We had a great hike today with our friends from Blue Rodeo and Evergreen. From Opua we took a short ferry ride across the channel, then a six mile hike through some lovely country to Russell. Lunch and some goofin’, then a different ferry from Russell to Pahia. Another 4 miles hike along the water back to Opua. Whew! Long day. Left at 0900-back at 1800.

John, Mark, Anne, Ann and Heather on the Ferry across the channel.

Leg One: The path to Russell.

The path along the water from Pahia back to Opua.

View toward Opua.

We’re catching up on sleep now and finished cleaning up Charisma today. The usual after passage work-do four loads of laundry, clean the foul weather gear before tucking it away and put away all the crap that ends up thrown on the floor in the cabin during a passage. Plus…put away storm sails and sheets, properly folded sails and covered them, and, Bob’s favorite…repack the V-berth that was pulled apart for customs questions.

Ann also dragged the Sailrite sewing machine over to Cornelia to help Mark sew a tear in his mainsail. Saved him at least a few hundred bucks on sail repair. Should be worth a beer or two, eh Mark?

We also got a chance to catch up with our friends on Blue Rodeo and Evergreen who got in from New Caledonia yesterday. Haven’t seen them since June. And we’re looking forward to seeing others (Bright Angel on Friday) who will straggle in as the week goes by.

We’ll be here in Opua until a week from Monday, then we’re going to do some New Zealand cruising. Bay of Islands (it’s crab season and we’ll hope to catch a few), then down the coast toward Whangarei and if the weather cooperates, we’ll go out to Barrier Island for a few days before coming back in to Marsden and Whangarei where we’ll base Charisma during the Cyclone season (now until May).

We’ll go back to the Bay Area December/January to catch up with family and friends, then boat work and touring the South Island in Feb, March, April.

So…keep checking in. There’s more coming up between now and December 9th when we’ll fly home. Hopefully we’ll get a few pictures posted, but tomorrow, we’re taking the ferry across the bay and then a six mile hike through a nature reserve to the town of Russell. Lunch in Russell, ferry back to Pahia and then either walk (probably not) or take a taxi back to Charisma and collapse, er, MAKE, dinner.

Whew, we’re in!

The last 24 hours the weather abated to a leisurely 20-25 knots. We got the sails back up and close reached into Bay of Islands having sailed all the way. We didn’t even turn the engine on for the entire (1200 mile) trip being able to keep the batteries charged with the solar panels and hydro-gen that we towed.

Wow! What a great experience

Both of us agreed that the trip ended on a great note with beautiful sailing and gorgeous starry night followed by an almost ethereal arrival in the early morning fog-shrouded bay. Just when we thought it was going to be a radar guided entry, the fog thinned from the morning sun just enough to see a hundred yards ahead and we ghosted into the customs dock.

Making landfall at Bay of Islands early dawn.

Sunrise over Bay of Islands just a couple hours before completing this voyage.

Out of the fog and into Opua.

Heading toward the "Q-Dock" or quarantine dock where we'll wait to get cleared by customs and immigration

Happy to be back in New Zealand.

Oh, yeah, that Champagne tasted good!

We’re now in a nice slip, showered and we’re going out for dinner before collapsing into bed.

More tomorrow.

Position: 34 degrees, 30 minutes south; 174 degrees, 24 minutes east 107 miles yesterday

The distance traveled above has no context to the amazing varied speeds we have been doing the last two days. From 11.7 knots to 3 knots, we’ve run the gamut over the last two days.

It’s still a bit rough, so I’ll try and keep this short as it’s hard to type, but here’s the gist: For the last 40 hours (prior to 1400 this afternoon) it’s been blowing 30-35 knots with 9-12 foot seas, despite what the gribs show. Gusts in the squalls have been into the 40’s. It’s been a bit of a tough couple days. I have slept in my foul weather gear for two days straight now. Haven’t even taken off my boots! Ann has been helping out on deck and has now joined the club of sailors who have slipped and almost slid off the deck at sea (she had her harness and tether). Everyone does it one time or another and you should have seen her eyes go wide 😉 Seriously though, she has become one hell of a sailor (beyond the already obvious fantastic and spectacular partner she is). Certainly she is not having the fun I’m having, but she’s holding her own despite these challenging conditions.

So…about the modest distance-our boat speed has varied from 11.7 knots last night (I hit it four times) while I was hand steering through a squall to 3 knots while we had the storm sails up. A couple days ago, we were set up pretty well and going fast, but once we hit this low pressure zone it became very squally and as I noted, the gusts were into the 40’s. I can set Charisma up to sail with 35 knots of wind, or 20, or 40, but not when the wind is going through all three of the above in a short period for two straight days. Basically after a particularly vicious squall came through yesterday, I took the main down in the middle of it. Even though we had the third reef in we were on the edge of going out of control (we were sailing downwind). We went pretty nicely with just the jib up, but then last night the high winds had me hand steering as the wind vane was beyond its capacity as we were careening down the steep waves in the high wind and the gusts in the squall were 30 degrees off the standard wind direction. After hitting 11 plus knots four times, I decided to throw in the towel and furl the jib and go bare poles. Even with no sails up at all, we were doing 6 knots. Just not in the right direction. That’s when we decided to just put up the storm sails and accept that we were going to go slow, but more or less in the right direction. So…with the trysail and storm jib, we’ve been clunking along at 3 knots-still in the high winds but more under control and heading toward Opua instead of Antarctica.

Anyway, that’s a little view of the last two days. Now (as of 1800 Thursday NZ time) we are back to a reasonable 20-25 knots and 1.5 meter seas. We’re sailing 60 degrees to the wind with our regular sails-main double reefed and yankee jib, at 6.5 knots and have 37 miles into Opua. We expect to arrive at the Customs dock at about 0500 (bleah).

We are chilling the Champagne (thanks Chris and Kelly-this is our wedding Champagne you sent us that we’ve been saving for this day) and looking forward to seeing Opua again as well as all our good friends-some of whom are already in and many of whom will come in in the next week (and especially Orcinius John, who we haven’t seen in six month and is taking time out from re-commissioning Orcinius to come up from Whangarei to see us). Yay, yay and yay!

Position: 33 degrees, 23 minutes south; 173 degrees, 40 minutes east

We only did 99 miles the previous 24 hours because of a very slow night/early morning, but the wind has really come in. We took the sails completely down several times today. This evening with just the yankee jib up, I hit 11 knots four times before we finally furled the jib out of concern for blowing it out.

We’re running “bare poles” right now in over 10 foot occasionally breaking waves and doing 3-5 knots.

I’ll write more later as it’s too rough right now, but suffice to say this is some kind of ride.

Welcome back to New Zealand!

Position: 31 degrees, 24 minutes south; 172 degrees, 57 minutes east 130 mile day

Fortunately Ann sensed that we were about to get slammed by a squall and woke me out of a light sleep. I was off watch, but it was getting bumpier and the wind was starting to shriek, so more like a doze than a sleep.

So, I got up and we agreed we should shorten sail. We already had a double reefed main and were carrying the stays’l and jib, so I decided we would go to the triple reef. But, when I tried to do it, the sail got blown forward into the shrouds and wouldn’t come out. OK, we’ll drop the main-we’d been hitting 10 knots (which territory Charisma’s designers never dreamed Tayanas would go) so probably not a bad idea to slow down. Once down, it still kept getting windier, Wilson was working up a sweat steering and we were still going 7-9 knots. OK, down with the stays’l. Once on deck and tied down, now with just a little Yankee jib I checked course and speed. Still 6-8 knots, but at least Wilson had things under control. About this time the wind really started to shriek and the waves got very steep with some of the tops breaking and the white water being blown off. Mr Beaufort calls this condition a “Near Gale” characterized by 27-33 knot winds. Whatever it’s called, we called it windy. Oh and did I say it rained. Sheets and sheets came down. And the day had started so beautifully.

Here’s what I was planning to write today before getting blown away (it’s still windy, but more tolerable-we have a triple reef and the Yankee jib and are close reaching at around 5 knots in the residual bumpy conditions).

Starry night all around. The most prominent thing is that we’re heading directly toward the Southern Cross as we’re on course to New Zealand. I can imagine ancient civilizations setting forth with nothing but the knowledge to follow the Southern Cross until you get there. I think it would work.

Lots of shooting stars in all directions. Some very large with long, long tails glowing across the sky.

It’s nice to finally be “off” the wind. We have hit the slot that we were looking for and have a nice following breeze moving us through the night at 7 knots. Sweet!

An exuberant sunrise! Funny word to describe it, but that’s what it was. As I was waiting to see the sun, it just literally leapt out over some low clouds on the far horizon reaching up to grasp the day with its warm orange rays, in one brief moment snatching away the cold, gunmetal blue of the early morning dawn. This view in front is quite a contrast to the dark clouds forming behind us to the west. I’m guessing this is the frontal system of the low that’s lurking just to the south of us. (Boy, was I right!)

So there’s our day. At this point we’re about 240 miles from Opua, so are expecting to get in sometime Thursday the 7th-probably early evening.

Position: 29 degrees, 26 minutes south; 171 degrees, 40 minutes east

We only did 98 miles in the last 24 hours, but expect to speed up the next few days. Our current target arrival is probably sometime Wednesday evening, but we’ll update this in the next day or so as we get closer.

It’s getting cold now. We had a beautiful starry night last night. Light wind. Quiet. But cold.

Ann and I both doubled up on the fleece, wool caps and a wool blanket while on watch. Tomorrow the thermal underwear is coming out and sea boots with wool socks!

Perversely, light wind means a lot of extra work to keep the boat going. Wilson does an exemplary job steering down to about six knots of wind, but below that he can’t keep going. Also, changes in wind strength at the lower end of the spectrum-around 5-8 knots-require lots of sail trim adjustment whereas at higher wind strengths there is more tolerance. If the wind drops a couple knots and the sails are not eased a little, Charisma just “parks” herself. Kind of a tantrum. Sooo from my watch starting at 0300 all the way through this afternoon I had to hand steer and constantly adjust stuff. Ann has pitched in by doing all the other stuff including (YAY) cooking dinner tonight.

Fortunately around 1400 the easterly that we’ve been expecting filled in. This has allowed us to turn the corner toward New Zealand as well as ease sails a bit. We’re now reaching with the wind on our port beam instead of close hauled with the wind 45 degrees forward of the beam. The latter leaves no options, but now we can aim where we want to go.

We’re looking forward to a fine night of stars, and some sleep!

By Ann Position: 28 degrees, 03 minutes south; 171 degrees, 53 minutes east 130 mile day

I know that no one has been able to create a time capsule that works outside of Hollywood because if they had I would have invested in one. It would sure make long passages easier.

Bob enjoys the long passages. He gets to work his magic coaxing Charisma to sail at her optimal performance. It is pure magic. I love watching Bob come on watch, tweak this sail, play with the monitor, adjust a traveler, tweak another sail by just an inch (I am not kidding) and suddenly we are going a knot or two faster. (As I am writing this he stuck his head out of the companion way and tweaked a traveler on his way back to bed – and we are going a half knot faster.) As the guy announcing the regatta rally race in Va’vau last year kept saying, “And this next boat, Charisma is not only beautiful but boy is she well sailed!” Bob and Charisma have a zen relationship that is unmatched. Now that I am his wife I am no longer threatened! It is a thing of beauty.

But for me the passages are about marking progress. We start out knowing that this trip to New Zealand from Fiji is about 1100 nautical miles. That’s if we are able to stay on the rhumb line, which rarely is the case. In my head I start breaking the 1100 miles into days. We can easily do 120 miles a day. Okay, so we have ten days to get there and I can start counting it off on my fingers. It’s like the last 10 weeks of pregnancy. Once I could count the weeks on my fingers I knew the end was in sight and I would make it.

I came up with a great idea to count hours this trip. Because 240 hours is less than 1100 miles, right? It is all a head game. But I found that the hours take a long time to pass. So I go into the Charisma Time Capsule. You thought I was unable to find one, right? It is not as fancy as the Hollywood type. In fact it is the quarterberth on Charisma. We take turns off watch sleeping here. So when I am off watch (especially as I come off the 9pm to 3am watch) I can put in my ear plugs and snuggle down into my pillow and switch on the time traveler button. When I wake up we will be about 30 miles closer to New Zealand! It is magical! And the miles go much faster when the time traveler is on.

Right now we are about 400 miles from New Zealand. A few more trips in my time capsule and we should be making landfall! I love time travel, I just wish it went faster! But then Bob wouldn’t get his zen time with Charisma. It’s all a compromise.

By the way, it has gotten colder as we have traveled south. Today was probably the last day in shorts and t-shirts. The night watches now include fleece jackets and sea boots. New Zealand calls.

From Bob: Last night was a bit squally. Clouds, rain and wind going from mid-teens to low twenties under the squall clouds. It’s never fun just huddled under the dodger waiting for the squall that blows 40. You never know which one, you just wait and deal.

Today, however, made up for it. Blue sky, blue water, you know the drill by now. It was interesting this morning literally sailing out of a cloud bank into the blue sky. I checked the barometer and sure enough, we have sailed into the high (1020). The wind hasn’t shifted yet, but it seems to be “thinking about it”. It’s trying to back into the east and give us a break. We get periods where we’re lifted 30 degrees to 150 degrees, but then it goes back to the old faithful; 180. The bearing from here to our waypoint where we hope to catch the downwind part of this trip is 163 degrees right now and 115 miles. Somewhere (in theory) between “here” and “there” the wind will lift and we’ll be able to just head straight for the waypoint. But for now, the wind holds us to our course due south. Boring.

But, boring is good in this part of the world where the ocean can become treacherous in a moment’s notice. We’ve had our share of excitement the last two times down and up, so boring is OK with me.

Tomorrow is the crux day. I hope to be able to report that we’ve moved onto the downwind part of the ride toward Opua. Cross fingers and check back then!

Position: 26 degrees, 11 minutes south; 172 degrees, 48 minutes east 108 miles in last 24 hours

Our daily distance doesn’t show it (we measure it from 3PM to 3PM), but today was a smoking fast day. Starting around sunrise, we unfurled the jib, eased off about 15 degrees and Charisma took off like a shot. We’ve been doing 8-9 knots all day long.

That’s the good news. The not as good news? We have been making somewhat more west than I’d like to see. The wind is from the SSE so we have no choice, but it puts us fairly far out west when we come to the point where we need to turn in to New Zealand. Hopefully, we hit the weather window right and get to our turn point at the same time as a low comes over the North Island on Tuesday. We’re crossing fingers and toes because if we hit this right, we’ll have a north wind driving us downwind the last 300 miles into Opua.

So cross fingers with us and watch. The next two days will tell the story. There’s a “slot” that we hope to hit that is at about 30 degrees south latitude and it goes from about 169 to 173 degrees east longitude (240 miles wide). There’s a high that’s passing over just below this spot and the top of a low filling in behind it. If we hit this spot to the northwest of New Zealand, we then turn about 60 degrees to port and start a downwind slide with pretty good winds in the 20 knot range, but coming from behind us so not near as difficult as the headwinds we’ve been encountering all the way thus far.

Other than that the last 24 hours has included the above mentioned smoking ride as well as a good six hours where we just sat with very little wind. There was just enough, maybe 3-4 knots to maintain steerage and 1-3 knots boatspeed. We probably only covered 6 miles in that 6 hours. We also dodged a bullet. Last night at about sunset we saw a squall line up ahead. The radar confirmed there were squalls (i.e. heavy rain) inside the line and it was about 12 miles away. Miraculously, we were positioned just west enough that we actually sailed around the west end of the line of squalls. Once past, we had glorious stars most of the night. Sometimes we get lucky

Stay tuned for the race to the finish.

Position:24 degrees, 44 minutes south; 174 degrees, 42 minutes east. 117 miles in the last 24 hours.

After three days of strong, blustery winds and bumpy seas yesterday lightened up and last night/early morning the wind came down significantly. That means everything about sails, trim and steering had to be adjusted.

First, the double reef on the main came out. One reef at 0300 and the second at 0400. Once that’s done, all three sails have to be re-trimmed. Once re-trimmed for light air there’s less force so you have to adjust Wilson the wind vane for less weather helm. Once this is done you go back to the sails and fine tune them for balance. Then you sit and watch for 5 minutes or so and see how the boat’s responding with all the changes. Trim a bit more and watch some more, then likely a final fine trim and off she goes happy to still be making five knots or so with the lower wind strength. Also the wind has gone aft of the beam a bit so we’re sailing flatter and the seas have come down by half. And the stars are out.

All in all, a pretty nice ride.

At 0430 while doing the final retrimming session, I went below to make some tea. Two minutes and the flame went out. Propane’s out. Good thing we filled the other one in Fiji. Turns out two 20 pound tanks have lasted us five months. So, I headed out to the cockpit tank locker with a wrench to change the tanks. Thank goodness it waited until today to run out. This would have been an ugly job yesterday with the wind and waves.

At this point we’re coming into the middle part of the voyage. This is the part where we’re going to see a lot of wind changes as the weather systems come across the Tasman Sea. Already today the wind shifted around to the north (it’s been south trending to east since leaving Fiji) and gone really light at about 7 knots. I jibed mid-day and we’re now on starboard tack and heading about 210 True making 2.5 to 3 knots. The weather forecast has the wind shifting into the south and increasing to 10-20 knots in the next 24 hours so we’ll again have a pretty major change. Our choices are going to get interesting as we try and position ourselves for the final push into New Zealand. Too far to the west and we waste time going too far out of our way. Too far east and we get headwinds the final days. It all depends what the final weather system looks like as we approach.