We finally managed to slow down off Cape Brett to have Giselle moving very uncomfortably with the short chop in the area so we put the sails back up to get comfort again. Luckily the wind shadow of the hills down to Whangarei allowed us to arrive all tied up in Marsden Cove Marina at […]

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David’s mother’s sister Una in her later years stayed in the family home in Penzance, Cornwall. On of the comments she is well remembered for is “I have eaten up that xxxx in the fridge” with a tone like it was nearly going to waste so wasn’t I good. The reality was that the tasty […]

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We’re British so we allowed to complain about the weather. The pilot books and cruiser stories are full of how bad the lows can be as you approach New Zealand especially if you are south of 30°S. The trysail was rigged on its own track to the mast and we even replaced the ropes on […]

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We have seen our first Albatross. Now officially allowed to feel cold even if it is 20°C! Such graceful flyers. I saw a shearwater with a fish close to the boat earlier in the day. First time I have seen one of the good flying birds feeding. I was getting to wonder when they ever […]

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It turns out that we are on the shipping lane from New Zealand to China. The cargo vessels on this route are heading up between New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. So we have been having 2 or 3 cargo ships a day go by, some visible some just seen on the AIS screen. We […]

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