What do normal people do when a passing cyclone sends big waves while a squall is on the horizon ? Exactly: They get their surfboards out ! As I watch the neighbors secure the dinghy on the cabin roof, the kitesurfers zoom out towards the reef. Over and into, through and above the waves. Those guys really know how to get the best out of this crazy weather.
In these last days all talk revolves around one thing: Garry. That’s the cyclone that developed in the vincinity of Samoa and is now on the way to pass us in the west. Right now it’s a category 3 and the forecast was not at all good. Locally we should have had 6.5m of swell and wind up to 40-50 knots. But right now it seems that the storm will not be that bad and it will pass with quite some distance.
But even then I still did some preparations: The main anchor is buried deep in the sand and we have 55m of chain out. That gives us a scope of 10:1 and should be quite safe. I also put a second anchor on the bow, ready to throw overboard. And we have another one on the stern – just in case. I also removed the big sunroof and removed all the loose stuff on deck. There’s enough food and water on board to last a few weeks so I’d say we’re prepared for bad weather.
Other than that I’ve been focussing on changing flags. I’ve sent emails to the insurance and to get an official measurement-paper for the boat. That is needed to apply for the austrian flag. It’s all complicated and being on the other side of the world doesn’t make it any easier. But I guess, we have that done in a few weeks.
What else has happened. Ah, yeah, there was the thing with my bank card. It arrived with my christmas parcel a week ago. The thing is: for it to work, the card first has to be activated at an ATM of the Berliner Volksbank. Pitty that those are 20000km away. Well, the bank will send another card that doesn’t need that activation. In the meantime I’ll just try to sell some unneeded equipment for cash. Heh.
The webshop for Coquito is advancing faster than I expected. That’s mostly thanks to the weather of course. One meter beside me there are 30 knots of wind and horizontal rain – I better stay inside. Because of the sound I can’t sleep and try to work on the computer again. Suddenly I hear noise…. a sailboat drifts past the port window….
The small, red ketch from Switzerland stops right between the Suvarov and the Domani. The anchor finally took hold after a 100m downwind ride. Luckily there is enough room in between the boats to stay like this until the wind eases. After the situation calms down a bit, I place myself at the desk again to edit CSS und Smarty templates.
Although the work on the ship(s) – isn’t finished, I’m currently telecommuting. Hehehehe. Wow. That’s definately a word from the last century. I had to think about it because working over the internet is so common, discreet nowadays – nobody even thinks about it. But here in the South Pacific access to the rest of the world (whichever way) is quite expensive. As a result there are no open hotspots. So I used the precious bandwidth to download all my work and setup the software locally. Finally, the webshop for Coquito gets some attention.
In the afternoon the wind drops, it’s getting too hot in front of the computer and I hop in the water. I’m quite perplexed as I look around and see the front that’s moving closer and is sucking in all the wind. I hop into the dinghy and row to shore, meet a friend, get a baguette, some apples and 10 minutes later I’m back on bord. The neighbors are also starting to move: Pascal is strapping his dinghy down on deck and Lawrence removes the sun roof.
A few minutes later, the wind hits, but the anchor is well set. We’re in 4m of water with 40m of chain out. That’s quite safe. I go inside, cook something and two hours later the front has passed. Those little squalls and fronts become more common in the last weeks. I guess the rainy season is now at it’s best. Or to say it differently: the watertank is – and stays – always full. Nice.
My christmas box was sent away on the 9th of December 2012. Yesterday it arrived ! About three weeks late for christmas, I finally got the cookies, my grandmother and my sister made for me. Altthough they were more than a month underway, the gingerbread is fantastic ! I also received the much needed bank card – the old one expired on 31.12.2012. It feels a bit unsafe to be here, alone in the south seas without the possibility of getting cash. Heh – not that we would have very much but still…
Also in the parcel: Our very first self written article in a printed magazine. The Austrian sailing monthly Yachtrevue printed it in Dezember 2012. Although I wasn’t 100% happy with a few of the minor edits, the final story is quite good. Here’s the article as PDF, sorry – german only.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.
When starting to work on a new boat, everything moves extremely slow in the beginning. It quite frustrating to follow every single hose and cable to it’s end. The flooding of our bilges also didn’t improve my mood. But even when moving forward in tiny little steps, it’s still the right direction.
And this means that now I got all our stuff from the Rancho stored away, we have a seawater pump in the kitchen, the freshwater system is also working again, the water maker is installed and working and the solar panels are mounted. And finally I’m happy again. Lots of work done and now we have energy and fresh water again.
After a week of painful calm in which the heat on board was unbearable, a few hours ago the wind returned. This is another thing that makes the skipper smile. First, because the climate is a lot better and the windgenerator will produce power for me. And second because I have to get back to Tahiti and for that I need some wind. The lonesome Rancho Relaxo is still waiting for me in Faaa and I have to get the rest of our stuff and a few more things that I have to deinstall. It’s probably just gonna be a few days but I’m looking forward to the moment when I only have to takle care of one ship again.
Christmas and new year I spent with Jean Claude and his daughters. It was beautiful to spend those days together and this was also the main reason to come here. 2013 began quite amazing. I wish it stays that way !