Guest Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Great Voyage Team Wheels, it gets real nasty inside and around Mahia peninsular, there's a bay there called Rolling Stones by the locals. Thats because in a decent SW (5m+ swell which is not uncommon) there is an incredible roar in the bay, the sound of huge stones the size of your average 930 spinnaker bag dumped and rolled over and over and over. Its impressive. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Bugger. They got a right royal arse kicking trying to get around East Cape. Wind swung to the north on them and hell big seas. Now just sneaking into Tologa bay for a breath and devise a Plan C. Any cunning ideas anyone? Link to post Share on other sites
SloopJohnB 323 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Go to the pub and drink it out, I was there at Easter. You could say an advance rec party. Link to post Share on other sites
darkside 61 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 No cunning plan but a good call to go to Tolaga. Its 26kn at A bouy at Tauranga now and I bet the sea is plenty big at the Cape Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 There is talk of going back to Gizzy. The forecast for the next few days is just wrong. They are a bit knackered so hopefully gonna have a small snore off and then do ........ ???? The weather gods don't what that boat up in Akl by the looks. Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Weather looks sh*t till next Friday when it goes southwest, 30 knots NW at east cape is just nasty, have a cup of tea and wait. Poor buggers have picked the worst time to do the run. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Just chatted and they decided against Tokomaru and are heading for Tolaga for a snore off and regroup. Seems Gizzy may see Team Wheels tomorrow. Bugger. The expected wind direction arrived 12-14hours early, bugger once again. If it arrived when expected they would have been around that bloody Cape and on the home stretch. Poor bugger sounds knackered but there was some giggles so all it knot lost. They are learning a lot more about the boat though and it's hanging in well. That's one good thing I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Disappointing for them, but most important is that they are ok. Link to post Share on other sites
PaulR 3 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Sit tight for a few days and then continue north but follow the coast and stay in flat water and avoid the heavier seas out in the bay. After all you are meant to be cruising so don't miss the scenery and all the inshore islands!! Is KM organising addition rum and crew reliefs?? Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 The problem is once past cape runaway close to the coast will be a lee shore, until it goes south of west it will be very uncomfortable. Once they get near ohope it will calm down, hang tight there guys and wait it out. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Sit tight for a few days and then continue north but follow the coast and stay in flat water and avoid the heavier seas out in the bay. It's looking pretty crap for most of next week also. Nothing Sth of W/E until next Friday at the earliest. Until we get some southerly action happening I think Willow is right, it'll be ugly probably very ugly. Is KM organising ................ crew reliefs?? Mrs Wheels is aboard so he don't need me for a good finish Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Sitting tight for a while sounds a good plan, here's a current view of the upper Waitemata (facing NW): Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Txt at 2.20 - spoke to Gizzy HM and he advises getting into Gizzy now as the expected 60kts will make most of the bays along there unsafe. Txt at 3.30 - both a little scared now. It's really blowing. Oh f*ck, the weather gods just don't like Team Wheels do they. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Team Wheels now tied up in Gizzy marina and pretty damn happy about that. One thing is for sure, they will now know their 46ft baby very damn well. Sounds like the boat is going great which is nothing but good. They have torn a headsail though, knot sure how bad. I can hear it now one day in the hopefully near future - 'Hey Wheels you going out for a weekend yacht?', 'Na, waiting for better weather. The forecast is only 40-45kts and 3mt seas' Link to post Share on other sites
SloopJohnB 323 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Glad they made it safely back to Gizzy with only a torn headsail, sounds like it tuff out there. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Morn'in all. I think t's mornin. Beautiful white sands beach here, bikini clad woman, sun.......oh hell, coming too. Nup, just a blustery ole Gisbo. What a fun harbour to enter in the dark when you haven'tbeen here before. OK, so who the heck is in charge of the wind factory around these here parts? I have a major bitch I want to forward, followed by my wife that will also be their major bitch, Or Sargent actually but she was very much a Major General last night. Thank-you all for the great supportI really mean that. Many of you know of the personal issues I struggle daily with, so I dunno, maybe this all could have been a cake walk for many of you. But for me, it is a major deal trying to keep the head all together. Big personal battles that often I would rather not have to fight. And then of course, not being able to give Dawn the emotional encouragement she possibly is ooking for does not help her either. So top marks for my wife being so supportive of me. The story so far, well we left Napier in a good blow and I did learn leason number one only half an hr out. Don't tie anything down on your boat. Because you have to lash it double lash it and then another lash again just to be sure. Over the side went a 20ltr of diesel. How the heck did that happen??? So I PM'd Sloop to go beachcombing for a free 20 of diesel. We had a fantastic run. In fact, Napier to East Cape in 20hrs. The big major issue I have is over production of adrenalin. So I was shaking like a leaf, but OK. We shot across The Hawke Bay and was off Mahia pen 3 hrs before I was expecting, which was magic, as I had expected to be there in the dark. In fact we had Gisborn in view by the time it was dark and I had thought of maybe overnighting in there. But not knowing the place, I decided lets carry on. We had a magic run up the coast and I really wasn't wanting to, and certainly not expecting to be at the Cape before sunrise. The strange part was that just an hr before the cape, it was dead calm. Not a breath of wind. My wind indicator was doing complete circles and the sea was oily and the stars reflecting off it. I dropped down well out to sea to be well clear of the point and al the eddies around there. We got clear of the point and it was a little ruff, a good 15kt and nothing we could not handle I thought yippeee. The sun was just starting to rise and Wam, like a freight train, a blast hit us and over we went and from that moment on, it was all on. Dawn was asleep and she ended up on the wall not having a clue what was going on, but thught something was not quite right This is where I have descovered we have a big problem with our headsail. Pitty I hadn't worked that out before. I had wonderings, but right at this point in real need of furling it in, I realise just exactly the problem. I can't furl the thing in and keep any shape to be of any good. It just flogs it's self crazy and threatens to pull the rig down. So I had to try and sail in this stuff with the headsail out. That was nusts because we were waaaay over powered. I need to get the thing sheeted inside the rails somehow and that is going to be a task to solve before we carry on again. I said to Dawn, it's OK, we will be back out of this in half an hr because it was calm just back there. Well it wasn't and it didn't ever get calm again. I can only think now that as we rounded the Cape, the front rounded in the opposite direction at the same time and we met head on. We had an OK run back down to the first beach area our guid had said we could seek shleter. That one was no good, and we hit the bottom when it said we should be able to anchor in 3.6m of water. It was all rock and jagged and we bumped seveal metres out of the place and caried on. Next one was no better, so Tologa Bay was the place to go so I had been told and read. We were exhausted and got to Tologa entrance and I though that in case no cellph reception was in there, I would call Gisborn and get a berth soughted for us. After a lot of phoning around (Big thank-you to the local fishing club)wqe managed to gwt the harbour master, Trevor. Big big thank-you to him. He said no get you arse out of Tologa and get here double quick, we have 60kts predicted and none of those bays will give you any shelter from anything we have coming. So on we went and as we went, the stronger it got. I think my wind indicator is broken. It was reading strange very low numbers. Maybe it was just trying to say, Hey it's OK, it's not that bad really, but the fact that the sea around us was just white with spray said a very different thing. I could not believe the size of the wave so close to shore. Nothing we could not handle, only a metre or slightly more, but we were right as close as we could due to the rocky coastline. It was truely nuts. The sea was just white right from the shoreline out. It wasn't going up in the air like happens in Marlborough, it was just white spray across the water and I am not sure I have ever been in wind that strong and I have experienced 60kts in the sound before. We kept pounding and pounding and I had txt'd KM to say OK, it's a little scary now. I decided to all maritime radio and let them have updates hourly. Here is an interesting thing to consider. I am not sure if you would last long in water like that. An hr doesn't seem like long, but being in the water that long and knowing that no one is going to miss you for an hr and then probably try anbd call you and stuff around and then have something come look, I doub't very much you would last. That is sobering. I was thinking of could we get into our inflatable in this weather if we had too. How would anyone even get into a Life raft. All really good things to think about and have nutted out in the calm of home or over some rum with friends, but when you are in the actual, it is a different story and I have a whole new understanding of people that have had to actually do such things. The saying of stepping up to the liferaft takes on a whole new meaning, mainly in that, it is the very last resort you should ever have to consider, because in weather like that, you may not make it inbto one anyway. I also thought of some people that we met that had been rescued in similar conditions(remember the yacht on coast watch) and thought that even getting off our our baby onto another vessel would be suicide. OK, so main priority was Keep off the Rockswhile at the same time keeping as close as we dare to them and having in my mind that caption on my GPS screen, "NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES". It seemed we had so far to go, but we made it. Gisborn (am I spelling that right) harbour had good shelter and Trevor gave directions on the phone and we tied up and was so relieved. Last night it blew it's socks off and I was so glad we were tied to a concrete peir. Good hot shower does wonders, lots of coffee and I am sure some more nana naps during the day. Sunny here. Weather is not good for the rest of the week, so it is looking like we are leaving the boat here now and I think next time, we will wait for dead calm. Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Good the hear you and Dawn made it back in one piece Wheels. There will always be another weather window that will be more favourable. Summer still feels like an eternity away so there is no rush. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Awesome stuff Wheels to you & Dawn. Have a well earned rest! Link to post Share on other sites
SloopJohnB 323 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 and try the merlot wine at the Works, it good stuff. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 You done good!!!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
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