Mischief - Up to Mischief Log 42 Further adventures of S/Y Mischief through the eyes and ears of Chas Baynes

Thursday, 24th May 2018 - en route to Nuie

A clear night lit by a half moon with 15-18 knots of wind from across the beam giving us 7-8 knots boat speed and with a comfortable sea it was perfect sailing. It was so constant conditions we went through two watches of three hours without touching a single thing, really unusual, on a course of 225 degs direct to Nuie.

At first light I noticed a pin had come out of one of the batten cars on the mast track and the metal batten end was digging chunks out of the mast. As soon as Dave was up we were up on deck with a second reef in so that we could reach the batten car to drop a bolt into it, dropped the reef out again and off we went - sorted. We were rewarded with a perfect sunrise with no cloud to block the view.

The radio net at 8am was still a wait and see conclusion as to the weather shown in the Friday forecast was favourable to drop into Nuie or not. Several boats have already taken the decision to bypass Nuie and divert slightly direct to Tonga, after all it is only a course change of some 20 degrees. Besides, it is NOT a storm coming but at worst 25-28 knots of wind; it is the direction that is more pertinent as Nuie is an untenable anchorage in a westerly and it is westerlies in the forecast. Plus it would then be a beat upwind from there to Tonga of about 280 miles so that would not be too pleasant.

1200 position: 16 degs 16.5' S 166 degs 56.1' W c:225 SOG: 7.5 knts Noon run: 164 nm

We lost yet another lure off the rod this afternoon when something big grabbed it and the reel span off down to the knot in the end of it before whatever it was ate it and disappeared. I'm not sure we have too many left.

The 4pm radio net was interesting when one of the boats to the north of us going to Tonga reported seeing an upturned vessel of about 40 feet floating with its bow out of the water. The local authorities were alerted to its presence and position via World ARC back in Cowes, and we marked it on our chart as being about 27 miles north so not a threat. Still more boats have reported that they have diverted to Tonga without waiting to hear the forecast, but we will make the decision tomorrow.

A bit of a slow news day on board today; the sun has been out; the wind has been constant on the beam; and the waves have been comfortable meaning we are really eating up some miles. Let's hope it stays just the same all night!

Friday, 25th May 2018 - En route to …… Tonga!

Right. Decision made. The SSB radio net this morning confirmed that the Nuie authorities were not prepared to check boats in and out at the same time meaning that if we got there Saturday we needed to check out earliest Sunday. So, if we cleared in and had to leave rapidly because of the weather we can't without getting into trouble with Customs in Tonga - they may not let you in at all without clear out papers from the previous port of call. So, we don't go to Nuie, simple as that!

0900 We set course for Tonga - dead downwind from our present position of course, but we did put up the spinnaker as we need to make at least 6.5 knots on average over the 300 miles or so to enable us to get there ahead of the change in the weather. Most of the other boats have taken the same decision.

As we are going to be a sea for a few more days we took a stock take of the freezer - we easily have enough although we will need to make some more bread for breakfast as we have run out of cereal. And for a change I made a rice salad for lunch which was very splendid indeed even if I say so myself, except I had eaten all the spare rice I had cooked so didn't actually eat much of the salad itself as I was stuffed!

1230 position: 17 degs 52' S 169 degs 00.8' W C: 270 SOG: 5.7 knots W: NNE 10 knots

During the afternoon we heard the NZ Air Force on channel 16 on the VHF. He was in search of the upturned vessel the fleet had reported yesterday and he wanted some further assistance from the boats concerned. He eventually came back to say he had located the hull which they said was a boat out of Tahiti from several weeks ago I surmise, otherwise there would have been a lot more activity out here if it was a very recent loss.

1540 we resolved that we were not really going fast enough as the wind reduced as forecast in our area and boat speed had reduced to below 4 knots. So, we started the engine and dropped the sails and set a direct course of 260 degrees.

At 1800 we were sat down to tea of a bacon hot pot I had rustled up with a little white wine (only fit for cooking with I can assure you!) and half way through eating it I noticed a fish on the end of the hand line - we had already lost the lure on the rod line when we forgot to bring it in before turning the boat into wind to drop the mainsail sadly - but we left it there hanging until we had finished our dinner, before hauling it in. It was a Wahoo, of about 4kg so quite small but enough for sashimi tomorrow and a fish curry. Looking forward to that already.

The wind is set to be light tonight, so we will be motoring. It's a shame as we were doing quite well we thought in the race but never mind, its not a race but a rally. We now know that everyone other than Adrienne have diverted so that means they are the only ones still racing - that's a way to win it, as long as they don't get caught in Nuie for a week due to the weather! Looking to the bright side, we now no longer have to pay them NZ$85 a head for the privilege of dropping off there so Trevor and I are going to spend ours in Tonga in the Irish bar - should we find one there naturally.