Ensemble - 15 June 2012: Apia, Western Samoa

Greetings from yacht Wind Dancer.Magali and I have left 'Ensemble' in Pago Pago, US Samoa, with Don and Sally from Yachtpro to keep an eye on things while the insurance company continues with repairs.Hopefully the repairs will be finished by the end of next week - and Don and Sally will sail Ensemble to meet us in Fiji.We took a short flight to Apia yesterday and are now with Mike and Carson - and enjoying the break after the stress of the last few weeks. Magali is already feeling better.Tomorrow we're heading to Tonga and then on to Fiji next week.CheersDave & Magali. read more...

Ensemble - 10 June 2012 - Pago Pago - dry at last!

.hmmessage P { PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px } BODY.hmmessage { FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 10pt }Greeting from yacht Ensemble.We finally got Ensemble out of the water and on to the dry-dock on Friday - one week after we arrived.We are fortunate in that there is a good American fibre glass expert here and he is taking charge of the temporary repairs of the damage.  We are hoping to extract the Volvo drive leg and have that shipped and repaired in New Zealand - and all back in by the end of the week (fingers crossed).But nothing is simple in the Pacific.  The hotel is overbooked and we are being forced to move out of the hotel today.  Evidently there is some sort of conference - and despite our reservation. read more...

Ensemble - & June 2012 - still in the water, still raining, still in Pago Pago

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.Well, the rain has eased, we saw a rainbow yesterday - and we are back exactly where we were when we arrived: waiting to be hauled out at the shipyard!The good news is we are promised a lift out at tomorrow morning - so please keep your fingers crossed for us.It has been a harrowing week. We have had more anchor drags (not just us - and the holding has been terrible - with high winds and rain to add to the mood and atmosphere of the place) - bilge pump failures (the bilge pumps are working non-stop to keep us afloat), float switch failures, a dead battery - just to name a few.At least the people here are very friendly - and we have had wonderful support from the remaining World ARC boats (At Last, Zoe, Southern Cross, Eva, Sophie and Samsara).We decided to. read more...

Ensemble - 2 June 2012: Greetings from Pago Pago!

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We arrived off Pago Pago, US Samoa, in the early hours of this morning. At day break, Wind Dancer led us in to the harbour.The harbour is well sheltered - but busy with a large Tuna fishing fleet and a US Navy base. We even met a tanker on the way out!We didn't waste time and went straight to the works jetty. The insurance agency Ship Wright, Gerry, was there to meet us. Once we'd been to the Port Authority and Customs, we spent the day going through the damage. Unfortunately, because of a backlog of work, the boat won't be able to be lifted out until Tuesday (at the earliest). Still, the prognosis isn't too bad - with no internal evidence of structural damage. So fingers crossed!Meanwhile, Britt, Shadow and Magali indulged in making homemade peanut butter. read more...

Ensemble - 1 June 2012: Squalls, a bumpy ride - and 1 day to US Samoa

Greetings from yacht Ensemble.We now have less than 100nm to go to US Samoa. We can't make it before nightfall - so will slow down a bit and arrive early Saturday morning.We have been doing plenty of sailing - but the seas have been rough and unsettled - and the squalls have meant that there has been lots of rain. We are sailing with just a jib and the main with 3 reefs so as not to load the boat too much before we get the repairs done.We found a US courtesy flag - hoisted it - only to have it blow away yesterday!We also had no luck with the fishing - loosing another 2 lures.I think everyone will be looking forward to arriving and having some fresh fruit and vegetables - and getting back on land.The boat has been behaving well - but there are some new (and disconcerting) 'grunts and. read more...