Tag: Terikah

  • Night before Passage: Goodbye New Zealand

    The beautiful weather window fell apart for the many boats waiting to head to the Tropics. These waters between New Zealand and the Tropics are not to be trifled with. Many of our good friend boats did indeed take this window, heading to Fiji, but we plan to head to Vanuatu. I find this one…

  • Hauraki Horizons: Exploring Hauraki Gulf (Tikapa Moana)

    Looking at the big weather coming up, we decided to anchor in well-protected Bon Accord Harbour of Kawau Island, arriving late and anchoring (and re-anchoring) for the upcoming storm. We took a day to explore the trails out of Schoolhouse Bay to the Mansion House and Old Coppermine.  Sir George Grey developed the Mansion House…

  • Aotearoa Arrival: Opua Marina, Northland

    Tied up to the Opua, Aotearoa (New Zealand) Q-dock at 4:20pm, just in time for the Customs and Biosecurity to inform us that we were the first on their list for the next day. In some ways this was a relief – nothing to do but celebrate our arrival as a family with fresh tuna…

  • Day 6: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Overnight, a battery alarm on our starboard engine kept going off. Chris tried a few things but was exhausted and a bit seasick to dig in. We decided to run just the port engine overnight and, with current against us, moved along at a slow 4 knots. Once Chris got up for his 4am watch,…

  • Day 4: Passage New Cal to New Zealand

    Woke up to a continued current ride, seas forward of the beam, but moving fast – great sailing angle and still with the magical current. We’ve done a great job getting east away from the squall line and now we can correct a bit to south. Ahhhh, what a difference 15 degrees makes – our…

  • Day 4: Arrival New Caledonia!

    Calder awoke to the announcement, “Fish On!” He jumped out of bed and started reeling. A morning gift from the sea of a large wahoo that will feed us many meals. So thankful! Just after Calder finished processing the first one, the line whirred again – another wahoo! This one spit out a squid beak,…

  • Day 3: Passage from Fiji to New Cal

    Continued rain squalls on and off this morning. Winds have decreased to 17-23 and we’re cruising along at 7-8 knots. We have to maintain an average of 6.7 knots to get to Havannah Channel at slack tide, a narrow coral-strewn channel that can have standing waves and fast currents if timed incorrectly. Seas currently down…

  • Day 2: Passage Fiji to New Cal

    Calder reported that the screen of his window must have been ripped off by a wave overnight. Woke to decreased winds in the 20s, seas still a good 3 meters. We’re making good time to beat a system that is coming in on Wednesday afternoon to New Cal, hoping to arrive Wednesday morning. My seasickness…

  • Heading North

    It was time to head back toward Savusavu, where we would be catching our flight for a visit home to Petersburg, Alaska. Calder and I had gone forward to change from our Code Zero to our asymmetrical spinnaker when he saw a screw rolling around in the middle of our bowsprit. He reached forward to…

  • Vanua Balavu: Susui, Little Harbour, & Mbavatu Harbour

    Off to the island of Venua Balavu! The winds weren’t consistent and we made many sail changes between our asymmetrical spinnaker, Code Zero, and main sail with a touch of motoring until we entered the southern pass of Venua Balavu. We arrived to Susui village just after sunset, so glad for satellite imagery showing the…