We arrived at Nuku'alofa the capital of Tonga last night just as the sun was setting at 1800 and dropped anchor next to Pangaimotu Island. In the fading light we could make out a strip of sandy beach, tall palm trees and about ten other vessels anchored to the south of the island. After a much enjoyed hot shower and a quick dinner we slept like logs until waking naturally with the morning light.
Our voyage statistics are; 1,132 nautical miles over 12 days and 6 hours. A total of 24 hours of motoring in calm conditions, the longest period yesterday (9 hours) was in 5 metre swells.
The last 4 days were a mixed bag of conditions. On Saturday we were sailing to windward on a building North Westerly with boat speeds up to 7 knots for 14 hours, then we endured a South Westerly gale on Sunday with a small headsail for 14 hours as a series of fronts came through. The wind abated early Monday but unfortunately the swells didn't abate as quickly, they stayed with us for the final 2 days as we made use of the .75 oz Code Zero and then completed the voyage under motor. It is hard to endure such light conditions once land is sighted!
This morning we entered the inner harbour to clear customs. After tying up alongside another yacht also awaiting clearance we patiently waited for an hour for the customs officer to arrive. Then several other yachts needing clearance arrived and tied up alongside our little flotilla. It was nice to be able to chat to other yachties whilst waiting for clearance procedures to take place. After another couple of hours the quarantine officer arrived and then an hour later the health officer arrived. All the officials were very courteous and relaxed.
After finally being able to leave the vessel we went to the local produce market and bought some fresh supplies. This evening we returned to anchor off Pangaimotu Island and enjoyed a swim over the side followed by a delicious papaya.
All is content onboard Ambler
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Thursday 26 May 2016
Wednesday 18 May 2016
Some bumpy and now smooth sailing
Since our last post we had been running before a strong wind on the back of a low that had developed from the front that crossed New Zealand two days ago. It developed as a cut off low to the East of South Island and moved to a position South East of us. Fortunately the winds didn't get too much over 25 knots but the sea was rough owing to the proximity of this low. We ran briskly before it with just the head sail up for 24 hours and steered clear of the undersea ridges that can develop odd wave patterns.
The chart is riddled with undersea volcanoes, ridges and troughs that have odd notations such as "volcanic activity 2009" "dscoloured water 1983" and shoal depths with the year reported. In fact there's a whole new island at 20d 34' S, 175d 23' W, which we will not be sailing near as it is west of our planned route. I should have brought a Tassie Flag in case we find a new island to proclaim.
The wind died off during Wednesday and we are drifting north with the Assymetric Spinnaker heading for the subtropic ridge (an elongated high with little or no wind) that we hope to be able to sail through. Once across we will then be in the South East trade winds.
We also crossed the dateline at 30d 10'S on Tuesday at 1750 local which is 12 hours and 180 degrees in both directions East and West of Greenwhich England (lucky I paid attention in the spherical trigonometry lessons when I studied surveying) . We haven't changed the date though as Tonga and Fiji are aligned with NZ.
We still have the Mahi Mahi fish around us and have been spotting sea birds such as white necked petrels and masked boobies. We have stayed to the west of the Kermadec islands due to the big winds and sea which these birds nest on.
We have been generating electricity whilst sailing from a tow generator. The different bits cost me $230 and consist of an old wind generator called a wind bugger hooked up to a small outboard propeller on a stainless shaft and coupled by a 30 metre rope. The wind bugger was popular in its day with its large slow turning blades, ideal for a hydrogen system, unlike the fast turning modern wind generators.
So all bright and humming along on board.
Wayne and Kathy
At 17/05/2016 4:12 PM (utc) our position was 29°39.19'S 179°26.53'W
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The chart is riddled with undersea volcanoes, ridges and troughs that have odd notations such as "volcanic activity 2009" "dscoloured water 1983" and shoal depths with the year reported. In fact there's a whole new island at 20d 34' S, 175d 23' W, which we will not be sailing near as it is west of our planned route. I should have brought a Tassie Flag in case we find a new island to proclaim.
The wind died off during Wednesday and we are drifting north with the Assymetric Spinnaker heading for the subtropic ridge (an elongated high with little or no wind) that we hope to be able to sail through. Once across we will then be in the South East trade winds.
We also crossed the dateline at 30d 10'S on Tuesday at 1750 local which is 12 hours and 180 degrees in both directions East and West of Greenwhich England (lucky I paid attention in the spherical trigonometry lessons when I studied surveying) . We haven't changed the date though as Tonga and Fiji are aligned with NZ.
We still have the Mahi Mahi fish around us and have been spotting sea birds such as white necked petrels and masked boobies. We have stayed to the west of the Kermadec islands due to the big winds and sea which these birds nest on.
We have been generating electricity whilst sailing from a tow generator. The different bits cost me $230 and consist of an old wind generator called a wind bugger hooked up to a small outboard propeller on a stainless shaft and coupled by a 30 metre rope. The wind bugger was popular in its day with its large slow turning blades, ideal for a hydrogen system, unlike the fast turning modern wind generators.
So all bright and humming along on board.
Wayne and Kathy
At 17/05/2016 4:12 PM (utc) our position was 29°39.19'S 179°26.53'W
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Monday 16 May 2016
The ocean is a desert with its life underground.
Position at 4.30am local is 31d 45'S, 178d 37'E, 721nm to go
Last night, just on dusk, a little mate joined us perhaps from the Tamar River. A swallow had lost his way. He almost landed on my arm then did a circuit of the boat and spied a more settled and out of the way place to land, the liferaft deployment cord. Once settled it gave a chirp and then it was only a minute or two before his little head tucked under his wing and was fast asleep. It became his final resting place as he passed away in the early hours of the night. At sunrise we gave him a sea burial.
We were forced to a stop next day with no wind. We were parked in the middle of a big round empty disc then we spotted an orange fishing float, we fired up the diesel and motored over to find a small mass of green rope which we hauled aboard. It was barnacle encrusted and was home to many small crabs. It was then we noticed that surrounding the boat was a dozen or more big Dolphin fish or Mahi Mahi along with many smaller species. These big fish are delicious too so I went through my fishing kit and threw every lure I had at them to no avail. We cleaned up the rope and stored it in the sea kayak for later disposal on land. Our new friends stayed with us for the rest of the day and attempted to keep up once the breeze filled in after dark. We could see them swimming along in the phosphorescent plankton then they must have given up the chase.
The wind has come in from the ENE and we have shaped a course North towards Tonga.
All is quiet on board as we sail through the night
Wayne And Kathy
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Last night, just on dusk, a little mate joined us perhaps from the Tamar River. A swallow had lost his way. He almost landed on my arm then did a circuit of the boat and spied a more settled and out of the way place to land, the liferaft deployment cord. Once settled it gave a chirp and then it was only a minute or two before his little head tucked under his wing and was fast asleep. It became his final resting place as he passed away in the early hours of the night. At sunrise we gave him a sea burial.
We were forced to a stop next day with no wind. We were parked in the middle of a big round empty disc then we spotted an orange fishing float, we fired up the diesel and motored over to find a small mass of green rope which we hauled aboard. It was barnacle encrusted and was home to many small crabs. It was then we noticed that surrounding the boat was a dozen or more big Dolphin fish or Mahi Mahi along with many smaller species. These big fish are delicious too so I went through my fishing kit and threw every lure I had at them to no avail. We cleaned up the rope and stored it in the sea kayak for later disposal on land. Our new friends stayed with us for the rest of the day and attempted to keep up once the breeze filled in after dark. We could see them swimming along in the phosphorescent plankton then they must have given up the chase.
The wind has come in from the ENE and we have shaped a course North towards Tonga.
All is quiet on board as we sail through the night
Wayne And Kathy
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Friday 13 May 2016
NZ explored, now it's Tonga Time
Hi
We have been on board for almost 3 weeks exploring the many stunning anchorages in the Bay of Islands as we prepare Ambler for sea. Our mountain bikes and associated land exploring equipment was washed and packed away. We sold the van to some friends from Tasmania who are sailing to Nelson soon to begin their adventures.
We cleared customs at Opua and left the bay in light winds behind another boat who was heading our way. We hoisted the code 0 and main and shut the noisy perkins down once we detected a breeze, where as he kept motoring towards the horizon. We were only achieving 3.5 knots until the breeze freshened a bit more. It was then too much for the code 0 so we furled that and unfurled the headsail. Just on dusk we called a ship that was lining us up to pass only half a mile behind. He agreed to alter course to increase the separation especially as our speed under sail wasn't all that constant.
We had a great night beam reaching (a sailing term, not being sick) until sunrise. A small pod of Common Dolphins enjoyed our bow waves as the sun rose. We poled out the headsail as the wind had backed to the west. The apparent wind speed eased off too so we then hoisted the massive Assymetric spinnaker and unfurled it, we shot back up to 6 knots again for an hour and a half but then the wind came around NW again. So off with the assy and back on with the headsail, beam reaching once more.
We have lost sight of the boat ahead and have another yacht converging from Whangarei or Auckland. We have them on AIS (Amblers Intelligence System) with a CPA (Closest Point of Approach) 5 hours away. So there are lots of yachts on this weather window to the Islands.
There was supposed to be a flotilla (operation Sea Mercy) departing today for Fiji to deliver goods to needy villages, but I suspect they (mostly Americans) might chicken out and leave Saturday instead, due to the Friday factor and especially as it is also the 13th!
This afternoon we had our 240 watt solar panels aimed at the sun so there was energy pouring back into the batteries.
It is midnight now and we had covered 110 nm in the first 24 hours and another 67 in the last 12.
All is well on board as we gain our sea legs once more.
Wayne and Kathy
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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We have been on board for almost 3 weeks exploring the many stunning anchorages in the Bay of Islands as we prepare Ambler for sea. Our mountain bikes and associated land exploring equipment was washed and packed away. We sold the van to some friends from Tasmania who are sailing to Nelson soon to begin their adventures.
We cleared customs at Opua and left the bay in light winds behind another boat who was heading our way. We hoisted the code 0 and main and shut the noisy perkins down once we detected a breeze, where as he kept motoring towards the horizon. We were only achieving 3.5 knots until the breeze freshened a bit more. It was then too much for the code 0 so we furled that and unfurled the headsail. Just on dusk we called a ship that was lining us up to pass only half a mile behind. He agreed to alter course to increase the separation especially as our speed under sail wasn't all that constant.
We had a great night beam reaching (a sailing term, not being sick) until sunrise. A small pod of Common Dolphins enjoyed our bow waves as the sun rose. We poled out the headsail as the wind had backed to the west. The apparent wind speed eased off too so we then hoisted the massive Assymetric spinnaker and unfurled it, we shot back up to 6 knots again for an hour and a half but then the wind came around NW again. So off with the assy and back on with the headsail, beam reaching once more.
We have lost sight of the boat ahead and have another yacht converging from Whangarei or Auckland. We have them on AIS (Amblers Intelligence System) with a CPA (Closest Point of Approach) 5 hours away. So there are lots of yachts on this weather window to the Islands.
There was supposed to be a flotilla (operation Sea Mercy) departing today for Fiji to deliver goods to needy villages, but I suspect they (mostly Americans) might chicken out and leave Saturday instead, due to the Friday factor and especially as it is also the 13th!
This afternoon we had our 240 watt solar panels aimed at the sun so there was energy pouring back into the batteries.
It is midnight now and we had covered 110 nm in the first 24 hours and another 67 in the last 12.
All is well on board as we gain our sea legs once more.
Wayne and Kathy
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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