Arrival

The final push to Opua was a very nice ride. The crossing from Fiji to Opua NZ was 8 days 16 hours. We had incredible weather and our arrival in the morning was painless. Customs boarded us and we cleared with in an hour. This is were the fun begins. I had gotten word that U2 was playing in Auckland the night of our arrival. I suggested to the crew about trying to go see U2. Not much convincing needed and if we cleared early enough so we could make the 3 hour drive to Auckland ,scalp tickets to a sold out show and spend the night and be back to the boat the next morning. The first thing was to put Sundance to bed and we had her in her slip by 10am. I rented cars and within the next hour we showered and picked up two more people( Jason& Laural from Monkey's Business) for the adventure. Total people 6. The goal was to leave Opua at 1pm and we would miss the Friday rush hour traffic in Auckland. The concert was on the other side of town. We left Opua by 1:15 and headed down the road. Remember that driving is a challenge because you have to drive on the left hand side of the rode, also no traffic lights most countries use round abouts ( traffic circles). We stopped for food and cash which delayed us another hour. Two hours out of Auckland we hit a traffic accident that closed the highway for two hours. We found a detour which put us on the coast and cost us another hour delay. Getting close to Auckland we hit the rush hour traffic and one of the gals needed a pee break so we exited the highway and within minutes we found petrol station. Trying to find our way back to the highway we got lost and miraculous we found the way through surface streets to the concert, time 7pm. We walked about twenty minutes to the gates and found people selling tickets for half price and we were able to buy 6 tickets and headed to the concert. We found out later that these tickets were bought a year earlier and U2 had to cancel the show. Most of the tickets we purchased were for people in large groups that couldn't make the make up show. Lucky for us. The show rocked and the crowd was a lot of fun.

The concert ended around 11:30 pm after three encores. We headed back to the cars and tried to find some hotel rooms. searching for over an hour we decided to make the long drive back to the boat. We refueled the cars and had several Red Bulls and headed down the highway. We arrived at the marina at 5:30 am and we were all beat. We had one small problem, we left the keys to get through the gate to the boat on the boat. During the day these gates are left open and we thought we would be back the next day during the day. The next challenge. The water was too cold to swim and the marina had lots of jellyfish floating in the water around the docks. We looked for security but no luck. Mike and Jason found a one man kayak and Mike who was half asleep,( he didn't get his afternoon nap) slowly paddled his way to Sundance get the key and let us in.

Around 11am we started to wake up and needed to get Sundance ready for the last push to Gulf Harbour Marina. Gulf Harbour sits just north of Auckland and is about 120 miles south of Opua. We left around 4pm and sailed all through the night with 10 kts winds and clear skies and calm seas. We arrived in Gulf Harbour around 10:30 am and proceeded to our berth N17.

The next two days we cleaned Sundance and packed our bags for the states. Mike and I will be in the states for the month of December and we will pick up our adventure again just before New Years. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and we will close with pictures from our last crossing to NZ.

November 23th

We Made It

Sundance has landed and we are safe in the bay of Islands. We are tied up to the customs dock waiting for the customs officials to clear us into New Zealand. We had a very nice entry into the bay and we are hopefully going to the U2 concert We are on a time crunch and will post more tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving. Position S 35 18.86 E 174 07.326

November 22th

Day 8

Hopefully tomorrow this time we will be in Opua, New Zealand. Yesterday afternoon after getting many sources of weather, and reading many weather faxes we determined that our needed northwest wind wouldn't arrive for another day. To push further south and west of our 33 S mark we would extend our arrival to Saturday. We decided after several discussions to cut the corner and make a new rumb line for Opua. The winds were still from the east-southeast and we were able to keep the sails up and crank the motor to increase our speed. These are the times when you have to decide if we want to burn the Arab Juice or wait for the wind. The Arab Juice won and this will put us into Opua Friday afternoon. The winds tonight should shift to the northwest and that will help our push into NZ.
Last night was amazing. the stars went to the horizon and the seas were as flat as glass. Daybreak came and the winds were still light and the seas were calm. New Zealand's outer waters are known as some of the most treacherous due to the wild low and high pressure systems that roar through the region. The last two days you would never know, we are smack dab in the middle of a very large high and that is why we have no winds. Once the high moves west we will start to see the winds pick up from the north-northwest and they will increase in strength. We will be in port when these winds reach there full strength and stir up the ocean again. We will never complain about no wind and calm seas, this is truly a treat for us and a great welcome gift. We will see land later today and will follow south along the northeast coast to Opua.
Today we will take advantage of the calm seas. We have cleaned the decks of the salt that gathers so think on all of the outer surfaces and put some of our sails away. The sky is completely clear and bright blue in color.The warmth of the sun is always welcome. The spirits are high knowing that we will make landfall within the the next day and though being tired has slipped our minds. We have decided that for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night we will try to find a seafood dinner house and go all out and celebrate our very successful and last crossing of the season.
I was just interrupted from writing by the New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion. They patrol the outer waters and they just did a fly over. We made radio contact and they asked for our updated arrival time. The protocol is for us to give customs a 48 hour update on arrival time which we have done through our single side band radio.
Have a happy turkey day and eat some turkey for us, we will give a report tomorrow upon our arrival. Position S 33 40.122 E 172 48.233

November 21th

Hello everyone well today is just like the last few days, after the 4 hour break you get up for your watch and wait for the wind to change. Last night around 1am the wind started to die and we thought for sure we were going to get our north to northwest wind, the wind gods were playing a game with us. The wind just died and we had to start the motor. We motored until 10am this morning and we currently have back the winds from the southeast 20 kts. We were suppose to have the north to northwest winds by now but no luck. We have decided to go to our 33 S way point and hopefully the northwest winds will appear, if they don't we will have to turn left to a 140 degree heading and start the motor. Hopefully the winds will change to our favor as predicted. The prediction was for us to have these winds at our present position. because we don't it makes us very leery about the rest of the forecast. This route has added another 55 miles to our already long crossing. The seas are small and the temp is a fresh 65 degrees. The nights are cold, only because we have been in the tropics for the last six months. Anything under 70 degrees is cold. Mike made his famous Thai curry chicken and some fresh veggies last night for dinner. Yum! Yum! Position S31 33.450 E 172 07.223

November 20th

Day Six:

The wind is cool and the seas are choppy. We are about 360 miles from Opua and looking forward to the arrival. Yesterday the wind stayed strong and we were beating into a southeast wind swell. The ride was a little rough but we made OK progress. Last night the winds dropped to 15 kts from 25 and we had a nice pleasant ride all night. The sky was covered in clouds all night and we never saw a star. The temp at night was in the 50's. This morning the wind has started to pick up at the present time 20kts from the south east. The wind swell is picking up 6-8 ft. We are steering a 180 course and when we hit 33 S we should see a wind change from the north northwest. When we hit these winds we will turn left and take a down wind turn toward Opua. If we tried to proceed to Opua at our present position we would be directly into the wind and would have to motor. We would lose speed and we would have a really rough ride to Opua. On the menu for breakfast,lunch and dinner 3 minute noodles. This is the meal of choice!
Position S 29 23.456 E 172 43.332

November 19th

Sailing is such a challenge sometimes. Yesterday was going very smooth and by the afternoon the weather started to change on us. We had light winds and calm seas and by noon the seas started to get very disturbed. The winds were a fresh 15 kts and the sail plan we had up wasn't working. We changed the sails several times and no matter what we did we could only get 4.5 kts out of a 15kt 90-60 degree apparent wind angle. We scratched our heads and we could never come up with a solution. We sailed all night at 4.5 kts and just accepted it. In past sail configurations we have seen our speeds around 6.5 kts this is why we were frustrated. This morning the air was very cool and more clothing was needed to keep us warm. The wind started to pick up and the seas became rough. We were right in the middle of a low pressure system and the rain started to fall. The winds have changed from a east to a south east and our heading is 180 magnetic. We will stay on this heading until 33 degrees south and then the wind is fore casted to change to the north, northwest. then we will make our turn toward Opua and have a nice tail wind . The weather models have predicted this to happen so we are trusting these models to get us in by Friday morning. Friday night a new low is fore casted to hit the NZ coast and we want to be in before this hits. Position S 27 46.000 E 173 17.099

November 18th

Yesterdays sail was the best day we have had. The wind was 15kts and our speed was 8kts. The swell was small and the wind waves were perfect ( non entering the cockpit ). The days before we had many waves getting us wet from the port side of the boat. Timing is everything! Last night about mid night our wind started to die and by this morning we had to start the motor. We need to keep our speed up to 6 kts so we can make it into Opua before the next low is fore casted to hit ( next Friday night). This low will bring us winds not in our favor and some rain. This is the challenge and that is why sailing is so much fun, really. Today the seas are calm and the swell is small. We are less than six hundred miles from Opua, about half way. As I write we are starting to get some wind and we have all the sails up and Mike just shut down the motor. Hopefully we can keep up the 6 kts without the motor. Sailing without the motor is so peaceful and very relaxing. Yesterday we ate a little more than the days before but we still don't have our appetites. The crossing diet is in full swing. Position S 25 47.014 E 174 04.214.

November 17th

Day three is always a good day. Our bodies get in tune with the boat and the swell of the ocean. The feeling of sea sickness goes away and you begin to get your appetite back. By tomorrow we will feel really normal. The winds have dropped a little but they are perfect for us 15-20 kts. The seas have also dropped to 8ft. Our speed has picked up to 8 kts and the ride is very comfortable. Sail configuration, We have the third reef in the main and the first reef in the Genoa. The skies are clear and the temperature is 75 degrees. The nights are starting to get cooler and within the next two days we will be wearing long sleeve shirts during the day and our foul weather gear at night with multiple layers under neath. We haven't been in cool weather for over six months so I think this will be a shock for us. We have really enjoyed Tom and Chantal ,the stories they have are amazing. They had one crossing that should of taken 35 days but the wind died and it took them 67 days. They are true cruisers and we are having a great time with them. Position S 23 28.859 E 175 01.750.

November 17th

It's the 17th of November and I'm sure many of you are getting ready for the Thanksgiving Holiday with your family and friends. We should be pulling into New Zealand around that time. By then we will be craving all kinds of food and I'm sure we'll not be able to find a turkey dinner in New Zealand. Have some turkey and pumpkin pie for us and watch some football too.

The last 24 hours has been a little rough and rainy. The winds dropped to 15kts during the night but are back up to 25kts today. The seas are around 10ft. We have been averaging around 6kts an hour. The skies this morning are clear. The seas are still too rough to make any big meal in the galley and no one really feels like eating anything big. The Ocean Crossing Diet has kicked in again. The weather forecast is the same for the next couple of days and then hopefully the winds will lighten up a little as will the seas too. Position S 21 15.20 E 175 42.55.

First Night

We got a late start out of Fiji but we made it and have had our first night out. The winds were fresher than fore casted as expected. Last night we saw wind speeds up to 38 kts and the seas were very disturbed. Mike and I were quickly reminded of leaving Hawaii by last nights wind and waves. Chantal and Tom are adjusting to Sundance very well. This morning the wind is around 25kts and the seas are 10-12ft. The next two days we should have the same conditions then should settled down around the fourth or fifth day. The sky conditions are clear and the temp in the 70's. Position S18 53.12 E 176 48.18.

Leaving Fiji

We have just left Vuda Point and are heading to Lautoka to check out of the country, we will make Wilkes Pass before dark. Once out of Wilkes Pass we are free of any reefs and will be officially on our way to New Zealand. The trip plan is about 1100 miles and should take us 8 days to complete. We have made so many friends and it is tough to say goodbye the longer we stay. We received hugs and some tears from some of the women workers at Vuda Point. Several of the men workers stopped by the boat to wish us well and to have a safe trip to New Zealand.They aren't as emotional but in their voices you can hear how sad they are to see us go. When you spend some time in one place these people become like family and they are, as well as we are sad to say goodbye. The people of Fiji are wonderful people and we look forward to visiting again.

I will give a position and condition report tomorrow. The winds forecast looks good but this stretch of water can be very challenging and we will have to watch the weather very closely. Wish us luck and we will update tomorrow.

Pictures

We have two days to prepare for the crossing. We have picked up two new crew members, Tom and Chantal. They are from Switzerland and have been sailing their boat for the last 3 years from France. They are leaving their boat in Fiji for the cyclone season and will return next season to finish their around the world cruise. Tom has always wanted to do the crossing to New Zealand and we needed crew. Win win for the both of us. We look forward to sailing with them.

The pictures above are sunsets from Musket Cove and the photo on the right a street in Nadi Town.

When we start our crossing I will write a daily blog with a small story ,weather conditions and the position of Sundance. We have been told that this crossing will be one of our most challenging. We look forward to the challenge and have taken all of the steps to make this crossing a safe one.

Leaving Fiji

Well the time has come for us to pull the anchor and sail to New Zealand. The last couple of weeks we have been moored at Musket Cove. The picture to the right is from a hill that over looks Musket Cove. We had a great time at this little resort. The resort is great for cruisers. We barbecued just about every night and we surfed Wilkes Pass every morning. We could take our own tender or hire a ride from a local Fijian Little Mike. Little Mike actually isn't very little, 6ft 5in and weighs around 300lbs. Little Mike would pick us up at Sundance and take us out for 4 to 5 hours. The surf was challenging at times but for the most part very fun and consistent. The break was on a reef and at times could be very shallow. We both survive all 10 days with only a couple of small scratches. The one thing we had to watch out for was the sun. We were constantly applying sunscreen. Last Saturday we were allowed to surf one of the private breaks on the island of Nomotu. Saturday is the day that the surfing guest leave the island and new guest arrive. For 4 hours the the left at Nomotu is open to the public. The only way to the break is by boat. We hired little Mike and had a great day surfing overhead to double overhead waves that you could ride for 300 yards. The only problem is that the paddle out after the ride is 400-450 yards but worth every paddle. We both can say the surf in Fiji is excellent.

Some nights we would meet up with some of the guys we met out at the break and have some beers. Most of the guys we met were from New Zealand or Australia. Many of the New Zealand guys invited us to surf some of their local breaks when we get to New Zealand. The only downfall the water is cold, bring out the wet suites.

We had some cruiser friends tell us that the time we had planned for Fiji was not enough and they were right. Fiji has so much to offer, lots of resorts with so many water sports. The local people are so friendly and warm. The surfing and diving is awesome. Fiji rocks.

Sunday, November 5th

Hello everyone sorry for no updates for the past week. We have been entertaining again. Mikes' friends Tom and Kara from Hawaii stayed with us this last week. They met us at Vuda Point and we then headed out to Musket Cove. The week was busy with surfing ,scuba diving hiking and barbeque's. We enjoyed their company and were sorry to see them go. They left us with 4 news weeks,Captain Morgans Rum, Hawaiian coffee, corn tortillas and a pair of Toms' underwear for Mike. You'll have to ask Mike about the underwear. We haven't seen American news since we left I can't decide if I missed it or not. When I finish reading them I will let you know.

We have had amazing weather. The sunshine most of the day and then a little shower in the evening. The sunsets have been amazing to. The anchorage is well set up and several cruisers are in the bay waiting for the window to New Zealand. We have another week before we look for our window. Word has it that Musket Cove was started by a husband and wife who were cruisers and settled in this bay. The resort caters to cruisers as well as land lovers. The resort has many bures (small huts) ,a nice swimming pool, market, restaurant and the most important thing the $3.50 bar. Every drink is $3.50. For the cruisers the resort has laundry, hot water showers, and barbecue pits. The market we can order a steak dinner with all of the fixings and pick it up by 6pm. Then we go out to the $3.50 bar were the barbecue pits are conveniently located and cook our food. The bar supplies the plates and utensils. What a deal.

This week we plan on surfing and getting Sundance ready for our most challenging crossing. We estimate the crossing to New Zealand to take us around 8-10 days. We will keep you posted of our week and when we will leave for New Zealand. When we start our crossing I will give the daily position and everyone will be able to follow us on Google Earth. We have been getting great response from our friends who are using Google Earth. Position of Musket Cove S17 46.275 E177 11.308