[radioactiv]
[position] 23 36.300s 166 35.092e
[status] Hi to Patricia from Gulf Harbour Radio! Patricia, Sasha intends to send a YIT update during her morning shift (3am to 6am) each day of passage, so we donât have to call in on our SSB, as our historical transmissions havenât been too clear (apologies for that). We are looking forward to hearing you guys loud and clear now we are away from land.
It has been an interesting first day, as we make our way from Noumea, New Caledonia to Opua, New Zealand. Early this morning (6:30am) the boys (Mike and Tim-otei) whipped the main sail and head sail up. A few hours into our sail, Mike made the decision to get the Screacher up (aka code zero), so the boys pulled that out of the forward hatch and we were soon hoofing it along (10-11knots) then⦠the Screacher halyard snapped! Drama, drama drama! Nah, not really, the crew acted quickly and calmly; Mike and Tim headed up the front and pulled the sail out of the water, and then got to work removing the snapped halyard from the mast, which they achieved. Sasha stepped up to helm, starting the port engine once the sail was clear of the water, she then removed the screacher sheet off the stern starboard winch and retrieved the halyard block off the bit of halyard that lay on the starboard deck. Our secret speed maker and favourite sail is now out of operation, until we can get another halyard sorted. Luckily the sail is not damaged at all.
One thing that Sasha has learned today, (after Tim read it out of one of our Boating New Zealand magazines â GREAT MAGS THOSE!!) is that rope makers reckon once you tie a knot in a rope it can reduce its strength by half. Sasha didnât know that until today â ya learn something everyday!
We had a quick breaky this morning, so we could get sailing early; museli, greek yoghurt and fresh fruit. Lunch was freshly baked baguette chicken sandwiches. Weâve nibbled on a few chocolate biscuits for morning and afternoon tea, and the spiral lasagna is re-heating in the oven as we type.
Our pre arrival form has been emailed off to NZ customs, with an ETA of 25th October, 0700 hours, letâs see how accurate our best guess was.
Sasha has downloaded the SSB metservice weather maps, and we are keeping an eye on all those low weather systems way down south.
All well on board.
[speed] 9.6
[heading] 150M
[weather] Easterly 15knots (approx), clouds dot the horizon, but we have had a sunny beaut day. Baro 1016.
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