Sunday 31 July 2011

Category One - Tiare Taporo III

Good morning,
We have recently completed a passage from the Bay of Islands, NZ to Noumea, New Caledonia and I wish to comment on the process of issuance of our Category One certificate.
Firstly, I wish to state that our yacht inspector, Lester Smith was unfailingly helpful and obliging throughout what became a most trying situation. I cannot emphasise this enough.
Our certificate was issued by Lester at Whangarei on April 22nd. 2011. Approximately 3 weeks later we proceeded to Marsden Cove Marina, Whangarei with the intention of leaving on a weather window we thought we had identified. However, the window evaporated (as they do) and we instead proceeded to the Bay of Islands. In the meantime the original certificate had expired and Lester faxed an extension. We eventually left but my partner developed a medical condition which meant she lost conciousness on board when we were about 80 miles north of the BOI. So we turned back and her condition was diagnosed as an airway blockage into one lung which caused oxygen deprivation. With treatment and medication she is thankfully now fine.
Then, after another extension from Lester we left again hoping to beat a low pressure system which was approaching. However, conditions seemed to be getting worse and so we turned back yet again.
I want to again emphasise that these decisions to turn back were made solely in the interests of the boat and its crew and were most certainly justified on prudent safety grounds. However, we were then back in the BOI with a well expired Cat 1 certificate with all the attendant bureaucratic nonsense that that entailed. At one stage we had 3 different answers from Customs in one day on what they would require for future clearance!! From "just another fax" to a completely new Cat One.
My point is that, while I have no argument with the concept of documented safety standards, I most certainly condemn the nonsensical situation of 30 days currency for Cat One. In our case it most definitely was a contributry factor in making the decision to sail at various times and in that pressured environment it can act in exactly the opposite way from that intended - i.e. to promote safety for small vessels sailing from NZ.
You would be aware that  picking weather windows from NZ's latitude in early winter is fraught at best and the pressure to sail within 30 days is a distraction that is clearly undesirable. I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that continuing to insist that the 30 day time limit stands is no less than another expression of the NANNY STATE attitude which we are all saddled with these days in all sorts of areas. I hope that you are able to view and consider these comments in an objective manner and amend the Cat One requirements to relieve yacht skippers from this needless distraction when making decisions in the best interests of their boats and crew.
It certainly won't be worrying us because we will not be returning to NZ on the boat and so will be free of these types of nonsensical requirements in future. 
Regards,
Jim Donald
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
c/o Port Moselle Marina,
Noumea,
New Caledonia

Noumea

We have been in Noumea now for 5 days and are enjoying the local life. It rained for the first 3 and has only lately cleared. It is a beautiful day today with a 10 knot SE and clear skies. We are sitting in the marina cafe which is a Wifi hotspot (free if you buy coffee or whatever) and enjoying the ambience.
The local food market operates daily until 1200 and has food to die for. Especially the seafood. Jim has never had so much Tuna Sashimi!! And Perrier Menthes in the cafe. We are doing most of our eating on board because the local cafes are very expensive and generally the food is quite poor. But with fresh food from the market - pates, salamis, hams, fruit and beautiful fresh vegetables - not to mention the aforementioned seafood - ooh la la!!
We cannot get onto Sailmail on the boat here in the marina because of very poor reception so please excuse us if we don't acknowledge any emails sent there for a few days. However, we will keep trying and may get through if the propogation improves.
Thinking of hiring a car and going up the island (400 kms long) in a few days then we will go down to the Isle of Pines. After that we will leave here for the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu.
Hope all is well and will be in touch again soon.
Lots of love
Jim and Jean  

Friday 29 July 2011

(no subject)

Hi
A brief message - we are hove to just over 200 miles SE of NC. We've had nothing but headwinds since the vicinity of Norfolk Is and both our self steering systems are out of action. We are hopeful that a more favourable wind direction from tomorrow will get us to NC by about Wed. It's been nothing but a passage of problems and we will be very glad when we finally make it. Otherwise we are well but battered and bruised from being thrown about the boat!!
Love from us
J & J

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Thursday 28 July 2011

Centre Ville - Noumea

Hi again,
Well, we've passed our first full day in Noumea and it has been uncharacteristically cold and raining non-stop all day. We had a jacket each which we had worn in Whangarei and almost didn't take with us but today was so unseasonable we dragged them out from under the forrard bunk and wore them most gratefully!! Our collapsible umbrellas (parapluies) were also very useful.
There is no laundry facility in the marina but 2 possibilities. So, first we dragged our huge quantity of washing to the other end of the marina only to be told by the person running the laundry there that she couldn't have it done before Monday. So, back again and we were directed to a laundromat in town not too far from the marina. They were very efficient but you cannot do your own laundry - it's a matter of dropping off and collecting later - the equivalent of NZD38 later! However, there were 3 loads so perhaps not so bad.
Sent an email to Fleming in Australia to get our windvane replaced and expressed the hope that any new ones are made from stronger material than corflute. Once we get to Australia we will look at getting a replacement made from something stronger such as Kevlar perhaps as it does take a beating.
Have to comment on our experience of the food here so far. Admittedly we have only eaten at the marina cafe and a pizza cafe in town, but we have found them to be uniformly bad. Very surprising, this being a French place but there you are. And a few years ago the marina cafe was reasonably good. However, as time goes on we will no doubt discover some better places. Only good thing about the marina cafe is that it is a Wifi hotspot so provided one buys a cup of coffee (about 250 francs) one can get free internet access.
We went to the market this morning and bought some wonderful fresh produce and fruit. As well as fish - it's a great fish market too and it operates daily. We bought a piece of the best Tuna we have ever seen and some Salmon. Tonight we had seared Salmon and Tuna Sashimi with beans and a great salad concocted by Jean and it was such a treat. And way less expensive and better than any equivalent ashore.
Tomorrow we have a local electrician coming on board at 0730 to look at our charging problem. Hopefully Jim's French will be up to the task although he spoke to Gerrard on the phone today and with Gerrard's broken English and Jim's broken French managed to understand each other!
We are feeling much more like people again now so hopefully the weather will break soon and we will be able to enjoy the place properly including the topless girls on the beach at Baie des Citrons!! With that to look forward to what more could anyone want? Speaking strictly for Jim of course!!
We will be putting a complete account of the passage from NZ on the blogsite in the next couple of days. Don't forget to keep watching www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
By the way when we got up this morning we found a 3/4 full bottle of Coruba on deck with a note from John from the NZ yacht "Vagabond" saying that he had to fly back to NZ and "in recognition of our 11 testing days at sea couldn't think of a better cause"!! Neither of us drink rum but it was very good of him and no doubt it will come in handy somewhere along the line.
Must also mention the engine - the trusty old Ford just kept trucking along and we were never so glad of that than when we were coming through the Boulari Pass with the Amedee lighthouse looming up through the murk in front and waves crashing on the reef either side of us with a 20 + knot SE blowing. We've done over 60 hours motoring to counteract the easterly drift and headwinds we were subjected to on the way up. At one stage we were 100 miles to the east of our course (rhumb line). We would have then gone to Vanuatu 1st. but needed to get somewhere where we could get our various problems sorted. So, here we are.
That's it for now folks
Love from us both
J & J(G)

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Tuesday 26 July 2011

Nous sommes arrivees en Nouvelle Caledonie aujourd'hui

Hi everyone
Just to let you know that we arrived here today. We were about 17 miles from the Amedee lighthouse at 0200 today and hove to. Then at 0700 when we had some light we got going again and headed for the Boulari entrance. A very fraught approach because we had rain and 20 + knot winds with almost zero visibility so picking up the channel entrance with huge waves breaking on the reef either side as we approached induced a very tense feeling. However, we found the entrance after a while and once through it was another 15 mile distance to Noumea. It blew over 20 knots all the way in and it was difficult picking up channel markers but actually easier once through the reef than finding one's way to Whangarei!!
We are now in the Port Moselle Marina and going ashore for an eagerly awaited meal. Then some sleep - probably a long one. We will be blogging all the complete gory details in a few days - we know you can't wait.
And finally happy birthday, Morgan from Aunty Jean and Jim.
Lots of love
Jim and Jean (Gina)

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Sunday 24 July 2011

Beam reach

Well, a much better sail today - in fact so much better as to be unbelievable after all our tribulations. We have a mostly 16 knot SW and we are now 170 miles from our waypoint off Noumea. We have been up to 7 knots but mostly between 5 and 6. It's balm for the soul. Won't be long now. Will probably sail all night too - can't waste these conditions. The ocean is beautiful - blue with a big long swell but no steep wind waves as we've had recently. We have reefed main, full genoa and staysail and the old girl has really picked up her skirts. She's just anxious to get to Noumea to show off to all the boys!! Talking about the Tiare of course!!
More news soon
J & J (G)

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Heaving to

Hi again
It is now 0700 on the 25th. and we are just seeing the dawn come up. Thinking about getting underway again soon. At least heaving to gives us some respite from having to be constantly on the helm due to our self steering systems failure. We can't use the autopilot because it uses too much power and we have limited generation capacity due to the fact that we can't use the engine to generate power because of an electronic component failure referred to earlier (Smart Charger!!). Then our windvane broke the actual vane which we replaced with a smaller one with great difficulty hanging out over the stern but for some reason we can't fathom it is not doing the job whereas it performed faultlessly for the earlier part of the passage.
Heaving to involves backing the staysail to the wind and lashing the helm hard over in the opposite direction which then causes the boat to lie still at an angle to the wind and waves. Still a bit bouncy but gives us a much needed rest. And last night we drifted in the right direction which is an added bonus. Well, nearly time to get going again so must send this and then get a bit nearer to NC. We have high hopes that the wind has finally changed in our favour and at a little less strength although still blowing 18-23 knots now. Forecast says SW at about 15. That would be ideal!!
Lots of love from us
J & J (G)
P.S. Don't forget to look at the website www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com for all our news.
P.P.S. What's the news? Has America defaulted and have the Maoris continued to close the Auckland Harbour Bridge??!!!!!!

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(no subject)

Hi
A brief message - we are hove to just over 200 miles SE of NC. We've had nothing but headwinds since the vicinity of Norfolk Is and both our self steering systems are out of action. We are hopeful that a more favourable wind direction from tomorrow will get us to NC by about Wed. It's been nothing but a passage of problems and we will be very glad when we finally make it. Otherwise we are well but battered and bruised from being thrown about the boat!!
Love from us
J & J

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Friday 22 July 2011

Tiare Taporo III

Hi
Just a quick message to say that after a somewhat difficult passage we are now about 250 miles SE of Noumea and are expecting SW winds to at last give us favourable conditions. Have been heading for Fiji the last couple of days!! And had a squall early this morning up to 35 knots. On the nose all day today up to 25 knots from the NW and quite big lumpy sea. Just the wrong direction for Noumea! We've had everything - 40 knots near Norfolk Is. and mostly in the wrong direction but settling down now. Won't be long now we hope and will give all the extremely gory details once we arrive!! Hope all well.
Love from Jim and Jean

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Wednesday 20 July 2011

(no subject)

Just to let you know all is well but we still have our power generation problem although we are making do with the solar panels and wind machine. We are motoring into a headwind 300 miles south of NC but at least we are heading in the right direction. Haven't heard from PJ yet!!"Russell Radio" <russellradio@clear.net.nz>
Cheers, J & J

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Tuesday 19 July 2011

(no subject)

Hi
Just a short message - all is well but we have a problem with battery charging so won't be sending any more blogs till we can fix it
Love
Jim and Jean (Gina)

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Sunday 17 July 2011

At sea!!

Hi to all,
It is now 1000 on the 18th. July and we are at 31 degrees 43 minutes south and 171 degrees 51 minutes east. Bit over 200 miles NW of the Bay of Islands. Wind is SE about 12-15 kts and forecast to go through east to NE tonight or tomorrow. The direction will suit us as we are east of the rumb line at the moment and our self steerer (Mrs. Fleming) will bring us round with the wind. Most of yesterday and last night we had so little wind that it wasn't much use and we've been motoring to try to get north as much as possible before the LP system coming across the north Tasman gets to us on Wed according to the forecasts (GRIB files).
Starting to get into the routine now and feeling better than at the start. That was quite a bumpy ride with strong SW but this much more gentle!! However, the LP system may hit us with 25 knots from the northerly quarter which we're not looking forward to. Not so much the strength but the direction. So, unless the current wind picks up and with it our speed, we may use the motor again to maintain progress ahead of the low.
Unfortunately we are not a 747 and our speed at best is only about a hundredth of that so our ability to avoid situations is limited. Still, that's what cruising's all about but we do think the term "cruiser" is quite a misnomer; there is often not too much cruisy about this way of life!!
Murray and Jo - would appreciate it if you could pass this on to Noel
With lots of love from us both,
Jim and Jean (Gina)

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Saturday 16 July 2011

(no subject)

Well we have finally got away. Left yesterday at 1200 and are now (1145 17/11) at 33 degrees 34 south and 172 degrees 48 east which is about 130 miles NW of the Bay of Islands. Got a 15 knot SE wind which is better than a northerly!! Motorsailing at the moment to charge batteries but have had some boisterous sailing last night with very lumpy sea and large leftover SW swell.
Will communicate again soon.
Lots of love
Jim and Gina

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Friday 1 July 2011

Fw: Tiare Taporo III

Well, we can hardly believe it either. We've turned back yet again. We started having doubts as we left the Bay of Islands yesterday afternoon and eventually decided to stop at the Cavalli Is. to try to think a bit sensibly about things and re-examine the situation in the morning. When we looked at the GRIB files this morning things had deteriorated markedly with the window closing up and the situation generally as described to Russell Radio as below.  It all puts us in mind of a French Canadian we met a couple of years ago in Whangarei when he was waiting for a weather window and he said "I think we'll die here"! They eventually did leave but returned before leaving finally. And another boat which also left yesterday returned today as well, which doesn't make us feel too bad. We had an unpleasant trip back against a big SE swell but fortunately the wind stayed below 15 knots - however, that was enough on the nose.  
Late next week things are looking much better - as always we'll keep you informed.
Cheers, Jim and Gina

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jim Donald <tiare_taporo@yahoo.co.nz>
To: "russellradio@clear.net.nz" <russellradio@clear.net.nz>
Sent: Friday, 1 July 2011 9:39 AM
Subject: Tiare Taporo III

Hi
Sorry to have to say that we are returning - again! We decided to stop at the Cavallis last night (where we are still) and on looking at the GRIBS this morning have concluded that the window has deteriorated markedly. Mid to late next week there is a very strong SW coming onto the area as well. The passage forecast we are looking at this morning has winds up to 30 knots and not below 20 for the whole passage with fairly high seas except for 1 or 2 days out of New Cal. With just the 2 of us we didn't feel it was prudent to continue in those conditions. We have advised Customs.
Sorry we didn't come on the SSB last night but were approaching the Cavallis in the dark so navigation was the priority. Maybe after the SW coming through the high which has been hanging round over Australia might finally make itself felt and a better window will result towards the end of next week or weekend.
We'll be in touch.
Cheers,
Jim and Gina