Goodmorning! Boy am I relieved to have finally received a sitrep from Catana - it would seem everyone else on the email list is receiving their sitreps but me, so after a chat with the 'support crew' back on land they have very kindly sent on the reports received so far. Hopefully I will start getting them directly from now on.
It would seem their first couple of days certainly haven't gone as expected - particularly because the skipper was the first to feed the fish!! I have duplicated the sitreps to date (written by Kit) in chronological order below:
0756 hrs
OK, we're off to a cracking start. After an early start at 0600 this morning we are now emerging from the heads into the Cook Strait to start our passage along the East Coast of NZ. Wellington, true to form, has given us a windy send off so we are cuising at 6-8 knots in winds gusting up to 35 knots. We're already on the second reef with no head sail and enjoying a beautiful broad reach.We are expecting the first 1-2 days to be perfect conditions but on day 3 or 4 we may have some head winds to deal with. We'll be keeping a close eye on the weather but at this stage we see nothing to cause us any concerns.No one is feeling sick yet though I have my eyes on Roger sitting at the back of the boat!!I will give an update later this evening when we have some good miles behind us. Feel free to send emails to the lads, they can get on the computer and reply whenever they like (especially if you want to increase their sea sickness chances....)
Day 2 - Sunday 13 Jan
2315hrs - Position: Lat 40 degrees 01.s , Long 177 degrees 14.7 (Hawke Bay, off Napier)
Things have quietened down for us which is great. Yesterday the winds gusted almost up to 50knots wihch really made the waves stand up on end. They were certainly the biggest waves I have ever seen and reminded me to stay away from all such weather! We ended up running diagonally with the sea behind up which seemed to be the smoothest ride possible. When the wind abated, we tacked and headed back onto our route. Although we ended up doing a few extra miles, we did them pretty quick! Our max boat speed was 10.9 knots, not bad for a little 30 footer which I refer to as the 'Walnut'.We did get some calm weather as the sun set yesterday so I did get a chance to reflect before it all picked up again overnight and this morning.Jeff continued with his form, he was trying to feed the fish during sunset and sunrise. Joe had a go as well.....and so did I out of sympathy. Roger is the only one not to succumb but last night it was close. He was standing in the companionway looking at the notebook that he needed to write in. I think if I hadn't offered to write it for him he would have joined the club. Now that he's the last one holding out, I won't be so obliging! We are all comfortable now though. None of us got much (any??) sleep last night so today we have been getting a few hours to sleep. We only have 5knots on the nose now as we motor sail across Hawke Bay off Napier. Tonight we cooked up a big batch of boat tacos which we sat outside to enjoy and watch the dolphins. We have had plenty of dolphins keep us company, a seal, an albatross, numerous other sea birds and last night, a big freighter passed us in the night. We also seem to have a bumble bee on the boat, I can't work out where it hangs out but I have now seen it both days. The meal tonight was the first decent meal we have been able to have, it was impossible to consider preparing anything whilst the conditions were so rough.After a good feed and a coffee, we are now ready for the next challenge. It is possible that tomorrow night when we are trying to round East Cape we will cop some interesting weather head on. As long as its not 50 knots I don't care! The forecast only suggest 20 knots, but that's what they said yesterday. If I have learned anything, it is that NZ weather forecasts are not to be trusted. The local features seem to throw up strange coastal conditions that rapidly change (yesterday it was fluctuating betwen 8-40 knots for some time.So that's enough from me, Joe and Roger have their heads down getting some rest for their shifts later tonight, Jeff is on the helm and I will be taking the 9-12pm shift.
Over and out ...
Tania
It would seem their first couple of days certainly haven't gone as expected - particularly because the skipper was the first to feed the fish!! I have duplicated the sitreps to date (written by Kit) in chronological order below:
-------- --- -- - -- --- --------
Day 1 - Saturday 12 Jan0756 hrs
OK, we're off to a cracking start. After an early start at 0600 this morning we are now emerging from the heads into the Cook Strait to start our passage along the East Coast of NZ. Wellington, true to form, has given us a windy send off so we are cuising at 6-8 knots in winds gusting up to 35 knots. We're already on the second reef with no head sail and enjoying a beautiful broad reach.We are expecting the first 1-2 days to be perfect conditions but on day 3 or 4 we may have some head winds to deal with. We'll be keeping a close eye on the weather but at this stage we see nothing to cause us any concerns.No one is feeling sick yet though I have my eyes on Roger sitting at the back of the boat!!I will give an update later this evening when we have some good miles behind us. Feel free to send emails to the lads, they can get on the computer and reply whenever they like (especially if you want to increase their sea sickness chances....)
1716 hrs - Position: Latitude 41 31.1 Longitude 175 48.4
Well, we wanted an adventure and it looks like we'll get it. The 20 knot winds we were expecting have turned into 40 knots which means things are pretty bumpy. Jeff was the first to lose his breakfast at about 3pm and the other two have been a bit green as well. So far I am doing just fine and even enjoyed a snooze this afternoon. Everyone has been saturated as some point or another with waves coming into the cockpit so I have opted for the dry space of the cabin for a little while. We are doing 3 hour watches with two people on deck at all times. The conditions have precluded us using the autotiller so far so it is a pretty manual task trying to steer a course in these waves. I am wedged in the cabin trying to write this email and every now and then the cabin windows are under the water!Joe is fast asleep which is good - he was feeling a bit crook till he layed down. Jeff is trying to sleep in the cockpit inbetween waves and throwing up. Roger is on the tiller battling the waves.We are making good speed, at one stage the boat speed was 10 knots but at the moment we doing 5-6 with only a fraction of the headsail in use. I don't think we will have the mainsail up tonight to make sure we have an easy time.Everyone is in good spirits, we hope the wind abates sometime soon though so we can cook up some dinner.Thanks to everyone who came to see us off this morning, we felt pretty special having a send off party.
Day 2 - Sunday 13 Jan
2315hrs - Position: Lat 40 degrees 01.s , Long 177 degrees 14.7 (Hawke Bay, off Napier)
Things have quietened down for us which is great. Yesterday the winds gusted almost up to 50knots wihch really made the waves stand up on end. They were certainly the biggest waves I have ever seen and reminded me to stay away from all such weather! We ended up running diagonally with the sea behind up which seemed to be the smoothest ride possible. When the wind abated, we tacked and headed back onto our route. Although we ended up doing a few extra miles, we did them pretty quick! Our max boat speed was 10.9 knots, not bad for a little 30 footer which I refer to as the 'Walnut'.We did get some calm weather as the sun set yesterday so I did get a chance to reflect before it all picked up again overnight and this morning.Jeff continued with his form, he was trying to feed the fish during sunset and sunrise. Joe had a go as well.....and so did I out of sympathy. Roger is the only one not to succumb but last night it was close. He was standing in the companionway looking at the notebook that he needed to write in. I think if I hadn't offered to write it for him he would have joined the club. Now that he's the last one holding out, I won't be so obliging! We are all comfortable now though. None of us got much (any??) sleep last night so today we have been getting a few hours to sleep. We only have 5knots on the nose now as we motor sail across Hawke Bay off Napier. Tonight we cooked up a big batch of boat tacos which we sat outside to enjoy and watch the dolphins. We have had plenty of dolphins keep us company, a seal, an albatross, numerous other sea birds and last night, a big freighter passed us in the night. We also seem to have a bumble bee on the boat, I can't work out where it hangs out but I have now seen it both days. The meal tonight was the first decent meal we have been able to have, it was impossible to consider preparing anything whilst the conditions were so rough.After a good feed and a coffee, we are now ready for the next challenge. It is possible that tomorrow night when we are trying to round East Cape we will cop some interesting weather head on. As long as its not 50 knots I don't care! The forecast only suggest 20 knots, but that's what they said yesterday. If I have learned anything, it is that NZ weather forecasts are not to be trusted. The local features seem to throw up strange coastal conditions that rapidly change (yesterday it was fluctuating betwen 8-40 knots for some time.So that's enough from me, Joe and Roger have their heads down getting some rest for their shifts later tonight, Jeff is on the helm and I will be taking the 9-12pm shift.
-------- --- -- - -- --- --------
So there you go ... I guess my predictions were not quite on the nose, and my job application to Metservice can be cancelled ... but then again, it would seem that NZ weather forecasters aren't very good anyway, so there's hope for me yet!!!Over and out ...
Tania
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