Golden Glow

Sun Jul 1 15:49 2018 NZST
GPS: 25 7.54052S 173 40.90908W
Run: 701.1nm (1269km)
Avg: 46.9knts
24hr: 1126.7nm
Weather: Blustery winds, some heavy rain, then sunshine

We stopped at Minerva Reef (north) for shelter as a tropical low depression passed north of us on our passage from Whangarei NZ to SavuSavu Fiji. We loved the environment and stayed 5 days, giving us time to explore


Going onto the reef to explore
Golden Glow and Exit Strategy at Minerva Reef (both Antares 44i catamarans)
Sun Jul 1 0:53 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 56.085S 179 53.976E
Run: 73.6nm (133.2km)
Weather: Windy and rainy

Even in the shelter of the north side of Taveuni (In Paradise Resort’s bay) we are feeling guest to 34,knots from these SE winds. We were going to sail back to Vanua Balavu but the seas were building and uncomfortable so we are waiting for calmer conditions. Paradise served up a delicious Fijian meal tonight while pretty young ladies performed local dances on the lawn. We also saw humpbacks in SomoSomo Strait. very nice consolation for this weather.


Tue Jun 5 0:00 2018 NZST
GPS: 17 10.618S 179 0.932W
Run: 23.6nm (42.7km)
Weather: Delightful most of the time

We stayed at this anchorage in Ship Sound Bay of Islands Vanua Balavu in the Lau Group for over 2 weeks. It is sheltered, gorgeous, has beautiful coral within swimming distance, has caves to dive into, fruit bats to see in the trees a bay or two away during the day, excellent coves and bays to paddleboard and kayak around in, and even some digicel and Vodafone connection.


Sun Jun 3 0:00 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 50.547S 178 56.609W
Run: 49.8nm (90.1km)
Weather: Windy and sunny

Duff Reef or Cakagalu is a marvelous picturesque small sandy island with one palm tree, many turtles (including skeletons and nests) and birds. The sand is crystalline white and feels lovely under foot. Swimming over to the island from the anchorage, you see only white underwater as you get close to shore due to the sandy bottom, making me put out my arm to make sure I didn’t bump the bottom. The rectangular reef offers some protection from waves up to 3-4 feet, but if they are higher than that, it’s best to shelter behind the sandy island strip. There are smaller fish but we didn’t see pelagic fish or sharks in the lagoon, we spent three days here in fairly settled weather. The atoll is a nice, 4 hour sail north of Vanua Balavu


Sun May 27 16:10 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 45.986s 179 41.535w
Run: 110.8nm (200.5km)

deep anchorage offering fine protection from the huge southern swell (that breaks on Qamea’s outer reef0


Wed May 16 0:00 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 19.516S 178 41.968E
Run: 51.6nm (93.4km)
Weather: Fair, variable winds

We spent two rolly nights but glorious days anchored on a wall patch of sand out at the Great Sea Reef, the world’s 3rd longest continuous sea reef. The water was crustal clear, yunlike the water closer to the north shore of Vanua Lavu, the sea life was incredible, and the conditions in fairly calm conditions were okay. We had amazing snorkeling and diving right off the boat. I took this picture from in the water at the reef. That’s Golden GLow in the background (looking very small)


Mon May 14 10:10 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 16.697S 179 28.583e
Run: 5.9nm (10.7km)
Weather: Sunny skies, 10% cloud cover, 10 knot winds, low humidity, BAR 1015

All good on Golden Glow in this Pleasant anchorage just west of Tivi Island. In strongest cell reception area (primarily why we chose it to be able to have video chat with kids on Mother’s Day)


Sat May 12 0:00 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 14.765S 179 33.491e
Run: 19.9nm (36km)
Weather: 15-20 knots ESE, 15% cloud cover, wind-blown fetch but no swell BAR 2015

Silty anchorage due to river runoff. Reef on north side of bay. Mangroves around the bay. Cell at the mouth of the bay but not much deep in the bay


Sun May 6 19:46 2018 NZST
GPS: 16 11.868s 179 51.234e
Run: 35.9nm (65km)
Weather: 22 knots of wind, sunny skies, low humidity, BAR 1012

All is well on Golden Glow


Fri May 4 10:39 2018 NZST
Speed:
6knts
knts
GPS: 16 05.95S 179 36.88W
Run: 38.6nm (69.9km)
Weather: Wind SSE 14 kts, swell 0.8m SE, cc 80%, Bar 1014

leaving this anchorage in the SE corner of Cakao Vucovuco after an extremely rolly night. Water here is very clear. The pass is deep, wide and open with little current or waves. All sea cucumbers are gone from inside the lagoonand the reef shows signs of bleaching. Some sharks, mostly smaller fish. The lagoon has a steady 90? deep bottom until you get to the edge where it is easy to anchor in 35? sand. Many bommies but they are deep and it?s easy to anchor and still avoid them. Winds were steady at about 15 knots through the night so we did not swing or catch the anchor on anything. All is well aboard.


Fri Mar 16 1:00 2018 NZDT
GPS: 36 47.013S 175 4.615E
Run: 114.8nm (207.8km)
Weather: Sunny and very calm

Calm winds gave us an opportunity to anchor along the north coast of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gul and go ashore to hike up to Casita Miro for a delicious Mediterranean style lunch at this winery & bistro.


Wed Nov 8 12:26 2017 NZDT
GPS: 35 18.835s 174 7.245e
Run: 0.2nm (0.4km)

We're safe and sound in Bay of Islands Marina in Opua New Zealand at the moment, sharing the H dock with THREE Other Antares 44i Catamaran, Blue Summit, Exit Strategy and Whistler. It's such fun - and so informative - to have sister boats together, and be able to hang out with our fellow sailors and share the questions and lessons we all have after many years, and many mikes, sailing the same catamaran.


Wed Nov 1 22:30 2017 NZDT
GPS: 35 19.010S 174 07.191E
Weather: wind 19 gusting 30, ENE, partly cloudy, 1030 baro, temp daytime 68F, nighttime 55 F

We arrived to the Bay of Islands Marina "Q" (quarantine) dock this morning, 1 Nov 2017, at 02:30. Opua's entrance and channel are well marked with lighted buoys to mark the oath so entry can be made at night. Still, I bundled up in every layer I could put on against the chill of New Zealand springtime breezes my unacclimated body, and stayed at the bow on watch until we reached the dock. Brrr! We had pushed hard to get to Opua and to the shelter of the marina before the brunt of the weather low overcame what Bob Mcadavitt called the BFH - big fat high - that was sitting east of the North Island and holding off the low. Good thing we did because once the winds arrived in fuller force, gusting above 30 knots on the Q dock, and much higher offshore, we were happy to be safely tied to the dock.

Two of our sister ships, Whistler and Blue Summit, gave us a warm welcome. The customs, immigration and biosecurity also couldn't have been nicer or more professional. They arrived promptly at 9 am and the process was straightforward and pleasant. They went through all our food stores and the only surprise was we had to give up a bag of dried mushrooms that contained dried orange peels. As they explained why certain food items had to be kept out of New Zeaalnd's environment, it really made sense.

visit us at www.svGoldenGlow.com


Wed Nov 1 2:30 2017 NZDT
GPS: 35 19.010s 174 7.192e
Run: 38.1nm (69km)
Avg: 6.7knts
24hr: 161.9nm

We arrived to the Bay of Islands Marina "Q" (quarantine) dock this morning, 1 Nov 2017, at 02:30. This completed our 1212 mile journey from The Hunga Tonga volcanic island NW of Tongatapu Tonga) to Opua, New Zealand in 155 hours or 6 1/2 days at an average speed of 7.8 mph, and with a max speed of 16.8 mph (surfing down one of the big waves no doubt)


Normally we wouldn't enter an unfamiliar shore at night, but bad weather was fast approaching and Opua's entrance and channel are well marked with lighted buoys to mark the oath so entry can be made at night. I bundled up in every layer I could put on against the chill of New Zealand springtime breezes my unacclimated body, and stayed at the bow on watch until we reached the dock. Brrr!


We had pushed hard to get to Opua and to the shelter of the marina before the brunt of the weather low overcame what Bob Mcadavitt called the BFH - big fat high - that was sitting east of the North Island and holding off the low. Good thing we did because once the winds arrived in fuller force, gusting above 30 knots on the Q dock, and much higher offshore, we were happy to be safely tied to the dock.


Two of our sister ships, Whistler and Blue Summit, gave us a warm welcome. The customs, immigration and biosecurity also couldn't have been nicer or more professional. They arrived promptly at 9 am and the process was straightforward and pleasant. They went through all our food stores and the only surprise was we had to give up a bag of dried mushrooms that contained dried orange peels. As they explained why certain food items had to be kept out of New Zeaalnd's environment, it really made sense.


Tue Oct 31 20:51 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7 knts
knts
GPS: 34 49.888S 174 26.374E
Run: 37.8nm (68.4km)
Weather: wind 18-22, ENE, seas 6-7 ft ENE 5s, partly cloudy, 1028 baro, temp daytime 68F, nighttime 56 F

at midday and 90-100 NZ off coast, seas were significantly bigger (9 feet/3 meter)


Tue Oct 31 1:00 2017 NZDT
GPS: 35 18.786S 174 7.331E
Run: 243.4nm (440.6km)
Avg: 53.5knts
24hr: 1283.9nm
Weather: Rough and getting rougher

Our very past passage from Tonga to New Zealand ended in a sprint as we raced to get to shore before the high that had been east of NZ, and holding back a nasty low depression approaching from the west, dissipated. We made it by hours (very late at night). The next day we heard that other boats just 12-24 hours behind us had a very difficult passage, and 2-3 boats even had to be abandoned at sea! This picture is from the Q(quarantine) dock where we cleared in to NZ. The winds grew so strong that we neede both our catamaran’s engines to maneuver into our slip in the marina after clearing in, and a monohull begged the immigration officers to let him stay at the Q dock until the winds lightened up (they said no). Welcome to weather-ful (but still wonderful) New Zealand!


Mon Oct 30 20:27 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7.5 knts avg
knts
GPS: 32 19.012S 176 20.966E
Run: 210.3nm (380.6km)
Avg: 8.7knts
24hr: 209nm
Weather: wind 18-22, gusting 26 knts E, seas 6-7 ft ENE 7s, mixed sun and clouds growing more cloudy later in day, 1026 baro and rising, temp daytime 70F, nighttime 58 F

comfortable day. Lots of sunshine prior to 15:00. Seas from behind just to our port side were fairly comfortable and allowed for us to get a lot of boat work, cleaning and organization done in advance of our arrival to Opua. Encountered our first sailboat, Shannon, in this passage. They intersected our course as they sailed from the Marshall Islands to Whangarei


Sun Oct 29 20:18 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7.5 knts avg
knts
GPS: 29 44.734S 178 14.909E
Run: 181.3nm (328.2km)
Avg: 8.5knts
24hr: 202.9nm
Weather: wind 26-30 knts E, seas 7-9 ft ENE 7s, 90% cloud cover, scattered rain showers, lightning last night passed to west , 1021 baro, temp daytime 75F, nighttime 70 F

brisk sailing under reefed sails. Seas are steady in direction with large rollers


Sat Oct 28 22:51 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7 knts
knts
GPS: 27 31.748S 179 50.903WE
Run: 201.6nm (364.9km)
Avg: 7.7knts
24hr: 185nm
Weather: 20-24 knts E, seas 57-8 ft SW, 6s interval, 20% cloud cover , 1023 and rising baro, temp daytime 81, nighttime 73 F

we've secured everything tightly as every 7-10 waves or so, we get a bruiser, but thanks to the good design of our Antare cat, happy to report we have no bruises to show for it. We do have a good layer of salt spray even over the coach roof of the cockpit


Fri Oct 27 20:42 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7 knts
knts
GPS: 25 1.257S 178 29.387W
Run: 149.5nm (270.6km)
Avg: 7.9knts
24hr: 189.8nm
Weather: 16-20 knts, E 94 degrees, seas 5-6 ft SW, 7s interval, 30% cloud cover , 1020 baro, temp 71 F

seas have white caps and winds have increased since yesterday. Skies clearer with high fast-moving clouds.


Fri Oct 27 1:48 2017 NZDT
Speed:
7 knts
knts
GPS: 23 10.598S 177 15.028W
Run: 485nm (877.9km)
Weather: 13 knts, E 95 degrees, seas 4-5 ft SW, 8-9s interval, 100% cloud cover , 1015 baro, temp 75 F

seas and weather flat and grey. Sun and moon hidden behind heavy cloud cover. Winds light but steady. No rain despite forecast for it. Passed two trawlers that were dragging 45 MILE fishing lines


Thu Oct 19 16:00 2017 NZDT
No position sent.
Weather: Now that our children have gone, Enjoying our last days in Vava'u before sailing south.

Wed Sep 20 17:03 2017 NZST
Speed:
8 knots
knts
GPS: 19 12.116s 171 02.708w
Run: 870.9nm (1576.3km)
Avg: 61knts
24hr: 1464nm
Weather: 21knts S, SW 2m steep swell from SW, 1.5m long swell from the SE, 1m long swell from NE 80% cloud cover.

in a washing machine of confused seas coming from 3 directions, giving a bumpy ride


Wed Sep 20 12:00 2017 NZST
Speed:
6 knts
knts
No position sent.
Weather: 16.5 knts SE, seas 6-7 ft SSW, 7s interval, no clouds, 1013 baro, temp 79 F

a bit bumpy 35 nm west of Niue, heading to Ha'apai Tonga, but we are enjoying the 16 knots of breeze, compared to the 9 forecast by GFS.


Wed Sep 20 2:46 2017 NZST
GPS: 19 053S 169 924W
Weather: calm seas, 6 knots wind SSW, Still dark at 03:46

In mooring field off Alofi Niue, readying to depart for Tonga


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