Get Lost On Purpose

Category: New Zealand

  • Passage to NZ, Day 2

    Covered 138 nautical miles in our first 24 hours at sea so no complaints coming from us. Drew’s currently watching the back of his eyelids while I keep an eye out up on deck. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a passage where the rocking of the boat was more peaceful than pissful but thus is the case and I slept better last night and most of the morning than I ever have at sea. The motion of the boat is like a dose of Ambien to me when it’s this calm out. Dosia’s weight loss back in Neiafu seems to be working in her favor and she’s sailing quite nicely. We’ve seen anywhere from 4 1/2 to 7 knots today and were able to stop motoring which is great for our diesel conservation. We’re hoping to get at least two or three good sailing days, if not more, out of the early part of the trip and then we know we have the fuel on board to motor us the rest of the way to New Zealand if need be. Hopefully that won’t be the case but it’s reassuring and good for my blood pressure! Right now there are steady 10 to 15 knot winds coming from the south/southeast that are supposed to maintain for the next day or two. We keep this pace up and we’ll be happy cruisers.

    Drew’s got the remains of our mahi catch from the trip to Nuku’Alofa up on deck, soaked in soy sauce & red pepper flakes, and he’s making fish jerky. Pre prepped tuna casserole filled our bellies for dinner last night and since it’s pretty calm out I might even get in the galley tonight and whip something up that doesn’t come out of a tin can. Drew likes to test my patience during passages by calling me his “galley wench.” Yeah, keep talking. I’ve got your galley wrench…i mean wench…

  • Let’s do this…Passage to NZ, Day 1

    Well unlike Georgia against Florida today we do have our game faces on. This morning we pulled out the positive attitudes, along with all the cold weather clothing we have onboard, and eased our way out of the harbor around 7:30. Our chartplotter’s eyes were manually set on Opua, New Zealand. Mileage-1010 miles. So far we’re about eight hours in and if we manage to maintain six knots our estimated time of arrival is early morning about eight days from today. We put about as much hope on maintaining six knots as I do on Tom Brady leaving that Brazilian bombshell for yours truly. The weather window is calling for light winds with fair seas for about ten days but naturally that is subject to change. As a sailor you quickly learn that you only usually trust weather reports through the first three days or so no matter how long the window they predict. We will check weather at least twice a day, everyday. On the horizon we see the sails of several other boats who left shortly after us this morning and while most of them are planning to do a little layover at Minerva Reef, we are in this for the long haul. As long as the weather window stays in our favor then we are trucking along. Nonetheless, for now I find comfort in the site of their sails knowing that help is a few miles away if need be.

    There’s a funny rumor amongst cruisers that more injuries on sailboats happen at anchor than at sea. That rumor proved itself to be true in Nuku’Alofa. One cruiser slipped a disk in his lower back, has been hulled up for about four days now, and he and his wife will now fly to New Zealand where he will have surgery after having found crew to deliver their boat for them. Just yesterday morning, a woman who had flown in to help crew yet another yacht fell on the stairs inside the boat and severely broke her leg. She was flown to New Zealand last night and was scheduled for surgery today. There were two doctors onboard their own boats in the harbor with us and they both stayed fairly busy their entire time in Nuku’Alofa. As much as you hate to see any cruiser go down like that you can only imagine they must be somewhat thankful that if it had to happen that it happened at anchor. Could you imagine being 400, 500 miles into a passage such as this one and something like either of these two cases happen?

    Spilled some salt making Drew a BLT for lunch today so quickly threw a little over my shoulder. We don’t need any bad luck hanging over our heads right now!

  • Customs Clearance B.S. , and the passage to New Zealand

    I gotta tell you, nothing beats the feeling of freedom you gain from checking out of a country via sailboat. It doesn’t matter if you have a clearance for a port you may not check into within the next month…or year…OR you have no actual plans on leaving the so-called “cleared port” within the next several days…or month. It doesn’t matter at all. You still feel like a wildman when you get that paper. In reality, I could pull up anchor and sail direct to Thailand if I wanted and nobody but Marge would question me. That is awesome. That is freedom.

    Few people out here actually follow the rules. Yes, I said it. Finally. Someone actually said aloud what everyone knows. You can check out today and not leave for weeks and no one would really care or know. It happens with cruisers all over the world. Sometimes the rules are just plain stupid. There are those FEW odd circumstances or random security checks but they are super rare and I only know of a few boats that REALLY care. Most people don’t and who blames them. People who never broke a law in their life are bending the rules in this area. I checked out today (Friday here in Tonga) but I may not leave till Monday….or Friday. Who knows. I am done with the paperwork and I paid. In my eyes, it’s done. There are people anchored within a few yards of me who checked out 2 weeks ago in Vava’u and here they sit. Others checked out for NZ when they left Apia, Western Samoa back in September. They use radio channel 16 code names like “Sweet Caroline”, “Bambi”, “Barbie”, “Salt Peter”, “Heavy Breathing”, and “Adios Pantalones.” We came up with “Marge Barge” as our code name for Dosia. Sounds good to me though I see no reason to use it.

    So we’re checked out. We could possibly leave tomorrow. We are prepared. The weather looks decent for a short 270 mile jump to Minerva reef. It’s another “pause moment” in the 1200 or so mile trip from Vava’u to NZ and it cuts the final leg of the trip down to about 700 miles. Previously, Margie and I decided we’d only stop there if the weather forecast for the remainder of the trip called for a stop. It looks like it may do just that. We are provisioned for a little over two weeks. We have fuel for 800 miles of motoring. No one can lie here. This is potentially the worst passage of an entire circumnavigation. In the last month on this passage, our friends have battled lost rudders, fuel shortages, autopilot failures, rig failures, and more. The Tasman Sea is notoriously nasty like Cape Hatteras near where I grew up. Sometimes I wonder if Hatteras realizes it world-wide fame as “trouble spot” but I don’t question the Tasman. It’s fickle. If it was appropiate, I’d use another “f” word to describe it but I think you get the point. When a low forms in the Tasman, you get out of the way. You don’t mess around in this area of the world. The tanks are full, the oil and filters are changed, the rig is tuned, and the heart is ready. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us pull out of here tomorrow afternoon. We’re part of the All Points to Opua Rally…and race or not, I’m thinking first place sounds nice. Let’s get this one over with. Dosia is ready and it’s time to put our game faces on.

  • Diapers on Dosia (?)

    Drew came back to the boat from the store the other day with a package of extra large diapers. The menstrual gods were raining cramps upon me at the time so I knew there was nothing I had to tell him. Was there something he had to tell me? Was I in the dark this entire time and somehow he’d hidden that he was in fact a replica of the fella back home who I believe is currently pregnant with his second child? For those of us who didn’t have the pleasure to know Drew as an infant child, he was a fat-tay!!! Ten pounds, ten ounces at birth so if he did in fact have something to tell me then that would explain the extra large size part. Lucky for us both the diapers were to soak up a little grease spill in the bilge.  My boyfriend is in deed all man. Whew, thank heavens : )
    painting cockpit lockers...fun times
    Lots and lots of boat projects going on. The water line on the boat continues to rise daily as we rid Dosia of the clutter she’s accumulated over the past five years. We sent all we could spare food, clothing, and tool wise to the victims of the quake and tsunami in American Samoa. Tsunami warnings are becoming quite common these days and while we’ve avoided any potential dangers here thus far, it’s still scary and causing increasing eagerness to head south. We said farewell to another couple of cruising yachts just this morning and watched as they pointed their bows westward to navigate the few miles of calm waterways that separate the islands here all the way to the wide open waters that would eventually carry them southwest 1100 miles to New Zealand.  We bid them safe seas and will tune into the single side ban each morning and afternoon to do checkins. Our family of friends on Zen made landfall in New Zealand this morning. We were so happy to know that their journey was a safe one while mildly jealous that they are already done with a trip that most still in the harbor here are loathing. I continue to try and motivate my attitude of the coming passage in a more positive direction. Sometimes it is quite hard when you hear those around you saying how brutal it can be. I know that in Drew’s hands I am in good, safe care and I trust him 100%. This will, however, be my longest length of time at sea (roughly 8 to 10 days) and I am having a hard time getting myself amped up for it. As most sailors will tell you, the passages are often just a means to an end, a way to get from here to there, and very few actually enjoy them. Im just gonna have to put my big gal panties on and suck it up. It will be my last passage for years to come so the least I can do is try my best to enjoy it. I do have two nights in the Sky Tower hotel in downtown Auckland to look forward to so I’ll just keep that tucked safely in the front of my mind when Drew wakes me up for yet another night watch in cold temps.
    Where's Drew?! Swallow's Cave
    In any spare time we can find away from boat projects we mosy our way out to a nearby anchorage and relish the peace and quiet. Shortbus’ return has made getting around so much easier. We were anchored in Port Maurelle just last week and took her a few football field lengths around the corner to Swallows Cave and then to deserted beaches so I could do some last effort shell collecting. We’ll continue to work on Dosia everyday until Drew says we’re done and then will test her out after her “diet” to see if the loss of weight affects her performance. Drew thinks she’ll be in top condition and is anxious to see how well she moves on the trip south. By all means, if a little weight loss will get us there quicker then what else do I need to get rid of? I’m willing to make sacrifices as long as it has nothing to do with my footwear!