(posted by Marge)
All’s well aboard. We officially went an entire 24 hours without turning on the engine. Guess we found those winds they’d been promising, huh? We averaged a solid 6.5 knots all day yesterday and on my watch last night I woke Drew to see if he wanted to pull in some of the sails because we were doing close to 8.5! We did slow it down a bit which is my preference at night.
Starting to find the rythym that normally comes after three or four days. You get into a pattern with the night watches and stuff and the time just ticks by. I haven’t showered in four days though so my hair and underarm’s are starting to really bug me. If it stays much the same as it has been for the past 72 hours then hopefully we’ll get to take some showers today!
Weather forecast is still looking good for the next four days and by late Monday/early Tuesday we should know for sure what the tail end of our journey is going to be like. About 475 miles away from our current position lies Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs so there is always the option for us to stop there if the weather turns. I always hope that timing wise it works out to pass reefs such as these during the day, just from a safety stand point, and to be able to just truck on by. At that point in the trip, you’re more ready to just get it over with than anything.
More tomorrow! Here’s to the winds keeping up…
Author: Drew
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NZ to Brisbane, Australia-Day 2
(posted by Marge) Let’s see…we cooked fresh lobster for dinner, had a pleasant convo with a sea turtle about the East Australian Current, and I got a mani/pedi. Oh wait…those were day 2 dreams! A pleasant and calm day at sea, however, so my reality wasn’t much to complain about either. We’re pluggin’ along. Again we sailed under spinnaker all day yesterday averaging anywhere from 5 to 5 1/2 knots. The past two nights it’s been as if someone flipped a switch as soon as it got dark and the winds just disappeared. Personally, I enjoy a calm night at sea but no winds means I’m not getting to Australia any faster, thus we have a problem; We motored through it again last night and woke this morning, day 3, to winds from the East that are currently pushing us along at a gratifying 7 knots. Back to the shelf for me again as I burned through an entire book yesterday. My Sisters Keeper. Complete tear jerker. At sea we can’t afford for me to be tearing through our rolls of toilet paper so today perhaps I’ll go for something with a bit more humor! -
NZ to Brisbane, Australia-Day #1
(posted by Marge) After a gut bomb breakfast of eggs benedict (“eggs benny for breaky” in NZ talk) at the Marina Cafe yesterday morning, we were ready to haul tail. Customs arrived right on time, fueling up was quick and easy, and we were headed out of the Bay of Islands by eleven o’clock. Had a really, really nice day of sailing up the coast of New Zealand under spinnaker. The only hard part about dinner was Drew having to decide which of the pre made meals he wanted. We went with chicken casserole, green beans, and thus, dinner was taken care of. That’s my kind of cooking underway! Right before sunset a pod of dolphins came by the play around on the bow a little bit. We were able to get some great video of that and I assured Drew they knew it was our last passage for a while and wanted to make it memorable (I haven’t had great luck seeing dolphins throughout our trips). We rounded the North Cape while on Drew’s watch, motor sailed for much of the night as the winds died out when night fell, and are now headed towards the Three Kinds Islands. We’ll leave those long behind us in our second day at sea and for hundreds of miles it’ll be just us, the water, and any visitors that might pop up along the way! -
Back to the Bay of Islands
We are back in the Bay of Islands, home of the most awkward morning VHF net in the world. Last time we were here, we found Opua boring and expensive (up to $40NZ for a round trip cab to Paihia, less than 5 miles down the road). The only positive things I could find were the giant burgers at the Marina Cafe and the friendly guys at Cater Marine. I now know that it was our own damn fault for sitting in Opua the whole time and not getting out to see the rest of the Bay. Come to think of it, other than checking in, giving the boat a quick washdown, and fixing whatever you broke on the passage south, I can see NO REASON for sitting ANY amount of time in Opua. Seeing as how the marina is full due to Bay Islands Race Week, we’ve been relegated to the outer anchorages. When I started this post, for instance, we were sitting just off the main dock of Paihia tucked behind a little island called Motumaire. Last night we moved over to Russell, and right now Dosia is anchored in a bay just outside the channel leading into Kerikeri.
For the Kiwis, the Bay of Islands is the next best thing to Tonga and Fiji. As the name implies, it’s a large bay with lots of islands and anchorages, some of which have semi-clear water. I keep reading blog posts and articles about people enjoying the “clear waters” of this area and I have no idea what they are talking about. I guess if I were comparing the waters here to Auckland harbor or say, the Mississippi delta, I would consider them clear. But coming from the islands of the South Pacific, no chance. I do have to say I’m more impressed with the Bay on this trip around. When we were last here in November it was early in the season. There weren’t a lot of boats and without the Kiwis on holidays, the towns were filled with European backpackers. Now it’s quite different. The beaches are packed, the towns are filled, and the anchorages are almost overflowing. Although many cruisers would disagree, I find this a much more enjoyable time to be here. We did a little Sunday morning hike on Urupukapuka Island with Betsy and Richard from s/v Qayak. Here’s a couple of shots. We’ve decided this place is a lot more beautiful from above than it is at eye level.
We’re steadily watching the weather waiting on our chance to pounce the Tasman Sea. Meanwhile we’re taking care of small projects on Dosia and setting her up for her new owners. We’re also maintaining Marge and making sure she’s prepped for the passage. Yesterday we had one of her wisdom teeth removed! We put some new photos up so make sure you check them out and as always, thanks for reading!