Mirabilis

Mirabilis is a 43ft steel Finot sloop owned by Mike and Danica Stent. Mirabilis joined the family in 2010. We spent ten years living aboard with the Marlborough Sounds as our main playground. We've done a few bigger trips to Rakiura, Tonga, Wallis & Futuna, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. This season we are back on the water again and sailing with our two boys (Arlo and Coen) around the Fiji islands. Home port is Mana, NZ. Mirabilis is named after the nudibranch Jason mirabilis. Nudibranchs are rad.

Mirabilis - Fulaga Time Warp

Posted: Wed, 26 Aug 2026 - 20:33

Fulaga is a sailor’s paradise. After entering through a narrow reef pass, you find yourself in an enormous lagoon filled with flat anchorages, sandy beaches, pretty limestone islets and a large

Posted: Sun, 23 Aug 2026 - 18:56

Night passage to Kadavu, 177nm to go. Leaving Paradise for Paradise. Heading to the 2nd or third biggest reef in the world - the mighty Astrolabe.

Posted: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 - 09:42

On the move to our last Anchorage in Ongea before heading North in search of whales. Then we head west to Kadavu then west again to Denarau.

Mirabilis - We loved you, Vanua Balavu

Posted: Sat, 25 Jul 2026 - 22:10

Well this is the ticket! We are finally in the Lau, Fiji's easternmost island group and the most remote. It is a cruiser's paradise with islands dotted throughout large protected lagoons surrounded

Mirabilis - Bula bula from Savusavu

Posted: Mon, 6 Jul 2026 - 22:01

Bula! Well, we made it. And are clearly already on island time as it has taken a bit to get around to writing an update. Our last 24 hours at Minerva was quite spectacular, with Arlo joining me for a

Mirabilis - Minerva Reef

Posted: Wed, 24 Jun 2026 - 22:38

Yesterday we arrived at Minerva Reef. We have been hearing of this wonderous reef in the middle of the ocean for many years and it is quite incredible to finally be here, made better still by being

Mirabilis - Bay of Islands Pitstop

Posted: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 - 22:29

After an easy sail up the west coast from Picton, we arrived in the Bay of Islands yesterday evening. We decided to play it safe and not risk surfing the forecast 10m swells coming out of the Sounds

Stunning views from the top of Motuarohia Island. It's easy to see why there was a pa here with 360 views.

Mirabilis - We're off!

Posted: Mon, 8 Jun 2026 - 23:59

Shortly after midnight Saturday we finally slipped quietly away into the still of the night. Very shortly after, my phone slippped quitely away into the inky depths of the Porirua Harbour channel

Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 - 17:49

Never leave paradise in search of paradise.

Posted: Sun, 7 Jan 2024 - 08:32

Anchored in Catherine's cove for a few hours while waiting for the tide at french pass. Was a good sail.

Posted: Sat, 9 Nov 2019 - 17:05

That's a wrap folks. We have made it home after a rather slow but pleasant sail (mostly motor sailing for the want of another 5 knots of wind). Enjoying the sounds of the birds on Mana island busily

Posted: Tue, 5 Nov 2019 - 10:44

After an all to brief pitstop in the Bay of Islands we are about to set sail again, likely for the last time this trip. To catch you up, we had a fantastic final week in New Caledonia with a friend

Posted: Sun, 27 Oct 2019 - 18:03

Seeing as the wind was favourable we thought we would stop in Brisbane and go-to Australia zoo as I haven't been there since Steve Erwin passed. The crocodile shows are truly spectacular. We gave up

Posted: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 - 13:54

We are off. Heading home straight into Picton. 1200 miles ( 2160 kms)

Someone email me the ab vs England game updates :-)

Posted: Tue, 1 Oct 2019 - 12:09

Stopped in at New Caledonia’s iconic lighthouse island Phare Amedee on our way back to Noumea. To my delight, despite being highly touristy, this wee island is riddled with sea snakes and even has an

Posted: Tue, 1 Oct 2019 - 00:00

We spent a lovely day exploring Casey Island with Kaia, a Kiwi/Hawaiian couple (who we first met in Tonga in 2012) and their gorgeous wee 3 year old who non-stop tells you stories of all his

Posted: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 - 00:00

After passing by here a couple of times already, we finally entered Baie de Prony. First stop was Anse Majic where we were smartly greeted by the crew of Ranginui, a YIT boat. There is nothing like

Posted: Sat, 28 Sep 2019 - 00:00

We spent the night in Baie Ue after being stopped in our tracks heading to Base de Prony by a 25kt headwind and 4kt current coming out of Havannah Passage against us. Before moving on we jumped in

Posted: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 - 00:00

Ilot Maitre is a lovely wee island close to Noumea with free moorings so is a perfect first stop once you finally escape the shackles of port life. The island is popular with the kite surfers with a

Posted: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 - 00:02

Picked up a very special guest, Mike’s mum (and more importantly Arlo’s nana) and spent a lovely day in Noumea enjoying the tourist attractions. Mike was also able to fix our anchor windlass. Yay, no

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