Written by:
9/15/2010 1:57 PM 

The winds have been so strong a cargo ship that had put to sea for Tahiti was forced to turn back to shelter in Rarotonga.  Another tanker ship full of gasoline for the island which has run dry, tried to make port in Raro only to abort when the 15 foot swells and 30 knot cross wind prevented him from lining up the channel.  Small boats like Jargo have put out every line we have both to each other and right across the wharf to the military patrol boat and the larger tankers.  We are all Mediterranean moored which means we put our anchors out in front of us then tie our sterns to the wharf.  I avoid this maneuver at all costs, but sadly had no other option.

The forecast has held steady for over a week now.  Strong winds and waves building to over 5 meters.  The rain fell constantly preventing the nervous crews from enjoying the island even if we weren’t afraid of leaving our boats in the strong winds and swell ridden wharf.  It is getting late in the cruising season and I need to be making way for New Zealand by November 1st to be clear of the cyclones (hurricanes). Being pinned down in Rarotonga has only added frustration on top of the ever present sense of running late.  When the attitude goes South, it seems like everything else follows suit.

For one, a hatch left open on the top of Jargo let a short but powerful downpour of rain fall right on top of my big laptop.  This is the one I blog, write, and edit photo and video with.  Needless to say, it’s dead.  I’ve stripped the hard drive and got it booted on my little netbook successfully.  Next step is to strip its memory to see if I can boos the ram of the netbook to make it a little more powerful.  At least I picked up the netbook this time last year in the states for just such an emergency. 

Warning, this is a little graphic so you may want to skip this paragraph if blood bothers you.  Yesterday morning I went to adjust my anchor chain on the windlass.  This big gear that pulls in the anchor chain has a handle that is four feet long, 1.5 inches around, and made of solid steel bar.  Somehow, I dropped it.  There was a second where I knew it would hurt just before I felt the impact.  The tip of the bar landed squarely on the nail of my big toe.  It was clearly popped like a blister and my suspicion was confirmed with my next heartbeat when blood spurted from under every edge of the nail.  The pain began to register and cussing I began hoping and bleeding my way to the cabin for a bandage.  It is an intolerable pain, but having a nights sleep the wound has clotted and only oozes a little this morning.

All boats are sinking.  It’s pretty much a fact of life on a boat.  The only question that really matters is how fast.  Jargo was sinking way too fast.  There is a unit on the engine that cycles raw saltwater from the sea past the engine oil to remove heat.  Corrosion had eaten away at the case of the oil cooler and was flooding the bilge with water.  I got the unit pulled and luckily found a welder who was able to braze the unit with some reinforcing copper to stop the leak.  Unfortunately, with that problem solved, another came up when I fired the engine again.  The impeller of the saltwater pump broke every blade.  I’ve seen one or even a few break, but somehow every single blade broke moving zero cooling water through the system.  Again, lucky I have an good spares locker and was able to replace the impeller and gasket with no major issue.

Finally, the pocket on my only descent pair of shorts gave up the ghost.  In the process the pocket spilled out my only point and shoot waterproof camera.  It is no where to be found so sadly no photos of Raro for you.

Despite a few setbacks I can already feel my mood lifting.  Just knowing I’ll be sailing and making way again in a few days changes the face of things.  On a very cool note, Palmerston Island, my next destination, is getting telephone service in the residents homes for the first time.  Only about 50 people live on the island and so far there has only been one communal telephone.  Jargo has been loaded down with supplies from the local telecom company to complete the project for the locals.  It will be a nice change of pace to show up in a rural island and be able to provide them a real service.

I know as soon as I lift the anchor and move out from Rarotonga the frustration of my time here will fall away.  It is a beautiful place, but I am ready to be moving West.

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