Daily updates describing the voyage of the yacht Aldebaran
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Tuesday 18 October Andrew is complaining today that the weather is as hot as hell and not very comfortable. They all had dinner with friends on their two identical 45’ yachts. Andrew said that the yachts are some of the nicest ones he’s seen, really decked out beautifully. They tried to get their screen set up on deck but weren’t successful so watched it inside.
Today they went over and helped some friends clean their hull for a bit over an hour and then had lunch with them. They ran out of time for a walk to the airport today, maybe tomorrow! I phoned about the parcel and was told that it definitely went on the plane yesterday; Andrew got told at Vava’u that they had been advised it was on the way and they expected it late today but probably after they closed. Should be available tomorrow (where have I heard that before?) The crew have made some decisions on the plan for the next 3 or 4 weeks. They will check out of Neiafu on Thursday, fill up with duty-free diesel on Friday and then leave on Monday for Ha’apai (about 1 day’s sailing) where they plan to spend 3 or 4 days. Then providing the weather looks good they will leave for Minerva Reef (3 or 4 days) and as soon as they get a suitable weather window, depart for NZ (about 7 or 8 days). They’re into the last month of the voyage.
Till tomorrow 19 October Not a lot to report except that the wayward parcel finally turned up today, however the drama continued. Andrew went to the PO at 10 this morning as was told it was at the airport come back in an hour. Andrew and Lisa went back at 11am and the parcel was there but they couldn’t have it until they talked to Customs. To make a long story short they had to pay $71 customs duty on the contents and the postage, so $100 content value + $60 postage cost an extra $71. They tried to discuss the cost but that only made it worse so they had to pay to get the package. Since when has postage attracted customs duty! The problem of course is a country with few regulations and a definite level of corruption. However it is over now so we’ll forget it and get on with voyage.
So all that took up a fair amount of the day. The weather is still hot and stinky and that’s all I have to report for today. Graham Nice work Tongan customs! Tonga scores the 101st spot in the 2010 rankings of the corruption perceptions index.
NZ is first equal of course! Simon
Andrew Don and Lisa had a skype with friends in the States early afternoon and then they had an appointment for 2 pm today to get their duty-free diesel fuel. The truck finally turned up at 3pm (island time). Carl went off on a somewhat secret date at 1pm (not sure what that is all about). They then had a swim and cleaned the boat while Lisa started cooking dinner and Carl went off to see if he could purchase duty-free liquor (yachts are given 24 hours after they arrive and then 24 hours before departure to purchase duty-free). Dinner tonight is leftover Indian dahl and rice from last night, plus fresh fish and crabmeat in a salad.
Lee and Grant asked me to ask the crew whether they felt the trip had flown by or gone at a snails pace, and I thought you may all be interested in the answers: Andrew – Gone by way too fast – except for one time in Bora Bora when he’d had enough and wanted to get moving again (he got over the feeling fast!) Lisa - Perfect Leslie - it depends! Don - it’s all ebb and flow.
Carl was on shore of course, That’s it for today 21 October Difficult to talk today as signals were quite weak and noise levels up a bit.
Another hot day in paradise, but a southerly wind came up and made the normally calm Vava’u harbour quite choppy. Last night the producer of a recent movie of the war time exploits of a John Phum in New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands showed them the film he has just made as a documentary for the BBC. Then Don, Leslie, and Lisa went ashore for a beer which turned into a number of beers and they didn’t get back on board till about 1am, so there were some slow risers this morning with somewhat sore heads! The crew spent some time on shore this morning trying to arrange for some T-shirts to be made for them, then did some shopping (provisioning for the upcoming trip) and spent some time on the internet. Tonight of course they will be watching rugby.
They plan to leave on Monday morning for an anchorage in the outer islands of Vava’u and then leave on Tuesday or Wednesday for the day and a bit trip to Ha’apai. I will not talk to them on the radio again till Monday. 24 October A bit windy today in Vava’u and the yacht is still anchored at Neiafu. They all spent most of the day yesterday completely tidying everything up and cleaning the yacht inside and out so that they could take lots of photos to send to the yacht broker they are using to sell the craft. The frustrating thing was Don and Andrew spent most of today trying in vain to email the photos to the broker. They need to send them before they leave Neiafu so they will try again tomorrow and hopefully leave tomorrow afternoon. They still plan to go to an anchorage in the outer Vava’u islands and then depart about midnight, tomorrow or the next day, for Ha’apai which is only about 12 hours away.
They did go to a bar with lots of others last night to see the New Zealand All Blacks very narrowly defeat France, 8-7, to become the World Champions for the next 4 years. There are lots of yachts currently in the harbour with about 12 to 15 trying to get fuel as they want to leave today. The fuel suppliers are always late and very slow so Andrew said there was still a line-up awaiting their turn and this is at 5pm, so some of them will be very late getting away. A whole lot more are due to arrive tomorrow and Andrew estimates there are currently between 30 and 50 yachts currently en route between Tonga and NZ (about 10 days sailing time). A number left from Minerva Reef in the past couple of days. This is the time when the weather is generally favourable but they need to get there by the end of November before the winds and the cyclone season starts. Our yachties still plan to go to Ha’apai for a few days and when the weather is suitable head for Minerva reef which will take about 3 or 4 days. Then when the weather is again suitable they will start the 7 days or so to NZ. There are specific weather forecasts available for the route with sail/no sail recommendations and Aldebaran will also monitor the progress of a lot of the others using the radio to see what is ahead, while I monitor the weather forecasts. They are interested in the best route as some head down south west so that if/when the winds/seas turn westerly their final approach is more southeast, whereas others are heading directly south to NZ. Activities today involved a lot of internet for Don and Andrew. Carl was also on the internet. Lisa did some reading and provided ‘moral support’ to Leslie who was sewing some new curtains for the windows.
All going well they will have left town tomorrow 25 October Well the yachties finally got away today. They went to a different place for their internet today and managed to get all their photos off to the yacht broker in Opua, although they think the whole town had internet problems yesterday. Filled up with water midday and then motored down to an anchorage they first used 2½ weeks ago (it is just below centre in the attached pictures). They used the motor as their batteries are getting quite low and need a bit of a boost. They plan to leave about 10pm tonight and head for Ha’apai. That will get them in there midday tomorrow giving plenty of time to find a good anchorage before dark. The winds and swell are both easterly tomorrow and fairly light so that will suit them. Could be a bit choppy though. If the wind is strong enough to get the wind generator going fast enough to charge the batteries, then they won’t need to use the motor.
They all had a swim this afternoon (including Raleigh) and currently Leslie is out snorkelling, Carl is on land with Raleigh for some exercise and Lisa is cooking dinner. I just realise that we didn’t discuss what Don was up to – perhaps he was snorkelling with Leslie. Everyone is in good heart, sorry to leave Vava’u where they have been for a month, but glad to get underway again as they want to get to NZ by the mid November.
Till tomorrow 26 October They did leave Vava’u about 10pm last night and got to Ha’apai about midday. Don and Andrew got up last night and sailed straight off the buoy, no motor needed.. They are now anchored in a little bay near the top of the northern most island of the group at location 19° 40.301S, 174° 17.365W. I have attached 3 maps showing their position. The island is very beautiful (aren’t they all) and they found a suitable sandy spot to anchor. Andrew immediately jumped in to check the anchor and they all had a swim and did a bit of snorkelling. Another yacht has just anchored nearby. They plan to stay till about Friday when they will move to another island in the group a bit further south to get closer to Minerva Reef and get a bit more protection from the weather. The weather will deteriorate over the weekend but they should ok to leave on Monday or Tuesday as the weather looks good for the following few days which will get them to Minerva Reef.
While Andrew was on the radio Lisa and Don were having dinner, a Thai tofu dish with peanuts, chillies and a brown sauce, on rice. Carl and Leslie had gone ashore to befriend some of the islanders but Don says he is over that now and just wants to get to NZ. I think Andrew might be similar as he wasn’t very well today now that they are back at sea and then he slept a fair bit of the afternoon after they anchored. Till tomorrow 27 October A much more productive day today although Andrew said that he managed two naps, but he did get up early this morning. Carl was back on the island a couple of times today. He came back with some bean pods (of unknown type), which Lisa has scraped out the inside and made a dip to take to dinner tonight, which is with the crew of the only other yacht that was near them last night (has a crew of 3 they think). They haven’t met them before. However two yachts that they do know from previous meetings also came into the anchorage today. I gather Don is not going to be social tonight, he needs some quiet recuperation time to himself.
The island provides spectacular snorkelling with very lively colours in the coral and a lot of fish around, they described it as a cross between the Tuamotus and Nuie. There are also a lot of rocks with many caves in them, so Don and Andrew spent some time swimming through the caves, 10 to 15 feet down and up to 10 metres long – free diving apparently (I’m not sure I needed to know that!) The village that Carl and Leslie visited yesterday (Ha’ano) was fairly basic with a gate to enter by. They didn’t see a lot of people but those they saw were very friendly. One guy told Carl he could help himself to coconuts, so Carl came back with a number of them. A lot of pigs running a round I gather. The weather is still hot but with the breeze blowing it is not as humid so much more pleasant than at Neiafu. Tomorrow they plan to move about 30 miles further south to Ha’afeva Island (see attached map) which will provide a bit more protection from the expected weather deterioration in the weekend. It will provide more protection from the north, east, and south and they can move slightly to get protection from the west as well if necessary. They still tentatively plan to leave for Minerva reef about Tuesday but very dependant on the weather. The forecast actually looks good with one exception; although the seas are easterly the wind is due to turn around to the west which will mean quite choppy seas. We’ll see what eventuates a bit closer to the time. Till tomorrow 28 October Woops almost forgot to do the daily report. We went out last night soon after talking to Andrew and then Jack and I never gave it a thought this morning, till now.
They did move yesterday, sailed off the buoy again but did use the motor briefly to anchor at the new location. They are now at 19 56.48S, 174 43.00W beside Ha’afeva Island which has a reef around most of it and that will give them some protection from the slightly higher seas expected over the next couple of days. They are anchored near a jetty that serves the one little village that is on the other side of the island. There is a road about 1 km long from the jetty to the village. See the two attached maps showing their location. Another yacht came in just before they left yesterday morning. They got away about 9am, averaged 7 or 8 knots with a good 15 knot wind, saw two whales (a mother and calf) on the way and were anchored by 3pm. The island they are beside is quite flat but everywhere is very pretty. Radio signals were very strong yesterday and I could hear the others talking in the background. There was a brief commotion at one point as apparently Carl had managed to walk into something headfirst and apart from his curses the noise was mainly laughter from the others! The previous night they went over to the yacht Fa Fetched for dinner. The yacht has 3 people on board, the owner is Bruce who has his bike on board and is planning on tying up in Tauranga harbour and then doing some cycling in NZ. He has two friends on board, Billy and Kim, and all three of them are from Oregon. Bruce does a lot of spear fishing so they had fish for dinner that evening and were given some fish which they were planning on having for dinner last night with fried rice. Kim is a physio so she gave Lisa a physical therapy session on her hip that has been worrying her a bit and given her some exercises to do which should help.
As we were talking Carl was off for a row, probably to the jetty to have a look around. I’ll find out today no doubt. Today they are planning on doing some snorkelling which is apparently very good in that area and they also plan to give the hull its regular clean. Andrew said that they didn’t realise how tired they were when they left the hectic life of Neiafu, but they are all having lots of rests and taking things easy and getting some energy back. Yesterday the weather for next week did not look good with southerly seas, but that has all changed today. I see that they will now get easterly winds and seas between their current location and Minerva reef for about three days so that could be a suitable window for the trip providing that forecast stays constant. They will then get 4 or 5 days of southerly weather but looking ahead two weeks there is a definite possibility of a good week of reasonable weather to get to NZ. I shouldn’t really try and guess out that far as it can easily change, but low pressure areas form in the Indian Ocean and then travel underneath Australia before fanning out into the Pacific providing higher winds and seas for a few days, and the weather in the Indian Ocean that will reach us the week after next looks quite settled at this point. We’ll keep a watching brief.
That’ll do for yesterday. 29 October A fairly quiet day in Paradise today. You will remember that I said Carl had gone off rowing ashore late yesterday, well he did walk to the village and came back with a bunch of bananas so breakfast this morning was banana fritters. Carl headed off again to the village today and came back with a friend, I think his name was John. He came on board and brought some taro, mangoes, and coconuts which naturally were very welcome. While Carl was away, the others went for a walk along the beach which was completely deserted and really lovely, however when they got to the point there was a strong wind so they turned back at that stage. The wind has been blowing all day but from the east so they are very sheltered where they are moored. Everyone is still feeling rather tired but improving with lots of rest preparing for the voyage ahead. However they didn’t clean the hull today so that is on tomorrow’s agenda. There are now 6 yachts in the little bay.
We discussed the weather at length and assuming it is still favourable tomorrow then they will probably leave for Minerva Reef on Monday to get there before the swell goes back southerly on Thursday night. It should take them 2½ to 3 days, and they can then sit out any weather that comes until we get a suitable window for the 7 days or so to NZ. We have tried SPOT a few times in the past couple of days with no result. I told Andrew that and then got home to find that SPOT had worked this afternoon! To view it click on this http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0oe5zP6fXfqGGRpRHxtCJgqtJvWlUZzuv You will probably need to click on ‘Satellite’ in the top right corner and then click the – sign a few times to make any sense of the view – however it is exactly what I sent out with yesterday’s report. Lary sent me an email today with the Baseball World Champs result so I can pass that on to the crew tomorrow. I don’t know about the others but Andrew is relly keen on baseball and follows the results with great interest.
I still keep a webpage up to date daily, showing their position and other info if you have forgotten. There is a link from their blog site (in the location part on the right of the home page), but you can get to it directly by clicking http://angnz.com/aldebaran/ . It is a very basic website, but it takes up quite a lot of my time anyway and serves the purpose without trying to make it look pretty! Their blog site has had a lot of photos added over the past week or two for those who don’t follow it. It is worth a look, click here http://braincloud2011.blogspot.com/
Till tomorrow 30 October Good loud signals again today but not a lot to report. The wind picked up today as expected and was quite strong even where they are anchored. They did clean the hull today in readiness for heading south, and that was a somewhat difficult assignment as the boat was rocking all the time in the wind and choppy sea. Lisa has been preparing a number of meals as she usually does so that food is pre-prepared for the first few days at sea and hence easy to provide. She also baked some bread and will bake some more in the morning as well. Carl has gone ashore again to fraternise with the natives, while the other three are watching a pre-recorded program on the computer.
They were interested in the baseball results and in the fact that the NBA is in total lockdown at present. I also reported that SPOT had successfully given a location yesterday. When you look on Google Earth at their current location, the island appears covered in a lot of stand-alone trees indicating that they are specifically planted like that, so I asked Andrew what they were and they are all coconut trees apparently. We did discuss the weather at length as usual and decided that it is probably going to be a bit rough tomorrow morning. The wind and swell will have dropped significantly by Tuesday morning so they will probably depart then. We have an extra sked tomorrow midday to check on the weather again then. The only issue in leaving the departure till Tuesday is the swell may have turned southerly before they arrive at Minerva Reef, however the weather report indicates smooth southerly seas and very little wind by them, so they may have to motor the last little bit and that will be a lot easier than trying to cope with rough weather tomorrow.
Till tomorrow 31 October I have talked to the yacht twice today. Yesterday we arranged a sked for 12 noon today to update the weather report in case they decided to go late today, however when I looked at the weather for Ha’apai this morning all I could say was WOW (actually the language was somewhat stronger than that) as there was a nasty little storm right on top of them. I looked back at yesterday and there was absolutely no sign of it and looking at the forecast it will have travelled well east of them by midday tomorrow and all will be back to normal. When I talked to them at midday my first question was ‘how’s the weather, it looks a bit rough from here’? Andrew’s response was ‘it’s filthy here with strong winds and continuous rain, last night was not the most comfortable sleep I’ve had’. We looked at the weather ahead and as expected it is actually quite calm for up to the next 2 weeks, the only issue is it is too calm with slight seas and winds peaking at 10 knots. Fortunately the wind will be on the beam and not directly behind so they should be able to sail in it. We had our usual sked at 5pm to update the weather but the future still looks much the same. They are still getting strong winds and rain at the moment but I could tell them that it should be much nicer when they get up in the morning. They have decided to leave tomorrow afternoon for Minerva Reef and there are 2 or 3 others going to go at the same time so that will be a new experience sailing within sight of other yachts, and give them some company. It doesn’t appear that other yachts have the same regular radio contact with anyone as Andrew says he calls up the others after we have talked and passes on the forecast. The outlook for the voyage between Minerva and NZ still appears to be very light winds but with a westerly or south-westerly wind when they get closer to NZ. It should become a lot clearer after they reach Minerva, and then decisions on when to go will need to be made.
Because of the weather they have had a lazy day although Andrew says he hasn’t had his daily nap yet and he needs it. They have all been watching some recorded TV shows and relaxing today. Lisa and Andrew each baked a loaf of bread today and plan to do the same in the morning, and Lisa has some rice to cook also. They are obviously well prepared food wise for the next few days. Carl has been on shore this afternoon despite the weather visiting his friends. That’s about it. We have skeds again tomorrow at 12 noon and again at 5pm to keep them informed weather wise and keep us up with the action. 1 November Well they did depart from Tonga this afternoon and when we spoke a short time ago they had travelled about 10 miles. They were at location 20° 01S, 174° 50W. I have updated the photos and started a new stats chart at http://angnz.com/aldebaran/ They did have a sail up but were also motoring to have more control navigating the reefs, however as we talked Don switched the motor off as they were well clear of any objects. That introduced an interesting situation that I had not been aware of before. Their prop (propeller) is a self-feathering variety. When the motor is switched off the prop feathers and folds up under the boat to limit drag. Theirs used to do this very reliably but has been a bit temperamental recently, so if it keeps rotating (which creates drag and slows them down) and doesn’t feather they have to slow the boat down to only 1 or 2 knots to stop it rotating and then it will fold up giving them another knot or two of speed. To slow the yacht down enough to feather the prop they sometimes find it easier to just turn around into the wind briefly and then turn back and get going again, sailing. Andrew abandoned me briefly this afternoon to help with the sails as they were getting the prop to stop. They expect to get to Minerva Reef Friday morning hopefully with an adequate wind to avoid using the motor, saving fuel in case they need it on the next leg.
The weather yesterday was really awful but as predicted it cleared up this morning and was quite pleasant so they got everything cleaned up and dried out. The only variation to that was a nasty little squall came through just after they set sail today. Fortunately they only caught the edge of it and it didn’t affect them. Our crew discovered that they had $20 Tongan dollars left and thought it would be much better to spend it locally than get a couple of NZ$ for it in NZ, so the crew, minus Andrew who stayed behind to discuss the weather with me at midday, walked across the island and bought some Bell tea bags, 3 bottles of soda, and some peanut butter. Apparently Lisa makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each day at sea as snacks for the night watch! There were 6 yachts in the bay overnight and the two that Andrew has been discussing weather with over the past few days both left an hour or two before Aldebaran. They are also heading for Minerva Reef and will probably go on to NZ without stopping long there if they think the conditions are ok. That should help our crew with an advance guard to tell them what the conditions are like!
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