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.

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.

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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.

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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