[password] bob244
[status]
:date 09/11/2012
:position 35 18.919S 174 07.359E
Good sailing through afternoon yesterday but dropped off overnight and was
solely on motor from midnight. Finally entered in through the heads of the
Bay of Islands mid morning and greeted by a beautiful day and with a visit
from the friendly customs patrol boat. Berthed at Q dock at midday. Happy
to be back in NZ.
[status]
:date 08/11/2012
:position 33 46S 173 12E
Strong winds and big seas early yesterday afternoon (including the odd wave
washing right over the solar panels!). Wind dropped back a bit to more
comfortable strong breezes by evening but big seas stayed with us
throughout the night. When checking in with Taupo Maritime Radio last night
were advised of an EPIRB activated southeast of Minerva, and another mayday
call reported this morning on Rag of the Air 130nm south of Toga. Thinking
a lot of them and the other boats further east and in the thick of the low,
plenty of reports of a rough night and various damage on the Rag check-in.
Wind and seas both easing for us.
[status]
:date 07/11/2012
:position 31 59S 173 06E
Wind picked up early yesterday evening and seas followed suit, building
steadily. Southeasterlies and quite a lot of cloud. Reefed down and reduced
jib down too. Preparing for the edge of the subtropical low, just glad
we=92re not in the middle of it.
[status]
:date 06/11/2012
:position 30 15S 173 22E
Wind dropped down around midnight to more gentle breezes, a bit of support
from the motor for a couple of hours this morning but still enough to sail
alright for the most part.
[status]
:date 05/11/2012
:position 28 18S 174 11E
Steady southeasterlies all day, good sailing. Cloudy with moderate =96 slig=
ht
seas.
[status]
:date 04/11/2012
:position 27 03S 175 09E
Woo! Wind, glorious wind. Moderate breezes arrived with the sunrise and
slowly gaining a bit of strength and seas building, we are sailing once
more.
[status]
:date 03/11/2012
:position 25 21S 174 26E
No wind, still on motor.
[status]
:date 02/11/2012
:position 23 37S 174 25E
Finally got some decent sailing yesterday evening but wind all but
disappeared now so solely on motor, luckily the seas are flat. A lot of
cloud hanging overhead this morning but starting to break up now. Time to
paint my toenails I think =96 things could be worse.
[status]
:date 01/11/2012
:position 21 35S 175 14E
Light variable winds. Switching a lot between sailing and motorsailing for
the last 24 hours. Still beautiful calm seas and blue skies though so not
altogether unpleasant. Able to have showers on the transom and even make
green mango chutney.
[status]
:date 31/10/2012
:position 20 28S 176 20E
Wind picked up again yesterday evening so were able to sail through most of
the night but dropped again in the wee hours so back to motorsailing.
[status]
:date 30/10/2012
:position 19 15S 177 01E
Wind dropped to light-gentle breezes so switched to motorsailing after
breakfast. Blue skies and flat seas.
[status]
:date 29/10/2012
:position 18 17.25S 178 18.65E
Cleared customs this morning and said goodbye to Suva around midday with On
Verra close behind us. Now on our final blue water passage headed for Opua
in the Bay of Islands marking the end of our six month island cruising
adventure =96 life has been amazing but looking forward to catching up with
everyone back home.
[status]
:date 20/10/2012
:position 18 07.38S 178 25..49E
Arrived in Suva to hang out, resupply and wait for a weather window for the
journey back to NZ.
[status]
:date 18/10/2012
:position 17 40.59S 178 50.10E
[status]
:date 15/10/2012
:position 17 26.55S 178 57.16E
[status]
:date 30/09/2012
:position 17 06.62S 179 05.70E
Nice half day sail from Savusavu to Namena Island where we are now, ready
for some serious diving. We=92ve heard this place has some of he best divin=
g
in Fiji, if not THE best.
[status]
:date 20/09/2012
:position 16 47.39S 179 18.11E
Sailed through the passage in dark and now arriving in Savusavu, Fiji at
8am.
[status]
:date 19/09/2012
:position 16 11.95S 179 33.04W
Moderate breezes from the southeast, good sailing.
[status]
:date 18/09/2012
:position 14 19.59S 178 03.80W
Spent the morning investigating Alofi Island, pretty rolly anchorage so at
midday we headed off, destined for Savusavu, Fiji.
[status]
:date 16/09/2012
:position 14 17.64S 178 09.61W
Anchored in the tiny harbour of Futuna=92s main island.
[status]
:date 15/09/2012
:position 13 16.74S 176 09.32W
Departed anchorage between Luaniva and Fungalei at 10am with good southeast
breezes
[status]
:date 29/08/2012
:position 13 20.14S 176 13.38W
Fantastic anchorage sheltered from all weather.
[status]
:date 27/08/2012
:position 13 22.66S 176 10.60W
Moved here after being fairly blasted at Mata Utu. Quite a deep anchorage
here and still a little exposed but amazing island and well worth it.
[status]
:date 26/08/2012
:position 13 17.22S 176 10.07W
Entered the Uvea lagoon at 0940 this morning and happily followed the
extremely well marked and charted route in, arriving at Mata Utu just
before midday.
[status]
:date 25/08/2012
:position 14 44.26S 174 55.36W
Good sailing with southeasterly winds.
[status]
:date 24/08/2012
:position 15 51.06S 173 49.55W
Heading away from Niuatoputapu on a beautiful sunny afternoon with gentle
breezes and serenaded by whalesong through the hull as we say goodbye to
Tonga, she=92s treated us well, and make tracks for Wallis Island.
[status]
:date 21/08/2012
:position 15 56.50S 173 46.09W
Arrived in Niuatoputapu, greeted by a mother and calf pair of humpback
whales, good birdlife too.
[status]
:date 20/08/2012
:position 18 41.28S 174 01.44W
After nearly two amazing months in Vava=92u we are finally tearing ourselve=
s
away, departing from Mala Island and headed for the final and northernmost
group of Tonga, Niuatoputapu.
[status]
:date 27/06/2012
:position 18 39.45S 173 58.92W
Left Ha=92ano Island early this morning and arrived in Neiafu, Vava=92u lat=
e
afternoon, picked up a mooring for the night.
[status]
:date 26/06/2012
:position 19 40.31S 174 17.53W
Went for a dive here and a nice walk to one of the extremely tidy and well
kept villages.
[status]
:date 25/06/2012
:position 19 51.02S 174 24.94W
Fantastic anchorage here in Uoleva with room for plenty of boats but
fortunately it is mostly empty while we are here.
[status]
:date 21/06/2012
:position 19 56.46S 174 43.00W
Arrived at Ha=92afeva. Three other boats here when we arrived but all left
now.
[status]
:date 17/06/2012
:position 19 57.92S 174 29.60W
Paradise! A small chain of three uninhabited islands, two of which are
joined by a sand bar. Wonderful anchorage and just stunning place
generally. And we have it all to our selves. Very happy to camp out here
for a few days.
[status]
:date 16/06/2012
:position 19 48S 174 21.30W
Came to Pangai, capital of the Ha=92apai group with the hope of renewing ou=
r
visa and extending our stay but while you can check in here you can=92t ren=
ew
your visa because they don=92t have the right stamp=85 Luckily we got our d=
ates
wrong so have ten more days here at least =96 turning around to go make the
most of this beautiful remote area with barely any other boats at all.
[status]
:date 15/06/2012
:position 19 52.40S 174 26.18W
Good sheltered spot, interesting snorkelling. Saw a couple of dolphins.
[status]
:date 14/06/2012
:position 20 03.55S 174 32.35W
Arrived at Limu Island, should have just anchored where we are now from the
start but thought the cruising guide showed an anchorage further in that
would be more sheltered, unfortunately on investigation we found we were in
3m of water with an outgoing tide and reef all around us =96 45 minutes of
some manic navigation later and after having nudged the reef, we were
incredibly relieved to find a gap out of our nightmarish reef maze and
anchored where we had been originally cracking a very welcome cold
restorative beer each.
[status]
:date 10/06/2012
:position 174 48.25S 20 16.58W
A change in the weather has meant we=92ve had to leave the beautiful wee
island of Kelefesia along with Rongo, the other boat that was there with us
and who we had earlier met in Nukualofa checking in. The skipper Rohan=92s
uncle works at DOC and his girlfriend is the most unlikely poker shark you
could meet!
[status]
:date 06/06/2012
:position 20 30.10S 174 44.38W
Kath and Tim have headed back to NZ and we are now joined by Lou Hunt for a
week. Thanks to a great game of beach volleyball with Kath and Tim, Dani
was stuck in bed with an extremely painful knee for the sail from Motutapu
to Kelefesia where we are now. Gorgeous spot.
[status]
:date 27/05/2012
:position 175 09.65S 21 07.50W
We=92re here! Entered Egeria Channel about mid morning and dropped the hook
off Big Mumma=92s Yacht Club, Pagiamotu Island just after lunch
[status]
:date 26/05/2012
:position 23 06.20S 175 19.37W
[status]
:date 25/05/2012
:position 25 28.53S 176 03.23W
Blue skies and fresh breezes, if only it were like this always.
[status]
:date 24/05/2012
:position 27 48.30S 177 10.33W
Great sailing conditions once more, wind from southeast averaging 15-17
knots and calm seas.
[status]
:date 23/05/2012
:position 28 57.16S 177 44.18W
After an incredible two and a half days in the Kermadecs diving and
snorkelling with Galapagos sharks and enormous spotted black grouper, and
exploring the luscious Raoul Island, the sun has set and we are heading off
under sail with the wind on our tails, this time headed for the Kingdom of
Tonga!
[status]
:date 21/05/2012
:position 29 13.37S 178 00.48W
Arrived at Raoul Island in the Kermadecs! Awesome feeling watching the
sunrise and Raoul Island coming into view as we approach.
[status]
:date 20/05/2012
:position 30 30.30S 179 26.33W
Ticking along nicely, lovely calm seas, just riding the southwesterlies.
[status]
:date 19/05/2012
:position 32 10.08S 178 19.08E
Beautiful sailing conditions again today, had the motor on for a bit this
morning but just to charge the batteries.
[status]
:date 18/05/2012
:position 33 53.17S 175 52.48E
Great sailing, steady winds from southwest, Kermadec Islands here we come.
[status]
:date 17/05/2012
:position 35 11.37S 174 09.87E
This is it! A bit slow getting off but our crew Kath and Tim are all
aboard, we are all stocked up with duty free, topped up with fuel and
water, customs have been cleared and we are, literally, sailing off into
the sunset!
[status]
:date 06/05/2012
:position 35 12S 174 02E
Hanging out with Ali and Si while doing all the last minute jobs to get
Mirabilis ready for the Pacific =96 dive compressor, water maker, third ree=
f
added to main and so on.
[status]
:date 05/05/2012
:position 35 11.97S 174 03.53E
Dropped the sails and heading up Kerikeri Inlet to moor outside our
friends=92 Ali & Si=92s place where we will stay until we are ready to depa=
rt.
[status]
:date 05/05/2012
:position 35 14.39S 174 24.30E
Watched the sun rise over the Poor Knights Islands this morning, nearly at
the entrance to the Bay of Islands
[status]
:date 04/05/2012
:position 36 46.58S 175 48.45E
Underway again after a lovely evening with Dani=92s mum who we saw off this
morning before carrying on on our way north departing Whitianga around 11.
Fairly light southeasterlies but good sailing.
[status]
:date 03/05/2012
:position 36 50.168S 175 42.470E
Berthed in Whitianga Marina at 9pm, lovely day today though had to motor
sail from mid-morning as wind a bit light. Saw more common dolphins with a
few good aerial displays from some a bit further off. Discovered the self
steering gear didn=92t survive the rough weather with the rudder broken and
shaft bent. Won=92t be taking that with us after all =96 sigh, we only just
installed it dammit.
[status]
:date 03/05/2012
:position 36 51.80S 176 38.19E
[status]
:date 02/05/2012
:position 38 20.78S 178 25.56E
A rough evening last night, scary at times when we had to get all sail in,
struggled to hove to and had to backtrack a little to ease some of the
strain. Got trysail up and able to get back on course, was still rough but
at least we were making progress. Strong wind through the night but better
speeds now so have main back up on second reef, currently 20-25kt from
south and still rough.
[status]
:date 01/05/2012
:position 40 15S 177 35E
Quite a bit of motorsailing yesterday, saw a pod of 115-20 common dolphins.
Sailing along well now with a strong tail wind and building, seas getting
rough.
[status]
:date 30/04/2012
:position 41 37.85S 175 14.74E
Left Wellington today on our six month cruising voyage. Dani=92s mum crewin=
g
with us up the coast =96 Dani and mum both barfing already! Beautiful sunny
day though. Great feeling to finally be heading off.
[END]