Did i ever tell you....?

Serendipity
David Caukill
Mon 12 Nov 2012 14:31

Monday 12  November, On passage to New Zealand  South Pacific Ocean 29 33.2S  169 09.25E 

Today’s Blog by David (Time zone GMT+11.00; UTC +11.00)

 

….. how blue the sea is?  Once you get into really deep water the sea becomes a deep, mysterious aquamarine (surprising that!) blue – Ultramarine.  It is quite the most beautiful colour I know – and almost impossible to replicate ashore.

 

OK – so if I DID tell you, then did I ever mention how COLD it is getting?  It is 01.00 and I have the watch.  There is roughly 12 knots of true wind on  our quarter giving a beam reach in about 10 knots. With our reduced sail plan that translates into  about 6.5-7.0 knots of boat speed. And COLD!  I am wearing pretty much the Full Monty: a complete Musto middle layer with my foulies on stand by; errrr.  SOCKS and deck shoes!!!   I have not worn this kit since we got south of Lisbon July 2011  – and I need every stitch.  True it has warmed up considerably since the clouds arrived, BUT….   And I thought it was nearly summer in these parts.

 

Aah yes, and the starry sky has now clouded over and it has just come on to rain.  Funny, then, that I felt a Blog coming on!

 

So, stop we did at Norfolk Island, about 3 miles by 2, halfway between New Caledonia and New Zealand. . There is a small settlement in the centre (called Kingston – where have I heard that name  before?)  and the island is supplied by a weekly supply ship; one duly arrived while we were at anchor (aptly named the “Norfolk Guardian”).

 

The Police and Customs spoke English on the radio – OK, not the  Queen’s English but with  a good Antipodean twang; compared with New Caledonia, t’was a breath of fresh air (not that we need much of that right now).    The vegetation was very green (more ‘pines’) and in the part we anchored on the North side some very large houses – which I surmised were likely holiday homes for wealthy New Zealanders

 

We did not land there,  a decision coloured by the evident state of the landing in the big 2-3 metre swell  last night (reminiscent of Furna, Brava and Nuie for those of you who were there). It had calmed down this morning but the die was already cast.   We had a few boat niggles that needed fixing – Peter got to go up the mast again – but we all did our bit and we set sail after the front passed.

 

We are now eclipse hunting,  heading off in quite the wrong direction so that we can be in the area of total eclipse on Wednesday morning (our time) without going TOO far out of our way to New Zealand.  So that will explain our track for those of you who use the Yellow Brick tracker which – as must also now be evident – is now paid up and -  I hope - operational.

 

So, that’s about it -   only 30 minutes of my watch left. Wind has picked up while I was writing …….. need to go!  

 

Now, …. where’s my umbrella?