Well almost…we are in the channel and headed for the Q dock…sailing in because we ran out of fuel. Details to follow when we have had some champagne and sleep…at the Q Dock, of course.
Land Ho!
Getting ready to enter the bay at Opua.
Approaching Q-Dock (quarantine) where we spent the night waiting to pass customs in the morning.
The very nice and professional customs and immigration officials.
Position: 33 degrees, 29 minutes south; 173 degrees, 30 minutes east
We’re down inside 24 hours (knock on wood, tap, tap). As of 1900 local time, we’re done with dinner and 104 nautical miles outside of the bay that takes us into Opua. Another 8 miles or so “up river” and we’re there. If the weather holds (a big “if” around here) we’ll tie up sometime around this time tomorrow at the customs dock where we’ll spend the night “in quarantine” until customs comes and clears us into the country Monday morning. They work on Sunday, but only until about 1700.
We’re still motoring. I took down the main last night as we’re just heading straight into the wind and it was just producing drag, no lift. We’re not even pretending to sail at this point, just want to beat the weather up north – which is now well “above” us- and the front that’s coming in Monday night.
Motoring is not a panacea when you’re driving a 25,000 pound boat with 44 horsepower. Charisma is a sailboat, so the engine is on the small side. If the wind and waves are against you, you still have to sail and we have been very close to that for the last 24 hours. In fact, for a good part of today, we had to head off 30 degrees or so because we were slamming into wind and waves and not moving forward. Tacking with the engine on so to speak. Anyway, we’re now (1900) back on course as the wind has dropped to 10 knots and the waves are down to 0.5 meters. That’s about the maximum we can tolerate, and I hope it holds for the night. It should because tomorrow is supposed to be “light and variable” wind.
Just 24 more hours. Hope the weather holds…