To New Zealand that is.  Yup, it’s about that time.  The seasons are changing and the weather between here and NZ is changing from a winter (down here) of constant storms spawning from Australia across north of NZ.   Now as we move into the southern hemisphere’s Spring, there is a high pressure zone filling in that is pushing the storms south of New Zealand, leaving better weather between here and there.  We would go right now but there’s a low just north of us that’s floating around between Fiji and Vanuatu. These lows in the warm climate of the tropics have a way of picking up steam and turning into tropical storms.  It’s what we call “no bueno”.

So, we wait and work and enjoy all the other cruisers who are doing the same thing.

In the meantime, it’s boat work time to get everything ready for the 1000 plus mile passage.

I spent the better part of the day down in "the hole" (better known as the lazarette) on the left..

Project number one was under the cockpit in the lazarette.  The steering has been making some funny noises.  I spent over three hours down there and not sure I fixed the noise.  But the time was very well spent as many of the bolts holding the steering gear together were loose.  We’ve had some very tough, long ocean miles and I haven’t gone over them since leaving the US.  Time definitely well spent.  The lesson:  boats talk to you.  Some of the creaks are just happy noises, but some say “fix me”.  Always assume the latter until you’ve checked.

Yesterday Ann got the sewing machine out and sewed some more reinforcing patches on the stays’l that got so beat up in the passage north earlier this year.  The stays’l is our “go to” sail (along with a second or third reef in the main) in winds over 30 knots, so we want to make sure it won’t blow apart when we need it most.

And today while trapped down below because of my mess in the cockpit she made a new batch of ginger beer and a double batch of hummus. Stocking up for the jump!

We’re probably leaving this nice spot at Musket Cove in the next day or so to go over to Saweni Bay just south of Lautoka.  It’s going to get windy later this week-probably at least in the high twenties, maybe more and I would rather be in the better shelter of the bay and on our anchor than here on a mooring.  You never know what condition the mooring is under the water and it’s over 50 feet deep here, so we can’t dive it to see.

Anyway, that also puts us very close to Lautoka where we check out of the country.  So when a weather window comes available we can jump on it.

And to end our day we will join our friends at the BBQ and celebrate our six month anniversary! (Newlyweds get to count monthly for the first year!)