Kriselda Heads Offshore

by Jane Pares on 31 May 2007 In early May, Kriselda, a Bavaria 39 left Opua, in New Zealand’s Bay Of Islands, in glorious sunshine, a moderate swell and very light breezes, on course for South Minerva Reef, 720 nautical miles away. She was one of 19 yachts in the Island Cruising Association’s (www.islandcruising.co.nz) annual KINGDOM OF TONGA Rally.

Light winds made for slow going early on, but within 24 hours a reasonable breeze filled in and they started to make good progress. Conditions were idyllic and the crew of 4 relaxed into offshore sailing mode with Kriselda happily clocking up 6.5knots on a beam reach of 10 - 11 knots. Within 48 hours of leaving the winds began to increase, as did the swell and when the crew checked the weather fax they found that the isolated low which was expected to dissipate, was in fact stationery and right in their way. Sailing into it they were hit by blustery easterlies and a big uncomfortable swell slapping hard onto the starboard beam. Gone were the clear skies and nightly entertainment of star gazing!

For two days and three nights they got hammered by high winds gusting up to 40+ knots, big seas and heavy rain. Visibility in the heavy rain squalls was limited and they relied on the auto pilot to give them a break from helming. It became harder to get rest when off watch as Kriselda was thrown around and several large seas washed over the boat.

On day three the sun came out from behind the clouds but the wind was still a blustery 25 to 35 knots from the east and the waves required careful helming. Averaging 6.5 to 7.5 knots over the ground - 8 to 9 through the water - with a double reef in the main and only a few feet of the genoa showing, they sailed into South Minerva Reef.

The amazing calm of this mid-ocean ‘parking lot’ gave them the opportunity to dry gear, have a shower and shave (five days growth!) and finally sit down exhausted to a very welcome meal of chicken fettuccine in alfredo sauce, washed down with a Chardonnay. Then they slept for 12 hours!

Two yachts pulled into the reef the next day and, although bigger than Krisleda and purpose built for off shore work, they’d found the going pretty tough.

A perfect SE trade wind, blowing 14 -18 knots aft of the beam, gently wafted them away from South Minerva and before they knew it they were approaching Tonga. 284 nm in less than 36 hours at an average speed of 7.8 knots – a dream run. Tacking for the first time in 9 days they headed into the narrow, but deep, Piha Passage at the entrance to Nuku A Lofa harbour on the east coast of Tonga Tapu. The trades still filled the sails, the seas were slight and the sunrise was beautiful.

Anchored off the beach at Pangaimotu Island the crew found that only four large catamarans and a couple of Deerfoot 60’s had arrived ahead of them '…..speedy run Kriselda!' Now the pace could slow down to 'island time' where everything moves at half speed - especially civil servants and bar maids! By early afternoon the crew were drinking beer at Big Mammas Yacht Club and congratulating themselves on a fantastic trip.

Kriselda’s performance delighted her owner, Peter Jensen, with a daily average of 150nm and average speed of 6.5knots. As one of the smallest boats in the fleet they were very pleased to be the first yacht under 50ft into South Minerva having weathered the punishment of the storm with comparative ease.

Kriselda is currently cruising round Tonga and Fiji and will return to New Zealand for the 2007 summer season.