San Cristobal, Galapagos Archipelago to Nuka
Hiva, French Polynesia 22nd May to 24th June 2016
Week 1: 22 May -29th May 2016
Josie Maria departed
San Cristobal at 0800 on the 22nd May 2016 with Gordon, Charlie,
James and Benoit on-board. She was laden
with provisions, spare parts and fuel!!
Charlie celebrates his
birthday on-board Josie Maria for the second time!
The conditions were
very calm – and Josie Maria motor-sailed or motored for much of the first week. The wind was 3-17 knots from the S to SE, seas slight initially, with increasing
swell height and chop at times.
Week 2: 30th May - 5th June 2016
The winds picked up a
bit at 10-22knots from the S-SE or E-SE with a swell of 1m for much of this
week.
Unfortunately….this
week things started to go wrong…. Initially with the freezer packing up on the
5th June! In order to save
what food could be saved the frozen goods were moved to the stored in the
cockpit fridge.
Week 3: 6-11th June
The 3rd week of the
journey had even more drama with much rougher conditions - winds from 10-22knots
from the E-SE, going E-NE on the 11th June. There were several instances of wind gusts of
25knots plus and with a sea state of 1-3m, Josie Maria was being shaken about
in the choppy and rough seas. This may
have contributed to the engine issues as this shaking mixed the fuel which was
dirty and caused the main engine to fail.
At 1744 hrs on 7th
June 2016 the main fuel tank gauge failed.
The engine was turned off to undertake a precautionary stop to check oil
and filters. A small amount water/debri was in the Racor filters, so the bowls
were drained, filters changed, the system bled and the engine restarted. Josie
Maria’s fuel tanks need to be cleaned and water and slime removed.
At 0115 on 8th June 2016 – with main engine at
max revs of 1120rpm – an error display occurred
requiring immediate attention. There was
some dirt and water in the primary filter – but the Racor alarm did not go off.
The filter was changed and water drained
out. However following this, the main engine
refused to start. The display fault was
cleared – but still the engine wouldn’t start. The system was bled at least 6
times –but still no engine.
Even with the
assistance of Volvo engineers over the satellite phone, there was no way to
start the main engine. The diagnoses was as a possible faulty fuel pump/lift
pump…parts of which were ordered and flown to Nula Hiva with a Volvo technician
to meet Josie Maria there in her arrival.
Josie Maria sailed for
most of this week, as there was no engine.
The generator was used to
recharge the batteries to keep the rest of the ships systems going!
Week 4: 11-14th June – Finally arriving in Nuka Hiva – and to assistance with the engine!
The last few days were
slow going…
Baking of bread – made
it into the log book! Winds were 9-16 knots from the E –NE, seas 1-2m.
With no engine the tender
had to be in the water to act as a tug uponn
arrival at Taiohae Bay!
Captain Gordon’s brief
summary of the trip – at 1700 local time on the 14th July 2016 -
“……. anchor down in
Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas.
2700nM approx. 900
with a dead engine!
Josie Maria very
fickle and despairing at times! Not enough wind, forecasts all wrong! Charles,
James and Ben – all different, all contributed their own style of doing things!
Well done guys!
Now to work to repair
everything…..”
Gordon was not happy
that a fail-safe mechanism was not available – with the engine cutting out with
dirty fuel. Thinks Volvo should
introduce one….
Remarks in the log
book indicate that at times the sailing was great/very pleasant, the moon was
beautiful and the Sunsets amazing.
Shooting stars were seen, as were dolphins – and there were clear skies
at night where the stars gleamed!!
The guys did have a
lot of problems with the most serious being the engine, the freezer and the
raymarine/autopilot. The Raymarine would
freeze and veer off course when it reset itself randomly….
Our Yacht Agent, Bud
Gilroy, from Tahiti Yacht Agents was very supportive in organising an engineer
to meet Josie Maria in Nuka Hiva and preparing assistance with entering the bay
and anchoring if necessary. I would
highly recommend Tahiti Yacht Agents, Bud was exceptional in meeting all our
needs in a timely manner – Thanks!!
Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas (French Polynesia) to Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti (French Polynesia) 18-24th June 2016
Josie Maria departed
Nuka Hiva at 0900 on the 18th of June 2016 with Gordon, Charlie and
James on-board.
Winds were 8-21 knots
from the E- NE for the first 3 days with a swell of 1-2m. On the 20th
June, Josie Maria experienced a heavy storm, with rain and lightning.
From the 21st
the winds dropped to 2-14 knots – mostly around 6, so very light winds with 1m
seas. The winds changed from N-NE on the
21st and 22nd to S-SE for the remainder of the voyage.
Gordon , Charlie and
James still had issues with the
Raymarine… which kept resetting itself!
The Engine also had
more issues - at 1815 on the 19th of June the faults with the main
engine meant that it could only run at low revs – so was very slow going with
the light winds!
Josie Maria and crew arrive
in Papeete at 1000hrs on the 24th June! Finally able to tie up in Marina Taina at
1030hrs. There is a lot of maintenance
and repairs to be completed before Josie Maria will be ready to leave. Gordon met with the agent to start this
process and an early dinner was had with John and Vicki and their family in the
evening!!
John and Vicki would
like to thank Gordon, Charlie and James for taking Josie Maria from Galapagos
to Tahiti! We had a few frantic phone calls while back in Australia for work –
and did what we could from our end – but ultimately when things fail at sea
there is not a lot that can be done and Gordon, Charlie and James managed a
difficult passage with aplomb!!
Litany of faults!!
VHF external spar
faulty
Salon mood light
dimmer faulty
Shaft or propeller
rattle at low(700-790) rpm
Renew Engine blower
Deck light not working
Raymarine autopilot
Dishwasher not working
Oven pathetic!
Fusion upstairs
control not working
Gas solenoid- replace
Cock-pit cooler
thermostat not working
Auto-pilot disconnect
and “soft reset”is either caused by, or is connected to the vessels charging
system
Raymarine pedestal
toggle
Engine driven
alternator can only increase battery voltages with all inverters on “off” or
“on standby” – possibly why inverter was turned off
Mastervolt charger 2
not responding to the panel switch.
Mastervolt chargers are in an area that is not ventilated, may need to
provide ventilation to this area in the future as per Mastervolts product
advice
Freezer stopped
cooling
Change Gas solenoid
Fusion Hi-Fi system
turns itself on and off at random
timing belt of engine
needs to be replaced
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Charlie and James after arriving in Tahiti |
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Vicki is happy to have rejoined Josie Maria, with James and Charlie recounting their stories of the journey |
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Charlie, David and Daniel |
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Matthew and Gordon |
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