May 2010 Nelson, NZ
With a crew of 4 we sailed from Port Vila, Vanuatu to Nelson, New Zealand. We had never made a deep-sea passage with less than 6 before. However, the good aspect of having a 3-masted rig on a boat of only 28 metres is that the spars and sails are lighter and easier to handle. The rule of thumb is to sail the vessel according to the capability of the crew. Whether the limitation is from the size or experience of the crew, it was a good time to sail conservatively. Standing watch and watch, or 4 on and 4 off, we made sail changes at the change of the watch. We didn't use the square sails. They require too many people to manage safely with a small crew.
The distance from Vila to Nelson is 1428 nautical miles as the albatross flies; however it becomes 1851 miles as the schooner sails. It was a relatively uneventful passage highlighted by a quick beam reach down the Vanuatu Island chain and around the souÕeast end of New Caledonia. This was followed by light airs, head winds and a couple of gales between 35 and 40 degrees south. The third week in January we arrived in Nelson.
While clearing Customs, MAF collected 108 kilos of food stores. The beans, rice and eggs had to be sent to Christchurch for destruction. Then Port Company sent us a bill of $1,061 dollars for taking out the trash. After we were tied up at our usual berth in the mud hole Kat dryly commented, The good thing about making the passage with 4 is that you only have 2 people who dont know what to do instead of 8 or ten. She had a point. The second week in port Kat was tested and passed her off shore yacht masters certificate, allowing her to skipper any vessel, being power or sail, up to 24 metres. The next week she learned she was accepted to the Aida European Cruise Ship Academy with a full scholarship.
Our summer maintenance season was short and busy. By the end we had shaped a new jib boom and rebuilt the entire head rig. We replaced both fore and main fife rails including 50 new belaying pins. The Sabb, our main generator engine, needed a new cylinder head. The hull and bulwarks were thoroughly rust busted and painted. By the end Alvei was looking good.
Kat decided to accept the engineering scholarship. She flew to Germany in mid-April. Our new first mate for the coming season is Roxanne, aka Rocky, an American from Texas with 7 years experience sailing tall ships. During the summer and fall we collected a total of 15 crew. Pete and Ken are retired airline pilots. Jason and Flo are French Canadian students, Dai and Kim are British and French dive instructors. Xavier and Hernando are travellers from Argentina. Balthazar is a Swedish hippie. Alanna is a Kiwi organic farmer. York is a German engineert and Ben a Kiwi charter boat skipper. Cara is a Down East schooner sailor from Maine. All in all they are an energetic, hard working and good-natured crew. We have only a few days left to finish painting and provisioning. Then wait for the weather to let us through Cook Strait for the start of our first passage of the season. We will be in touch again in June from The Friendly Isles of Tonga. Our actual departure date will be close to the 15th.
The distance from Vila to Nelson is 1428 nautical miles as the albatross flies; however it becomes 1851 miles as the schooner sails. It was a relatively uneventful passage highlighted by a quick beam reach down the Vanuatu Island chain and around the souÕeast end of New Caledonia. This was followed by light airs, head winds and a couple of gales between 35 and 40 degrees south. The third week in January we arrived in Nelson.
While clearing Customs, MAF collected 108 kilos of food stores. The beans, rice and eggs had to be sent to Christchurch for destruction. Then Port Company sent us a bill of $1,061 dollars for taking out the trash. After we were tied up at our usual berth in the mud hole Kat dryly commented, The good thing about making the passage with 4 is that you only have 2 people who dont know what to do instead of 8 or ten. She had a point. The second week in port Kat was tested and passed her off shore yacht masters certificate, allowing her to skipper any vessel, being power or sail, up to 24 metres. The next week she learned she was accepted to the Aida European Cruise Ship Academy with a full scholarship.
Our summer maintenance season was short and busy. By the end we had shaped a new jib boom and rebuilt the entire head rig. We replaced both fore and main fife rails including 50 new belaying pins. The Sabb, our main generator engine, needed a new cylinder head. The hull and bulwarks were thoroughly rust busted and painted. By the end Alvei was looking good.
Kat decided to accept the engineering scholarship. She flew to Germany in mid-April. Our new first mate for the coming season is Roxanne, aka Rocky, an American from Texas with 7 years experience sailing tall ships. During the summer and fall we collected a total of 15 crew. Pete and Ken are retired airline pilots. Jason and Flo are French Canadian students, Dai and Kim are British and French dive instructors. Xavier and Hernando are travellers from Argentina. Balthazar is a Swedish hippie. Alanna is a Kiwi organic farmer. York is a German engineert and Ben a Kiwi charter boat skipper. Cara is a Down East schooner sailor from Maine. All in all they are an energetic, hard working and good-natured crew. We have only a few days left to finish painting and provisioning. Then wait for the weather to let us through Cook Strait for the start of our first passage of the season. We will be in touch again in June from The Friendly Isles of Tonga. Our actual departure date will be close to the 15th.