Friday 29 June 2012

Carina in Tavanipupu

After just about every possible type of sailing - from ghosting along on flat seas and light winds to slopping around with the sails slatting to screeching along on a close reach into 30+ knots and torrential rain to motoring while rolling around like a pinball in large seas - we arrived at Tavanipupu Island in Marau Sound on the SE end of Guadalcanal. It was only a 30 hour trip but it felt much longer ;-). The "anchorage" is tight but we're holding well in the channel and the current is keeping us straight. Parakeets in pairs travel to and fro over our heads while a heron struts the shore. Later we'll venture ashore to the tiny resort and explore and maybe splurge on lunch or such. Maybe even try to get attached to the internet.

6/29/2012 and 04:49 UTC (GMT) our position was: 09°49.81'S / 160°51.11'E.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Underway Again

We had a slow start this morning after our engine died, apparently as the result of water in our Racor filter. We got underway at 0847 local bound from Santa Ana to Tavanipupu in Marau Sound, on the SE end of Guadalcanal. Winds are abeam and brisk, and Carina is loping along merrily. Squalls keep us on our toes.

At 6/22/2012 and 00:36 UTC (GMT) our position was: 10°50.19'S / 162°27.07'E.
We were traveling 086T degrees true at 0.0 knots.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Friday 22 June 2012

Arrived

Oh what a night...our last night at sea on this passage - Vanikoro to Santa Ana - was a classic dark and stormy one. Perhaps it was fate then that we had to heave to most of the night to avoid arriving near the island of Santa Ana before the sun was up. Carina rides well hove to and as storms passed she just sat pretty and rode through the maelstrom with grace.

All is well aboard and we are settling in at Santa Ana...more on that in our Passage Notes.

At 6/22/2012 and 00:36 UTC (GMT) our position was: 10°50.19'S / 162°27.07'E.

short-footer

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Not yet

Dear Friends;

After a slow night on Tuesday trying to keep the genoa from slapping itself to death while still moving forward, Wednesday dawn brought squalls. This is the Solomon Islands after all, most times home to the SPCZ, so this was not surprising. What was surprising was that one particular squall brought strong westerly winds and then seemed to suck away all hope of wind. Behind it came sunny weather and calm winds. We motored for a few hours and then gave up hope of arrival on Thursday without using an a lot of diesel when we aren't sure of when we can resupply, so we turned off the engine and drifted. What emerged from this is the insight that we have 0.5 knots of adverse current, pulling us east. And so, we galumped and slapped and went round in circles until nightfall, when with a whisper of wind, we were able to move once again towards our destination. NOW all we have to worry about is going slow enough to arrive in the morning on Friday (and not before).

Life is good; we have fresh baked bread, leftover pasta sauce and plenty of reading material.

At 6/20/2012 and 06:16 UTC (GMT) our position was: 11°03.84'S / 164°11.64'E.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Saturday 16 June 2012

Carina Underway again Tomorrow

Dear Friends:

We expect to depart tomorrow - Father's Day in the USA - from Vanikoro, Solomon Islands bound for Star Harbor on San Cristobal Island (also in the Solomon Islands). We may also stop at Santa Ana, which is about five miles from Star Harbor. The trip is about 300 miles and should take us about three days, though we are expecting light winds so we aren't sure yet. We will plan to check into regional radio nets and also the Pacific Seafarers' Net (14,300 0300 Z, our callsign WZ7LL). We had hoped to depart today but the weather is a wee bit squally with little wind between squalls, plus we needed to solve an intermittent alternator issue that was affecting our ability to charge our batteries.

It has been difficult to tear ourselves from the lovely folks here at Vanikoro; our stay will have been seven days.

Departing from: 11-40 S / 166-56 E
Intended Destination: 10-49 S / 162-17 E
Possible Intermediate Destination (Santa Ana): 10-50 S/ 162-27 E

Cheers,
The crew of the yacht Carina,
Philip, Leslie and fat cat, Jake



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Anchor Down at Tikopia, Solomon Islands

After passing Anuta Island yesterday, we hove to in order to push back our expected arrival at Tikopia to coincide with midday so the sun could be overhead for better viewing of coral. We got underway again about 8 pm local time last night, having drifted for seven hours. Despite out minimalist sail plan, we flew through the night propelled by strong trade winds and occasional squalls all the while getting buffeted by large seas. Our timing turned out to be good and we sailed up to our Tikopia approach waypoint at about 10 am local time.

When we first started the engine for our final approach, we found our exhaust was pumping no water. Philip grabbed his wrenches and went below to check the raw water pump belt. The source of the problem is still a mystery but eventually we did get water pumping, lowered the staysail and motor-sailed under mainsail alone directly towards the island as we'd lost our wind to the island's wind-shadow.

Clouds made coral spotting difficult, despite the hour of the day, so our approach and surveying was done very slowly. Coral shelves line the shore where islanders were gathered to fish the reef while the tide was low; no one seemed to pay too much attention to us. One curious fisherman in a dugout outrigger paddled up for a brief chat.

Tomorrow we will launch the dinghy and go to shore and find the chiefs. We had been told there were three but Freddie (our fisherman) assures us there are four. Oh my, now we'll have to come up with four identical gift assemblies...that could be a challenge. For now, we're just tidying up a salt-encrusted Carina while anticipating a long night's sleep in our own bunk. Jake is still swaggering as if at sea but his nose is twitching as he raises his head to explore the island's perfume; he's one happy cat.

At 6/6/2012 and 02:06 UTC (GMT) our position was: 12°17.60'S / 168°49.12'E.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Monday 4 June 2012

Whoa Girl

The night is brightly lit by the nearly full moon as Carina races up and down the waves, propelled by only a tiny slip of a mainsail and staysail. The seas seem to be calming down a bit but the wind continues strong.
We had hoped to maintain an average speed of <4 knots to make our destination in the late morning of Wednesday, but it seems impossible to slow down this little boat as she surges up the waves and gracefully slides down the other side, galloping through the night. If conditions continue as such we'll heave to sometime tomorrow to allow some hours to pass and to get back on our arrival "schedule".

At 6/4/2012 and 11:32 UTC (GMT) our position was: 10°57.57'S / 170°20.85'E.
We were traveling 227T degrees true at 4.5 knots.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Friday 1 June 2012

Predawn Play

It's 6 am Majuro time and the sky is just beginning to brighten to the east, creating silhouettes of the cumulus clouds that dot the sky. A morning star peaks through, bringing hope of a fine day. Suddenly there's a splash and I catch sight of a fish (???) jumping. But NO, I realize it's a dolphin shooting skyward and flicking its tail and falling back into the sea. Again, it jumped and, perhaps content I'd seen it's gleeful display, disappeared into the dark waters below.

At 6/1/2012 and 18:07 UTC (GMT) our position was: 06°47.22'S / 172°08.88'E.
We were traveling 176T degrees true at 3.6 knots.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

A Squall Passes

The melody sung by the rigging slowly lowers in pitch from a screech to a hum as the moon emerges from the thick clouds above and the sea now shimmers as it rushes by. Reefed sails glow as Carina plunges forwards towards the blackest, most ominous cloud imaginable that is the backside of our squall. Only the wooly bear caterpillar-shaped blob on the radar screen slowly falling to lee gives us confidence the worst has passed and it's safe to sheet in the main and let out a bit of genoa. Adrenaline keeps us alert and we train our eyes to windward - breathing once again - while seeking, but hoping not to find, yet another storm.

At 6/1/2012 and 10:42 UTC (GMT) our position was: 06°28.17'S / 172°13.98'E.
We were traveling 195T degrees true at 3.4 knots.



----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Dolphins

Philip woke me for my watch at 10 pm and I came on deck groggy from the warm cabin and interrupted sleep to meet a glorious moonlit night and cool breezes. Sitting in the lee aft edge of the cockpit coaming sipping my sweet milky black tea I suddenly heard a dolphin at close range surface exhale and dive. He was not alone; the pod of small dolphins frolicked about Carina for a half an hour or so, sparking bursts of phosphorescence as they surfaced. It was one of those perfectly peaceful sailing moments...

At 6/1/2012 and 01:00 UTC (GMT) our position was: 05°55.91'S / 172°22.42'E.
We were traveling 187T degrees true at 3.7 knots.





----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com