Yacht Resolve

2008-09-30T18:51:00.002-04:30

2008-09-30T18:48:00.001-04:30

2008-09-30T18:09:00.003-04:30

Well I can't believe that almost a year has passed since we arrived in Whangarei. It has been a difficult year, with emotions running high on my side. Tes as you know, takes life far less emotionally than I do.

We have started to settle down in the house, but still have a lot to do before I will be able to relax and enjoy. We had just started painting the house when the rains arrived, and believe it or not, we had the longest winter I can recall and certaintly one of the wettest I remember. It rains an awful lot here and I am no longer surprised that everything is so green. The only problem is that when you walk on the beautiful green lawns, you sink at least 6 inches into a waterbog!!!
Needless to say, the house has remained half painted through the winter, and I can't wait to get the final coats on and to see a completed job. The say Rome wasn't built in a day, but I would love to live to see the results, hee.

Overall Whangarei is a fairly small town, with a population of about 36 000 people, but then there are several suburbs right on the outskirts so it is probably closer to 70 000 people in total. Very rural and a five or ten minute drive from town takes you right into the country, which is beautiful. The scenery is magnificent and everything is very lush and green. The terrain is mountainous (being volcanic) and because the island is long and narrow you are never more than 30 minutes from the sea. There is so many inlets and rivers that you are probably never really further than 5 minutes from the water. The beaches, although magnificent and scenic, are totally different from those in South Africa as the soil is sometimes pebbly and sandy rather than yellow or white and fine. Strangely enough, it makes a big difference. The one thing that amuses me is that you can be lying on the beach and 20 metres from you can be cows grazing lush, green grass, one the other side of the fence! Weird. There is honestly nothing or very little to touch the scenery though, and that is only speaking about the North Island and I believe that the South Island is far more beautiful with mountains and glaciers. Guess where our first holiday will be?

The New Zealand people on the whole are generally fairly softly spoken and gentle, but don't be fooled. The females are as tough as nails when need be and are very capable, most of whom are accustomed to home maintenance, gardening, farming and whatever else is required of them. Very capable and independent ladies!

The Maoris are fantastic people, and are very, very warm and welcoming. I work at a tertiary college which is predominently Maoris and I love it. Yes, you get good and bad everywhere, but in general the N.Z. folk are good people and I am very happy here and so is Tes.

We never expected it to be easy when we arrived, and honestly, it hasn't. It took so many applications before I got a jbo or even an interview, which I believe is fairly norm. and you are paid an hourly rate, which for those accustomed to being paid monthly, is quite a strange thing (and your lunch half hour is not included)! Life is relatively expensive here in comparison to South Africa, but then I think South Africa is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world and New Zealand is more in line with the rest.

Sin taxes are huge and cigarettes cost over R66 a box of 20 and wine is about R50 a 750 ml bottle and far more expensive for a good wine or a red wine! Not hard to guess how your habits change! Food and clothing is expensive if you are paying in rands, but once you start earning in dollars, you quickly adapt, although I still believe that the clothing is pricey and the quality on the whole is not very good unless you pay through your teeth. Most garments on the shelves are made in China and that kind of speaks for itself. The quality of food is far superior to anything you see on the shelves in South Africa, where I believe, the best of the best is exported!

Back to the home front. We are sadly lacking in cupboard space, and I am not sure what we will do about that, but we will take it all a day at a time and see what pans out for us. We may decide to do an extension to the house or to sell and look elsewhere, but nothing is set in stone at this stage and we are just looking around. The thing is that we have such super neighbours with Linda on one side and Lockie just above us that it would be sad to leave the are. They are brilliant and we get on really well together, all of us. In the long run, we will probably get an architecht or draughtsman in to see what can be done first.

The section is very big, being approx. 1500 sq metres and is on a slope, so we need to put in some hectic work to level and build retaining walls, and finally plant under native bush and fruit and nut trees, but it will be brilliant once it is done. The beauty of the spot where we are at present is that no one at all looks down on us, and we look out over the forest on the hill, and yet we are literally 5 kms from city centre. It is very convenient. (Takes me 10 minutes to and from work).

We took Resolve out of the water and Tes redid the antifouling, and sorted out the sails and rigging has been redone. Inside sanded and varnished and woodwork oiled, so she is finally back in the water and listed on "Trade Me" for sale. With the sun finaly peeking though, we are hoping the time is right to sell her now. Once we have sold her we will be able to make some decisions on what to do.

Kama and her partner Bruce, arrived here at the beginning of September, which was fantastic to see here again, and to finally meet Bruce. The three weeks literally flew by and before we knew it they were on their way back to S.A. Really sad. Mum came out with them, and she has stayed on and is currently booked to return in Dec but we are applying for a further 6 month extension and will then apply for permission for her to stay and see what happens. Should permission be granted we will definitely extend the house, so that she is independent and we all have a little space of our own. As I say, time will tell what we do as everything is hinging on one thing or another.

A fortnight ago I went into hospital for an op on my little toe (no not the crooked one, but the straight one - genuine) as I had stumped in and did nothing about it.. I actually didn't realise I had broken it and even if I had, I was under the impression all they could do was buddy bind it. Anyway, they had to rebreak it and put a pin in it, and now I have this "big foot shoe" with a pin sticking out of my toe and a cork on the end of it. Serious - it is awful. At least the cork comes out on the 10th so not too long now - we have passed the half way mark. The worst of it is that I am meant to lie in bed for three weeks with my foot up .... yes .... can yoy imagine me doing that. Five days off was bad enough and I am back at work. And to make matters worse at the moment I have conjunctivitis - all I need is a hump and I can ring the bells of Notradames!!!!!

Tes is well and doing the brake discs but working part time three days a week from 10 am to 8 pm which still allows him to do the discs if and when work comes in. It is very slow and we are not too sure whether it is simply because of loyalty and supporting the person you have been going to for years and years or not. Again, he needs to give it a good shot because if he stops now he wont be able to start up again at a later stage - Whangarei is a fairly small place in that respect.

There have, for me, been terribly sad days, where for no reason at all I have felt a little weepy, but I do believe that the year sailing made it easier to put distance between ourselves and S.A. and a little easier to put down roots without direct comparisons all the time. The one thing I have struggled with incredibly is building up immunity. I am not sure if it is because there are so any students on campus, but for the duration of winter I seemed to have one cold after another, and flu and sniffs, coughs, it just never seemed to end. Hopefully next winter will be kinder to me. Terry managed to get by without too much trouble.

A week past on Saturday we held Danica's "Blessing Ceremony" at our house.
Matua William Davis, one of the Tutor's from work (who is also a qualified Minister) was kind enough to conduct the blessing at our house. It was his first "pakeha" (white) blessing and a first Maori "karakia" for most the family, but was really incredibly spiritual and very special. The emphasis was very much on the s[iritual side and the calling of the ancestors to witness the occasion. William was one of the first people to take me under his wing and he has become a firm friend. A really great person - he lectures Performing Arts at the college and writes scripts for plays and television productions, as well as performing in productions on Maori tv.

My Maori is coming along slowly but surely (certainly not fast enough for me), but I am trying. Those of you who know me well enough know that languages are certainly not easy for me (you will recall after 12 years of schooling how I still struggled with Afrikaans!! I will post a few pics now and several more over the weekend. In the interim "Kai pai te ra" (have a great day). Love from us both to you all.

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The big day arrived at last. Danica was born this morning at 06.19 weighing in at a little under ll lbs!!!!! Nirvana went into hospital yesterday to be induced as she was a fortnight overdue. After some 20 hours of labour they decided this morning on an emergency caeser. Nivs went into shock, which is apparently a form of reaction to the anaesthetic, but Mum, Dad and Danica all well - and so is Kylah. In fact she is a very proud big sister.

Will write a little more next week to keep you posted on our new lives in N.Z.

until then .... xxx

2007-11-02T23:01:00.000-04:00

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2007-11-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

2007-11-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well we have finally arrived in Whangerei, albeit not the way we had envisaged arriving. How many times we had dreamt of the moment we would arrive cruising up the river to the town basin!!!!! It was just not meant to be! The trip from Tonga was a hard slog. We left Vavau and decided to head straight for Whangarei rather than stop at Tongatapu or Minerva Reef. Th weather the first few days was glorious and we were flying along. We then hit a further six days without wind so had to motor sail but it wasn't bad, just a little slow as the wind was almost on the nose. The weather report when we left was fairly accurate but I think the most you can wish for is an accurate four days and then the rest becomes a bit of guesswork. Still, there is not much you can do about it once you are out there. We struggled on and the wind became stronger and stronger until we were beating into it and it was hard going. About 10 days out we hit four days of gale force winds - constant between 44 and 48 and gusting to 55 or 56. It was also right on the nose and we were so reefed in that we were sailing on a "handkerchief". The forestay started becoming loose and as a result the mast tilted slightly back and we then couldn't get the main sail out (thank god it was not stuck out!)

From the day we left we called Russell Radio every evening to report our position and they were also becoming concerned about our position so eventually had N.Z. martime radio call us through the night on an hourly basis. The engine had been 'coughing and splutterig' and finally just gave up. Tes went down to check the diesel filters and the diesel from the BP container at Tonga which had delivered straight to the yacht, was contaminated. He eventually cleaned the filter and was trying to bleed the air out when the battery power started dropping rapidly and a decision had to be made. Coast guard were called out to assist us by towing us in (at 01h00). The eventually found us drifting back to Tonga at 06h00 and attempted to tow us into Opua (at this stage we were 17 nautical miles from Opua - after having travelled 15 689 nm). Can you believe it! After and hour and a half they said it was impossible to tow us into Opua and we had to drop south to Whangarei which actually suited us although it took 7 adn a half hours to tow us in! We arrived like drowned rats and exhausted to boot! They towed us in a 9.5 knots so we were like a submarine! Water pouring down the companion way together with diesel from the bilges floating around. Everything below was sopping wet and stank to high heaven.

The past week has been spent drying the yacht out, cleaning out bilges, lowering sails to be checked and washing everything from top to bottom, including sheets, towels, clothes etc. The engine is going like a bomb but the tanks still need to be cleaned. Monday we take her down to the riggers to have all the rigging redone and checked and then the sails before we put her on the market.

We have started sending out CV's and with a bit of luck something will come up and we can then move into our own little place. I am quite sure we will be a lot more settled with our own things around us too.

It is great to see the family again, and 'little one' is due in 5 days or so time so at least we made it for the big event. Kylah is too cute for words but never stops chattering. Will post some pics soon.

Until the next one ...

2007-10-05T00:25:00.000-04:00

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2007-10-05T00:20:00.000-04:00

New Zealand here we come ……

The time has arrived for us to say goodbye to all the wonderful people we have met in Tonga. The locals here are amongst the most honest and cheerful people we have met since we started sailing and they are always going out of their way to enjoy a good laugh with you.

Both Terry and I had forgotten our 16th anniversary (those of you who know us well won’t be at all surprised) until we went into the internet café and there was an email from Razaan and one from Nirvana to remind us! Off to celebrate, that night we ended up in Tonga Bob’s – the best pub in the South Pacific – without a doubt. We watched the Fakaraytee show (local drag show) which was great fun. The locals surprised me more than anything as they all (both male and female) giggled and laughed throughout the show, and were the first ones to jump up and put money inside the ladies outfits to show their appreciation. It was certainly a night to be remembered – with Terry receiving a T shirt from Mat with “I had a Faka Lady … (emblazoned on the front) Experience at Tonga Bob’s – on the back. I think that Mat and the guys at Tonga Bob’s have been outstanding and it fast became our ‘local’. We were fortunate enough to watch SA vs. Tonga there – and that in itself was an amazing experience as they all cheered Tonga and SA. We then watched Tonga vs England and cheered for Tonga!!!! Our SA T shirt is now proudly hanging in Tonga Bob’s.

In Vava’u there are clusters of islands all within an hour or two’s sail from Neiafu, and they are amazing. There are hundreds of Blue Starfish and we saw a sea Krait (sea snake), plus these huge revolting looking slugs which are apparently a delicacy in the East. They are anything from 6 inches to 2 foot long, black and look like a mix between a caterpillar and a slug. Yuck! There are so many fish and of such variety that you can’t even remember what you have and haven’t seen in the end.

Monday night we met with the guys from Robyn’s Nest, and had a good old South African braai on the beach. It was great fun, with yachts from all over coming to join in.

Most of the yachties who are going to Australia have left already and the majority of those who are here are going to be going down to New Zealand, so it will be good to see them again when we all reach there. The camaraderie has been one of the most amazing experiences we have had. Talk about ‘being in the same boat’!

Today has been a full day provisioning, filling up with diesel and water, clearing customs and emigration as well as port control, so we will go down to the yacht club and enjoy our last beer (or two) before the journey begins tomorrow.

Love to you all and ‘hold thumbs’ for us.

2007-10-02T22:41:00.000-04:00

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2007-10-01T20:36:00.000-04:00

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The past week has been idylic, sailing around the islands - all within a 10 nautical mile radius of Neiafu. Beautiful warm waters, so much time has been spent snorkelling, and dinghying around from beach to beach. Long walks whilst we can! We have now come back into Neiafu to start the preparations for the last leg of our trip. We have decided that rather than sail down to Hai Pai and then on to Tongatapu, we will leave from here, albeit a day and a half further north than Tongatapu. The formalities of checking in and out of each place have persuaded us to sail directly. Weather permitting we will check out on Thursday, refuel and refill with water on Friday and perhaps leave Sunday or Monday.

Saturday evening was a real treat. We booked in, together with a crowd of cruisers we have become friends with, to a Tonga feast at Ano Beach. It certainly wasn't dissappointing. The meal was very different but very tasty, and kava was served whilst we sat on the mats with four or five guys, who had their banjoes and guitars out, singing local songs, together with a mix of 'green sleeves' and some more popular songs too! We were also treated to a show of the five or six young girls and guys dancing, all dressed out in their traditional garb - it sounds corny and commercial (it is commercial) but it was a great, relaxing evening and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

So much for the kava though. It tasted like dirty dishwater, had no smell, looked like very diluted milky coffee and had no effect (although I only had a couple of sips Terry gave it a tonk and had four or five 'coconut mugs').

We have met some amazing people and spent last night on the beach with the guys from Robyn's Nest (the S.A.) boat, having a braai, and ended up with about 20 of us there in the end and you would not believe it but two of the other couples who joined us were couples who immigrated to N.Z. about 20 odd years ago - one from Zimbabwe and one from South Africa!!!!!! Talk about being attracted to an open wood fire, hee.

I will post a couple more pics and say a few words again before we leave.

Until then .... we miss you all

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Tonga at last….. We arrived in Neiafu the day before yesterday and took the better part of the day to clear in before we dropped anchor at the far end of the bay and went over to Natalie and Noel for a barbeque. Great to see them again! Neiafu is the main town of the Vavau group of islands, which is fairly high up the Tonga group of islands.

This morning we moved over to the ‘town basin’ and picked up a buoy in front of what would be termed “the waterfront” for want of a better word. The town is quaint, and although the population in Tonga is 100 000, only 15 000 live in Neiafu. It is what I would imagine an old village in the 1940’s would look like. I don’t think any building has seen a lick of paint for a long time, and the streets are fairly narrow and wind all over. Strange though how the world over, the Chinese own the grocery stores, and this is no exception. The old general dealers are what the shops are like. One store will sell a fridge, perhaps two washing machines, a lawnmower, sandals, underwear, haberdashery and cooldrinks. Just strange. An enormous amount of the men folk wear black wrap around skirts, short sleeved back shirts and then what looks like a straw, rectangular carpet, wrapped around their waist, covering the tummy and but. Must be darn hot. All of the officials were this outfit too. A portion of the ladies wear a black dress and then a much larger but similar straw mat wrapped around them, but the ‘mat’ comes above the boobs and stands out stiffly, and goes right down to the ankles! Uncomfortable to say the least. I am not sure what the significance of it is but I will try and find out.

“Hier kom die bokke….”

Just before we left Niue we managed to watch the match between S.A. and England. It was great to be able to watch it live. Saturday night, rather 01h00 Sunday morning, the SA vs Tonga match will be screened live, at a small pub on the waterfront, called Tonga Bob’s so guess where we will be! It should be great fun watching it in Tonga. Robyn’s Nest, a yacht from Durban are on a mooring just a few hundred metres away, so they will be watching it with us (good to have a little support), and seeing as we haven’t reached our new home yet, we can be very vocal in our support, hee.

We will be here for probably 10 days or so, sailing around the islands, and then will make our way down to Tongatapu, which is the southern most island in Tonga (Nuku Alofa is also the capital), where we will wait for the weather window before making our dash to N.Z. This is a tricky trip as the weather can turn very suddenly so they say it is best to make the trip between mid October and mid November, and preferably on the back of a low that has just passed. Will try and upload a few more pics. Miss you all.

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Ready to sail once more. After a stunning week on Niue (can't believe how time flies when you are enjoying yourself), it is time to move on to Vavau. Once again, this was a relatively unexpected stop, and so far they have all turned out to be the best. Niue is very unspoilt, and there are some of the most wonderful caves I have ever seen, with rock pools that are crystal clear. There are also hikes through the rainforest (that was beautiful too), and plenty of fishing and snorkelling. Yesterday we hired a car amongst a few of us and went on the sight seeing trip of the island. We swam with the sea kraits (they are deadly poisenour snakes, but are non aggressive and have very small mouths. I was not too happy but swam with two of them and then got out of the water, hee. Been there - done that! They are white with circular black rings around them, and have very bad eye sight so they tend to come right up to you to see what or who you are as they are known to be curious. I was none to happy about diving with them, but now it is over. The locals assured us that they have never been known to bite humans!

We then walked through the rain forest to some of the most stunning coastal views I have ever seen. I will try once again to load some of the photographs, but may have to wait until Tonga.

We have decided to leave early Sunday and hope to reach Vavau by Wednesday so it is a relatively short sail from here. We intend to spend a week or so there and slowly move our way down to Tongatapu to prepare for the final leg.

Love to you all - please keep in touch....

2007-09-12T22:31:00.000-04:00

Niue …. Well it just goes to show things don’t always go according to plan. We left Aitutaki and set sail for Vavau. We had four brilliant days of sailing and reached a maximum speed of 9.8 knots (very briefly whilst surfing down the back of a swell). This for us was a highlight as we are chuffed to average 5 knots an hour! The wind was strong and coming from the South East which meant perfect sailing. Suddenly the wind died down from 30 knots to less than 3 and we literally came to a standstill. We had to motor in the last day and a half against the current with no wind! We were “getting nowhere slowly”, so we decided to take a break and stop at Niue. What a super surprise though. It is a stunning island – very different from the majority of the south pacific islands as although the water is crystal clear (there are no rivers running into the sea from the island) it is a deep aqua colour. There are no beaches either, but rather ragged rock dropping off into the sea, with hundreds of caves carved into the rocks. On the volcanic islands, although the water is most places is very clear, where there are rivers running into the sea, the clarity of the water is very badly affected.

The population is only 1700 with 14 villages dotted around the island. The people are amazing. Most islanders rely on tourism for an income and they go out of their way to encourage visitors. We found the Niue Yacht Club – which is run from a house on the main road. It is small but welcoming and the commodore took Terry and Graham for a drive around town to show them where everything is, and we were then given a DVD of the hurricane and the damage it caused in 2004, as well as the children singing the anthem and the “Polynesian” dancing. There are only 14 buoys and they are currently full (am not sure what happens when yacht 15 arrives as the anchorage is very deep and apparently quite difficult because the holding is not good). The island can only accommodate 120 visitors at the various hotels at any given time and there are no plans for expansion as it is quite remote and I can’t really imagine that many people visiting so it appears to be relatively unexploited, although very expensive as most things are shipped in.

Another unusual aspect of Niue is there is no dinghy dock, so you have to make a cradle to lift the dinghy out of the water, and when you arrive at the key side there is a hydraulic ‘lift’ which you use to lift it out of the water and place it on a “carriage” which is used to wheel it into position in a long line of dinghies, and the same procedure is repeated when you leave. Easier said than done! When the tide is low, there is a rope with knots on it and you have to launch yourself onto it and literally swing towards the wharf. (Try doing this with a computer in your backpack – a nightmare). Plus, there are hundreds of sea snakes here – they are white with circular black stripes on them and they come to the surface every 30 minutes for air. Apparently they are so poisonous that if you are bitten you would not make it to the surface, but they say they are not aggressive at all and are back fanged and could only bite small areas, such as your fingers, ears or nose. I won’t be taking any chances!!!!

The internet is ‘dial up’ and very, very slow and I have not been able to upload any photographs but will try again today, failing which we will have to try again in Tonga.

2007-09-03T18:18:00.000-04:00

Aitutaki

A great sail from Rarotonga, albeit a short one (a day and a half) saw us arriving at the entrance to the pass into Aitutaki at approximately 16.00 which was low tide and made it impossible for us to enter. Kyrie and Nomadlife were ahead of us, so we dropped anchor and joined them for the evening. On the way up we had a brilliant fishing day too, and caught three Mahi Mahi (Dorado). I am becoming quite a fundi now and love my fishing! When we arrived we heard that Robyn’s Nest, a boat from Natal was inside the lagoon so we called them up and they came out on the dinghy to collect one of the fish. The second was barbequed on yacht Kyrie and the third
Will be eaten this evening.

The Cook islanders are open and naturally friend and spontaneous, with the mood of the island being very relaxed. The islanders share a genuine concern for visitors and we were extremely surprised when a couple we had met arrived at the yacht the morning prior to our departure, with a black pearl on a pendant for Terry and a sarong which Roru showed Terry how to wear ‘Maori style’ and Maddi had two black pearls and a sarong for me! They are steeped in culture and the legends and song and dance reflect the nature of their lifestyle. The population of all 15 of the Cook Islands is only 17 000 with about 9 000 living in Rarotonga, the main island.

Aitutaki was the last stop for Captain Bligh of the Bounty in 1789 before the famous mutiny on board (I guess the crew were slightly upset about leaving Paradise, hee).

At about 10.00 we picked up anchor an hour or so before high tide and slowly made our way into the anchorage in the lagoon. The water is very shallow so it is a bit tricky, but once here the guys from Robyn’s Nest came straight over to us and collected our stern anchor to drop it for us. Nomadlife came in just ahead of us, but Kyrie has left for Vavau (their keel is 2 metres and the maximum depth of the channel is 1.6m, so we will meet up in Vavau sometime soon. From what we can see it is very similar to Bora Bora with the shallow turquoise waters, but at first glance there certainly appears to be more beaches. The sad part about Bora Bora is that there is only one public beach, with every other inch of beachfront having been proclaimed private property by the resorts. There are certainly an abundance of turtles here as we have already seen half a dozen swimming around the boat.
They are strange creatures as they swim reasonably close to the boat and then hold their heads up high in an inquisitive manner before submerging themselves again. It is probably a little late in the day to visit town but I will upload this from an internet café when we do.

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In all the time we have been travelling, there is one special family that remains very close to us and that is the Monteiro's, who we met is Forteleza. Olivia, thank you for keeping in touch with us. xxx

2007-08-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

We appear to have brought the bad weather with us, although it hasn’t really stopped us from exploring. Yesterday we walked town flat searching for a new gas bottle but were unable to find anything other than the enormous ‘household’ bottles, whereas we need the 4.5 kg bottles to fit into the storage compartment at the back. We have three with us which come from South Africa (we had every intention of ditching them when we arrived) but it is very difficult to fill them as no one seems to have the right fitting, but one of the locals said he would spend the weekend trying to make up one for us. I hope he manages otherwise we will be lugging around one of these enormous bottles looking more and more like a ‘Sowf Efrican texi’ by the day!

This morning the market was open – Saturday being the main market day, and it was interesting to see the amount of fruit and vegetables that I have never spotted before. Once again, all the ladies were wearing flowers behind their ears or garlands of flowers in their hair. Flowers generally seem to play a large part in the lives of the islanders as it is not unusual on any of the Polynesian and now Cook islands, to see flowers scattered on the dash board of a vehicle or even males with a garland of leaves strung around their necks. I had a giggle trying to picture how many of our male friends I could envisage doing likewise! Little bunches of flowers are even tied to the local ‘water taxis’. Frangipani, are prolific here and the fragrance is exquisite. On the way into town the pavements are lined with them and it is quite a ‘heady’ experience. I notice that the posters and paintings feature frangipani or hibiscus on a large scale. Rarotonga features quite a number of famous tattoo artists, whose work is advertised in the windows, and the designs are quite something to see – very tribal but very artistic and interesting. Terry has threatened to leave me behind if I even think of having one done. If and when the weather clears we will explore a little further and let you know more about this unique little island, which has captivated us (Terry is laughing at me as he is not that impressed but I think it’s stunning. The island’s population is also rather small – being approximately 9000 people, with a further approximated 12 000 apparently living in N.Z.

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We have arrived in Rarotonga and are safely tucked up in a tiny harbour between a navy ship and a massive cargo ship (just the two little yachts). We have company arriving later this evening when Kyrie and Nomadlife arrive so we will fill the harbour.

We finally set sail a few days later than expected. The one night we were just preparing to go to bed when a pan pan ‘tsunami warning’ came over the VHF on channel 16 from Tahiti radio. As it was in French we were blissfully unaware until one of the American yachts asked in English for more information which they were not really able to provide. Nothing doing to the Americans who are really equipped when they sail, they called the U.S. Coastguard and then came back on air and gave everyone the update. Apparently an earthquake on the west coast of Peru, measuring 8 on the Richter scale, caused a tsunami which was resulting in a two metre surge in the Marquises (at this stage we were in the Society Islands) so fortunately it had no effect on us whatsoever – just the word tsunami conjures up these horrific pictures of Thailand a few years back! The weather turned a bit lousy with really strong winds and warnings of rouge winds so we stayed on a couple of days.

We were able to then swim with the locals whilst they were feeding the rays. I jumped off the dinghy with my snorkel and was swimming under the water when suddenly the rays started swimming to me. Totally unnerved I tried to scramble back up onto the dinghy and landed like a seal in distress, shouting at Terry to help me (whilst I still had the snorkel in my mouth) and hyperventilating – hee. I suddenly remembered about Steve Erwin and was completely freaked out. At least I gave the locals a huge laugh. The one guy ended up coming over to the dinghy and lifting the ray up to me so I could stroke it – slimy thing. At this stage Terry was in the water and it actually started to ‘climb’ his chest. They are looking for food and if anyone gets into the water they think it is a new supply of food! I eventually got myself together but not without having made a complete Charlie of myself first! (Wait for the next one).

Friday we decided to move on to Rarotonga, not heeding the superstition that it is bad luck to leave on a Friday. After lifting the anchor early in the morning Terry was busy tying it down and I started to motor slowly down the channel (2 metres from the markers on my right) and hell and be damned I landed us on a coral reef! Talk about being embarrassed. Yes, I know it was in the channel but I was still incredibly embarrassed and it didn’t take very long before 3 dinghies were all trying to help us and eventually the garbage barge took a long line from the cleats on the bow and towed us off. We went back to our anchorage to check out the rudder and keel, which thankfully were fine but decided to leave on the Saturday. Okay, so I have finally got that one out of the way, phew! Let’s move on…

On the way down here I caught a huge dolphin fish of mahi mahi as the locals call it. I thought it was a dorado but it did look a bit bluer. It was 1.4 metre long and so heavy I couldn’t hold it up for a photograph. My hand wouldn’t even go around the tail! I have no idea what it weighed but it was very heavy.

After arriving this morning we managed to clear customs and immigration and apparently they are going to fumigate the boat tomorrow (any which way to make an extra buck!). From what we have seen of the island it is lovely. The main road is conveniently situated very close to the harbour and the craft and fruit market is right next to the harbour so tomorrow we will investigate and let you know what it is like.
Until then ….. night.

2007-08-10T02:11:00.000-04:00

2007-08-08T23:39:00.000-04:00

Bloody Mary’s Yacht Club

We have picked up a buoy outside Bloody Mary’s Yacht Club. This is a yacht club with a difference as they don’t charge for the moorings, or the water but simply ask you to support their bar and restaurant! The restaurant has a board outside naming the famous people who have been there, including Kurt Russel, Goldy Hawn and Rockerfeller amongst others. We have given loyal support to the pub but the restaurant is probably out of our league. It is very unusual with beach sand on the floor throughout the pub, restaurant and even the cloakrooms, and the walls are made from palm trunks with the palm fonzes being used as a form of "thatching".

You will still go a long way before you'll beat the ambiance that Paul and Mike have created at Saldanha Bay Yacht Club! Guys, you can be proud of yourselves - for what you have achieved! Your welcome is unbeatable, your lounge really comfy and your coffee the best!

Natalie and Noel on yacht Kyrie arrived today so we are back together once again (have sailed together off and on since Bonaire). Windsong is on her way to Australia now, and it is terrible without them as we all sailed together from Columbia and it is weird arriving in a new place without them. It was always good to be able to have a laugh together about the oddities of the places you visited. Will probably spend another five days here and then move on. Until later ...

2007-08-08T23:33:00.000-04:00

2007-08-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

Today saw us venture into town. This was a an experience as we had a dinghy ride of about 2 km's from the anchorage into town, but it was great fun. Went to look for gas cylinders because they can't fill the South African ones here and we are down to our last so if we want coffee in the mornings we have no option (never mind the warm food when sailing)! Every second shop is a shop selling black pearls, which are really magnificent but every bit as expensive is diamonds! They also carve out the inside of the oyster shell which is something to see. Extremely talented craftsmen here.

I managed to find a 'coiffure' and went to have my hair cut as I have been cutting it myself and if it wasn't so curly it would have looked like the rats had been at it. (Probably the only time I have been grateful for curly hair). Looks okay - I must be honest I wasn't sure what it would look like as he couldn't speak english and I couldn't speak french, but it could only have been an improvement on what it was.

Tonight we are going to visit the yacht club off which we are anchored "The Bloody Mary" which is a great looking little thatch building. We have discovered that they provide fresh water and you can pull up alongside the pier, whoopeeeeee!

Tomorrow morning we are off to hire a "bubble car" and explore the island with a picnic lunch, so until then ..... adios

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Bora Bora at last. After leaving Nuka Hiva we sailed around to Daniel’s Bay and spent four glorious days there doing nothing at all barring walking on the beach and collecting shells. There were loads of ‘cowry’ shells which apparently come from the French Polynesian islands. Barbara and Ray joined us and the four of us did nothing much at all. The only task to be performed was running up the river to “jerry jug” water from one of the local farms as the water in the main town is not drinkable because goats and pigs breed in the catchment area! Something strange about the fact that nothing is done about this? They have these stunning mountains and when it rains they are covered in waterfalls that resemble silver ribbons, and yet none of the water is used! We left Daniel’s Bay and headed for Rangiroa.

Six day’s later we arrived in Rangiroa. The sail was a long one as the wind was very gentle and hovered around 6 – 10 knots resulting in motoring periodically. The night before we arrived in Rangiroa we had to slow down to ensure arrival at dawn as we were entering a fairly narrow coral pass and the wind picked up to a constant 25 knots, resulting in us reefing in nearly all the sails and the morning we entered it was gusting up to 44 knots!!!!!! Rangiroa is an atoll which is surrounded by a coral reef, forming a “lagoon”. The water is turquoise and the water is magnificent. The island itself is barely half a metre above sea level, and the beachfront is covered in broken coral which resembles small aerated bones and is quite painful to walk on (you “hinker pinker” over the coral). The island is stunning and the folk are very friendly (more than you can say for Nuka Hiva actually). Unfortunately the five days we spent there were extremely windy and the anchorage was exposed so we were rocking and rolling much better! Natalie and I took out the bicycles and cycled the 27 km’s around the island (forgetting we had to head back into the strong wind) and by now we had packed the backpacks with groceries and had extra bags too. How we made it I am not sure. All I know is that by the time we arrived back at the dinghy dock my knees were wobbling all over the show. We parted with Natalie and Noel as they headed down to Papeete in Tahiti and we headed on to Bora Bora.

Just east of Bora Bora lies an island called Tahaa, which we unexpectedly popped in to visit and decided to spend a few days there. Another idyllic island. They all start to resemble one another with the beautiful turquoise water and palm trees!

Arrived at Bora Bora yesterday and we were quite surprised to see a few yachts which we recognized from various stops along the way, including Panama Canal. Most of the yachties are now heading for either New Zealand or Australia. I can’t do justice by describing Bora Bora. It is magnificent with an enormous mountain majestically perched in the middle of the island. Because of the huge amount of rain they receive on the islands, everything is very lush and green, coupled with yellow beaches dotted here and there and the very, very turquoise water you can just imagine how stunning it is. This afternoon we went for a snorkel off the back of the boat and it is like sitting in the Durban aquarium. The tropical fish are everywhere and the colours are so bright that they are almost unrealistic. Most of the fish however are very small and dart here and there in little groups.

At the moment we have picked up a buoy just off the local yacht club and will stroll into town tomorrow (some stroll – about 6 kms) and explore a little of the land. We are planning on spending at least a week to 10 days here before setting sail for Tonga, via Suvarrow. Will post more pics later in the week. A picture tells a thousand words ….

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A very strange but interesting place is Nuku Hiva. There are only 2000 residents on the island, with only 50 people over the age of 50! And a lifestyle free of stress! 85% of the population are employed by the government and for those who are not, the French pay out dole. Working hours are 6 a day, five days a week, with the average day starting at 09h00 until 11h30 and then 13h30 until 17h00! Very civilized working hours I must confess. When I asked why they don't live to a ripe old age I was told because the diet is so bad. Although there is an abundance of fruit, most people only eat rice and they love their sugar, taking up to 5 spoons in a mug of coffee. Perhaps that is the reason I am not sure.

The strangest thing though is that the majority of the children born are males, so a long of young boys are brought up as females.These folk are called "ray rays" and are fairly esteemed amongst the locals. There is no stigma at all, and most of the ray rays are employed in the entertainment and hospitality arenas! Which brings me to the question, is being gay genetic or does it have to do with the way in which you are brought up?Who knows, but very interesting anyway.There are quite a few ray rays around town as well and they dress as women, and because the island ladies are not always 'petite' it is not easy to spot them straight away. Well I can't, but Tes seems to be able to.

Saturday is Bastille day, which is the "Heiva celebration" and apparently quite a big one on the Polynesian Islands, so there is a fortnightly build up which culminates tomorrow evening in a celebration and a dancing demonstration, which should be quite fun. A 'building made out of palms' has been erected on the beachfront, and there is a small cover but a bar and local food available so I guess we will be joining in the fun. I have been struggling to load pics onto the blog but will do so at the first opportunity.

2007-07-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

Hout Bay Yacht Club where are you?

After going ashore last night for a drink at US dollars 7 a beer and 5 for a glass of Coke, we started reminiscing about the pub at Hout Bay Yacht Club. I don't think any of us realised how good we had it .... until it was too late. Oh yes, I recall the little whinges we all had about daft things like the handle in the ladies shower coming off in your hand (oh that this was the only thing in life to bitch about). Believe me, we have visited a number of yacht clubs en route and there is NOTHING THAT COMES CLOSE TO HOUT BAY. So please accept my apologies if I winged about the handle (as I may well have, hee). You deserve a bloody five star rating! We miss you guys and think of you often. Love to you all and have a drink on us. Incidentally, we are travelling with Barbara and Ray from the catamaran Windsong, who left Hout Bay not long before we arrived. Penny and Hans will remember them well as they were moored along side of them. Well they agree to the star rating. Well done guys.

2007-07-12T20:03:00.000-04:00

The cork was popped and minutes after our arrival in Nuku Hiva, French Marquise, after a long and tiring trip from Galapagos. It took a total of 27 days in all, and believe me it was boring. I lay reading anything I could get my hands on including the manuals for the electronic equipment! We had pretty crappy weather too with incredibly little wind particularly for this time of the year. Everyone is saying that they have never seen so little wind before as it is meant to be the strongest time of the year for the trade winds. In fact, we had nearly four days in the doldrums at the start of the journey - about the same again in the second week, and the final 5 days we ended up motoring in! When there is no wind it is a very strange feeling out there in the middle of the ocean. The water was like absolute glass and a very light, low fog comes in and sits, with this total silence all around you!

At one stage we had a little bit of a start when an enormous whale popped up less than a metre from the stern of the boat. You could have stepped off the sugar scoop and onto his back. That to me was more terrifying than anything else, because you sit wandering what will happen if he decides to pop up under the hull! I was very pleased to see the back of him. None the less, it is a long trip and I am very chuffed indeed that it is behind us.

Nuku Hiva is not a very large island, but incredibly beautiful and lush, typical of the volcanic islands. There is a very small island population, and this morning whilst sitting having coffee I counted all the houses on the hillside (and there are none on the windward side of the island) and there are only 112. I think the only employment provided here is really municipal such as post office, police, and municipal administration. There are two small shops, general stores selling everything from a needle to an anchor (literally) and one souvenier shop which has such limited stock I am sure it is merely for display as it has two computers and doubles as an internet cafe. The cost of which is R1.25 per minute! The majority of people are on the doll, paid our by France, so I would assume that it is a relatively comfortable lifestyle. No one appears to be in need at all, and they are very happy people. Tomorrow night is the dancing festival for Bastillion Day on Saturday so it should be interesting. There has been a fortnight of build up to it, so we definitely arrived at the right time.

Ray and Barbara on Windsong are two days behind us as they broke a forestay and the spinaker was shredded a couple of days out, which meant that they had only been doing an average of 3 or 4 knots an hour (you can probably walk faster). We managed to do slightly better but not much - believe me. Will write a little more later in the week when we have a few more pics and a little more to tell you about.

Tonight we are off to dinner with a mad Welshman we met last night, Dave. He is incredible - a lone sailor at the age of 74, but doesnt look a day older than 54!

Until later ...

2007-06-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

Santa Cruz

We spent a wonderful day in San Cristobal but believe me there is not much to see and all it takes is one day to see it all. A good day sail and we are now in Santa Cruz, another of the thirteen islands which make up Galapagos. Although the islands are not very attractive as such - meaning they are fairly arid with very few palms they have a beauty of their own and they are extremely conservation minded which is wonderful. The only problem is that they put a dollar price on everything you want to see. Still, I am pleased we have visited although I would have loved to stay longer, but French Marquise calls. At least once we are there the back of the trip will be broken and we can start relaxing and enjoying the islands. We are hoping to reach N.Z. by the end of October, so it will be great to have time on our side when we arrive in Tonga to ensure the weather will be fine for the last part of the trip, which we have heard can be the trickiest.

We are still sailing with Windsong, Barbara and Ray from S.A., and have been since we met them in Cartegena, as well as with yacht Kyrie, Noel and Natalie from N.Z. They have missed out the Galapagos islands and are heading straight for Marquise as they were held up in Ecuador with repairs.

Will be a much happier chappy when I next write and the ´long one´is over.
Love to you all. xxxx

2007-06-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

San Christobal, Galapagos ...

We arrived and dropped anchor in San Cristobal this morning after a stunning 6 days and 5 nights at sea. Barring the fact that we were sailing at a 30 degree angle for the better part of the way it was a great sail, with fair winds, flat seas, sunny skies in the day and starry skies at night. What more can you ask for. We are only staying over for a night and then moving to Santa Cruz which is apparently a little more yacht friendly. The anchorage here is a bit roly poly, but at least we can sleep a full night without being woken up to go on watch, so neither of us will be complaining!

Two nights ago I nearly scared the wits out of myself when I was on watch at about 02h00. In the very distance I saw a small yellow light, which is nothing unusual in itself, but it seemed to grow rather rapidly and looked like a `tall ship´(the old wooden boats) sailing at the same angle as us. I switched the radar on but couldn´t pick anything up and then consoled myself with the fact it had probably built like the original and didn´t have radar reflectors etc. I had a good look out the front and looked behind me again to see it appeared so close that I could see the reflection on the water!!! A light mist seemed to be forming around it and I started thinking about the ´flying dutchman´and all the ghost ships I could think of, as well as the dreaded pirates. Just as I went to wake Tes up I had a last look and to my relief, it was the waning moon rising. Talk about scary yourself stupid over nothing - I felt an absolute heel for ages afterwards!

I will update the blog again as soon as we have been around the islands and seen a bit to tell you about. Until then ....

2007-06-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

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Ecuador –what a surprise!

After six days of beating into the wind and current, making little headway to the west we decided to drop further south and stop over at Manta in Ecuador for a couple of days to watch the weather.

We arrived just prior to sunset and gallantly weaved our way through literally hundreds of fishing boats of all shape
s and sizes. Never having seen so many fishing boats before it was quite an experience, although one I have no wish to repeat. We were later told by the clearing agent that Manta is the largest fishing port in South America with over 2500 registered fishing vessels. It was with relief that we finally dropped anchor and waited for it to settle.

The following morning we went to see the Port Captain to report our arrival, only to discover that once again you need an agent to clear you in and out of the country (this is an expensive procedure with a minimum cost of US$150) and is the regulation in almost all Spanish speaking countries, from Venezuela through to Columbia, Panama and Ecuador. Having contacted the agent we decided to make it worth our while and spend a couple of days exploring the town. What a delight.

The locals are extremely friendly, the beers and provisioning inexpensive – happiness all round! We visited markets, shops, pubs, beaches and even stretched the budget to a couple of local restaurants, although the best meal by far was the huge bag of king prawns we bought from the fisherman off the back of the boat for a song. They were enormous but absolutely the tastiest prawns I have ever eaten, and were still ‘kicking’ when we bought them!

The markets spill out from the stores onto the pavements, and then onto the streets, with there being just sufficient space of a single car to weave through the pedestrians if they are brave enough to do so (and not many were). The average citizen using a moped as transport and not uncommon to see a family of four on the seat! A medicine man selling a “venom” mix from a python was just one of the strange things we saw! A peanut vendor crushing his own peanuts to make three versions of peanut butter including a curried one! The shops all have salsa music belting out from them with overstocked shelves and very small aisles. In fact a madhouse. The following day we ventured down to the beachfront and wandered along the rows of canvass covers which are to hire with a couple of beach chairs below them. Very colourful and a definite holiday feeling. Relaxed and enjoyed the day thoroughly. Vendors are everywhere, and patience is exercised as they are all trying to eek out a living in a very poor country by pacing the pavements selling their wares, which are anything and everything you can think of. A favourite is Cd’s and DVD’s at a cost of $1.50 for a DVD and $1 for a CD. It is obviously not considered illegal to pirate in Ecuador as even the shops sell the pirate copies openly.

We spent a wonderful 8 days in Manta, never leaving the town as there was just so much to enjoy. Became firm friends with a few locals including Francois the film editor at the Brahma pub! Once again, the sea calls and it is time to move on ….

2007-05-18T18:47:00.001-04:00

Tito Ng - telephone (Colon, Panama) 6463 5009

To anyone who may be crossing the Panama Canal, please read this carefully. We were fortunate enough to meet Tito Ng, who lives in Colon and works out of the Panama Canal Yacht Club. Tito is the most amazing man. He assisted us on our arrival at the yacht club, by taking us to Port Captain, Customs, Immigration and then to the Panama Canal administration office, helping us through a mountain of paperwork which can take up to three days to complete if you try and do it yourself. With Tito to assist us (he speaks fluent Spanish and English) we were able to plough through the paperwork in just one morning. He arranged for our tyres to be delivered to the yacht, as well as the four long lines needed during the crossing. His fee to help us with all the paperwork, including taking us around in his car from pillar to post, was only $40. Not to mention that he arranged for our gas bottles to be collected, filled and returned to us (with South African fittings that most places can't fill), and well as taking Terry around looking for spark plugs and spares at no extra cost at all. A huge thank you to Tito, who has become a friend to us all. Agents charge between $300 and $450 to do exactly the same job! To anyone who is crossing the canal from either side, don't hesitate to contact Tito, it is well worth your while. He has a wonderful sense of humour and will go out of his way to help you. If you arrive at Panama yacht club he can also be contacted through Roger, who is the office manager.

The crossing through Panama Canal is finally over. With a huge sigh of relief, exhausted but delighted to be on the Pacific side, we finally picked up a buoy at about 16h00 yesterday. The first part of the journey was full house with the six of us and a trainee advisor and his examiner taking us into Gatun Locks - all three of them, where we were raised approximately 30 metres into Gatun Lake. The lake is enormous and apparently man made from an area which used to be a swamp. The feat was accomplished in 1907. It is an area so enormous it is hard to describe. Very beautiful, lush and tropical jungle. We were fortunate enough to spot an alligator swimming alongside of us. The actual locks were a little tricky as we were behind an enormous dry bulk container and alone, so all four rope handlers were kept busy. Terry managed the helm while we tugged and held on for dear life. Tricky but not at all difficult. You enter the lock and the four rope handlers on the sides throw a line down, to which you attach a 150 foot rope which they haul up and tie onto a bollard. It is then up to the rope handlers on the boat to keep the lines taught while they fill up the lock. Once full, the ship ahead of you leaves the lock and you hold on for all it is worth so that the prop wash from the ship does not send you flying into the walls on the side of the lock. The lines are then released and you haul them in fast and furiously so they don't get tangled up in the prop and you move into the next lock where the process is repeated. There are three locks in total at Gatun. At approximately 21h00 we left the lock and motored into the night to pick up a buoy. Once done the pilot boat takes the advisor off the boat and it is time to have dinner. At 06h00 the pilot boat returns with a another advisor and it is a five hour motor to the first of the next three locks where you are lowered down to the Pacific Ocean. These locks are actually much easier, particularly as in the last two we were "nestled" next to a super yacht which was tied to the wall. We put our engines into neutral and they basically 'carried' us from one lock to another and our line handlers did nothing at all. It was great, barring for the fact that torrential rain poured down at this moment. Fresh water is a privilege on the yacht so the costumes were donned and the fresh soap handed around! There were a few amused faces amongst the line handlers on the side, but it was terrific. We finally arrived at Balboa Yacht Club , picked up a buoy and had our lunch and a bottle of bubbly (thanks to Lyndsay). We are very grateful that it is behind us now. The costs were not quite as staggering as we had expected, and in total it cost us $US750.00. A deposit of $850 also had to be lodged upfront and apparently will be deposited into our account in about six weeks time! The sides of the yacht as protected during the crossing with 10 car tyres wrapped up in garbage bags to prevent black marks on the hull. It is certainly a once in a lifetime experience, but I am equally pleased that it is behind us now.

We are hoping to be able to leave in the morning to drop anchor in Flamingo Bay for a day or two and then to set sail for Galapagos as soon as the weather permits. That's all for now.

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The transit ...

We are currently scheduled to cross through Gatun Lock at approximately 20h00 on the 15th May, so if you are awake and would like to watch, click on to the Pancanal website and then onto webcam. On the 16th at approximately 13h30 we will cross Mioflores and then the final lock should be approximately 15h00 on the same day. If there is any change in dates I will post them on the blog. (Bearing in mind these are local times and we are 5 hours behind G.M.T.) Until then ...

Welcome to the Panama Canal - PanCanal.com

2007-05-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Panama Canal - PanCanal.com

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