A Traumatic Beginning

 

Last visit to Anchorage Island before leaving Suwarrow

A Traumatic Beginning


We had been planning to leave for Nuie on Sat am. With the dinghy up, the lee berths set up, and everything stowed we went to start the engine. Well, it didn't start or even turn over. Rob spent all day working on it, changing filters, bleeding many times, bleeding all the injectors twice, and taking apart quite a few things. He had changed the fuel filters that week so expected air in the line was a likely problem. and probably was. By 3:30 we got it started and let it run for 30 min. Retried an hour later and all was still well. By then we decided to wait until Sun am to leave. Lesson learned: Don't do anything with your engine when you are in a place with no other boats and an anchorage you can't get out of under sail.

When it was time to raise anchor the chain was caught on a coral head but eventually got off. The pass was rougher than our entrance with wind against current. Sunday and Monday were good sails although the swells are high and from different directions. We found out which things were not properly secured, including the new batteries that are just a bit smaller than the previous ones.

Yesterday the skies, clouds and seas appeared different from normal. Some kind of system was moving in from the west although our winds were east. Looks like a frontal system which usually is further south than this. We checked out the grib files from SSB for a weather forecast and we are definitely in for a challenge. All of today and much of Wed there is little wind and from clocking directions. The swells are rising from 2 directions. We are managing to go about 3 knots south now as we don't want to motor that long. Then we will be hit by a squall line and high south winds for several days. The area is extensive so no sailing away from it to a different destination. We could have made it to Nuie if we had left Sat as planned. The anchorage there is not well protected except from the east so don't if it would work anyway. The plan is to head that way but continue on to Vavau in Tonga if we need to. We also plan to practise how to heave-to in this boat so we can use that technique when needed for a serious storm. You stall the boat 50 degrees off the wind and drift downwind. That creates a slick that breaks the seas on your beam.

For watches we are trying to stick to a daily schedule to see if that improves the sleep. Rob stays on watch until midnight, I do 12 to 5, and Rob is back on while I sleep in. He then needs an afternoon nap. Good so far. It is too bad we have no moon this week. That was a treat to have a full moon on the way to Swarrow.