Daily updates describing the voyage of the yacht Aldebaran

Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 1:17 PM
To: GC
Subject: Re: Yacht update
they r going to be in New Zealand? by Friday? did i miss something?  wow!

 

liz

31 August
Had a long talk on the radio with Andrew this afternoon, and the signals were very strong today. They had been making good progress over the past 24 hours until about 3pm when the wind died down to almost nothing so they are now motoring at 4.5 knots. The sea is quite calm at 4 feet from the NE and the wind is from the E at less than 5 knots. It is ‘stinking hot’, hotter than anywhere so far on the trip was the comment, with a clear sky (10% cloud).
No-one was keen to go on passage again, which is why they stayed so long at Bora Bora, although the weather did delay departure by a couple of days, but now that they are out at sea everyone is fine and enjoying it. The large swell of about 9 feet that they encountered when they left two days ago was not a problem at all as the waves were well spaced out, so it was a relatively slow and cruisy up and down motion. They were hoping to get to Sawarrow by Friday, but with the drop in the wind it may well be Saturday or even Sunday. Time will tell.
They are back on passage rations again. Although they have plenty of food and water on board (up to 40 days worth) they do limit everyone’s daily input as a precaution. While berthed or anchored in harbour, they don’t have the same limitations and now miss being able to eat anything they like.
Had some discussion on some items they want me to post to Tonga, such as coffee, chocolate, books, etc and also discussed the outboard motor problems so that I can attempt to get parts shipped to them. That is proving interesting as the motor is at least 25 years old, but it does hold promise.

I have not attached a map showing their current position as I daily update the webpage showing their position and include daily statistics when they are at sea, so it is just as easy for you to go to the webpage. Click on http://angnz.com/aldebaran/ There is a link to it also from their blog.

I will not be updating this tomorrow as we will be at Brisbane airport waiting to fly home, but I’ll be back on the following day.
2 September
This is yesterday’s update as we got home somewhat after midnight and it took a while to get moving again this morning.  Jack talked to Andrew yesterday and reported the following:

 

They were 300 nm away from destination at 14' 38" S and 158' 09" W.

Little wind so were motoring at about 4.5 kts.

 

I have updated the location map and stats at http://angnz.com/aldebaran/ for those interested.  I note that the seas were 3’ and the wind <10 knots, both from the east

 

I will talk with Andrew today in a couple of hours time. 

 

Thanks heaps to Jack (ZL1UA) in Tauranga for keeping contact with the yacht during my absence, I have really appreciated his help and so have the yachties.

2 September
Graham,
Ah, yes!  Birthday number 65.  Went to the Giants/Astros game in San Francisco and Giants, in a horrible slump in August, lost.  But..it was a great day.  AT&T Park where Giants play their home games is stunning, the weather was spectacular and...those crab salad sandwiches they sell at the park!! Yum!  I thought it would be just Kathleen and Lauren and I but we were joined by Kath's sister, her husband and daughter.  Nice way to spend a birthday and please thank Leslie for asking.  Please also tell her I got the birthday post card she sent and it was defective...the polynesian girl on the front holding her hat in front of her did not move the hat like Leslie said she would!!  Ha!!
Thanks for passing on the message and please pass our love to all the crew!
Lary and kathleen

From: [e-mail]

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Birthday celebrations
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 17:02:54 +1200

Hi Lary,

 

Just been talking to Andrew, and Leslie would like a report please on your birthday.  Did you have a good time, what did you get up to, and did your go to the Giants’ game and if so, who won?  I can pass it on tomorrow.

 

Cheers

 

Graham
2 September

Had a good talk with Andrew, signals up and down quite a lot, so had to repeat a few things but it got much better as time went by.

 

They had a good run last night but have had a few little squalls today that last 30 minutes or so but affect their travel as the wind moves around a lot.  They were just in the process of putting up a larger sail for the evening while we talked.  Since leaving Bora Bora they had been sailing for at least 60% of the time and using the motor a bit less than 40% of the time, when there hasn’t been much wind.  This afternoon they were at 13º 56’S, 160º 05’W with a NE swell at 6 feet and a 10 knot easterly wind.  Only 10% cloud cover again.  With their present progress they will not reach Suwarrow till Saturday.

 

Looking ahead at the weather they may have to stay for a week at Suwarrow as they would like a wind that is not southerly for their trip to Nuie, and the forecast for the next week is for quite high seas from the south, so it will probably mean sitting it out at Suwarrow.  The forecast beyond the next 10 days is not available at this time but should become clear in a few days. 

 

Diner on-board tonight was a very nice risotto.

 

Location map and stats are at http://angnz.com/aldebaran/

 

Till tomorrow

3 September
Good contact with Andrew today.  They have had a very changeable day with nasty little squalls every 30 to 40 minutes, each one lasting 10 to 15 minutes.  Just means a lot of work changing and resetting sails to cope.  Andrew commented that this trip has been the opposite to what they expected as the first 4 days were expected to be rough, but even though the seas were quite large it was quite smooth and comfortable.  Now that the seas have calmed down they are getting very changeable weather which makes it much less comfortable than expected.  They are currently at 13º 58’S, 162º 09’W ad will get into Suwarrow in the morning.  Low tide is about 6am and high tide about midday, so any time in the morning is suitable for entering the atoll.  Looking at the weather, they will probably stay a week as they really need easterly winds and seas to go to Niue, but it is going to be high seas from the south this week.

 

They have been discussing what they are looking forward to when they finish the trip and the top 2 items for everyone are a washing machine and a clothes drier – funny that!

 

Meals today were: no breakfast for some, as too tired, lunch is generally sandwiches made with fresh bread, salami or tuna, lettuce, mustard, egg, and mayonnaise.  This is easy as it creates no dishes and is generally made by Lisa.  Dinner tonight is risotto with fresh bread.  Fresh bread is very important and they make it daily.  Lisa does virtually all the cooking.  Others can do it but Lisa excels apparently and doesn’t object to doing it.  Andrew says she moans a bit sometimes but immediately got a slap over the hand and a denial of ever moaning from Lisa!

 

Location and voyage stats as usual on the web http://angnz.com/aldebaran/

 

Till tomorrow

4 September
Hi everyone.

 

Aldebaran arrived at Suwarrow Island this morning after a fairly rough voyage from Bora Bora.  The forecast was quite good but they experienced short duration squalls frequently over the last 2 days.  Last night (their last before arrival) they experienced 11 squalls each lasting about 30 minutes, the last one this morning quite rough but not too miserable – an adventure was how Andrew described it, with torrential rain and >40 knot winds.  They arrived at Suwarrow about 10am their time this morning after going around the west side of the island, where they saw a whale at close quarters, and then entering the pass on the northern side of the coral atoll with ease.  They are anchored to the west of the main island, Anchorage Island, at 13º 14.88’S, 163º 06.52’W (see attached maps).  There are about 5 other yachts there with another 6 or 7 due from Bora Bora shortly.  Apparently there were 28 yachts there a week ago.

 

They have seen a lot of small sharks around and other fish and are looking forward to doing some snorkelling to watch all the fish.  They are only allowed on the main island (Anchorage Island) as access to the other islands on the atoll is not permitted at this time of the year as it is nesting season for a lot of local bird species.  The atoll is administered for 6 months of the year by two Islanders (the only inhabitants), this year they are John and James.  Andrew said that James is a large tall funny guy who actually comes from Wellington (NZ) so he had quite a talk with him.  James and John apparently organise a pot-luck dinner at least once a week for all the yachts in harbour and John goes out in his boat daily fishing and is happy to take visitors with him, so there will be some fishing I’m sure.  The fishing is apparently very good.  The island is also famous for the very large coconut crabs but they are now protected as they have been greatly reduced in numbers.

 

The yacht will probably be at Suwarrow for at least a week as the weather forecast for this coming week is not suitable for sailing to Niue.  They need easterly winds and swell for preference but this week the swell is going to turn southerly and rise to > 4 metres. The wind will be ok in both direction and strength, but the sea will keep them in port.  The swell is forecast to drop by Saturday and I estimate that it will turn easterly by Sunday – forecasts only go out about a week but looking at what is due to happen to their south I believe it will turn easterly in just over a week.  I could be wrong, but it is not critical as it will become clearer later in the week.

 

Maps and stats are on the web as usual  http://angnz.com/aldebaran

 

Till tomorrow

5 September
Had a few interesting conversations with Andrew today.  We talked for nearly an hour I expect.  The first issue was probably the first emergency on board.  Raleigh had managed to eat half cake of ‘flee control soap’ this morning.  This is a strong insecticide and they were not very sure what to do.  Carl gave him a dose of Hydrogen peroxide which he had used once before to make Raleigh vomit but this time it didn’t work.  So Andrew was keen to be able to talk with his brother who is a vet in Sydney.  I called Simon but he was out on a house call, but about 20 minutes later he had just arrived in and fortunately wasn’t busy with a client/patient.  He was a bit horrified about the hydrogen peroxide as, although it does work it can cause serious other issues.  However after some discussion on what chemicals and medications that are carried on board, they did have activated charcoal tablets on board so Simon advised that they give Raleigh a large dose (in food as it is tasteless).  Apparently it is non toxic and binds with other foods and stops their absorption by the intestines.  It will be interesting to see how Raleigh is tomorrow, hopefully he is fine but probably with black excretions from the rear!  It was fortunate that we got Simon at a time when he could help and everyone was very grateful for his assistance.

 

I talked with Andrew, Lisa, and briefly with Don, and everyone loves Suwarrow.  No tourists, virtually no people, and so peaceful and beautiful.  After a busy and somewhat sleepless last few nights on the voyage from Bora Bora everyone slept really well last night.  Andrew slept for over 12 hours, so they all felt revived today.  It has cost them $65 for their stay for everything and for as long as they like.  They spent some time with the local caretakers, John and James and helped them install a vhf aerial which had been repaired.  They got a coconut lesson, how to retrieve, shell, etc, and were offered use of the washing facilities on the island.  Nothing in the way of machines, as there is no power, just basic washing facilities.  Of the two Islanders, James is the senior and has been there for a number of consecutive years (they only stay for 6 months), while John is in his first year and has been keeping himself busy building hammocks from driftwood and they are absolutely magnificent and exactly what you would picture on a desert island.

 

Today the crew went snorkelling and saw lots of fish and sharks at close quarters – too close for Lisa, she got out of the water.  They are allowed to fish from the boat but advised to pull the fish up as fast as possible otherwise the sharks get it and you get nothing!  When I was talking to them, Carl was out with John in the island boat fishing, so they were hoping for fish for dinner.  Lisa was actually preparing dinner while we talked, it was roti with an Indian dish involving fish, tomatoes, chick peas, a number of spices, fennel, potatoes, teas, all served on rice – I wish I was there for dinner tonight!

 

Another discussion today was regarding their ‘caput’ outboard motor.  I have been looking for parts for it but identifying the model, what is required, and even the make is proving difficult.  They have made the acquaintance of a mechanic on another boat and hope he might help identify what is required.  An ongoing task.

 

My estimation of when they will get suitable weather to leave has surprisingly proven to be reasonably accurate, as they are forecast to get easterly swells and winds from next Saturday evening, but they are probably confined to Suwarrow until then, not that that seems to be a problem, they are all happy to stay as long as necessary.

 

That will do till tomorrow, when hopefully I can report that Raleigh is fit and well.

6 September
Hi all,

 

Raleigh has been ok until a couple of hours ago when he displayed a lack of strength in his hind legs, so we have been on the phone again with Simon.  He feels that Raleigh will get over this but he needs to continue on the activated charcoal to get the toxins out of his body and is now on antihistamines as well for his additional problems.  He also apparently got into a bag of flour yesterday and as he is grain intolerant, his digestive system may take a bit of a hit as well, but that won’t be causing the current symptoms.  Thanks again to Simon for taking time out of his working day to help, everyone is very grateful.

 

As for the humans on board, Carl caught a couple of fish while out with John last night, including a large groper, so they had fish for dinner last night.  They went out to the reef today, about 12 of them, and watched some huge manta rays, one with an estimated wing span of at least 12 feet.  They always see lots of sharks, little ones < 6 feet long.  There are lots and lots of birds everywhere, seabirds, with about 13 or 14 different varieties.  They took the outboard ashore to work on finding what is wrong with it and also spent some time cleaning the boat.  There are now about 12 boats close by. 

 

They were about to go ashore (after we talked) with some others to have a few drinks and watch the sunset, and tomorrow evening there is a pot luck dinner planned for the assembled yachties.

 

Till tomorrow

7 September
Hi everyone,

 

The top news of the day is that Raleigh has shown signs of a definite improvement today.  He is more alert and looks much better than yesterday, so they will continue with the medication that their ‘on-call vet’, Simon, has prescribed for a few more days and hopefully he will have a full recovery.  They have plenty of the medication still so that’s good.

 

Today they spent some time with a guy who is familiar with outboard motors and have identified two parts that they would like to replace, so I’ll go and talk with the local marine shop tomorrow and see if we can find something suitable.  Not knowing the make or model of the motor is a bit of a handicap!

 

Last night they all met on the beach with a few drinks to watch the sunset and Don said it was amazing what people came out with from their respective yachts, there were all sorts of crackers, and nibbles, and even some pistachio nuts – things that they haven’t seen in a long time.  Don commented that although they are in the remotest place they have ever been, they are much more involved socially with the other yachts than they have ever been.  They are off to a pot luck dinner at the Rangers’ house tonight and expect 25 to 30 people to turn up (there are about 12 yachts currently anchored in the atoll), and Lisa and Leslie have made an Indian dahl and some flat bread as their contribution.  Tomorrow evening they are taking Carl’s little movie projector over to the Rangers’ house for a movie evening for everyone.  So all in all they are having a great time.

 

Till tomorrow

8 September
Raleigh is virtually back to normal today, moving happily around the boat and eating normally, so that’s all good.  They will continue with his medication tonight and tomorrow morning and that should be enough.

 

The pot-luck dinner last night was very enjoyable; they had a great selection of food and met a lot of interesting people.  Didn’t get back to the yacht till nearly midnight.  Today they have not done a lot, a bit of reading and not a lot else.  The temperatures are still very hot, particularly between midday and 4pm, but they have the boat set up so that a breeze blows through it and that helps a lot.  There is only a slight swell in the lagoon.  Four boats departed today and another one arrived.  Tonight is a movie evening using Carl’s projector, as I mentioned yesterday.

 

They will probably depart late Saturday or early Sunday as that is when the weather will turn for their advantage.  We had some discussion on what the weather is scheduled to do mid next week as they approach Niue.  The wind and sea will turn southerly which is not what they want, but it should still be low wind and small seas.  We’ll get a better idea in a couple of days.  They plan on getting to Tonga about the 24^th of September.

 

Cheers
9 September

The crew have been out walking this morning admiring all the various bird types that are in abundance on the island.  They also did some swapping and sharing of books and movies with some of the other yachts, and this afternoon did a bit of tidying up including doing the dishes!  Last night’s film evening went well with about 15 attendees, and quite a lot of snack food bought along as well,  Andrew said that he really enjoyed the brownies and in particular the pikelets and jam that he had quite a few of.

 

They have been overdosing on fish as they can catch it easily from the boat.  They mostly get snapper and gurnard – but what more would you want?  Tonight they are going to try and get some lobster, apparently there is a shallow shelf just under water and the lobster all hide in the cracks in the rocks.  They apparently need a stick to prise them out of the rocks and a strong torch to then blind them so that they can be picked up.  It will be interesting to talk to them tomorrow to see if they actually got any.

 

Everyone is fine including Raleigh, but no-one wants to leave as they love the place, however we had a lengthy discussion again on the weather, to decide the best time to depart.  They now plan to leave on Saturday, as although the weather isn’t due to turn in their favour till Sunday, they want to get into Niue by Thursday at the latest to avoid the few days of bad weather scheduled for there late next week. 

 

Till tomorrow

10 September
Good chat with Andrew this afternoon.  We went over the weather fairly thoroughly as they are planning on leaving Suwarrow first thing in the morning and heading south west to Niue.  It should take about 5 days and the weather is reasonably suitable although they will end up with a head-on swell in the last day or so – however it will be long period swell which is quite comfortable.  There are not a lot of protected anchorages at Niue as there are no real bays, but the little bay at the capital of Alofi should provide some protection from everything other than direct westerly wind and sea. 

 

Today has been hot with one little squall passing through that gave them some rain.  They have done some washing and filled up the fuel tank from the jerrycans that they carry on deck, and Lisa has done some cooking for the trip.  They have had a great time at Suwarrow but it is a transit point with 4 or 5 yachts leaving today and some more due from French Polynesia in the next few days.  Their plans (very tentative of course) have them arriving in Niue about next Wednesday, and leaving again (weather permitting) about Monday of the following week for the 3 day trip to Tonga, where they plan to stay up to 6 weeks.

 

That’s all for today

11 September
The yacht left Suwarrow at midday today, not as early as planned, as they went to sunset drinks last night and there were two Japanese who had arrived yesterday so they apparently had sushi and vodka, and two young ladies, who shall remain nameless, had a bit too much vodka and couldn’t get out of bed at the planned time this morning!  Andrew said that their departure was something they hadn’t experienced before as everyone came out on deck on the other yachts and waved goodbye.  Everyone was really sad to leave and Andrew says that Suwarrow has been the highlight of the trip for him so far.  When I talked to them at 0330 UTC they were at location 13º 27’S, 163º 28’W (map attached) with an easterly wind of 15 knots and an easterly sea of 5 feet, both advantageous and hence were making good comfortable progress at 6 knots.  They hope to get to Niue on Wednesday.  Andrew has his first day queasy stomach and may give dinner a miss tonight!

 

I asked how their lobster hunt went two days ago and apparently it was pathetic, they didn’t even see a lobster, however last night ranger John went out to a different location and came back with 5 or 6 lobster, so they had lobster sandwiches for lunch today.

 

The only other thing to report is a request from Lisa.  She wants to know please, how her family and friends on the east coast fared in the recent cyclone.  If you could email me some comments please, I can pass them on to Lisa the next day when I talk with them.

12 September
Good signals today and we spent most of the time discussing the parts needed to get the outboard going again, somewhat difficult when you can’t send pictures and have to try and explain little electronic parts, however it gives me enough to go on to discuss with the Honda Marine agents again tomorrow, 

 

I received 3 responses to Lisa’s request for information on how everyone on the east coast coped in the recent hurricane and as conditions were good today I was able to read them out in their entirety to Lisa.  Lisa asked me to thank everyone very much, she now has a much better idea about what the outcome of the storm was, and sends her thanks and love to everyone and says she really does miss everyone.  Jen, Lisa said she didn’t see any of the giant coconut crabs unfortunately.  They have been nearly wiped out and are now protected, so hopefully they will become a bit more common again.  I did pass on Silas’ status too, Liz, as she does ask about him.

 

The winds have been a bit lighter today and the seas a bit rolly, but they have sailed at 6 knots all day as the wind and the sea are both favourable and out of the east.  Everyone is OK but all a bit mellow as they always are on the first couple of days back at sea.  This afternoon they were at position 15º 07’S, 165º 13W.  The seas were at 5 feet and the wind 10 knots.  They have a clear sky with 10% cloud cover.  You can see their position on the map and other info on the web as usual   http://angnz.com/aldebaran/

 

Till tomorrow

Lisa is so funny.  We all made it.  Tell her there were evacuations on LI and that included some of our family, but the flood waters were not as devastating as expected and all faired well.   (Tell her Patchogue had flooding from the Bay and when I drove down there last week, I saw people's ruined carpets, furniture, etc out in the street. There was, however, major flooding upstate NY where I live and the NYS Thruway was closed for 2 days.  Jen and her children (Lisa and Donny's cousin) was up by us and was going home the Tuesday after and found it difficult to get home as there was flooding on alot of the roads up here.  It took her 6 hours, which really in light of the troubles here was really good!  But LI was without electric for days and when they all arrived there traffic lights were out all over and it was miserable traveling. 

 

 We upstate then suffered another storm last week after Irene and again major flooding with state emergencies and evacuations yet again.  But for all the suffering we again faired well, though many up here didn't, even in the small village of Little Falls, where my grandchildren attend school.  Everything was closed because of flooding.  But!  Yesterday and today the sun is shining brightly, and the last two nights were beautiful and the moon and the stars shone brighty, wonderful!  Absolutely spectacular!!

 

Give them my love please.  I miss them, and today being September 11th and thinking where we all were 10 years ago, makes me miss them and worry about them even more.  And could u mention to them that I was looking at really old pictures (lol), i.e., when they were babies yesterday and was feeling very nostalgic about what a wonderful family we had together?  I will try to post some on Facebook somehow, being the computer wiz that I am, haha so they can see them. 

 

Thank u again for all the updates, although I am behind with school starting and such.

 

liz
Hi Graham,
I am really enjoying your daily emails and would love if you would pass some of this on to Lisa.

Everything in NYC was fine after the hurricane.  We got lucky and didn't get hit too hard.  We never lost power.  The only thing that did happen was that my bedroom carpet got a bit flooded from water entering through the air conditioner.  So I am still trying to get my building to come in and steam clean the carpet to get the musty smell out.  Some homes in Long Beach had flooding in the basements but our friend Taylor did not have any damage to her house.  Some friends and family of mine on Long Island, Westchester, and NJ lost power for several days.  Upstate NY got hit harder, for example the farmer from whom I get my weekly farm share delivery lost nine acres of tomatoes. 

I'm sure the crew would also be interested to hear about what is going on for 9/11 in lower Manhattan.  Many streets have been closed for pedestrians and there are hundreds of police walking around/checking vehicles.  It was a strange sight yesterday to see Church Street lined with police officers and at least twenty tow trucks.  The 9/11 Memorial Center opens today.  Tickets were given to family/friends of victims months ago and I believe they are sold out for these next few days.   I am not going to go near Ground Zero today as I do not like crowds, but I will pass the general vicinity as I walk to school, so I can report later on anything interesting. I know that Obama and Bush will both be there.   My school will be open today (Sunday) to have a memorial service.  The school is about 5 blocks from the site so the children/teachers had to evacuate that day and didn't return to the school for five months.  People from around the world sent letters, gifts etc to the children to show support during that time and they are all on display today.  Teachers and community members will be telling their stories from that day as well.  And as expected there have been several shows on tv about 9/11 recently.

On a lighter note, I got through my first two days as a kindergarten teacher, barely, but I survived.  Gavin is the one to watch in class- he  danced (with one hand behind his head and the other on his hip) through the whole school 9/11 memorial on Friday and ate a paper clip and some playdoh back in the classroom! 

Sorry, that was a longer message than expected!  I do miss Skype when the crew is out on the water.

Have a great day.  Thanks so much!

Rosemary

Hi Graham! This is Jen, cousin to the crew :) writing to give our report of the hurricane.  We didn't suffer too bad, power out here and there and some fallen trees. Charlie was on call in the Apple store in the city in case of any flooding and was home earlier than expected and me and the kids were actually upstate at the NY state fair with some rain. However, my mom, Liz, was home at Cindy's house and lost power and water for about 24 hrs and there was some flooding on the major roads on our way home. Some got it worse than others but we came through OK! no complaints! Please tell them all that we miss them and wish we were there!! (except for the swimming with sharks bit though)... wondering if they ran into any giant coconut crabs, have seen pics of them and curious to see if they get as big as I have read. Otherwise pls send hugs, Thanks!! and thank you for the continued reports, read them every morning :)