Hi
everyone!
We
thank you a lot for all for your mails that waited for us in New Zealand
when we finally arrived. They warmed a lot.
It
turned out to be a much tougher trip than expected- 15 days to do 1200
miles - it is rather on the small side. Especially when you reckon with
10. But that’s sailing and to be quite frank also what we like about
this kind of life – nature set the pace and nothing can be predicted
definitely.
We
left Tonga on Nov 3 after a morning farewell dinner with our friends from
the other boats they brought cake, rum and champagne. We had a terrific
time and agreed on meeting again in New Zealand.
The
first 3 days passed beyond expectations because the weather forecast had
predicted almost dead calm but we had just enough wind to fill our
spinnaker. We were in high spirits and enjoyed life reading and sunbathing
on the deck. Rasmus our backpacker was convinced that sailing was life!
The
weather forecast was good- we had a minor depression ahead of us but it
was not very deep. If we have to meet with a low pressure, it is best to
face it, so we do not get the wind against us! That was what we have been
waiting for in Tongatapu- and we seemed to succeed. We hit the depression
on Dec. 7 and the wind rose to 25-30 knots (breeze) from the north and we
really made good headway. It lasted most of the day and the evening too,
but then it dropped and we could relax and crowd all sail. What we did not
know (in retrospect )was that a new depression had been formed a little
south west of the first one and it moved towards us at great speed. I had
seen it in the forecast we receive on the cap sat but the prognosis
predicted gusts of up to30 knots-which should cause no trouble, but the
unfortunate situation was that it moved so quickly that we would hit it in
the rear. This meant that we would receive the wind dead against us! But
we have earlier beaten against 30 knots and were ready – that is to have
the mainsail in 2nd reef and the smallest fore-staysail.
Friday
Dec 10 early in the morning, I was relieved at 6 am and was sleeping
nicely in my hammock. Suddenly I felt that the wind was increasing rapidly
and the rain came down by the pail. The ship heeled over- René was on
watch and suddenly he shouted “Dennis we have to haul down all the
sails”- on deck in pants taking in all the sails. Now I have to mention
that the weather was getting rather chilly. Stine, René and I got the
mainsail and foresail down- impressive how quickly the wind rose- we had
to scream to each other in order to communicate. The sea had not risen yet
and was fairly flat but
the surface was white from foam. We decided to put up the storm
jib, a very small jib made of the strongest canvas you can procure, in
order to be able to keep a steerage way. But the very moment we placed it,
the shackle, which was used to fasten the sheet to the sail, tore a hole
in the jip. Down with the jip we through it into the kitchen and placed it
under the table we would have to repair it later on. Only a few minutes
later we realized that the wind was too heavy to carry any sails. The sea
rose with lightning speed and turned into mountains- with no exaggeration
whatsoever I think they turned to 6-7m within the first hour and then
redoubled within the next hour. They did not grow any bigger because the
top simply blew off, it was as if 1-2m were sawn off the waves. Just like
a blizzard on top of a mountain- I recall some of my skiing holidays
especially in Sweden when I was on top (above the timber line) and making
myself ready to go down. It was cold and the upper part of the snow
drifted over the land while
you got snow in your eyes and could not see anything. Only here the first
layer was water and spindrift which
flew over the sea and made it absolutely impossible to see anything
against the wind. Now it was impossible to sail against the waves and we
had to turn and ride out on the waves. This meant that we sailed
northwards and away from New Zealand. At a time when we were thrown off a
wave we made 14.1 knots by the log. We made a speed record- mind you
without sail!! This was too wild!!
We
had to surf on the waves for 12 hours and then we managed to lie hove-to
and avoid getting the braking waves over our heads!. It was nice and
relaxing to go below and get some sleep.
The
next afternoon the wind had abated a little and we decided to put up the
storm jip (Susan had sown it during the hurricane-strong orders from the
captain!!) so that we could get a bit closer to New Zealand. When we
started sailing again we had been forced 75 miles against Tonga and 50
miles to the west. That was not the worst part of it. The worst part was
the weather forecast which our “backing group” in Denmark sent us. It
said contrary wind and waves right towards us for the next couple of
weeks!!!!!! And we had more than 450 miles before we could step on New
Zealand soil. These news were just about to discourage some of the
crewmembers- but we had only one thing to do and that was to continue and
avoid to have another depression thrown right into our faces. It is very
important to move towards the goal-even if it is only 50 miles a day-
mentally but also due to safety in this area. The next couple of days we
did something we never had done before- we simply sat sail and wind rudder
and went below to sleep. After the storm distress signals tapped in on the
capsat-ships in trouble.- As far as we know the hurricane claimed 3
vessels. What happened to them later we do not know but it confirmed that
we definitely have a very strong boat- it was impressive what she
received. The only spoiled things were our rail it was bent 30 degrees by
the pressure from the waves, a
torn solar panel, our lifebuoy was washed overboard and a couple torn
sails which easily could be fixed on the spot. We were let off cheaply,
after all.
It
took 7 days after the hurricane before we had solid ground under our feet-
and believe me it was magnificent. And even better our good friends Nic
and Sanne who were onboard from Tahiti to Cook “welcomed us”. We rode
at anchor outside Opua because we arrived late at night. “Early” in
the morning a dinghy came to us and they knocked at the hull crying
“CUSTOMS”. I tumbled out of berth and found Nic and Sanne with huge
smiles and fresh breakfast rolls and champagne-that was a great reunion.
We
celebrated our landing and spent the day calling friends and just enjoying
life. We had done a great job and we really stood together when we had to.
We really had a good team “The Dream Team”