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Passage from New Zealand

to

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

1,950 Nautical Miles

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN!!

DAY ONE

The day started early and included washing last minute items, last minute shopping and checking out with the Customs & Immigration Department.

 We detached our mooring lines from the docks at the Whangarei Town Basin, New Zealand on April 13th at 1:14 pm to begin our very first "Blue Water" sailing experience. The first leg of the journey took us motoring down the river from Whangarei and out to the sea under mostly sunny skies & little wind. This took us about 4 -5 hours. After that, all we could see ahead of us was open ocean and behind us the Islands getting smaller & smaller ..........

Morning of departure looking at the boats from the Harbour Office

Setting us free!!!!

Ray Roberts Marine dry dock, where Rosa Nutkana sat while getting ready for departure

Going past another marina down the river

Logging truck unloading

Various ships at docks along the way

A yacht going in

Gun emplacements on the banks near the entrance of the harbour

Marsden Point Oil Refinery

Nearing the open seas

Whangarei Heads

Hen Island of the  Hen & Chicks

Chicks of the Hen & Chicks Island

Sail Rock

As it turned out the winds were so mild that we had to motor a good part of the time. While motoring the engine alarms were screaming constantly with their high pitched sound. The alarms could not be shut off the whole time the engine was running. The noise got more than a little annoying after listening to it hour after hour so we stuffed some rags over the alarm panel to try to stifle the noise a bit. It helped by honing the sound pitch a little.

What a way to start out this awesome adventure - engine alarms going off before we even got out to the open water & motoring our first night passage to the accompaniment of screaming engine alarms. Little did we realize this was just the calm before the storm!

DAY TWO

After motoring all night, day two presented us with squall after squall getting all of us wet in turn!!

Our wet Captain says "Someone is fooling with us!" The Captain expressed concerns throughout the entire journey that someone was not wanting her/us to be doing this journey.

We thought it was a "no brainer" given that her husband was against her embarking on this passage in the first place. She assured us that it wasn't her husband because her "master" had shown her husband what would happen to him if he interfered with the Captain.

We were still in sight of land - Great Barrier Island to be exact. It seemed like we should be out of sight of land by now! After all it was two days out to sea already. We received our first radio contact from a friend of the Captain from Victoria, British Columbia.

DAY THREE

After being thrown around for the last night we decided to heave to & get some much needed rest.  We discovered that some of our spare water that we had lashed to the deck had got ripped off the boat & that two or three of our other containers had only about half left of fresh water. The containers should never have been stowed on the decks in the first place. They were cheap thin collapsible plastic containers that you would use on a camping trip. They were not meant to be put through the rigors of a storm.

We discovered also today that the batteries aren't charging properly & that our fuel gauge is not working!  Will determined that the alternator must not be working & that is why the batteries didn't appear to be taking charge. He then set about to trouble shoot the problem. Another problem that Will rectified was how the GPS & radar had been connected. You had to turn on the radar power breaker in order to operate the GPS. With the way it was wired, power to the radar was on all the time. Because we had limited battery capacity we could not afford using up power that was not necessary. We only had the motor & solar panels to charge the batteries and we had to monitor our fuel carefully in order not to run out before we reached Rarotonga.

While still at the docks in Whangarei we found we could not connect the Captain's computer to get weather information or send emails.  The Captain didn't know the first thing about how the radios worked so Will did some troubleshooting the radios & got them working properly with the computer & GPS. When we finally connected the computer we discovered from an email that the Captain received that the squalls & gale force winds we just went through had been predicted!!!  It was actually in a category typhoon. And now we have no wind again!  So we decided to heave to & wait for wind. We were just off of White Island, an active volcano off the Coromandel Peninsula.

DAY FOUR

Will awoke about 3:30 am to check the wind situation.  Ah, wind from the direction we need.  Great, we set the sails wing on wing for our following seas. During the wing on wing point of sail we had the whisker pole extended. Well now, something is not right! The whisker pole slid up the track on the mast & bent when it hit the stop at the top. There should have been better cleating for the stopper lines. This rendered the whisker pole useless.

Oh well, we had sunshine!!  Does it get much better??  This is what sailing the South Pacific is all about........we were all in fine spirits & ready to carry on to the Cooks.

We emptied the remaining water from the containers into the water tanks, topped up the fuel tank and Will replaced the alternator.  We decided to hook up the wind vane monitor to see how he would perform.  We found out - just fine!!  We finally lost sight of land about mid afternoon today.  We are truly out in the middle of nowhere!!  No other visible signs of life anywhere, not even whales or dolphins or flying fish in the ocean.

We had contact again with the ham operator in Victoria, BC. The Captain got frustrated with talking to him because he was telling her how to use the radio & told her to speak English instead of Polish. He told her it was rude to speak another language that her crew could not understand. That was an interesting comment on his part because in a previous conversation with the Captain, she had told me that she had previous crew that spoke a language that she did not understand & she told them it was rude & requested that they speak English. Go figure that one?

DAY FIVE

The winds slowed down in the night & shifted direction.  We awoke in the morning to hear the Captain communicating with a ham operator out of Russell, New Zealand who had some very accurate weather information for the boaters going off shore.  He informed us that there was a storm coming from the North West towards where we were with winds of up to 40 knots!!!  We prepared ourselves for the worst, including preparing a grab bag for the worst possible scenario of having to abandon ship!!!  While it was still relatively calm & sunny we all had our first hair washing & "bird bath".

Will did some more troubleshooting to figure out why the alternator burned out & regulated how the batteries were charging so as not to have the alternator burn out again. The regulator for charging batteries had not been working properly. He also discovered an oil leak in the engine compartment. And the water maker started leaking the first time we attempted to use it. We also discovered that the water maker had not been properly installed. The hoses that are connected to the water maker had to be strung across the alleyway to the sink to drain the salt water & across the salon area to fill the port water tank. This made for hazardous maneuvering about the cabin, particularly because the water maker was leaking water all over the cabin floor & we were in heavy seas being tossed about. We really needed to top up our water supply so didn't have much of an option but to make water.

Not only did we have water on the floor from the water maker, we found out early on that the boat was a "wet boat". That means that water would come in in every possible place it could. Particularly bad was the way the water would hit the deck & follow the grooves of the companionway cover & dump copious amounts of water on anyone & anything that happened to be in the companionway or at the galley sink or stove. We got doused many times while standing at the stove. Needless to say, the cupboards took on lots of water also. This was not pleasant, especially during the first part of the journey out of New Zealand waters because of the colder temperatures.

As the day wore on, we ran out of wind.  We decided to heave to and wait for wind to try to conserve some of our fuel.

DAY SIX

We awoke after a peaceful night of sleep for everyone to no wind yet & wondered where the storm was that Russell Radio had predicted.  Well.......about two in the afternoon we got slammed!!!!  We contended with 35 plus knot per hour winds until about midnight & then decided that it was not worth getting battered any longer & the next best thing to do was to heave to.

The Captain had an incident where she lost her balance in the cockpit & fell against a winch handle, knocking the wind out of her & leaving her with a very sore back. We were all wet & chilled & bruised & were looking forward to going below & get some sleep.  Sleep, you say??  Who could sleep with the boat lurching up & down & side to side!!  The whole body was in a state of tension trying to brace for the next wave, and the next, and the next!!  We were being tossed around like a cork.  We had our wet gear hanging from every possible place inside to hang in an attempt to get dry (drier, as salt water moisture does not tend to dry completely).

DAY SEVEN

Day seven was even worse than the day before, if that was possible!!!  Will got up & battened down the hatches even more securely.  We were having winds now over 40 knots!  Russell Radio told us in the morning that he thought the winds should be easing in the afternoon.  It sounded hopeful.  But, the winds kept up their ferocity all day & evening.  Because the boat was being tossed around so much it was easier to stay in the prone position. Reading or writing was next to impossible because of all the movement.

We discovered that the boat had a number of areas where the water just had to get in, including the V berth where the Captain slept.  All her bedding was soaked ....ugh!!@!!  She moved her sleeping quarters into the salon where Will & I slept but was soon wet again because of incoming water filling the port side storage area alongside the couch she was sleeping on!!!  Another night of heaving to.

DAY EIGHT

Another night, last night, of heavy seas battering us around.  Called Russell Radio in the morning & he says maybe this afternoon the winds would ease for us.  By now he is feeling quite sorry for us & the storm we are in.

The Captain checked her email & received a letter from her nephew (who happens to be a meteorologist in Canada) and he tells her that we are right in the middle of a Gale!!!!  Oh joy, just what we needed to hear!!

To add insult to injury, our small inverter packed it in, the fresh water pump packed it in, and the anchor tie down wore through with all the wave action.

Will & the Captain braved the elements & put on their PFDs & attached their life lines & made their way to the bow to secure the anchor. The repairing of the fresh water pump would have to wait for another day as it was impossible to try to fix with all the movement of the boat. Again, we decided to heave to for the night.

DAY NINE

Last night was again one of being knocked around.  We contacted Russell Radio again in the morning & he tells us once again that he thought things should settle down by afternoon today.  It did seem like the seas were getting a bit calmer.

We discovered today that one water tank was empty & the batteries were low.  Conditions were getting better so we decided to motor to get back on our course. We had been blown off course almost 200 nautical miles!!!

We discovered that the water maker is not working properly again, so Will set about getting the water maker to work better. It would leak out more salt water onto the cabin floor than it was producing fresh water.

He also set about to replace the fresh water pump & discovered that the micro switch was completely corroded. The fresh water pump is mounted in the bilge. Bilges collect salt water & water splashes around & gets things wet. Well, the end result of that is that the fresh water pump needs to be relocated to stop the constant water ingression & resulting corrosion. The next thing was to find a new micro switch.  After searching through all the spare pieces Will found an old one that he could make work. There were no new parts on board for any of the fresh water pumps or water maker. Any spare parts there were was from old used items.

We motor sailed until about 7:30 pm when the winds started to increase to over 35 knots once again. And did I mention about the high pitched engine alarm noise? Enough already, we all said.  So, we hove to again for the night.

DAY TEN

The winds died down to about 20-25 knots by 6 am, so about 6:30 am the sails were set with about 20 knot winds.  We had some promise of clear skies & sunshine, which would be a good thing as we had gone through almost all of our dry clothing we had along. More wet places inside were discovered including settee cushions & bedding.

We discovered that our main sail winch as well as our head sail winches were loose  & almost ready to come apart.  Not a good thing, especially in the conditions that we had been sailing in.

Our solar panel that was mounted on the side railing had come loose & partly fell off. This was a good example of why NOT to rivet equipment in place. Any moveable or potentially moveable items should be welded in place. Thank goodness we noticed it when we did or it would have been lost to the sea!!  Putting it back in place & tightening the screws fixed that problem.

We checked in to the Pacific Seafarer's Net this evening for the first time.  Strong winds continued all evening as we took turns doing our three hour watches.

DAY ELEVEN

We sailed without incident all night.  Awoke to sunshine & still heavy seas but manageable.

Our furling line rubbed through on the drum with all the intense wind that we had so Will decided to fix it.  He determined in order to minimize the water from coming over the bow while he was working that we should have the wind coming from behind.  Well....not a good idea.  I was at the helm trying to keep the boat straight with the wind behind when the wind shifted & I lost it & we did a jibe & then another jibe!!!!  Ohhhh, not good.  With the force of the jibe, a piece of the traveler broke completely off!!!!

Where there is a Will there is a way!!!  We did not have any spare pieces to replace the broken one so Will managed to come up with another method that worked just as well.  Thank goodness for Will & his ability to fix just about anything!!!

Will also took advantage of the calmer conditions to take the winches apart to see what was wrong & fix them.  Luckily, it was only some screws that needed to be tightened. The main sail winch also had a piece broken out that will need to be replaced but is still operable.

The water maker started to leak worse than ever, again!

And we had to run that blasted engine & listen to the high pitched engine alarms again while charging batteries!

We had winds today of 25 - 35 knots that enabled us to speed along about 5 1/2 to 6 knots.

DAY TWELVE

Night watch went very smoothly going about 3 - 5 knots all night.  I was on watch for a longer time this watch in order to let the Captain & Will get some extra much needed sleep. I was feeling fine on my shift so didn't mind.

The day was calm enough to attempt clean up in the cabin & do a few chores that we weren't able to do while we were in such heavy seas the previous days.

We were able to keep up a speed of about 6 knots all day & then about midnight the winds stopped.  We debated about heaving to once again but then about 1 am the winds picked up & we sped along.

DAY THIRTEEN

We kept up a speed of 5 - 6 knots all night.  We still have about 250 miles to go before we can turn & head north to the Cook Islands.

The water pump decided to not work again today & the toilet is not cooperating either.

We only have 2 - 3 days worth of fuel left & the batteries seem to be continually low.

We have not had lots of sun to charge our solar panels so the only other way to charge batteries is to run the engine but if we run the engine too much we may run out of fuel when we need it most!!!  What a dilemma!!

And, our wind vane is loose & squeaking like crazy in protest or something. It has been working great for us, doing the steering!

So, once again, Will comes to the rescue & fixes the fresh water pump. The toilet will be looked into later.

We decided to run the engine to charge batteries & use the leaky water maker.

Have you ever heard of "hearing the water maker talking?" We didn't but the Captain could hear it saying/singing "Rarotonga, Rarotonga, Rarotonga." And she told us that some of her previous crew could here it saying other words! We thought, ok, whatever you think?! Imagination running wild or something else?

We took advantage of the water & all had showers & hair washing today.  We had light winds (8-15 knots) all evening making for slower progress.

DAY FOURTEEN

Watch last night was long & slow going with not much wind.

We are low on water so need to run the water maker again. Will tried to solve problem of water maker leaking more than it is producing, to no avail.  It has been producing only about a gallon per hour. Long continuous running is the only way to collect enough water to amount to anything. This of course meant that we had to run the engine with the accompaniment of the high pitched engine alarms.

We attempted to get a few things dried out today with the bit of sunshine that we had.

Contact with Russell Radio in the morning told us that we may have 25 knot winds tomorrow.  We did our daily check in with the Pacific Seafarer's Net & made contact with our friends, Ron & Shirley from Chilliwack. It was so fantastic to talk to some familiar voices while we were truly somewhere in the South Pacific. I was assured that my little dog Shaman was happy as anything in the care of Ron & Shirley & Barclay.

We contacted Russell Radio once again in the evening & he is still telling us that there is a low expected tomorrow with 25 knot winds.

At least one good thing today - we are finally heading north towards the Cook Islands.

DAY FIFTEEN

The night started out with slight winds & then became heavy with rain squall after rain squall thrown in. Then little winds from midnight on.  By late morning the winds picked up as predicted by Russell Radio.  We started our starboard tack once again & heeling, heeling, heeling.  Winds were constant about 23 knots all day & coming from the right direction for us to maintain a decent speed.  Sun & cloud presented itself off & on all day.

Will repaired the dry locker door so that it wouldn't keep caving in. It needed some stoppers screwed in place.

Towards sunset we were greeted by some dolphins!!!  What an awesome sight!

We had been keeping track of our barometric pressure & noticed that it had dropped 4 points in about 12 hours!!!  Oh, oh - looks like we may be in for something here!!  Russell Radio's evening check in informed us that there was indeed a low heading for us & below us. Caught  in the middle again! Another storm?

DAY SIXTEEN

Night watch had slower winds & kept up a speed of 4 - 5 knots all night. I was very tired on this watch & had a hard time to keep my eyes open.

We added the last of our fuel to the tanks this morning.  We needed to charge batteries & use water maker again. The engine was started again to charge batteries with the horrible engine alarm going continuously.

Gentle seas all day today & warm & sunny enough to wear shorts for the first time. The Captain decided it was a good day to try her hand a making us a loaf of bread - ummmmmmm good!!!

No sign yet of the wind & storm that Russell Radio predicted.

I did extra watch again today starting with my own from 4-6pm & 6-9:30pm when Will took over watch until midnight. The Captain must have been extra tired so we left her sleeping.

DAY SEVENTEEN

Another uneventful watch last night except for the flying fish landing on our decks!!!  The sea temperatures are getting warmer when the flying fish start to appear out of nowhere!!

We had to start the water maker again today as we are down to about 10 gallons.

We had good winds for broad reaching & kept up speeds of about 6.5 knots all day & evening.

Radio contact was made again with our friend Ron in Chilliwack.

Russell Radio says that we should have winds of about 25 knots tomorrow.

Will took advantage of smooth seas to clean all the tools with a wire brush & lubricate with WD40. Things rust very quickly when out at sea unless properly cared for.

DAY EIGHTEEN

Night watch once again was only interrupted by flying fish & a bit of rain.  The watch was quiet enough that I was able to play games on my Palm Pilot.

The wind started to increase to about 25 - 30 knots in the morning and kept up all day. This time it was coming from just off our nose.  That meant heeling once again & keeping up a speed of about 6.5 knots. During the last 24 hours we have gone about 145 nautical miles according to our check in with the Pacific Seafarer's Net.  That is smokin'!

This day was the first day that the Captain displayed her lack of sailing knowledge & inexperience.

We had noticed from the beginning that the boat was heavy.

We had salt water sitting in the galley sink all the time, water did not drain out of the cockpit channels & we kept getting water pouring into the cabin when the hatch was open.

Will, in his usual mode of wondering why something like this is happening concluded that the reason that the water would not drain out of the cockpit was that the extra anchor chain stowed in the bow was making the boat "bow heavy." The extra weight would make the boat do a nose dive into waves.

He suggested to the Captain that the extra chain could be stowed somewhere else to distribute the weight better & bring the bow up higher in the water. Not only was the extra anchor chain stowed in the bow there was hundreds of feet of heavy rope stowed in the V berth. No wonder the cockpit didn't drain properly & the boat was taking in more water than usual.

A couple of hours later after the Captain had time to mull this concept over in her mind, she became worried that we would indeed nose dive into the waves & pitch pole. She then went into her paranoia mode & started to watch the boat speed on the GPS & saw that it was indicating that we were going over 8 knots. Now she started to panic. Someone had told her somewhere along the line that the boat should not go over 8 knots. Apparently they did not explain under what conditions this advice might pertain to, even if it was so.

She decided that we were going too fast & wanted to pull in the foresail. Will tried to explain to her that the GPS does an averaging of ground speed & that what she saw was not necessarily the actual speed that we were going. She obviously had not been monitoring the knot log itself because if she had been she would have realized that we had been doing the same tack & speed for the past 24 hours with no problem. The boat was stable & sailing beautifully & making excellent mileage.

She did not listen or comprehend what Will had just explained to her about the hull speed ratio & how that relates to sailing in different wind conditions - in fact he attempted to explain the dynamics of sail positions more than once.

This discussion & situation was during my watch. The Captain ignored what Will had just tried to tell her about destabilizing the boat & proceeded in taking in the foresail.

Great, now we have a boat that is not stable & is fishtailing in the water. Every time the stern comes off a wave it fills the cockpit half full with water drenching everyone in the cockpit. This destabilization also makes the wind vane almost useless for steering & hand steering becomes very difficult.

There was no reasoning with the Captain. She just went ahead & did what she thought was best.

We learned from her, during this incident, that she had not sailed in such adverse conditions before. Her previous passages from Mexico to New Zealand were pretty much sailing in fair weather with the odd squall.

So, why would she not listen to reason? We could not understand why she would not listen to what Will told her about some of the dangers of sailing the way she wanted to sail.

This was just the first time that she put our lives at risk of potential danger that could easily be avoided had she believed in Will's knowledge & experience.

DAY NINETEEN

Night watch was wet & uncomfortable sailing in the fishtail manner that the Captain insisted we sail. Albeit the Captain pulling in the foresail we were still attaining speeds of 6 knots.

Cloud & more wind began in the morning & the winds were getting up to 33 knots from behind us.  As the day wore on, the stronger the winds became.  Heavy dark looking clouds made us wary & we started to batten down the hatches again in preparation for the worst.

An email from the Captain's nephew again warned us that there was a very low (1003) pressure system right where we were & that the center would be right over Rarotonga on the day that we expected to arrive there!!!!  Well - we got through the previous gales/typhoons so we could get through this one also!!!

We charged batteries & made water again today. Will decided to change the filter in the water maker today only to discover that the filter that was installed was one that is used primarily in water that has a lot of sediment. And to top this off, the wrench on board was not the proper one to take off or tighten the filters.

Will was also compiling a mental list of the pumps on board & was telling me that there were about 5 or 6 various types of pumps on board & only one (the fresh water pump) was working. He said that it was going to be a challenge to keep it working with no new spare parts or micro switches. It would only be a matter of time before the pump that was working now would corrode again because of where it was mounted in the bilge.

Needless to say, it was getting a bit discouraging at the number of things that kept breaking down. Will would repair something only to have it break down again, repair, break down, repair again, & so on. Will likes to be kept busy but this was getting ridiculous as well as discouraging with trying to fix things with old parts.

By this time in our passage we felt filthy. Due to our very limited supply of water with a broken water maker we were unable to clean up properly.

Most of our clothing was damp with the never-ending seawater saturation. Clothing wet with salt water will only dry if rinsed in fresh water first & we had none to spare for that frivolity. Anything we had that was dry would soon be wet when we sat on the cockpit cushions. The cockpit cushions were made of cloth & even if we were sailing along nicely, invariably we would get an errant wave come over into the cockpit & soak the cushions.

We were getting physically tired from all the constant pounding of the waves & swell from the stormy conditions that we had been sailing in from the very beginning. The whole body was in a state of tension all the time with muscles being tensed while hanging on to something to try to maintain balance & stability. Sleeping was almost impossible with the heavy heeling. Our bodies would roll back & forth in bed with the wave actions.

DAY TWENTY

Very eventful watch last night!!!  The wind speed indicator showed 42-knot winds!!  We also had lightning & thunder! With lightning happening at sea it is a good idea to protect electronic equipment by storing them a metal container. The best thing we had for a metal container was the oven.

The Captain must have thought that only her computer & GPS were important. She only put her things in the oven & did not bother to wake us to even ask if we wanted to put our computer & GPS into a safe place. If something were to happen to her computer or GPS, we would at least have ours as a backup.

The Captain also decided that it was a good idea to turn off all of the electronics including the navigation equipment (GPS, radar, wind indicator, knot meter, compass.)

This was another of those times when her lack of knowledge came out.

Will's expertise is electronics. He tried to explain to the Captain why turning off the panel like she did would not help to save the instruments.

Now, I don't understand some of these things either. However, because I know that Will knows his stuff, particularly when it comes to electronics, I listen & learn.

With the thunder & lightning, torrential rains were thrown in for good measure!!

Once again we were being tossed around like a ping-pong ball in the ocean!!!!  Oh no. How much further is it to Rarotonga!!???  We can't get there soon enough!!

The only consolation about another storm was that the water is very warm here with warm winds.  We had officially crossed into the tropics.  This is the tropics??  Our vision of tropics was not being pounded all day & all evening with winds up to 42 knots!!!  Everyone was completely exhausted!!!  We should be in sight of land soon???

DAY TWENTY ONE

During the night watch we all had a turn of being pounded to pieces once again & entertained with another thunder & lightning show!!!  By 9 am though we were rewarded with sunny skies & the sight of land!!!

We had just completed 1950 nautical miles from Whangarei, New Zealand. We were so happy to see the outline of Rarotonga finally!!!  Our enthusiasm was not dampened even though we could not go ashore to check in until Monday. The people of most of the Pacific Islands are very religious, and everything including Customs was closed on Sunday. We hove to for the remainder of the day & night.  We would go into the harbour & check in tomorrow morning.

Before we hove to Will started the engine to do some battery charging. He went to put the motor in gear & nothing happened!!

Oh no - what else is going to break down?  Upon taking the pedestal apart & close inspection, it was discovered that a piece that the shifter mechanism is attached to is broken. The boat could not go into gear to move the boat. Will determined he could fix it in the morning.

After the all the pounding of the last few weeks, resting tonight was a priority.  We once again took turns at our watch just to make sure we did not drift on to the reef that surrounds the Island of Rarotonga.  We actually drifted several miles away. So close........

DAY TWENTY TWO

Ah - what an awesome day - we are here!!!!  And we can go ashore!!!  But the gear shifter has to be repaired before we can motor into the harbour. Will temporarily fixed the shifter to get us back into the protection of the leeward side of the Island where it would be calmer to do the repairs. And once again Will had to use his imagination to come up with something to fix the shifter mechanism. He did come up with something & put the pedestal back together, minus the compass light that was completely corroded.

It must have been operating on just the barest thread of wire & once the whole assembly was taken apart, the compass light fell apart. And, as with so many other things, no spare on board. At the same time the compass was examined to see if the large air bubble in it could be taken out. It was very difficult to read the compass with the great big air bubble in it. It was determined that it would not be an easy task to take it apart & fill it with liquid particularly since no one knew for sure what the liquid was in that particular compass. We would have to live with a compass with a big air bubble & no light for night navigation.

Finally we motored into the harbour after Will got the shifting mechanism fixed.

The Captain went to see the Harbour Master as soon as he was in his office & got us all cleared to make landfall. The check in was very informal. No one even came on to the boat.

After that we were free to explore. We were so anxious to get off the boat & head to the showers for a long SHOWER!!!!

Once we were on terra firma, we all felt as if we were drunk.  Everything kept moving on us!!!  We were walking as if under the influence...??!  But we were on solid ground & the sun was shining....it must be paradise!!!!

We all went for a short walk & the Captain treated us to a "crew appreciation" dinner at a small take out place along the beach. We also found an internet cafe & quickly caught up on some emails. We were very tired from the last 3 weeks of being at sea. We called it an night early & went for a good long peaceful sleep & NO More WATCHES...for a while anyway.

A Summary of this Passage

Waves & huge swells of 10 - 20 feet .......

.....& higher for most of the passage!!

On day 6 the squalls started and the wind started to pick up, and pick up and pick up. We kept a very close watch on the wind speed indicator and it was consistently gusting over 40 knots. It stayed that way for about 4 days. We ended up heaving to for 5 nights and 3 days.

The boat was thrashing & we were being thrashed so thoroughly that the only safe activity was to lay in our beds.  At least that way we weren't thrown against anything & didn't have to hang on with death grip holds to keep our balance and avoid being bruised.

Sleep was almost impossible because we were continually being barraged by huge waves hitting the hull sounding like a freight train hitting us.

Eating was not on our priority list. It wasn't because we were seasick but because it was too difficult to try to keep your balance & prepare anything that required cooking.  Finger type foods came in real handy.  We found that our appetites were not huge during these types of conditions.

Going to the head was an adventure in itself!!!  Ever try to do your business by bracing yourself on the toilet with your feet pushing straight out hard against the door??  Let me tell you, it is less than easy!!

To top this off, the flushing mechanism wasn't working properly on the toilet  (just another thing for Will to try to troubleshoot).

So, imagine (well maybe don't imagine) how difficult it is to try to flush the contents out of the bowl in a boat that is heeling & lurching like crazy. You are hanging on for dear life & trying to keep your balance & pumping a toilet that will not pump out properly. Guess where the contents end up? I got blisters on my hand from pumping, pumping & pumping that blasted toilet. It turned out that it had not been put together properly to begin with.

Then, try & pull your clothing back on while trying to brace yourself & keep your balance, all with one hand!!

My friend Margo of Charlie's Charts tells me that these sorts of experiences are "character building".....I think we have built up a whole lot of character during this first passage.  I hope we have built up a reserve of "character" so as not to have to repeat this exercise again!!

From all the heaving to during the storms we ended up drifting off  course. We were set back about 200 miles straight north instead of going in our intended southerly direction.

At this point we decided that we would just try and sail straight east. The winds consistently stayed at about 30 knots and carried us along at a good clip for the next week. Our captain wanted to take the southerly course because this is what a book she had read, said to do.

Will was of the opinion that in a boat such as the one we were on that we could point closer to the wind and sail more direct toward Rarotonga.

As it turned out other sailors that we met in Rarotonga did just that, and spent about a week less getting there from New Zealand than we did.

At the end of the second week, we made a turn to the north, and hopefully toward warmer climates. We had been cold and wet for most of the last 2 weeks. The stormy weather had forced water into almost everything. All pieces of cold weather gear managed to get wet.  We did 3 hour night watches. The only real bad thing about the watches was having to get into wet & cold gear.  Nothing could be hung out to dry because of the extreme weather.

The first few days of our northerly course were quite uneventful, and then the wind came up again. It went back up to gusts of 40 knots plus.

This time we sailed right through with triple reefed main sail, and just enough head sail to balance the boat. Since the wind was on the beam, we were doing speeds of 7 knots plus even with the little bit of main sail up.

The swells were consistently over 20 feet but were not breaching much.

Napping between storms trying to catch up on much needed sleep

Totally exhausted & catching up on sleep after watch

Warm & secure

This little swallow was way, way out of his territory away from land.  He is having a much needed rest.  We tried to entice him with water but he declined.

The swells before the next storm

Once the clouds went away we were treated with some spectacular sunsets

The calm before the next storm

Setting sun at sea