Tag: adventure

  • Day 6: Passage Tonga to NZ

    Monday, November 11, 2024:  Passage Tonga to New Zealand Day 6 Conditions continue to be lovely this morning, sailing with our main and Code Zero in 15-20 knots of wind, seas only 1.5 meters.  This is the life!  Scattered squalls about.  At noon, wind disappears.  We have been advised to keep a 6.2 knot average…

  • Passage: Tonga to NZ Day 4

    Saturday, November 9, 2024:  Passage Tonga to New Zealand Day 4 The wash machine continues, as we are in the spin cycle of this stretch of water.  Daylight on these waves makes it much better, as we can anticipate them and change our COG (course over ground) as needed based on the direction of the…

  • Passage Tonga to NZ Day 3

    Good morning, just 10 miles from Minerva Reef and a decision day for us.  Winds and seas decreased and the sailing is slow today, but not wanting to motor and waste our diesel this early in the passage.  We ended up stopping at North Minerva Reef for a 4 hour rest.  Mind bending to see…

  • Day 2: Passage Tonga to NZ

    Good morning from Terikah!  Still riding the mechanical bull today, but we are hauling.  Big decision for the next 24 hours for us is whether we take a 1-2 day rest at Minerva Reef or keep on going to take advantage of the full weather window to New Zealand.  We make these decisions by analyzing…

  • Goodbye Tonga

    Back to the Ha’apai Group in Tonga for another week of adventures; this one topped off with 52 knots of wind…read on! Our arrival to the Ha’apai was just after sunset, as we wove between coral bommies at a snail’s pace in the dark, trusting in the track we had created our last time to…

  • Weather & Wanderings in Tonga

    Anchored off Ofolanga Island in the Ha’apai Group in Tonga, we spent a few nights enjoying this remote calm-weather-only anchorage.  A sandy walk around the island, watching a turtle streak through the water on a drift snorkel, and enjoying a beach fire with friends and family.  The Hyer family got to experience the “thrills” of…

  • One Year Cruising Anniversary in Tonga

    Back to Port Maurelle, where we dinghied to a cliff of trees covered with flying foxes (fruit bats); close up photos revealed adorable teddy-bear like faces peeking out from their upside down black wing cloaks.  Chris and I went for a walk to the nearby village – huge solar arrays and a new electrical cord…

  • Arrival Kingdom of Tonga

    Passage from Niue to Tonga On our way from Niue to Tonga; sunny blue skies, the large colorful asymmetrical sail up for downwind sailing.  Cora’s fishing rod whirred and she worked and worked to bring the fish to the boat; it was a large billfish, a marlin.  Decided to let it go and, as we…

  • Magnificent Niue

    Niue – a place I didn’t know existed.  Once I learned it existed, a place I desperately wanted to go.  Once I learned the weather conditions that needed to be in place to go, a place I thought we’d likely never go.  It is a fair weather stop and many cruisers bypass it due to…

  • Makemo: Adventures in Anchoring & Camping Out

    As much as my pictures may show lovely scenes; cruising is not all sandy beaches, palm trees, and unicorns (though it is at times).  Before we left, we noted fresh water on Cora’s shelf where fresh water ought not to be – we have a leak somewhere to sleuth.  Bringing up the anchor in Raroia,…