Passage recap: 384 nm in 66 hours (2 3/4 days), for an average speed of 5.8 knots. The trip was close on the wind the whole way, but not terrible. We kept up more sail than we usually would, because we were trying to get in in time to check in on Friday.
We didn't notice much current ourselves, but others have remarked on the current.
Our route was to stay east as much as possible, without having to actually go east of the islands on the way to Majuro. The course is generally 345 degrees, but we varied our course from 325 to 360 based on the wind and land situation, using waypoints on the NW tips of Butaritari and Mili as intermediate points. We were worried about the last bit between Mili and Majuro, but the wind swung a little more east (vs ENE), and the last leg we were worrying about was no trouble at all.
We got into the Majuro mooring field about 12:30pm on Friday, and we finished with Customs and Immigration by about 3pm.
-----
At 05/10/2013 1:21 AM (utc) our position was 07°06.22'N 171°22.34'E
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tarawa
It took us til about mid-day Monday to finally get cleared in. After we moved to the port on Sunday morning, we found out that if we cleared on Sunday, we would have to pay each official in the "Boarding Party" overtime to clear us in... at the rate of $20 (Austrailian ~ USD) per hour. The Boarding Party that was making the rounds on Sunday consisted of 6 officials!! Dave asked if we could just do Customs and Immigration and do the rest on Monday, but they said that wasn't possible. So we respectfully declined and waiting to clear on Monday morning for free. And, imagine that, we only had 3 officials visit our boat on Monday.
We were fortunate that a Canadian cruising boat, Celsius, had arrived from Majuro around the same time as us, and they have been to Tarawa several times before. So they knew all the ropes and guided us around... to the (unmarked) Tourism office, to the banana stand, to the restaurant for lunch, and on the mini-bus to Immigration. That was hugely helpful.
Our first stop was the Tourism office. Dave was DYING to get a tour of the World War II relics. We had heard of Molly's Tours, and had emailed them several days before, but had gotten no response. So we went to the Tourism Office, and the nice girl there tried all day to get in touch with Molly's or any other tour guide, with no luck. Late in the afternoon Dave walked to Molly's house, but Molly wasn't there. He left his email address with the son-in-law. But we never heard from Molly. (turned out that Challenger ran in to Molly on Weds after we left--she was off-island).
In contrast with Funafuti, where the main transportation was scooters. There are very few scooters in Tarawa, and none for rent. The main transportation is mini-buses. There is a Betio route (the main town), and a 'rest of the island' route. You flag the bus down, jam yourself in, and pay 60 cents around town or 80 cents on the island route. With a little guidance from Celsius, we quickly mastered the bus system.
On Monday night, we looked at the weather for the 3-day trip to Majuro, and decided we'd better leave on Tuesday (to arrive in Majuro on Friday). If we didn't leave Tuesday, we'd have to wait til Friday (to avoid arriving in Majuro on a weekend and it costing us $150 USD to clear in). If we waited to leave Tarawa on Friday, we'd encounter strong winds in the 20-25 knot range on the last day of the trip.
So, on Tuesday morning, armed with a couple of books, and the Tourist Map, we did a self-tour of the World War II relics, including the Japanese Admiral's bunker (smelled like it was being used as a bathroom), a pile of rusty bits that used to be a tank, on the flats on the lagoon side of the Admiral's bunker, some big guns (decorated with graffiti) on the ocean side, and the 'Coast Watcher's Memorial'. The Japanese had gathered up all of the Aussie/Kiwi Coast Watchers and beheaded them (22 of them), and there was a memorial for that. Dave didn't take me to any American memorial--there was something like that on the map--but he may have already seen it while he was walking around town, and felt it not worth revisiting. Around 1,600 American soldiers died in the assault on Tarawa.
On our way to the gun emplacements, we stopped at Immigration and cleared ourselves out. Then we tried to clear with Customs, but they sent us to the Port Authority to pay our "port fee". We got to the Port Authority and the cashier had no idea what we were there for. It took them about a half and hour to come up with the amount of $14, and when Dave questioned what that was based on, it changed to $10.70. (Celsius had told us that boats had paid anywhere between $50 and $5 and $0 in the past). We got an official receipt for our money, and took it to Customs and they cleared us out.
We went back to the boat, loaded up the dinghy, and left at about 4pm for Majuro.
After reading The Sex Lives of Cannibals, and several cruiser's reports about Tarawa, I expected worse. But I found Tarawa on par with many of the other under-developed islands that we've visited. Trash disposal on such a small island is a problem. Most people had limited English, and we got really blank looks when we asked questions.
Dave was, on the other hand, very disappointed in Tarawa. He thought it was trashy, and that the neglect of the "World War II Relics" was criminal--after we expended so many lives to liberate them from the Japanese. Hardly anyone on the island even know where the bunkers are or any history regarding the battle at Tarawa.
Challenger didn't leave when we did. Ulyana wanted to stay and see the place more, and the Quarantine guy told him he needed to give 24 hours notice before he left (because of his dog). I think Jerry's going to regret that when he's slogging to weather in 20-25 knots--it's been challenging enough for us in 15-20 knots.
-----
At 05/08/2013 9:31 PM (utc) our position was 05°12.84'N 172°11.86'E
We were fortunate that a Canadian cruising boat, Celsius, had arrived from Majuro around the same time as us, and they have been to Tarawa several times before. So they knew all the ropes and guided us around... to the (unmarked) Tourism office, to the banana stand, to the restaurant for lunch, and on the mini-bus to Immigration. That was hugely helpful.
Our first stop was the Tourism office. Dave was DYING to get a tour of the World War II relics. We had heard of Molly's Tours, and had emailed them several days before, but had gotten no response. So we went to the Tourism Office, and the nice girl there tried all day to get in touch with Molly's or any other tour guide, with no luck. Late in the afternoon Dave walked to Molly's house, but Molly wasn't there. He left his email address with the son-in-law. But we never heard from Molly. (turned out that Challenger ran in to Molly on Weds after we left--she was off-island).
In contrast with Funafuti, where the main transportation was scooters. There are very few scooters in Tarawa, and none for rent. The main transportation is mini-buses. There is a Betio route (the main town), and a 'rest of the island' route. You flag the bus down, jam yourself in, and pay 60 cents around town or 80 cents on the island route. With a little guidance from Celsius, we quickly mastered the bus system.
On Monday night, we looked at the weather for the 3-day trip to Majuro, and decided we'd better leave on Tuesday (to arrive in Majuro on Friday). If we didn't leave Tuesday, we'd have to wait til Friday (to avoid arriving in Majuro on a weekend and it costing us $150 USD to clear in). If we waited to leave Tarawa on Friday, we'd encounter strong winds in the 20-25 knot range on the last day of the trip.
So, on Tuesday morning, armed with a couple of books, and the Tourist Map, we did a self-tour of the World War II relics, including the Japanese Admiral's bunker (smelled like it was being used as a bathroom), a pile of rusty bits that used to be a tank, on the flats on the lagoon side of the Admiral's bunker, some big guns (decorated with graffiti) on the ocean side, and the 'Coast Watcher's Memorial'. The Japanese had gathered up all of the Aussie/Kiwi Coast Watchers and beheaded them (22 of them), and there was a memorial for that. Dave didn't take me to any American memorial--there was something like that on the map--but he may have already seen it while he was walking around town, and felt it not worth revisiting. Around 1,600 American soldiers died in the assault on Tarawa.
On our way to the gun emplacements, we stopped at Immigration and cleared ourselves out. Then we tried to clear with Customs, but they sent us to the Port Authority to pay our "port fee". We got to the Port Authority and the cashier had no idea what we were there for. It took them about a half and hour to come up with the amount of $14, and when Dave questioned what that was based on, it changed to $10.70. (Celsius had told us that boats had paid anywhere between $50 and $5 and $0 in the past). We got an official receipt for our money, and took it to Customs and they cleared us out.
We went back to the boat, loaded up the dinghy, and left at about 4pm for Majuro.
After reading The Sex Lives of Cannibals, and several cruiser's reports about Tarawa, I expected worse. But I found Tarawa on par with many of the other under-developed islands that we've visited. Trash disposal on such a small island is a problem. Most people had limited English, and we got really blank looks when we asked questions.
Dave was, on the other hand, very disappointed in Tarawa. He thought it was trashy, and that the neglect of the "World War II Relics" was criminal--after we expended so many lives to liberate them from the Japanese. Hardly anyone on the island even know where the bunkers are or any history regarding the battle at Tarawa.
Challenger didn't leave when we did. Ulyana wanted to stay and see the place more, and the Quarantine guy told him he needed to give 24 hours notice before he left (because of his dog). I think Jerry's going to regret that when he's slogging to weather in 20-25 knots--it's been challenging enough for us in 15-20 knots.
-----
At 05/08/2013 9:31 PM (utc) our position was 05°12.84'N 172°11.86'E
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Made it to Tarawa
We arrived in Tarawa about 2pm this afternoon. Unfortunately they have declined to clear us until Monday. So we are quarantined aboard until then. Not really a bad thing, we'll have a leisurely day tomorrow, sleeping in, having a big breakfast, and cleaning things up.
Officially, we should be anchored off the main town of Betio, awaiting our clearance. But that place is a commercial port, full of big fishing boats and a few big freighters. It is also completely exposed across about a 10 mile fetch across the atoll, to the NE winds that are blowing right now. So it would be a miserable, and perhaps dangerous anchorage for us. So we have opted to anchor for the next 36 hours in the 'Parliament' anchorage (approx 01-21N / 173-02E). This isn't perfectly protected from the NE winds, but much better than out at Betio.
We will have to retrace our steps about 7 miles back to Betio on Monday morning, to get properly cleared. This means that Dave's original plan of 'clear on Saturday, tour on Monday, and leave on Tuesday', ain't happening. So much for schedules...
Our friends on Challenger won't even arrive until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. Since we can't get out of here by Tuesday afternoon, we'll probably stay til Friday, so we don't arrive in Majuro on a weekend (and incur $150 USD weekend clearance charges).
We are looking forward to a day of touring the WWII battle sights here in Tarawa.
-----
Sherry & Dave
On our way to the Marshall Islands
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com
At 05/04/2013 8:51 AM (utc) our position was 01°21.36'N 173°02.01'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
Officially, we should be anchored off the main town of Betio, awaiting our clearance. But that place is a commercial port, full of big fishing boats and a few big freighters. It is also completely exposed across about a 10 mile fetch across the atoll, to the NE winds that are blowing right now. So it would be a miserable, and perhaps dangerous anchorage for us. So we have opted to anchor for the next 36 hours in the 'Parliament' anchorage (approx 01-21N / 173-02E). This isn't perfectly protected from the NE winds, but much better than out at Betio.
We will have to retrace our steps about 7 miles back to Betio on Monday morning, to get properly cleared. This means that Dave's original plan of 'clear on Saturday, tour on Monday, and leave on Tuesday', ain't happening. So much for schedules...
Our friends on Challenger won't even arrive until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon. Since we can't get out of here by Tuesday afternoon, we'll probably stay til Friday, so we don't arrive in Majuro on a weekend (and incur $150 USD weekend clearance charges).
We are looking forward to a day of touring the WWII battle sights here in Tarawa.
-----
Sherry & Dave
On our way to the Marshall Islands
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com
At 05/04/2013 8:51 AM (utc) our position was 01°21.36'N 173°02.01'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
Friday, May 3, 2013
Sailing Across the Equator One More Time
The last 2 days have been pretty uneventful. The wind has been light--barely sailable. We've spent half our time motoring and half our time sailing slowly. But with the exception of one or two afternoon showers, the weather has been exceedingly nice. Just not very much wind.
One highlight has been occasional visits by a large pod of small dolphins. These guys are about 2/3 the size of the dolphins that hang out in the Indian River in Florida. They are zippy and playful, and fun to watch. But hard to get pictures of.
After another 12 hours of motoring, we finally reached some steady sailable wind this morning. And now the wind has picked up to 12-14 knots (as forecast), and we have had a really nice sail this afternoon.
We've been dragging our fishing lines for the last 2 days, because the seas have been calm enough that it would be feasible to boat a good-sized fish and clean it. But we haven't had a nibble. Yesterday we weren't going fast enough, but with the wind picking up--maybe tomorrow morning before we arrive in Tarawa.
We crossed the Equator this evening at 6:56pm local time. We held off dinner and watched the sunset and the GPS, and then had a little ceremony as we crossed. First we toasted Neptune and thanked him for keeping us safe--we shared a shot of Fiji's finest "Bounty Rum" with Neptune. Since this is our 4th crossing in Soggy Paws, we are both already "Shellbacks" and there was no need of the first-timers shenanigans.
Then we ceremoniously spread some ashes on this sunny portion of the Pacific equator... first my Dad's ashes, and then our friend Henry "Mike" Mikelait. I also had a short sniff over other departed family members that I am missing (Mom, brothers Larry and Jimmy, and cousin Fred), all travelers and sailors and whom would have loved sailing across the equator with us.
As the seas are still fairly calm and the wind reasonable, we had a great dinner--pork chops, real mashed potatoes, and green beans.
We are now less than 100 miles to Tarawa, with an expected arrival tomorrow about mid-day. We are threading our way between two atolls tonight, to have a nice off-wind sail into Tarawa tomorrow morning.
Our friends on Challenger are about 100 miles behind us now. Jerry has opted not to run his engine much, and so they are still in the wind-less area, drifting along at 2 knots, hoping the wind we have found will someday reach them too.
We are already looking ahead to the next leg, from Tarawa to Majuro. There's always a problem with logistics--not just the weather, but timing departures and arrivals around weekends, and trying to avoid overtime charges. Ideally we would be ready to leave Tarawa probably on Wednesday, but that would put us into Majuro on a weekend. So we may have to either hurry up and leave on Tuesday (and then make sure we keep our speed up so we can get into Majuro and get checked in by Friday afternoon), or hang out in Tarawa til Friday, and arrive on Monday. But I see some fairly hefty winds coming in the forecast if we wait that long... *sigh*
-----
Sherry & Dave
On our way to the Marshall Islands
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com
At 05/03/2013 8:35 AM (utc) our position was 00°09.86'N 173°47.86'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
One highlight has been occasional visits by a large pod of small dolphins. These guys are about 2/3 the size of the dolphins that hang out in the Indian River in Florida. They are zippy and playful, and fun to watch. But hard to get pictures of.
After another 12 hours of motoring, we finally reached some steady sailable wind this morning. And now the wind has picked up to 12-14 knots (as forecast), and we have had a really nice sail this afternoon.
We've been dragging our fishing lines for the last 2 days, because the seas have been calm enough that it would be feasible to boat a good-sized fish and clean it. But we haven't had a nibble. Yesterday we weren't going fast enough, but with the wind picking up--maybe tomorrow morning before we arrive in Tarawa.
We crossed the Equator this evening at 6:56pm local time. We held off dinner and watched the sunset and the GPS, and then had a little ceremony as we crossed. First we toasted Neptune and thanked him for keeping us safe--we shared a shot of Fiji's finest "Bounty Rum" with Neptune. Since this is our 4th crossing in Soggy Paws, we are both already "Shellbacks" and there was no need of the first-timers shenanigans.
Then we ceremoniously spread some ashes on this sunny portion of the Pacific equator... first my Dad's ashes, and then our friend Henry "Mike" Mikelait. I also had a short sniff over other departed family members that I am missing (Mom, brothers Larry and Jimmy, and cousin Fred), all travelers and sailors and whom would have loved sailing across the equator with us.
As the seas are still fairly calm and the wind reasonable, we had a great dinner--pork chops, real mashed potatoes, and green beans.
We are now less than 100 miles to Tarawa, with an expected arrival tomorrow about mid-day. We are threading our way between two atolls tonight, to have a nice off-wind sail into Tarawa tomorrow morning.
Our friends on Challenger are about 100 miles behind us now. Jerry has opted not to run his engine much, and so they are still in the wind-less area, drifting along at 2 knots, hoping the wind we have found will someday reach them too.
We are already looking ahead to the next leg, from Tarawa to Majuro. There's always a problem with logistics--not just the weather, but timing departures and arrivals around weekends, and trying to avoid overtime charges. Ideally we would be ready to leave Tarawa probably on Wednesday, but that would put us into Majuro on a weekend. So we may have to either hurry up and leave on Tuesday (and then make sure we keep our speed up so we can get into Majuro and get checked in by Friday afternoon), or hang out in Tarawa til Friday, and arrive on Monday. But I see some fairly hefty winds coming in the forecast if we wait that long... *sigh*
-----
Sherry & Dave
On our way to the Marshall Islands
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com
At 05/03/2013 8:35 AM (utc) our position was 00°09.86'N 173°47.86'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Still Struggling with Light Winds
I guess we should have just kept going (past Funafuti) when we had the good winds.
But we didn't. And now we are stuck in a big wind hole. When we left, the GRIBS said we'd only have about a day of light winds and then we'd reach stronger winds, but the wind hole has expanded and now we are on the second day. We have been able to sail some, but yesterday evening was filled with squalls (lots of wind, then no wind), and about noon today the wind went basically to zero.
So we are slowly motoring NW, hoping that the promised winds will fill in. It looks good the day after tomorrow... :(
At least it isn't blowing 25 knots!
At least the engine is running, and we have a good supply of diesel (purchased in Fiji at $5.80 USD per gallon *cough*)
Meanwhile, we've been getting a lot of reading done--studying up on Tarawa and on the Marshall Islands.
One thing that's nice about almost no wind is that it's easy to cook, so we've been eating well.
Our ETA in Tarawa is Saturday morning--we have about 315 miles to go now.
Hopefully we can get cleared in on Saturday. We are hoping to schedule a tour of Tarawa for Monday, and then leave for the last leg--333 miles from Tarawa to Majuro--on Tuesday.
-----
Sherry & Dave
At 05/01/2013 7:53 AM (utc) our position was 03°12.97'S 175°38.62'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
But we didn't. And now we are stuck in a big wind hole. When we left, the GRIBS said we'd only have about a day of light winds and then we'd reach stronger winds, but the wind hole has expanded and now we are on the second day. We have been able to sail some, but yesterday evening was filled with squalls (lots of wind, then no wind), and about noon today the wind went basically to zero.
So we are slowly motoring NW, hoping that the promised winds will fill in. It looks good the day after tomorrow... :(
At least it isn't blowing 25 knots!
At least the engine is running, and we have a good supply of diesel (purchased in Fiji at $5.80 USD per gallon *cough*)
Meanwhile, we've been getting a lot of reading done--studying up on Tarawa and on the Marshall Islands.
One thing that's nice about almost no wind is that it's easy to cook, so we've been eating well.
Our ETA in Tarawa is Saturday morning--we have about 315 miles to go now.
Hopefully we can get cleared in on Saturday. We are hoping to schedule a tour of Tarawa for Monday, and then leave for the last leg--333 miles from Tarawa to Majuro--on Tuesday.
-----
Sherry & Dave
At 05/01/2013 7:53 AM (utc) our position was 03°12.97'S 175°38.62'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
Monday, April 29, 2013
Drifting Along at 3 Knots
After a great first 24 hours, the wind has begun to peter out (as forecast). I've been using all my skills learned while racing Fast Lane to keep this big ol' boat moving in less than 10 knots of wind.
Once the wind got to less than 10 knots, we rolled in the genoa and rolled out our Code Zero. It is a great sail in this wind--it is very light and 20% bigger than our big genoa. However, a minor cloud passing by at dusk reminded us that we probably shouldn't have it out at night, as it is too hard to see the wind coming until it is too late. So we've got the genoa out for the night.
Right now we are doing 3.5 knots in 5 knots of wind--not too bad for a 40,000 lb boat. But we're getting close to the point where we might have to crank up Mr. Perkins (the engine). We were hoping to be able to sail through the night and hold off cranking up the engine until the morning, but we'll need just a little cooperation from the wind.
For the next 200 miles or so, there is a 1-2 knot west setting current, so we can't afford to drift along forever at 3 knots.
-----
At 04/29/2013 7:59 AM (utc) our position was 05°47.09'S 177°55.64'E
Once the wind got to less than 10 knots, we rolled in the genoa and rolled out our Code Zero. It is a great sail in this wind--it is very light and 20% bigger than our big genoa. However, a minor cloud passing by at dusk reminded us that we probably shouldn't have it out at night, as it is too hard to see the wind coming until it is too late. So we've got the genoa out for the night.
Right now we are doing 3.5 knots in 5 knots of wind--not too bad for a 40,000 lb boat. But we're getting close to the point where we might have to crank up Mr. Perkins (the engine). We were hoping to be able to sail through the night and hold off cranking up the engine until the morning, but we'll need just a little cooperation from the wind.
For the next 200 miles or so, there is a 1-2 knot west setting current, so we can't afford to drift along forever at 3 knots.
-----
At 04/29/2013 7:59 AM (utc) our position was 05°47.09'S 177°55.64'E
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Underway for Tarawa
We got underway this morning for the 700 mile trip to Tarawa, in the Gilberts Group of Kiribati.
Wind is almost on the beam at about 13-15 knots, so we've been having a rousing sail at 6.5-7 knots.
ETA Tarawa approx 6-7 days.
-----
At 04/28/2013 3:05 AM (utc) our position was 08°02.23'S 178°59.91'E
Wind is almost on the beam at about 13-15 knots, so we've been having a rousing sail at 6.5-7 knots.
ETA Tarawa approx 6-7 days.
-----
At 04/28/2013 3:05 AM (utc) our position was 08°02.23'S 178°59.91'E
Funafuti
We basically only had 2 days in Funafuti, and so didn't have a lot of time to relax and explore around. But we hit the highlights.
We had planned to rent 2 motor scooters for a day and see the sights together. But when we started walking around on Friday asking for someone to rent us scooters, no one in town had any for rent. Believe me Ulyana and I asked every place we stopped if they would rent us a scooter, and if not, where could we find one to rent. Eventually we learned that a good percentage of people don't own their own scooters, but when the weekend rolls around, they rent one for the weekend. So it's next to impossible to find one on Friday.
Eventually we ended up at "Andrew's". It looked like a mechanic's shop for scooters. But later we found out that Andrew is a dealer for scooters. His mechanics were commissioning a couple of new scooters, and there were 4-5 more in the shop. Ulyana begged Andrew for "just one scooter until tomorrow". He finally relented and rented her his son's scooter.
So, while the guys were back aboard Soggy Paws and Challenger fixing things, Ulyana and I ran up and down the island--to the end of the road to the south, and nearly to the end of the road to the north. Ulyana was driving and I was hanging on for dear life. About 2pm, we met with Jerry back at Immigration, where he managed to get cleared out. By then I had seen all I wanted to see, shopped a little, and hitched a ride with Jerry back to the boat. But Ulyana was just getting started... she connected with a young Tuvalian girl going to the University of the South Pacific, Tuvalu, who had lived in the U.S. for a few years with her parents (who turned out to be the Ambassador to the U.N. for Tuvalu). Ulyana ended up going out partying with her at "The Club". We old folks just went home and enjoyed a quiet moonlit night aboard.
We had dinner out at the one hotel on the water (facing west). This turned out to be an inexpensive but so-so meal. On the west side of the island, it's kind of hot--the easterly wind is pretty much blocked by the hotel. I don't know the name of the hotel, but it's the one right next to the Government Building. We had lunch at Filomena's, the other hotel. It was better and cost $6.50, plus faced the east, so there was a breeze.
Saturday morning, Dave had finished repairing the raw water pump on the engine (it had a small leak), so we borrowed Ulyana's scooter and ran up and down the island again. This time we made it all the way to the north end of the road--where the trash dump is. It's sad to see so much trash dumped right there in such a pretty environment. I know WE generate trash in the U.S., but we have more land to hide it on.
Not all the trash ends up in the dump. We saw some houses that were just disgraceful. Whether they had dumped all that trash in one spot, and it just got washed all over by high water, or whether they just tossed the trash every which way out their back door, we couldn't tell. But there was trash everywhere.
There are only 3 or 4 sights of note in the Lonely Planet. One was the library, another was the Philatetic Society--both of these were closed on Saturday. We found the "earth mover" apparently left over from WWII, and duly took a picture of it. By the time we got to looking for David's Drill, (a drill site from 1898 where Darwin's controversial theory on how atolls are formed was proven true), I was getting sunburnt, thirsty, and tired. Other cruisers had reported finding it after looking for 3 days (but didn't give a waypoint), and said "how uneventful--a concrete base with a small hole in it, surrounded by weeds and bush!" Someone else had told us it was in the middle of a pigsty. So when I was whining about being hot, tired, and thirsty, Dave took a picture of a pigsty somewhere in the general vicinity of its reported location, and called it good enough.
Another thing we were looking for was bananas for sale. We visited 3 or 4 stores but they just laughed at us. No one BUYS bananas in Tuvalu--they grow in everyone's backyard. Apparently we might have found them at the market, but we found out too late that the market runs from 6am-9am and 5pm-??. If we had more time, I am sure we could have procured some bananas, but we'll be banana-less at least until we get to Tarawa.
On the last night, Ulyana was invited to a wake. (and took Jerry along) Jerry said there were about 100 people there, many of them part of the upper crust of Funafuti society. They were introduced to the Prime Minister and several other ranking officials... and treated like royalty themselves. He said it was a good feed, too.
We had planned to rent 2 motor scooters for a day and see the sights together. But when we started walking around on Friday asking for someone to rent us scooters, no one in town had any for rent. Believe me Ulyana and I asked every place we stopped if they would rent us a scooter, and if not, where could we find one to rent. Eventually we learned that a good percentage of people don't own their own scooters, but when the weekend rolls around, they rent one for the weekend. So it's next to impossible to find one on Friday.
Eventually we ended up at "Andrew's". It looked like a mechanic's shop for scooters. But later we found out that Andrew is a dealer for scooters. His mechanics were commissioning a couple of new scooters, and there were 4-5 more in the shop. Ulyana begged Andrew for "just one scooter until tomorrow". He finally relented and rented her his son's scooter.
So, while the guys were back aboard Soggy Paws and Challenger fixing things, Ulyana and I ran up and down the island--to the end of the road to the south, and nearly to the end of the road to the north. Ulyana was driving and I was hanging on for dear life. About 2pm, we met with Jerry back at Immigration, where he managed to get cleared out. By then I had seen all I wanted to see, shopped a little, and hitched a ride with Jerry back to the boat. But Ulyana was just getting started... she connected with a young Tuvalian girl going to the University of the South Pacific, Tuvalu, who had lived in the U.S. for a few years with her parents (who turned out to be the Ambassador to the U.N. for Tuvalu). Ulyana ended up going out partying with her at "The Club". We old folks just went home and enjoyed a quiet moonlit night aboard.
We had dinner out at the one hotel on the water (facing west). This turned out to be an inexpensive but so-so meal. On the west side of the island, it's kind of hot--the easterly wind is pretty much blocked by the hotel. I don't know the name of the hotel, but it's the one right next to the Government Building. We had lunch at Filomena's, the other hotel. It was better and cost $6.50, plus faced the east, so there was a breeze.
Saturday morning, Dave had finished repairing the raw water pump on the engine (it had a small leak), so we borrowed Ulyana's scooter and ran up and down the island again. This time we made it all the way to the north end of the road--where the trash dump is. It's sad to see so much trash dumped right there in such a pretty environment. I know WE generate trash in the U.S., but we have more land to hide it on.
Not all the trash ends up in the dump. We saw some houses that were just disgraceful. Whether they had dumped all that trash in one spot, and it just got washed all over by high water, or whether they just tossed the trash every which way out their back door, we couldn't tell. But there was trash everywhere.
There are only 3 or 4 sights of note in the Lonely Planet. One was the library, another was the Philatetic Society--both of these were closed on Saturday. We found the "earth mover" apparently left over from WWII, and duly took a picture of it. By the time we got to looking for David's Drill, (a drill site from 1898 where Darwin's controversial theory on how atolls are formed was proven true), I was getting sunburnt, thirsty, and tired. Other cruisers had reported finding it after looking for 3 days (but didn't give a waypoint), and said "how uneventful--a concrete base with a small hole in it, surrounded by weeds and bush!" Someone else had told us it was in the middle of a pigsty. So when I was whining about being hot, tired, and thirsty, Dave took a picture of a pigsty somewhere in the general vicinity of its reported location, and called it good enough.
Another thing we were looking for was bananas for sale. We visited 3 or 4 stores but they just laughed at us. No one BUYS bananas in Tuvalu--they grow in everyone's backyard. Apparently we might have found them at the market, but we found out too late that the market runs from 6am-9am and 5pm-??. If we had more time, I am sure we could have procured some bananas, but we'll be banana-less at least until we get to Tarawa.
On the last night, Ulyana was invited to a wake. (and took Jerry along) Jerry said there were about 100 people there, many of them part of the upper crust of Funafuti society. They were introduced to the Prime Minister and several other ranking officials... and treated like royalty themselves. He said it was a good feed, too.
Friday, April 26, 2013
In Funafuti for a Few Days
The wind picked up nicely and stayed steady, so we made it in the Funafuti Atoll by about 12:30pm, and had our anchor down by 1:30, in a nice sandy spot, 35 feet deep, off the "Government Building", next to s/v Proximity.
We found the SE pass to be easy to transit in our conditions--wind about 085T at 14 knots, and an outgoing tide. We were a little worried about coming in against an outgoing tide (the wind against the current problem). We had expected some turbulence with an outgoing tide and a mostly opposing wind, but saw little evidence of it. I guess the pass is wide enough that it doesn't cause a problem. We arrived at the pass at noon with great sun, so entry was easy. It turns out to be wide open and pretty well charted and marked.
Once we had our anchor set, we hustled around to get the dinghy launched and the sail covers on, so we could go to shore and get cleared in. Customs and Immigration close down promptly at 4pm, and we managed to complete 3/4 of our clearance before 4pm. The last step was to drop the "Health Quarantine" form off at the hospital. We decided to do that tomorrow. We also managed to talk the Immigration officer into clearing us OUT for Sunday. Customs wouldn't do that and told us to come back tomorrow.
Since they were nearly 45 miles behind us, Jerry and Ulyana on Challenger couldn't quite make it in before dark. Since the conditions were good, a full moon out, and we had traversed the same route during the day, Jerry decided to come in after dark. The atoll is well charted, mostly 100 feet deep, and the marks and lights are mostly where they are supposed to be (unlike Fiji). They arrived safely and anchored behind us about 9pm.
Friday morning, I went in with Jerry and Ulyana to help them get cleared in, go drop our Quarantine form off at the Hospital, and try to clear out with Customs. A different Customs officer was there, and I showed her the Immigration clearance, and she cleared us right out. Jerry, on the other hand, was told "no" by the (different) Immigration officer. But HE took the Customs clearance back later in the day and got Immigration to clear him out.
They only get about 20 yachts a year stopping through here, and the last boats we know of were here in December. So it's understandable that they're kind of rusty on the procedures. Clearing out on Friday for a weekend departure was our idea, and may not be strictly according to regulations. But only one person mentioned the word "overtime" and suggested they clear us on Sunday. But we managed to smile a lot and ask nicely and got our clearance completed on Friday.
Cost to clear in and out in Tuvalu: Nothing.
We'd really like to stay longer here, but we're on a mission to get to Majuro by May 10th or so, and there's a light patch of wind coming in 2 days. So we plan to hustle on northward tomorrow, to get past the area of light winds before they get here.
Trip Summary - Savusavu to Funafuti: 6 calendar days, 2 overnight stops, 608 NM, 117 Hrs Underway Time, 50 Hrs Engine Time.
(High proportion of engine hours caused by having to motor east against the wind around the east end of Fiji for 2 days in light wind, then one day of squalls and light weather on the way to Funafuti). We made it by Dave's Birthday!!
-------
At 04/25/2013 2:09 AM (utc) our position was 08°31.56'S 179°11.35'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
We found the SE pass to be easy to transit in our conditions--wind about 085T at 14 knots, and an outgoing tide. We were a little worried about coming in against an outgoing tide (the wind against the current problem). We had expected some turbulence with an outgoing tide and a mostly opposing wind, but saw little evidence of it. I guess the pass is wide enough that it doesn't cause a problem. We arrived at the pass at noon with great sun, so entry was easy. It turns out to be wide open and pretty well charted and marked.
Once we had our anchor set, we hustled around to get the dinghy launched and the sail covers on, so we could go to shore and get cleared in. Customs and Immigration close down promptly at 4pm, and we managed to complete 3/4 of our clearance before 4pm. The last step was to drop the "Health Quarantine" form off at the hospital. We decided to do that tomorrow. We also managed to talk the Immigration officer into clearing us OUT for Sunday. Customs wouldn't do that and told us to come back tomorrow.
Since they were nearly 45 miles behind us, Jerry and Ulyana on Challenger couldn't quite make it in before dark. Since the conditions were good, a full moon out, and we had traversed the same route during the day, Jerry decided to come in after dark. The atoll is well charted, mostly 100 feet deep, and the marks and lights are mostly where they are supposed to be (unlike Fiji). They arrived safely and anchored behind us about 9pm.
Friday morning, I went in with Jerry and Ulyana to help them get cleared in, go drop our Quarantine form off at the Hospital, and try to clear out with Customs. A different Customs officer was there, and I showed her the Immigration clearance, and she cleared us right out. Jerry, on the other hand, was told "no" by the (different) Immigration officer. But HE took the Customs clearance back later in the day and got Immigration to clear him out.
They only get about 20 yachts a year stopping through here, and the last boats we know of were here in December. So it's understandable that they're kind of rusty on the procedures. Clearing out on Friday for a weekend departure was our idea, and may not be strictly according to regulations. But only one person mentioned the word "overtime" and suggested they clear us on Sunday. But we managed to smile a lot and ask nicely and got our clearance completed on Friday.
Cost to clear in and out in Tuvalu: Nothing.
We'd really like to stay longer here, but we're on a mission to get to Majuro by May 10th or so, and there's a light patch of wind coming in 2 days. So we plan to hustle on northward tomorrow, to get past the area of light winds before they get here.
Trip Summary - Savusavu to Funafuti: 6 calendar days, 2 overnight stops, 608 NM, 117 Hrs Underway Time, 50 Hrs Engine Time.
(High proportion of engine hours caused by having to motor east against the wind around the east end of Fiji for 2 days in light wind, then one day of squalls and light weather on the way to Funafuti). We made it by Dave's Birthday!!
-------
At 04/25/2013 2:09 AM (utc) our position was 08°31.56'S 179°11.35'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Blessed Wind
After motoring all night, dodging minor squalls, dawn brought sunshine and a light but sailable wind.
We put out our our Code Zero sail--a 3-ounce roller-furling big headsail, on the new bowsprit that Dave fashioned for it, and sailed all day in about 5-7 knots of true wind at about 4-5 knots. (It is quite a feat to get our heavy boat moving in that light a wind). Once or twice the wind died off, and we started the engine. But as soon as the wind came back, we shut it down again. We were trying to maintain an average of 4.5 knots, to get us in before dark tomorrow.
The wind has finally filled in (as predicted several days ago). We rolled in the Code Zero at dusk as the wind came up to 8-10 knots--too much for that light sail. We are sailing now on a close reach at 5-6 knots in 8-10 knots of wind. If this holds all night, we should be able to make the SE Pass at Funafuti Atoll by mid-afternoon.
Another boat we've been talking to on our "Trans-Equatorial Net" (12359 at 2000Z), Proximity, were supposed to make it in to Funafuti today (see their blog link on the left hand side of our blog). They've come down from the Marshall Islands and are headed for Fiji. We've already scheduled a pot-luck for the 3 boats we know will be there, on Friday night.
Challenger, whom we thought would beat us in to Funafuti, is about 45 miles behind us. When the stuff hit the fan yesterday, I guess their tacking decisions weren't as good as ours. Somehow we managed to wiggle through all the bad weather without getting hit hard again. But Jerry reported to us on the radio that their bad weather continued through the night last night and they made terrible progress. But, on the other hand, they've also been fishing--they reported that they caught a good sized Mahi Mahi this afternoon.
We haven't even put our fishing line in the water, but we will tomorrow. It's a pain to catch a big fish while at sea (no good place to clean it without getting everything all nasty). Dave spent the day of fairly calm weather repairing things, while I spent most of my time tweaking sails, trying to keep our speed up.
We are down to 95 miles to go, and looking forward to landfall tomorrow.
-----
At 04/24/2013 8:08 AM (utc) our position was 10°02.99'S 179°26.86'E
We put out our our Code Zero sail--a 3-ounce roller-furling big headsail, on the new bowsprit that Dave fashioned for it, and sailed all day in about 5-7 knots of true wind at about 4-5 knots. (It is quite a feat to get our heavy boat moving in that light a wind). Once or twice the wind died off, and we started the engine. But as soon as the wind came back, we shut it down again. We were trying to maintain an average of 4.5 knots, to get us in before dark tomorrow.
The wind has finally filled in (as predicted several days ago). We rolled in the Code Zero at dusk as the wind came up to 8-10 knots--too much for that light sail. We are sailing now on a close reach at 5-6 knots in 8-10 knots of wind. If this holds all night, we should be able to make the SE Pass at Funafuti Atoll by mid-afternoon.
Another boat we've been talking to on our "Trans-Equatorial Net" (12359 at 2000Z), Proximity, were supposed to make it in to Funafuti today (see their blog link on the left hand side of our blog). They've come down from the Marshall Islands and are headed for Fiji. We've already scheduled a pot-luck for the 3 boats we know will be there, on Friday night.
Challenger, whom we thought would beat us in to Funafuti, is about 45 miles behind us. When the stuff hit the fan yesterday, I guess their tacking decisions weren't as good as ours. Somehow we managed to wiggle through all the bad weather without getting hit hard again. But Jerry reported to us on the radio that their bad weather continued through the night last night and they made terrible progress. But, on the other hand, they've also been fishing--they reported that they caught a good sized Mahi Mahi this afternoon.
We haven't even put our fishing line in the water, but we will tomorrow. It's a pain to catch a big fish while at sea (no good place to clean it without getting everything all nasty). Dave spent the day of fairly calm weather repairing things, while I spent most of my time tweaking sails, trying to keep our speed up.
We are down to 95 miles to go, and looking forward to landfall tomorrow.
-----
At 04/24/2013 8:08 AM (utc) our position was 10°02.99'S 179°26.86'E
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)