Up this morning, excited, nervous anticipation, sadness at leaving, tearful goodbyes. Last minute stowing. Car sold. One more loaf of bread bought. Checked out at the marina, bringing a gift of wine. Then to Customs for our noon appointment. After changing it so many times, can hardly believe it is really our departure day! Customs in New Zealand is always so friendly. Clearance papers in hand, then off we go with direction to not stop anywhere, sail direct to our destination of Vanuatu.
Our passage is about 1,000 miles from Opua, New Zealand to Vanuatu and will take about 7-9 days. I will be doing updates every 24 hours, with our 24 hours being noon to noon.
A bit drizzly as we leave, a good friend on the beach waving good bye. We are wearing scopolamine patches, have been in calm waters anchored or at the dock, so our sealegs are weak.
Today should be a mellow day, tonight more sporty. Overcast. Light winds. Spinnaker sailing…lovely! We are out here in a steady line of 24 boats spaced about 30 minutes apart, all checked out from Opua today due to this promising weather window, most heading toward Fiji, but a few heading to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
Heading into the evening, light fades on the brilliant greens of New Zealand. At first light, it will be all ocean. Air temp is 14.5 C. Making such great time with the spinnaker, but we don’t like to keep so much sail up overnight in case we need to bring it down quickly.
After sunset, switched it out for our Code Zero. In the night, the winds built to solid 25 with gusts to 30, seas slowly building to 2-3 meters as well from a system off the west coast of New Zealand wrapping around to us.
Food today: Big breakfast sammies and fruit before departure. Lunch of left-over Thai food, hummus, cheese, and crackers. Dinner of chicken pasta dish. Watch treats of TimTams and Veggie Straws (I have a stash of goodies and we bring them out for watch).
24 hour total: 135 nm
Miles to go: 865 nm
SV Terikah Adventures 