Hi all,
Had a chance to relax a bit. Last night had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise".
Raratonga is a very nice volcanic island with all the lush tropical greenery typical of the south Pacific. It is delightful to be back in an english speaking country again. To be perfect it only needs a great harbor. This is the first island that has charged me harbor fees, about $10/day. Maybe they are using the money to improve or enlarge the harbor, a difficult and time consuming job since it is either coral or volcanic lava.
The folks here are very friendly. The island seems quite prosperous. Autos, scooters and trucks everywhere. Only trouble is they drive on the wrong side down here.
Like many of the islands, with the advent of air travel, it has become a tourist mecca. You can rent a scooter for less than $20 a day and drive around. Cars are also available.
Prices are less than French Polynesia but still it is more expensive than the USA.
Think I will depart Saturday for Aitutaki, another of the Cooks about 140 miles due north. It has a pass through the reef made by explosives. 1.8 meter max draft at high tide only. Fenix's 4'4" or so will make it easily. The I will be in very well protected waters.
Then it is onto Suvarov, and American Samoa. Finally Tonga before heading to NZ for the storm season.
More feedback on boat mods.
The chainplates and new rigging have performed flawlessly.
Tight sheeting angles really aren't needed in the trades, especially on a 28' boat. I rarely sail closer than 60 degrees to the wind. The boat can do it, I can't. Believe me, hard on the wind in 15-25 knots and 6-8' seas is seriously not fun.
As for reduced cockpit volume. That is a result of building the LPG bottle locker into the cockpit footwell. The lessened volume is a side benefit. I have not be pooped as yet. And have only had a few large splashes in the cockpit area so far. Had much more water in the cockpit during the delivery from Viginia to FLA., but nothing that was evert a threat to the boat's safety.
I debated moving the rudder further aft, right to the aftermost part of the hull below the transom, than I did during the building phase. Now I kinda wish I had. Mainly because I could have attached the trimtab directly to the trailing edge of the rudder. This would have done much to simplify the self-steering system.
I will say that moving the rudder aft and making the rudder post verticle has made a big difference in the boat's responsiveness. The helm is also much lighter. Even in the big wind and seas of the last couple of days it was easy to steer the boat with one hand.
If you are cruising the Pacific Islands, chain is a must for anchoring, because of coral and often deep anchorages. I bought a new manual windless but usually still pull up most of the chain by hand because it is faster. Main anchor is a 35lb plow and 200' of 1/4 high test chain. I can easily add 50 ' to that from the secondary bow anchor.
Although self-tailing winches would be nice, they are way out of my price range. So far this has not been a difficulty. Four winches in the cockpit are needed with the cutter rig.
The staysail and Yankee combination give the boat tremendous drive on the wind. But cruisers should avoid windward sailing if possible.
The main and about 120% Genoa that I have are by far the most used sails.
Big overlap light air Genoas aren't needed out here. But I sure miss my drifter.
I have used the cruising chute once.
The storm sails only for adding weather helm through sheet to tiller lash-ups while experimenting with the windvane.
Fresh water has not been a problem. Nor Diesel.
Thanks to all my well wishers out there.
Take care all,
Fred