Tuesday April 15, 2014:
This post is several days late as we have been very busy and just now getting some time to work on the blog!!
Did you hear us whining half way across the world? We got spanked hard the other day…..from Great Barrier Island to Marsden…..supposed to be 15-20G25 kts, seas 3-5′ and maybe building….a big storm was coming in 2 days (which came in on Thursday, 40-50kt winds here in Marsden marina….yikes…..remnants from Ita) so we decided to leave for more protection……turned out to be 25-30G35 kts with 6-8′ very beamy sloppy seas….had to tack off about 15 deg…..and we both got sick…..can you believe that….that’s only the second time for me ever and while I kept my cookies I really did not want to……arghhh!!!!!
We have been debating if that was the worse sea conditions we have experienced but if not the worse then it definitely is in the top 5. Thank goodness it was only 50 nm and took about 6 hours!!!!
And Kathy got hurt…..she fell down the stairs from a big roller even though she was holding on. She badly bruised her arm, lower back/butt and jammed/bruised her ankle. She did go to a doc who thankfully said nothing is broken but she will be sore for 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, she has had to do a lot of provisioning so many days on her feet…..she is on the advil, wine, wine, wine and ice therapy:))))
We certainly wanted a shakedown cruise to test all the systems before Fiji and we got what we asked for…..ugh!!!! We did find some more hose leaks on the Cummins and a mysterious leak around the GEN. I have sinced fixed all the hose leaks on the Cummins but could not find the GEN leak. I changed out the seawater pump as it did have signs it had a small leak previously (this pump had only 1000 hours on it) and I changed out the anti-syphon valve…..the old duck bill style….but it was in good condition. So, the mystery continues…….
We have been very busy doing our last minute provisioning before Fiji. We went to the local butcher here in Marsden who is packaging, vacuum packing and freezing all our meat – beef, pork, lamb and some chicken!! For most of June – Aug we will be in some remote parts of Fiji so stocking up is critical!!
We are targeting to leave next Wednesday to head north to Opua and hopefully we will get a good weather window and leave for Fiji shortly thereafter!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Wow sounds like you two are right on track… can’t say the same here, though we’re scrambling to catch a potential weather window next week for a passage to NZ. Lots of piddly little domestic stuff needing attention though. So sorry to hear Kathy’s bruised and battered! Apparently you have the right therapy in hand though…
Sounds like shake up rather than shake down. Good that you arrived safely, but so sorry Kathy is battered and bruised. keep up the stores of Advil and wine. Wishing you better weather for the next leg of your journey.