Link to Sailblogs for 2nd Leg of "The Voyage of Catherine and William"

Catherine and William -August, 2013- R & R at Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean.  Halfway through 2nd leg of circumnavigation.

 

Important News: Our New Blog for 2013 journey

   We have a new blog for our 2nd leg for our circumnavigation journey.  If you would like to follow our new blog (of our 8 month 2013 journey from New Zealand to South Africa). 

Click here to find it:   Sailblogs 

If this link does not work then copy and paste the following URL in your address bar:

www.sailblogs.com/member/williamnorrie

Preparing Terrwyn for our 2nd Leg

It is hard to believe that we are within weeks of heading off from New Zealand for the start of the next leg of our journey!

Catherine (AKA Cathy) has been living on Terrwyn since February 11, 2013 whilst Bill has been back in Calgary working hard to top up our sailing kitty.  No work for 9 months is a bit scary! 

Gulf Harbour Marina has been a great place to stay and much has been done since we arrived late in 2011...

This next segment is from our co-cap William (AKA Bill AKA Scuppers) who dreams about these lists every night and into the daydreams:

17 months ago  SV Terrwyn pulled into Auckland and GHM ( Gulf Harbour Marina )  . We leave GHM in one week.
           
"Time is not a continuum but merely a series of moments"  and a very big moment is just about here.
             
New Zealand has been wonderful to us -  again - ( we met here 36 years ago ) and now its almost time we depart.
            
Terrwyn has stayed  largely "on the Hard"  in GHM under the care of Ralph The Boss of Marine Solutions  while his team refit Terrwyn's mechanical and electrical systems, and he has coordinated the other outfits in their work on Terrwyn. TY Ralph and all the guys in GHM.
            
These months have been rather like my childhood counting down to Christmas or summer holidays.  I must list the projects on Terrwyn that have kept us busy last year and change.
            
 I reflected from Quadra Island in 2011 that preparing a Blue Water Boat to cross an ocean takes on a life of its own, is never completed and can displace the real mission. The rhythm of life at sea, sensing the mystery of the ocean,  24/7 motion of the vessel and adjusting  to the changing weather, wind and seas, plotting one's progress across the chart and around the globe  these are the goals.

Arriving at the dreamed-of tropical Island in the middle of all that ocean, by our selves-- THAT is what we are after, not the following "Boat Yard Blues"  which is another fun game but not the big deal. Crossing oceans alone with your love , that is the big deal and that deal is just around the corner.

The LIST:  Repaired, Upgraded, Removed, New

Repaired
                 -Engine Overhaul  -  3000 hour mid life maintenance , new mounts ,cooler, fuel lines and tanks,injectors,bigger Alternator 140 Amps, coupler , cutlass bearing etx
                 - Ice box compressor
                 - Ice box pump
                 - Bilge Pump and alarm
                 - Holding tank
                 - Water tank
                 - Top sides polished and waxed
                 - Anti-fouling hard paint applied
                
Upgraded
                 -Running back stays,
                 -Solent spectra head stay to stainless steel
                 -Jib Sheet cars: new bushings and second set added
                 -Jib Sheet car tracts extended forward 4 ft.
                 -Cockpit throttle and gear shifter levers replaced with Spinlock flush fitting with removable winch  handle lever
                 -Bimini roof window panels installed
                 -Galley Renovation
                             

                                new Corion counters, sinks
                                ENO stove
                                 " Pardey Knife rack"

                                 paper towel rack

                                 wine glass rack

                                                  
                 New Head installed
                 Salon Sole and Cockpit sole Flexiteek  new                                
      
               Quarter birth storage screen installed
               Medical supplies re furbished
               
NEW
               North sails  1.5 Symmetrical spinnaker  RED
                Pro furler "Code Zero Fuller" for the Drifter
               Turtles for Asymmetrical chute  and Drifter
               Sunbrella Deck Bag for the  Yankee
               Bow stainless steel protector ( anti-anchor damage)
               Chart Plotter in cockpit
               AIS on chart plotter
                remote for  instruments and  Auto pilot second  controller
               Wind electrical generator
                NEXUS instruments  : boat speed, wind speed and direction, depth and  GPS all linked to chart plotter  and
                Ray marine Auto Pilot SPX -30 below deck mechanical auto helm
                Lifting crane for outboard and dingy
               *****FISHING  GEAR ******  ; "stand up rod " , deck winch , and spin casting rod with holders above and below deck and assorted lures, plugs, jigs, lines etx.
                iPAD  Navionic chart plotters times two
               Iridium Phone with docking station  and Global Marine Networks:  email,blog and weather packages
               iCOM Marine  802 SSB
               stereo speakers
               mucho new CDs in CD wallets
               LEDs below deck all around
               Lead line to 6 fathoms
               Main sheet replaced
               Jib Sheets replaced

REMOVED
              diesel salon heater
              hot water heaters : 110Volt shore power and engine manifold
              BBQ    :-(

              Now the courtesy flags are on board, the charts both electronic and paper ,sailing directions, ocean atlases as well. The EPIRB re-registered,Nautical Almanac 2013 stowed, tanks filled with water and diesel, rum, beer, wine and provisions are coming aboard. Pickle, our dinghy and outboard have been checked  and are ready. Weather maps are being followed looking for the " weather Window " to depart.

              Thank you for following our voyage. Poppy has a new blog format via the Satellite phone replacing our previous Short Wave connection. We shall be exploring Hauraki Gulf then sailing north to Bay of islands  and finally check out from Opua, bound for New Caledonia sometime later in April...

              Yours Sincerely,
                                             Scup

 

And don't forget we needed to check that all was well at the masthead!  

 

 "The Great Mast Ascent"

 

 

Our blog address for the next leg will be:

 www.sailblogs.com/member/svterrwyn 

We'd love it if you find time to visit us there! 

Bye for now
Catherine (AKA Cathy AKA Poppy)

William and Catherine sail from Tonga to New Zealand which is the last leg of the first segment of their circumnavigation.  Their final destination in this leg was like going back into their past.   They first met over 35 years ago in New Zealand and now have sailed back there together. 

They were eager to explore the North Island since they both had lived in South Island so many years ago.  Terrwyn is now put on the hard in Gulf Harbour Marina and the team there will look after her (adding and changing while the Co-caps head back to Canada to work to fill the sailing kitty in readiness for the next leg of their circumnavigation...  New Zealand to Africa, April, 2013.


Here are a few images and music that might give you a glimpse into the last leg of the South Pacific voyage:

Fair winds and smooth seas
William (Bill) AKA Scuppers and Catherine (Cathy) AKA Poppy

Dreams Do Come True Part II

Catherine and William arrive in Tahiti and pick up their crew (daughter Minetta and her boyfriend, Nick) for the next six weeks.  The four of them explore the Society Islands and then head off to Tonga.  Min and Nick jump ship there and take off to Fiji while Catherine and William set sail for the final leg of this journey... destination New Zealand.

Hope you enjoy the images of our journey...

In case the video doesn't play please click on this link:            Dreams Do Come True Part II

Dreams Do Come True Part I

I had a really big problem with my computer when we arrived in New Zealand - it crashed!!  When we got home I took it to the computer geeks and we were able to retrieve all of the photos and when I say all I mean all 10,000 images that were stored in the hard drive!

Well, to make a long story short(er), I was able to restore some of the photos to their high quality but many I was not... so the result is what you will see in our slideshow of images of our trip.  Bill and I have  high quality images in our minds but we did want to share some of what we experienced with you.


This is the slideshow of the first leg of Cathy and Bill Norrie's South Pacific voyage on their Pacific Seacraft Crealock 37 yacht "Terrwyn".  This segment takes them through their preparations in Canoe Cove, B.C. and Port Townsend, Washington and finally they set sail from Bamfield, B.C. After 40 days at sea they arrive in the French Polynesian islands of Marquesas.  Some of it you have seen in the videos we posted earlier but many are new.

Please forgive the fuzziness ...

Fatu Hiva

After having left Hiva Oa, our first Marquesan Island, we headed to the southern most island of the island group... Fatu Hiva.  We both were eager to see what has been touted as the most beautiful bay in the world.  Even though it is usually a nasty beat against the wind the day we sailed there was fantastic!  With a constant 15-20 knot wind on the beam all the way it made for the best ride ever.  

The Lonely Planet describes Fatu Hiva as "the island of superlatives: the most remote, the furthest south, the wettest, the lushest and the most authentic."  
When we arrived it lived up to it's reputation.  It was early in the day when we sailed into Hanavave Bay also known as Bay of Virgins or Baie des Vierges.   The phallic skyline of Hanavave Bay caused it to be named Baie des Verges (Bay of Penises). Outraged, the missionaries hastened to add a redeeming 'i' to make the name Baie des Vierges (Bay of Virgins).

As the day went on the light changed and by sunset the valley was drenched in purple light and the surrounding peaks took on a bronze veneer.  Stunning!!


It was also a couple of days before Bastille Day which is embedded in the holiday month of July that is celebrated throughout French Polynesia.  We were one of two boats anchored in the bay and when we rowed ashore in our dinghy we were greeted by the people of the village with little boys eager to help us drag the dinghy up to dry land.  I met some of the local women and they invited us to the evening feasting and traditional dance.  The dance competition was with the only other village on the island from the neighbouring valley.  

In the video you will see some of the traditional dance that we enjoyed.  It was led by the local choreographer, dance master and chef extraordinaire, Ramon.  Ramon was a Mahu - a male who was raised as a woman.  This is a common phenomenon throughout the South Pacific islands.

First Landfall

We finally reached land after 40 days and 40 nights at sea.  Bill is happy to do some cleaning chores while at anchor and the water is as warm as a bath tub.  We have yet to see Cathy go ashore!  What does that mean?  Stay tuned...

Crossing the Equator

Well we finally made the video of us crossing the equator in our lovely. 

It was in the middle of the night and we were down below since it was less than lovely conditions out on deck.  The nasty squall filmed earlier is still happening out there.  We were glued to the GPS monitor,  counting down the final minutes of North Latitude as we were southbound.  As we watched the numbers go down... OMG...!!  Can you guess what happened?

Now have a look and see!

SV Terrwyn Lives on... One Ocean At a Time

June 23, 2012                       Blog Summary and Progress Report

Good day readers.  This is Bill with a Dry Dock Half-Time  Progress Report for SV Terrwyn, currently safe and sound 'on the hard' in Auckland NZ.  She is under the watchful eyes of our boatyard friends, cameras and workers in Gulf Harbour Marina.

Gulf Harbour Marina Boat Services

It has been nearly 9 months since we arrived in Auckland and it will be another 9 months until we leave NZ bound for South Africa early April 2013.  Therefore this 'Half-Time Report'.

We have taken this opportunity in NZ to tune Terrwyn's systems from lessons learned during our first leg (Canada to NZ) last year May - November 2011.  Meanwhile Cath and I have returned back to Calgary living and working full time towards our coming 9 month cruise (NZ - SA), April - December 2013.We love Calgary, our friends, families, our little old house and Bill's practise.  Cath is flat out writing, managing our homestead - inside and out and being mommy to Daisy our new baby Dane ( www.daisythegreatdane.com )who is growing like a weed.  She is also mommy to Harley and Nessie but they have lots of life skills already. 

Terrwyn has had "mucho trabajo hecho" and much more to come.  Details below.

Back in Calgary we are gathering our navigational materials for the coming passage:  charts- paper and electronic; sailing directions; pilot charts; cruising guides and assorted articles.  We have also ordered a new Light Air (<10 knots true) symmetrical spinnaker from PT Sails and gathering proper deep sea fishing gear, deck winch and stand up Penn rod and reel (both with 1,000 metres of line).  Fishing gear was my biggest error of omission on our first leg.  Marlin and Tuna are now duly warned.

Other Terrwyn tasks completed include:

1. NZ Customs' blessing for keeping Terrwyn for 18 months in NZ.
2.  LOA from Bill's hospital for the required 9 months.
3. Sailing Kitty filling up as quick as possible.
4. Puppy care arranged for all three of our babies here in Calgary (thanks Cam) and Quadra Island (thanks Michael and Danielle).
5. House sitting arranged again for Calgary (thanks again Cam) and Quadra Island (thanks again to Michael and Danielle).
6. Terrwyn's refit partly completed and progressing.
1. Engine, prop and shaft all reworked
2. New electronics and instruments (Nexus) installed on an arch immediately forward and above companionway (boat speed, depth sounder, wind speed and angles, GPS).
3. Rigging repairs - to jib sheet cars and tracks; new wire solent retractable headstay; Spinlock gear shift and throttle in cockpit.
4. 2nd Ritchie magnetic compass to port forward cockpit bulkhead.
5. Cold plate repaired.
6. Upgrade solar panels from 85 watts to 300 watts.
7. LED's and new speakers below deck.
8. Install Irridium phone and docking station with email, fax and GRIB file capacity.
9. AIS
10. Overhaul VHF and SSB.
11. Deck cover; topsides; and anti-fouling paint all to be done.
12. Sole re-finishing, maserator and head re-fitted.

That's about all - B.O.A.T. units galore!

Billy stowing all halyards and replacing with 'messenger lines'.

Cath taping in preparation for doing brighwork.

Happy Skipper Billy on foredeck preparing for installation of new protective cover while Terrwyn is 'on the hard'.

Our intention is to sea trial these items in February.  Then Bill will return to Calgary for March while Cath stays on in NZ to re-provision.  We will leave NZ, sail north to New Caledonia in early April and then WEST...

Further video clips of our Pacific crossing may be forth coming...crossing the equator and various landfalls to follow.

Thank you for following our blog.  We intend to carry on beyond NZ and SA, to the Caribbean and back into the South Pacific in our circumnavigation quest in roughly 6 month blocks over the next few years - one ocean at a time.

Please comment with any questions that we will promptly answer.

Fair winds
Smooth seas

Billy

Flying the Spinnaker...and the Drifter... Including an exciting trailer...

Catherine and William continue their journey across the grand Pacific Ocean, now captured on video...

 Here they are 'sailing' through the ITCZ or otherwise often known as "the doldrums". Flying both the poled out spinnaker (or genniker) and drifter with full main they are able to sail downwind picking up what little breeze there is!

And now, finally, here is the trailer for the exciting movie that you have all been waiting for (coming to a theatre near you) !!!

Sailing with Dolphins!

Now it's later in June... June 20th to be exact... and the weather and water are getting considerably warmer!  YAY!  You will notice that the layers of clothing are much less and for Cathy to dangle her tootsies in the bow wave it must be warm!

In this clip we were lucky to have at least 40 or 50 dolphins come and play with us!  They were positively joyful while racing with Terrwyn ...  also with light airs we were able to fly both the spinnaker and the drifter. 

Cooking and Communication on Terrwyn

Here's a little clip in which Co-Cap Cath gives us a little tour of the galley showing the magic of a gimballed stove... and then a bit of the nightly report through the ham radio to the Pacific Seafarers Net.

Runnin' Down the 134th Meridian

Just a short clip of us flying the spinnaker or 'chute'... travellin' down the 134th meridian!

Carabiners and Carbs

Safety comes first in our boat!  We always say that if there is a choice of a way to do something or a choice of routes to take we will always choose the safer option.  Hence we are very attentive to being hooked into our jack lines - even while in the cockpit! 

We also have certain chores to do each day... everything from checking the fishing lines to taking a fix on our chart to making sure the fresh produce is still edible! 

Here's a peek :

Til next time...

Cathy and Bill
SV Terrwyn

Happy Hour on Terrwyn... Refreshments, Stories and Songs

The cockpit of Terrwyn became a busy and often noisy little place around 5pm every afternoon... we would gather to share the days events, sing along with our favourite CD's, have a few refreshments or two and enjoy the vast ocean and endless sky around us.  Sometimes a few birds -  Shearwaters, Petrels and when we got closer to the Marquises the Little White Tropicbirds and Red-tailed Tropicbirds and later on the journey even a variety of different Albatross - would swoop around the boat perhaps hoping to pick up a few of the crumbs from our cheese and crackers!

Here's a little video that might help to capture a little of what we enjoyed during our Happy Hour on Terrwyn:

Crash and Burn... not to worry... No one was hurt!

Okay, it's not what you are thinking!  Phew!!  Not Terrwyn - as she is safely 'on the hard' at Gulf Harbour Marina just north of Auckland New Zealand.  Not the wonderful Quantas plane - which got us safely from New Zealand (our final sailing destination) to Canada. (By the way, we would NEVER fly Air Canada even though they offered a much better non-stop route... but that's for another blog!).

What crashed was our faithful ship's laptop which held every single photo and video that we took on our journey!!  Luckily I had a few... (hundred)... on memory sticks which survived the harsh maritime environment.  We also recovered many of the photos from the dead hard drive, but the quality is less than perfect.  Oh well what is an adventure without a few mishaps?

This posting will begin our gallery of photos and videos from our voyage that we weren't able to upload from our internet cafes throughout Polynesia... where bandwidth and speed problems abound.  Hey, better late than never!

Here we go:

First we have our "video log"  that we started from Day One - starting with leaving Bamfield, on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.  (Unfortunately I accidently posted the video as private and then again as public... and now you have two copies of the same video... oh well... where is our talented Blog Boy when we need him???).  Sorry to be so confusing - I blame it on landsickness - i.e. being totally dopey !!

Oh well we hope you enjoy it... them... whatever!

Far, far away in a vast world of water...





To be Continued!

Bull's Eye!! and a note to BB

Bull's Eye indeed!!!  ... Unbelievable that we have actually made landfall and that it actually is the landfall that we were aiming for coming across that BIG body of water!!

View of Coramandel Peninsula on our approach to Auckland ...!

Our first view of NZ were of Poor Knights Islands peeking out of the clouds just east of Northland... and our first Kiwis to great us were some beautiful dolphins!  I had just taken over watch (Bill had been on watch all night and even did a jibe to get us around and into Colville Passage which then leads into Hauraki Gulf and finally Auckland Harbour.).  As I was doing my scan of the horizon for other vessels and then scrutinize the surrounding waters for anything we might potentially collide with I saw some very unusual splashes (not like the usual dancing splashes that some waves produce).  Sure enough we were being escorted into New Zealand waters by a school of dolphins!!  They seemed so full of joy as in groups of 3 and 4 they swam furiously within inches of our bow hull and then with a burst of unparalleled energy leap through the air and madly swing off only to come back and do it all again!  I was enraptured... and then just felt I had to wake Bill up to enjoy with me those wonderful creatures.  Thank you, King Neptune, for sending us that wonderful welcome... and perhaps as a parting gift to us at the end of our successful trip over the ocean.

Our 'official' Kiwi greeting committee - dolphins just off Great Barrier Island, N.Z.

What fun they were having!

After being welcomed into Auckland Harbour by VHF radio from Auckland
Harbour Authority and NZ Customs, both of whom had been expecting us
for a few days and were a bit worried about us.  We were buzzed by one
of the NZ helicopters from the Harbour Authority (the fellow that came
to our boat from NZ Immigration said that they like to do that to
welcome incoming world cruisers!!).  We were escorted in through the
last bit of the harbour by a huge tugboat which was on it's way out
to greet and help move in a container ship right behind us.  They took
a bit of time to come over to us and talk a wee bit on the VHF making
sure that we knew which slip to go to for our customs check-in.
Typical Kiwi greeting! (Although we're thinking that the huge container ship that was on our tail and coming up on us really fast may have had something to do with the tug captain wanting us to get the heck out of its way!!).

The Immigration, Customs and Bio-Security people met us at the little quarantine dock and came aboard for the official paperwork etc.  So nice and very quick... we then headed back
out of the harbour to motor across to Gulf Harbour Marina where ourlittle slip was waiting for us.  By dinner time we were all tied up and having a couple of brews in a little pub, which promises to be a favourite haunt of ours, and then a wonderful dinner of gourmet burger for me (fish) and fish and chips
for Bill.  YES!!!

We are arranging to have Terrwyn put "on the hard" for a year and store our sails and bits and pieces and then ... the ocean adventure will continue.

Meanwhile we are eager to explore Northland as that is one area of New Zealand that I did not get to know when living here.  Yes, indeed, we are looking forward to that... as we speak Bill is
getting our rental car so that we can begin our land adventure for the next 3 weeks!

IMPORTANT NOTE TO BB:

Over the last five months of this blog there has been a faithful, hard working friend behind the scenes making sure that our words were very quickly posted as soon as he received them through Sailmail.  He did this faithfully, even when he was on holidays!!  I'm talking about our lovely BB (i.e. Blog Boy) AKA Gord Choate... friend and fellow world adventurer.  We owe you, Gordo, big time... and these words are for you from us:

Thank you, my friend, for being there, sharing in our journey as someone who really knows
what adventures are all about.  Your participation in this voyage has made it possible for others to share in it as we went along.  There are not enough words of thanks from us to properly let you know how we feel about you and your support for us.  We love you!

Now, here we are - back on dry land and looking for more adventures!

Cath and Bill

Spinnaker

Ships' log

Lat 23 degrees 54 min S

Lon 179 degrees 51 min EAST!!

25 hours, not that we're counting, competitive, calculating or cunning... however it has been a wonderful day/sail/moment. You have to love the open ocean - even light air days with the chute up and drawing; threading a course between Pelorous Reef to Starboard and unnamed shoals to port - 70 miles apart. Course made good - 245 compass, 25 hours with spinnaker up 100% of the time. Cathy having cut her land lubber teeth completely now; doing her watches through the night flying the 'kite' all by herself - even dousing the mainsail solo by starlight. A very happy and proud co-cap awakened me after the fact - next morning. After NZ Darwin is looking very good!

Following the spinnaker we endured our second gale and came out today with Trade Wind Paradise. However we crossed the 23 degree 45 min South Latitude this morning (the Tropic of Capricorn) and also the International Dateline and the water is cooler and the nights almost cold. Yes, it is happening... we are no longer in "The Tropics" nor the West, but in "The Temperate Latitudes" and "the East". 860 nm to Auckland S SW, forward ho!!

Fair winds

Billy

"Cruisin' Rules"

Ship's Log

Lat 23 degrees 23 min S

Lon 175 degrees 24 min W

Yes, there really are such things... many of them being made up as we go along! I send apologies to the actual author of the book "Cruisin' Rules" , Roland Barth, although I know he would heartily approve of whatever mess I make of his work (he is wonderfully self- deprecating...) in fact, this happens to follow one of his original cruisin' rules, I believe it was #14, - "He who holds the paintbrush determines the colour". This one resulted from a number of co-owners including him of a boat who decided that a fresh coat of paint was needed and only two of them showed up on the agreed upon weekend to do the work. Well the absentees were more than disappointed when seeing the results after the weekend of work was done... I seem to recall that one of them called it "Cat's ass brindle" - I leave it up to your imagination as to the resulting colour... thus was born the new rule.

Both Bill and I read this small though powerful and extremely funny book before we left for the open ocean (although C0-cap Bill kindly gave it away to some unknown cruiser along the way without my say - the result is yet another cruisin' rule about books being lent) and many of the rules have guided us both in our journey not only on Terrwyn but in life itself! In fact this was a book that I had recommended to the principals of our Calgary Board of Education schools as an inspiration for them and their staffs and students.

One very important cruisin' rule is Rule #2 "Good though!" ... which was created during a voyage with a number of his friends on board. Each of them took turns in galley duty with each person responsible for cooking one meal in turn. One untalented epicurean created a dish that was particularly distasteful which inspired many critical comments after the meal was eaten. Being very hurt by those comments and bringing that to everyone's attention a new rule was born... that being that no matter how bad something tastes the final comment should always be "Good though!"...or the criticizer would have to cook for a whole week!. When it was next the turn of our unfortunate untalented chef he decided to test the rule and gathered up some of the ship's cat's excrement and made a puree on crackers as a first course. After first bites of the interesting looking appetizer one of the crew blurted out " This tastes like cat shit!!!" and then quickly added "Good though!". We may be close to testing that rule ourselves as we are working our way through the ship's provisions so that once we arrive in New Zealand we should have bare cupboards. After taking a brief survey of what we have left stowed in our quarterberth and under the salon port berth I can see that pork and beans, rice and ichiban noodles may become the major ingredients in every meal for the next 10-12 days (with a bit of ketchup, mustard and peanut butter providing additional interest to the dishes). Interesting challenge for Terrwyn's chef (and diners!!)... no matter what, everything will be "Good though!".

Since both of these rules apply, in our case, to being able to accept decisions made by your co-capn during his/her watch came into play last night when I happened to be on watch. During the evening the wind had died to measly 2-3 knots with a resulting boat speed of 0.03-0.05 kts.

While Bill snored (sorry, I mean "Made sleeping sounds") away below decks I sat in the cockpit listening to the main sail slatting itself to death with each lazy roll of the boat... after 2 hours of this torture (that is -the sound of the sail flopping not of co-caps sleeping sounds) I decided that I needed to do something about it and I hated to disturb the sleep of my hard working co-cap. Now one of the serious rules of
Terrwyn on the open ocean is Rule #1 - "No one leaves the cockpit when on watch alone without wearing a harness being firmly attached to the jacklines". (which leads from the stern to the bow of the boat allowing one freedom of movement but safely harnessed in). For two hours I sat listening to and looking at that flopping sail until I couldn't stand it anymore. At that moment I went through all of the steps that I would
need to do to successfully put the mainsail to bed and one of those steps required that I go forward to the mast to deploy the jack stays (lines that attach to the boom and when set up ensure that the sail nicely falls into place on the top of the boom instead of flopping all over the deck). Well I headed out with heart in mouth to venture along the side decks, clamber onto the deck top and position myself with bottom firmly planted on our granny bars or mast pulpit (which are there for just that purpose - as a place to be secure when working at the mast). Despite the roly-poly movement I quickly deployed the jacklines... scampered back to the cockpit, released the main halyard and watched as the mains'l settled beautifully into it's place cradled by the jackstays on the top of the boom. Feeling very encouraged by this small success I then grabbed a sail tie jumped out of the cockpit, scampered up to the boom and fixed the sail tie around the boom and then around the flaked sail - "Alison Style"), secured the main halyard on one of the mast winches and got back into the cockpit with a great feeling of success... first time ever doing sailwork all by myself in the dark... without... oh my, I had forgotten one of our cardinal rules about not leaving the cockpit without being harnessed in... gulp!! Then and there I made up a new Terrwyn cruisin' rule - Rule #1a - "It is not necessary to reveal to co-cap the breaking of cruisin' rule #1 if the rule breaker is still safely on board!".

Fair winds from

Co-cap Cath safely on board SV Terrwyn!!

A Gale

Ship's log 21 degrees 35 min S
Lon 174 degrees 43 min W

It's the morning after. Full sun, SE breeze, 10 kts, Seas 2 mtrs out of the SE Angi (i.e. Minetta) and Nick have left Terrwyn and signed on as crew on SV Shadow in Neiafu with skipper Michael. Michael is a sweet young skipper needing crew to help him sail her ( a Tayana 37) to Fiji and then NZ. Michael is from New York and we all met and partied in Niue, everything was perfect, Michael lost his crew in Tonga and Angie and Nick are perfect for the job. Cath and I love each other (now minus our shirts) and Mike truly needs crew and ours will learn so much more with "comparative anatomy". Terrwyn to Shadow and Fiji added in the balance.

Win, win, win. We will miss our young ( and now all trained up ! ,crew )

Back to "A gale"....

Terrwyn cleared Nieafu customs, harbour master and immigration Saturday, October 15, 07:00 just before a terrific "squall" unloaded a Somerset Maugham Tropical Deluge. Clever Bill saw this major rain as a big squall and maturely suggested we hang on a mooring buoy nearby so Cath could clean the Nieafu Saturday Market in the pouring rain while I squared away the dock lines and did final Terrwyn Sea worthy lock down. And it rained till nearly noon. No problem, just a big squall, aren't we clever and mature to wait this one out in harbour (not having motor or cockpit protection). It stopped storming (paused) around noon and we slipped the mooring and sailed out of the harbour in a light following breeze... very nice! A few light air jibes through the Vava'u islands (Desolation Sound look alikes plus 80 degrees temp) and out East into the open ocean, 3 metre seas, 25 knot N "breeze", lightning and more rain. My goodness a touch of sea sickness and the breeze 'on the nose', right. Comic relief is provided with spy hopping humpback whales showing off port beam distance 100 ft. Amazing, then rapidly scary as we watch their white bellies coming our way. Nothing happens further and we regain our voices and carry on plowing to windward to regain to north of Vava'u proceeding east before heading south for NZ. The waters west of Tonga are reef strewn (and to Bounty Mutiny history) so we chose to head south along the east of the Tonga Chain. Good call as the rain and wind continued all day, all night, all day and all night.

Again, this morning is a new morning. This was no squall but our first "full blown gale". The first night we beam reached due south in 3,000 metres of water 30 miles to windward of Tonga's lee shore. And it howled, seas built, clouds and rain blackened the sun, moon and stars for 48+ hours continuously. Everything below deck soaked up water as we dregged it below with all hatches closed to the green water rolling over our fore deck and both side decks. No squall, I gather, a gale, no blown spume... Beaufort scale?... however 30-40 kts wind with 3 mtr seas everywhere confused, noisy and scary. Daybreak more of the same however we have accustomed to it and enjoying the ride at 7 knots down the pipe so thankful in deep blue water not littered with shoals as to the west of Tonga. It has to "blow itself out" right? Wrong.. Nightime came and- Second verse, same as the first. Then near midnight Cath alerted me to nasty darkness to windward. My goodness. Now it's sheets of rain which calms the waves somewhat and full on phosphoresence roaring along and behind the boat as we surfed down these monsters at 7-8 knots - steady whine and vibration.

Monti (our wind vane) held Terrwyn, broad reach, under hankie sized reefed jib, stay sail and double reefed main. We held the mainsheet to cast off if she rounded up but everything held - thank god for 2 hours steady as a rock, roaring along 240 compass. Good thing as no way we would dare upset the balance that was set. 7.6 knots boat speed, apparent wind 26-30 and no no visibilty. Essentially on autopilot, everyone double clipped in listening and watching the ocean roar past in spraklying phosphoresence.

Amazing! Even this gets a little tiring after 2 days of the same. Cath "retired" to the din below and I watched Monti do his magic throughout the night. Relieved later by Cath, sleep of the dead to awaken to today's South Pacific Paradise. Was I dreaming? That was no dream nor was I sleeping. We survived our first gale. YAHOO on with the prgram NZ here we come albeit at 5-6 not 7 plus knots which is very nice.

Fair winds ,

Billy