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EMAILS FROM SOUTHERN CROSSLorraine and Robby Coleman
LATEST
WORD FROM ROBBY AND LORRAINE
(12/21/2011) December 15, 2011: Dear Family and Friends, The Cruising Colemans have finally landed. As most will recall, after living aboard for nearly 20 years, we sold our beloved Southern Cross when we arrived in New Zealand in 2008. In September 2009, we bought a 1980 bus that had been converted to a campervan and with the help of our Kiwi “Mom and Pop,” Brian and Heather, we fixed it up into a comfortable land cruiser we named Sweet Pea... (download and read Robby's latest update here The Cruising Colemans have finally landed. .doc format.) (12/21/2010) December 2010. The 21st (Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, summer for our friends down under) had a total lunar eclipse, but we saw none of it because of the rain storms in “sunny” San Diego. The 21st was also the 37th anniversary of the day I asked Lorraine to marry me. We tied the knot 2 years later and are still hangin’ in there together. This link http://www.alohacouple.com/New%20Zealand%202010.htm has a few pics of our time in New Zealand earlier this year.
Last writing, (July) we were just leaving our friend Joe’s house in San Diego to drive (in our van, Baby Blue) to Clarkston Washington to take care of our 8 small apartments. We “voyaged” 1200 miles with short stops at our pals Jim and Cindy in Camarillo, my mom and brother in Sebastopol (north of San Francisco) and our son-in-law and grand-children’s house in Kennewick, Washington. Wonderful to reconnect with our family and also to meet our great granddaughter. Then on to the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers to work.
We arrived August 4th in Clarkston to find plenty of that four-letter word (work that is.) Our wonderful managers, Wilma and Mary Jane, had really done a fine job taking care of our 2 fourplexes for us for nearly 2 decades and we enjoyed a couple nice meals out with them - virtually the only time off we enjoyed in the ensuing 3 and ¼ months.
Our property needed complete refurbishing. Hoodlums had destroyed the fence in back and were using our lot as a thoroughfare for their drug trafficking. One neighbor (a serious hoarder) had a rusty trailer on our land and when we asked his son about moving it our first morning there, the boy with a serious attitude said, “It’s staying here and the cops ain’t going to do nothing about it and the owners ain’t going to say nothing.” I calmly explained we are the owners and his jaw dropped and the trailer was moved soon thereafter.
Druggies had recently vacated one apartment after trashing it (filthy, holes in the walls, doors kicked in, etc.) so we started there. First we decontaminated the bathroom so we could use it. We “slept” in our van every night, but there were so many tweakers (meth users) walking by the car all night we rarely actually slept. We called the cops nightly until we rebuilt the rear fence and the night people went somewhere else. Every couple days someone would knock on our door looking for the tenants who had just moved to buy drugs, but that also tapered off.
We worked all day every day 12-14 hours a day till November 9th installing new flooring, carpets, painting all insides and outside, regraveling the parking lot, pruning trees, putting in all new fences and on and on. Some before and after pictures are on this link, http://www.alohacouple.com/Back%20in%20San%20Diego%202010.htm . We met many fine hardworking folks who helped us or we would be still up there freezing. We also found a wonderful new property manager, Melba, to care for our apartments and left one week before the first snowfall.
Baby Blue high tailed it west into Oregon, with hopes of getting south as fast possible. Our trip back to San Diego was really quite nice. Back through Kennewick for our grandson’s birthday, then off to see old boating pals in Hood River and Newport Oregon. Then we drove Highway One down the California coast with clear crisp days and lovely views. Again being on the seashore we confirmed that our home (if/when we find one) will be within a stone’s throw from the sea. We had another wonderful seaside visit with pals in Carmel (Thanks Dan and Anna) and a terrific Thanksgiving with brother Joe, Mom Coleman and Lorraine’s Cousins and their extended family. Very wonderful for us.
Back in San Diego, we purchased new carpets for our tenants, so everyone is well housed and happy. For our next adventure we will be off to Hawaii to search for a home for us. The plane takes off on Jan 25th and we have so many decisions to make with unpacking our worldly household possessions after being stored at Global Moving and Storage since 1994.
Both of us wish each and every one of you the best 2011 filled with contentment and peace. We will appreciate our blessings and when the “nest” is purchased and organized, the door will always be open. Love and aloha, Robby and Lorrraine (7/27/10) Update from San Diego We
made it safely from A
couple weeks before leaving NZ, I noticed my mostly-healed left eye sees
the world in a gentle S-shaped curve which is fine for looking at women
but little else. We drove to Whangarei and the doctor said it should
come right someday (still has not) and gave me drops and released me and
gave us blessings to travel. During this time, the hard drive in In April, our rental property manager in Washington State “retired,” so we had to find someone new and turn everything over to her (extremely difficult from thousands of miles away with only intermittent, expensive phone and Internet.) She told us our units (8 small one-bedroom apartments) in Clarkston needed LOTS of work and repair, so we changed plans again (“If you want to make God laugh, just make a plan.”) and decided to return to the US with a stop in Samoa to see if there was a possibility Lorraine could use her teaching credentials (swimming) and maybe find a “nest” there. We
had met a nice Japanese woman, Chiaki, who had been staying with our NZ
Mom and Pop, Brian and Heather, for 3 months and she was freezing also
in Packing was the worst. Most will recall we moved our whole life from Southern Cross into a shipping container last October and November. Not only did we have to decide what to take and what to leave behind (for 18 months) but the airline told us we could only bring one 20-kilo bag each. We are used to traveling with 2 bags each and being self sufficient. In the past we have always carried our office (printer, scanner, paperwork, etc) with us, as well as a full medicine chest, toiletries, and even food if we know it won’t be available where we are going. Absolutely impossible to fit into only 2 pieces of luggage. We sadly left our “office” and packed minimal everything but when we weighed our suitcases at Brian and Heather’s the day before departure, both were still overweight. Rats! We stayed up half the night and took out many things we REALLY needed to bring and then tossed them helter skelter along with everything from our campervan into the shipping container. We had hoped to put it in carefully organized for shipping if necessary but never even got close to accomplishing that. Next
morning, May 26th, we drove to Puketona and dropped off Sweet
Pea at Kerry and Jan’s, beautiful barn (they are making a
beautiful home in the back quarter of it) and they gave us a lift back
to Brian and Heather’s. At the bus stop in Kerikeri we said sad
goodbyes and climbed aboard the Up
early exhausted the next morning the three of us caught a shuttle to the
airport where we reweighed our bags. STILL overweight so we opened them
on the floor and Our
flight arrived at 10:30 PM in Before
dog bite: “On
our arrival, May 25th, 2010: I felt the wrinkles and there are more
every day..... melt from my face as we were riding in the tropical
night air to our place to stay in We
are doing better now and settling into the island life. The
accommodation is perfect for us and our friend, Chiaki. The chickens
wake us up daily at 4:00 AM! It is not an expensive tourist place, local
style with a local Samoan family. We prefer it to the touristy places.
The room includes breakfast which is ample enough for two meals for us
daily. Usually includes cereal unlimited local fruit and two sandwiches
each. Plus there is a large communal kitchen and dining area. Our
Sunday invitation was to the weekly To'onai which is Samoan feast. The
food is prepared in the umu in the ground. We were offered steamed fish, fried
catfish, chop suey, taro, palasami (taro leaves with coconut milk
in the center wrapped in breadfruit leaves and put into the umu), fish
broth with coconut cream squeezed from the coconut after grating, corned
beef, curry stew with vegetables and beef. This is a
very special Samoan tradition done every Sunday. The family where we are
staying are so kind to include us. Today
is Independence Day so I am off to see the parade and celebrations. It
poured rain last night and I recalled days and nights on the boat with
no sleep and squalls. I am in a comfortable cottage with no leaks and
only a sheet to cover my body, next to my Honey. LL” After
dog bite: “We rented a car for 3 days now that my leg is a bit better. I drove and we saw the entire island. Very beautiful. We also saw the devastation on the windward side. I sat on some of the foundations and graves that were still left and had a few prayers and thoughts about nature, people, life etc. We have many photos of the gorgeous jungles and beaches.
A family that lives in Lalomanu had a gorgeous resort. They lost 14 members of their family but they have rebuilt in honor of the ones lost and the parents had a write up in the business magazine. Strong willed Samoan people.
All
the people we have met here have been wonderful. The weather has been
beautiful. We have had mostly gorgeous days, and very little rain.” Chiaki
flew to Also,
the first night at Ta’alolo, someone broke into the accommodation and
stole hundred and hundreds of dollars worth of booze. Fortunately they
did not come upstairs as we had no lock on our door. We stayed one more
night to assist the young (very frightened) Fijian caretaker and took
off 4 days earlier than planned for “We
returned from
The day we arrived we met a man who was in the tsunami on his boat, JOINT ADVENTURE, with his wife and they had just returned to finish repairing the boat. His wife was attacked by 3 dogs and had just been flown back to US after having 33 stitches. My confidence in walking anywhere more than to and from the car was squashed. So I called the airline to see if they had an opening on the only other flight of the week, Sunday, and they did.
We enjoyed our time at the airport. Almost all Samoans saying goodbye to their loved ones. Brought back memories of my youth, when folks would travel. The whole family comes to the airport and bids you farewell, with lots of hugs and tears. Met family sending there son to LA for schooling. A real shock for the island people to go to a big city.” No
matter how many times we leave and come back; after spending time in least
developed countries, the “culture shock” upon touching down in If
we do not have time to stop on the way north, we will linger in We’ve
just been notified that the New Zealand government has kindly bent their
rules and will allow us to return there in December so that is the
latest plan with a stop in Hawaii first to see if we can find a
“nest” for Lorraine. We both miss Southern Cross and are not really
ready to settle down permanently, but it would be nice to have a single
place to store our things (most are in Love
and aloha, Robby and (3/21/10 Update) For all those who helped save Snickers and Gulliver (the cocker spaniel and blue and gold macaw we rescued after being shipwrecked on Fanning Island) I thought you might appreciate an update about them. (For any unfamiliar with the story, click on http://alohacouple.com/fanningpets.htm. Not long ago we
received the following from Snicker's savior, Jack Joslin, (12/14/09 Update) Life is full of twists and turns most of which lead in the right direction if one is willing to be flexible. I began this update in early December, sitting in a gorgeous 105-year-old villa (made of venerable kauri wood) on a 2000 acre farm named Heathdale, in Maungaturoto, New Zealand. Lorraine and I were on our way in our new-to-us (1981) 6-meter motor home (Sweet Pea, a.k.a. SP) at the end of November to visit Don and Jacque McKay at Heathdale when the transmission (gearbox) self destructed less than a mile from their farm. Sounded like a train wreck under our bums. We coasted across a one lane bridge (barely) and were able to roll back just far enough to get SP off the narrow 2-lane road although one of the rear wheels was frighteningly airborne. A kind Kiwi came along and gave me up a ride to Heathdale. Don and his son, Duncan drove me back in their ute (a large open bed truck) and towed our broken motorhome to the house. Next morning, Friday, they towed SP by hitch and line to a mechanic in Maungaturoto. Fortunately, he located a replacement gearbox in Auckland and said it would be installed and ready to roll the following Wednesday. Back on the farm, Jacque just said "you take either upstairs bedroom," so we spent the next week in their villa complete with a crash course in farming, dairy, and cattle and sheep raising. One morning, at 0730, a "gang" of shearers showed up; 4 shearers, 2 people who separated the wool and a third person who packed the wool into bales. We watched in awe while hundreds of bleating ewes and rams were shorn and their wool packed into large bales ready for market. Lorraine helped in back separating the lambs (babies who do not get sheared) into different races and pens. Among her many talents she is a natural farm girl. Don sprayed the lambs with sheep dip to prevent flies and Jacque's son, Julian, "drenched" every lamb with a shot of worm medicine down their throats. I think they have 1400 sheep plus the lambs, and all 1400 where sheared within 7 hours. A BIG operation done twice yearly. The following day, Lorraine milked the cows with Duncan - a marvelous process aboard a carousel where the cows are loaded rear ends out and 4 cups are attached to the teats. 330 bulging udders are drained into a sterile stainless steel vat while the carousel goes round. When empty, the happy cows step off and the next in line climbs aboard. Lorraine was a little intimidated by the possibility of getting dumped on from one of the rear ends, but "precariously" (her word) stuck her head in harms way and attached the cups. The cows are milked twice a day every day on the farm and a big tanker truck comes to haul off the fresh milk. Of course there is always enough for cereal and coffee or whatever for "us farmers," and I can state without a doubt, there is no milk finer than fresh from the cow! Next day Don ferried us around the farm on his quad-cycle to feed the calves. The youngest, less than 6 weeks old, received milk from a tank towed behind the quad-cycle with several dozen rubber artificial teats attached which is filled at the milking station. Bags of alfalfa fiber are added to the calves' diet after the milk feeding. We fed the older calves grain pellets, as they are gradually weaned from milk to grass. Note: the newborn calves receive colostrum from their mother's milk within 12 hours of birth to ensure proper development of antibodies, etc. All is carefully planned, systematic and monitored. When we arrived in tow at Heathdale, Don was reading a book called Storm Tactics by world famous sailors Lin and Larry Pardey ( http://www.landlpardey.com ) He's an avid sailor as are many New Zealanders) and he asked us to sail to Kawau Island off the east coast with him aboard his 42' Lidgard sloop. We of course said "Sure, and maybe we can introduce you to our friends, Lin and Larry, if they are at their home on the island." Jacque packed enough food for a couple days and we drove to Sandspit near Warkworth where Don's boat, Mischief Maker, is moored. After dinghying out to his pile mooring, (two posts sunk deep into the mud) the three of us sailed across a calm indigo sea to North Harbor on Kawau. How wonderful to be back on the ocean, and how cool to be anchored behind the Pardey's boat, Taleisin, that has carried them thousands of miles around the globe. Last time we moored near Taleisin was in Samoa. We rowed ashore to a warm welcome and Larry invited us to come back later for Thanksgiving dinner. It gets better. When we arrived at the door, John and Amanda Neal (also famous sailors and long-time friends http://www.mahina.com/index.html ) greeted us. Although we (Colemans) would never consider ourselves in a class with the Neals and Pardeys, all three couples have sailed the oceans for decades and the unplanned coming together for Thanksgiving (2 turkeys with all the trimmings, pumpkin pie, etc.) at a small island off the coast of New Zealand still boggles my mind. Don said later, "It's not often you are reading a book and get to meet the authors the same day!" We shared thanks and a fabulous meal with many other nice Kawau residents that evening, and the following day, before a rousing sail back to "civilization' in 25 knots of head wind, we explored the southwest corner of the island, the old Governor's mansion, a long abandoned copper mine and more by foot. Lots of history everywhere. None of this or any of our other "land cruising" adventures would have occurred without Brian and Heather Moore, proud owners of their home named Bush Haven where they have kindly allowed us to make a base here in NZ. Sweet Pea is pretty old and needed fixing up before we could use her. Brian and I made a double bed across the back (there were only 2 single berths originally) and Lorraine and Heather repaired all the curtains and sewed cushion (they call them squabs here) covers. After countless other small repairs and upgrades, we took a "shakedown cruise" in early November to Cape Reinga and the northern tip of the island with the Moores in their motor home, Lovely Lady II, camping in different spots almost every night. The four of us collected pipis and cockles (small shellfish) and a fisherman gave Heather a beautiful snapper that she smoked and shared. Another nice guy gave Brian some marvelous oysters and one dark night he waded around some mangroves with an underwater light and speared several delectable flounders. Yum, plenty of fresh seafood! We visited several small forests with a few remaining stands of kauri trees. One is estimated to be 2000 years old but sadly, 97% of them were cut down by the Europeans when they arrived in the mid 1800's. They are spectacular trees with huge girths, reminiscent of the California redwoods we visited as youngsters. Very spiritual! There is even a mammoth museum in Matakoe devoted entirely to the kauri and timber industry. When a kauri is injured it "bleeds" sap that acts as a scab till the wound is healed. The sap (or gum as it is commonly known) eventually falls to the earth and many folks from countries like Yugoslavia migrated here in the 1800's to dig it from the ground. The gum diggers sold their gum to make varnish and flooring and other goods, and many people collected it and polished it into gems. One entire room in the museum displays hundreds of fine samples of the various colors of glistening gum from amber to red-orange and more. Our shakedown was pretty successful but we returned to Bush Haven to fix some more things and to deal with our stuff. It had taken us nearly 2 months since our arrival in September to move our belongings off Southern Cross and to organize and sort through it all. Immense job! Lorraine found and bought a 20 foot shipping container and had it delivered to the northern corner of Bush Haven where Brian set it on pressure treated timber. It now holds all our stuff except the things we moved into Sweet Pea. After packing the container, we took off to go and visit Don and Jacque and that's when the gearbox packed it in. Sweet Pea (and Lorraine and Robby) got a "semi-reconditioned" working transmission for Christmas and for the first time since our arrival in New Zealand over a year ago, Lorraine and I finally feel kind of caught up and somewhat organized. Whew! We have no idea where we will go next but new adventures are sure to come our way. Love and aloha and Happy Holidays to all. Robby and Lorraine (11/18/09 -- Progress) We have been swamped applying for visa extensions and trying to get caught up on accounting and trying to get our 1981 motor home (Sweet Pea) road ready so we can get out of Brian and Heather's hair here at Bush Haven. Almost done. We will be back to slow or non-existent Internet so please do NOT send any pics, jokes, etc. without querying first. And please use only capnrobby@yahoo.com address. Will try to update more when possible. And will try to respond to your emails more timely we hope. Love and aloha to all. Robby (10/13/09) Lorraine and I have been (back) in New Zealand 3 weeks as of yesterday (It's Tuesday 13, October here.) Besides running around like crazy, I had computer problems so did not answer emails as I should. Sorry.Our good buddy Johnny Brand (he spent a cyclone season with us on his boat Pinnaped in Fanning Island in the 90's) picked us up at Auckland International at 0600 21 September after a very pleasant, albeit long flight from LAX. Air New Zealand is the best! It's spring here, with lots of rain and still very cold for us. We spent a few days with John and his family and immediately began a search for a "campervan" (aka motor home.) We have to move all our personal possessions off Southern Cross before the new owners arrive so we needed wheels, a "home" and also a place to put our stuff. We were spoiled in the US where we found Baby Blue (our very affordable Dodge van) and were dismayed to find nothing near that price range and condition here. Our dear Kiwi friends, Heather and Brian called and said, "Don't worry about it. Get your tails up here (4.5 hour drive to Keri Keri) and you can use our car to search and move your things. You can use our garage to sort them as we are going to the Amateur Winemakers Competition in Gisborne and will be gone for nearly a month. Our home is your home." We loaded up our luggage on Wednesday the 23rd; borrowed Johnny's car and drove out of the gray city through the lush bright green countryside to their home not far from the Bay of Islands and Opua where Southern Cross has been resting since we left NZ last May. We looked at some campervans along the way -- none was right. Brian and Heather are in their mid-seventies and at least as active as we are. They named their gorgeous home Bush Haven. It's an extremely lovely, 5 acre, meticulously manicured section of land with orange trees, vast lawns, and great stands of tall trees above a valley filled with "native bush." Myriad birds, trickling fountains and dozens of different spring flowers in myriad colors brighten even the most drismal (my own word) days. Brian and Heather offered us a bedroom with bath off the garage and have treated us like royalty. Together we looked at nearly 20 motor homes but the inexpensive ones were pretty much rusty or deteriorated junk and the ritzy ones start at $65,000 NZ. Yikes. We gave up temporarily and used their Nissan SUV to make our first trip on SC on the 25th of September. SC was never alone for more than a couple weeks in the past, yet she is in surprisingly good shape after sitting nearly 4 months, although she will need a good scrubbing in and out. Lorraine and I threw items in boxes helter-skelter and in between rain showers shuffled them to the car in dock carts. Lorraine shed only a few tears. Heather asked us when we returned and began filling their garage with the first load, "Is that most of it?" I responded sadly, "Nope, that's only a small fraction." Then I found a motor home we thought might work on "Trade Me" (NZ's EBay) that appeared much too reasonable to be true. Only problem was that it was halfway down the north island in Hamilton. After getting the lowdown on caring for Bush Haven during their absence, (most will recall we have cared for many folks' pets, houses and yachts in the past) Brain and Heather followed us to Auckland in Lovely Lady 2 (their beautiful motor home) where we dropped off Johnny's car and continued on to Hamilton. We stepped aboard a fully self contained, white campervan with a lavender stripe and Lorraine said "This is pretty nice." She test drove it (she had never driven a 6 meter, 20 foot bus before;) and we decided to purchase it. Brian and Heather drove south toward the Wine Competition and we froze sleeping in the heaterless motor home that windy rainy night. After transferring dollars and changing registration Monday morning, (VERY simple process at the post office - no DMV here) Lorraine drove all day, through Auckland rush hour traffic back to Bush Haven arriving just before dark. What a gal! (I have needed cataract surgery for a while but it seems to get postponed over and over so she usually drives. And recall they drive on the left side of the road here.) The rest of that week, we made multiple trips to Opua and, despite the chilly rain, finally got SC empty and the garage and carport full. I put a few pics on our site at (http://alohacouple.com/Back...202009.htm ) for those with internet. All we have done every day beginning October 3rd (other than mowing the lawn, picking up oranges and tending the vegetable garden) is sort through 20 years of accumulated stuff. Everything needs thorough cleaning, tools de-rusted and lubricated, etc. Very time consuming and often emotionally difficult but we'll make it. Compared to what our friends and extended family have suffered in Samoa and Tonga from the horrible tsunami, our travails are nothing. We have decided to part with as much as we can and send it to Samoa where many of the survivors were left with little or nothing. We would like to take our packages there ourselves and see if we can help Habitat for Humanity construct houses or assist any way we can, but first we must clean out the spider webs and dust from our new (1981) "home" and move silverware, plates, tools, first aid kit, food, clothing, and so on into it. Most important, we want to empty Brian and Heather's garage, although they assure us there is no rush. Love and aloha, I'm goin' back to work. Robby Oops, I forgot. Ed and Stacy, the new owners of Southern Cross, asked us to move her into a long-term slip so we drove to Opua last week, fired up Dag, SC's 48-year-old engine, and made probably our last double-handed voyage in our (I mean their) beloved boat. All went perfectly with only a few more tears. (6/27/09) Update from the US - yikes! First,
our humble apologies to all who have written since our arrival on the
mainland US this month (first time for me in 2 ½ years, first time for
Lorraine since 2004). Many have invited us to visit and we will do our
best to see everyone (especially my dear Mother in the Bay Area) after
we finish the renovation of our historical site/fourplex here in San
Diego. (5/30/09) 31 May, 2009 Auckland, New Zealand This
will be our last update from NZ for at least 3 months. We are camping at
our pal, Johnny’s house and he’ll take us to the airport today. We
fly (13 hours) to LAX where our “Uncle” Joe will meet us
and drive us to his home in Lorraine and I spent 5 months here tending to our boat and renovating and re-renting our house in Kaitaia on the north end of this island. Since we have not been on the mainland US for years, it’s time to return to San Diego and renovate our 104-year-old fourplex there. That’s our job. Depending on how long the renovation takes, we will try to see as many family and friends as we can before flying back here. We especially need to go to the Bay Area to help out my 87-year-old mum. While we were repairing Southern Cross (after 2 years of cruising) a lovely couple flew here from Salt Lake City and made an offer to purchase her. We have lived aboard Southern Cross for nearly 2 decades and it was terribly difficult to say yes, but we both know it’s time to “pass the torch” to someone else and start a new direction and a new set of adventures in our life. The transaction will not be completed till September when we will return to NZ and move our belongings to who-knows-where??? A buyer came along and purchased our Kaitaia house in May and so we will be truly homeless and have no idea where all these changes will lead us. Exciting yet disconcerting at the same time. Hope this finds you all well. Love and aloha, Robby and Lorraine (3/27/09) Sorry for dropping off the radar screen. We spent almost the entire month of March redoing our rental house here up in Kaitaia (sleeping on the floor). And computer died. Arrgghh! Just got back on board. Anyone interested can see it on http://rwkaitaia.co.nz/...gid=23602 WE do not think it will sell in this market and hope to find a good renter soon. Regrouping again and will stay in touch and hope to have more of interest next update. SC is fine and we still hope to explore Bay of Islands before it gets too cold. Aloha, Robby (1/6/09
"Happy New Year") Summer and the New Year arrived in Northland New
Zealand with wonderfully warm sunny days - we're living in shorts again
(at least during daylight hours.) We rang in 2009 with dancing and
fireworks in Paihia. Our pal, James, from Mai Miti Vavau (who is here
to deliver a boat) joined us. We also danced Saturday night at the
historic Towai Hotel in a special "Blues Brothers" show. Really
nice. Sadly, our house (a 3 BR rental) is in need of what Lorraine calls "attention." That means it needs time and money to bring it back to the condition it was when we visited here last time - paint, carpets, landscaping, etc. We are taking Southern Cross to drydock on the 16th and after launching in early February we will deal with the house. We'd prefer to explore the wonderful Bay of Islands here but responsibilities always come first. We
are rejoining the 21st century and now have a cell phone 64 21 045-8270
and Skype 1 858 736-9192. We have moved tons of stuff off SC into a
storage unit and the motel job did not work out, but we are still open
to just about anything. If
the G&G are willing we will sail in the Tall Ships Race this
Saturday. Hope 2009 is better for everyone. Love and aloha, Robby (12/27/08) Our "big changes" email drew lots of questions - answers follow but first a little summary on climate and passage planning in this part of the world. I started this letter on the second day of "summer," sitting here on our beautiful ketch SOUTHERN CROSS in chilly, gray, and rainy Opua, New Zealand. I had no idea that this place was so cold, wet or "drismal." Since we arrived on the first, we have had 4 or maybe 5 partly sunny days when the temperature rose to 22C (low 70's.) We thought we were sailing to a warm place to spend Christmas but it gets down to 13 C (into the 50's) at night and I am wearing long pants and a heavy wool shirt for the first time in years. Christmas was actually sunny here and the temperature was comfortable most of the day. I also completely misjudged the weather on the voyage here from Tonga. (In all fairness so did the weather forecasters in this place and many other cruisers experienced rotten conditions also.) We had ideal trade wind conditions during our sojourn in Niuatoputapu until November first when the trades vanished. They appeared to return on the 6th, so we set sail but we rarely saw them again after that first glorious sailing day. Instead we experienced the most difficult sailing conditions we've experienced anywhere in the Pacific. We were not alone. A group of boats that left southern Tonga while we waited for wind experienced "horrendous" nights of squalls. One Dutch boat got creamed by 45-plus knot winds on their way to southern Tonga and had to divert to Fiji. A Mason 43 ran into similar conditions in October and had to turn around and stream a drogue back to Niuatoputapu. Most who receive this will recall that this is the area where we hove to in the nasty convergence zone/shear line for more than a day before becoming becalmed for the first time. I am as good a weather guesser as anyone and we watched the faxes from Fiji every day and communicated with weather "gurus" and researched the Pilot Charts. These`charts (developed before global warming) said the wind is predominantly east to southeast during November and there would only be a 1% chance of calms. The book, "World Cruising Routes" recommends sailing west of the direct course (rhumbline) to Opua because we were sure to encounter westerlies near NZ. When I told one weatherman we finally had wind and were departing Niuatoputapu on Thursday the 6th, he wrote back, "at this stage 29S 176 E will suffice with the westing, as it looks as though--- after that trough near 22.5S, it will be SE winds 20 to 25 knots all the way to 33S for you. Stay on squall watch until you encounter a period of southerly winds on Sunday, then SW to W till Wednesday then SE to E to NE to NZ." No mention of how horrible the convergence zone would be (nobody can predict that) and by Sunday we were drifting in circles with no wind at all, much less from the south or southwest or west as predicted. Later in the voyage I received "So stick to the 220 deg true heading at present but make it more like 230 degrees on Tuesday when the strong NE to N winds arrive so that you can head 200 degrees on the 26th in the Westerly winds." It is also noteworthy that in 25 days of sailing/motoring we had only 2 hours of wind from any westerly direction although we have had plenty of westerlies since we arrived. We downloaded "grib" files daily, which are computer generated forecasts of wind conditions and they were wrong more often than not. We also checked in with a local radio man, Dez, here in NZ every night and he would give us expected conditions for the following day but he was no more accurate than the gribs. Another vessel reported forecasts on the daily radio nets from "Commanders", whoever they are, but they were no better than anyone else. Perhaps this is the most difficult place in the world to forecast? Our friend, Captain Tuffin of the HMNZS Resolution, told us that the weather near New Zealand has the potential to be the worst in the world and that is part of their national defense system. We never had any dangerously severe weather on the voyage, just completely unpredictable with days of little or no wind, really nasty squalls and yery strong headwinds from the south. When we were being blown backward, Captain Tuffin wrote that we were experiencing "NZ's most efficient defence (its weather) in action. You have been caught in the dreaded Eastern side of a reasonable size anticyclone that has caught up with the last depression. No consolation now that Met Service was saying variable 10kts from Sun afternoon." We also had no idea that everyone else in this seasonal mass migration motored so much. Some boats motored 50 percent or more of their voyage. We thought we could sail most of the way but another skipper said, "The dinosaurs died so we could all make it to New Zealand." And make it we did (sadly, at least one that we know of did not.) We really admire our friends Lin and Larry Pardey who always sail everywhere (no engine.) It's important to point out that our challenging passage had nothing to do with our decision to sell Southern Cross - we had decided that a year earlier - time to set a new course for our lives. Since
our arrival, all has been repaired on Southern Cross and we hope to
sail in the Tall Ships regatta on January 10th. We rented a small
storage and moved tons of stuff off the boat and have scheduled a haul
out for the second week in January. We've been looking for
accommodations ashore but we need to sell the boat in able to afford to
buy anything here. If she does not sell who knows what we will do? We
have a possible job as motel mangers that may pan out. We'll see. I had a spot cut from my face last week and am awaiting the biopsy report. Other than that, and some nasty colds, we are healthy and happy to be in this new country. It is always wonderful to hear from al our friends and family, old and new, and we wish peace and all the best to all of you. Love and aloha, Robby and Lorraine (12/13/08
"Big Changes") It had been our goal to sail our own vessel to New
Zealand since 1978 and we finally made it December 1, 2008. (11/30/08
"We finally made it!") Slip F15 Opua marina. Safe and sound. Yahoo! Aloha to all. R&L Last email (on Thanksgiving we were motoring at about 0500 from beautiful starlit calm into a 20 knot squall. That squall pummeled us for 4 hours before letting us go. Kept motoring against 17 knot headwinds under stormy skies till another "perma-squall", the Squall >From Hell (SQH) grabbed us. Kept motorsailing into it's 24 knot winds hoping it would pass or dissipate. It would not so we hove to and stopped Dag (engine) to let it pass. It would not. Great green balls of rain kept forming behind us on our radar and rolled over us with gusty winds. No way to tell what winds outside the squall were doing. We had made our way to within 128 miles of Opua, but drifting NW toward Japan in the SQH was intolerable so we started engine and motored ENE (best we could make against it) to get away. Finally, after spending lots of valuable fuel) after 7 tortuous hours in it, at 1800 that evening we escaped the clutches of the SQH. Still 18 to 20k headwinds and squally weather, and no sleep since 0300 so we hove to and drifted north AGAIN! Next morning we were 145 miles from Opua. Disheartening to say the least. Winds began to drop so at 1100 we hoisted staysail, yankee, trysail and double reefed mizzen on jury-rigged mizzen boom and actually sailed SW for a while. ( WE cannot sail into headwinds with no main and only jury rigged questionable mizzen.) SW would have missed NZ entirely so we began motorsailing under various sail combinations and made it all the way to within 85 miles of Opua by 2300 last night. Headwinds in low 20's and squalls returned with a vengeance so we hove too again and began drifting north (backwards) again. Fuel getting very low now. Very rough with some of the biggest seas (4 plus meters) we have seen so far. Little rest or sleep - concerns of other boats and ships this close to land. 13 hours later we have drifted backwards 13 miles. Original forecast for Thanksgiving and yesterday was for winds from Northeast. ( Note we have had NO favorable winds since mainsail ripped.) Forecast for today ( we still have 20 knots from south and very big seas and still hove to) was for light and variable winds. Now they are saying maybe tomorrow or the next day. If we ever get NE winds we can sail south or if we ever get the light and variable ones before we drift too far away, we MIGHT have enough fuel to motor to Opua. For now we remain sadly Northward bound but fondly yours, Aloha, Robby and Lorraine (11/24/08)
29 23 S 174 39 W, 220 True at 5.5 knots. 350 mi to Opua. (11/24/08) 28 45 S x 175 41 ENE Wind to 22 k, Course 245 T, Speed 5.7 Seas 3 meters. Sunny All ok on board. Starboard tack (wind coming over right-hand side of boat) first time since we left Hawaii 6/07. Wind supposed to go north and NW eventually after front passes tomorrow am???. Many boats between here and Opua. It's supposed to blow like stink there but who knows this far away (390 mi. ) Then supposed to go westerly maybe and the 'grib" files show southerly Thurs and Fri (on the nose crap.) Aloha, Robby
(11/22/08) 25 35 S x 177 47 W Course 210T speed 5.5, Wind 20 to 25 NE (11/19/08
"Coming storm?") 24 05 south, 179 18 W, course over ground 215 mag.
Wind 14 to 20 knots from East, Seas 6' plus from multiple directions
Rough (11/19/08)
"Wind and Tomorrow") 23 19S x 179 59 E Course 208 mag, wind 11 to 20 SE (11/17/08) Drifted backward all night again. Picked up 40 gal fuel (and 2 fish) at gas station. Motoring south. Barely 3 knot breeze out of SW Robby 11/16-17)
21 50S x 178 58W Drifted backwards in current 10 miles last night.
Still no wind. We have been on the sea 10 days, traveled 460 mi with
little or no wind lot of squalls etc. We still have 870 mi to NZ, with
at least 3 more days of no wind. More rain/squalls coming a few miles
NE of us. (11/14/08) Motored 35 hours and shut down at 2000 last night. Hoisted sails and sailed last 15 hours, Yay. Full sail making good 3 + knots into 6-8 knots SE wind (Trades coming back???) 21 23.7 S x 178 46.5W. Supposed to go calm again and front coming in 3 days. Back to minimum emails and electricity usage. Aloha, Robby
(11/12/08) We are at 18 52 S x 177 15 W motoring 200 magnetic at 5.2
(850 RPM.) Should be burning about ½ gal. or a little more per hour so
should have a 600 mile range. That leaves us 500 miles short of NZ. We
sailed into another big batch of thunderstorms with little lightening
but tons of rain yesterday at 1200 and when we finally got through that
low, the wind petered slowly out to nothing. Boats south of us had 12
knots of wind out of the NW this morning. I would trade 20 gallons or
diesel for wind at 12 knots from anywhere but dead ahead right now.
(Not really.) Our little Simrad tiller autopilot attached to Otto our
Monitor vane is working perfectly so we do not have to steer. Had a
great spaghetti lunch and glad to be making headway. Aloha, Robby (11/10/08 "Difficult Sailing in So. Pac.) 17 31 S x 176 03 W - Spent 26 hrs hove to in Conv. Zone. Then becalmed for 24 (repaired main batten, etc.) Then sailed (if you call ghosting at 2.0 -2.5 sailing) for 10 hours yesterday. Then surrounded by more lightening than we have ever seen at sunset (I dread sunsets at sea) so we hove to again. Scary, Tons of rain this morning. Clearing a little. Will try to edge southwest again, but supposed to be a new trough??? ahead according to Nadi Fiji. Not even mentioned by Honolulu. More yuck? 161 miles from Niuatoputapu in 4 days. Aloha, Robby (11/8/08
"Yuck") 17.13S 175 38W Hove to 26 hrs in 30k SSW to SSE to ESE Crappy.
Squalls. Grib showed 15 out of the east. Yeah, right. Shearline - SPCZ.
Before heaving to were flying on course of 130 and 30 minutes later
trucking back at 290 all on port tack. Last spit in the eye 35k with
wave filling cockpit. Now no wind. I hate convergence zones. R (11/7/08 "fragment")...plus in light squalls. Some patches of blue sky. Making good 6k on course of 220. Only 1307 miles direct to Opua NZ. Aloha, R & L & SC... (11/5/08
"Leaving Niautoputapa") The dinghy was stowed yesterday (3 hour job).
Most boats nowadays simply hoist their rigid inflatables on deck and
tie the down but our 25-year-old Avon requires deflating, cleaning all,
top and bottom, with salt away and fresh water including floorboards
and folds up and ties down on the coachroof. (10/07/08
"Last Samoan Update - I hope") Through the magic of satellite telephone
we were able to speak with Borau in Tarawa - his first time on a phone.
Like many kids we could not get more than one-syllable answers out of
him but he is fine. Also we were able to pass a message to his mom and
dad in Fanning via a cruising boat there so they know he is fine also.
A few other firsts for Borau I forgot to mention -- He saw his first
island with a profile. Not only did he see a mountain, he climbed one
to Robert Louis Stevenson's grave. And he got to see horses and even
touched a real cow. We took him to a dentist (there are of course none
on Fanning) and he got three cavities filled so he has a better chance
than most there to keep his teeth. He even learned how to floss. (10/07/08
"Last Samoan Update" [a little later]) Lest anyone might be offended by
anything in my last email, I wish to clarify that, although we might
concur with many of them, all the sentiments about money and churches
expressed were shared with us by Pacific Islanders themselves on the
islands mentioned. I think I should also mention that many folks on
boats often go naked - saves lots of laundry. Lastly, I forgot to write
that all the singers in the island churches we have attended, who sing
only acappella, easily rival the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. |
