A nice welcome to NZ with rain, thunder and lightning and 30kn NW winds. We are surfing and fish tailing our way towards Opua at present, hoping to miss the lightning strikes. Very exciting to be home, but would be nice to be still for a couple of days. Looking forward to catching up with friends and family

We had a good day sail yesterday until about midnight and then we started motoring after the wind started coming from NE. We are rolling around a bit now, but not much wind. We are picking for an arrival into Opua tomorrow morning sometime when the wind picks up a lot more.

We had a very boisterous day yesterday with wind between 25-30kn w, just aft of beam, with 3-4 m swells. Later in the day it slowly turned to more of a reach and then slightly more south, forward of beam and the wind declined to about 16kn. At present we have 11kn SW winds, which is a lot more comfortable sailing.

A good night of sailing beam reach with 19-25 WNW winds, 2-3 m swell. We couldn?t ask for better sailing, maybe a bit less swell. We have had trouble sending these YIT messages, so hopefully this one is successful.

A great day of sailing after a day of motoring yesterday. We started sailing about 0100hrs and it?s been plain sailing since then. We have 25kn WNW winds and cloudy conditions with the chance of rain ahead.

Yesterday the sea was like glass, and moving around the boat felt like being at anchor. We motored all day until about 0100hrs and then we started sailing. Since then we have been sailing nicely with 13kn Westerly winds, but it?s a little bit up and down at times. The wind is meant to come up more mid morning. We are cruising with another boat called Halo and they are right next to us. Nice to have the odd chat.

leaving today to Opua, from Noumea. Currently motoring and probably will be all today, then the wind is meant to kick in tomorrow. Hoping for a nice soft passage home.

we have had a good day sailing and will be approaching the Havanna Pass about 2000hrs. It has been a pleasant day, passing little deserted islands in the Loyalty Group along the way. We should get a better sleep tonight. Looking forward to getting to Noumea.

A bumpy old night, but the sea has calmed down a lot and much smoother with a half knot e swell. Overnight the wind was up over 20kn, but now it is about 13kn E. We had a full main, and just the stay sail, but when Wok wakes up we will put up the Genoa sail if the wind stays like this.

A good day sailing, but slightly on the nose. The sea a little sloppy, but all in all reasonable progress. We haven?t seen anything exciting, except lots of sea. Hopefully we will have an uneventful evening.

we have had a fabulous time in Vanuatu, but are now heading to New Caledonia. We have 18-20kn e winds, with a very sloppy sea. We have a 2 m swell. Hopefully it all settles down soon. Hopefully be in Noumea in a couple of days.

We stayed a night in Port Villa and caught up with our buddies off Gallivanta and Beserker for dinner. Got some more supplies the next day and headed to Mele Bay for the night then today had a nice sail up to Kakula Island and met up with Tom and Lynn from Roxanne. This spot is awesome, not only beautiful, but perfect for kite boarding. Looking forward to spending the next few days here. It is a private island though and we got permission to stay here.

This morning we got up at 5.00am and sailed out of EPI under full moonlight. It started out very glassy, but as we left the Leigh of the land, it got windy and pretty boisterous as we sailed south. A good sail and arrived 1500hrs at Havannah Harbour, but we got told we couldn?t stay because they were trying to eradicate coconut beetle. We up anchored and headed for Mele Bay which is where we are now. Heading for Vila tomorrow to stock up on fresh veges And catch up with our friend Stu Clark.

This morning we left Malekula and headed for EPI on a SE wind. Not a bad sail, a little on the nose but we arrived by lunch time. After lunch we went for a gorgeous snorkel, colourful coral and lots of fish, moray eels and turtles. The Dolphins played in the bay most of the afternoon and we watched them while drinking gin and tonic and eating a bag of chips.

In the morning we got up and headed to Uliveo Island with a sand cay right next to it. After lunch the wind came up and we went for a kite on the sand cay. Fantastic spot, but the anchorage is a little rocky at night tide.

We arrived at Awei Island about lunch time, which is part of the Maskel Yne Island Group. We talked to several locals who came up to us in their dug out, outriggers and gave away a few gifts for the kids. We are heading out tomorrow to some of the other island in this region, hoping to find a spot where we can go kite boarding. The wind is up after tomorrow.

We spent the night tucked behind Lanur Island, which was a gorgeous spot. We spent lots of time in the water swimming and snorkeling - great coral. We left this morning heading for the Maskel Yne Islands.

We have spent the last couple of days at South East Bay with a couple of other boaties, Indigo and Beserker. We had drinks on our boat last night which was nice. We paddle boarded up the river mouth to a big lagoon which housed quite a few villages. A snorkel today was eventful with a 5 foot black tip reef shark showing far too much interest in me (Lanie) as I was swimming from the reef to our boat. He approached me twice and got within 3-4 feet of me. Back on the boat, we had a nice display of a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water chasing fish. Tomorrow we head south.

We spent the night at Malua Bay, Malakula which was a great anchorage and in the morning went into the village to give away some gifts. We walked up to the fresh water hole, had a quick dip and then before we left we went for a long snorkel and saw what looked like fire flies in the water. As we got closer to the rocks, we saw heaps of Eagle Rays that stayed around us for ages - so awesome!! Now we are heading south to discover another bay.

We left Port Villa 12 days ago with Nick and Kirsty on aboard and made our way slowly up the islands stopping at Port Havannah, EPI, where we had a cool snorkel and walk on the beach at Lameh Bay. From there we headed to Malekula Island spending a night in Port Sandwhich, which was gorgeous and then a night in port Stanley. On the 30th July we made it to Santo, spent a nice last day with Nick and Kirsty and they left on the 1st. We did a couple of nice dives, the second being the President Coolidge. Very cool! We spent a few days discovering Santo and Aore Island before making our way back South.

Another great night of sailing and we saw land about 0430hrs. We have had between 12 - 18kn SE winds during the night with slight seas. We have another couple of hours before we reach Port Villa. Nice to have another passage under our belt without using too much fuel. Glad to be here.

A great day of sailing making really good ground, so we should be in Vanuatu early morning. The sea state is about 2m swell and averaging 20 knots of SE wind. One more night at sea and looking forward to catching up with Rob and Carolyn Port when we get there and a big bunch friends arriving on Saturday. Party time!!

Initially we had about 12kn well aft of beam, which was horrible in 3 m swells, really rolly and banging sails, but about 1800hrs the wind came up strong SE 20-24kn and we have had that ever since - fantastic sailing. Both slept a bit better last night. Hopefully the wind will keep blowing today and we will be in Vanuatu tomorrow all going well.

We have had a good day sailing although the 3 m swell makes Fusio a bit rock and rolly. We have between 10 to 15kn ESE, but it would nice to have a bit more wind. Wok caught a Mahimahi but threw him back because we felt sorry for him. He swam away greatfully.

We have had a good day sailing although the 3 m swell makes Fusio a bit rock and rolly. We have between 10 to 15kn ESE, but it would nice to have a bit more wind. Wok caught a Mahimahi but threw him back because we felt sorry for him. He swam away greatfully.

we motored for about 4 hours coming out of Denarau, but then started sailing gently with light SE winds. Through the night the wind varied between 16-20knSE and the sea got a lot more bumpy. So a typical first night of not much sleep, but we have all day to do that and it really is good sailing.

We have checked out of Port Denarau, Fiji and now heading for Vanuatu. Looking forward to a nice easy passage, cross fingers. Loved our time in Fiji, especially Blue Lagoon where we had some awesome kiting. Going to miss our friends here, but looking forward to catching up with a whole bunch of new ones - looking forward

Made our way up to the Blue Lagoon with Rhum Coco and arrived on Friday. Went for a kite Friday afternoon which was breezy to say the least, then a couple of beers at the bar to watch the sunset.

Not as wind today as yet but things can change up here.

we can finally see land and heading toward the reef where it will be a lot calmer. We have 9 miles to the pass and a couple of hours motoring into Denarau. We are too late for check in, but have organised and 8.00am check in tomorrow. We will organise ourselves and have a quiet motion free night. Thanks for following us on our passage to Fiji - it?s been a great ride.

Another great night of sailing and making good ground (sea) with more trade winds. Looking forward to seeing a bit of land for a change and not having to brace oneself. Can?t complain though, the wind has really turned it on for us this passage, it?s been fabulous. We will save on the diesel.

What can I say, same old same old. Still sailing with 21kn E winds, big swells and cruising at similar speeds with stay sail and main sail. We will probably put a furl in the main tonight, but other than that, food is the most exciting thing at the moment. We hope to be in Denarau about 2200hrs tomorrow night. Looking forward to that.

Another full on night of trade wind sailing, but we?re getting used to all the noise and movement, so both of us sleeping well, but not needing any blankets - getting warmer. Still no sign of any boats nearby. Rhum Cocoa are well in front in these conditions, (beam on strong wind). Yesterday they were 20 miles ahead, but I?m sure they have made some ground over night.

Another boisterous day of trade wind sailing (right on the beam) with up to 3 meter swells. We?ve had between 18-28kn of E wind with just our stay sail and a Reef in the main sail. It is meant to stay like this all night, so a bit of bouncing around, but we are making good headway.

A good night of constant wind, approx 20kn ENE wind. Still no boats seen on the horizon and as it?s so black at night with no moon, we certainly would have seen a light if there was one. Looking forward to another day of pure sailing.

A good sailing day with lots of E wind, at the moment 20kn. We still are sailing with the Stay sail rather than Genoa and intend to Reef the main again tonight. Forgot to mention we saw a whale yesterday, which appeared to be heading south. We still haven?t seen another cruising boat yet, so maybe tonight. Fingers crossed for a steady night of sailing. We are about Half way to Fiji. Still chilly at night, but that should change in the next few days. Bring on the warmth.

We weren?t expecting last nights weather with lots of squalls and changeable winds up to 30kn. We reefed the main and changed the position of our stay sail a few times. Not the best night sleep, but I?m sure we will make up for it today in between squalls.

A great day of sailing with the trade winds doing their job with nice 19kn E winds. We haven?t seen any boats out here, just Swallows trying to land on our solar panels, playing Russian Roulette with our wind generator. Looking forward to another good night of sailing.

We motored until 0100hrs and then the wind kicked in and now we are sailing, hopefully for the rest of our passage. A gentle 11kn E breeze means nice side on sailing. This is a what it?s all about - cruising. (And it is slowly warming up) .

A day of motoring due to a lack of wind. Looking forward to some Light SE winds to kick in tonight snd slowly build over the next few days. The seas are slowly settling down, so hopefully that is also the pattern for the next few days.

We sailed all through the night just with the main sail, travelling about 6.8kn average with 15kn S winds. Have just started motoring through lack of wind and expect it will be like this for the majority if the day. No cruising boats in sight, but a couple of ships passed by during the night. Nice to see Albatross circling our boat once again.

We are leaving Marsden Cove Marina and heading for Fiji. The weather looks good with 18kn southerly winds. Hopefully not too much swell. We will be travelling with SV Rhum Cocoa. Relieved that we are on the high seas and heading for some warmth. Have a great winter. Xx