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Starblazer - 31/05/2015 - Foiled by the weather



We hadn't intended to leave the Ha'apai until the end of the week however the forecast suggested the wind would back to the north by Thursday which would make the trip to Vava'u difficult! John completed the internal clearance on Monday morning and we intended to head north to the next island on Tuesday, however the whole day was overcast interspersed with showers. We don't particularly mind getting wet but we do need good visibility to wriggle between coral outcrops so we stayed where we were. The knock-on effect of this was that we faced a 75 mile passage in less than 12 hours of daylight. No, we are not scared of the dark either but see my previous comment about good visibility.

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Dawn slowly brightened the horizon just before 0630 and by 0635 I could see well enough to start weighing anchor. It was lucky we waited because the chain had hooked around a rock, I could see where it ran so directed John to manoeuvre the boat to clear the snag. The chain will definitely need re-galvanising when we get home. At this point I must give thanks for the co-operation of the weather Gods. We had a fantastic sail all the way to within 1.5 miles of the anchorage in Neiafu. There was a fall back anchorage if we couldn't average 6.5 knots, Port Maurelle about 5 miles short of Neiafu with an easy, well charted entrance and a large bay to anchor in, however it wan't needed. We averaged 7.5 knots until we were within about 6 miles of Neiafu where had to turn towards the wind so I dropped 2 reefs in the main and our progress slowed a little! We picked up a mooring at 1715 having averaged 7.25 knots, what a fantastic trip.

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The World ARC boats started arriving overnight, though Clementina had already arrived. It was great to meet the people we will continue around the world with when we officially re-join the rally in Musket Cove, Fiji.

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The damp and overcast weather arrived on Thursday but appears to have cleared by today, Sunday. Yesterday we left Neiafu to rendez-vous with a number of ICA boats on Kanutu, a tiny island in the extreme east of the Vava'u group. The approach isn't for the faint-hearted including a zigzag course in less than 5 metres between reefs and only one small fishing buoy marker at the eastern end. The approach to Kanutu was actually deeper than charted, except the patch where we touched bottom within the anchorage offshore of two rally boats! Stressful but rewarding, the anchorage was very peaceful and we had a convivial BBQ ashore.

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On the way ashore the outboard cut out and though it restarted it wouldn't run so we gratefully accepted a tow. This morning John stripped the carburettor and didn't like the look of what he found so drained the tank through a baja filter back into our bulk petrol can. The residue in the filter would have filled a 2lb jam jar if we'd had one and looked suspiciously like dirty water! Fortunately we have two 20 litre petrol cans so he's transferred fresh petrol into the outboard and it appears to be running well. At some point he will again filter the entire contents of the first can because we do not know where the water came from.

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In terms of 'Cruising - boat maintenance in exotic locations' this little episode is a very minor problem, long may it remain so.

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Joyce

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