We have safely arrived in New Zealand after a good passage from New Caledonia. The passage was a bit longer as we had to head in various directions because of the wind or in order to find some wind. We also motored more than we like causing us to do lots of math underway - calculating fuel consumption and how much we had left. The wind came up when we needed it and we made it in with a few gallons to spare. We had some great sailing on this trip as well and Astarte performed exceptionally well. Now its time to take care of the boat and enjoy a few months in one place.
We managed to save an extra night offshore by getting into the clearance port at Whangarei just as the sun was setting. Luckily the days are quite long here so we had extra hours. We snuck our way to the Q (quarantine) dock in Marsden Cove as the sunset and tied up. Customs and biosecurity would arrive in the morning – so it gave us a nice evening to clean up the boat a bit and try to eat as much food as we could before they took it away! We did have a nice meal with the last of the potatoes, last of the carrots and some cabbage. We used up the last eggs and some ham for breakfast. We got a really good nights sleep without having to wake up every three hours for a watch change.
Bruce from customs arrived around eight – and though we were the firs tboat at the dock, we were the second one to be cleared into the country. At this point there were five boats at the dock (a new record for this particular clearance point). We completed lots of new forms (the ones we had completed in advance were unfortunately old forms). We got stamped in for three months for us and the boat gets two years. We got our TIE (temporary import exemption) paper which gives us the ability to buy many boat parts tax-free.
Helen then arrived from Biosecurity and did a very thorough inspection. This was followed by Becky and Ahmed who arrived as additional biosecurity inspectors as there was a recent fruit fly that came in on a boat – so they have upped the inspection process. These two looked in lots more lockers. All was good and Astarte was given the stamp of approval.
We were completed around 1100 and took off to get up the river to the Whangarei Marina which is the heart of the town basin. It was slow trip as we were fighting an outgoing tide. There is now a bridge in Whangarei so we had to get that opened which was a simple process and we didn't even have to stop. That's a good bridge tender!
We arrived and our mooring wasn't quite ready – so we came against the dock. This was nice for the first night and we could get into town before the banks closed to get some NZ dollars. We managed to get quickly moving and did some banking and got info on phones and internet. Then we passed by a Katmandu store and they were having a big sale. We needed some warmer clothes (everyone in town was in shorts and sleeveless shorts – we were freezing). Luckily all the winter goods were on sale so we picked a few things.
Hot showers at the marina were next in line – and they felt mighty good. You do have to put a dollar NZ coin to get that hot water – but worth every penny! We enjoyed a cook's night out (as the biosecurity took all our meat and fresh stuff).
Today we'll move the boat to its pile mooring, get the dinghy unrolled, inflated and launched and settle into life in Whagarei for a few months. Our plan is to get lots of boat projects done and await the arrival of our February guests – Kathryn and Mark.
Log entries will be fewer. You don't need to know what we ate for breakfast each day. But we will try to post every so often if something interesting happens.
Back in the land of kiwis, kiwi fruits and the All Black rugby team.
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Monday, November 24, 2014
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Message from the Pacific
We thought of sending this update in a bottle instead of a blog ? but didn't have a wine bottle available. We are currently sailing at Latitude:29 degrees 01.68 minutes S Longitude:171 degrees 04.42 minutes E, which on our course is about 520 miles away from New Zealand. We still have a long way to go ? not yet at the halfway mark. So far it has been a great passage for this part of the world's oceans. Waiting for the right weather window seems to have paid off (hope we're not jinxing it by writing it!) We have added a fair amount of miles to the 895 distance by having to tack because of light winds from the wrong direction. We also have motored more than we usually would ? in fact day two of the passage was almost an entire day of motor-sailing in very light wind. We are trying our best to maintain a 5 knot speed average through the journey ? something we had never planned and done before. The reason is that it is good to have an estimated time of arrival when heading towards either New Zealand or Australia because of wacky weather coming off the Tasman Sea and the Southern Latitudes. You don't want to get caught in the nasty stuff that brews down here (and we know from our past experience from Tonga to New Zealand in 2012).
All is well aboard the good ship Astarte. She is performing exceptionally well and we are maintaining a good outlook as well. The first day we were pretty hard on the wind as we are now ? so we have been living on a ?heel? (at an angle). That makes moving about the cabin, cooking meals and sleeping pretty challenging. Day two when we motored we had a flatter ride though it was a bit rolly. But overall it has been relatively pleasant. This afternoon we had a brief front that we passed through ? we knew it was coming so we were prepared. It was not as big as our friends got (they are much further ahead of us in their speedy catamaran or 70 foot Deerfoot!). They experienced winds in the 25 to 30 knot range and we saw 20 for a very brief period of time and got some rain. After it passed however it took our good northwest wind away and backed it the south. We are heading in a southeasterly direction so we are now tacking quite a way off course. We are trying to conserve our fuel for the last few days where it looks like the winds will get even lighter and variable. So if we have wind, we'll sail even if it adds miles by tacking. We have about 60 gallons left aboard.
Writing and sending the blogs is more challenging underway ? but you should be able to see where we are on the ?where are we? portion of the blog (if it's working) or you can see where we are on the YIT site (yachts in transit)www.yit.co.nz that is run by David and Patricia of Gulf Harbour Radio who provide an excellent service of giving weather information and advice to boats underway as well as taking daily positions. We check in daily at 0530 (yes very early) and get an updated weather forecast for our route. It also helps break up the day as they are quite entertaining and we hear lots of friends checking in so we can keep track where everyone is. Michael is also checking in daily at 0800 on a ham radio net ?Tony's Maritime Radio? where they also take a position report. These folks are mostly in NZ and Oz. And we have our own mini-radio net at 1700 (5 pm) with the four boats who all left Ile des Pins, New Caledonia about the same time. All the radio chatter breaks up the day.
There hasn't been much in the way of marine life ? a few dolphins early on, but not much else. We had foue large cargo ships pass by, a couple of which we called as they would be getting close and we wanted to make sure they spotted us. Otherwise, its been a quiet and good passage...so far. We hope it continues for the last several days. We anticipate a Sunday or Monday arrival in Whangarei.
All is well aboard the good ship Astarte. She is performing exceptionally well and we are maintaining a good outlook as well. The first day we were pretty hard on the wind as we are now ? so we have been living on a ?heel? (at an angle). That makes moving about the cabin, cooking meals and sleeping pretty challenging. Day two when we motored we had a flatter ride though it was a bit rolly. But overall it has been relatively pleasant. This afternoon we had a brief front that we passed through ? we knew it was coming so we were prepared. It was not as big as our friends got (they are much further ahead of us in their speedy catamaran or 70 foot Deerfoot!). They experienced winds in the 25 to 30 knot range and we saw 20 for a very brief period of time and got some rain. After it passed however it took our good northwest wind away and backed it the south. We are heading in a southeasterly direction so we are now tacking quite a way off course. We are trying to conserve our fuel for the last few days where it looks like the winds will get even lighter and variable. So if we have wind, we'll sail even if it adds miles by tacking. We have about 60 gallons left aboard.
Writing and sending the blogs is more challenging underway ? but you should be able to see where we are on the ?where are we? portion of the blog (if it's working) or you can see where we are on the YIT site (yachts in transit)www.yit.co.nz that is run by David and Patricia of Gulf Harbour Radio who provide an excellent service of giving weather information and advice to boats underway as well as taking daily positions. We check in daily at 0530 (yes very early) and get an updated weather forecast for our route. It also helps break up the day as they are quite entertaining and we hear lots of friends checking in so we can keep track where everyone is. Michael is also checking in daily at 0800 on a ham radio net ?Tony's Maritime Radio? where they also take a position report. These folks are mostly in NZ and Oz. And we have our own mini-radio net at 1700 (5 pm) with the four boats who all left Ile des Pins, New Caledonia about the same time. All the radio chatter breaks up the day.
There hasn't been much in the way of marine life ? a few dolphins early on, but not much else. We had foue large cargo ships pass by, a couple of which we called as they would be getting close and we wanted to make sure they spotted us. Otherwise, its been a quiet and good passage...so far. We hope it continues for the last several days. We anticipate a Sunday or Monday arrival in Whangarei.
Friday, November 14, 2014
New Zealand Bound
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 15, 2014 we will leave New Caledonia and make our way 895 miles to Whangarei, New Zealand. The weather window looks decent – though there will be some hefty head winds for a portion of the trip. The seas are also kicking up from the south pole, so we should see some pretty good swells around the middle of the trip. But things are constantly changing and this looks like the best window we've seen yet, so we're going to grab it. We are guessing that we will make it to Whangarei in about 8 days. We are prepared to motor if we have to for a portion of the trip if we can't maintain at least five knots. We don't carry enough fuel to do that for more than a 85 hours. We are leaving from Ile des Pins in the southern part of New Caledonia which cut off about 40 miles of the trip to NZ – and have been here a few days getting the boat and ourselves ready for this passage. We are as prepared as we can be for the trip – meals prepared and frozen, dinghy rolled and tied on deck, loose items stowed away and the boat checked out and ready. This is a tough passage normally – it seems there is always some weather system brewing in the Tasman and lately there have been non-stop highs, lows, troughs, fronts and you name it!
We will be leaving along with several other boats in the morning. Our friends on the catamaran "Gypsea Heart" will get underway at the same time as us – but they are a much faster boat than us so should get to NZ sooner. Plus they are headed to a different entry port – Opua which is about 60 miles closer. That will be our "Plan B" if the weather get bad – we'll change course and head there as well. A NZ boat, "Distracted" will also be leaving making their way to Auckland. Several boats left this afternoon (Kalaini, Mariposa, Samuri) – all much faster than us as well. So we'll have company out there. We have several radio nets we are checking in with for underway and hopefully we'll also be able to post our progress with daily position reports. That is if our "pactor modem" continues to work – it has been having a few hiccups lately. We hope it makes it at least until we get to NZ so we can continue to get our weather reports and e-mails.
This trip always makes us a bit anxious – so we hope everyone will keep their fingers crossed – a few candles lit!
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We will be leaving along with several other boats in the morning. Our friends on the catamaran "Gypsea Heart" will get underway at the same time as us – but they are a much faster boat than us so should get to NZ sooner. Plus they are headed to a different entry port – Opua which is about 60 miles closer. That will be our "Plan B" if the weather get bad – we'll change course and head there as well. A NZ boat, "Distracted" will also be leaving making their way to Auckland. Several boats left this afternoon (Kalaini, Mariposa, Samuri) – all much faster than us as well. So we'll have company out there. We have several radio nets we are checking in with for underway and hopefully we'll also be able to post our progress with daily position reports. That is if our "pactor modem" continues to work – it has been having a few hiccups lately. We hope it makes it at least until we get to NZ so we can continue to get our weather reports and e-mails.
This trip always makes us a bit anxious – so we hope everyone will keep their fingers crossed – a few candles lit!
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Friday, November 7, 2014
The Weather Waiting Game
We are wanting to start our trip to New Zealand – though it is still quite chilly there – but the weather systems are not exactly cooperating. We are still in New Caledonia and everyday – twice a day – we look at the weather forecast for the ocean between here and New Zealand. It is filled with bright colors – that is not a good thing. There seem to be a plethora of fronts, ridges, troughs, lows and highs creating squash zones, tropical depressions off Fiji and you name it! Nothing that makes you want to pull away from the safety of the lagoon and head into the ocean blue at this point. We will wait – and hope things settle a bit. Perhaps next weekend there might be an opportunity to move – but that's a long way off and things are so unsettled weather-wise that it's too far to guess. We're at least not alone, our friends from Gypsea Heart are still nearby (and we have enjoyed many fun evenings with them), plus we have Pete on Rapaki, Harley on Kailani plus many other boats waiting for a window to NZ (Kahia, Distracted, Another Adventure....)
For now we are getting projects done and enjoying walking around. The weather here has been a bit damp the last few days. It is a holiday weekend in New Cal – Armistice Day so government offices are all closed from Friday afternoon until next Wednesday. We'll probably do some exploring in Noumea – including the aquarium and a few of the museums.
Plus we'll keep praying to the weather gods.
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For now we are getting projects done and enjoying walking around. The weather here has been a bit damp the last few days. It is a holiday weekend in New Cal – Armistice Day so government offices are all closed from Friday afternoon until next Wednesday. We'll probably do some exploring in Noumea – including the aquarium and a few of the museums.
Plus we'll keep praying to the weather gods.
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Saturday, November 1, 2014
Island Hopping
Latitude 22 degrees 12.69 minutes S
Longitude 166 degrees 20.18 minutes E
We spent two nights off "Ilot Signal." We circum-ambulated the outer perimeter along the water one day and then walked the inside path. Both were great short walks with lots to see. The inside path took us very close to many seabird nests – nests that are underground. As you'd walk by, you'd hear soothing cooing sounds coming from under the ground. You had to step carefully around the giant holes along the path. In one area, the marine park built a wooden walkway to take you over the hundreds of nests. There are interesting plants in what they call the "dry forest" of the island and a few historical points of interest including the phallic shaped monument for which the island is named. This was built by old sea captain to mark the way and has been re-built and maintained through the centuries. There is also the stone remnants of a limestone burning area – this was a giant oven to turn limestone rock into fertilizer and lime used for cleaning, medicines and building. We also enjoyed watching the local "Gendamarie Maritima" (the marine police) come in and anchor their 60 foot boat nearby. We thought we would get our papers checked – but no, they simply launched their inflatable and took what looked like a VIP ashore. Then we watched as the big boat did circles after dropping a diver overboard to obviously look for something. It was good entertainment.
The wind started to build and was predicted to get into the 20 plus knot range, and Ilot Signal is a pretty open area with very little protection. The second night was pretty rolly in the anchorage and it would only get worse so on Friday morning, we sailed off for "Baie Maa." This very large bay is supposed to have great holding and be protected from the normal trade winds (southeast). We had a lumpy sail over and settled into 8 meters of water surrounded by hills.
A unicorn came by the boat on Friday night! The small critter was Sophia from the sailing yacht Kailani – trick or treating amongst the boats. She was our only trickster that night but was as cute as can be. We'll be heading aboard their lovely Deerfoot 63 tonight for cocktails. We've heard this boat a lot on the radio nets, but had never met them until yesterday.
Right now there are 22 boats in this anchorage, so it is obviously the place to come for big winds. There are many local New Cal boats as well as a few cruising yachts.
Happy Halloween to all!
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Longitude 166 degrees 20.18 minutes E
We spent two nights off "Ilot Signal." We circum-ambulated the outer perimeter along the water one day and then walked the inside path. Both were great short walks with lots to see. The inside path took us very close to many seabird nests – nests that are underground. As you'd walk by, you'd hear soothing cooing sounds coming from under the ground. You had to step carefully around the giant holes along the path. In one area, the marine park built a wooden walkway to take you over the hundreds of nests. There are interesting plants in what they call the "dry forest" of the island and a few historical points of interest including the phallic shaped monument for which the island is named. This was built by old sea captain to mark the way and has been re-built and maintained through the centuries. There is also the stone remnants of a limestone burning area – this was a giant oven to turn limestone rock into fertilizer and lime used for cleaning, medicines and building. We also enjoyed watching the local "Gendamarie Maritima" (the marine police) come in and anchor their 60 foot boat nearby. We thought we would get our papers checked – but no, they simply launched their inflatable and took what looked like a VIP ashore. Then we watched as the big boat did circles after dropping a diver overboard to obviously look for something. It was good entertainment.
The wind started to build and was predicted to get into the 20 plus knot range, and Ilot Signal is a pretty open area with very little protection. The second night was pretty rolly in the anchorage and it would only get worse so on Friday morning, we sailed off for "Baie Maa." This very large bay is supposed to have great holding and be protected from the normal trade winds (southeast). We had a lumpy sail over and settled into 8 meters of water surrounded by hills.
A unicorn came by the boat on Friday night! The small critter was Sophia from the sailing yacht Kailani – trick or treating amongst the boats. She was our only trickster that night but was as cute as can be. We'll be heading aboard their lovely Deerfoot 63 tonight for cocktails. We've heard this boat a lot on the radio nets, but had never met them until yesterday.
Right now there are 22 boats in this anchorage, so it is obviously the place to come for big winds. There are many local New Cal boats as well as a few cruising yachts.
Happy Halloween to all!
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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Island Hopping
Latitude 22 degrees 12.69 minutes S
Longitude 166 degrees 20.18 minutes E
We spent two nights off "Ilot Signal." We circum-ambulated the outer perimeter along the water one day and then walked the inside path. Both were great short walks with lots to see. The inside path took us very close to many seabird nests – nests that are underground. As you'd walk by, you'd hear soothing cooing sounds coming from under the ground. You had to step carefully around the giant holes along the path. In one area, the marine park built a wooden walkway to take you over the hundreds of nests. There are interesting plants in what they call the "dry forest" of the island and a few historical points of interest including the phallic shaped monument for which the island is named. This was built by old sea captain to mark the way and has been re-built and maintained through the centuries. There is also the stone remnants of a limestone burning area – this was a giant oven to turn limestone rock into fertilizer and lime used for cleaning, medicines and building. We also enjoyed watching the local "Gendamarie Maritima" (the marine police) come in and anchor their 60 foot boat nearby. We thought we would get our papers checked – but no, they simply launched their inflatable and took what looked like a VIP ashore. Then we watched as the big boat did circles after dropping a diver overboard to obviously look for something. It was good entertainment.
The wind started to build and was predicted to get into the 20 plus knot range, and Ilot Signal is a pretty open area with very little protection. The second night was pretty rolly in the anchorage and it would only get worse so on Friday morning, we sailed off for "Baie Maa." This very large bay is supposed to have great holding and be protected from the normal trade winds (southeast). We had a lumpy sail over and settled into 8 meters of water surrounded by hills.
A unicorn came by the boat on Friday night! The small critter was Sophia from the sailing yacht Kailani – trick or treating amongst the boats. She was our only trickster that night but was as cute as can be. We'll be heading aboard their lovely Deerfoot 63 tonight for cocktails. We've heard this boat a lot on the radio nets, but had never met them until yesterday.
Right now there are 22 boats in this anchorage, so it is obviously the place to come for big winds. There are many local New Cal boats as well as a few cruising yachts.
Happy Halloween to all!
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Longitude 166 degrees 20.18 minutes E
We spent two nights off "Ilot Signal." We circum-ambulated the outer perimeter along the water one day and then walked the inside path. Both were great short walks with lots to see. The inside path took us very close to many seabird nests – nests that are underground. As you'd walk by, you'd hear soothing cooing sounds coming from under the ground. You had to step carefully around the giant holes along the path. In one area, the marine park built a wooden walkway to take you over the hundreds of nests. There are interesting plants in what they call the "dry forest" of the island and a few historical points of interest including the phallic shaped monument for which the island is named. This was built by old sea captain to mark the way and has been re-built and maintained through the centuries. There is also the stone remnants of a limestone burning area – this was a giant oven to turn limestone rock into fertilizer and lime used for cleaning, medicines and building. We also enjoyed watching the local "Gendamarie Maritima" (the marine police) come in and anchor their 60 foot boat nearby. We thought we would get our papers checked – but no, they simply launched their inflatable and took what looked like a VIP ashore. Then we watched as the big boat did circles after dropping a diver overboard to obviously look for something. It was good entertainment.
The wind started to build and was predicted to get into the 20 plus knot range, and Ilot Signal is a pretty open area with very little protection. The second night was pretty rolly in the anchorage and it would only get worse so on Friday morning, we sailed off for "Baie Maa." This very large bay is supposed to have great holding and be protected from the normal trade winds (southeast). We had a lumpy sail over and settled into 8 meters of water surrounded by hills.
A unicorn came by the boat on Friday night! The small critter was Sophia from the sailing yacht Kailani – trick or treating amongst the boats. She was our only trickster that night but was as cute as can be. We'll be heading aboard their lovely Deerfoot 63 tonight for cocktails. We've heard this boat a lot on the radio nets, but had never met them until yesterday.
Right now there are 22 boats in this anchorage, so it is obviously the place to come for big winds. There are many local New Cal boats as well as a few cruising yachts.
Happy Halloween to all!
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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