Thursday, May 1, 2008

Ted's Log Stardate May 1, 2008

HELLO FROM THE SOUTH PACIFIC
WE ARE AT LATITUDE 34 SOUTH, LONGITUDE 176 EAST
ON SUNDAY, APRIL 27 (NEW ZEALAND TIME) WE FUELED UP, GOT PROPANE,
CLEARED CUSTOMS AND BEGAN
OUR SAIL FROM OPUA AT 1340 HRS. UNDER CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS WE
CLEARED THE BAY OF ISLANDS TWO HOURS LATER. AFTER DARK THE WINDS
PICKED UP TO ABOUT 15 KNOTS FROM THE NORTHEAST. AS WE WANT TO SAIL
EASTWARD, THE BOAT HAS TO SAIL CLOSE TO THE WIND (BEATING). CATAMARANS
SAIL RELATIVELY FLAT UNLIKE MONOHULLS WHICH ARE ALWAYS HEALED TO ONE
SIDE OR THE OTHER. SAILING FLAT IS USUALLY MORE COMFORTABLE FOR THE
CREW, HOWEVER, CATS TEND TO SAIL NEAR THE TOP OF THE WATER UNLIKE
MONOHULLS WHICH CUT THROUGH THE WATER. THEREFORE WHEN BEATING IN HEAVY
WEATHER THE CAT WILL BOUNCE AROUND MORE THAN MONOHULLS. AND HEAVY
WEATHER WE DID HAVE FOR THE FIRST 3 DAYS. THE WINDS WENT FROM THE
TWENTIES TO THE THIRTIES WITH GUSTS INTO THE FORTIES (WE RECORDED ONE
GUST AT 47 KNOTS). NEEDLESS TO SAY IT WAS A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE 3 DAYS.
HOWEVER THE BOAT AND CREW CAME THROUGH THE ORDEAL EXTREMELY WELL.

THE MORNING OF THE FOURTH DAY WE CROSSED THE INTERNATIONAL DATELINE,
LOSING A DAY. WE ARE NOW ON THE SAME DAY AS YOU ARE. LATER THAT DAY
THE WINDS SHIFTED TO THE SOUTHWEST AND SMOOTHED OUT THE RIDE
CONSIDERABLE. CATS DO GREAT GOING DOWN WIND. WE EVEN RAISED A
SPINNAKER AND ALL IS WELL.

SO FAR WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS. THE FIRST NIGHT THE MAIN
HALYARD (THE ROPE HOLDING UP THE MAINSAIL) GOT CAUGHT HIGH ON THE
FRONT OF THE MAST. IT TOOK US TWO HOURS TO CLEAR IT WITHOUT GOING UP
THE MAST.

SO FAR WE HAVE SAILED ABOUT 500 MILES FROM OPUA. IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL
HAVE THESE SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 3 DAYS. LOOKING
FORWARD TO IT.

TILL NEXT TIME, TAKE CARE
TED

About Me

1291 Sanderling Island, Pt. Richmond, CA 94801, United States
Dan and Carol Seifers

Crazy

Crazy Caprice, or what

Like is so good to us. At 65, after 15 years of retirement, my wife, Carol and I have everything one could want Good health (for old folks), loving children ( one son and his wife Jenny is marvelous), wonderful grandchildren (one age 6 and one age 4, who have a remarkable ability to totally exhaust us in about 4 - 6 hours), a good home. Wonderful friends. What more could one want?

Then we were casually cruising in the Delta ( area between Sacramento and San Francisco) last summer with the Richmond Yacht Club Cruising Group. Life was serene, life was comfortable, and then it happened - WHAM - we saw a cruising catamaran tied up at the Rio Vista marina with a sign in the window which listed its adventures. Starting in Australia, across to New Zealand, up to Tahiti, over to Hawaii and on the the West Coast. What an adventure!!! That’s when Carol started thinking about the possibility of buying a new boat (we already had a Gemini 34’ cruising catamaran - life was good). Then sailing in Sydney basin for a few months, then either shipping it to California or sailing it across the South Pacific to California. Is she CRAZY?

That started our CRAZY file.

Over the next few months, she started feeding me articles about Australia, New Zealand, and multihulls. She even subscribed to Multihull magazine and would place various articles about sailing in the South Pacific under my nose while I was reading the morning paper.
She became obcessed. A devil (Tasmanian?) had her. Then around Christmas time, the bug really bit me. We were perfectly happy with our boat, but the idea of getting a new one (with all the new toys) and visiting “down under” seemed very appealling. A friend loaned me all his books on New Zealand and Australia, and the more read, the more I becaume enthralled with the idea