We have Wheels!!

We are now seemingly back in civilization as we once knew it. We bought a car on Thanksgiving Day (not a holiday in NZ) after looking for days at the auctions and at local car dealers. We went to the famous Turner Auction house here in Whangarei several times and test drove six cars there last Tuesday. We went to the auction that night but had not found anything that we liked for the money we wanted to spend. We had originally thought that the cars sold for real cheap regardless of the expected sales price posted on the catalogue for the day. But it turns out that each car has a reserve price that must be met before it can be sold and all those for the cars we liked were too much.

We eventually bought an older 1989 Toyota Corona with high kilometers but it drives well with no rattles or clunks, handles well, has reasonable tires and is in good cosmetic condition. It also has air conditioning which will be mondo important here in the muggy summer. We got it now eventhough I am going back to the states for several weeks. It really helps to have wheels here to get groceries and go to the airport.

We took our first car trip up to the Bay of Islands and the marina at Opua where several of our cruising buddies are moored. We ran into several of them and had good catchup time. Oh, BTW, one of our friends is in the hospital in Whangarei with his boat in Opua. He had appendicitis which started slow then turned in to a crisis. His appendix perforated before he got to the hospital here in town (about an hour from Opua). The doctor there in Opua told him to get to Whangarei and the hospital as they could not treat him there so Ross on Kabuki drove him up. This was over a week ago when he had emergency surgery and he still has a bad fever and is very weak. His gut is infected from the burst appendix. He is lucky though as he could have had the problem half way between Tonga and here and that would have been very serious. We went to visit and will go again tomorrow.

It is not very big news in the US but Tonga is having a crisis of its own. There was a riot in the capital of Nuka'alofa this last week and they burnt 80% of the town up. Six Tongans were killed when they were trapped in a building that they had set on fire. The riot was supposedly over the King and the King's handpicked Assembly not going along with the expected democratic reforms that had been promised.

The King and his family are "alledgedly" corrupt and have just appropriated many of the key assets of the Kingdom, like the whole electrical power system. They are now trying to sell it to a NZ company for $50 million (kiwi $) and will just keep the money. They also went to Hong Kong when it was going communist a few years ago and sold Tongan passports to any Chinese who would pay their price and pocketed that money too. Many of the businesses that were torched in Tonga were owned and run by Chinese. Many of them are now leaving the country. The devastation of the capital will hurt the poor nation a lot but the King and his relatives don't seem to understand that the people are getting very fed up. It will be interesting to see what happens.

The New Zealand countryside is SO pretty here. Very hilly with pastures carved out of the lush forests, cows and sheep everywhere, and very, very green. The sun is starting to come out more and more and we hope the nasty cold weather is mostly gone. It is cool and windy today though. It is nice to be able to speak English everywhere although sometimes the Kiwis are hard to understand. They definitely have a strong Kiwi accent and have different words for many things - some are British and others are strictly Kiwi. A few words we cannot even figure out yet but will over time. They never say "pardon me" it is always "sorry". Every body is a "mate", the trunk on the car is a "boot" and the hood is the "bonnet". Not to worry though, everything will be right.

The countdown is on for Cindy to leave next Thursday so we are making lists. BTW - Saturday was Cindy's birthday so we celebrated with an excellent dinner downtown with Paul and Marie on Ranger. Tonight is the marina BBQ and potluck on the dock so we are making a big fancy salad to pass and will grill a steak and some hamburger (called mince here).

Moored at Whangarei, New Zealand

We got in to NZ two days ago but are just now getting to posting our
whereabouts after a very exciting passage. The last day closing on the
coast was as or more exciting than any of the other days. A big storm
decided to come in before we did and it blew pretty darn hard *20-25 gusts
to 34kts) for the last 24 hours, and of course we were closing at night and
had to pass very close to some islands and rocks. I was still nervous about
our rigging even though it was blowing on the starboard as the jib still put
tremendous pressure on both sides of the rigging.

All held up or we would not be here though. Cindy got me up at 2am to help
reef down when the wind really piped up and we were getting too close to
Poor Knights Island and the rocks just south of the island. Then the
autopilot decided it had had enough and went on holiday after much beeping
and fussing about. The following seas and wind was too much for it, poor
thing, even though it was new this year it just could not cut it. I started
hand steering in the dark with rain blowing sideways in to the cockpit. It
was cold and I had on my foulies top and bottom, a heavy fleece jacket,
socks and knee boots and gloves and I was still cold. Cindy conked out down
below and I could not leave the wheel until 6:30am when I got her up to help
near the entrance to Bream Bay. My arms were completely cramped and my back
was killing me. Hand steering at night is very difficult without any
landmarks. Steering by compass is hard in calm conditions and way hard when
the boat is yawing 120 degrees every few seconds. It took all my strength
to turn it. And, it kept rounding up towards the island and rocks which
were about 20 miles long.

We had reefed the jib to almost nothing, and the main the same. The mizzen
had been taken all the way in before nightfall. We were still going 6.5 to
7 kts with almost no sail up. I think we would have done the same with the
sails completely in. I turned on the engine and put it in gear just to get
some more water flowing past the rudder in the right direction to help steer
the boat.

But, all is well. We got in to the bay and calmer waters just after
daylight. The river entrance to Whangarei Harbor was easy to find and well
marked. The trip up the river was long and against an outgoing tide and
current. You still had to pay extreme attention though as it was a dredged
channel with no room for wandering or you would be high-sided in the mud.
Our friend single-handing on OZ came in the two nights ago and found the mud
and had to be towed off, with some damage to his boat. It was hard enough
in the daylight as the river has many sharp bends and the markers do not
stay in the middle of a seemingly wide channel. The wind was still blowing
hard but the seas were mild.

It took two hours of motoring up the river to get to the Customs dock where
we tied up to S/V Quest and S/V Ranger who had come in before us. They were
waiting for high tide to proceed farther up river to the marinas as it gets
very shallow on up. Checking in was very easy. The US Customs could take
some lessons from the very polite but serious officers in NZ. They asked us
our names and then it was first names only. They took all our meats, eggs
and milk and would have taken any veggies but we were out. We waited a
couple of hours then peeled off for the short trip farther upriver.

You could not relax a bit though as the markers were harder to follow and we
saw 4.5ft on our depth gauge several, several times. We draw 5.5ft but had
never calibrated to the water line so our depth gauges are always worst
case. Nevertheless I felt us grazing along the bottom more than once and we
passed one luckless large sailboat stuck firmly in the mud on the correct
side of the markers. I was worried to pass him as I had to go farther away
from the markers than I would have liked. We got to the marina and needed
extra help to get in with the wind blowing on the beam about 15-20kts.

We were tired but happy to be there. The parts of the countryside we could
see coming in were gorgeous with green pastures, rolling hills, cattle
grazing peacefully and houses scattered about. The people here are some of
the friendliest we have ever been around anywhere. The marina is small but
adequate with showers, laundry, a picnic/BBQ area, a marine store and boat
yard with high quality tradespeople. There are lots of marine related shops
and stores all along the river so we will be able to get all our needs taken
care of here. Grocery stores are big, clean and well-stocked just like in
the US. The town is charming and a nice walk away.

Cindy will be flying out in two weeks and I will follow a week later. I'll
be back in two months and start the biggest projects on the boat. I don't
think I mentioned but we still have a significant water leak around the
rudder causing the bilge pump to run every 30 seconds or so when we are
underway. So thankfully the bilge pump kept on working. I have a back up
big pump but want to keep that as a backup and have two. We thought the
leak was fixed in Mexico but they did not fix it there. If we were there I
would ask for my money back - Hah!

Quick Update on the way to NZ

We are almost exactly 300nm away from the entrance to the river to Whangarei. We are motorsailing with the wind almost dead on our nose so are bearing off a little to get a boost from the sails. This is not entirely successful as we can't bear off too much to the east with forecasted westerlies coming. And they had better come. Wind from this direction (SSW) was not anticipated. Seas are calm though. Cindy is sleeping after standing watch almost the whole night. We have degenerated to each of us alternately standing almost full night watches. The sun goes down late though and comes up early so it isn't as bad as it sounds. We read or play games on our Palm Pilots, or I do crossword puzzles. We both are looking forward to getting there and going out for a pizza. The big burning question is whether you can get good pizza in Whangarei or not.

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All's Well Up to Now

We have had some tense times but all is well on board. The forecast has light winds tomorrow after winds on our nose all day today and yesterday. We made 10nm to good yesterday. Not good for our average. The wind after tomorrow should clock around and be favorable and give us the boost we need to save fuel and make some time up. Cindy and I both put on new Scopalamine patches to stop the queasies. Cindy was out last night and I tacked in the dark three times by myself to try and figure out the best tack. Both tacks were evil but one less than the other so we are going west at almost a right angle to the direction we want to go but that will give us some sea room for the west winds expected in two days.

Everybody on other boats talk about the weather. There are several nets and each one has a weather discussion and then we have informal nets with friends and do the same thing.

Looks like it will be OK if a new storm does not come in or come in too early. Looking to come in on the 15th but would prefer the 14th. After yesterday that looks doubtful but still theoretically possible. We'll keep you posted.

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Not your perfect passage

Maggie Drum and crew are doing well at the moment so don't take any of this the wrong way. Our stomachs have settled down and I had two "normal" meals yesterday and got some good sleep (or what passes for good sleep in a rocking and rolling boat). Cindy has not rested as well though and is still just snacking on food. I put on one of the Scopalmine patches for seasickness that we have never tried and it seemed to work the best of all I have tried. Cindy has one on now and it seems to be working for her. Our new radio is a major improvement to our life on board. We can download email much quicker than before and we can hear others and get out better to others than ever before.

The bad news is that the aft main mast shroud on the port side broke two days ago. This is potentially a serious problem but we have pulled our running back stay on that side back and cinched it down and also pulled a halyard around the mast at the spreaders and tied it off on the same side. I think it will be fine but we cannot pull the main sail out more than just a scrap so we have lost the power from our main. We are flying the jib full out and going about 4-5kts. There is a major low pressure system just south of us that is expected to bring stronger winds in a good direction to start but then to have winds on our nose for a day in the 15-25kt range (not good). The winds after this low are supposed to be favorable the rest of the way to NZ provided we get there before the next system pulls in.

We have a lot of fuel on board and will motor to make up lost time as soon as we get another day under our belts. We still hope to get to Whangarei, NZ, on the 14th before a major wind system hits the coast on the 15th. We will be very happy to get there and are already planning things to do.

We have lots of food to pitch when we get there since you cannot bring in any meats or vegetables in to NZ and we have not been eating much of it. Some of it is getting old as we got it either in Mexico (8 months ago!) or in Tahiti. There was very little to buy in Tonga.

So, we are OK and expect to stay that way but this is certainly a challenging passage.

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Enroute to New Zealand

We are finally on the way to the fabled land of New Zealand (or N Zed as they say). We left Neiafu harbor at Vava'U after going over the weather forecasts for several days and discussing everything ad nauseum with the other cruisers. We even hired a professional weather forecaster and router to give us more assurance on this somtimes difficult passage. In the end we even went against his advice and left on Sunday when he recommended waiting until the 15th but that would be 10 days later with still no idea if the weather would be any better then.

The problem was the local weather in Tongan waters. It was forecasted to be nasty but then the rest of the trip to NZ looked very good. He said that if were were "keen" on getting through the first 2-3 days then we would be fine. It turns out that the first two days were indeed extremely nasty and we suffered through it. We both took anti-seasickness pills (Meclizine) and they helped but did not completely prevent the hideous feeling of nausea and malaise that we had. It did not help that our raw water pump impeller came apart the morning of the second day when our batteries were low and we needed to run the engine. Cindy was on watch in the cockpit and I was down below trying to sleep (a side effect of the pills is that they make you sleepy - but the other side effect is that you can't actually sleep on them!).

I heard something weird then the engine died and Cindy called for me to come up quick. I asked her what she did (not the best thing to ask or the best way to put it) when I should have said "what's happening". But I was groggy and not thinking clearly. The engine alarm had gone off because the engine overheated. I wasn't feeling great so we pondered a bit and let the engine cool down. I had not checked water coming out the back of the stern because it was rough and water was splashing over the sides at the time. It had always worked before....famous last words.

Well, for those of you who don't know - marine diesels (most all of them) are salt water cooled using heat exchangers that are the equivalent of a car's radiator only instead of air going past it is the ocean water. This "raw" water has to be pumped though by the impeller pump then to the engine oil cooler, then the transmission oil cooler, then the engine fresh water coolant cooler then to the muffler where it cools the hot exhaust gases before being run out the stern of the boat. You know it is pumping OK by checking the raw water coming out the exhaust pipe at the stern. I did not check this one time...

I checked for water at the intake and it was OK so took the cover off the impeller pump and the rubber vanes on the impeller were now all gone except for one (one out of nine or so). That won't do it so no water and engine overheats. Cindy did just right in shutting the engine off when the alarm went off. (Atta crew!)

I almost threw up just inspecting the pump so I had to go back topside to clear my head and settle the stomach. Later I went back and found the tools and spare impeller. I had already installed something called a "Speedy Seal" kit which makes it easy to take the cover off the pump just for this kind of situation. However, that is only the first part as you have to get the old impeller out and the new one in. Luckily the old came out easy (not always) and I was feeling good, but getting the new one in took two more trips topside to calm the stomach. Mind you, I am working on my knees in a violently rolling boat next to a hot engine that smells like diesel. This would have been a mildly easy job in the harbor but I had to wait until we were in 30kt winds and triple reefs in the main and jib.

Getting the new impeller means bending back all the little vane dealies back in the same direction all at the same time else it will not go in. I tried and tried and tried and had to get a sick Cindy to hold the flashlight while I worked. Finally I took a couple of plastic zip ties and put them around the vanes and progressively tightened them while bending the vanes in the right direction which I had to figure out from the pump layout since there weren't any left to get the right "set" from the old one. Got it in (two more trips topside and lost my coke I had just drank over the rail). Then I had to dismantle the hoses and oil cooler next in line from the pump as that is where most of the pump parts that broke off went and they would impede water flow which is the whole point of the exercise. This took as long as all the rest of it combined but got it working. Bang, the engine fired right up and stayed cool.

All this only took 4 hours yesterday. We have not been eating anything except muffins and some chips since it has been too rough to cook and our stomachs did not want food anyway. I finally put on a Scopalomine (sp?) patch for more serious seasickness medication. You wear this little dime-size patch behind your ear and it provides three days of time release medication. It seems to be helping otherwise I could not be typing this message.

It also helps that today it calmed down a bunch (right on schedule) and we are now doing 6.8kts in about 15kts of wind, close-hauled with relatively calm seas. We are still rocking and rolling and Cindy has been down on her back trying to sleep and calm her stomach as she stopped taking the meds today. I need to check the incoming emails to see what is ahead of us too. We have about 850nm to go to Whangarei (pronounced fawn-ga-ray - go figure). We should make it on the 14th or 15th if weather holds. Right now it is a great sail but we did not enjoy the last two days. Better to get our lumps early we thought - now we want to make sure there aren't any more lumps coming.

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