Southeasst of the Chatham Islands, New Zealand 1 April 2011 44S54 178W15

We’re back in the western hemisphere. So I guess it’s not April Fool’s Day yet – or anymore (it was only April Fool’s for us for about an hour between midnight and 1 a.m. when we crossed the dateline). I think the Chatham Islands are administratively on New Zealand time…but we won’t be there till tomorrow morning. So, did we miss April 1 altogether?

So the wind did pick up – a lot – 20-30 knots most of the day. It did exactly what the weather report said it would and has moved from northeasterlies to southwesterlies and that Antarctic wind has a chill bite to it!

All’s well under these nice New Zealand made wool long johns. Only a couple more weeks to the tropics.

xoxomo

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West of Christchurch, New Zealand 30 March 201 43S59 174E23

When we left Wellington our Spanish neighbors watched us go in dismay. It was as stepping in a ring with a bull at the other end. The bull was cyclone BUNE (pronounced MBU-NAY in Figeon English). We kept an eye on it. The weather forecast predicted a southwest wind of fifteen knots. We got twenty from the E/NE. Therefore the high pressure ridge wasn’t between us and the bull – and we had set sail expecting the bull to charge ahead of us. The next fax projected the beast going between the north island and the Chathams right on our tail. We ran wee wee wee all the way to Akaroa (south of Christchurch). Before we turned into the bay, the night’s forecast showed the beast turning into a beef to the slaughterhouse heading E/SE. We followed and are now heading toward the Chathams. “It’s our second day close-hauled in a tweenty knot breeze” says Logan with his perfect kiwi accent. Margo loves the new dodger she says it’s like going to the carwash (the kind where you get to stay inside the car and watch the bubbles). Tomorrow we should be able to run-in towards the Chathams with a strong southwest breeze delivered fresh from Antarctica. It’s a good thing we bought wool underwear.

Loife is sweeet as bro!

Frank

P.S. Tonight we come back to the other side of the world. Tomorrow will be today, East to the West and still down under.

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West of Christchurch, New Zealand 30 March 201 43S59 174E23

Did I say we were going to Akaroa? Change of plans. Last night’s weather report had us tacking before midnight. We’re still under this high, headed west for the Chathams now. There’s a little more breeze this morning. Enough to put the little blue engine that could on a breakfast break. It looks like Bune will pass east and dissipate before we get there.

A little blue gray fairy prion just flew by the nav station portal. Neat pairs of cape petrels drop in now and then. I think the Albatross we’re seeing are mostly Royal Albatross (in varying plummage stages), some gray headed (looks like someone did the perfect gray airbrushing of their heads, and added a stern mascara look), and maybe some Chatham Island Albatross? They all come in close to SL, hoping to catch an extra lift from our sails. We’re looking at them thinking, “I wish I had a set of those wings” They’re looking a us thinking, “those billowy white things are “sweet as”.” (Kiwi for totally awesome.) I guess the ocean is always bluer on the other side. Frank says some frenchman returned from the southern ocean inspired by the albatross, sure that he should be able to glide like they do. He built a set of wings jumped and soared a fair distance, before he crashed to his death. I guess he forgot that the albatross usually soar over water. Actually, I don’t think he died instantly but soon after from injuries – probably long enough to think, “that was dumb, got to work on this landing thing.” I’d say he couldn’t look to the albatross for inspiration there. Lesson learned by the remaining humans on the planet; full fledged flight soon followed.

My walking Google can’t remember his name. Anyone?

xoxomo

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West of the South Island, New Zealand 29 March 2011 43.3865S 173.8349E

We’re out the gate, almost. I don’t think we’ve ever been this ready. Yesterday the customs official came down checked us out, gave us our certificate of departure, and took our picture as we left. The weather looked good for a 3 day crossing to the Chatham Islands, where we’d like to spend a few days before heading east back to French Polynesia. But last night’s weather report, shows a change in Cyclone Bune. To quote Bob McDavitt a local weather guru speaking of Bune and the other highs and lows in the area “they may waltz or they may tango, we will not really know until it happens” Bune was predicted to stall well northeast of the Chathams, then dissipate. Instead, it has sped up, and is wandering more west. So instead of heading south and east, we’re just heading south. Our plan is to sit this dance out (no one on board can Tango or Waltz) and tuck into Akaroa on the Bank’s Peninsula (close to Christchurch). We’ll anchor there for a day or two and let the low that kept us awake the night before we left, do it’s job to cool the hotheaded tropical beast – meanwhile we bask under this nice high that pushed that low west (and would have pushed us west too, if we weren’t such sissies). I won’t tempt Bune today by wishing for wind, the little blue engine that could chugs along – and burning a little diesel now, might help our waterline. We should be pulling in to Akarora around daybreak tomorrow, and it looks like we can make another attempt to break away in a day or two. from there it should be a straight shot east to the Chathams. And for those of you familiar with the weather patterns and characters here, Bob says the westerlies are moving north, so they should be primed to take us backwards around this big Pacific. We may be far enough south now to catch that westerly train. Any further south and it will be a fast chilly ride indeed, and we’ll be dreaming of the easterly trades.

All the little and big projects and fixes are working well. The new dodger is amazing. The new dorades seem to be helping keep H2O outside (mostly). The waterline is low with full tanks and larders (no we did not raise the line again when we painted this time). The fridges are working full time to keep a nice stock of fresh food fresh. We now have two windvanes mounted on the back, and we didn’t have to start the engine once in last night’s 20 knot winds. We have French visas in hand, taxes sent in, bills paid, hours of podcasts and volumes of ebooks loaded. We even cleaned and vacuumed before we left (although that doesn’t seem to be lasting long). A very fresh start at any rate. There are a few nigglies acting up,a new water pump, that won’t start, a small oil leak, from an engine too long quiet, and a perfectly decent new lee clothe at the settee looks like it will go unused – we all still prefer the cabin sole for sleeping underway. So an easy first day and a half, on this half start. And I’m mostly able to glance around the boat as we motor along and not have the constant list of things-to-fix popping into view – so many done! Our cruising kitty will love that we’ll be spending most of the rest of the year in less civilized country. This year’s goal, avoid islands with cash registers.

There is an amazing quantity and variety of Albatross out here, many just floating around waiting for better winds. They rarely bother to attempt flight as we motor by. We often pass close enough to see the flees on their backs – almost. They are huge, and beautiful (except for those take-offs and landings…not high on the execution points there)

I have to recommend to you all to add New Zealand to your vacation destination list. And if you manage it between November and March of next year, maybe we’ll catch up to you here.

xoxomo

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Nelson, New Zealand 12 March 2011 41.2603S 173.2810E

Hi all, We’ve been getting lots of “are you ok” inquiries, since I’ve been so silent recently. All is well aboard, we are still in Nelson at a marina waiting for the installation of a hard dodger (plywood and acrylic cover for the cockpit). We missed the Christchurch earthquake by a week, and the coming tsunami waves look like they’ll be about 15 cm (6 inches), and should be here In an hour or so (11:15 a.m. NZ time). We’ve been warned not to go swimming, or boating due to unusual currents, but they are not recommending that boats sail out to sea away from land. Luckily the tide will be relatively low, (one of the big concerns in marinas is that the docks rise above the pillars and then the docks and boats start playing bumper boats in the currents).

The silence is just landlife ruling our world right now. School in the morning, projects throughout the day, get togethers with friends in the evenings. We love Nelson, a gem of a town with amazing crafts and trades and wonderfully hospitable people, perfect place to get stuff done on the boat.We’ve also done a lot of exploring, first with my mom beginning of January around Nelson and Able Tasman, then with my dad and stepmom end of February around the whole South Island. Great trips, great sights, great to reconnect with family. I’ve posted too many pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/margoreveil, those images are all I have to tell the tales of this landlife for now.

We’re planning on leaving Nelson for Wellington next week (dodger completion and weather permitting), then after a week or less in Wellington we’ll be looking for a weather window to take us away from all the dangers of land living to the nice predictable dangers of the sea. Our first destination will be the Chatham Islands (4-5 days east of New Zealand). We’re hoping to be there a week or so before 15-20 days of navigation Back to the Australes and on up to Tahiti. I should be back to more frequent updates then.

The devastation in Japan and Christchurch is heart-wrenching. For us these events reinforce our commitment to wringing the best out of this life now; tomorrow will always be unpredictable, today is somewhat easier to predict and control, this moment is a good time to turn to the nearest person at hand, figure out what’s special about them, and nourish that thought.

Missing all you very special people! And wishing you and your loved ones health, safety and happiness. xoxomo

P.S. You can now subscribe to the Ship’s Blog and the Scurvy Report by email (separate subscriptions required). Just visit the homepages below, and enter your email address. To complete the subscription process you will have to click on a link in an email that gets sent back to you after signing up. If you’re at all interested in adding comments to the blog, you need to comment at least once while I’m near land to accept your comment. Then your future comments should go up automatically — today’s a good day for me, the internet is blazing here now (not always the case!), go for it.

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