Lautoka - Whangarei
Lautoka - Whangarei in Google Maps (web browser) and in Google Earth (separate application)
We’ve been waiting for more than three weeks for a good weather window to sail to New Zealand and are impatient to leave, even if the forecast shows less than optimal conditions: There are either too south-easterly winds at the beginning of the passage or a cold-front with south-westerlies is forecast to arrive towards the end of the passage. We decide to exploit the speed advantage of Blue Bie and not to leave too early.
Goodbye tropics ...
18 November
We let the first bunch of boats leave and stay a night at the quiet Savini Bay before checking out at Port Lautoka on November 18th. We sail under screecher in light winds in lee the island Pass when we hear reports of winds up to 40 knots at the south-western corner. We put two reefs in the mainsail and switch to a heavily reefed genoa.
Everyone's leaving for NZ
By the time we reach Navulu Pass, Migration is returning with a broken mainsail and a heavily squall accompanies us through the pass. The wind gusts up to 25-30kn and we ease the sheets after the pass to sail no closer than half-wind and to avoid heading into the swell which wraps around the island.
19 November
The wind turns in the course of the day more to the south – as forecast, but from the direction where we want to go! We turn further to the west still not sailing closer than half wind in 20-25kn. The other boats sail hard on the wind, closer to the rhumb line. We sail faster and more comfortable on our detour to the west, even if it’s not very comfortable with a significant southern swell.
Why should we sail hard on the wind, if we want to be far to the lee in a few days when the cold front arrives? We shall see which strategy pays out. We both don’t feel particularly well in the rough conditions and keep cooking to the minimum.
20 November
The wind is abating in the course of the afternoon, but the cross-sea is getting worse and we put in the third reef at mere 20kn rather than unreefing! It’s marginally less fast, but more comfortable. My conversion from a racer to a cruiser seems to continue to progress:)
21 November
The cross-seas have disappeared over night and the wind is coming more on our stern, so that we can take a more direct course towards New Zealand. The wind fluctuates wildly in direction and strength all through the night. The autopilot copes very well in the wind vane mode, but has a non-suppressible alarm at a wind shift of more than 25°. It’s really annoying and robs the sleep. We’ve seen three Chinese fishing vessels on the first night, but nothing since.
22 November
We’re approaching the subtropical ridge, which puts a high pressure system halfway between Fiji and New Zealand. We’re motoring in a dead calm for an hour, fill our batteries and make hot water for a shower. The temperatures are falling every day and we start to appreciate a hot shower!
Beautiful morning clouds
As every day, we’re dialing into the German radio sched of Detlev. We know all boats on the sched and it’s fun to learn how everyone is doing and how one interprets the weather situation. We are by now more than 120 nautical miles to the west of the other boats and the high pressure ridge. We have a bit more wind than the other boats and have passed the others thanks to the better performance of Blue Bie in light winds, even if most of them have motored quite a bit in the last two days. In hindsight we learned that some of them burned up to 1’000 liters of diesel compared to our 20 liters.
Mahi Mahi
A light south-easterly with 6-8kn allows beautiful screecher sailing all day. While we had no luck fishing so far, we catch a small skipjack tuna and a 12kg heavy, 1.3m long mahi mahi within 20 minutes. Michelle, who has run restaurants in her previous life, makes wonderful sushi.
... and the resulting sushi
23 November
The light wind has turned to the north during the night and indicating the diminishing influence of the high pressure area. But it comes too much on the stern and we run the engine for a few hours to be in the lee of Cape Reinga when the cold-front is scheduled to arrive, pretty much as forecast a week ago! The wind turns further to the northwest and we’re holding under screecher still further west than Cape Reinga. The other boats will have to sail hard on the wind after the cold front…
At sunset, we are fast approaching another sailboat, which sails much slower. We hail it on the radio, but get no answer. We sail within 50m and I play a tune on my Swiss mountain horn, which was impossible not to hear. But again, no reaction. We heard later in New Zealand that this must have been an 80+ year old German sailor, who is half deaf and usually takes three weeks to sail to New Zealand, because he takes down the sails at night to sleep.
Albatros
24 November
The wind continues to turn further to west, we make good progress and should arrive tomorrow in Whangarei. We read in e-mails from other yachts, that the cold front has passed them with gusts up to 45 knots. We reef the sails and when the front catches us in sight of Cape Reinga, it’s relatively harmless with some rain and wind up to 25 knots. We nevertheless surf briefly with up to 16 knots in the following waves. The wind turns for half an hour to the SSW and we can only barely lay the course, before it turns more SWly and we can sail on a reach along the coast towards Cape Brett – the entrance of the Bay of Island.
We can inform the other yachts on the radio sched about the cold front and learn the next morning that they had it less benign – the mainsail of Micromégas ripped in half… The night brings demanding and cool, but beautiful sailing: We’re sailing close to the coast under screecher or genoa in shifting winds towards Whangarei. I sleep for once in the saloon, because I have to navigate and change sails all night.
Approaching Bream Head
25 November
The wind shows his muscles a last time while we’re beating the last five miles from Bream Head to the river mouth at Marsden Cove. Good that we had already a reef in the sails: We don’t get wet sailing to windward. We pass the river mouth on a broad reach, sail with 12kn through the water, while the water rushes out with 4 knots. We arrive at Marsden Cove at 10am and help dock our friends on Dreamtime. It’s a quick check-in with Customs and Immigration – it’s not the first time that we undergo this procedure here and we know which food we’re forbidden to bring!
Getting chilly
Marsden Cove is a well protected marina, but it’s very isolated. We use the turning tide to motor-sail the last ten miles to Whangarei, to have our first meal on firm ground for seven days.
Beating the last few miles to Marsden Cove
Townbasin Marina
It’s the first time that I’m returning to a country, which shows when the barrista greets me with: You’d like to have an espresso? It doesn’t take long to feel at home again in Whangarei. After organizing the haul-out, I get a few things done on Blue Bie, which are easier done in town than in the boatyard. I’m also meeting fellow cruisers, whom I have met in the last few months in Fiji.
Michelle is leaving me to visit relatives and friends in Auckland. We’ve actually planned to go separate ways from here. I enjoy having Blue Bie for myself and won’t get too bored to easily: I’m meeting cruisers I’ve met over the last months. Chantal and Frédy take me to meet Ernst – a Swiss cruiser I haven’t met yet! He is very well read and we are having interesting discussions.
Norsand Boatyard
After a week the boatyard is ready to haul out Blue Bie. They know her measurements and she is high and dry within an hour. The boatyard manager Peter, who is a fellow cruiser and with whom I’ve been kitesurfing a few times this year and I check Blue Bie for osmosis which we have seen last year. It looks as if the resin has dried too much between the first and second layer of fiberglass and a lot of air has been trapped. Over time this has caused light osmosis even if the Outremer are built with osmosis preventing vinyl ester.
I decide to get the osmosis treatment done. In Europe, the boat would be dried out in a warm and dry shed. Here, it’s drying out in the open air. That’s cheaper, but takes much longer. Too good that I have been aware of it since last year and made plans accordingly:)
Blue Bie on the hard, again...
North Island
Michelle hat ihre Kamera an Bord vergessen und ich bringe sie ihr nach Auckland als ich meine Freunde Dave und Shauna besuche. Wir gehen zusammen auf ein Glas Wein und fühlen uns so wohl miteinander, dass wir den Kontakt wieder aufnehmen und Michelle mich in Whangarei besuchen kommt:) Aus dem Besuch wird eine kleine Rundfahrt um den nördlichsten Teil von Neuseeland. Wir besuchen das Kauri Museum und die Kauri-Wälder, in denen noch einige der bis zu 2000 Jahre alten, eindrücklichen Bäume stehen.
Hokinau harbor (in the backgroound...)
Danach fahren wir nach Pahia, wo es anhaltend zu regnen beginnt. Macht nichts – wir finden in Chalet Romantica ein ausgezeichnetes Bed & Breakfast Hotel. Wir erhalten eine Suite mit allem Luxus zu einem ausgezeichneten Preis und finden Kontakt zu den schweizer/österreichischen Besitzern und anderen Gästen. Unseren Ausflug nach Russell lassen wir wörtlich in’s Wasser fallen und besuchen Martin & Ariane in Opua, die ich vor drei Jahren erst in Kuba und dann in Zürich im Bierfalken getroffen habe. Ich bin schon eine Weile unterwegs:)
Kauri tree
Wir geniessen gemeinsam einen herrlichen Clam Chowder und lassen alte Erinnerungen aufleben, ehe wir nach Whangarei zurückkehren. Jetzt wird es Zeit die letztes Jahr geschmiedeten Pläne umzusetzen. Michelle fährt mich mit dem Mietwagen nach Whangarei zum Flughafen und ich fliege nach Perth, um für ein halbes Jahr Westaustralien zu bereisen und bekiten. Michelle wird noch ein paar Tage in Auckland bei ihrer Familie verbringen und mir dann folgenJ
Ariane & Martin
Wir geniessen gemeinsam einen herrlichen Clam Chowder und lassen alte Erinnerungen aufleben, ehe wir nach Whangarei zurückkehren. Jetzt wird es Zeit die letztes Jahr geschmiedeten Pläne umzusetzen. Michelle fährt mich mit dem Mietwagen nach Whangarei zum Flughafen und ich fliege nach Perth, um für ein halbes Jahr Westaustralien zu bereisen und bekiten. Michelle wird noch ein paar Tage in Auckland bei ihrer Familie verbringen und mir dann folgen:)
Whangarei - Blue Bie's new home
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