Opua In A Storm And Departure For Noumea, NC.

We received another big storm the day Mathilde and Matthieu arrived and had torrential rain and 47 kn wind, where loads of boats dragged anchors and one behind me banged into another boat, before I could call the skipper and get him back to his boat.

Finally we had a weather window - so did I think - and left Opua heading for Noumea, NC. The sail out of the Bay Of Islands was great, but once a few hours out, the wind picked up from SW - W and we ended up with 23-54 kn wind and waves of 2-6 meters. It was a hard and rough passage and these trips make me wonder why we sailors sail to NZ? The sail to and from are a horror and almost impossible without meeting bad weather, as the lows come from W-SW across the Tasman Sea with intervals of 3-5 days. Thus a trip to Noumea - 900 NM - will take 6-7 days and one will eventually hit a low.

A bit more details about the trip, although some repetitions:

My new crew, Mathilde and Mathieu (M&M) arrived Monday from Auckland, just as a huge storm was over Opua with torrential rain and about 50 kn wind. Many boats dragged their anchor and several were in trouble and knocked into other boats. I let out more chain and was OK, but ended up in the channel.

Thankfully  M&M did the last shopping on Tuesday , while I was amusing myself in the engine room sorting things out like the cooling systems on the Volvo and the Generator, as well as the heater system for the hot fresh water boiler. Fortunately I had spares which I installed.

Wednesday we cleared out of NZ and I was happy to get away from the arrogant and intimidating officials, that only had given most sailors a poor welcome. We lifter anchor at 10:30. The wind came up again and we set sails out of the channel and the beautiful Bay Of Islands and headed into the strong wind outside. The first 30 hours was very rough with 4.5 m waves and wind of 22-45 kn. Mathilde, whom had told me that she was a sailor and never gets seasick, did not manage well in this weather and soon went sick and ended up staying in the cockpit, where she stayed almost all the passage to Noumea, NC. In that weather the sailing was fast and I had to reef the sails a lot to be safe and not damage the boat.

Thursday, the weather was still rough and the Auto (steering) broke down again. So much for the repairs done in Grand Canaries and Panama. I had no spares for this, but managed to make a temporarily repair under the aft bed, a couple of times, before it broke again. Mathieu did the final repair by using a big Shackle. It did hold for the rest of the trip.

Friday, the weather started to improve and we had a slower, but pleasant, sailing most of the day with no rain, but the waves were still large. In the afternoon, we reached the easterly wind and the speed improved nicely. We could then hold a nicer course and this was the Trade Wind we had reached and the temperature increased nicely. I could then head more north which was the tactic, as I expected more strong east wind by Saturday with Gale force 8 BF (30-40 kn) and 3.5-4 m waves. We would then be able to ease the sheets a bit and head for Noumea, on a more comfortable course of NNW course, as the waves would come from more aft. The forecast was that the strong wind would be with us until we would reach Noumea.

Saturday 02 May 2015 at 06:34.

Great sailing condition the last 12 hours with 15-27 kn wind mostly from the east and acceptable waves of 2 m. Our speed ranged from 8 to 10.7 kn and I had to slow down the boat at 03:00 to get a more pleasant sail.

The wind started to change again and I still expected we would get stronger winds the coming days. That is exactly what happened. One positive thing is that the temperature was increasing as we  headed north. The water temperature approached 24° C, up from 18° we had in Opua. We are only three days out from Opua, but the increase in temperature is very noticeable and greatly appreciated.

Fortunately the steering repair was still holding and I continued to set the course and sail in such a way, so it did not strain the steering more that needed.

Mathilde seems to be getting a bit better and has ventured inside the boat, but sleeps in the sofa, which I do not like at all, as we have then no place to sit while reading or changing foul weather gear, since she took the lowest sofa, which is the only place we can sit while the weather conditions are rough.

During the evening we reached the strong east wind that was forecast in the GRIB files. That forecast showed that we should continue to get the east Trade Wind of about 20-25 kn, but we got 20-35 kn, right into Noumea.

We had by then passed the half way mark. My French friends Alain and Anne of S/Y Uhambo – a Hanse 43 yacht – who left Opua about the same time as us, was by then about 110 NM behind us and I had lost VHF contact with them, but we emailed each other our positions each day. They told me that they had been motoring a lot for two days, which was surprising, as we had had strong wind most of the time. But by then they had entered the Trade Wind belt and sounded more happy again.

Sunday 03 may:

This was an unpleasant day and very rough. We had Gale force wind and from the ESE, which was not forecast. During the night the Port Running Back Stay broke and fell on the deck. So much for the rigging work/check I had done in Fiji. The steering continued to hold.

The 12 mm SS wire broke inside the fitting.

Monday 04 May:

It continued to be a very rough ride and the waves had increased to a massive 6 m, which is well inside the danger zone for most sailing boats. The wind settled at 23-30 kn, so Mathilde is not too good. I  started drafting the usual “to do list” and  it soon became three pages. Thus, I think my time in Noumea is likely to become another working stop.

The rest of the trip continued to be rough and unpleasant. It was so rough that I did not feel like writing about it. In the end as we came closer to NC and was the last 40 NM protected by the reef, we had a pleasant sail in the strong wind but without the waves. Mathilde improved and even cooked breakfast for us. I slowed down the boat so as to arrive at the Médée Pass at daylight and not too much current. The Médée light tower is a massive 53 m high tower and was designed by Eifel (Paris Tower). It was manufactured in France and shipped and assembled on the island. It is a great land mark and guide sailors through the dangerous reefs surrounding NC.

We dropped anchor at the Bay de Orphelinat and went for a good and needed sleep. S/Y Uhambo arrived in the afternoon and dropped anchor just behind us.

I should not make negative comments in this blog, but some comments on NZ are needed as these was difficult to accept and manage for me and so many others. To be brief, I got fed up with their inefficiency, slowness, high prices, poorly done work and for never keeping to their promises. I lost a huge amount to time and money with this mentality. I believe that 10-20 years ago, NZ had a great reputation for good work, at reasonable prices. That might have encouraged many companies and workers to set up shop and likely has attracted many less good workers to come to NZ, etc.. Now this, for me, have all changed, with silly people, expensive bills, poorly work done, etc., etc.. Have they become the victims of their own success.

One example is that a company would change me NZD 8.000 (EUR 5.517) to polish the fiberglass of my yacht. That is a completely ridiculous price. In Panama I had it done for USD 400 (EUR 357). And I could give more examples, with the Rigger, Mechanics for the Volvo and Generator, etc.. Well I wish the NZ’s well and good luck and they might need that, as all of the sailors I met while there, complained bitterly about the high prices and poorly done work.