Wizard - Victor on board Wizard

Well, it's finally here! The update to Wizards whereabouts over the last few months. And what an eventful few months they have been with ups and downs, good times and not so good times.

PANAMA:
So the last update on this site was when we had just arrived at Panama City having transited the canal. We were supposed to leave with the rest of the fleet to Ecuador, but our plans were shattered when we heard that it would take us three weeks to get our visas for French Polynesia! We thought it would take a day at the most! But every cloud having a silver lining and all that, we decided to spend the 3 weeks chilling out in the Las Perlas Islands just south of Panama City.
They were the same set of islands on which they filmed a series of Survivor a few years ago, and they are just as beautiful in real life as they are made out to be on the telly, white sandy beaches, crystal clear water and tropical jungle inland. We dropped anchor off of a resort island named Contadora but little did we know that the beach nearest to us was a nudist beach. Needless to say, the first few dinghy rides to shore made for an eye-opening experience. But once past the naked people, we found that it was quite an awesome little island, friendly people, cheap internet access and cheap cold beer! Apart from spending our days lazing on the beach, or lazing on the boat or lazing in the bar we also took a (very wet) dinghy ride to the next island and spent the day on one of the "survivor beaches." Our exploration of the island was cut short by the fact that we all realised we didn't have the navigation skills to get back to the beach from the centre of the island. So we took the easy way out and turned back, finding our beach, through sheer luck i think, and hiked a few K's up the coast.
When we finally got the call that our visas were ready, we headed back to Panama City to collect them, buy provisions and get the boat ready for the next leg of the trip. We also said farewell to Chad who had to go home after being with the boat as far back as Durban.

GALAPAGOS:
So we set sail for our next stop, the Galapagos Islands. Well, it was less of a sail and more of a motor, we spent about 4 days in the Doldrums with barely enough wind to hold the sails up and JUST enough diesel to get us through.
Our arrival at Santa Cruz Island was one I'll never forget, waking up to a sun barely above the horizon and a typical volcanic island scene ahead of the boat.
The Island was amazing, not as beautiful as Las Perlas, with its black volcanic rocks and swarms of flies and mozzies! but the other wildlife more than made up for it, the tortoises, marine iguanas (ugly looking things that are the only iguanas in the world that can swim) and the unfortunately named Blue Footed Boobies, a bird indigenous to the islands. The Village on the island was pretty quaint with friendly locals, cheap diesel and a staggering amount of internet cafes! Becky was lucky enough to go on a diving tour while there and came back to the boat with a huge grin plastered to her face. She got to dive with hammer-heads, seals and turtles, and showed us the pics of her experience. It looked amazing.
We picked up a new crew two members here too, Liz, a South African and Joanne, from England, just to even the scales. (We now had 3 Saffas and 3 Brits aboard)

FRENCH POLYNESIA - MARQUESAS:
The next leg of the trip was to the Marquesas in French Polynesia. the trip is the longest of the World Arc at a shade under 3000 miles. The 16 day sail was a pleasant one with good winds and fair weather, though not without its mishaps, including me dropping a bucket overboard, a fact i STILL haven't lived down, and Liz having to contend with a permanently wet bunk and waking up practically airborne a few times after we slammed down the back of a big wave.
Our first stop in Polynesia was in the Marquesas (another location for a series of Survivor).
The first thing that struck us was the price of things, it was phenomenally expensive. For eg. a beer costs about R50 (5 Euros) an hour online costs around R200 (20 Euros) and a cabbage costs R70 (7 Euros) that's some expensive cabbage! the second thing to hit us was the heat, around midday it got so hot that trying to do anything was an effort, but luckily things cooled down between 17:00 and 10:00 in the morning. A few days after arriving we heard about a party being thrown by the newly elected mayor that we were all invited to with free food and drinks. So we postponed our departure for a day and joined the local villagers at the mayors do. The food was brilliant with tables decked out with locals dishes, half of which we couldn't identify but wolfed down regardless! The only let down was the free "drinks" which turned out to be non-alcoholic fruit drink. But no matter, afterwards we invited a few others back to our boat for non-fruity alcoholic drinks to round the evening off properly!
The next day we had a very pleasant sail down to a nearby island called Fatu Hiva, with the wind blowing about 20 knots right on the beam, the full main up and plenty genoa out we were heeled over nicely for the entire trip. Though, it didn't do much for our hang-overs. The scenery at the anchorage was spectacular! the bay opened up into a deep valley surrounded by steep black rocked cliffs and the surrounding hills covered in lush green vegetation, definitely some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life. While on the island we decided to go for a walk into the hills surrounding the town we anchored off of, on the way back (having turned back after seeing just how steep the roads were!) we saw a local jogging towards us wearing a green track-suit top. As he got closer the symbols on the top became more apparent, and there on his right sleeve was the South African flag, and on his left, the Bokke symbol! We were all amazed! Here we were on, literally, the other side of the world; in a tiny island no-one's ever heard of in a chain of islands most people can't point out on a map, and this guy was supporting our home team! We stopped him and congratulated him on his fine choice of apparel! We didn't stop talking about it for a good few days. Check the pic if you don't believe me!
So from there we took the boat up on a northerly course to Nuku Hiva, one of the bigger islands in the chain. We spent about a week anchored in the quiet little bay exploring the village, socializing with the other ARC crews and doing a few much needed repairs to the boat. We met up with a South African couple, Chris and Lynn, who had been sailing the world for the last 10 years on their boat Malaika. What an interesting couple, they had seen/done it all and seemed as pleased as us to hear the South African accent again.
Nuku Hiva was also home to the 3rd highest waterfall in the world so a few days before we left, we sailed to a nearby anchorage called Daniels Bay and made the hour long trek to the falls. The scenery around that area was magnificent but there was not much water flowing which was a little disappointing but none of us regretted taking the walk. Until that night that is. We all woke up at various times with itchy bites all over our legs. We found out that we had been attacked by the dreaded "Nuno" fly and our legs and ankles were covered in little red bumps. Which turned into BIG red bumps. Well, Jo seemed to the worst of it with her bumps getting at least twice as big as anyone else's.
The following day we went another anchorage called Anaho Bay were we re-stocked the boat care of Mother Nature. Our first bit of luck came minutes before we arrived, we hooked a +- 14 kilo yellow fin tuna. Then on arrival at shore we discovered the place was not lacking for fruit trees. We took full advantage of the mango trees, the coco-nuts and a few other fruits that we couldn't identify but were equally tasty!
FRENCH POLYNESIA - TUAMOTU ATOLLS
After leaving Anaho Bay we headed west for the Tuamotu Islands, a postcard perfect chain of Atolls sitting between the Marquesas and Tahiti. These islands need to be seen to be believed! Crystal blue turquoise water, bleached white coral sand beaches, palm trees by the million and quaint, sleepy little fishing villages. There is also an abundance of pearl farms, the industry that seems to keep their way of life alive in this time of industry and technology. Our first stop was the atoll of Makemo, and we were all blown away by the beauty of the town and friendliness of the villagers, we also stocked up on a few provisions (at the usual French Polynesian prices!) and had a beer or two to round the day off.
If ever you get to the Tuamotu Islands, you have to try the snorkelling, it is absolutely spectacular, the lagoons are home to thousands of different species of fish, many types of rays and a few sharks too! The amount of coral there is amazing too; you can be sailing along with 30 metres under the keel and pass within about 10 metres of a coral head lying just inches below the surface. And the coral is teaming with life, all the fish you would expect to see in a collector's marine aquarium, all in their natural habitat. And the sharks! The first one I saw was a metre long black tip reef shark. Not very intimidating at all, but I still nearly had a heart attack when it swam right underneath me.
We sailed around the Tuamotus for a few days taking in all the sights, checking out the pearl islands, and meeting some interesting locals. One night we had a BBQ on a deserted beach under a full moon with the crew from another world ARC yacht, Viva. The food was good, the beer flowed and the company great.
Our final stop in the Tuamotus was the island of Fakarava, one of the larger atolls in the chain, home to an airport, a ferry pier and loads of French tourists. But the southern part of the island was less inhabited with an idyllic little resort that ran diving charters and a small restaurant. I've been to a few beautiful places in my life, but this definitely rates up there as one of the top three! The water was bluer than anywhere else, the sand whiter, the palm trees prettier and the beers colder! As soon as the anchor was down we donned our snorkelling gear and started exploring the coral in the entrance to the atoll. We saw more sharks than I can count on that dive, not big ones, the largest was about 1.8 metres long, but when you're out there in the water they all seems like great whites! The following day we all did pretty much the same, but spent loads longer in the water. Joanne finally got over her fear of sharks and was much better off for the experience.
FRENCH POLYNESIA - TAHITI
Next up we headed to Tahiti for the W-ARC rendezvous. It was just as I expected, big island, chilled out living, friendly locals and gorgeous scenery. And of course the ever-present French Polynesian prices. The ARC organisers provided us with a day long bus tour around the island, which although a little too quick, did give us a great insight to the Tahitian way of life, past and present.
One of my personal highlights of Tahiti was the "yacht spotting" we were docked less than 50 metres from Maltese Falcon and when we went to fill up on diesel at a nearby marina, we got to dock near to Mari Cha III, two very famous yachts.
FRENCH POLYNESIA - TAHITI PEARL REGATTA
After spending a few days in Tahiti we moved along to a nearby island Raiatea to take part in the Tahiti Pearl Regatta, a race consisting of four stages, two around Raiatea, one to Bora-Bora, and one last "round-the-cans" race. Luckily for us we had two new hands on deck, both with a lot of racing experience, Volker from Germany and Michael from The U.S.A. Volker joined us on a long term basis, while Mike joined just for the race since he was going to enter his own boat but was having engine problems. The First day's race was pretty exciting with everyone getting caught in a lull in the winds causing a few near fender benders. I had to up the mast to change halyards just as we were being passed by a yacht named "Into the Blue" with my mate Sam on it. They were flying their parasailer and came within inches of our rigging which made for an awesome -if a little precarious- view. We then tacked into the up-wind leg of the race where we swiftly caught up to and passed our main rival on the W-ARC, Branec IV - a fast racing trimaran, which luckily for us, can't point well into the wind. At the end of the day we finished 3rd over the line, but due to handicapping, came about 26th on corrected time. Gerrie also organised with the local Rotary Club to have a group of under-privileged kids on the boat to share the day with us. And it was GREAT having them aboard.
The next day we were determined to do better! We all agreed that we couldn't afford to make any mistakes and the crew all came together (with only a few minor errors) and we took second over the line after being beaten by a (South African made) 72ft luxury cruiser named "Far Away" and again beat Branec.
Day 3 was a little easier; it was a mostly downwind stage from Raiatea to Bora-Bora with the only tricky bit being navigating the reefs and narrow passes surrounding the islands. We made a tactical decision to not head directly to the pass at Bora but to head slightly out to sea so we could come back at a faster point of sail. The plan nearly worked perfectly but again "Far Away" got the better of us and beat us to the post, this time by a much smaller margin.
Day 4 was very interesting; we raced over a short (+- 2 mile) circuit. There were 3 yellow buoys that we had to round, and we had to do 4 ½ laps. Now with 40 boats manoeuvring in such a confined space there was bound to be a few close calls. Our first came just minutes after the start, but we had to give way according to the rules and passed just inches astern of a smaller boat. The wind also picked up during the race and a few of the other racers said we were heeled over so far that our propeller was out of the water! It made for an exciting race but again we were beaten by "Far Away" and we didn't even get the pleasure of beating Branec because the multi-hull event was cancelled. But in the end we all enjoyed ourselves and I'm sure we all learned a lot about yacht racing in the end. I know I did!
The end of the race also saw the end of the trip for both Jo (who hopped on in Galapagos) and Becky (who was with us from St. Lucia.) and when we had to return to Raiatea for a few repairs they decided to stay in Bora. We also said goodbye to Michael when we got back, and much to our delight, he invited us back to his boat for a "thank you" supper. The evening went down very well with the Wizard Boys. First we had our first "Hollywood Shower" (where you get to stand under the water and just chill, as opposed to a "Boat Shower" where its rinse, soap down and rinse again) in months, then we got the grand tour of Mikes boat, and what a comfortable boat it was, after that we dined on a salad starter, and a BBQed tuna main course washed down with two great bottles of wine, one from California, one from SA. It also needs to be mentioned that we were served on Michaels finest china plates with silverware and crystal wine glasses which made us guys feel decidedly posh for an evening. After dinner we sat down to watch a DVD of The Bourne Supremacy, which, being action from beginning to end we loved!
The next day was spent provisioning the boat for the next leg of the trip from Bora to Suworrow, doing the repairs and getting the boat ready. We left the next morning, had a good sail down to Bora but ran into a little trouble when we tried to drop the main and it wouldn't come down. Up the mast I went again and managed to get the main down but discovered the track it ran up was bent at the top. Our next problem came when we tried to start the engine and the starter motor made the kind of sound you really don't wanna hear. We were supposed to leave the following day but the ARC people decided to delay the start due to a low pressure weather system coming through in a few days. It gave us a little time to have a better look around the island but the approaching weather was sitting at the back of all our minds. On the day it came we had a little bit of excitement, the boat swung in the wind and swapped paint with our rivals Branec, but we managed to get it under control with the help of a few other ARC participants and a second anchor but to be honest, by South African standards, the wind was fairly tame. The next couple days were spent anxiously waiting for news on the starter motor that was being flown in from Tahiti. On the Tuesday, the race was due to start at 12:00, the ETA on our starter motor: 11:30! Well, it all came together and half an hour before the start we had our new part but with no time to fit it, we got the skipper of the boat Far Out to tow us off of our mooring, we quickly pulled up the main - with one reef in it because of the bent mast track - and managed to cross the start line with seconds to spare!
The wind let us down on that trip though, the first night we had practically no wind at all, often only managing 2 knots of boat speed and our the distance we covered over the first 24 hours was somewhere in the region of 115 miles, which is really slow going for a racing yacht like Wizard.
Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed reading the update, and I hope I managed to keep your attention to the end, but if you're reading this, I obviously did. So keep checking this site for further updates and photos so that you can follow Yacht Wizard on her circumnavigation and don't be shy to send us a message or write on our wall.
Till next