New Zealand – ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’ 20 October 2009

No 1, Chef, Crew, Genius

3rd Mate Keeping Clean

Brian, Ken, Terry

3 Monkeys Feeding

Leaving Moorea

No 1 and Brian relaxing on deck


Sister Ngaire and Neice Jan in Tauranga

Chief Steward at Work

New Zealand – ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’

20 October 2009

We made landfall in Tauranga, Friday 9^th of October.

We were extremely grateful and blessed for our safe arrival of ourselves and AC back in New Zealand after a long long journey that began in Corfu in December last year!!

You may recall our departure from Moorea was delayed because of continuing difficulties with our genset. At the same time our main batteries were losing their effectiveness and so we had to rely more and more on the genset being available to provide the power we need to run AC. The main components we need to have available at all times are the autopilot, refrigeration, navigation and communication systems.

We finally left Moorea in the early afternoon hoping to set our course due west. In fact we could not make due west because there was a rather strong southerly component enforcing us to travel west northwest. The seas were a little lumpy but not extreme. Our strategy was to travel west in the Trade winds until we reached a point between, and south, of the islands of Palmerston and Nuie. After that we would turn to the southwest and slide down the globe to Auckland. That was the plan but like most of our plans on this voyage what happened and what was planned to happen turned out to be quite different.

By the second day the normal north easterly trades had set in and we were making good progress in the right direction.

On this leg we had Brian McAra from Havelock North and Ken Everett from Sydney as our second and third Mates. They both independently asked if they could join us on this, our final, leg. For the first two days we did not require them to stand their own watch but they did accompany us on some of our watches as a means of them getting familiar with AC and acquiring their sea legs. On the third day we cut our watches in half assigning the midnight to 3 a.m. watch to Ken and the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. watch to Brian.

As you know the only other time we had anyone else on board during ocean passages was from St Thomas to Panama when Peter Riella from Melbourne joined us.

It was great to have them on board for the company they afforded and the shorter watches as a result of that presence. The extra burden of catering fell entirely to Lois which she cheerfully accepted and executed beautifully. Terry gained from the situation as some of the lighter duties were taken away from him. We continued to handle the deck work and they nobly assisted with cockpit activities, dish washing, cleaning and most importantly, preparing the first cup of tea of each day. Brian took on the role of head steward. In a survey conducted by the crew and Captain that role was voted the most important of all. We had a requirement that all persons on board should shower and have a clean set of clothes every day. Lois, Brian and Ken had to devote some time to hand washing clothes.

Other than the aforementioned responsibilities Ken became the ship's poet laureate. At some time in the near future we will publish his masterpiece when terms and conditions have been agreed. So watch this space.

And so the journey continued... And continued... And continued... And then the wind died... Unbelievable! It was time to start the engine which we did for a few days until we reached our threshold of acceptable fuel reserves. And we continued on and on and on.

When we reached the 29th of September Terry changed the clocks to New Zealand Daylight Time. That made it the 30th of September. His birthday. Originally we had hoped to celebrate that event in Auckland but no such luck. Fortunately the weather conditions were okay and his choice off rare fillet steak with green peppercorn sauce accompanied by a medley of vegetables including broad beans was enthusiastically devoured. Any restrictions on the consumption of accompanying wines and spirits were lifted.

As always our cocktail hour was the highlight of the day, every day. With only two of us that was the case but with four that was better. Many interesting conversations, sometimes with some exaggeration, were had. We had 22 such occasions.

We reached the Kermadec Trench after having turned left a point between Palmerston and Niue or at least a little below them. Brian described our time over the trench very succinctly and aptly... "When are we ever going to get out of this f....ing Trench; I didn't even know it existed!"

About 500 miles north east of Auckland (in a journey of 2500 nautical miles being 500 miles out is almost like being home... "Right"... No... "Wrong") the wind turned to the southeast and increased to gale force and on occasions to storm (that is Force 10 on the Beaufort scale).

For some days we went nowhere doing our best not to slide past the longitude of the East Cape. We so did not want to continue on to the Chatham Islands. We tacked back on two occasions only to end up within a stone's throw of where we had been 24 hours before. Finally the weather did turn to the North West but we knew we only had a window of 48 hours before it would turn to the south again. We elected to motor sail and head for Tauranga. We reckoned we had just enough fuel to make it.

At dawn on the ninth of October Mayor Island was 10 miles off our starboard bow. During the night we were able to sail for most of the time thus preserving our precious fuel. We docked at the Bridge Marina at 10:30 a.m. In the rain.

Welcoming us on the dock in now torrential rain was Lorraine (Brian's wife, also known as Doris) with a trolley of welcoming goodies albeit she could not come on board until we were cleared by customs. We had kept Customs informed of our lack of progress over the previous few days although they were expecting us to arrive in Auckland because Auckland had not passed the message on from Auckland to Tauranga. Nonetheless they were on board within 15 minutes of us arriving and cleared us with absolutely no problems or hassles. Once they left it was great to have a drenched Lorraine on board and that was not just because she was bearing bottles of champagne and vodka and many other things.

The next arrival was Terry's sister Ngaire and so we started the celebrations that have continued ever since.

That evening we went into town to enjoy a restaurant meal together. The next day, Saturday, Ken returned to Sydney, Judy and Dave Rouse, sister and brother-in-law of Lois arrived from Tokoroa and joined in the festivities for the next two nights. Terry's brother and sister-in-law Tony and Raewyn arrived back in Tauranga on Sunday. We accepted Tony's offer of his car as well as his hospitality. Sister Ngaire had provided a sumptuous dinner for us all prior to Tony arriving and so it was now his turn.

The weather for the first few days was cold and miserable but we did not care. We were here at last.

In preparation for our next leg to Auckland we took AC across to the fuel dock and in the process started up the genset. It failed, leaking freshwater out of the exhaust manifold. The weather forecast was terrible so we decided to stay put and invoke appropriate repairs. Having got that under way, what with the weather continuing to be inclement, we decided to take a break and drive down to Havelock North and the McAra's for a few days.

That is where we are at present. We expect to leave here Thursday 22^nd or thereabouts. We should be in Auckland after Labour weekend.

Love The Jolly Rogers (in New Zealand)

Mobile phone: +64 21 117 5403

Email: alphacrucis@110pct.com

Tahiti to NZ Leg

They Have Arrived!! Safe & Sound & Tucked up in a Marina in Tauranga. They got in at 10:30 this morning (Friday)

08/10/09

Day:22, Position:S3633,E17723, Miles to Go:088, Wind Speed:20, Wind Direction:225

Weather:Mixed, Sea State:Moderate

The predicted change to NW has not happened yet but we expect it some time before midnight. Winds were forecast to abate to 10 knots but that hasn't happened either. Meantime we are motor sailing on course for Tauranga at 6.0 knots. Our fuel supply should hold out especially if the wind comes into the NW.

ETA is 1200 tomorrow. 87 nautical miles to go for respite and rest and recreation!!

Love

The Jolly Rogers

They have progressed 18 miles since the last report and the positions are too close to seperate on this scale chart (click to enlarge)

07/10/09

Day:21, Position:S3618,E17842, Miles to go:0146, Wind Speed:25, Wind Direction:230

Weather:Sunny, Sea State:Rough

Distance to go to Tauranga 146 nm straight line. Of course we will not be going that way.

We are 80 nm North of East Cape heading for North Cape at present (1930 hrs NZDT).

The wind was supposed to moderate to 15 kts this morning. No such luck but is has come down to 25 from 35. Meant to go NW tomorrow evening and then NE at 35 with rough seas. What's new. That should get us to TG.

We have been battling strong and very strong winds out here for 5 days now. And we are still not there and not making Auckland but hope to make Tauranga by Saturday.

The social cost has been high. I have missed being the oldest best man in the Southern Hemisphere for a couple (Deserae and Matt) of younger generations whom Lois and I respect and like a lot. They are circumnavigators.

Yesterday Murray told us that Carole-Anne and Thomas from Atlanta Georgia had flown out to provide a special surprise and indeed it would have been. Business commitments require they return tomorrow. They were with us between Savannah and Charleston and Connecticut and Martha's Vineyard and London and Glasgow and the cruise to the Baltic. Bother!!

We are in contact with Customs/Immigration and Taupo Maritime Radio (ZLM) on a daily basis (1815 hrs) and like you they are probably wondering why it is taking so long.

Believe me if we could get to shore faster, safely, we surely would.

Will keep Murray and Matt posted each day until we arrive.

Love

The Jolly Rogers

06/10/09

Position:S3606,E17859, Nautical Mile to Tauranga:164, Wind Speed:35,

Wind Direction:135, Weather:Mixed, Sea State:Rough

We have a new destination... Tauranga. Distance to go is straight line to Tauranga.

Reason is that over the last 3 days we have been pushed SSE and have little choice than to make our landfall/clearance in Tauranga.

On our present course we will be lucky to make East Cape before tacking to the West across the Bay of Plenty.

Here is an excerpt from a message to Matt when we realised that we would not arrive in time to attend Deserae and his wedding in Queensland.

"With what we are experiencing and what we know we don't expect to be in Auckland before Friday or Saturday or later.

The low we encountered yesterday (was the 4th Oct)has deepened and broadened and slowed. The NZ Met forecast says they don't expect it to move off the North Island until Wednesday/Thursday.

Last night was appalling. Winds of 50+ at times. F10. Sort of "hove to" but did make some headway 20/30 degrees south of our track to AKL. No damage fortunately and no sleep for Lois and me.

Better (not much) today but the southerly winds we expected when the low should have passed over us have not eventuated because of the broadening.

At present we are (just) making course to the East Cape of the North Island. We are about 270 miles out. If this continues we will consider making our landfall/clearance in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty and even that will require back tracking.

This leg has been beyond belief. Light/nil winds after a few days and now all this over the past week. 18 days at sea so far. It only took 17 days on our AKL-Papeete leg against the prevailing weather.

It is with bitter disappointment and heavy hearts that we have to delay our trip to Australia. We were so looking forward to being with you on your very special day. However we look forward to spending some quality time with you within the next month."

Last night and today we have made slow progress in rough conditions. What's new.

Hopefully the low will move off and leave us in manageable conditions. We will make Auckland...eventually!!

Love

The Jolly Rogers

05/10/09

With what we are experiencing and what we know we don't expect to be in Auckland before Friday or Saturday or later.

The low we encountered yesterday has deepened and broadened and slowed. The NZ Met forecast says they don't expect it to move off the North Island until Wednesday/Thursday.

Last night was appalling. Winds of 50+ at times. F10. Sort of "hove to" but did make some headway 20/30 degrees south of our track to AKL. No damage fortunately and no sleep for Lois and me.

Better (not much) today but the southerly winds we expected when the low should have passed over us have not eventuated because of the broadening.

At present we are (just) making course to the East Cape of the North Island. We are about 270 miles out. If this continues we will consider making our landfall/clearance in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty and even that will require back tracking.

This leg has been beyond belief. Light/nil winds after a few days and now all this over the past week. 18 days at sea so far. It only took 17 days on our AKL-Papeete leg against the prevailing weather.

We have decided now in light of all this to to postpone our trip to Australia which of course means not making the wedding but it is not to be, very disappointing. However we will catch up with the newlyweds when we head over there in a few weeks.

04/10/09

Apologies for the huckery chart but they are between my two charts - East & West Parts of the World.

Day:17, Position:N3259,W17924, Miles to Go:0366, Wind Speed:15, Wind Direction:315

Weather:Fine, Sea State:Light

Destination Auckland we hope.

"So close and yet so far"... that is us at the moment. On Thursday (1 Oct) we only had 520 miles to go. Since then we have had strong SW winds such that on Friday we thumped into it on both tacks making a pitiful and uncomfortable 13 nautical miles. Saturday was worse with only 7 miles in 24 hours. Sunday the winds lightened a little making 88 miles headway but still uncomfortable, especially for Lois keeping us all nourished in addition to her many sailing duties.

Yesterday the winds veered from West to NW allowing us to gain 105 miles. Heading into winds of over 30 knots is something AC and we do not like. Today things are better as we are holding our course and achieving over 5 knots on average.

We don't expect that to last. Gale force winds are forecast ahead of us. Our ETA Auckland probably is between Wednesday evening and Saturday sometime depending on the actual weather. As reported in the previous update we don't have enough fuel to motor or motor sail, even if we could in these conditions.

The good news is that we have no "Mal de Mer", are warm, dry and fed. Naturally we would love to be in Auckland, or anywhere, rather than out here with such tedious progress.

Hope to see you sometime soon...yes really!!

Love

The Jolly Rogers, Brian and Ken.

29/09/09

Day:13, Position:S2918,W17437, Miles to go:0697,

Wind Speed:05, Wind Direction:045, Weather:Cloudy, Sea StateCalm

Destination is still direct to Auckland.

We have been motoring and motor sailing for the last three days. Calm or light conditions.

We used 3 of our 4 fuel tanks and 3 of 4 60 litre containers. At present our day tank is full but will run out sometime tomorrow. After that we will hold the forward port tank and the last 60 litre container in reserve.

Current weather fax prognoses and grib files suggest the wind will be moving to NW tomorrow and then backing through West and then NW in the next 72 hours. Also it is predicted to increase to 30+ knots. Hope not what!!

That makes setting an ETA rather difficult. My guess is 5-7 days from today.

As we are in the GMT + 12 hour time Zone we are operating on NZ time. Changing the clocks this morning and shifting ahead a day meant we lost September 28th. It does mean I will be celebrating my Birthday tomorrow, hopefully before the heavier weather hits us.

We are all well on board, even having chocolate coated ice creams during a Matinee Movie yesterday. Mate Ken just loved that touch from Lois.

Other than the weather outlook our biggest problem will be consuming all the food before Customs come on board and confiscate heaps. Touch wood... everything is operating as it should.

Love
The Jolly Rogers, Brian and Ken

23/09/09

Days at sea:08, Position:S2139,W16425, Miles to go:1412

Wind Speed:15, Wind Direction:135, Weather:Sunyy ,Sea State:Light

Destination is now Auckland. We have been making only moderate speed albeit the conditions are very comfortable and we are making our planned course very easily. None the less we are unlikely to have time to call in at Opua if we are to make our flights to Sydney on the 8th with some time to spare.

Our 2nd and 3rd Mates have settled into the shipboard routine taking their turns on "watch" and helping with other duties. Brian continues to be an excellent steward (a vital role)with Ken acting as our maintenance and engineering assistant. They both share galley and general cleaning tasks!

Three days ago our watermaker blew a hose fitting. After three attempts to rejoin the offending coupling we managed to get it working in mildly difficult circumstances using the combined resources of Captain and crew and gasket cement. Lets hope it holds for the rest of our voyage.

Lois (now addressed as "No 1") attends to everything... sailing operations, cleaning and cleaning standards, cleanliness (ship and personal; clean clothes and showers every day for all of us for example} and then before and after cocktail hour prepares the evening repast which is always world class.

This morning after dawn our new Gennaker ripped about 1.5 metres into the sail itself from the clew. Conditions were light and that should not have happened. At present we are moving at a healthy 6 knots under full headsail, main and mizzen. Very p....d off about the Gennaker so hopefully Doyle Sail Makers will honour their 2 yr warranty.

We are all well and in good spirits and hope you are too.

Will report again in 3 or 4 days.

Love
The Jolly Rogers

19/09/09
Days at Sea:04, Position:N1823,W15627, Miles to go:1846,
Wind Speed:12, Wind Direction:090, Weather:Fine, Sea State:Light

Destination is Opua in NZ. That could change to Auckland depending on progress and/or weather.
First two days out from Moorea we had moderate winds 25+ knots from the NE which veered to East. Seas were 3 metres with squalls.
Last night things have moderated to 12/15 knots with 1 metre swells.

Hoisted the MPS (Spinnaker?) after midday. According to our Grib files these conditions should continue for the next few days. Very comfortable but not fast. Day's run have been 121, 128 and 111 nautical miles so far.

As you know we have Brian McAra from Hawkes Bay and Ken Everett from Sydney on board. Brian spent 8 weeks with us while we were in Greece. Ken has sailed extensively on our previous yacht "Acrux". Brian and Lorraine sailed with us some 13 years ago between Bora Bora and Papeete on "Acrux". Would you believe they independently asked if they could join us on our last leg! After considering the effect that may have on our well practiced and entrenched processes and space agreed "Why Not".

For the first two days L&T let them settle in and get used to being back at sea. They separately kept us company for part of our night watches. Tonight things change. They will take 3 hour watches themselves allowing us to reduce our normal 6 hour watches to 3 hours as well. Other duties will be allocated as we progress!
Have the line out but no luck yet!


Love

The Jolly Rogers

Moorea Tahiti – 16 September 2009

We are leaving today bound for New Zealand!!!

We traveled over from Papeete Sunday to spend the last couple of days in French Polynesia in the lovely lagoon in Opunahu Bay. We have had a pleasant time doing some the last few jobs, dominated by the fact that Terry has worked long and hard to rid the genset of an annoying knocking sound which didn’t disappear with the initial new mounts brought from Australia by Ken (3rd Mate). However finally yesterday we were happy to report the genset is ‘quiet’!!

Ken arrived from Sydney on Thursday evening to join us which completes our crew of 4. I must admit it seems strange to have people with us preparing for passage, but it will be great to have their company and support.

The weather overall in the last two weeks has been fairly average, lots of wind, cloud and rain however like the first week after our arrival, this last few days it has been magical. We had cocktail ashore last night for a change and enjoyed the sunset looking back at AC. We are happy to report she is looking great. Brian and I have been doing lots of cleaning – let’s hope she looks as good on arrival!!

Estimate of time frame of our passage will probably be 15-18 days but of course it is all dependent on the weather. We will head mostly west just short of Tonga then south west. It looks as though Terry’s birthday may be spent at sea!!

We hope to clear in at Opua and then make our way down the coast to Auckland.
Naturally we want to orchestrate our arrival into Auckland on a nice day as we sail/motor up the harbour to Westhaven, so we may stay with friends Dean & Glynnis Ryder in the Bay of Islands to wait for the right weather.

As usual our friend Murray Aldridge will update the blog en route.

Looking forward to seeing many of you on our return – we are so excited!!

We have a NZ mobile number which will work once in range of land - +64 21 1175403

Hard to believe this is our final leg home! Excited that we are nearly at the end of the long journey which started in Corfu in December last year and sad, that our adventure is nearly at an end!!! But there will be more to come no doubt!


Love the Jolly Rogers on board Alpha Crucis….heading for the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’

Moorea, Tahiti - 5 September 2009

Passage Making as it should be!!


Our Large Furry Friend "Sam the Sealion"


Giant Tortoise in the Galapagos


Grand Daughters at dinner ashore.


Nicole and David at rest


Sophie and Nicole cavorting in Paradise


Sophie Showering with Style


Lorraine (Doris) and Brian in Moorea


Captain Daniel


Moorea, Tahiti – 5 September 2009

You could describe the first 25 days of our passage from Galapagos as mostly great and uneventful, particularly the first two weeks, where we were making 150 plus nautical miles per day – our best being 170. We were delighted with this progress but unfortunately the wind died for the subsequent 3rdweek to a stage where for two days we were totally becalmed – at this point we were in the Tuamotu’s. We were within 200 miles of Tahiti.

Then the wind arrived with a vengeance which was ok but extremely uncomfortable as we were hard on nose in order to make Tahiti. At this point, as we tacked, our forestay gave way. Of course it happened at night – 9.30pm to be exact. Firstly there was a ‘bang’, almost unnoticeable with the sound of the howling wind and then it bowed out and snapped. It fell into sea on the starboard side but was attached to the bow. And our head sail was reefed so when it fell in the sea it was firmly wound around the self furling gear and rigging otherwise, for sure, we would have lost the new sail we had made in Sotogrande.

As you would appreciate both Terry and I were in stunned disbelief at first, watching these events unfold. The seas were rough and wind blowing 30+ knots and we are now almost stationary. Of course we fear the worst that the mast would be next but that thankfully did not happen. Terry is totally calm and collected and evaluating the situation on the forward deck and well me; I am in the cockpit shaking, trying to take it all in!!! The other fortunate aspect of AC is that she is well rigged particularly with the additional inner forestay.
I now can appreciate the value of the “belt and braces” aspect of our rigging.

So Terry secured the mast with halyards which took some time and then we attempted to try and lift the sail and gear back onto the boat. It was so so heavy of course; we couldn’t get it back on board. After a bit of juggling (as we had used some of the halyards to secure the mast don’t forget) we secured a line around the sail and used the electric deck winch to haul some of it on board and then I proceeded to lift all 71 feet of the gear including the sail back on board foot by foot – phew what a relief that was – to our pocket as well!!!

Next issue – we were drifting towards an atoll so of course we had to address that. We have little fuel and now the autopilot is not working so we bite the bullet to motor 8 miles away from the Island so we can drift overnight with the wind, out of danger.

About 1am Terry lay down in the cockpit and I lay on the saloon floor exhausted, to try and catch some sleep.
The next morning we hoisted our spare jib as a mini spinnaker but decided that it was too windy to leave up – at this point the wind was increasing and continued to blow 30-45 knots for the remainder of the two days. We were concerned that it was too much pressure for the mast.
So we continued on with a double reefed main and our faithful mizzen sail.

Oh boy – so close and yet so far – great expression and very appropriate for our situation at this time – we couldn’t believe our lack of luck!! However as any sailor must, we had no choice but to rationalize that we were at least safe and so was AC. We were grateful that we were in equatorial waters and not in the North Atlantic.

Our autopilot continued to have the odd hiccup and in fact the last 12 hours – we had to steer a lot of it as the seas were rough with lots of swell and it couldn’t handle the gusts with the unbalanced sail configuration.

As we rounded the Pointe Venus 10 miles from the main entrance to Papeete harbour all is well and as you would appreciate we were excited and relieved to be nearly there!!!
As per usual a quick tidy up – candles out – dinner on – champagne poured and we are nothing less than ecstatic.

We have been in French Polynesia over two weeks now – not sure quite where this time has gone! But mostly the weather has been excellent (apart from a few days when it rained and blew) and Tahiti is everything conducive to the ideal perfect cruising environment. In fact we would say ‘so much better than the Mediterranean’.

Two days after we arrived Nicole, David and the grandchildren Amy, Daniel and wee Sophie arrived for 6 days. This was their second attempt to time a visit to Tahiti to visit us – the first being in July which of course we didn’t make and although our timing was razor sharp we made our rendezvous with them on the 17th – phew it was close. We were exhausted after 27 days at sea from Galapagos and of course particularly the last two days when we lost our forestay but I guess our adrenaline and excitement at seeing them all kept us ‘keeping on’!

Given that AC had been at sea for 27 days we of course needed some reorganization to welcome our family on board so decided with one thing and another that the best solution was to take them and us to a hotel on arrival. So that is what we did. We meet them at the airport and went to the Intercontinental Hotel for two nights. That way Terry and I could by day complete what we needed to do to ensure that their 6 days with us was hassle free.

And indeed it was. The children were very excited about coming on AC, despite the fact the swimming pool at the hotel was very nice, they wanted to get going!!!! On Wednesday we motored off to Moorea and anchored in Opunahu Bay (we spent some here time in 2005) where we spent 3 nights and then Cook Bay for one night. The children were a delight and just loved swimming off the stern of AC enjoying the wonderful warm temperatures and clear waters. Little Sophie, now 2 and half, adapted amazingly well considering the last time on AC in Italy she was 7 months old. David and Nicole took us all shore for a wonderful dinner in Cook Bay – the highlight for the children were watching the stingrays gathering around our dinghy. It was such fabulous quality time with great memories.

They headed home on the Monday morning and our special friends Lorraine (Doris) and Brian McAra arrived on Friday morning. We spent the four days in between getting AC in shape (the growth she had acquired on passage was the worst yet including a little mussel farm on the bottom of the stern) as well as ourselves and provisioning.

It was great to have Doris and Brian on board again - they spent considerable time aboard with us last summer in Greece so they are familiar with the drill. We headed off to Moorea again in Opunahu Bay and kicked back and relaxed and enjoyed! One of the days we hired a car and drove around the island with a stop at a very nice restaurant over the lagoon. The weather that day was rather cool and windy however it didn’t deter our fun day. That night we had 40 plus knot winds in the lagoon and both Terry and I slept in the cockpit on anchor watch – you wouldn’t believe that could happen at this time of the year in Tahiti!!!

We met an interesting young couple, Mike and Veronica, anchored next to us who we had drinks with on AC and went ashore with them one evening for dinner. He is English and she is Italian but they live in California. He is a Film Director and has worked in Hollywood with movies, documentaries and particularly advertising. He had some good stories about people including some celebrities. She is a singer and in fact sung a few songs at the Restaurant we went to.

Doris left Friday morning to head back to NZ and Brian is staying on to do his first off shore adventure and our last leg home to NZ. Again it was a wonderful few days to catch up and fabulous to think that as we are so close to being home it will not be long before we can do this again in NZ.
We arrived back in Marina Taina on Thursday and luckily the first process of fitting the new rigging for the forestay started immediately and was completed yesterday. Good to know that everything is now secure again.

Our plan is to provision for our passage and head out to Moorea again and then onto Huahine and Bora Bora for a few days relax and wait for our 3rd mate, Ken Everett, to arrive from Sydney on the 11th and then we will head off to NZ. So this leg we will be 4 souls!!

We hope that we will be back in Auckland by the 30th of September which is Terry’s birthday – a few celebratory drinks with family and our old friends.

Meantime we are making the most of the beautiful weather and enjoying cocktail hour in a most pleasant temperature…

Our local number is +689 323524

Murray of course will keep you posted of our progress towards New Zealand once we head off around the 13/14th of September.

It has been a long journey from Corfu where we started in late December!! We are nearly there……..!!!!

Love

The Jolly Rogers


Day excursion.

Galapagos to Tahiti

Click to enlarge image

Nous Arrivons!!!!

AC dropped anchor in Papeete Harbour at 2030 local time after 28 days at sea. Whew.

Just after we sent the update this morning everything weather wise changed for the worse. Strata cloud formed and the winds and squalls got up to yesterday's velocities. This evening as we approached the Island it got worse such that we (mostly Lois) had to hand steer for the last 4 hours. The Auto Pilot could not cope with the gusts and general conditions. We dared not veer downwind too much as we were only going to get one shot at making it. Achieved that and rounded the Northern headland on our limits and at speed. After half an hour it was relative calm and bliss. And everything held together.

Thanks for your offer to arrange things Matt but we will be OK thanks.

Nicole is getting a separate message.

Love

The Very Jolly Rogers

Read blog 14/08/09 below first!

0945 Saturday here. 60 miles to go.

Weather has moderated slightly since midnight to make things a little more tolerable. Still 2-3 Metres swell but the spume and streaky seas have mostly gone with normal 25 knot whitecaps. Except for a few rainy squalls in the early hours the day is now bright and sunny.

Both of us managed to get some sleep overnight finally.

Most importantly everything is working well so hopefully we should be anchored in Papeete Harbour some time around midnight.

Love

Terry and Lois

14/08/09

Day:27, Position:S1623,W17424, Wind Direction:0140, Wind Speed35,135

Weather:Mixed, Sea State:Rough

This is not a full report which you will understand in a moment. That will come after we arrive in Papeete.

The good news is we have finally cleared the Tuamotu's and we are on track to Papeete arriving some time tomorrow night with 145 nm to go. Saturday here.

Without motoring and in light airs getting through was a challenge. Yesterday we were becalmed from 0200hrs until about 1400. Then the wind roared in from the south. We had to skirt around the last atoll in our path. At about 2100 we were under 50% reefed headsail but had to tack out to sea from the precincts of the atoll.

Bang... Down came the headsail, furler and forestay into the sea alongside. The mast stayed thank goodness. Shored it up with two halyards and then L&I proceeded to winch the mess aboard using ourselves and our electric deck winch. It was blowing in excess of 30 knots and very rough. Used precious fuel to position AC 6 miles clear of the atoll so we could drift northwards towards bigger atolls hove to until dawn. Getting mobile took an hour or so then we hove to after midnight.

This morning further secured things and re rove the halyards. Checked the inner forestay and the 5 shrouds each side of the mast. As far as we could tell all AOK. The two backstays are a bit loose but you expect that.

Set off with 2 reefs in the main and full mizzen. Winds still 30+ to 40+ from South but fortunately backing to SE. Seas terrible. More detail later.

Since then have made good but uncomfortable progress towards Papeete. Wind on the beam or slightly abaft so every reason why things should be OK until we get there. Almost no sleep and not much prospect. We were in a situation where we could not to go back so decided to press on.

Nicole... We are tired but safe and are looking forward to seeing you on Monday much refreshed.

Love

Terry and Lois

09/08/09

Day:22, Position:S1343,W14116, Miles to go:530

Wind Speed:08, Wind Direction:090, Weather:Sunny, Sea State:Light

Our new destination is Papeete with 530 nm to go. With current conditions we have decided to miss Rangiroa. We will have to leave that opportunity to a later time.

We are on the fringes of the Tuamotu's. In the olden times the area had several nicknames... "the Dangerous Archipelago", "the Maze", "the Archipelago of the Bad Sea". 77 low lying atolls which would have been a nightmare with sluggish ships before good charts, GPS and Radar.
We will cut through the more northern lot direct to Papeete.

Last report we had just started motoring in the hope of increased winds by dusk. That did not happen. We kept motoring for 4 24 hr days until 1020 hrs yesterday. 1020 hrs is when we measure our days run. Good news was that the swell has almost died and over those days we averaged 160 nm per day. Our main motor is relatively quiet but even so it does become monotonous after long periods of time. In the interests of saving fuel for our support systems for whatever time it takes to reach Papeete we turned the engine off, Since yesterday we have been plodding along under Spinnaker in light (very light) conditions. Our days run dropped to 112 nm. Those of you who have Spinnaker experience will know that the worst conditions are at the extremes of light, or heavy, weather. Not much sleep during the dark hours.....

This afternoon we changed course from Rangiroa to Papeete. To do this we had to gibe (put the Spinnaker on the other side) during which time the first squall for a couple of weeks came to visit. We were a busy and challenged crew for about a half hour whilst we got that lot sorted.

Presently sailing with our headsail in place of the spinnaker as we reckon we deserve a night of relative serenity, after all it is Sunday evening here! That will lose us some miles of course.

Lois has decided it is time for a treat which I suspect will be a dinner of succulent rare fillet steak with a myriad of accompanying vegetables and condiments...and Red Wine!!

Best wishes from...
The Jolly Rogers

04/08/09

Day:17, Position:S1117,W12839, Miles to go:1135

Wind speed:05, Wind Direction:105, Weather:Sunny, Sea State:Moderate.

Current destination is still Rangiroa but our chances of making it in time look marginal at present.

An important milestone today being the 4th of August. We left Auckland on the 4th just 4 years ago and here we are back in the Pacific on our penultimate leg home.

At the moment we are motoring would you believe. Have been doing that for two hours in the hope the trades will return at dusk in about 2 hours time. This is our second motoring session. The other was 2 days ago for about 3 hours if that.

For the past week the winds have continued to moderate but unfortunately the seas/swells have not. Our "days run" changed from consistently above 150 to a low of 130 today. In between it has been erratic but slower. Two days ago we hoisted our new Genaker for the first time and about an hour after having it in place we experienced a series of squalls so had to bring it down. Since then have fine tuned the tack and clew control lines and re hoisted it this morning. Then the wind died and we are waiting for the sea to do the same. ha ha. The launching/dowsing sock is just brilliant. Easy to use which is great for the two of us. A dream compared to our previous one. Naturally we have to learn the sail's idiosyncrasies which we should be able to do over the next 4,000 miles or so en route to Auckland.

Last night about 0300 we saw the only ship since the first day out of the Galapagos. Talked to the Captain who was interested in where we were bound etc, etc. He was a large container vessel bound for Papeete, Noumea and Tauranga. He changed course to keep out of our way.

We are in good spirits but you have to be here to appreciate the enormity and isolation associated with this huge Pacific Ocean from a very small floating wooden platform moving at 6 knots give or take.. Other good news is the "Cocktail Hour" is back and our shore support team keeps us up with the play when they can. Also the quality of our cuisine has been maintained at a high level. For example fresh Pancakes with roasted Pandanas with yogurt for breakfast a few days ago. Yummy and different. All Lois's good work of course.

Love to you all.

The Jolly Rogers.
31/07/09

Day:13, Position:S0851,W11902, Miles to go:1721

Wind Speed15, Wind Direction:110, Weather Mixed, Sea StateModerate

Destination is still Rangiroa. In the last 4 days we have not made 150 nm/day. The wind has gone ESE and moderated slightly. However we still could be in striking distance of Rangiroa in time to stopover... Here's hoping. Have been under full sail for the last two days.

If the wind moderates further we will launch our new Genaker but it is a little marginal at present.

We are definitely in Ocean Mode now with the days blending into each other as they do when we are relaxed, comfortable with our lot, and perpetually tired.

The only things since our last report is we passed the half-way point at about 0430 this morning and Lois landed her 3rd Mahi Mahi yesterday PM.

So far so good...

The Jolly Rogers

27/07/09

Day:09, Position:S0629,W110.06, NM to go:2272,

Wind Speed:25kn, Wind Direction:135, Weather:Sunny, Sea State:Rough

Today is day nine on our run from Galapagos to Rangiroa, a distance of 3543 nautical miles. We have … still 2272 to go and today's run was 161 nm, our best so far. We are making good progress having averaged 154 nm per day or 6.4 knots. If we can keep this up we will have time to stop at Rangiroa before continuing on to Tahiti. Proximity to Papeete, the fact that we have not been there previously, it is a clearance Port for French Polynesia, the second largest atoll in the world and the R&R could be good!

Papeete harbour is a place to be avoided. In 1996 in Acrux (remember her) and four years ago in Alpha Crucis we suffered damage due to excessive and constant wash waves from the inconsiderate large high speed ferries. Also our waterlines were coated in oily tar like goo which acted like Velcro to the copious quantities of flotsam passing by. The harbour is a dirty place. The Vista from the Quai de Plaisance on Boulevard Pomare belies the actual situation. All the visiting yachts lined up stern-to to the beautifully crafted Quay look picturesque but as the song intones "…from a distance." We will be heading to the marina area, not the marina, near Lois' favourite South Pacific emporium "Carrefor." This is past the Airport on the South side. On the "land" side Papeete is a fun place.

We seem to be in a consistent pattern of conditions at the moment and long may that continue. During the day the wind fluctuates between about 15 and 25 knots particularly with a variegated overcast sky. This requires a combination of adjustment of the headsail and altering course. We are talking about adjustments of about 6 times in a 12-hour period. On clear days the variation is less pronounced. At night pretty much the same but we cannot read the sky as well although now the moon is waxing it is getting easier. Sometime between 2 hours before and after dawn the wind usually dies for a while subjecting us to the uncomfortable effects of a 2-3 metre swell. This is from the SE with an overlay of SW making the motion rather cranky. Apart from the lulls we try to keep our speed between 6.0 and 7.5 knots; Our course to Rangiroa has remained a steady 254 degrees true…..and you thought we were having a South Pacific vacation out here!

Back to the voyage. On Thursday (23rd) Lois hooked three Mahi Mahi and landed the last one. Fantastic. Fresh Mahi Mahi for dinner. Delicious, washed down with a little Chardonnay. Friday same ritual hooked three, landed one. Friday night, (Pub Night) entrée of fresh Mahi Mahi sashimi, probably in excess. Main course was marinated hoison chicken…

Lois always takes the first evening watch 2100-0300. About 2300 I awoke feeling really uncomfortable and by midnight had chills and sweats with nausea. Not a condition I am all that used to. Repaired to the head where the experience of instantaneous projectile vomiting was a first. In unison Newton's third law "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" came into play. The law of "Conservation of Energy-Mass" then took over. With two streams of matter at near sonic speeds being expelled, the consequential loss of sensible body heat took its inevitable toll. Exhaustion, disorientation and quivering. The only upside at the time was that AC's head did easily double for a Hospital sluice room.

By his time (we are talking seconds) Lois was there. Lois (Nightingale) Rogers looked after me with TLC for the next 24 hours. It turns out that she was also not well herself experiencing similar symptoms sans the actual external phenomenon.

Both being well below par we just existed for the next day and night. My "Interest in things Nautical" Index, 100 being normal, declined to 50 by midnight and dropped to zero by one minute past midnight.

Lois did manage to produce drinks, soup, pasta and baked potatoes over our recovery period despite her discomfort. What a Gal! The enormity of this event is under written by the fact that Cocktail Hour has been voluntarily withdrawn meantime. Also we experienced our slowest days run of 147 nm which is not all that bad under the circumstances

It is now Monday here and we are back at full operational levels.

Communications from here to Tahiti could be erratic. Our contact with Murray relies on semi-automatic connection with radio ground stations. Out here the nearest is Corpus Christie in Texas and later it will be Honolulu. We will do what we can but the absence of regular contact is no big deal.

We will pick up messages to alphacrucis@110pct.com about mid August.

May the winds and waves of life be favourable for all of you as well.

The Jolly Rogers

22/07/09
Day:04, Position:S03:22,W097:20, NM to go:3059
Wind Speed:17, Wind Direction:135, Waether:Sunny, Sea State:Moderate

Destination is Rangiora in the Tuamotu's. Our strategy is to try and get there for R&R before continuing on to Papeete in Tahiti. It is on our track and only about a 30 hr sail from Papeete. We will stop there only if time allows it. As you know we are keen to meet up with Nicole, David and family August 17 or thereabouts. After that there is a possibility that others may visit. To early to be precise at the moment.

Our wind instruments are not working so wind information is based on the "wet finger" methodology. We went up the mast in San Cristobal to see if it was a failed connection but no such luck. Suspect the mast head unit has expired.

So far this leg has been what "trade wind" sailing should be. Cracked sheets, reasonable speed and comfort. We can only hope it continues. As we get further on we expect stronger winds with a little more East in them hopefully with eased sheets. Watch this space. We adjust the headsail and mainsail as conditions vary to get a good balance between speed and comfort with the latter being paramount. Comfort correlates with less stress and strain on gear and us of course. Our day's run each day so far has been a little more than 150 nautical miles. If we can maintain this our strategy will work.

In the Galapagos area and since the temperatures have been unexpectedly low. Even though we are basically on the Equator temperatures have been in mid 20's and lower at night requiring light covers for sleep. This is caused by the Humboldt current which flows up the Chilean coast from Antarctica and sweeps across this region in some years. Apparently this is what triggers the La Nina weather pattern that affects a great deal of the World's weather. We expect it to warm up substantially from here on. The Sun is on it's way back from the North.

Lois and I are acquiring our sea legs once again. It always takes a few days and we are always amazed how quickly we lose them once we are near land in the proximity of friendly people, bars and restaurants. But have no fear, Cocktail Hour is sacrosanct, and the standard of "on board" services has not declined in any way.

Have seen a couple of Tuna boats and have hooked but lost two fish... darn.

This is a long haul so we are just taking it a day at a time.

Love
The Jolly Rogers

19/07/09

San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands - 19 July 2009

We left San Cristobal at 1.20pm today bound for Tahiti!

We have been here for just on a week and it has been a pleasant and interesting stopover!
We didn't particularly want to stop here as we heard it is expensive and procedures with the authorities laborious! It was all of that but well worth it for several reasons - we got the opportunity to rest after our 12 day passage from Panama (which reminded us much of our journey east across the Pacific, hard on the wind) plus the opportunity to buy fuel. and got to experience a little of what the place is about!

We found only one person here in San Cristobal that speaks any English and he was a Naturalist therefore phrase books and dictionary are a help, otherwise sign language works well too!! However everyone without exception has been friendly and helpful made it so much more pleasant and welcoming!

It was opportune that the Australian couple, Adam and Bronwyn and children Jack (6) and Amy (4) arrived here before us so it was a warm welcome via the VHF on our night approach to guide us in. We have spent a bit of time with them during this week, which has been fun! They are on their final leg of their circumnavigation over the last 7 years - no mean feat in a 35 footer with two young children! We hope to catch them back in Sydney in the near future!
There are several yachts on their way across the Pacific at this time - mostly heading for Marquesas and then onward to Australia. Quite strange for us to have other boats heading in the same direction! This is the first time this has happened during our journey.


The town here is quite large with a rather nice boulevard along the foreshore. There are many restaurants however the best ones are family operated on the back streets - pretty scruffy but good food and you can get a meal for 4USD per person - not bad!
Provisioning is limited as you would expect as most things are imported from the mainland however they do grow in their rich volcanic soil some produce that is cheap! So managed to stock up on a bit of variety.

They operate an efficient and cheap water taxi service in the harbour so no need to take put your dinghy in the water, which has been so convenient. The reason they do it is because of the sea lions - not only hopping on board apparently but they also tip dinghies over as they climb aboard. We have had most days these furry animals sun themselves on the transom of AC and the large sea lions are territorially aggressive as well.

We hired a taxi on Friday to have a look around and went up to the Volcano Lake. It was raining and misty so it wasn't ideal but it was pleasant. As we were making our way down the coastline on our approach to the Island the landscape reminded us of a desolate moonscape so it was interesting to view such luscious inner terrain. We also viewed the Interpretation Centre, which explains the history and the theory of Evolution - quite fascinating!
The highlight for me was seeing the giant Tortoises in their natural habitat - some of them were huge! There are very few left now, after many centuries of being killed by buccaneers and sailors for fresh meat. They have been attempting to breed them in captivity for the last 4 years. They have only one success so far, a four years old. Subsequent attempts have improved which is wonderful!
Their natural predators are rats, dogs and cats - strange that they allow the locals to have the latter two!

Naturally there is an accent on Eco environment which is well communicated to tourists however they have a long way to go to teach the local inhabitants about rubbish disposal despite the fact that they have recyclable bins everywhere - there is heaps rubbish all over the place.

We employed the services of an agent who managed our clearing in process. Although he could speak little English we managed to communicate quite well. We were grateful for his help as he did make it easier for us and even then it still was onerous. He also arranged to have our fuel delivered on board - all 300 gallons in jerry cans. Of course you pay for this service but would have liked to see Terry and I try to manage that - not!! We paid 3.00 USD a gallon which is the 'international price' and on shore you can buy a gallon for 1.05 USD but foreign yachts are not allowed to purchase this - just one of the ways they keep the economy turning we suspect! This place has many pleasant surprises as we also managed to get our propane bottles filled.

It has been a great week and we have enjoyed mixing with the locals but it's time to push on to Tahiti! We are well rested and in good shape for the continuation of our journey. We have heard that the yachts that have left before us are making at least 150 nm a day - let's hope we can achieve this.

Good news, we had an email from Nicole earlier this week to say David has got a week off on the 17th of August so we may see them in Tahiti after all!.

Love, The Jolly Rogers

Panama to Tahiti Leg

Double Click Images to Enlarge Chart

Thursday 16/07/09 Thursday

Hi there,
Sorry we have been a bit slack with communication, but was about to send you an email but upon turning the computer on the screen failed. However Terry managed to retrieve and decided to test the mail system - hence you got in first with your email!!
Anyway we are rested and have taken fuel on board all 300 gallons (40 of which are in canisters) - quite a process via jerry cans however the agent etc were quite efficient.
We provisioned today and little more to do - limited but surprising what you can buy.
We are going on a wee tour tomorrow around the island and leaving Saturday. Terry dived down today to check the prop,but all AOK. Up the mast tomorrow first thing to try and fix the wind instrument which is not working. Otherwise we are in good shape.
We have spent a bit of time ashore wandering around - fairly basic however you can buy a good meal for 4USD each - fish, salad, rice and beans - not bad!
As you will appreciate everything takes forever - the process of checking in is onerous to say the least so you need about 3 days just to do that. However everyone pretty friendly.
they have water taxis operating for 50cent p/p during the day and one dollar at night so you don't bother to put the dinghy down! Besides the friendly sea lions apparently just tip them over. We have our furry friends come time to time to sleep on our transom.
Will send you the blog update when we leave ok.
Lots of Love
Lois and Terry

Saturday 11/07/09 AC has arrived in the Galapagos Islands!!

Alpha Crucis dropped anchor in Wreck Bay (Puerto Baguerizo Moreno), San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, at 1915 local time (GMT-6 hrs) 13 days out from Panama.

We are now in the Southern Hemisphere having crossed the Equator earlier today hard on the b... wind. We are almost exactly half way between Gibraltar and Auckland.

Cocktail hour was delayed in the interests of a safe night entry.

Love

The Jolly Rogers

Friday 10/07/09

Day:12, Position:0035N,8857W, Miles to go:098

Wind Speed:20, Wind Direction:180, Weather:Fine, Sea State:Moderate

Dist to go is ATCF. We will have to put in a board to Port sometime between now and our arrival as we are about 60 nm off track to the NE. Expect to arrive Wreck Bay mid afternoon tomorrow... or so we hope?

Since our last report have made reasonable progress considering we have been hard on the wind all the damn way on a port tack. Have had 1 reef in the main, full mizzen using the head sail to adjust for a compromise between direction, speed and comfort.

Pretty much we have maintained a speed of nearly 6 knots except in squalls or periods of increased wind when we have reduced sail to increase comfort. (In this context maybe "reducing discomfort" would be a more appropriate description}.

Yesterday, for a while at least, we were entertained by local (we assume) birds attempting and finally succeeding in roosting on the pulpit. This was viewed as a great photo opportunity. As the headsail was partly furled they managed to approach from both aft and forward attaching themselves to the stainless steel rail. One even landed and stayed on the port life-line. Maximum complement was 3 on the pulpit and 1 on the life-line. We are talking about very lively conditions.

These are relatively big birds. About twice the size of a standard Auckland Seagull. They have blue faces... truly. Hopefully we will find out what species they are after we arrive in the Galapagos.

Once Lois realised their capacity for defecating over the foredeck and beyond the relationship changed from friend to foe. Unbelievably they would not move until prodded with a boat hook. Armed with boat hook, bucket, brush and soapy water Lois valiantly removed them and cleaned up the resultant residues. Attaching supermarket bags around the landing zones in joggly seas was no mean feat but was accomplished just on dark. Meantime I had to keep watch over Lois of course and take care not to spill any Whisky... It was well into cocktail hour you understand.

Looking forward to a couple of days of being upright.
Love to all
The Jolly Rogers

Tuesday 08/07/09

Day:09, Position:N0259,W08255, Miles to Galapogas:466

Wind Speed:15, Wind Direction"200, Weather:Fine , Sea State:Moderate

Destination is now Wreck Bay, Isla San Cristobel, Galapagos. Day numbers are from Panama, not Las Perlas.

The day before yesterday we wandered around in very little breeze only making a 24 hr run of 29 miles toward our destination. Very boring and a little frustrating! To add to that in the early hours our Genset stopped. Bother... As Lois had had a challenging watch prior to that with moderate/severe squalls all on the nose I decided to hove to until she awoke mid morning. Then we started on the Genset. Fortunately it was only (ha ha) a broken vee belt so the whole operation including other maintenance took only a couple of hours. Meantime Lois catered of course and cleaned ship.

Because of slow progress and mild despondency due to a serious likelihood that we will be unable to make Tahiti in time to rendezvous with Nicole, David and family and other friends we thought we just have to cheer up and pretend we are starting our voyage to the Galapagos from that point. Only 550 miles or as we say - half a Tasman . After all we are safe, warm/hot and well supplied with food, wine and whisky. Who knows we may get great winds once we are in the Southern hemisphere trades.

So at about 1400 hrs yesterday we took the advice of our onshore support duo, Murray and Matt and motor sailed South, or actually SSE towards Ecuador in the hope of stronger winds albeit southerlies. Have made good progress over the last 28 hrs making close on 6 knots into it! Not in the best direction you understand but being in a better place to change tack for a more direct route (yeh). We have the slightly stronger winds but the real outcome.. Well you will just have to wait for the next installment!

Love to all of you and yours
The Jolly Rogers (trying hard)

Friday 03/07/09

Day:05, Position:N0609,W08059, Distance to go:0747

Wind Speed:12, Wind Direction:225, Weateher:Raining, Sea State:Light
Dist to go is to Isla Isabela in the Galapagos if indeed we stop there.
Thanks for all that great info M&M.
Have winds of 10/12 knots on the nose. Grib shows SW with Sthly further down the track. A high is shown between the Galapagos and Ecuador.
We just managed last days run of 144 nm under motor with light head wind. This was from San Jose in Las Perlas.

We will motor until tomorrow pm and take stock of fuel etc then and will let you know.

Welcome back to NZ Murray and back to Aus Matt.

I bet the farewell to Darcy Whiting was huge. What a wonderful icon to NZ Sailing he has been and will remain.

We have just been circled by a large unmarked military style helicopter and they didn't respond to our call!!
Love
T&L on AC

Thursday 02/07/09

Las Perlas, Gulf of Panama - 2 July 2009

We left Las Perlas at 1.20pm today bound for Tahiti! We are motoring into light head winds!

We spent last night in the one of the southern Islands of the Las Perlas group (Isla Ensenada De Bodega 008 15.5300 N 079 07.8899 W) in readiness for our departure today. From what we have seen of these Islands in the last two days they looked really unspoilt. Where we were anchored last night there was no sign of life ashore -just jungle. In fact you would almost expect some natives to come running out of the bush!!

We left Panama City on Monday afternoon after fuelling and spent that night at Tobago Island just 7 miles from Panama! We made our way to Las Perlas a further 30 odd miles to spend some time relaxing and doing our final few jobs - we certainly needed it as our last few days were chaotic and frantic!

We enjoyed our visit to Panama City immensely catching up with both Willie and latterly in the last week Mary Coffey. We had a little birthday dinner on AC for Willie on the 23rd which she really appreciated. Willie being a 'martini girl'…. We introduced to her some nice raspberry vodka martinis to commence the evening - it was nice for us that we could do that for her! Willie, who is lecturer (mainly on cruise ships) and writer since retirement from the Canal, gave us a copy of her latest book about the people you meet whilst cruising - we feature in it - probably about the closest we will get to being famous!

Mary had a great dinner at her fabulous colonial bungalow home for us in the latter part of last week - such a treat! She also spent a couple of days driving me to various supermarkets for provisioning. We had such fun together -lots of laughs - it was so good to catch up! Mary was born in Panama - her parents American - and she speaks fluent Spanish and drives like a very confident Panamanian - which is no mean feat! If you decide to drive in Panama City you have to be extremely confident otherwise you don't make any progress!

During the days I was provisioning Terry was attending to the Genset which has been causing him some grief with fresh water and oil leaks (separately) lately but is working ok now. He had to rebuild/modify the header tank!! The new voltage regulator, which arrived Thursday, we finally received Saturday due to a customs strike, is now installed and working fine. Boy Terry has been working hard in that very hot engine room - poor thing -but as you know he has amazing tenacity to get the job completed!!

Then of course to cap it all off we had a storm come through on Sunday and many yachts drifted where we were anchored -all of which didn't have anyone aboard at the time! To watch as events unfolded was amazing especially so when one yacht was headed for us. Luckily we got our anchor up quickly despite the 40 knot wind however that alone wouldn't have been sufficient, Terry had to drive up on to the anchor to avoid the yacht which missed us by only a metre -quite scary - boy that got my adrenalin going.

Anyway have managed to catch up on some sleep now - although the last couple of nights we had quite a lot of thunder and lighting so we were up and down checking things - there will be more of that to come as it the season! Terry has now rigged a few cables that perhaps may help if we get struck by lighting - let's hope that doesn't happen!

So when we head out we are going to head for the Galapagos in case the winds are light and we may have to pick up more fuel and same with stopping at the Marquesas. Ideally we would like not to stop at either. But if stopping means progress then we will do it.

So we are on our downward leg towards the Land of the Long White Cloud!! May it be a smooth fast ride!

As per normal Murray will post the blog updates and both he and Matt will give us their advice on the weather. Great to know we have their support!

Sorry about the lack of photos - difficult without a computer!

Love Lois and Terry

PANAMA CITY - 22 June 2009

We are excited that we are now back in the Pacific Ocean after 3 years since transiting the canal in May 2006! We are roughly half way home!! We had a relatively good passage from the US Virgins - we averaged 150 nautical miles a day except for our last 24 hours when we encountered quite a strong head current. At the time we were concerned that our prop had faltered but subsequently learned that it was indeed a strong current - phew that was a relief!!!

For the first time we had a third crewmember, Peter Riella, our friend from Melbourne, on board! He fitted in well and for his first passage and did admirably - it was great to have his company and his great sense of humor not to mention his willingness to assist where he could. Naturally he didn't do a complete watch but he was up and about during the nights to check that everything was ok.

On two consecutive nights on my watch, as a result of a freak wave, water came into the saloon porthole and the other where the computer went flying across the saloon and unfortunately came to grief on the floor in pieces, added to what otherwise could have been an uneventful passage for us. AC performed well travelling between 6-8 knots with following winds the majority of the time! We didn't get to use our new MPS and sock on this passage but have plenty of miles ahead of us for that!

We arrived in the Panama Region around 10.30pm on Thursday 11 June and stayed two nights at the Shelter Bay Marina. The Canal authorities came on board on Friday morning to complete formalities, however as we have transited before we already have an official number and did not need to be measured again so that sped up the process considerably. We were quickly cleared to transit and our agent in Panama City informed us that our transit over two days would be on Saturday.

We were once again lucky as we learned that many of the yachts waiting for transit were waiting up to a week!The whole transit process is extremely efficient! Because of the length of AC we get to have a proper Pilot and as previously they were excellent. Our line handlers arrived at the last minute as they erroneously went to another boat, threatening our slot, but once on board they were very organised and professional.

Peter and I acted as line handlers as well - Peter once again did well. There are 3 locks either side of the Canal - and we went through the Gatun Locks on Saturday and stayed in the Lake overnight. Our Pilot disembarked but we had to accommodate and feed our line handlers which was no problem.

The next morning we were all up at 6am however our next Pilot did not come on board until 7.30am (finishing in the marina on the Pacific side at 5.00pm) so it was a rather long day!We were centered tied on the Gatun Locks and side tied to the wall on the Locks on the Pacific side so Peter and I weren't really needed on the Pacific side. However we were very watchful of ensuring AC was well away from the concrete wall as we were lowered down in the Locks! As we exited the Mira Flores Lock and proceeded forward to spot the wonderful sight of the Bridge of America's - we are finally back in the Pacific! We were also pretty pleased that once again our transit went perfectly - I must admit I enjoyed the second experience much better - wonder why!!!We have been in Panama City in the Flamenco Marina now for a week.

Peter left us on Tuesday - his status deservedly upgraded from Deck Hand to Second Mate and very excited to have completed his new adventure!

We have caught up with our friend Willie Friar a few times (who we met 5 years ago on South American cruise and of course caught up with in 2006)! Willie use to be the Public Relations Director for the Canal when the Americans ran it so is a very well respected citizen of Panama. Already she has treated us to two excellent lunches during the course of this week, one at the Radisson preceded by Green Apple Martinis - unbelievably good, and yesterday at the private City Club. It is all quite painless with having her driver pick us up and drop us off!

Dinner on AC Thursday and tonight is dinner at her home, along with our agent Peter Stevens who is quite a character! So you see we are being well looked after in Panama! During the days we are endeavoring to tick off all the jobs we need to complete before we head off to Tahiti. New optical glasses for me - I managed to stand on my old ones in St Thomas - shock horror but fortunately, the process of replacing them here has been both pleasant and inexpensive relative to Europe and even NZ! Terry was not well and in bed a couple of days but OK now - we thought it may have been a virus but not the dreaded swine flu!!! I have also been to the doctor to have my leg checked out - X rays etc - and now on another course of antibiotics and anti inflammatory so hopefully the swelling on the my knee will subside soon.

Terry has a small salt water leak in the genset to fix and we are waiting on a voltage regulator to arrive (ordered 3 weeks ago from Australia - long story) - we are now trying to source from someone else in the US. We may have to go without it! So all going well we should be off by the end of this week. It is 4,500 nautical miles to Tahiti - our longest passage so far - probably 35 days or thereabouts! We are pretty keen to get there as quickly as possible to see Nicole, David and our grandchildren - we are so looking forward to spending the last part of our journey with them all!

We have a Panama number until we leave - +507 6528 5403
In terms of our email to alphacrucis@110pct.com address - as we do not now have a lap top we will endeavour to pick up this mail when we have access to a computer.

Take care,
Lots of Love
The Jolly Rogers-------------------------------------------------