Faule Haut

The Circumnavigation Yacht

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Weird things happen on Faule Haut

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I don’t want to strain or wear out the word “miracle” again, but, please judge yourself what this was:

Being on the open sea on May 15th, I found a rusty bolt on deck at the stern of the boat. I was thinking where it came from, but I could not figure it out. I thought, someone must have thrown it on my boat at the last anchorage and I forgot about it.

Ever since I got the boat, I was thinking about replacing my old anchor because there is a new generation of anchors on the market with a new design which has been tested and compared to the commonly used predominating anchors on the majority of boats. YouTube videos show the advantage of these anchors over all the others. It’s called ROCNA. In Opua, New Zealand, all the boat equipment cost roughly 30 or 50 % less than in Germany. This was a good opportunity to buy the anchor I wanted to have so badly. So I bought that ROCNA, took off the old anchor and attached the new one on the chain. The old one I put on top of the tarpaulin that covered my spare sails on deck, close to the bow. I tied it up with ropes so that it wouldn’t move or fall off the deck.

This is what my anchor looked like when I found it in two pieces

When I got back from the “bio security dock” at Nouméa, New Caledonia, this morning, I sailed to a recommended anchorage and felt happy and safe when I dropped this new ROCNA anchor for the second time. When I went back on deck from my ground tackle to the cockpit I passed my old anchor and saw that is has virtually fallen apart. The anchor that I had tied with ropes on top of the tarpaulin as ONE piece two weeks ago, was resting there in TWO pieces. The shaft had come of the plough. A bolt, which was supposed to hold these two parts together, was gone. I was that rusty bolt that I had found a few days earlier at the stern. It must have fallen out during my cruise, while the anchor was resting on deck.

I have been using and trusting this anchor for more than 15 months, and was shocked to see it fallen apart. Imagine this – my anchor fell apart – resting on deck – not  being used – not under load on the seabed. For sixteen months Faule Haut had been in danger to drift away from the anchorages and get blown against some rocks to crash or get blown away towards the open sea (when I was ashore).

A nightmare. Am I exaggerating when I say that I escaped a catastrophe here? I had to fall on my knees to send a bit THANK YOU to my friend up there.

 

Haul out & Cleaning

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It was about time.

In The Bay of Islands where I had to wait the closing of the hurricane season, I used the free time to work on the boat. I installed a new windlass, gas stove, and did some minor repairs.   

Luckily – at the boat yard at Opua, they offered special deals for cleaning the bottom of the boat, including the haul out and splashing back in. I jumped on that offer, because the boat looked terrible underneath.

The prop has been cleaned

Installing a new windlass

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Faule Haut has got a new windlass.

Faule Haut’s windlass broke a few weeks ago. That caused a lot of inconveniences because I had to use my spare anchor which only had a rope of 23 m. With that one I could only anchor in shallow waters.
I finally bought a new windlass here at Opua, New Zealand. It took me a few days to dismount the old one, close the holes, reinforce the place with fiberglass and install it. l could not paint the fiberglass yet because it has to cure for a few days. I didn’t want to wait that long. I will paint it later.
Here is the result.
Im happy that I can anchor again in deeper water.
————————————————————————
I changed my cruising plan. I will skip Australia.
My next destination will be New Caledonia.
I still have places available on board.

Skipper Ingo on Faule Haut.
www.faule-haut.de

Cyclone threat over

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All clear.

Looks like I can give an all clear signal concerning the cyclone “Oma”. I feel relieved.

This ist the latest news from the weather forecast:

„Severe Tropical Cyclone Oma has made a sudden change in direction and is now bearing down on Brisbane and the Gold Coast.“

Oma is moving southwest towards Queensland, Australia, and not southeast towards New Zealand. If Oma stays on that predicted course, I’ll be safe here.
My cruise will lead me along the coast of Queensland as well, but that will be around beginning of April.

It might be good that they get the cyclone there now, so that when I get there, it’ll be gone by then. And it’s not very likely, that they will get another one in the same area. You neither hit the jackpot twice within one season. (OK – I admit- I’m smooth-talking the danger.)

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers. It worked out.

Instead of a cyclone picture, I give you a beautiful shot of the beloved Faule Haut.

Skipper Ingo on sailboat Faule Haut at Opua, northern New Zealand.

Cyclone threat

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Actually – I do have enough problems with my broken anchor windlass and replacing almost all of my running rigging.
But it looks as if I have another problem:

The fisherman that helped me to work on my broken windlass just came over to my boat while I was having breakfast to tell me that there is a cyclone (named „Oma“) at New Caledonia which is heading south and expected to reach northern New Zealand. That’s why I got ashore to check the weather on the internet to see what’s going on. Looks like he is right.
I have to check the weather constantly now and make emergency plans in case it’s really coming this way.
The cyclone season lasts until the end of April in this area.

The red spot north of Auckland shows my position.

Skipper Ingo on sailboat Faule Haut.
www.faule-haut.de

Reaching New Zealand

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⛵️Faule Haut has reached New Zealand.

After having spent six days at the Kingdom of Tonga , ⛵️Faule Haut left the island Tongatapu on Jan. 29th, 2019 and reached Opua, (northern) New Zealand on Feb 6th, safe and sound. This was ⛵️Faule Haut‘s fastest passage so far. She covered the distance of 1,025 nm within 8 1/2 days, averaging a speed of little over 5 kn. Windspeed was mostly above 25 and 30 kn, so that the sails had to be reefed almost permanently. High waves and gusty winds from abeam made it a tough ride. Wind and waves – which the autopilot often could not handle. It quit working often and made the nights a drag. Jumping on deck in the middle of the night because of an alarming and not functioning autopilot is no fun and wears you out after a few nights. Sleep deprivation is the hardest thing to endure when singlehand sailing and has exhausted Skipper Ingo up to the max.

But now he has dropped the anchor in a beautiful bay at LAT 35° 07.022’ S, LON 173° 58.931‘ E, close to Opua, and is looking forward to meeting the Kiwis – but first … sleeeeeeeep.

 

Two Lovely French Cuties

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I have to poste these pictures that I just got from the girls via the messenger. I fell in love with them both. . We are anchoring in the same bay here at Bora Bora close to this resort that you see on the last picture.
Now they have an additional problem. Their batteries are down. They can’t start their motor any more. I swam over to their boat and they told me that.
Tomorrow morning they gonna pick me up with their dinghy and I will charge their batteries with my portable generator.

My fenders are still hanging on the starboard side, because I just left the dock. I had to put out that many, because a strong wind was pushing my boat alongside the dock. This picture was taken from the girls from their boat while I was following them. In the back you see Bora Bora.

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