Breakfast in Raivavae

We got a bag of delicious grapefruit from another boat. Almost as sweet as an orange. Breakfast this morning was strong coffee, fresh local grapefruit and baguette with butter and manuka honey. Perfect!

At Anchor in French Polynesia

The Schooner Maggie B remains at anchor in Rairua Harbor, Raivavae, Austral Islands, French Polynesia. The island is about three miles long and a mile across, with a typical barrier reef. The jagged mountains look like they were cut out from thick paper, especially at night. Mt. Hiro is the highest, at 438 meters. About 1000 people live on the island.

Rairua is the big town. It has the Mairie (Town Hall), one church, the Gendarmarie, a wharf building, a tiny medical clinic, a soccer field, and a store with no inventory. The bakery is a house about half a kilometer out of town. To get bread, one must order the day before, and wait at the end of the pier road at 0715 for Madam to drive around in her truck. The truck looks like a mobile grocery store, with Madam’s grandson (granddaughter?) scampering around the back to get the bread and find whatever else is desired. Old ladies appear out of the underbrush with crisp 500 CPF notes to buy supplies. Supposedly Madam makes petit pain au chocolate two days a week, but she is pretty scary and I haven’t asked yet about that, just being thrilled to have lovely fresh baguettes. A baguette is 60 CPF or perhaps US$0.50.

The only French or Europeans we have seen at the two policemen of the Gendarmarie National. They are very fit, young, good looking, and in perfect uniforms. But they also seem very innocent, like soldiers who have never seen a battle. Conversely the local cop is an older Polynesian, somewhat overweight, but with a happy face that has surely seen everything. I get the feeling that he is probably the high priest for the traditional ceremonies that are never seen by the Europeans.

Like many Polynesian societies, Raivavae seems to be a matriarchy. The somewhat overweight women in shapeless pareau or dresses seem to be running everything, to the extent that anything is running. Men that we have seen appear to mostly work for the Commune de Raivavae. Their work seems mostly to be to sit in the shade and discuss fishing. Church on Sunday is the big social event, with the ladies in their best, brightest dresses with huge hats decorated with flowers and ribbons.

I have some US dollars on board, but no clue how to turn them into CPF. Fortunately a friend in New Zealand gave us a few hundred CPF, so we have enough for bread. Not sure what one would buy, but we are going to walk or hitchhike into the next town which supposedly has a store. There are many trees full of grapefruit, mango, papayas, and bananas. Fields are planted in taro and cassava. Every yard has a pig tied up somewhere. The soccer field was full of dozens of chicken this morning, looking for bugs. I suspect that barter is used more than CPF.

The one surprise is that we haven’t seen a single fishing boat, large or small, though we have seen many small nets hanging from trees along shore that appear to be the kind that are thrown from shore.

Yesterday Hannah and Theresa participated in a very traditional Polynesian ritual. They rowed out at sunset to a lovely nearby motu (small island) with two Norwegians from another boat and burned our garbage on the shore while drinking beer. There is no dump or garbage pickup on the island and all burn their stuff along the side of the road. We, at least, sifted through the ashes for things that didn’t burn, not the usual practice here.

Today’s project is to solve a fuel supply problem with the genset. We bled the fuel filter as part of routine maintenance and it hasn’t been able to re-prime itself. The Onan is supposed to be self-priming, but for whatever reason, it isn’t now. We are also going to set up the Hookah air breathing system to scrub the bottom and explore — everywhere we can get up to 60 feet from the air pump.

I disappointed myself yesterday. There was a minor problem with this email program and it appeared, before two hours of hacking into the program, to be inoperative. I felt helpless and hopelessly cut off. And at the same time I felt ridiculous, being a world-girdling Blue Water Schooner Captain, who couldn’t live a day without checking my email. I was only somewhat mollified by having perfect reception for my Motorola cellphone, which texted me with an offer for special ringtones, only $1.98 each!

All is well.

Location 23° 52S, 147° 41W
Saturday Midnight, 07.28.2007

The Schooner Maggie B arrived at Raivavae Island, Australs at about midnight, 28 July, and anchored just outside the main pass until dawn. We then proceeded in Passe Mahananatoa to Rairura Harbor without incident. We are currently anchored in about 40 feet of water at (strong>23° 52S, 147° 41W. The water is warm, the sky is clear and the beaches beckon.

We have come 2287 NM from Opua. Papeete is 392 NM NNW of us. It took us about 12.5 days to make the passage, or averaging 183 NM per day or 7.6 knots, including the half day we had to go the wrong way when we had engine problems.

There are three other boats in the harbor (actually two boats and one catamaran). It looks very quiet ashore, but then it is Sunday morning. Theresa jumped in the water the minute the anchor was set, and we all will follow her soon. Hannah made pancakes for breakfast, so we might need to take a minute for things to settle. We have spotted the Mairie, so the Gendarmarie shouldn’t be too far away. Though they surely aren’t open, I’ll leave a crew list and report to keep good relations. We have our yellow “Q” flag flying as well as the Tricolor.

All is well.

Location 27° 55S, 150° 09W
Friday 12:00, 07.27.2007

At noon on July 27th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 27° 55S, 150° 09W. We are now on GMT -11. Tahiti is GMT -10, which we will switch to tomorrow. We are continuing to make good time to Raivavae, making 6.9 knots on a heading of 030 with the wind at 150 degrees at 12 knots. Our life on a broad reach! Hard to imagine why so many people consider this to be “the wrong way around.”

We have come 1998 NM from Opua and have 275 to go to Raivavae and 620 to Papeete. We should be at Raivavae about midnight tomorrow, and will stand off until dawn to enter the rather complicated pass.

Our main engine is purring along fine now, after Theresa did a third oil change to remove all the water from the crankcase.

My story yesterday brought out the following email from my friend, John Steele, owner of Covey Island Boatworks, which built the Maggie B, and former master of Marguerite, a Bristol Pilot Cutter:

“Years ago I offered to take Tom, a sailing friend - who needed it - out for a sail. I rowed him out to Marguerite and when I tried to start the engine …. damn, water locked ! I apologized and offered to take him back ashore and out for a sail another day. He said he’d rather stay and help get the motor going… a day out on a boat was as good as a sail, he needed to get out of the house.

So we did what you did last night. When the injectors were out and it was time to roll her over I put a towel over the block and turned the key….. whap !! A hot, wet towel was instantly slapped around Tom’s face as he had been above looking down. Without a second’s pause he peeled it off and proclaimed : ” Oh Yes … Yachting ! Just like I remember it ! “

John, and all at Covey have been a great support for us, all around the world. I suppose that boats a yard builds are like children: you mostly just hear from them when something is wrong.

We have a hymnal in our library. It was published in 1893 and belonged to my Great Grandmother. I was looking in it for possible tunes to be adapted for a Maggie B song. What struck me was two hymns for “Travellers by Sea”, one written in 1845 and one in 1887. One, “While o’er the deep Thy servants sail” says “Send Thou, O Lord, the prosp’rous gale.” The other “Safe upon the billowy deep” has “Mid the dark, send fav’rin gales.” We have just had a favoring gale, if not a prosperous one, which has marvelously blow us from New Zealand to the Islands. But I expect that no modern congregations raise their voices and pray for a gale. Probably not many sailors today either.

At night we are happy to see the return of well known constellations, including Orion, the Swan, the Dolphin and the Pleiades. It is a function of being a bit further north, and the time of the year. For the Maori, the first view of the Pleiades was the signal for the winter celebration. It was one of their central “sailing stars.”

All is well.

Location 29° 48S, 152° 00W
Thursday 12:00, 07.26.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 29° 48S, 152° 00W at noon on July 26th. We have 8-15 knot breeze from the SE to move us along on our course of about 030 to Raivavae at six or seven knots. The seas have calmed down nicely and, as of this writing, the 2/3 moon is guiding us along. We have about 440 NM to go to Raivavae.

Much of the day, however, was spent mostly stopped or going the wrong way due to systems problems. We hooked a fish at about ten o’clock this morning and went to Fishing Stations. When we tried to start the engine to be ready to maneuver, it wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even turn over. The fish spat out the hook and we got to diagnosing our problem. Hmmm — plenty of battery power, and it’s trying to turn her over and it’s not going anywhere? OMG - waterlock!

Waterlock is when water gets in the engine, all the way to the cylinders. A diesel can compress air, but not water and if a cylinder is full of water, it isn’t going anywhere, unless the starter is strong enough to break things. How does water get in? Through the exhaust. Why don’t you have something to stop it? We do, a nice Vetus Air/water separator. But it must have been overwhelmed by six days of going hull speed (the primary wave when you are going fast “climbs up” the stern, submerging the engine exhaust) and we also had big following waves pushing the water in. Isn’t there anything you can do? Yes, run the engine every day to keep up the back pressure to help the air/water separator keep the South Pacific out. I forgot to do it.

So, how do you recover? First thing is to stop the water coming in. When I pulled off one of the injectors, lots of water came gurgling out. Lots, like an open tap to the sea. So we tacked over to port tack (the engine exhaust is on the port side) and slowed the boat down. The I cracked the low point in the exhaust system and let out perhaps 10 gallons into the bilge. Then off come the four fuel injectors (shaped sort of like spark plugs, but more complicated to remove). That opened up the cylinders. We turned over the engine a few revolutions with the starter which blew out the water from the cylinders. Then reinstalled the injectors. Then changed the oil (water in the oil not good). Then prayed that nothing was bent or broken. Then started it! Yea! after a splutter or two, she (?) started right up. We ran it for a few minutes and shut down to change the oil again and tighten up the injectors. Now it is running fine. We will change the oil a third time tomorrow morning.

This took about six hours.

Happily, we were able to call the Service Manager at Yanmar in Nelson, NZ and John Steele at Covey Island in Nova Scotia for advice, which was hugely important. And we had all the maintenance manuals.

In the midst of things, Ben was able to cook a tasty lunch, which was perhaps underappreciated in the stress, Hannah kept the boat in control and safe, and Theresa became expert at extracting and re-filling the oil system, which requires both strength and flexibility (read: contortionist).

But the weather is good, we all learned lots of lessons and Raivavae is only a few days away. Maybe we’ll land that fish tomorrow.

All is well.

Location 33° 02S, 158° 51W
Wednesday, 12:00, 07.25.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 31° 42S, 155° 02W at noon on July 25. We have started our slow turn North for the Islands, and were headed 030 degrees at seven knots in a 13-18 knot breeze from 170 degrees magnetic. The sea remains fairly large so we bang around a bit. We have shaken out the reefs and are under all plain sail. We have come 1644 NM from Opua, and have 897 to go to Tahiti.

We have come 213 NM in the last 24 hours and 1236 in the last six days. Splendid sailing!

Some patterns in the crew are beginning to take shape: Hannah’s watches always get the rain; Ben’s get the buckets of saltwater in the face; Teresa’s are slower; and the
Captain’s gets all three!

We passed a 100 foot fishing boat yesterday, going the opposite direction. It was only two miles away(!) and was only intermittently visible due to the swells. They didn’t have their radar on, so no alert from the See-Me, and it was very difficult to pick them out on the radar with the big swells and rain squalls. A sharp lookout spotted them, gray on gray.

I mentioned midnight moonsets previously. Last night it was a bit different. On a routine scan of the horizon at about 0100, I saw to my horror a big red riding light seemingly right on top of us. Like what your last view of a closing container ship might be. Right after my heart jumped out of my mouth, I perceived that it was a little glimpse of the 2/3 moon, made red by the atmosphere just as it set. Whew.

Going through stores, we found lots and lots of lentil beans, loaded back in Canada (what were we thinking?). We now have a number of jars out in sunnier spots to sprout them. We haven’t perfected the system as yet, as last night’s boisterous sea has spread damp lentil beans all over the galley.

Sailing measurement continues to puzzle and inspire. One reference book on Pacific Islands refers to anchoring areas defined as so many cables from this or that. So we go to our reference books and find that a cable is 120 fathoms or 720 feet, though sometimes shortened to 600 feet so that it would be 1/10 of a nautical mile (a new cable?). Why 120 fathoms? That used to be the length of a standard anchor warp. What’s a fathom, anyway? Six feet. Why six feet? About the spread of arms, the easiest way to measure rope on board a vessel. Fathom’s probable origin is “favn,” Norse for “armful.” But the Bible mentions fathoms in Acts 27, Paul’s great description of his shipwreck. Did the early Christians speak Norse, or is it a translation or recalibration (don’t get me started on cubits)? Posidonius (hmmm, smells fishy) apparently wrote in the 2ND century BC of a depth of 1000 fathoms. Makes you appreciate the metric system.

While we are only five days from Tahiti, we are three days from Raivavae in the Austral Islands, where we will probably call. Depends on the weather.

All is well.

Carrick Unravelled

Just to continue on the gastronomic theme, lunch today was venison sausages, in a tomato/mushroom/onion/garlic sauce on top of whole-wheat fettichini.

Lunch was washed down with a nice Central Otago Pinot Noir called Carrick Unravelled. At first I wondered if Carrick were the winemaker, but I learned it’s a name from the region of Bannockburn, NZ.

Location 33° 02S, 158° 51W
Tuesday 12:00, 07.24.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 02S, 158° 51Wat noon on 24 July. We are headed for our turn point at 32S, 155W at hull speed, 10 knots. The weather continues favor us, as predicted, and we have a nice, steady 25 knot Southerly to drive us along. The wind is slowly backing to keep us on a lovely beam reach as we make our gradual turn for the Islands. It is now overcast again with occasional light rain showers, presumably signaling the outer reaches of this next front. The swell has steadied down to 7-10 meters from the SW, with one meter Southerly wind waves on top. Maggie B is riding comfortably with only occasional dollops of spray and occasional lurches. We are still getting occasional 13-14 knot surfs.

We did 219 NM in the last 24 hours, and 1023 NM in the last five days.

We have come 1431 NM from Opua and have 1054 to go to Tahiti. We are currently anticipating stopping at Raivavai in the Australs, which is about 830 NM from our current position. Besides being well-spoken-of by many sailors, it will also give a chance to sit out what may be a big NE’erly coming in the end of the week.

The bird life around us continues to amaze. Sometimes there are perhaps 100 close by, and you think that they should have an air traffic controller to keep order, and then the skies are empty. Today’s crew included a juvenile Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) and an adult Black-Browed (D. melanophris). Excitement was provided by several Broad-Billed Prions (Pachyptila vittata), which can even out-fly our numerous Pintado Petrels, which is saying something. The prions common name is Whale Birds, and the albatrosses, Mollymawks.

Theresa delighted us today by making lovely whole-wheat bread from a recipe from my father’s cook, Roberta Robinson. It was absolutely delicious, especially spread with NZ Manuka honey. We got the honey when we drove around the north of the Northern Island to see the Lord of the Forest (a huge Kauri tree, see the photo on the web). The honey came from a crossroad called Waiotemarama, which probably isn’t on many maps. We never met the beekeeper as it was just out on a shelf, with an Honor Box nearby. NZ$15 for a kilo! From another grower (and Honor Box, but with the cash out so you could make change!) we bought a huge pile of avocados, NZ$4 for four kilos.

Everyone on board knows when we hit 10 knots with the centerboard down. The centerboard sets up a deep, strong hum just above the threshold of hearing, rather like the sound of someone blowing across the top of a very big jug. Having the centerboard down significantly helps our stability in the more complex wave patterns.

All is well.

What We Are Reading en route to Tahiti

Frank: In Tasmania by Nicholas Shakespeare

Ben: At Risk: A Novel by Stella Rimington (ex-Head of MI-5)

Theresa: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Hannah: All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Location 33° 44S, 163° 07W
Monday 12:00, 07.23.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 44S, 163° 07W at noon on July 23rd. We are booming along at 10 knots in a nice 20-25 knot SSW’erly. The waves have made themselves up into proper swells and are getting interesting. The swells are nice and regular, four a minute, and are 7-9 meters, somewhere between “Wow” and “Oh, shit!” The day has cleared with only occasional little rain showers marching by, leaving more rainbows than fresh-water washdowns. We did 227 NM in the last 24 hours, or 804 in the last four days. We are still riding the shoulder of the storm, keeping between 32 and 33 South, racing for our “left turn for the islands,” which is perhaps a day and a half away.

One of the Schooner Maggie B’s truly lovely characteristics is that even as we are hurtling along like this in big water and doing hull speed, we were able to have a pleasant lunch in the sun on deck (steaks with roasted potatoes, beets and garlic; salad with avocado, apple and macadamia nuts), only occasionally having to grab the HP sauce bottle as it hurtled across the table.

While generally quite dry, the Maggie B does like to occasionally pitch a bucket of water. This morning Ben was tripped up by one of our systems booby traps. Our shower’s control lever, if bumped, sprays the victim with perfect “Indiana Jones” timing. It can be neutralized by turning off an additional valve on the shower head, but that doesn’t always happen. This morning, while getting ready for watch, Ben got an unexpected and unwanted shower below. He went on deck, somewhat drenched, to complaint to Theresa. Just as his head appeared from the hatch to voice his irritation, the Maggie B finished the job with a perfectly-aimed bucket full. He got no sympathy from T’Weez.

One skill highly important for long-distance cruising, but not taught in most sea schools, is being a good librarian. Ships have endless systems: life rafts, watermakers, fuel pumps, portable VHF’s, roller furling, stove gas shut-offs, transformers, etc., etc. Everything comes with installation manuals, parts catalogs and operating instructions. If you have the paperwork and reasonable spares, you can fix most everything. Without the manuals you have to be a plumbing, electrician, diesel mechanic, rigging superman, or wait for the next port and hope. The Maggie B has a shelf about a meter long of just manuals.

Sailing in the dark on night on the shoulder of a storm can be a marvelous experience. Last night was mostly overcast, but with occasional stars shining through gaps here and there. The sea was large and boisterous, but only letting occasional mists of spray on board. The rain had ended. White caps were faintly visible in the light of the red and green riding lights. The wake could be seen briefly lit with the white stern light, rushing into the night at ten knots. Black-on-black waves intermittently blocked the faint horizon like 2-D cutouts moved back and forth in a school play’s seascape scene. Just at the setting of the half-moon, a small gap opened in the clouds to light the scene:

The setting half moon
Seen through a break in the rain:
A last kind gesture.

All is well.

Location 32° 45S, 167° 38W
Sunday 12:00, 07.22.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 32° 45S, 167° 38W at noon on July 22. We are still in the right place, riding the shoulder of the gale. We jibed at about dawn this morning with the wind shift, and now have 25-30 knots from the SSW, which has us on a starboard broad reach, speeding along to our turn point at 32S/155W. We have about 1/2 to 1 knot help from the Southern Ocean Current. We did 217 NM in the last 24 hours and 30 in the last three. The barometer reached its lowest point, a relatively modest 1008 mb at 0400 this morning and is slowly working its way back up. The rain, which had been heavy at times, has cleared and our new solar panels are back working for us.

The SW swells are 3-5 meters and of a period that gets us surfing, while causing heading excursions of 20-30 degrees port and starboard. But the basic ride is more comfortable than last night and seems to be calming down gradually. Our “basic” speed is 9-10 knots, speeding up to 12-13 while surfing.

We have come 985 NM from Opua, and have 1332 to go to Papeete.

We have at least one Grey-headed Albatross (Diomedia chrysostoma) flying with us, plus a cloud of Pintado Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters. Theresa and Hannah were all the way on the stern, behind the boom-gallows (harnessed in!), surfing the boat and dangling their toes in the foam of the waves rushing up on us. It seemed sometimes that the birds were almost in their hair.

The Force 10 stove, which is central to our happiness, has been acting up a bit. The burners’ “auto-igniters” weren’t working any more and the burners didn’t want to stay lit after lighting. After pulling it all apart, I discovered a simple AA battery incredibly well hidden that had lost most of its charge. Now that is replaced, the stove is running as good as new.

I’m pleased to report that Ben has passed his initial apprenticeship, where he stood watches with all of us. He will start standing his own watch tonight on the 2100-midnight. I’m on the Midnight-0300; Hannah the 0300-0600; Theresa the 0600-0900.

All is well.

Location 32° 55S, 171° 13W
Saturday 12:00, 07.21.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 32° 55S, 171° 13Wat noon on July 21st. We are booming along at hull speed, 10 knots, on a beam reach with 25-30 knots of wind from the WNW. The sky is overcast with occasional rain showers. The wind waves are only 2-3 meters from the NW, but the SW swell is making up 2-4 meters also, making for occasional good surfing. The max GPS speed this afternoon was 14.2 knots. We have reefed down both the main and fore to one reef.

We made 205 NM in the last 24 hours, and, as I write this, 53 in the last five.

Reefing down the main and fore, but leaving the jib full moves the center of pressure forward somewhat, as the Maggie B is now more pulled than pushed by the main. We also have the centerboard down about 1/3 which reduces rolling. Both the centerboard and moving the center of pressure forward increases directional stability, which makes Jorge, the Furuno autopilot happier. In about the same conditions, with full sail and no centerboard, Jorge took 2 degrees port and 8 starboard (we are on port tack) to keep us straight as the waves and gusts push us around. With the reefs in and 1/3 c/b, Jorge takes 2 degrees port and 2 degrees starboard. It makes it much less likely that Jorge will throw up his hands and turn us towards Tonga or the Antarctic, as it did a few times last night during Theresa’s and my watches. Please see Nigel Iren’s discussion on directional stability in schooners, and particularly the Maggie B, posted on the web site.

As those who check out our weather brief from Commanders (posted on the web) will see, the plan of staying south of the rhumb line seems to be working out. We certainly are in the right place (right now) for this low. We are easing north a bit, aiming for a point at 32S/155W, due to Commanders “Heads up!” about a “Big Dog” possibly developing in Fiji/Tonga early next week. We are in the traditional storm track, which is where we want to be, but it makes sense to slide a bit north so that we don’t get too much of a good thing.

When I was growing up racing in Maine, I was taught to “tack on a header,” which means if the wind shifts to push your nose away from your goal, it is time to go over on the other tack to take advantage of the shift. In Maine it was a question of going a couple of hundred feet to get a shift, in the America’s Cup, they go perhaps 300 meters to grab one. We are planning three days or 600 NM ahead for our easterly header, which should hit us about when we get to our 32S/155W turn point. We’ll tack there and head north for the Islands. That’s the plan, anyway.

Stay tuned.

We started fishing again this morning, though we were really going too fast for good trolling speed. The speed made it very difficult to keep the lures underwater. We were horrified when a Pintado Petrel briefly became tangled on one lure, and fishing quickly ended for the day.
The rain, waves and wind seem to have attracted a whole mixed squadron of Blue Water birds around the boat. It is such a pleasure to watch the petrels do aerial maneuvers that this former fighter pilot wholly envies. What is more amazing is to see albatross doing much the same. Rather like a 747 (Airbus 380?) in an air show.

I have a neat new gadget. A striking Brazilian woman in a Paihia shop effortless sold me a “2C Light.com” ball cap. It is the size of a normal ball cap, but the top of the visor has solar cells and under the visor are two LED’s which give good light. You wear it during the day and charge up, you use it at night to read the latest thriller when on watch. My shipmates think it is dorky, but I’m sure I’ll have the last laugh.

All is well.

Location 33° 00S 175° 46W
Friday 12:00, 07.20.2007

At noon on July 20, the Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 00S, 175° 46W. We were making 7 knots essentially right along the 33 South latitude. The wind has piped up a bit to a perfect 12-14 knots from the West, as the barometer begins to fall. The next front is also being indicated by the progression of clouds from high cirrus Mares Tails last night to Alto Stratus this morning, to lower cumulus and stratus showing up on the horizon at dusk.

We started fishing today, and have our wasabi ready. Our “Fishing Stations!” are:
1) Whoever’s on watch sets the hook
2) Hannah takes over handling the boat and slowing her down
3) Ben takes over handling the rod
4) Theresa gets the salt water washdown hose going and gets the gaff
5) Frank gets the killing gear (hammer, ice pick and sharp knife)
6) Ben brings the fish in close enough for Theresa to gaff, and she lands it
7) Frank kills the fish with the ice pick, stunning it first with the hammer, if necessary
Frank slits the arteries in the gills and tail and ropes up the fish, which is then dragged to bleed out, but not so long that the sharks arrive
9) It is then cleaned, washed down and sashimi within minutes. Yum!

We had a big fish hit about sundown, but it spat out the hook before it could be set. Tomorrow is another day.

Our overhauled C. Plath Southern Hemisphere steering compass is leaking out its fluid. I accused the crew of drinking it, but it was pointed out that A) it contained oil, not alcohol like in the old days, and B) we have better alcohol on board. It appears to need a new expansion seal at the base plus some more fluid.

Much of today was taken up by overhauling docking lines from the beating they took in the storms in Russell. All protective leathers came off, and two were shortened and respliced where chafe was severe. We also made up two new lines from 50 meters of new rope purchased in Opua. All the books about the coast of Chile emphasize how much line you’ll need to carry.

Hannah made some delicious carrot/oatmeal/bran muffins for tea. She is spoiling us.

All is well.

Location 33° 03S 178° 50WEST
Thursday 12:00, 07.19.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 03 S, 178° 50 W at noon on July 19th, GMT +12, where yesterday it was GMT -12. I haven’t yet been able to persuade the Furuno operating system that today is yesterday, so it may be time to break out the books. The MaxSEA software refused to cross the Date Line and had to head all the way back West, around the globe to work. But we crossed the line last night about 2000 and broke out a bottle of champagne (oops, Tasmanian sparkling).

We have come 408 NM and have 1831 to go to Tahiti.

Many people have told me that we are “going the wrong way around.” Hard to fully understand how anybody could argue with today’s sail: doing 6-7 knots in 10-12 knots of wind on our beam, all in t-shirts and shorts and barefoot. We did the usual make/fix jobs, including new leather jackets for some blocks, repairing running lights, and adjusting the bolts for the centerboard hydraulic “foot.” One bolt broke and we didn’t have a spare long enough, but, thanks to Bart Gabriel’s advice (shipmate for the Southern Atlantic Crossing) we had a meter of 8 mm threaded rod, which we cut to length.

We are currently setting a course right along 33 degrees South (heading about 74 degrees magnetic) rather than right for Papeete (heading about 50 degrees magnetic). I expect we’ll get some more Easterly winds after this next low, and it gives some “Northing” to draw on, when we need to. Theresa complained at lunch that it wouldn’t get warmer if we stayed at 33 degrees South, but I said that we’d get to Tahiti faster and not have to beat our brains out to get there, which made it OK.

Over the last few nights, when I came on watch at midnight, I had been intrigued by one star. It was just rising in the SSE, and really appeared to be pulsing red and green when it was low to the horizon. It turned out to be Canopus, an orange-white super giant, the second brightest star in the sky after Sirius, the Dog Star. It is 100 light years away and 2000 times brighter than our sun. It is the principal star in Carina, the Keel. But, most important to sailors, it was the focus of the huge Chinese multiple-fleet circumnavigation so well described in the book “1421″ by Gavin Menzies. They were plotting the position of Canopus to improve their navigation expertise in the Southern Hemisphere.

All is well.

Location 34° 01S 178° 51EAST
Thursday 12:00, 07.19.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 34° 01S, 178° 51E at noon on 19 July, New Zealand time. Our wind had about pooped out and we were headed 035 at 5 knots. We had traveled 271 NM from Opua and have 1962 to go to Tahiti. It is a lovely day now as the high fills in and the sky clears. As of this writing (1630), we are motor sailing on the rhumb line for Tahiti.

It appears that we have about half a day of light or no wind before the next low sets us up with a nice NW’erly. Right now we are headed directly for Papeete, but we are conscious of being careful not to get too far north and miss out on the westerlies. One low at a time!

We are back in an area of wonderful phosphorescence. Having dolphin alongside was Theresa’s delight last night and Hannah brought a bucket of seawater on board to light things up. I turned out the running lights (the stern light is very bright) for a while to watch the wake.

We are now standing three, four hour watches, and Ben is taking a watch with everyone, to learn the ropes (literally!). Soon we all will be comfortable and he’ll be able to stand his own, and we will return to the luxury of three hours on and nine off.

Ben had made a bet with some friends twenty months ago that he wouldn’t cut his hair for the year he was to travel around Australia. He won that bet, but some of his mates interpret the bet that he wasn’t to cut his hair until he returned. His more-than-shoulder-length hair is bothering him at sea, but he doesn’t wan to lose the money. As Captain, I feel that I should call it a Safety Issue and have him cut it, and thus void out the bet. He has by far the most beautiful hair on board and it is going to be very scary to pick up the shears.

We have a ritual aboard when we set sail on long legs. We gather in the cockpit and pour a glass of rum. The first “drink” goes as a libation into the sea, then I say a short quote or poem, then all drink and make a toast. Setting out for Tahiti I read from Joshua Slocum’s “Sailing Alone Around the World:” “I had penetrated a mystery, and, by the way, sailed through a fog. I had met Neptune in his wrath, but he found that I had not treated him with contempt, and so he suffered me to go on and explore.” We hope that the Maggie B will be “suffered..to go on and explore.”

All is well.

Location 35° 08S 176° 47E
Wednesday 12:00, 07.18.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 35° 08S, 176° 47E at noon on July 18th. We are headed directly (on the great circle rhumb line) towards Tahiti. We have come 146 NM in the last 22.5 hours and have 2082 to go to Tahiti. We are slipping along at 6.3 knots with the G2 gennaker up (AKA “The Bird”) in 9-10 knots of wind on our beam. It is a lovely day with just a few rain showers marching along in the Southerly, spreading more rainbows than rain. It is sunny enough for Ben to have already burnt his fair Albion skin.

We are now back shadowed by our “air cover” of Blue Water seabirds. The marvelous new addition is the black and white spotted Cape Petrel (Daption capense), also known as Pintado Petrel or Cape Pigeon. This Opua to Tahiti route has been sailed many times in the last 1000 years, and we feel the spirit of the big sailing wakas on the water. We are very glad to have our carving of Tawhirimatea on our boom end to accompany us. The weather looks very favorable for this next week (see Commander’s Forecast on the web site). We are positioned just right for the next low, expected Friday to bring a nice 25 knot NW’erly.

I am sad to report the death of Hannah’s grandfather, Robert Franklin Scarf, in Nova Scotia last week. Together with some friends from Russell, we went last Sunday to the little 170-year-old Anglican Church in the village, where the 25 member congregation supported her in her mourning, adding his and her name to the Prayers for the People, as well as praying for the safety of the Maggie B. It was very kind and comforting.

Ben is a little stunned by the level of cuisine on the Maggie B. On his last boat, they lived mostly on cheese sandwiches and cold corned beef. Hannah baked a chocolate cake for tea, gilding it with fresh cream and raspberry jam. Sigh.

All is well.

Off the curb and out into traffic. . .

The Schooner Maggie B got underway from Opua for Tahiti at about 1320, 17 July. We had been waiting for the “right” low pressure system, to jump on its shoulder and ride it East to about 155 degrees West, heading along the 35 South parallel. At least that is what all the old salts tell us to do. Waiting got old. So we jumped on the back of a little low, and right now have a nice 15 knots westerly blowing us along direct to Tahiti at about eight knots. Tahiti is about 2200 NM, or perhaps two weeks. We may stop in the Australs, about 200 NM south of Tahiti, if the weather permits.

Unlike the big South Atlantic High or the high in the Southern Indian Ocean, the South Pacific East of New Zealand responds to many different influences, rather than one dominant weather maker. We will just have to play them as they come.

It was very hard for all of us to leave New Zealand. The people have been very friendly, it is a very, very yachtie environment, world-class boat support, lovely towns, tons of fun things to do ashore, excellent food (oysters, baby lamb, seafood) and superb wines. We won’t forget out new friends, and hope that we might be able to see them soon again.

Ben Carpenter of Bristol, England has joined the crew. He is 27 and has been working in New Zealand as a carpenter, looking for a chance to crew on a sailboat for the Islands. He was a star in the recent Russell Birdman Competition, winning “MC’s Choice.” He has had previous Blue Water experience sailing around Australia.

All is well.

Commanders Weather Corporation
Tuesday 12:00, 07.17.07

From: Commanders’ Weather Corporation
Route: Opua, NZ to Tahiti
Est position: approx. 34 20S/176 10E, 12utc Tue, July 17, 2007
Prepared: 1700utc Tue, July 17, 2007

Summary

Routing

Wind forecasts
Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in kts, and time is UTC

Wed, July 18
00: 280-260/15-23 g30 nr 34S/178 10E
06: 280-260/14-22 g30
12: 270-250/12-20 g25
Weather: Variably cloudy, with increasing chc of showers/squalls
Seas building to 8-10ft

Thu, July 19
00: 260-240/12-20 g30 nr 32 40S/178W
06: 240-260/10-18 g25
12: 260-290/10-16
Weather: Variably cloudy, with some showers/squalls
Seas diminishing to 5-8ft

Fri, July 20
00: 280-300/10-18 near 31 30S/175W
12: 290-310/10-15
Weather: Variably cloudy, with some showers / squalls
Seas diminishing to 4-7ft

Sat, July 21
00: 310-330/13-20 g30 near 30 20S/172 20W
12: 320-340/15-23 g30
Weather: Variably cloudy, with scattered showers/thunderstorms
Seas building to 5-9ft

Sun, July 22
00: 320-340/18-25 g35 near 29S/169W
12: 330-350/15-22 g30
Weather: Variably cloudy, with isolated chc showers/thunderstorms
Seas building quickly to 8-11ft

Eye on the storm

We are still tied up to the Russell pier, now with 12 lines out in every direction. The storm on Tuesday was a real dilly. Actually it reached cyclone strength, even though it wasn’t “named.” Near Russell one rain gauge recorded 274 mm of rain (11 inches) and a regional weather station recorded a 180 km/h gust (100 mph). We saw 51 knots on our wind gauge, but certainly felt stronger gusts.

Anticipating the storm, we had moved to the Russell pier, facing NE into the wind, and in the lee of the land. All around the area, many, many boats dragged, broke their moorings, hit other ships, blew ashore, sank or were damaged on piers. The Coast Guard was scurrying around, Channel 16 was full of Maydays and flares were being shot off. Ashore, roofs blew off, trees fell and closed roads and took down power lines, low areas were flooded and some bridges were washed out. Russell was without power for a day. The Maggie B danced a bit amid all her lines, but rode things out fine. We kept the diesel stove burning, the deck lights on as a guide for others, and bailed the Reep every hour or so.

We helped rescue one boat, the Figment from Florida. She had broken free from her mooring, gotten holed when she hit another boat, and sunk her two dinghies. She had quite a struggle in the wind to make the lee of Russell. Her owner had a broken ankle (don’t put your foot between two ships in a storm), and both on board were in early stages of hyperthermia. We guided them into a safe berth, handled their lines, got them on board and gave them warm, dry clothes and hot tea with a big dose of rum.

Commanders Weather says that we may be able to get an opening for a nice SW’erly to take us to Tahiti by next Monday, July 16th. We are ready.

All is well.

Waiting out a gale in Russell, NZ

The Schooner Maggie B is back in Russell, NZ, tied up securely to the pier. The forecast is for an Easterly gale with winds up to 65 knots, and 250 mm (10 inches) of rain tomorrow. We are nose first (headed easterly) into a “U” shaped part of the Russell pier with nine dock lines mooring us in tighter than a moth in a spider’s web. Hopefully.

We had a marvelous sail yesterday with Bill and Claudie Sellers. Bill is famous even among the many famous Kiwi sailors. He has traveled the world by sail, often single handed and has great stories about almost every known port. He is also one of the best scrimshaw artists in the world. His watercolors of nautical themes are very successful, and now his “Cook’s Endeavour in a Calm” is the centerpiece of our Crew Mess. He has built and is building his own ping my eye on the crew now, to see if any show signs of swallowing coins.

Last Saturday was just marvelous. It was the First Annual Russell Birdman Festival. A birdman festival basically means people dressing up in funny costumes, often with wings, and hurtling themselves off a pier, often into very cold water, to see who is funniest and flies furthest. Russell is a little town of perhaps 900 in the winter (@8000 in the summer!). The weather had been cold and rainy. The festival had beach digs, kayak races, spaghetti eating contests, bar-be-que cook offs, and the Birdman Competition.

On Saturday, just about exactly at 10 AM, as things started, the sun came out and it was hot enough to think about sunscreen. The day was perfect with perhaps 4000 showing up.

I am very proud that our new shipmate, Ben Carpenter, lead the “Super Liquor” Birdman entry, which won the “Master of Ceremonies Favorite” prize, NZ$100. Plus two cases of beer from his Sponsor! Photos to follow.
Just about exactly at Four PM, right after the final prize giving, the rain and cold returned. A perfect day!

Experienced advice is that to get to Tahiti from here, one needs to head straight east, wherever one needs to go to get a Westerly between 32 and 40 South, until you get to about 155 West, then you turn left for the Islands. The joke is that if you turn too early, you end up in the Cooks, and never, ever, get to Tahiti. Out latest forecast (we are using three different sources) says it may be until 21-22 July before there will be a chance of a nice southerly. We are ready whenever it comes.

All is well.

Location 35° 18.8S 174° 07.3E
Thursday 12:00, 07.05.2007

The Schooner Maggie B has moved a bit to Opua, in The Bay of Islands, only a few miles from Russell. We are at 35° 18.8S, 174° 07.3E. We moved to get a little work done on the Maggie B, specifically a 220V shore power connection (we have a great 110 V system, which doesn’t matter at all outside of the US and Canada). And some solar panels installed.

The solar panels can potentially give us 15 amps per hour, which could meet most of our 100 amp daily “appetite” given the usual “is it sunny, where are the sails, etc.”

We had a little party last night for the Fourth of July. It was a fun evening. I was even able to find some other Americans! But we had all the local boaties, including lots of Germans, some English, a lovely older French woman, a Brazilian, a Canadian, some Kiwis and an Aussie or two. We quickly forgot the Glorious Fourth and got well into Jamaican Rum, Scotch Whiskey, Tasmanian wine and Belgian Beer. A very international night!

One German couple had spent two years along the coast of Chile and they had some good advice, and annotated our Chilean Cruising Guides. My favorite piece of advice from them was about anchoring in unknown Chilean harbors:

1. If no trees along the shore in the harbor, leave at once.

2. If there are trees, anchor near where the taller ones are.

3. When anchoring near the taller trees, see which way they are leaning, and set your (multiple) anchors accordingly.

We are also having our toilet overhauled. Willis had done it once, I did it a second time, but now it is time for professionals. A critical item.

We are staying at least through this weekend, probably returning to Russell tomorrow. In Russell this Saturday, they are having their first annual Birdman Festival. Lots of rides and games, but the high point is the 15 entrants who have made human-powered vehicles that are ridden/driven off the end of the pier, trying for the longest distance before they hit the water. Should be great fun.

All is well.

Approaching South Africa | small [4.5MB]

The Maggie B approaching the coast of South Africa.

Approaching South Africa | large [7.45MB]

The Maggie B approaching the coast of South Africa.