Aradonna

Aradonna is a Young 43 centre cockpit sloop. Karl and Heather sailed her to Tonga, Wallis and Fiji in 2014. It was an amazing experience! In 2015 we sailed our floating home to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. In 2017 we will sail to Tonga again and on to Fiji to visit the Lau Group.

Recent Updates

Posted: Fri, 8 Aug 2014 - 08:37

Arrived safely in Wallis. Came through the fairly narrow pass about an hour ago, had 3 knots of current coming out towards us, with wind and swell coming from behind. The result was very steep waves

Posted: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 - 17:25

Having a very easy passage. Sea has flattened out, with only the odd 3m roller coming through. Winds were a little light for a time this morning so we motor sailed for a while. Now have a steady

Posted: Wed, 6 Aug 2014 - 16:24

228 nmiles to Wallis. Have kept up reasonable speed for the trip so far, wind now dropped back to around 15 knots from SSE and our boat speed now 5.5 knots average. Heading 331 degees M. Slightly

Posted: Tue, 5 Aug 2014 - 23:41

Departed Vava'u at 12.20am Wednesday morning. Conditions fine, good light from moon, 20 knot ESE wind, getting along nicely at 6.5 knots.

Posted: Sun, 3 Aug 2014 - 14:38

We have had a blustery few days, 25 knots and gusting over 35 knots at times. The conditions are expected to improve on Tuesday so we are getting ready to depart for Wallis Island. As long as the

Posted: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 - 09:04

We have decided to wait until next week, probably Wednesday, before departing Vava'u for Wallis Island. There are strong winds and big swells forecast for the next 5 days at least, so will stay in

Posted: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 - 14:36

Filled up with water and LPG, did some little maintenance jobs - all in preparation for our next passage to Wallis. Now we wait for the right weather. It looks a little bit breezy over the next few

Posted: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 - 10:24

No luck with getting the hydraulics fixed, will have to wait until we are in Fiji, or perhaps back in NZ. Rainy and windy yesterday, low cloud today. Doing some odd jobs in preparation for our trip

Posted: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 - 10:59

We have had a week of almost no wind, beautiful sunny skies and calm water. Last night we sat in the cockpit gazing at millions of stars. The water was so clear this morning that we could see all

Posted: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 - 10:20

Having a whale of a time! The Humpbacked whales have arrived in Vava'u from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. They come here each year at this time to breed and calve. We caught our first

Posted: Sun, 6 Jul 2014 - 20:55

It is now 4 1/2 weeks since Karl cracked 2 ribs and he is now able to do most things again without pain. Sleeping has been a challenge and day to day things like starting the outboard motor, picking

Posted: Wed, 2 Jul 2014 - 10:28

The Eastern side of Vava'u is wild and beautiful, we are so glad we navigated the tricky passes full of coral reefs to get out to these islands. Have a look on Google Earth at Kenutu Island, Umuna

Posted: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 - 19:46

Heading over to the eastern side of Vava'u for the next few days to explore new territory. Had a wonderful time with Pieter and Sarah for the last week, highlights are covered in the blog.

Posted: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 - 12:48

Loving the lifestyle here, plenty of swimming, snorkeling and socialising as well as just simply relaxing!

Posted: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 - 20:26

There are plenty of wonderful sheltered anchorages in the Vava'u group, this morning the water in Hunga Lagoon was just like a millpond. Beautiful. Have updated the Blog with more details of our

Posted: Sat, 7 Jun 2014 - 16:59

Arrived in Neiafu, the main town in the Vava'u group of Tonga on Friday after a smooth overnight passage from the Ha'apai group. It was a 12 hour passage so we left at midnight to arrive in good

Posted: Fri, 6 Jun 2014 - 07:28

nearly at Vavauu. Pleasant conditions

Posted: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 - 09:11

looking for a calm passage to go north to Vavauu. Carl has cracked ribs so today or tomorrow will be calm to head up.

Posted: Tue, 3 Jun 2014 - 19:55

Now in Pangai, Lifuka Island, the main center of the Ha'apai Group. Devastation from hurricane Ian (back in January)is clearly visible here with many damaged buildings, roofing ripped off and whole

Posted: Thu, 29 May 2014 - 20:48

Anchored at Ha'afeva Island. See the blog for more about our travels in the past few days.

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Aradonna

Aradonna

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