First boating weekend of the season...

[bamamick]

Well, I have just about run out of superlatives for the thread, the photos, the boats, the country, and the man, so I will just say thank you, once again, John. What a very special place you do live in.

Mickey Lake

[John B]

Thanks Mickey! Yeah, we're just trying to cram in the last of the summer although as the kid sport commitments have dropped off this year we may well get some winter cruising in.
Meeting tonight to go over the Fiji trip on Riada II, so thats looking gooood. If the weather plays ball we'll go to the Minervas again.

[John B]

2011 is looking up as I have a crew job on Riada's young sister called.. RiadaII .
She's a 1980 revision of our 1975 Riada. Originally built in a way that she looked very similar apart from the obvious ketch/ sloop rigs ,but with some racing rating influenced bumps in the run aft and some reasonably subtle alterations particularly in the bow sections. 10 or 15 years ago she had a major makeover with a pilothouse hard dodger added and the rig changed from masthead inline double spreader to fractional swept spreaders and a boom furler.( edit .. she was inline fractional rig, not masthead,changed to swept spreader fractional, )
Nice boat , fast, and great cruiser with the shelter we don't have.
We first met them on our 08 cruise in Whangaroa harbour in Northland and have caught up periodically since..

2012 is looking up as I have a crew job on Riada's young sister called.. RiadaII .

She passed her Cat 1 today,That allows us to set the departure between 10 and 12th this month, destination Fiji via the Minerva reefs again if all goes according to plan.

That should give me a start to making it through winter. heh.

[Thad]

A good start!

[Hwyl]

Well, I have just about run out of superlatives for the thread, the photos, the boats, the country, and the man, so I will just say thank you, once again, John. What a very special place you do live in.

Mickey Lake

I concur

[John B]

Thanks Gareth , that means a lot coming from you. You know I do speak of my Welsh mate / delivery skipper and your adventures. In fact when we hit that bad weather and we were hove to off the kermadecs I voiced the fact that my mate Gareth would have planned his way around this.

This might interest you. If you recall , we were approaching the Kermadec islands and although we should have passed safely the sea state deteriorated significantly and I wanted to be sure that we were well off them at night... The JB70. So we hove to and it was lovely, rough but lovely. Next day the forecasted SW change came in and off we went.

Anyway, have a peek at this.



the pins to the left are RiadaII's position reports on the way back, the #2 #3 etc waypoints are where we hove to on the way up, green/yellow dot to the centre right Raoul island ( Kermadecs group).

Raoul is on the Kermadec ridge but lo... check out the Colville ridge right where we hove to after running into the big seas. 500M deep but up from over 2000M around it..

There's our nasty little sea state right there.

[Duncan Gibbs]

An interesting idea John, but one which I cannot bear out in any of the literature I've looked at (a few oceanography books from Google books admittedly). I understand that this may be the case around the Horn because there is a simultaneous compression of both ocean depth and ocean surface, along with intense lows coming from different directions. But unless the wave length is huge - ie; over 500 metres between crests - the only way the depth can influence the wave height at surface is if the depth is less than 1.5 x Wave Length.

AFAIK mid ocean breakers happen when either different wave lengths join up/collide, or the wind simply blows the top off a crest.

I may, however, be completely wrong!

[Chris.]

An interesting idea John, but one which I cannot bear out in any of the literature I've looked at (a few oceanography books from Google books admittedly). I understand that this may be the case around the Horn because there is a simultaneous compression of both ocean depth and ocean surface, along with intense lows coming from different directions. But unless the wave length is huge - ie; over 500 metres between crests - the only way the depth can influence the wave height at surface is if the depth is less than 1.5 x Wave Length.

AFAIK mid ocean breakers happen when either different wave lengths join up/collide, or the wind simply blows the top off a crest.

I may, however, be completely wrong!

Duncan, you're not including the effect of the deep ocean currents (thermohaline?) that are driven by temperature and density gradients. When they hit ridges there is, IIRC, potential for serious surface disturbance if it coincides with adverse weather. Though my memory may be over thinking their impact.
Certainly I have read of other instances where particularly bad seas were experienced at ridge locations.

[Hwyl]

Yes, you can definitely tell when you are over a seamount, I know surfers use a rule for breaking waves, I think a wave for them breaks in 1.5 depth, but these are different waves.

[John B]

Just looking at the chart last night, there's some spots around there of 2700M of water trying to fit around a ridge / mount of 370M. Just the other side of the Kermadecs ... 10 kilometres deep!!

I've met 4 sick people in the last couple of days " oh yeah, just the first flu for the season", " stomach pains and headaches" " cough"

I can't afford to get sick now.

[snow(Alan H)]

Double your rum ration

[John B]

and wash in it.

[Steveh]

Have a safe sail up to Fiji John and then have a rum at Musket Cove bar. You'll like it there, the bar I mean. But I don't think you can clear customs there.

[Chip-skiff]

Fair winds and a safe journey (although not so safe that it's a bore).

I look forward to more ravishing photos.

[John B]

Thanks Steve, Chips.
We have a problem but if we get that resolved its Minerva to Levuka to clear and then Savu savu. Levuka being on the eastern side of the group. I gather its all a lot less touristy and if we can stay away from Suva, that'll be a giant bonus.
The problem... that boom.Its a very nicely engineered Reef rite roller furling boom, quite possibly the best or one of the best of the type. However, its ruptured a bearing in the roller mechanism and the best way of fixing it pronto is to drive it north to Kerikeri where the owner of the system lives and do it all in his workshop. 6 metres of heavy boom on a trailer for 3 hours there and 3 hours back plus the job.

The reason the bearing has gone? the last ' rigger' who had it apart about 3 or 4 years ago reassembled it without its seal. This twirp had to come back a few times for the mast after he'd had it out.. washers left off, lost cap screws replaced with bolts which could no longer be removed, missing components, fittings with 3 bolts and the 4th left off .....just a litany of incompetence too long to write down, showing a completely cavalier attitude to his job and profession and the saftey of the people who have had the misfortune to use him.
Anyway, twirp comes back to bite yet again .

Here's hoping they can get it done, certainly won't be for lack of effort.

edited for language.

[Thad]

Good luck! Here's hoping for a great cruise, avoiding the masses and the sea mounts.

[Robbie 2]

Have a good trip John B...........look forward to photos and report.
I once carried a 6 metre mast on my car roof rack and there was a little more sticking out the back and front then I would have liked. I had red cloth tied on to both ends but was still hoping that I didn't attract the attention of the authorities.

[Steveh]

Biff it on the roof John, did it with the gaff off Ngatira. I think the legal limit is 4m or 3m from the rear axel and 3m from the front of the passenger seat. Odd that the passenger seat is a bench mark, just push it forward as much as it will go and you've gained 30cm! I think I was just a little over, nah looks bang on to me. Did drive back from Haruru Falls under cover of dusk and darkness though.

[Larks]

Plonk a trailer on that towbar and there's no chance of anyone not seeing the boom until it comes through their windscreen.

[Robbie 2]

I also once used the cover of darkness to drive home with a mast on the roof.

[Steveh]

Tried that once Greg, bringing home the old cut down boom off Ngatira and the new boom (9.5m) yet to be finished. Had the old boom crutch set up in the trailer and the boom swiveling off the front roof rack arm.

Result was severe cross over action when turning!! Had to laugh.

[Larks]

Kiwi ingenuity Steve!!! I look at these last few photos of yours and Robbies and am reminded of a photo that I once saw of a Kiwi "Beaver" pilot, who was flying fencing gear up into the high country of NZ somewhere. He had a load of fencing posts strapped accross the floats and another load poking out about 5' either side through the doorway. Goodness knows what the aerodynamics were like, but the photo was taken after landing, not before takeoff.

[Duncan Gibbs]

I also once used the cover of darkness to drive home with a mast on the roof.

I'll see your Swift with a long mast on top and raise you by six 6m long Oregon trusses!

[Steveh]

LOL. Trumped again. You win. Reminds me why I don't play poker.

[Phil Y]

Thats awesome Dunc. I once brought a tumlaren mast home on the roof of my morris minor, but the trusses are an excellent effort. Did you go to school with Mr bean?

[Steveh]

First tests for a mobile garage.

[Steveh]

An update on John's trip on Riadda II bound for Fiji via Minerva Reef. A little late in the uptake so don't have full info as yet. First position puts them half way to Minerva allready. Kirsty will post through when she receives them. The cleared Opua Sunday 13/5/12 after a short stop over for some stainless.

Consistent speed of 6.5-7.5 throughout.
Wind started 12, 15 and now 25-30knots for the last 3 days
Averaging 130miles in 24 hours

[Larks]

Thanks Steve.

[Thad]

Indeed!

[Steveh]

No info on sea state or wind on tonights position. Have a bit more info on what happened. Briefly, as I know John will fill us in on his return, they cleared customs in Auckland but after a crash jybe just north of Great Barrier they destroyed the chart plotter which bounced off John's head and a decision was made to put in at Opua to effect repairs rather than beating back to Auckland.

They seem a little off course for Minerva, perhaps due to weather conditions. Tomorrows position will let us know.

[Steveh]

Looks like they're still heading to Minerva.

Position tonight 18/5/12 at 18:23hrs

Lat 25 07 S Long 179 39 E
Co 000 @ 7kn
Winds SW 10

[Larks]

I take it they've purposefully stayed a bit further west this time to avoid the build up around that ridge?

[Thad]

May have worked but puts them on a run with the SW 10. Spinnaker time.

[Steveh]

Would have to concur with you on that Thad. Could be a bit rolly.

From Kirsty–

Spoke tonight at 17:37 hrs

Sitting in South Minerva – recons the fishing is Cr.....p
But then told me they were dining on 7 big crays ???!!!!

Leaving for North Minerva tomorrow – that’s if they can move those full bellies??

It must be good J

[Robbie 2]

[QUOTE=Steveh;3415054]No info on sea state or wind on tonights position. Have a bit more info on what happened. Briefly, as I know John will fill us in on his return, they cleared customs in Auckland but after a crash jybe just north of Great Barrier they destroyed the chart plotter which bounced off John's head and a decision was made to put in at Opua to effect repairs rather than beating back to Auckland.

These repairs..............are we talking about the Chart Plotter or John's head?

[Steveh]

Yes Robbie, knowing John as I do I would say his head is more bullet proof than any chart plotter! I remember John disliking the chart plotter immensely as it was a touch screen type and in certain conditions when rain drops would hit the screen it would have conniptions and go hay wire. I suspect John had it all planned and in fact had tied the main sheet to it and crashed gybed by mistake, "honest! where did THAT wind shift come from!!" only he didn't factor in it bouncing off his head.

From Kirsty.

Hi everyone,

Dave has just called via sat phone – at North Minerva tonight, leaving for Fiji tomorrow. Would you believe they’ve had 15 Crays so far?! They won’t want to eat our local crays when they return will they?

Until the next contact, take care and keep smiling.

[Steveh]

Sounds like hell huh? - Kirsty

21/5/12
Hi everyone,

Dave has just called via sat phone – at North Minerva tonight, leaving for Fiji tomorrow. Would you believe they’ve had 15 Crays so far?! They won’t want to eat our local crays when they return will they?

Until the next contact, take care and keep smiling.

22/5/12
Todays note.
Also an email from John saying all well, and they had a marlin tailwalking behind the boat a few days ago!
Lots of crayfish but no fish... looks like he might miss out on eating fish! He left here promising he'd try either wahu or the other one... the fish everyone says is the best tasting fish in the world!

C ya soon - irstyK

Hi everyone,

Dave has just called on sat phone, they’ve left North Minerva and on way to Fiji

Shane – message for you first – Did you shoot a “char” and DYE YOUR HAIR! J he cracked up when I passed on your message to him.....

Brett sends his love to Lesley and the kids – missing you.

Time 1735
Lat 22.50S
Long 179.17W
COG 327M
SOG 6 KT
Wind SW 10 KT

All very well on board, until tomorrow night, take care

[Thad]

Thanks Steve and Kirsty. Glad they are having such a tough time. Hope the rest of the cruise goes as well.

[Steveh]

Missed a few updates there. Been busy helping a mate press olives. The long and short of it is they have reached Levuka and cleared customs. Not much to report from Minerva, just a lot of water. Will sign out unless any noteworthy news comes to hand.

Message from John.

"Yeah the marlin was cool but nothing except a couple of bonito since. We're just out of Fiji now. Its a bit of a pain as we're running down under jib in an amplified trade wind of about 20 through 25 and 3 to to 4 m seas. Our timing isn't great as we'll arrive off Lafuka at midnight aand its a near lee shore. might be heaving to for the night."

[John B]

Thanks for doing the reporting Steve.excellent.
I signed off in Savusavu and flew home sunday night. Because of the damage to the helm station and the opua detour we lost our perfect weather window and left a couple of days into that next depression. It stayed low but we caught the tail of what Bob Mc Davitt( local weather guru) described as ' a beast' as in " Avoid this beast". So we got smacked around a bit in pretty large seas and wind up to about 40 through 45 I guess. Our days runs look slow because we often would sail 10/ 10ths through daylight and then shorten down for the night. So we'd be surfing at 10 , 11 and 12 knots with constant 9's under storm jib and seriously reefed main, but heave to or fore reach at night .One night running , we took the main down and run under jib alone all braced up with running backstays.
And then , again as a consequence of that lost window , we sailed into calm and motored for a day to make south minerva at 10.30 in the am just in front of a warm wet front with black clouds and a dire appearance. The west in the track was from our second departure point and around the 17th we were then sailing a compromise angle to find the best/ safest track relative to the sea state and wind direction. We did that again after Minerva and would run out to port of the rhumb line for a day and then gybe over to keep the wind off at say 160 or so relative to the boat. Big seas, we'd yaw 30 degrees through the waves so that made it all safe.
4 boats in at south minerva! , we headed straight to the reef to make the low tide and the mad buggers aboard jumped in holes with surf breaking and came out with a haul of crays for dinner. Fed 4 boats anyway.

[Larks]

Sounds like quite a trip John!! Welcome home.

[Thad]

Quite the concise and effective report!

[John B]

Heh, thanks guys. I'll upload a bunch of photos of sea with waves. They always look good.

[John B]

Heading out.. I like the funny looking sunspot effect. totally incidental of course.



sun comes up.



gets wavy



gets more wavy but of course doesn't look like it...



my home for a few days, my mustos.



minerva reef and the infamous chartplotter


...

I didn't like it ,and considering what it did to my head, it didn't like me.

[John B]

ah yes ... finally... South Minerva reef, an erie spot in the middle of the pacific ocean, it really has an atmosphere of its own with an encircling reef as far as you can see ,and out of sight for a lot of it.

Brett looks happy and so were we all.



we were watching that front as we came in.





...

[John B]

Didn't stop a quick trip out on the reef though





the three boat loads of Americans commented numerous times on the mad kiwis. A. sailing in 40. B. going in those holes.


I agree about the second part.



I wouldn't do it myself ,but those guys are extremely experienced and competent divers with no doubt thousands of hours and a lifetime of cray hunting/ diving behind them..

[Steveh]

Welcome back John. Another notch in the belt and twice at Minerva eh! Jumping in holes like that if you do it enough reduces the risk factor. A. Because you know what to expect with waves/currents etc, B. Where to find the critters quickly. To the uninitiated, shear madness. Reminds me of my old surfing days at Maori Bay and Bethel's Beach on the west coast. I wouldn't attempt it now on any big day though.

Thought you might have replaced the chart plotter for a different model giving your comments of it's performance or non performance in rain from the last trip. Catch up soon for a yarn.

[Larks]

Funny how some words just seem to pair so naturally and prominently ......"mad" and "Kiwi's" being such a pair, though such a phrase formed by the pair often complemented by a useful divider word such as "bloody"....

[Duncan Gibbs]

Is that.... Boom roller reefing???



Looks neat!

Welcome back JB!

[Robbie 2]

Good to see you back JB.