Oceans Tribute - New Zealand to Africa
by Guy Chester 19 Dec 2022 21:41 PST
Sunset Beagle Gulf, first evening out from Darwin © Guy Chester
OCC Roving Rear Commodore Guy Chester sets up his newly-acquired trimaran and embarks on an 8,000-mile shake-down cruise.
As a Roving Rear Commodore, I didn't rove much during 2021. Doing a presale refit of my cat Sanctuary (with which I had crossed the Pacific in 2020, completing her circumnavigation), then taking her to the Gold Coast, Queensland to sell.
As soon as the Oz/NZ Covid border bubble opened at Easter 2021, I flew over to New Zealand to the new boat Oceans Tribute, a 30-year-old cedar and balsa trimaran. I had purchased her in mid-2020, whilst I was in Tahiti and she was in Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The next 9 months were a blur of a major refit. I bought Oceans Tribute to race with crew and for exciting solo ocean crossings. The aim is to get to the Caribbean by the end of 2022.
So, this update is for the 8000nm from New Zealand to Richards Bay, South Africa.
Refit and Seatrials
In late 2021, I started coastal sailing her mostly solo and racing in local twilights and day races. Then in early 2022, a race program started including a 500nm double-handed race and many others. All the time more refit and learning the boat.
The plan was always to head to the Caribbean and as such the refit was to ensure Oceans Tribute was ready for ocean crossings. We had a coastal race one weekend from Auckland to Marsden Cove (near Whangarei), a 66nm sprint in which we pushed hard and often exceeded 20kts. The return to Auckland was upwind in 20+ kts of breeze and beam swell, again we pushed hard given my need to get confident before heading offshore. She passed with flying colours.
Part of ocean readiness was replacing the forestay and cap shrouds; these are custom-made Dyneema/Aramid. I ordered them on a Wednesday morning, they would be ready in 6 weeks (before my departure from NZ). But then, that Wednesday evening, in a twilight race the mast fell down! Very fortunately I had a crew of experienced multihull sailors aboard and they all worked tirelessly to save the mast. The Coastguard towed us in, and the Harbour Master slowed all the ferries as they passed us to avoid the mast and boat being damaged. By 11 pm we had the mast, largely unscathed, resting on the dock. A medicinal rum was required. Inspection showed a pin had worked out of a toggle under the custom jib furler. A 4mm bolt holding the pin in place had sheared! Top-of-the-line racing equipment, this just should not have happened.
The next two months were a frustrating period of awaiting the new rigging. I kept busy repairing the boom, dodger, rotation spanner, mainsail, rerunning electrical wires, etc. We erected the rig, went for a sea trial, and a few days later entered a major double-handed race. There's nothing like reaching out to sea under Great Barrier Island in 45kts into 4m swells to check the rig! We ended up retiring from that race, as the 2:1 staysail halyard turning block opened up and we could not hoist the staysail or storm jib... all for a cable tie which now secures the block from opening.
I sailed solo from Auckland up to Marsden Cove then Opua. Everything seemed in order, just a 1000nm delivery up to Noumea for the next event, the Groupama Race around New Caledonia.
Tasman Sea
I cleared Opua with a great weather window but within 12 hours of leaving realised there was a problem with carbon fibre links for the autopilot. I returned to Whangaroa and spent 24 hours re-building the carbon links. A rigger mate drove up to help replace the lazy jacks damaged when the failing pilot caused some chaos. NZ Customs were initially OK about the return to a non-port of entry for quick repairs, but once completed the weather deteriorated to a full gale at Cape Reina. They were a little miffed that I ended up at Whangaroa for 72 hours. I offered to get a car and return to Opua, but they wanted the boat back not just me. Once the weather improved on the coast, they agreed I should leave without needing to return to Opua to clear in and out again.
The Tasman passage was eventful. I had two fronts to contend with, the autopilot pump failed, and I had to use the standby for the last 12 hours into Noumea. The crew arrived and we raced around New Caledonia, finishing third over the line, with a bigger catamaran and a 72' monohull ahead of us. We attended parties each night as we awaited the rest of the fleet, then the presentation party. I awoke with a "hangover" which turned out to be Covid! So, I spent an unplanned extra two weeks in Noumea isolating aboard. I have had the two vaccinations plus booster, so the symptoms were not that bad, Panadol and Netflix for a few days, then a week of feeling fine but awaiting a clean Covid test.
My daughter was about to have a baby in Brisbane, and I needed a whooping cough vaccination to see the new bub. So another few days in Noumea, getting vaccinated and waiting to ensure no adverse reaction.
Coral Sea
Finally, the Coral Sea. We left into a calm and elected to go over the top of Chesterfield Reefs to Cairns. I hoped for an easy solo trade wind passage. But, it was not to be as the South Pacific Convergence Zone, usually north of Fiji, had dived west and sat in the Coral Sea. So just like in the Tasman I was glued to PredictWind downloads and getting ready for some serious weather. Passing through the "front" was dramatic but not that bad, just swells all over the place.
Just as I was relaxing and settling into the boat for the brisk reach away from the SPCZ, I had a worried message from my daughter... my PLB was going off! It hangs around my neck and under the layers of wet weather gear I hadn't noticed it was flashing. A small piece of plastic protecting the on button has disappeared. Calls to the daughter and the Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra avoided any rescue!
The rest of the passage to Cairns was enjoyable, except that the autopilot pump remained an issue.
Taking the boat to Australia was an issue as normally an Aussie arriving with any "chattel" must import it. I received permission to transit Oz, with only brief stops in Cairns and Darwin. Cairns is my hometown and yacht club, where many mates helped overhaul the autopilot, fit a new stove, and do a million other jobs. I did a quick trip to see my very pregnant daughter in Brisbane.
Ian Johnston, who co-designed and built Oceans Tribute's sistership joined us for the passage to Darwin. This was a stop-start affair with two stops to sort autopilot and one to repair a split in the mainsail.
Darwin was my home in the late 1980s, so returning to Darwin Sailing Club for a sunset drink brought back many memories. No longer trusting the autopilot pump, I ordered a backup B&G drive unit. I received a mooring at Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Association, where the facilities are much improved but the laid-back boatyard atmosphere remains the same as in the 1980s. We took over the terrace bar to go over the mainsail and carry out more than a hundred repairs to the aging carbon laminate sail.
I made another quick trip to Brisbane to meet my first grandchild, "Frankie"...it was love at first sight for the little possum! My daughter reminded me that it's unlikely they will visit during these voyages as I have swapped the "luxury" 52' cat for an "empty" trimaran.
Off west and solo again, the Timor Sea was a very relaxed sail, apart from the autopilot pump dying and now needing to rely on the standby B&G drive. Cocos Keeling had opened post-Covid on 1 August and I was not prepared to do the next leg with only the standby B&G drive unit and the emergency Pelagic pilot; I needed a spare B&G drive unit.
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This article has been provided by the courtesy of Ocean Cruising Club.