good morning we have arrived back in NZ in fact we are 2NM off the 9 pin and should be up on the Q dock around 1100hrs the breeze picked up late in the day which saw us getting over 8kts through the night at times . It is now time to shake ourselves off and get ship shape and paper work filled out Thanks for all the help Patricia and David.

170NM out from 9 pin and by my reckoning should be around 20 off at this time tomorrow with arrival at Opua after lunch sometime. We are still enjoying a armchair passage as the wind remain in a favorable quarter coupled with the ease of the sea state. There is cloud around now as we are entering the disassociated front and the odd shower has shown up on the radar ( see we do listen to David) It would be nice to give pilgrim a wash down.

well folks we are under the 30 just and not far from home , Thursday is looking at our day of arrival , not sure of the time but our guess is around after lunch . this passage has been so easy with good direction and strength and for the sea state for being what sailors dream of not getting thrown around another than the to b Bare expected back in the passes around Fiji. and it looks like we miss out on the boat being washed as 6mls in front is a rain shower.

good morning from 470nm out the day starts arriving at 0530 daylight saving time. we have clear skies overhead with a bank of cloud behind us to the nth and east .

our progress has been great with runs of around the 150nm helped by the state of the sea and wind direction. 468 to opua.

All in all a enjoyable passage.

still on target to make opua by thursday evening , we have ideal sailing conditions with both sea state and wind direction. seas long period SE swell of 12 to 15secs of 1mtr

making good progress in ideal conditions already noticing the cooler nights.

we are underway found sloppy conditions out through the pass with odd swell 1.5 mtr seas are now what can best be dicribed as settled conditions winds have been less than expected which is allowing us to make good progress

busy getting the last little bits and piecses sorted before our check out. Last check on the passge weather ( which appears to be all indicating the same , always good to see, so with all the dots and dashes in place and fair winds should be in Opua thurs evening.

good morning we are now at Levuku getting orselves ready for a thursday departure . Things are looking more settled condition wise, our expected arrival date is thursday eveningish stunning morning here weather wise wind has dropped away over night now about 5kts SE but should build later in the morning .

here we are still at Makongai, intending hanging out here for the rest of the week enjoying the good patch of weather . Work is on going a they get the buildings and the turtle raising back up and into full swing not mention the giant clams. We will start looking for that perfect weather window sometime after the 5th with departure from Ovalau

we have moved over to Makogai for awhile as we start going into count down for our return to NZ somewhere around the 15th Nov here's hoping that the rain moves on and allows us some opportunities get out in the water.

we are still holed up at Volivoli it is a great spot to stop allowing plenty of great anchorages around this area . We have plenty to do here before we move on , which will see the reinforced trade depart.

well good morning from just off Nandi. We have woken to light rain and cooler conditions after the last couple off days of temps up in the 30s giving us on shore breezes leading to afternoon rain and thunder. We will be moving on from here on wed having picked up our passenger/crew member. Our plan is to return around the top back to eastern side at this stage.

we have relocated and are now anchored up about 5nm above Latoka made the move down a bit earlier than intended but did so as the water clarity was not the best for our snorkling.

Today we will make our way over to denerau

still in the top of Viti Vevu Rakiraki Bay it has been very enjoyable here with settled conditions allowing us the chance to get out to the reefs toward the pass. Well worth the effort with lots of fish life and coral can now understand why peps keep heading this way to dive . we are moving on today toward Denerau.

We are now tucked up in a nice bay/anchorage at the top of Viti Levu on the island of Nananu-I-Ra after crossing the Bligh water from Coconut point in good time and a enjoyable sail. this area is well supported judging by the mass of lights one can see , with resorts such as Volivoli beach resort. The gate way to some great dive sites so should prove interesting stay in this area.

today is departure day from Namena island which has not failed to impress with the awesome diving and abundant fish life, this Island is doing its best to recover from the effects that Winston left. The buildings are starting to receive much needed repair work is beginning this week to restore the wharf, trees are much improved since last year with about 80% now showing foliage bird life has also increased in numbers.

the rebuild is going to take sometime 2 to 3 yrs by then the coral that was destroyed above the 4mtr should be in full recovery there is new coral being established on pretty much all the reefs that we have looked / dived on.

good morning the good ship pilgrim is now at Namena marine reserve island looking forward to swimming/diving. The bird life is thriving

pilgrim is now in Dere Bay on Koro Island and will taking to the water to check out the diving sites.

The resort that is here has suffered major damage from winston and is far from being back in shape to start operations again. It is for sale, as is where is !

have made the break from The Ring Golds and are now down at Taveuni where we overnighted.

On to Koro island today.

have moved over to Rananitiqa island which will be our last island that we visit in the Ring Gold there are 7 islands that make up the group which has Duff reef on the outer edge toward the NW

good morning from the Ring Golds yes we are back out at them missed the nice clear water. there are so many dive spots out here that one needs more time to take them in. So its out to the volcano island today.

looks like we have a stunning day ahead of us clear skies very little wind , Paradise !

well Rambi island turned it on for us yesterday with a pretty much clear sunny hot day.

Spent about 2 hours plus in the water with the at a guess 20 Mantas with up to 8 at times in one camera lens awesome ! So we have decided that our chosen task today will be a repeat visit.

we moved over to Rambi yesterday with plans to return if time permits. catching up with the Mantas is our goal here in Rambi and saw evidence of there presents as we came in.

Loving the Ring Golds going to stretch out our stay here as long as we can.

Good morning from the Ring Gold isle we are enjoying our selves out here with nice clear water and the villagers are very welcoming lots to to see so reckon on being here for awhie.

its been awhie but we are finally back on the road again with all good fridge and freezing ya! have now made our way up to the ring gold reef system with hopes that the weather allows us to stay in this region for a while.

now up in Savu Savu have had recurring fridge and freezer issues. so will be here for awhile until we get it sorted, have replacements being freighted up. Other than that all is a bunch of fluffy ducks.

goood morning welcome back. We are currently in Makongai taking in the HX of the place , and realizing just how much the place suffered at the hands of Winston

currently in Makongai with plans to stay around a week rather a fascinating place with all its history. One thing never knew was that they took lepers from all round the Pacific.

Have moved over to Naqara village and set up camp here for a while a damp last 24hrs just light rain so has been a onboard maitainance.

One just cant sleep in here at Buliya island Kadavu, the road traffic (boats) begins well before daylight as people get there ride to what ever resort, or program the film crews are set building. A walk into the village and one finds very few around it is good to see but in some cases hard on the enviroment as beaches are dug up channels are dredged out with the sand piled up on a island.

still at Kadavu we have been making the best of the good and light air weather.

the coral is in bad shape at all places we have visited it is so sad that lose of it is and will impact on the fish life my attempts to remove the damaging crown of thorns has been to little to late. other factors may contribute to its decline like the removal of sea slugs.

a pleasant day at Vurolevu island water is clear and the Mantarays are here, checking out the reef here has shown that the last cyclone that passed this way has done alot of wave damage.

good morning we are back on station at the islands of Kadavu wishing we had picked up more vinigar while up in Suva may be that we can restock down at Kavala

We have relocated and are now on the The Great Astrobe Reef side of Kadavu taking advantage of the light air conditions over the next few days at Vatulutu in fro Naigoro Pass

We have relocated and are now on the The Great Astrobe Reef side of Kadavu taking advantage of the light air conditions over the next few days at Vatulutu in fro Naigoro Pass

back in the water today to see how my crown of thorns are enjoying there vinager they reckon it takes 3 days to knock them off but I want to see if tey move around from were one injects them.

we took a run in our dingy down to Kavala were they have a stock of Kava in there well stocked shop. $110 a kg $40 cheaper than Suva at the market.

The smell of fresh baked bread tempted us as well. filled a dull day well some of it .

Went and did SevuSevu yesterday at Naqara village in the process found that things are happening around Ono and the rest of Kadavu Naqara is host to a Australian mining crew that are now test drilling for gold. There are heaps of countrys doing surviver programs here and other places in Fiji , French are busy building a big studio on Buliya. will do a further fill later

plan on hanging around this area as has proved to be great for snorkling will pop around to the village and say Hi (do SevuSevu) looks like we are in for some rain here today

sitting out this weather system at Ono island has been windy over night with 20kts and gust to 30kts a good day for reading

still sitting at the same anchorage/ island very comfy a bit of roll coming through on high tide. intend on move on today not sure where as yet.

parked up at Yaukuvalailai island intend checking this area out before we move on ,so far we have been finding some excellent coral. The day looks set to be bright and

looking like we are going to have another nice calm day with not much wind. Yesterday proved a superb one, went and did our sevusevu at Draveuni . They are not big on tradition just thanked us and then we were told we we could go play. They had cruise ship here when we arrived the day before. so we were only small fry.

have relocated , now at Namara island in the KADAVU much more tranquil intend spending sometime here as we love it

it is one great looking morning here in Suva not a cloud in the sky and sun doing its best to get up over the hills. We are looking at heading down to Kadavu today as our parts arrived yesterday.

much clearer day with the odd cloud around , where there are clouds here there is bound to be the odd drop of rain. Have most of our missions sorted like the hair perm .

O/C light rain, no wind, there has been a steady number of new arrivals here over the last few days we have manage to sort out our engine woes .

just awaiting the arrival of parts from NZ then looking at pulling out of here.

another calm morning in Suva looks like situation is normal with the odd shower around in the hills we are going to be here for around 10 days while we get our motor sorted and await parts from NZ

good morning our ETA at Suva is 0920hrs after a hassle free trip of 7 days from Opua Even had to slow up so as not to get in to early.

made good progress over last 24hrs we are now only 150nm out from Suva will look at slowing down so as we arrive around the 10 which doent look to hard as we have come into the wind shadow of the land only have 7/8kts of breeze

enjoying some actaul sailing no need for Mr Ford weather has been stunning sea are comfortable now looking at ETA on monday giving us a pretty fast trip ( thanks to Henry and the Fossils0

still motor sailing to maintain a enough speed to get on top of this high and have change course more toward Fiji the days have been sunny and warm but the nights still have a bite to them. got enough wind to actually sail yesterday hopefully the wind will pick up today and give us chance to turn the motor off.

still motor sailing to maintian a enough speed to get on top of this high and have change course more toward fiji the days have been suuny and warm but the nights still have a bite to them. got enough wind to acually sail yesterday hopefully the wind will pick up today and give us chance to turn the motor off.

managed to make reasonable progress over the last 24 hrs sea conditions allowing the ease of passage. still trying to put easting in as long as the wind direction allows. nights are still cool looking forward to those warmer conditions. Had a smelly flying fish come right on into the boat, now back from whence he came.

making pretty good progress considering the lack of wind, motoring with a hopeful main up calm smooth seas did note a very slight lift/ swell out of the S/W should be across the 30 by this evening enjoying the nice sunny weather up on deck during the day taking in the sites.

motor sailing with intention of getting up above the 30 and over toward the 180 to avoid the possibilities of head winds as the winds turn toward the nth east.

enjoying the smooth conditions in light airs. Heading for Suva

in Opua doing the check out thingy today

dropping off our mooring today and heaading toward Opua