Arrived 22:00 11th November.

This is a small place but very friendly and many good yachtie services. Lots of boats arriving all the time from Tonga, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Will be here in NZ until the end of cyclone season in the Pacific which is April time.

We will focus on maintenance and then sight-seeing mostly by car.

Write up of the time in Vavau and Haapai islands of Tonga will follow soon.

Expect less on the blog site over this period. May get some of the “roaming taste” entries we have gathered along the way.

Position: 35°19′S 174°07′E

Lots of Sooty Shearwaters and some Albatrosses which make a lovely sight. It makes up for it being so cold.  We now have full thermals as per UK early season sailing!

Wind now around to the west so making Opua on this tack and keeping up a good speed.  Position of tack on Monday morning has turned out to have been very good.  Doesn’t look like much to stop us being in ready for customs at 08:00 in the morning.

We heard today that an American couple have got married on Minerva reef, Bruce and Alene off Migration.  They have been very generous with their time and advice to so many other boats and we are all very pleased for them.  One of the skippers of another boat has been a Captain of a commercial vessel and has all the official powers of a captain including marriages.  There were about 8 other boats in the reef anchorage to help them celebrate.  We will see them in Opua in about a weeks time.  Their honeymoon will be the slightly tricky sail down here!

Position: 34°47′S 174°19′E [-34.782,174.318] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 11th
24hr run: 123.1 miles by GPS, 127.4 miles through water.
34 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots:  22:52 wed 11th November local  time
Wind: WSW 27 knots Sea: small chop
Sky:  80% cloud cover

Weather now very changeable in wind speed and direction.  Constant sail changes and several tacks.  Wind from 5 to 30 knots and direction from SE to west.  David’s slept in oilskins to allow fast changes in sail plan overnight.  Had a great period with the staysail and 25 knots of wind for a few hours early last night.  I think we are through the worst of the adverse current which cost us most of a knot over the last 24 hours.

Enjoying the fruits of the baking yesterday.  Cheese on oat bread for lunch. Chocolate oat cookies for tea.

There are lots of yachts (50-100) on their way to NZ at this time of year.  We have been with many of them as we have gone across the Pacific.  We are talking with quite a few that have already got in, quite a few around us and a few still to leave Tonga.  Many have stories to tell of this sail to NZ.  It will be fun catching up with those that have made Opua their landfall.

Position: 32°43′S 174°21′E [-32.720,174.353] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 10th
24hr run: 98 miles by GPS, 117.3 miles through water.  Adverse current now obvious.
157 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 23:34 wed 11th November local  time
Wind: SSW 12 knots Sea: big swell but OK for sailing
Sky:  20% cloud cover

Now in the SW airflow and the adverse current.  Made as much west as possible overnight hence poor progress towards Opua.  Tacked at 10:00 local time and making good progress but need a wind shift into west to get into Opua without tacking.

Mary and Kirsty have excelled themselves with baking.  They don’t get thrown across the galley on starboard tack so despite it being boisterous and close hauled a succession of delicious cakes and breads were worth coming.  All made with oat flour which they grind from porridge oats with a small electric food chopper Started with chocolate cookies, then chocolate fairy cakes, another two trays of oat cakes and then some bread.  Pretty impressive!  High tea was very good - hot sunshine in the cockpit as well.

Position: 31°5′S 173°55′E [-31.077,173.911] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 9th
24hr run: 87 miles by GPS towards opua, 122.1 miles through water.
255 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 19:15 wed 11th November local  time
Wind: SSW 20 knots Sea: SW short sea 1.0m
Sky:  25% cloud cover

Wind filled in about midnight and then from dawn we have been tripled reefed with a reduced headsail.  Sea is very lumpy.  Still making good progress though.  Still heading SW ready for the SW winds

Position: 29°46′S 175°15′E [-29.763,175.257] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 8th
24hr run:  130.5 miles by GPS, 131.6 miles through water.
343 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 12:30  wed 11th November local  time
Wind: SSE 23 knots Sea: very lumpy and awkward
Sky:  50% cloud cover

Wind died this morning.  We put up the big reacher for a while.  Wind filling in again but from the direction we want to go!  I suspect we will be hard on the wind now until the last short stretch into Opua.

Tactics are to stay on the port tack well out to the west and then come about when the wind cghanges to the South west.  It should go further west as we get close to NZ.  Progress will be slower now.  5 knot average likely to be challenging especially with the adverse current predicted south of 30.

So finally some tougher sailing todo.

Position: 28°03′S 176°47′E [-28.043,176.780] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 7th 2009
24hr run: 140 miles by GPS,  130 miles through water.
473 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 14:37 wed 11th November local  time
Wind: SSE 10 knots Sea: smooth with S swell 0.5m
Sky:  30% cloud cover

Another big milestone - now in the eastern hemisphere.  Longitude will reduce now rather than increase!

Great nights sailing wind holding up until dawn and then we put up pinkie - our huge pink masthead spinnaker!  Had it up for about 6 hours until the wind filled in again.  Making very good progress given the large high that dominates the ocean around us.  Barometer is at 1023.

Forecast has less wind tomorrow then sailable winds from SE then S then SW.

Position: 26°14′S 178°26′E [-26.245,178.429]at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 November 6th 2009
24hr run:  148 miles by GPS,  145 miles through water. Expecting adverse current south of 30°South
612 miles to Oapu, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 18:32 Wed 11th November local time
Wind: SE 12 knots Sea: Long S swell 0.8m
Sky:  15% cloud cover

We have left North Minerva reef on the last leg to New Zealand.  The norm for this passage is to have one spell off stronger winds.  Our forecast is very good with wind most of the way but no gales - I guess it can only get worse from here!  We’ll be ready with our smaller sails.  Our favourite is the trysail that will go up when the wind hits 30 knots.

We are off to a great start.  Covered 75 miles by 16:30 from our start at 7am.  Got a nice sized yellow fin Tuna so all set for fresh fish for most of the way to NZ.  When we loose the flying fish we won’t get the tuna etc.  Not sure what the best fishing technique will be then perhaps the mackerel lines but they require 2-3 knot boat speed.   We caught our last mackerel off Lisbon.

Fishing suggestions for 5 to 8 knots for colder waters welcome.

Position: 24°25′S 179°41′W [-24.420,-179.691] at 16:00 Local, 03:00 5th November 2009 GMT
761 miles to Opua, NZ. ETA at 5 knots: 00:25 12th November local time
Wind: ESE 15-18 knots
Sky:  30% cloud cover

We have 19 boats around us here in Minerva reef.  Still room for 100 more - big reef with all the inside at about 15 meters depth.

Some are here just because it a different place to visit.  Most are waiting for the wind to fill in.  The weather forecasts give hope that tomorrow morning will be the beginning of enough wind to sail rather than motor to New Zealand.

Had a bizarre walk on the reef at low water yesterday.  Reef nearly covers at high water and the boats move around more at high tide when some swell makes it over the reef.  Fish caught in the pools darting about sometimes flapping over the nearly dry bits to get to the next pool. The inside of the reef at low water would beat Lativa’s longest waterfall in Europe record both for length and for low distance of fall!

Yachts following us may like to know we used 23°37.382′S 178°55.806′W as an indication of the middle of the pass.  Plotter has the reef pretty accurate, big plus after the charting in Haapai and Vavau.

Position: 23°39′S 178°54′W [-23.654,-178.900]
835 miles to Opua, NZ. 7 DAYS AT at 5 knots
Wind: E 6 knots

About to stop in Minerva reef.  Wind forecast is for very little over the next day or so.  We will start again when there is more wind forecast.

Talked to the plucky girl on Pink Lady this afternoon.  She has started out from Australia to be the youngest person to do a non-stop circum-navigation.  Had bad luck on her test voyage down the Australian coast and was hit by a coaster.  Sounded in excellent form just getting out the fishing lines.  Her boat is an S&S 34.  Interesting she also gets lots of questions like “what about pirates?”, “How will you deal with pirates?”  I suspect she would have been more at risk living in a big city!  If someone reading this on the blog can put a link to her web site in the comments it would be great.

Just crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.  Crossed into the tropics on the way to Cape Verde last year on November 21st 2008.  Getting colder, duvets out now.

Position: 23°32′S 178°48′W [-23.533,-178.796] at local 16:00, GMT 03:00 2nd November
24hr run: 125.3 miles by GPS,
835 miles to Opua, NZ.
Wind: SE 13 knots Sea: SSE swell 3.0
Sky:  40% cloud cover