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Published: April 21st 2014
Sunrise off Northland's east coast
Owen having fun when there was no wind.Well, it is almost time for the 2014 adventures with Hakura, so I thought it was time to pull my finger out and get up last year’s story. So where shall I start the belated story of 2013’s big voyage to the South Sea Isles and Australia?
In the middle maybe: Owen and I got back safe and sound and so did Hakura (well most of her anyway). The old motor was in the bin. So, now how did this all come about?
Way back in the first half of the year I had decided to sail to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and some islands in between and end the year in Hobart, Australia before spending the next year sailing the east coast of Australia. As part of this Owen Smith, my friend for the past 38 years had agreed to sail with me from Whangarei to Niue and then Tonga, usually a passage of 10 to 14 days. This is the first time we had made a passage together since crossing the Tasman Sea in 1979.
On the trip there would be just the two of us so the auto-helm was going
get a good workout plus we hoped to learn how to operate the wind-vane self steering.
Our plan was to sail in the first week of July to Niue (about 11 days at sea) then after a couple of days then head over to Vava’u in northern Tonga, with a few days around Vava’u before Owen headed home.
This was all weather dependent, of course, so we started the usual routine of watching the various weather maps and predictions of wind between NZ and the islands. The typical series of low-pressure systems (bad weather), with their strong winds, came up out of the southern ocean (via Tasmania). The first impact of all this unsettled weather was that we had to drop the plan to visit Niue.
Then a weather window appeared in the 2
nd week of July. It was not the greatest window, with a low pressure coming down from Tonga that was to join up with another low coming up over New Zealand. There was the opportunity to leave before the 2 lows met and by heading as far north as possible, we aimed to get above the resulting strong
winds that were predicted for the following weekend. The down side was that the trade winds in the southern tropics were due to be squashed, reaching up to the 20 to 30 knots level. Thus, if we headed north we could be above the low and its 35 plus knot winds but we would then have to beat into the trade winds. If we headed northeast, as is usual when sailing for Tonga, then we would be right in the middle of the combined lows. Not the place to be, we thought.
We decided to give it a go, setting off from Whangarei and make as much northing as possible while still getting some easting in as soon as possible. Thus, on Monday 9 July, Owen and I left Whangarei for Marsden Cove Marine, where we would finish stowing the gear and food. Then on the morning of the 10
th we would clear Customs and be off.
The lead up to our departure also involve Lorraine and Beth (Owen’s wife). They helped by cooking and freezing meals for the voyage and encouraging us. They came down to the Marina to see us off. I
think mainly to make sure all the stuff was aboard – food, gear and crew; they then waved us away with fond farewells (plus reminders they had things to do so we had better underway). We waved back then turned our minds to the job at hand.
The first obstacle in this great plan was to get past (or should I say under) the new bridge which now crosses the Hatea River down stream of the Whangarei Town Basin. The bridge’s lifting gear was being tested before the opening of the bridge for road traffic. When deciding on a bridge the authorities could either go high to allow vessels through or have the bridge open in some way. They chose opening by raising the middle section. When operational, the bridge would open on request, however, during the testing period you had to either be there for it’s scheduled opened first thing in the morning (7 am) or just wait for one of the many lifting tests. After several phone calls, the latter option seemed to be the best one. In the end, we only had to wait for a few minutes before we could get through.
The 3-hour trip down the harbour to Marsden Cove Marina went well, a good omen for our coming voyage (oh how easily we can be fooled). At Marsden Cove, we did the final watering and fuelling up and settled down to pass the night before clearing Customs and heading off on the morrow. Then I asked the innocent question “Owen, you do have your passport?”
I knew by Owen’s expression what the answer was. Now, Owen is a seasoned traveller, both by yacht (having taken his yacht offshore several times plus many other voyages) and as a first responder for an international aid agency (Shelterbox NZ), therefore, I had expected him to say yes, but alas it was “no”.
After a couple of calls home, it appeared that the passport was not to be easily found, so Owen decided to return home to have a look for himself. This was with the increasing feeling that said passport was not going to be found. Thanks to the kind assistance of Owen’s son Jay, Owen was able to head home that evening.
Next morning I heard from Owen that the passport had not been found and was considered lost. While I rang the Customs guy to say we would not be clearing out of New Zealand today, Owen was organizing a new passport to arrive by Friday.
In light of this, we decided to head up to the Bay of Islands (partly to have some progress and also because Marsden Cove Marina is not a nice place to be when the weather turns bad). The plan was, now, to clear Customs from Opua. So, during the early hours of Thursday we set sail for the Bay. It was a very pleasant sail up the coast in light to moderate tail winds. Owen was trying out most of the features of Hakura including goose winging the sails. The weather was fine and we made good time arriving at the Kerikeri Cruising Club Marina (Doves Bay) at 7.30 that evening.
With the enforced delay I was able to get some of the small jobs done on Hakura. We replaced the jib sheets with longer ones to allow for easier goose winging down wind and I had the hull washed by a diver. Owen wanted as much speed as possible and a dirty hull can mean loosing a quarter to a half a knot. Not much until you consider that on the 10-day trip this means an extra 12 to 24 hours sailing.
The next job was to practice using the weather fax, which is where the computer is hooked up to the long-range radio to down load weather maps. I turned on the radio and nothing happened. I was a bit pissed off as I had just had it serviced before we left Whangarei. I called Wayne, the radioman, and he asked me to remove the unit and he would pick it up to test over the weekend. He was working in the area and would be past at 5 Friday evening. Easy I thought as I had 4 hours to disconnect the unit. Ha, silly me. This required me to get into parts of my boat I had never been before and positions I did not know I could be in (or get out of). However, after several hours and a couple of calls to Wayne, I finally managed to get the unit out without breaking any parts or losing any screws (so far at least). One of the things about owning a yacht is that I find myself doing things and getting places I never thought I could do.
To cut a long story short, the radio had an intermittent fault, which means it is faulty, however, it is really difficult to fix as it works most of the time and the fault cannot be located when it is working. We hypothesised that the problem may have been caused be a build up of moisture. The solution we came up with was to warm the unit up before using it, thus we needed to turn it on for up to an hour before using it. It is worth noting that on the voyage it worked perfectly. Wayne was able to refit the unit on Tuesday morning, which coincided with the next weather window.
Yep, we were back to the weather watching stage. The bad weather that we had planed to avoid did not turn out as bad is predicted however the trades were being squashed and therefore were stronger than usual. The next opportunity appeared to be on Tuesday as a high was settling over Northland, which would mean light winds. By leaving on Tuesday, we aimed to be at the front of the high with its southerly winds and thereby getting as far northeast as possible. What we were getting away from was the tail of the high with its head winds, thus we would most likely end up motor sailing a lot for the first few days.
Come Tuesday morning we had restocked the boat (put back the frozen food and replaced the fresh stuff) and sailed over to Opua for our Customs check. We were cleared to go at 10.30 and had cast off the lines at 10.50 and heading out of the Bay for Tonga, the tropics and warmth.
We started with a watch system of 3 hours on and 3 off during the night while during the day there would be opportunities for longer sleeps. We had the auto-helm on and stereo going so life was good. One of the lessens of the first night was that we could not run the auto-helm and the stereo without the motor; this lead to a very lucky event. During the early hours of the morning I ran the motor to recharge the batteries for the day (and cool down the freezer), thus the battery was full for what followed.
About 9 am on the second morning Owen decided to turn on the motor as the wind was dying. It started as usual, however, he was not happy with its sound. We checked that water was coming out the back and then gave it some more rev’s as this might clear any small fuel blockages. I then noticed that the cabin was full of smoke so off went the motor.
As we needed to know what was happening, I jumped into the cabin and pulled off the motor cover (note to oneself – get the fire extinguisher ready first next time). I then noticed that there was water all over the engine box. Thankfully, it was steam not smoke (a better sign though not good). The overflow bottle for the cooling system was full of coolant, decidedly not normal. When the header tank had cooled down (not a long time really) I took off the cap and there was not coolant left, another bad sign. So we decided to add some water. To do this we turned on the motor and immediately we could see the coolant bubbling out fasted than I could pour it in. A blown head gasket I wailed, though more was said under my breath.
Whether I was right or not would have to wait till the head was taken off. Whatever, the motor was stuffed and we now had to turn around and sail back to Opua. This occurred at 33 28.0’ south and 157 24.5’ East. We had made 134.3 natural miles in less than 24 hours, which was good progress. I was thankful that we were not a lot further off. If the motor had gone a few days out of Tonga it would have been a choice between returning to NZ, heading to Fiji (with much better facilities) or heading onto Tonga (with very limited options). As it was we still had several days sailing into light head winds to get back to New Zealand.
To conserve the very limited power reserves we had, we turned off all lights, the auto-helm and all radios. We would need power for the water pump, gas solenoid and masthead light. While the power lasted we would make a single radio call per day to Martine Radio, Taupo Radio to report progress. We had lots of batteries for the head touches and handheld GPS so that was no issue.
If the wind had not been on the nose we would have done without the masthead light. We needed that light to see the wind vane to be able to sail as close to the wind as possible. This would prove to be more difficult as not only were the winds light, they were also variable, which means that the wind can change direction several times during the course of an hour (albeit varying out of the south through to west only).
For the next two days we sailed gently back, though we often were heading south towards East Cape or west to Australia. Such headings lead to one of the many tacks we were to make over next 3 days. One big advantage about light winds is slight seas; thus we had a very smooth trip.
Apart from the frequent tacks, the wind occasionally disappeared altogether leaving Hakura to drift around. On at least one occasion we drifted back towards Tonga in an easterly current. Usually in the calm periods the person on watch would spend the time trying to get Hakura moving so as to get the best possible heading. This was more about keeping the watch keeper active rather than making progress.
During the early hours of the 19
th we picked up the loom of the lights from Auckland and Whangarei (these were in a line so could not be sure if it was only Whangarei though there appeared to be more light that I expected from Whangarei) off to the south south west and the lights of the Bay of Islands to the west (the loom is the reflection of the lights of low cloud or fog – low cloud in our case). This all meant we were getting closer and soon we started to pick up the main navigational lights in the area – Cape Brett to the southwest and the Cavalli Islands to the west.
Friday dawned a beautiful day with flat seas and light winds (now often less than 5 knots), however, we could see the coast ahead and were hopeful to be back in the safety of the Bay of Islands before dark. As it turned out we just made this objective. Any other time this would have been a great day on the water, fine weather with a flat sea and light winds. Even the sailing would have been considered great, however, we were beginning to be over the whole affair and I just wanted to get to a safe anchorage and get a full night’s sleep. I had to remind myself of an important aspect; all three of us were safe and not at any great risk (no more than any other day sail in the Bay).
Some of you might remember that the reason why we had been motor-sailing in the first place was to get away from the stronger northerly winds that had been forecasted to arrive with the back of the high during Friday. Well, they did not arrive. The high remained over the North Island for several more days. Had they arrived, these winds would have pushed us into the Bay.
We started to relax a bit and enjoy the sailing with frequent cups of tea or coffee and the occasional snack. Well, we did have lots of food on board. The only things we were short of were wind and increasingly, battery power.
I called up Taupo radio and told them we were off the Bay, and then I called up the Coastguard to discuss the possibility of a tow. While it was possible to sail all the way into Opua, we would need help getting into the Marina. I called them early on the Friday so they could choose when to steam out to us. As we were in no danger they could take their time and do the tow when it best suited them. I thought they would not come out till we were well into the Bay, thus reducing the distance they needed to travel and shortening the tow duration.
Phone calls were made to family and friends to say we were safe. I was a bit disappointed, as nobody knew we had been in any difficulty and had decided to return.
Coastguard wanted to be kept informed of our progress so they asked for hourly updates. This did not last long as they released we were travelling very slowly. It was then agreed that we would let them know when we passed the Ninepin, the unofficial northern boundary of the Bay. This suited us, partly because we had dwindling power and I was out of phone credit (all carefully managed as I was going away for more than a year).
We finally sailed inside the Ninepin at about 18:30, though heading towards the southern shore of the Bay not the western as we wished). I dutifully called the Coastguard, however, it appeared that they had all gone home for the night (they are volunteers after all).
The rest of Friday evening we slowly tacked into the Bay, occasionally visited by dolphins. At 23:30 we were on the western side of the channel off Russell and the wind had died away and the tide was starting to take us back out. So, we dropped the anchor and went to bed for our first full nights sleep in awhile. As we were in the main shipping channel, we left the anchor light on.
Next morning was sunny and not surprisingly, the house battery was dead and I even had to turn off the main GPS. A quick telephone call later and the Coastguard where on their way. They turned up about 9:00; we had become their Saturday morning training exercise.
So undertow, we started the final leg of the great voyage.
On the way in, the Coastguard had asked if I was a member. Yes, here is my membership card. I’m hoping that they don’t notice that it had expired three days earlier, another example of my clever planning to have everything run out just before I left for Tonga. It appeared that the important thing was that I had a membership number that they could write on their form. Yes, I renewed it shortly afterwards.
In true seamanship fashion, they delivered us safely to the work berths at the Opua Marina (albeit not the one suggested by the Marine person – that was just too difficult).
We were back safe and sound and it felt really good. There were hearty handshakes all round.
Our next visitor was the Customs guy. He brought the forms we needed to sign (having filled most of them with “N/A”). After a couple of questions (had we seen any other vessels and how far had we got?) and an examination of Hakura’s log, we were cleared back into New Zealand.
While I went off to the Marina office to book in (and make sure the final berth was ok), Owen started on the job of dismantling the head. Now this brings me to another area where I differ from Owen. Me, I would have waited to the marine engine places to open on Monday and go one of them to come and look at it while still in one piece. Not Owen, after years of working on farms, being an orchardist, growing melons and running a pack house, he had serviced and fixed many different engines, so he started the process of taking the head off. I really admire Owen for the many skills he has and for his willingness to get stuck and do the job.
Yep, the berth was ok and we could stay there till we knew if or when we were coming out for the engine to be repaired.
Over the rest of the weekend, Owen and his mate, Les, managed to get the head off, and yep, it was a blown head gasket. It looked like a simple job to clean the head, get a new gasket and get it fitted. I even had delusions of heading off to at least Fiji. Oh fool that I was.
The short version is that I got a local business to check the head and let me know what was needed. They came back with the bad news that the head was cracked and, along with the camshaft, needed replacing. No problems it would only take 3 weeks for the parts to come from Italy.
Now for the really bad news, what with the other bits and pieces needed (such as 4 new injectors) the parts bill was $10 000 plus GST.
Why don’t I just replace the motor? A new one only cost between $11 000 and $15 000. Oh sure what a good idea.
I did start to think this was a good idea, however, as I looked into to it, these prices were only for the motor, then there was fitting and all this plus GST. The finally bill would be around the $20 000 mark.
Added to the mix was an idea from Owen. He had noticed an advertisement for the sale of a Dolphin Swimming operation out of Tauranga. This was a great idea. I could see myself running such an operation for 6 months a year and sailing the South Pacific for the rest of the year. Thus the question regarding Hakura became – do we fix her to sell her or keep her. I would most likely need to sell her to be able to buy the business.
The first issue to be addressed, did I want to buy the business. To cut a long, and at times indecisive, story short, after a visit with the owner and the sailing vessel in Tauranga, I decided not to follow through with this option. This took over a month to run its course.
So by the end of August, I was back to dealing with the motor – repair or new one? Finally, it was the cost of the new motor - $20 000 plus against $7000 for the repair, that tipped the decision in favour of the repair. So I ordered the new parts and found out there would be a six week delay, as they had to come from Italy (more on this story next time).
All this time, Hakura was sitting at the Opua Marine working berths and costing me an extra $10 per day compared with being in Whangarei. I asked Owen to again help and sail Hakura down to Whangarei, as sail of less than 24 hours. This would be another sail without the motor, including the 18 nautical miles up the Whangarei Harbour. This leg usually takes 3 hours under motor.
Owen was available and willing, plus there was a weather window around 7 August (a very limited window – Wednesday evening though to Friday midday). We would have light head winds (remember those) out of Opua then a good run in a 15 knot N – NE from off Russell till the bridge in just short of Whangarei. All good, A! That was the forecast anyway.
We left Opua Marina about 4:30 pm with the great assistance of a Canadian yachty, who towed us out past the marina in his rib. From here we tacked down the channel until clear of Tapeka Point. The sailing was again fabulous in the fading light. Once past Tapeka Point we were able to reach across the Bay of Islands towards Cape Brett in the light winds. The seas were smooth giving us a fast run out to the Brett. All good and the wind was holding so it looked like a quite trip down the coast to Whangarei Heads.
I was able to cook a good dinner (reheat is a better expression). We decided on 2 hours on and 2 off, as it was a short run of less than 24 hours.
About midnight we passed between Cape Brett and Peerce Island (where the “hole in the rock” is) in a light northerly. At 2.30 the wind began to fail (surprise surprise!). This also brought on a period of confusion about where we were heading. We could see the light on Cape Brett behind and a light in front. The issue was whether that light was on the Poor Knights Islands or Tutukaka Head. They are about 15 natural miles apart, though at our rate of travel heading for the wrong light could make a difference of several extra hours sailing. After a few minutes we started to see a second light off to the west, which was on Tutukaka Head and our target.
Through the night we made slow though, steady, progress, which I think was mainly due to the southerly current that flows down the coast. Just before dawn we were off Tutukaka. The sunrise did not bring the winds we were hoping for; it was a great sight and lead into another pleasant day of drifting/sailing along the coast.
Around midday we were heading for Bream Head in very light airs. I was starting to release that we would not be getting into the Marina tonight. The new bridge over the Hatea River was not suppose to open after 4:30 pm during the e winter and we still had 18 natural miles to go (not allowing for additional distances due to any tacks we would have to put in.
As we rounded Bream Head, we had more wind though it was tending be on the noise. With Owen at the helm, I assembled the inflatable (still know as EII as no better name has come up yet). The plan being to use the inflatable as the power to push Hakura the finally leg.
I even thought of hailing any passing launches to ask for a tow and offer them 20 litres of fuel, which I had left over from the trip. Unfortunately, there were only a couple around and they were all heading out of the harbour. Despite my misgivings, we continued to sail into the harbour. We tacked till off Marsden Wharf. From there it was a series of long easy lays with the wind either on, or just forward, of the beam.
The section from Onerahi to Kissing Point was the hardest with the wind on the noise. We had to tack several times. Again, I was impressed with Owen’s confidence. He tacked up this tight section with only a few words to the crew (that is me). We finally had to drop anchor in the turning cycle off the former commercial wharfs of Whangarei. The wind had died completely and the tide was against us.
We launched EII and attached the 3 horsepower outboard. It fired up first time (well very close to it anyway).
With Owen at the helm of EII pushing Hakura along, I was on Hakura’s helm. My job was to steer us while Owen was the power. There was the lightest of zephyrs, which would be on the nose for our approach to the platforms just before the bridge. This was good, as it would help to slow us down.
Much to my surprise, EII was pushing us along at a respectable 3 and half knots.
The plan was for me to steer Hakura alongside the platform where Owen (who already had all the lines) would make us fast. As we thought the bridge would not be opening until Friday morning we would use EII to take Owen into the marina where his son was to take us back to Opua to get our cars. I would spend the night on her and get assistance next morning getting her the final few hundred metres to the Marina.
I had to make sure I did not get too close to the platform as EII was on that side and we did not wish to squash her. At the same time I had to not be too far away as we did not have a lot of room to work in. As I was lining up the approach I noticed that the bridge was open and as no other vessel was passing through, we decided to go for it. I guess the operator had seen us and decided to do a good turn. Thank you very much.
Now we were off the Marina and needed to find a berth that would allow us in without squashing EII. Several people rushed to help and in no time flat we were safely moored back in Riverside Drive Marina.
Hakura was now safe and sound in Riverside Drive Marina waiting for the fixing of the motor.
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Di Elliffe
non-member comment
Great yarn
Hi Doug, Thanks for the great story. You and Owen are brave fellows!