July, 2009



JULY , 2009

BEWARE BUMPS IN THE NIGHT

June 29, 2009

We moved into the marina at about 0800h and left in a borrowed van at about 1100h for shopping in Kerikeri. Thankfully, the 45-minute ride was traffic free and we were able to enjoy looking at the countryside, although it wasn’t as pretty as the South Island. We had to have the van back at about 1500h and lots of stops to make so we split up. Paul dropped Mary off at the grocery store and made purchases at several other stores and then joined Mary for the final stages of grocery shopping. And, once again, Visa declined the fourth use of Paul’s credit card. As we were paying for one of the largest hauls of groceries yet, this presented a problem. Fortunately, we have more than one credit card.

We have had continuous problems over our liveaboard time with Visa, the credit card company, declining our purchases and when we call them the reason given is because we are making several purchases after a quiet spell and they suspect that our card has been stolen. We have tried to put numerous strategies in place with a manager at Visa but they are not always successful. The nature of our life is that we only shop every four to eight weeks and then make several big purchases. Each time that we call, the person at Visa makes a note in our file that we are in such and such a country – so what happens to those notes, we ask??

Here is our shopping haul from Kerikeri. This is why we stayed at the marina for one night, as it would be very difficult to transport all of this by dinghy to Bella Via at anchor. We not only shopped for food and wine, but gas (a.k.a. propane), petrol (a.k.a. gasoline), hardware tidbits and a new iPod. Kerikeri has the largest shopping opportunities in Northland, including the Bay of Islands, so we were fortunate to have this opportunity.

We frantically stowed our purchases away when we returned to the boat at 1530h as we were invited to another boat for sundowners at 1700h. Again, we spent an enjoyable evening with a group of Kiwis. We especially enjoyed our conversation with the owner of the boat who had previously circumnavigated with his family. We finished off the evening with dinner at the local hotel and a few games of pool, with Paul winning two out of three.

June 30 – July 5, 2009

We left the marina at mid-day and settled at anchor in a small bay that had captured Mary’s interest on the chart and with the description in our cruising guide. It is called Waihi Bay (pronounced ‘Why-He’), which means ‘waterfall’ in Maori. Sure enough, we were delighted to have our very own waterfall to listen to.

Can you find the waterfall on the left in the picture? This is Waihi Bay and we enjoyed watching and listening to the waterfall, especially after a heavy rain. In the far bottom right of the picture is a holiday house (called ‘bach’, pronounced ‘batch’). We try to avoid anchoring in front of people’s houses and, thankfully, the owners weren’t present for the time that we were in Waihi Bay.

We were entertained every morning by fog and mist on the water and up at the mountaintops.

we watched a sailboat travel through the very still water, as evidenced by the reflection of the boat and the clouds in the water.

We thought that we were completely alone in Waihi Bay and it wasn’t until Paul went ashore one morning to investigate an old wooden boat on the shore that he found a couple, Cheryl and Edwin, living in a trailer deep in the trees, and not noticeable from the water. Paul came back to Bella Via after an hour ashore to bring Mary back to meet the couple and carry on with the conversation.

Here is Mary with Cheryl and Edwin, a Kiwi and Fijian couple, who have lived in a trailer on their property for 28 years. They raised two daughters in this simple lifestyle, mostly existing on what they grow in their substantial garden and catch in the sea.

July 6, 2009

It was nearing full moon and the time of highest tides for that week. We said good-bye to Waihi Bay and anchored again at Waitepipi Bay in the western arm of the harbour so that we could beach the boat on Tuesday morning and dry the boat out to work on the port sail drive.

Here is Paul preparing the boards that will go under the port keel, fore and aft. There were two identical boards on the other side of the foredeck ready to go under the starboard keel. The boards were fitted so that they just fit the width of the keels and the boat settled on the boards on the sand as the tide went out. This gave more room to work under the boat on the sail drive and kept the keels out of the sand. Paul donned his wetsuit and snorkel shortly after this picture was taken, then he went into the water, and with Mary managing the lines on the deck, we fitted and tied the boards to the keels.

July 7 – 10, 2009

At 0700h, first light, on Tuesday, we hauled up the anchor and moved in to shore. We dropped the hook about 30 metres from a float that Paul had positioned earlier. Mary rotated the boat and backed down toward the float. When we were in 1.3 metres of water (we need 1.2 metres to float), Mary stopped the boat and Paul retrieved the previously placed stern lines from shore and attached them to the stern of the boat. We were now just to the left of the spot that Paul had intended us to be. We then went inside and had our breakfast, as we needed to wait for low tide to work on the prop.

We weren’t sure at the time if the boards that we had placed under the keels had stayed in place, and, we found out as the tide went out that the port rear board had slipped out of place. Nothing critical, but, something that we intended to fix at high tide the next morning. In fact, we changed the placement of all of the boards on the second morning at high tide so that both sets were just aft of the mid-section of the boat. Paul has now decided that, the next time we dry out, we will place three sets of boards under the keels.

The application of speedi-sleeves to the prop shaft of the port sail drive to correct a recurring problem with sea-water getting past the seals and into the lubricating oil went very smoothly, thanks in most part to Paul’s meticulous planning of how the job should be accomplished. We had time to move through each stage of the job at a slow pace and not be rushed and make costly mistakes.

Over the space of three days that we were dried out, we accomplished the following – sail drive seal repair, replacement of gear oil on both sail drives, repaired the stiffness in the port prop, checked and/or replaced all of the anodes on the port and starboard props, removed and cleaned the seawater intakes on the sail drives, cleaned all other seawater intakes of barnacles and especially the water maker intake, applied antifouling to the sail drives and the area around the sail drives, applied antifouling to all thru-hull fittings, and cleaned and waxed the topsides. Paul also remembered to measure the keel dimensions and exact location of the keels on the hull when we were dried out so that we can have those dimensions available to boatyard personnel whenever we haul the boat out of the water. In the past, we have had to estimate these dimensions.

Here is Paul on shore as the tide is starting to come in. Our work was finished and he was retrieving a marker that he had placed in the trees. This was a perfect place to dry out a catamaran, as the sand was quite firm and very flat.

Our last day dried out. It’s late afternoon, the tide has started to come in, and our work on the bottom is finished.

July 10 - 14, 2009

Our work on the bottom of the boat was finished and it was time to get off of the beach. The tidal range was getting progressively smaller every day since full moon on Tuesday. We wouldn’t want to get stuck for another two weeks until the next spring tide.
A deep low pressure system was rapidly moving toward North Island from the tropics and the forecast was calling for very strong (up to 50 knots) southeasterly winds for Saturday and Sunday and into Monday. We looked around on the chart for the best protection from these winds. We had a wide range of anchorages to go to. We were just about to head into Lane Cove in the western arm, when new acquaintances, Dave and Marian on Orion, motored into the bay and told us that they had spent the night in Lane Cove and the wind whips around the corner and makes it a bit uncomfortable. They were heading for Waitapu Bay, which they consider to be the best protection in a southeast blow. On their recommendation, and the fact that they invited us over for sundowners at 1600h that evening, we motored over to Waitapu Bay.

We put down our two anchors in tandem and were confident that we could withstand the high winds out of the southeast that were predicted. It started raining on Friday at mid-day and didn’t let up until Sunday morning. The skies remained gray with a heavy mist for all of Sunday. The weather out at sea was not good and we heard two distress calls from boats that were ‘out there’ being dealt with by Maritime Radio. The Auckland area (south of us) was getting 50-knot winds, with gusts to 70 knots. Most of Northland was without power for 24 hours and longer in some areas. However, in our sheltered cove the most wind that we had was 35 knots. As an extra precaution, on Saturday afternoon, Paul put out our third anchor, which ended up being unnecessary.

We learned the next day, when Dave from Orion called us on the VHF radio to ask how we had fared in the strong winds, that the boats at the marina and on moorings had a difficult time in the wind. They did see gusts of 70 knots and there were a few torn boat awnings and covers as a result. Orion joined us in our bay the next day and we enjoyed a sundowner session with Dave and Marian.

July 15 - 18, 2009

We decided to move over to Lane Cove for a couple of days. Paul had met another yachty couple in the village and enjoyed speaking to them and he wanted to get to know them better. They were intending to be at Lane Cove and climb the Duke’s Nose the next day.

We anchored in a small cove just across from Lane Cove at about 1000h. This proved to be a serious mistake on our part, as you will soon read. The cove was highly recommended by a local liveaboard as a good anchorage for the expected northwesterly change. During our brief stay in there we never did experience much of any wind. Before dropping our anchor, we followed our usual practice of sounding the perimeter of the area in which we would be potentially swinging. Paul then set off with Hilton and Melva for the climb. Mary doesn’t enjoy climbing cliff faces and Paul was commissioned to check out the trail and Mary would climb it later if deemed suitable. Paul really enjoyed the tramp and said that it was not too difficult and we planned on going back another day.

Here is Bella Via at anchor, as seen during the climb to the Duke’s Nose.

The most difficult part of the Duke’s Nose tramp was climbing to the very top with help from a chain.

We had Melva and Hilton over for sundowners that evening. Just before they arrived at Bella Via, another boat came in and Paul went over in our dinghy to invite them to join us. The boat, a ketch, is registered in the U.S. and the owners, Lily and Drew, are from Tennessee and California originally but are now residents of Sweden. They had two crew aboard from Nelson, South Island.

The next morning, we went on a hike with Melva, Hilton, and Lily halfway to a small village called Totora North. Lily could only walk for two hours that day, as they wanted to move to another anchorage later that afternoon.

A very picturesque setting on our walk to Totora North.

That evening, we shared a wonderful dinner with Hilton and Melva on board Spindrift. They were moving on the next morning as Hilton manages a marina in Tutakaka near Whangarei and they needed to get back within the next few days. There was another low-pressure system due to hit the area on Saturday and they felt that they shouldn’t delay setting off. So, we said good-bye with promises to connect again when we are in Tutakaka. We returned to Bella Via in millpond conditions and went to bed at about 2200h.

A bump in the night…

At approximately 0525h we heard a clunk (that woke us up) that sounded like one of the many floating logs in Whangaroa Harbour bumping against a hull. In retrospect, we should have realized something was wrong, but when you are sound asleep some things get explained away that shouldn't be. Within about 5 minutes, probably less, there was a second, stronger clunk at which we leapt out of bed to investigate what was bumping the hull. By the time Paul took two steps aft we could hear the sound of a bilge pump running. Within seconds our high water alarm sounded. It is located at the top of the keels where the keel meets the hull, the port hull in this case. Paul lifted the bathroom floorboard to see what was happening in the bilge and to his amazement water was pouring in from the port engine compartment.

His level of amazement was nothing compared to that when he saw what was going on in the engine compartment.

The sail drive had been pushed up into the boat by about 8 inches. The aft end of the engine had broken away from the single aft engine mount - one of the clunks, we are sure. And the engine was tilted up and forward at a crazy angle, still attached to the boat by the two forward engine mounts, which were acting like hinges.

Water was gushing into the boat and it scared the hell out of us.

Paul immediately got out our emergency bilge pump, a 12-volt Rule 3700 GPH. Meanwhile, Mary ran to start using the hand bilge pump in the cockpit. On the way, she tried to call Spindrift on the VHF with no response at that moment.

Once Paul got the emergency pump going he made the first Pan Pan call on VHF 62, the local chat frequency. Note that we had been told that no locals monitor VHF 16, hence the reason why he chose 62. When Paul then looked down into the port hull from the saloon he could see the floorboards beginning to float. Paul knew then that the combination of the 220 GPH installed bilge pump, the emergency pump and Mary were not keeping up with the flow. We had more than 80 gallons of water coming into the boat every minute. We were in trouble.

Paul looked again at the water gushing in through the opening from around the sail drive and the lights finally went on. Towels! He could stuff towels in the gap surrounding the sail drive leg. He did this at first by hand, then later with a big screwdriver to fill in the smaller gaps. At this point the water level in the boat finally began to recede after reaching a height of about an inch or two above the floor in the port hull.

This is when Paul called Pan Pan for the second time, only then realizing that he had placed the first call on low power. This time he got a response from a local yachty, gave him the usual critical information and most importantly that we needed an emergency pump. While we carried on with salvage operations, the local yachty contacted Whangaroa Coast Guard who immediately went into action.

By the time Paul was finished with the Pan Pan call Hilton, from Spindrift II, had arrived aboard and he helped Paul assess the situation. Although our depth sounder was reading 2.5 metres, with the use of flashlights (torches), we could see weed below the water line at the approximate position of the sail drive. Paul tried for the second time to winch the boat off of whatever it was sitting on by using the anchor windlass but it simply brought the anchor chain up tight and the boat didn't move much.

That's when a second light went on. Paul launched the dinghy and used it as a tug to push the boat sideways at the port stern quarter. Within seconds, the boat floated off and away from this demon that had our sail drive in its clutches.

Back aboard Paul went. In the engine compartment he could see the effect of moving the sail drive off of the rock had allowed the full weight of the motor and drive, approximately 350 pounds (160 kg), to drop into place on top of the half dozen towels that now acted as a rather good seal between the sail drive and the hull. Paul couldn't have planned it any better if he had, which he hadn't. It was all just very serendipitous (Paul’s favorite word).

The upper, inboard portion of the sail drive has fallen back into place on top of the bath towels used to plug the hole created when the lower part of the sail drive was driven up into the engine compartment. The black ring is the inner of two, thick, reinforced rubber diaphragms, which normally keep water out of the boat. On the right and near the top of the picture are the two halves of the rear engine mount separated from one another, indicative of how much higher the engine is raised from its normal position. Water is still seeping into the boat at the rate of 2 to 3 gallons per minute. The small bilge pump took care of this water intrusion for approximately 18 hours.

The water level in the boat was down to an inch in the very bottom of the bilge and this was being taken care of quite easily by the Whale 220 GPH pump. Paul disconnected the emergency pump and went into the cockpit where he found Mary still pumping away on the hand bilge pump. Thank God for Mary. Paul gave her the good news that she could stop pumping. By now she had a blister on one hand. Ouch!

It is at this time that the Coast Guard arrived. We used the experience of the Coast Guard skipper and Hilton from Spindrift to help us assess the situation and our options.

Here is the Coast Guard cutter getting ready to tow us to a beach in the western arm of Whangaroa Harbour. Although our starboard engine was perfectly operational, controlling our 6 metre wide catamaran at low speeds with a single engine is very difficult, therefore we accepted the tow.

We were towed by the Coast Guard to just around the point to the beach where we had dried out only a few days ago. There we would beach Bella Via while the Coast Guard skipper went into Whangaroa to research possible haulout alternatives in Whangaroa Harbour. Meanwhile we could see that the situation had become very stabilized in that the small bilge pump was more than capable of dealing with the water that was still coming into the boat, that the engine was very securely holding Paul’s sophisticated towel seal in place, and the crew and skipper had settled their nerves with a little bit of breakfast.

Shortly after breakfast the Coast Guard cutter returned with the bad news that a haulout trailer used locally in Whangaroa would not be available for at least a week, even though this was somewhat of an emergency. This is when we decided, with Coast Guard monitoring our situation by VHF radio, that we would make a dash for Opua in the Bay of Islands – 30 miles away. Weather conditions were absolutely ideal - 10 to 15 knots of wind out of the northwest, seas less than a metre. At this point various Kiwis (God bless the Kiwis) went into action trying to find us a haulout solution in Opua.
Unfortunately, the Ashby's slipway in Opua was fully occupied and their travel lift was too small for our catamaran. Whangarei house movers could come to Opua and do the job for a hefty $1,800 one way and we would still have to find some place for them to set the boat down and they couldn't do the job until Saturday afternoon. All of this information reached us when we were an hour away from Opua.

Paul tried Ashby's again and they got on the phone on our behalf and informed us that Norsand Boat Yard in Whangarei could accommodate us immediately if we were able to carry on. Kevin Cooper from Norsand called us while we were en route to get some basic information. We couldn't believe our luck when he told us that the cost of the haulout and launch would be $400 total and $170 per week for hardstand (less than what we have paid in Australia). As if this wasn't good enough, he informed us that, as a winter incentive, we would only be paying HALF of their regular fee schedule. We were giddy with delight.

We kept in touch with the Coast Guard until arriving in Whangarei at 0200h Friday morning – distance traveled from Whangaroa Harbour was 100 miles. Navigating the Whangarei channel at night is definitely a challenge -lots of lights, lots of curves and even a few unlit channel markers in a long and very broad waterway. However, our Detroit River experience back home helped us complete the river passage safely.

We anchored in front of Norsand Boat Yard for the night and ignored the bilge pump running continuously while we slept. If it had failed, the high water alarm would have awakened us, the big emergency pump was in place and ready to use and a spare bilge pump was ready to be installed.

Kevin, from Norsand is exceptionally professional. He rowed out to Bella Via in the morning, studied the structure of the boat, took measurements and made notes so that he could support the boat in just the right places on the trailer which is very similar to the one used at Yamba Marina in Australia.

At half tide rising, and with only one functioning engine, Mary slowly motored the boat through a narrow entrance to the boat ramp. Once aground, with slowly rising water, Paul used the dinghy like a tugboat to help steer Bella Via towards the hydraulic trailer. There were several line handlers from the boatyard ashore. The haulout went off without a hitch and the task of removing and reinstalling the sail drive began on Saturday, July 18.

Here we are on the hydraulic trailer being hauled out to a hardstand.

July 19 – 24, 2009

We consider ourselves really lucky that we had to travel the 100 miles to Whangarei. Every service that we could possibly need is right here and the tradesmen at the boatyard are excellent. Everyone is extremely friendly and readily answer questions, even though Paul will be doing the work himself.

This next part will show you how small the yachty network is around the world - we have been in contact for the past few months with new friends, Dave and Fran from NZ (we met them in Australia), who are in the Philippines right now on their boat, Melric II. They are so happy that we are enjoying their country that they are always writing giving us tips and asking us to get in touch with their friends. We told them what happened the other day and, within hours, their best friend, another Dave, had called and has been over every day. He and his wife Margaret showed up the other day to leave us a car as they have extra. So, we have a car at our disposal for two weeks. On Tuesday, July 21, Hilton and Melva, who helped us the morning of the disaster, drove 20 minutes from their home to take us for a big grocery shop. We treated them to lunch as a thank you.

One of the first things that Paul did was to fill the entire port hull with fresh water, to above the hatches, as everything had salt water and would not dry properly. He then drained it all out and we dried it with a borrowed heater and a borrowed dehumidifier from the boatyard. That worked well.

He next took apart the sail drive and actually had to lift the engine by using what he calls a 'come along', some mechanical lifting device. That worked very well and he took out the sail drive with a minimum of effort. There is no fibreglass damage to the hull because everything was just pushed up through the hole in the hull that was already there for the sail drive and sealed with thick rubber diaphragms. It was the diaphragms and the three engine mounts that were damaged. We are awaiting delivery of those parts. We will also scrape and redo the bottom paint now so that we won't have to haul out next February, which is what we had planned.

Paul is holding the dismantled port sail drive against the starboard sail drive for comparison. In his right hand is the thicker of the two diaphragms that were ripped apart as the sail drive leg was pushed up and into the boat.

The submersible bilge pump that helped save Bella Via. We have since purchased another, slightly bigger one, as a backup. This pump with sufficient hose attached has been kept readily available in the green basket since we moved aboard four and a half years ago.

We have lots of maintenance as well as repairs to perform on Bella Via and we will probably stay on the hard for two more weeks. It is easier to perform these tasks while we have electricity and fresh water readily available. At the same time, we want to get out and about and do some sightseeing.

Journal Page 9

All Work & Some Play