Logs

Misto - Rodney Bay

Misto is spending Christmas in Rodney Bay while we freeze in Denver CO with our daughter! After a few days enjoying Marigot Bay and sailing down to view the Pitons from offshore we arrived in Rodney Bay around the same time as the last ARC boat was coming in.Ros and Howard S/V Misto. read more...

Misto - Misto in Martinique

Misto is gearing up for the start of the World ARC in January.After a safe passage to the BVI from North Carolina we spent almost a month there, executing some unexpected repairs.We departed Virgin Gorda on December 4 bound for Martinique.This choice was based on the fact that we have previously visited the islands north of Martinique and so we decided to go directly there. We enjoy the French islands and will do some exploring of the interior before departing for St Lucia later this week.We have a place reserved at Rodney Bay from Dec 18 as we will be flying to Denver CO to spend Christmas with our daughter, and get a little skiing in!We are looking forward to meeting all the World ARC participants and making some great memories!Ros and HowardS/V Misto. read more...

Caduceus - Richards Bay to Cape Town Day 2 - Passed Durban but where is the current

Position31:51.58 S 029:44.27 EDate2359 (UTC+2) Saturday 26 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 179nm over the ground, 168nm through the waterPassage total227nm over the ground, 208nm through the waterRoute distance To Cape Town 898nm, via East London (338nm + 560nm) Durban provided us with an escape route if it was required.In the event the weather looked fair to get to East London.Reports coming back from Port Elizabeth were that it was very crowded, dirty form the ships loading manganese ore suffering from a fender busting swell.East London looked good and we motor sailed on.The famed favourable current became very elusive and we appeared to be caught in a succession of eddies.The options of going further out or hugging the coast both had their downsides so we stayed 10 to 15 miles. read more...

Caduceus - Richards Bay to Cape Town Day 1 - A weather window opens early

Position29:28.01 S 031:45.80 EDate2359 (UTC+2) Friday 25 November 2016Distance run in 7hrs 48nm over the ground, 40nm through the waterPassage total48nm over the ground, 40nm through the waterRoute distance To Cape Town 898nm, via East London (338 +560)n Definitely Saturday became possibly Friday afternoon and then when boats started to leave and the reports of nothing untoward outside the breakwater came back a decision was made and after two hours of frantic rushing around we got away at 1700 which gave us enough time to clear the harbour and sort ourselves out before darkness fell. Negotiating the fleet of 20 or so large bulk carriers anchored outside the harbour provided some navigational interest and the fact that some of the bulk carriers were rolling more than we were cheered us. read more...

Caduceus - Rally outing to the Impholosi Game Reserve

DateTuesday 15 November 2016 After a number of days relaxing at the Zulu Land Yacht Club with an excellent series of parties, informal and organised, it was time for our first outing to see some of the local countryside and wildlife. The rally organised two separate days at the Impholosi Game Reserve. Comparing stories from the other day I think we had the best sightings but as with all of these things is very much the luck of the draw. We certainly had an excellent and most enjoyable day. image001 image002 image003 image004. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 8 - Squaring up to the Agulhas current

v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}Position                    28:47.57 S 032:04.98 EDate                          2310 (UTC+2) Friday 11 November 2016Distance run             in 25hrs 202nm over the ground, 186nm through the waterPassage total            1,402nm over the ground, 1,296nm through the waterPassage. read more...

Caduceus - Ocean Cruising Club party and award presentation

DateWednesday 16 November 2016 Sherry and Dennis Day of Trillium and Elizabeth and I were two of the five boats’ crews to be awarded the Ocean Cruising Club’s Award of Merit, 2016, for the work that we did in Vanuatu in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam in 2015. As we were not able to attend the Club annual dinner in April John and Jenny Franklin have been pursuing us around the globe and eventually caught up with us in Richards Bay. The Club hosted an excellent DIY barbecue evening at the Zululand Yacht Club open to members and other cruisers.image001 image002. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 7 - Squaring up to the Agulhas current

Position28:04.82 S 035:39.74 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Thursday 10 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 181nm over the ground, 182nm through the waterPassage total1,200nm over the ground, 1,110nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 199nm (modified route)Route distance 1,395nm as originally planned Another day of motor sailing, as before keeping the average speed up to ensure a good arrival time, which may be in the dark bit of Saturday morning.The weather warnings for Richards Bay for next week are dire so after arrival nobody will be going anywhere by boat whilst the advancing forecast storm passes through. During the day, we had our own excitement with a line squall of some 10nm depth passing over us.This produced lots of rain, wind of 30 gusting 35 knots and a lively. read more...

Firefly - En route to Richards Bay, South Africa

Today is Thursday 10th November and Firefly is south of Madagascar, en route for Richard's Bay, South Africa. The first 6 days of this passage have been a mixed bag and the forecast indicates that the remainder will be similar.The World ARC fleet actually left a day early from Reunion, leaving on the 4th November as opposed to Bonfire Night. The reason was a long term forecast provided to one of the WARC yachts from Bob McDavitt, the New Zealand weather routing guru. We met Bob whilst in NZ as he gave a weather lecture to the yachts that had just arrived. His advice, and this was way back at the beginning of November, was that there would be strong Southerly weather off Richards Bay on the 13th November. Low and behold, the current forecasts are showing that we need to get into Richards. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 6 - Just in time planning

Position27:41.87 S 039:002.15 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Wednesday 09 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 184nm over the ground, 168nm through the waterPassage total1,019nm over the ground, 928nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 395nm (modified route)Route distance 1,395nm as originally plannedThe weather transition on Saturday when the wind goes from blowing old boots from the north east to doing precisely the same from the South West against a 2 to 3 knot current is not surprisingly focussing the minds of the skippers.For the non-sailors reading this, strong wind against strong current has the capacity to produce very bad if not dangerous sea conditions and is to be avoided.This transition is a regular occurrence on the east coast of South Africa and passages must. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 5 - Step on the gas

Position27:12.04 S 042:22.18 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Tuesday 08 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 198nm over the ground, 171nm through the waterPassage total835nm over the ground, 760nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 556nm (modified route)Route distance 1,395nm as originally planned The day started with light winds and we continued to motor against a slight adverse current.After dawn the current became favourable and with the wind increasing to a mighty 12 knots we could motor sail to great effect.A favourable current that at times exceeded 2 knots is reflected in our distance over the ground for the day.We have started to plot our estimated time of arrival at Richards Bay.Using a planning speed of 6.5 knots, over the ground, means that anything better brings. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Days 303 & 304: It's a Strange, Strange World We Live In....

Well,  our plans have changed again. We decided that, since the weather was so miserable here, Elaine may as well spend her time in a cold climate with family, so most of yesterday was spent booking her flights to England / Ireland via Dubai. The remainder of the day was spent visiting doctor's and physiotherapy offices in the hope of getting her ankle examined. Unfortunately we couldn't get a physiotherapy appointment for two weeks, but we did manage to get a doctor's appointment for today.  Armed with some medication and exercises, we're hoping for a marked improvement over the coming weeks.Last night we enjoyed dinner at the Opua Cruising Club with Blue Summit and a host of other cruisers whom we've met over the past few days and this evening we enjoyed our first barbecue in. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 4 - A day of contrasts

Position26:34.99 S 045:58.98 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Monday 07 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 183nm over the ground, 169nm through the waterPassage total637nm over the ground, 589nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 751nm (modified route)Route distance 1,395nm as originally planned What started as a reasonable downwind run with 24 knots true degenerated to 32 knots on the beam with an angry sea that left us feeling as if we were on the rinse cycle of a washing machine.Sleep becomes difficult when the boat is corkscrewing but there were benefits as our speed went up and we had 12 hours of 8-5 to 9.0 nm in each hour assisted by a favourable current which carried on after the wind eased and the seas calmed somewhat.The two Rally radio schedules, 0800- and 1800,. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 302: A Very Different Cyclone / Hurricane Season

Well, the storm arrived at 0230 this morning as forecasted which resulted in "anchor watch" for a few hours.  While the wind reached 38 Kts and the sea was very lumpy, we were, nonetheless, grateful that we were tucked away safe and sound in the bay at Opua and weren't exposed to the 50 Kts and 2M swells around Cape Brett. For prudence though, we did have both engines on in neutral for a period of time, but fortunately our mooring ball, along with all the mooring balls around us, held as designed, giving us the confidence that Paw Paw will be just fine when we return to the USA next month.After an interrupted night's sleep,  we were in no hurry to get up this morning, but we eventually ventured ashore mid-morning to do laundry, following which we enjoyed a delicious lunch at. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 3 - further furler games

Position25:19.79 S 049:02.21 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Sunday 06 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 177nm over the ground, 154nm through the waterPassage total454nm over the ground, 420nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 932nm (modified route)Route distance 1,395nm as originally planned The wind gradually backed and at 0400 (0001UTC) it went through the stern to starboard.From the start of this passage we have followed the rhumb line to the recommended waypoint south east of Madagascar however during the morning we bore away to the north of the line, slightly closer to Madagascar.At that time we finally got into some favourable current and from 0600 it was giving us a 1.5 knot lift.The remainder of daylight produced sunshine, reasonable wind and a following sea;. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 2 - Better weather sailing

Position23:40.10 S 051:40.40 EDate2359 (UTC+4) Saturday 05 November 2016Distance run in 24hrs 169nm over the ground, 163nm through the waterLeg total 277nm over the ground, 266nm through the waterTo go toRichards Bay, South Africa rhumb line 1,129nmRoute distance 1,395nm as originally planned Dawn brought a much improved looking day with bright skies, the swell down to 2.5 metres and from the east which with wind gradually decreasing from 25 to 16-17 knots also from the east made for a much more comfortable ride.It is amazing how much better life looks after the rather brutal start to the passage.We were now able to get into the “at sea” routine that has become so familiar to us.Reasonable progress was made and for the afternoon and evening as the wind backed we were able to set the pole. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 301: Our New Zealand Itinerary Created

With more bad weather arriving, we decided to stay onboard today.Once Elaine had completed her chores for the day,she re-considered the possibilities of somehow salvaging her boots, but further examination confirmed that they were indeed destroyed, so into the dustbin they went.Feeling more than annoyed, she decided that the best way to spend the rest of the day was to work her way through all the tourist brochures we had collected in Paihia and created our New Zealand itinerary for the remainder of this year. We certainly have plenty to look forward to over the coming weeks before we return to Arizona for Christmas and New Year, which, in itself, is going to make for a wonderful holiday season. Roy busied himself with various boat projects- Fixing the support arm of the wind generator,. read more...

Caduceus - Reunion to Richards Bay Day 1 - Heavy weather sailing

Position                    21:54.45 S 054:01.23 E Date                          2359 (UTC+4) Friday 04 November 2016 Distance run             in 14hrs 20min 108nm over the ground, 103nm through the water Leg total                   108nm over the ground, 103nm through the water To go to                    Richards Bay, South Africa rhumb. read more...

Caduceus - Where has Caduceus been since World ARC 2014-15?

Caduceus, with Martin and Elizabeth Bevan on board, dropped out of the WorldARC Rally 2014-15 in Tonga in June 2014.We briefly caught up with thatRally in Fiji, arriving in time to attend the farewell party in Musket Coveand bid our erstwhile companions fair winds.After 12 weeks cruising andcarrying out maintenance in Fiji we sailed on to Vanuatu taking in all theislands from Aneityum in the south via Tana, for the volcano visit,Erromango and then on to the capital Port Vila.As we had extra time wewere able to sail on via the Maskelyne Islands and Malakula to Luganville onEspiritu Santo before heading to rendezvous with other Rally dropouts in NewCaledonia for the passage south to New Zealand.Whilst in the MaskelyneIslands we made contacts with a local community that subsequently lead. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 300: Venturing Further Afield

After a lazy morning we decided to venture further afield in the dinghy today. It only took us about 20 minutes to get to Paihia as we enjoyed a slow ride to take in the scenery, this time from the water vs the seaward vistas we enjoyed yesterday during our walk.After enjoying freshly baked pastries with our mid-morning coffee,it was time to find Elaine a new pair of shoes, since the soles of her very comfortable, not to mention,very expensive, leather ankle boots had simple disintegrated after wearing them ashore the other night for the first time in a fifteen months.It seems nothing lasts on a yacht!Having successfully found a pair of very comfortable replacements, it was time for lunch- Steak and Mushroom pies from the local bakery, before we headed back to Paw Paw.We also had the. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 299: It's a Strange Ol' World

Today was a restful day aboard, although we did get a few things done.Roy spent most of the day re-imagining his tablet after it started behaving strangely, while Elaine tidied a few things on deck and then changed our bedclothes - Nothing like a fresh, clean bed to get into at night.We did, however, have to dig out our blankets to supplement our duvets. It's still freezing here. In fact, we've had to run the central heating on Paw Paw every morning,which is another first,since moving onto to her. A wonderful start to our day was spending time with Keenan,Brooke,Brayden and Carter via Facetime. All are doing really well. Both babies were awake, but were quietly observing their surroundings and looking straight at the camera. You could almost see them wondering: "Who are these strange. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Days 297 & 298: The Birth of Our Twin Grandsons

Yesterday and today have been spent getting ourselves settled in. That included getting to the nearest town, Paihia, in order to get to a bank and pick up some groceries, getting access to all the marina facilities,obtaining membership to the Opua Cruising Club and getting some high priority issues resolved like our depth sensor and wind generator bracket. A trip to the farmer market was a wonderful outing and,needless to say,Elaine arrived back with all sorts of delightful goodies, like smoked salmon pate from the local smoke house, homemade chocolate clusters, a huge butter lettuce, freshly baked potato bread and avocados, which we cannot even remember when last we were able to purchase them. We also had the opportunity to reconnect with Time Bandit (Ann and Stewart)whom we last saw in. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 296: Getting Settled in our New Home

By 1900 local time yesterday evening we were safely tied up to the customs wharf in Opua, helped by Talulah Ruby with our docklines, since they had arrived about an hour ahead of us. We'd no sooner had our celebratory drink, when three more yachts arrived, so we returned the favour of assisting them with their docklines. Needless to say,we were all very relieved to have arrived safe and sound and not having to spend another night at sea. Since the temperatures had plumeted, we were absolutely freezing, so we decided that the only way to stay warm through the night was to actually sleep together in the same cabin. It was snug alright, but we both had a good night's rest, nonetheless. What struck us though was the silence. After the roar of the ocean and wind in our ears for a week, the. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 295: Land Ahoy - New Zealand

Land Ahoy - New Zealand! We've never been so pleased to see land, given this challenging, tiresome and exhausting passage. The state of Paw Paw's flag says it all!Our thanks to the yachts that kept us company and shared vital information with us regarding weather conditions - Talulah Ruby, Blue Summit, Whistler, Dream Along and all the yachts that called into the Poly Mag Net. While Talulah Ruby is just ahead of us, we know the other yachts still have another night on the high seas. While we can't wish you following seas (because we know what it has been like), we do wish you all calm seas at least, fair winds and safe arrivals.With our quarantine flag flying, our updated ETA transmitted to Maritime Radio, customs aware of our arrival and 28NM to go, we're just looking forward to getting. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 294: Inside an Industrial Strength Washing Machine

In the early hours of this morning we went from lovely calm seas to the inside of an industrial strength washing machine, with waves coming at us from all directions.Unfortunately this has lasted all day. Very tiresome given that we're at the end of a long, challenging passage. Add the fact that the temperature has dropped significantly, to the extent that Elaine broke out all her winter woolies,but Roy, unfortunately has nothing but shorts and t-shirts onboard, with the exception of his longjones - Not a pretty sight, but at least he's warm now!With an overcast, gloomy start to the day, Elaine decided to spend her off duty time in bed and only surfaced around noon. She woke to freshly baked soda bread for lunch. Soon thereafter, Roy headed for his afternoon nap and now we're snuggled. read more...

Paw Paw - Log Day 293: Looking forward to "Land Ahoy"

Elaine had the pleasure of enjoying another amazing sunrise, accompanied by the brighest and largest "green flash" she has seen to date. It was a wonderful start to a glorious day, under blue, sunny skies wirh a scattering of fluffy white clouds on the distant horizon and flat seas. Roy prepared delicious omelettes for breakfast in order to use some of the fresh produce we still have aboard, but cannot take into New Zealand.After breakfast Elaine decided to take advantage of the flat seas to get Paw Paw looking a little more presentable for the quarantine,customs and immigration officials who will board Paw Paw on arrival and then indulged herself with a nice hot shower, thanks to all the motoring we've been doing. For now though, with roughly 220NM to go, we're looking forward to" land. read more...