coral fissures to create instant skyscrapers of water, the site where Captain Cook, the English explorer landed in l777, a giant stone arch built around l200 AD, fields of taro, pumpkin and coconut trees, a tree full of flying foxes (fruit bats) hanging upside down and lifeless, and many churches of all faiths.