Preparations for departure

www.sailbayofislands.com

All eyes have been on the weather lately, and it hasn’t been too good. The Auckland region even experienced a deadly tornado last week and the wet, stormy weather hasn’t eased much since then. So, even though Freewind was ready to leave earlier this week, she is still here in Russell on her mooring, waiting for the weather to clear. Many of the boats that were planning to leave with the Island Cruising Association’s Tonga Regatta last Saturday are also still here in the Bay of Islands, so there will be a big fleet heading north at the end of this week when (we hope) sailing conditions improve.
Meanwhile, Ron has completed all the pre-cruise maintenance and checks on Freewind, the boat is well-stocked for the trip, and crew members Ida and Jane have arrived in the Bay of Islands. Now it’s down to the waiting game: when will the storms abate and the winds veer from the north?

	Freewind on her mooring in Matauwhi Bay, Russell, the Bay of Islands. Waiting for the confused weather systems to pass and some nice settled weather to arrive so Ron and the crew can set sail to Tonga and beyond. (Freewind is the big boat to the right of the centre of the photo.)
Photo: Ida Bektas

Maintenance Notes:

Every 10–12 years and after many thousands of miles’ of strain and stress, the boat’s rigging needs to be replaced. After replacing the fore-stay and back-stays (the wires that hold the mast) last year, this month Ron replaced the mast shrouds (side stays) with new wire. This requires the removal of the end fittings, in Freewind’s case these are poured sockets. You can see how Ron fits the socket on the new wire in the photos below.

After sliding the socket over the wire, the strands are separated and their ends bent.	The socket is pulled in place over the strands and a lead metal alloy is melted (in the soup ladle over a gas flame)	The hot metal alloy is poured over the wire ends inside the socket. When it cools down and hardens it is one of the strongest terminals used in engineering.

And finally, it’s time to go up the mast to secure the sockets and the new rigging to the masthead fitting.
Here’s Ron on top of Freewind’s mast putting it all together again.

		Ron on top of Freewind’s mast attaching the new shrouds and checking the masthead fittings before departing on the South Pacific voyage.
	Photo: Ida Bektas

 

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And while it’s blowing gales and pouring rain in New Zealand, we hear that Fiji has enjoyed some lovely weather lately. All the more reason to be heading north to the South Pacific! The young sailors of the Savusavu Junior Sailing Club have been training hard for the sailing competition of the Oceania Games due to be held in September. Trevina from Transtar Charters, Savusavu, caught them in action; you can see some great photos in the Fishing Savusavu blog.

A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
A wind that follows fast,
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast. 
                                                     -- Allan Cunningham