27 October 27oS/173oE
Monday morning here and we are currently at 27S / 173E about 480 nmi from Opua, New Zealand. Today we have fairly light winds but the SE winds of the last few days left behind a swell that make the boat roll and roll and roll. We are motor sailing, attempting to beat a large low-pressure system that came off Australia and is racing toward us. If we win the 30-35 knot winds with squalls will be from astern – lose and it’s on the nose.
Last year, with only weather faxes to rely on and not understanding the weather systems in the S Pacific, we took our time getting down to New Zealand from Tonga. When the winds were light we drifted, counted jellyfish, and watched the aquarium that formed under our boat. Because we dallied we were plastered by three different cold fronts during our trip. This year we are still gathering weather faxes and know the weather patterns better. We also have the bonus of downloading grib weather data files, from the ham nets, that give us computer model predictions of wind direction, strength, and isobars. The data of the four or five-day forecast is input to a program that animates the weather systems overlaid on a nautical chart. This gives us a very good idea of what to expect and is fairly accurate over short forecast windows of 48-72 hours. It’s this model, backed up by human-drawn “prog charts” (prognostication ) that tells us we’d better beat this large low-pressure system.
29 October 32°11″ S / 174°17″ E.
The dreaded low-pressure system passed over us yesterday with its accompanying cold front. Happily, this one wasn’t too strong and passed over us during daylight hours. We spent the day under gray skies with periods of torrential rain. Out came our seldom-worn foul-weather gear. In the tropics, we would enjoy the rain but this far south it’s cold! With our hard dodger it wasn’t bad and the winds stayed under 25 knots behind us.
This morning we have beautiful blue skies with 10 knots on the nose. The winds are expected to shift and we should be broad reaching down our course line by the afternoon. The estimated arrival in Opua, New Zealand is noon on the 30th.
In answer to your question, the weather software we use is by a German company that receives weather faxes and grib files downloaded from the amateur radio Winlink network. Grib files are also available from commercial stations such as SailMail. Check K4CJX’s website for a description of Winlink and grib files.
Fishing
Anyone going cruising should have a copy of The Cruiser’s Handbook of Fishing. This book describes every possible fishing technique. For years we trolled with a small Penn Senator Reel and rod and a “meat line” (1/4″ 3-strand, 15 feet of wire leader, and a bungee cord to take the shock of a fish strike). After studying the book we graduated to trolling two Shimano rods and gorgeous Shimano Tiagra W-50, lever drag reels. Our lures are usually Rapella’s or plastic squids with metal heads. We use a wide range of colors and sometimes “decorate” the plastic squids with Mylar strips from wine box bladders, chip bags, bits of colorful yarn, etc. We’ve had a great fishing year and have done much better than friends on other boats. I give full credit to the book. Fishing is a whole lot more fun when you regularly catch fish. We’re looking forward to learning how to catch the large, 10-15 pound Snapper in New Zealand. There’s also plenty to learn about abalone, mussels and other mysterious creatures in New Zealand’s outlying islands.
