Tag: catamaran family

  • Day 1: Passage NZ to Fiji

    Enjoyed our cozy night in our quiet, warm boat. Watching boats leave about every 30-60 minutes, as they check out with Opua Customs. The weather window is looking better and better; we have our normal pre-departure anticipation, excited and a bit nervous to go. 1pm appointment with Customs – the Customs Agent who checked us…

  • Boat Sweet Boat: Back to Terikah

    Back to boat late after helping a friend on SV Linnaea with a haul-out in Whangarei. Home sweet boat – the distinct smell of our boat greeting us, the comfort of the warm wood interior, and a cozy cabin in which to sleep. We all slept great. Next day, busy with work for me and…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Passage Making:Maupihaa to ?

    Day 1:  Due to our last-minute decision of leaving today (rather than tomorrow), there was suddenly much to get accomplished.  Calder and Chris scrubbed the hull, attached our Code Zero sail, and secured the dinghy.  Cora and I prepped passage food, prepared schoolwork that could be done underway, and cleaned the boat.  For this passage,…

  • Maupihaa Part 2: Waiting for a Weather Window

    About 1200 nm to Tonga.  Here we sit at anchor, listening to the wind howl across our boat, waiting for a weather window.  Our weather consultant (Sailing Totem) had warned us that our initial 3,000nm across the Pacific would prove less challenging than finding the right weather window in these squirrelly parts of the ocean. …

  • Society Islands Part 1: Tahiti Tours & Magical Moorea

    The Society Islands Archipelago… home to famous Tahiti and Bora Bora, where Captain Cook made port, and the most populated islands of French Polynesia.  We arrived from the Tuamotus to witness sunrise over Tahiti, as we radioed on Channel 12 to enter Pape’ete, as well as gain clearance to transit the water immediately off the…

  • Fakarava Part 1: Pushing Ourselves & Facing Fears

    Our overnight winter solstice passage from Tahanea to Fakarava atoll, full moon lighting up the night, sailing slowly over calm seas, watching the moonset and sunrise as Fakarava came into view.  It was a magical passage between these two atolls and an easy pass in where we anchored amongst bommies and friends, took a nap,…