Opua Outbound Day 3

Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 32 56S 169 16E steering 240M, sailing under double-reefed main and storm staysail at 6 knots.  The wind was 21G28 from the E.  Our noon to noon distances were 127nm by the log and 130nm over the ground.   Overall we'd logged 328nm and 335nm respectively.  Our distance to go was 875nm.

Dawn today

Yesterday afternoon we continued NNW in gradually increasing wind.  At 2030 in the evening we gybed to the W.  Overnight the wind continued to increase.  At 0600 we furled the last of the yankee and set the storm staysail.

Storm staysail and trisail-sized main

We're now charging W, often surging to over 7 knots in 3m swell/seas.  The cockpit was dry until I took my phone on deck to take the above photo.  We were then side-swiped by a big wave which half filled the cockpit.  A little spray got below and the kettle ejected itself from the cooktop.  The navstation copped a few drops of water, mostly on the computer keyboard but hopefully everything's OK.

These strong winds are predicted to continue for some time - several days.

Trust all's well where you are!

Opua Outbound Day 2

Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 33 15S 171 26E steering 290M, sailing under double-reefed main and full yankee at 5 knots.  The wind was 12G16 from the ESE.  Our noon to noon distances were 94nm by the log and 105nm over the ground.   Overall we'd logged 201nm and 205nm respectively.  Our distance to go was 982nm.

Three Kings Islands at sunset

Yesterday afternoon saw the light and sloppy conditions continue.  Twice we motored for an hour when the sails were slatting and we were almost stopped.  The 1.5m short swell from the S was unpleasant.

We did manage to see the Three Kings Islands, albeit as the sun was ssetting.  Spectacular place with lots of wildlife around them.  We saw large flocks of birds, one albatross and a small whale.  The whale overtook us!  Quite a bit of current between Cape Rienga and the Three Kings.

Dawn

We gybed at midnight to head NNW.  This put the swell behind us and the ride improved.  But the wind was still light and we continued using Kami the autopilot to hold course.  At 0300 the wind gradually started to back into the SE and fill in a little.  We tucked the second reef in and swapped over to Kazi the vane gear.  The trisail sized main balances the boat for Kazi.  Oh the serenity!  No more eeee-awe of the autopilot actuator over-steering.

Around dawn we copped a couple of light showers.  These backed the wind around to ESE so we're now on a reasonable course.  The sky is now partly cloudy with long sunny spells.  Air temperature was 17C overnight and has risen to 20C today.  Significantly warmer than yesterday.

Showers

Trust all's well where you are!

Opua Outbound Day 1

Hi everyone,

At noon today we were at 34 14S 172 48E steering 290M, sailing under single-reefed main and full yankee at 3.5 knots.  The wind was 8G12 from the SSE and fading.  Since departure at 1100 we covered 107nm by the log and 99nm over the ground.  We have 1063nm to go on a 1163nm route towards Southport, QLD.

Sunset on Day 1

We cleared out with NZ Customs at 1000 yesterday (Monday) in Opua.  By 1100 we were underway.  We motored out into the Bay of Islands and set sail at 1200.

Ready for Departure

We had a pretty good sail up the coast in light winds.  A nice way to start a passage.  The winds held in all night under a partly cloudy sky with a waxing 3/4 moon.

Bay of Islands astern

Heading N along the coast

At dawn we were passing North Cape and pushing into a knot of current.  By midday the winds were dying and soon after the motor went on.  We had hoped to sail past the Three Kings Islands in daylight but the slow going has made that impossible.

Passing North Cape at dawn

The wind is predicted to fill in tonight and then strenghen from the E.  That should take us most of the way to the Australian east coast.  May cop a front just before arrival.

Trust all's well where you are!

Opua Return Final

Hi everyone,

Today we will clear out of New Zealand!  At last we have a good weather window.  While waiting we spent a last week out at Awaawaroa Bay, a lovely spot with great protection from SW through N to E.  On our way back to Opua we spent a couple of nights in Pomare Bay.

Sunset in the Bay of Islands

Here's our track to and from the bay...

Track

The week in Awaawaroa Bay was very chilled.  Several nights we were on our own there.  For much of our stay we had N winds, often with showers.  It's getting chilly here overnight with a lot of dew.  However the water was 21C and we had several sessions hull-cleaning.

Pole position in Awaawaroa Bay

Company further out in the bay

Sunny Day

Cloudy Day

On weighing anchor in Pomare Bay, which has a muddy bottom, we broke our third and last short-arm plastic winch handle.  We only use this type on the anchor windlass since the short arm doesn't interfere with the headsail furling line nearby.  We replaced it when back in Opua.

While at anchor we tested the SSB, talking on the ham ANZA Net with folks across Australia, NZ and in Hawaii.  On another day we chatted with a ham in Florida.  Propagation conditions are good!

Third fractured winch handle

We've been super-busy preparing for departure today since returning to the marina on Friday.  Fuel and water tanks and jerries filled, deck gear checked, shackled dry-lubed, anchor lashed and bolted in place, provisions topped-up, charts updated, computer rebooted, rattlers packed in cloths etc etc.

It's also been social.  FSC F89 Halcyon Days arranged an Aussie movie night on ANZAC Day.  We showed The Castle - a great Aussie classic - with many Aussies and others having a great night.  Yesterday Nicki and I took the ferry across the river and walked up to Omata Estate winery for an early birthday celebration.  Twas a great lunch and nice to have a break from the preparations.

On the ferry

At the winery

Kitchen Platter is highly recommended

Good times!

We expect our passage, almost certainly to Southport QLD, to take 10-12 days.  There's a big, 'blocking' high pressure system in the Tasman Sea which we'll 'ride' most of the way.  It'll be fantastic to return to the Aussie east coast after 15 years.

Trust all's well where you are!

Opua Return Again

Hi everyone,

Sadly last week's weather window to sail for Australia closed.  So on Tuesday we departed the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua to spend some more time in the Bay.  We anchored in Clendon Cove for a couple of nights, six nights in Opunga Cove and one night in Pomare Bay near Russell.  Winds were E for most of the week.  Yesterday we returned to the marina to ride out approaching ex-TC Vaianu.

Waiting on ex-TC Vaianu

Here's our track...

Track

Our stay in Clendon Cove was very quiet.  We were the only boat there.  We discovered why on our second night when it became quite rolly.

Clendon Cove

The next day we moved to Opunga Cove.  It's a very popular anchorage but we scored a good spot well inside the bay in 4m over mud.  The weather was variable.  Autumn has arrived so it's cooler.  Ex-tropical lows are continuing to drop down from the north.

A little sun in Opunga Cove

Rainy weather in Opunga Cove

Collecting water

With TC Vaianu passing W of Fiji and heading S we booked a berth back in the marina.  On Thursday we motored in a flat calm to Pomare Bay S of Russell.  Then on Friday we motored the short distance back to the marina.  We backed into the berth so we'd be head to wind when the ex-TC passes by.

Looking N towards Russell in Pomare Bay

Run-off in Pomare Bay

Weather this morning

Back in the marina we rigged double dock lines, did our laundry and had hot showers.  We met up with several friends who are also here for the ex-TC's passage.  It seems the Coromandel Peninsula (to our SE) will have the worst weather.  The local news is calling it a cyclone, which it ain't.  But it will drop a lot of rain and bring gale-force winds, mostly overnight tonight.

Zen Again in the marina last night

We're continuing to wait for a weather window to depart!

Trust all's well where you are.

Opua Return

Hi everyone,

After several nights at Opunga Cove we started making our way to the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua.  We spent two nights in Matauwhi Bay near Russell then two nights in Tewahapu Bay.  We went into the marina to wait out a tropical low as it passed by.

Run-off in Opua 'apres le deluge'

Here are out tracks...

Tracks

In Russell we repeated our pattern of fish'n'chips on the waterfront, a beer at the Duke of Marlborough, an ice cream then a shop at the supermarket.  Always fun!

Icecream in Russell

At Tewahapu Bay we anchored a shore dinghy ride away from the small beach.  There one can leave the dink and follow a track to the Omata Estate Winery.  We had a great wine tasting and lunch there.

Zen Again in Tewahapu Bay

Tewahapu Bay dinghy beach

Walking through the vineyard

Ready to eat at 

Lovely wines and kitchen platter

We moved into the Bay of Islands Marina on Tuesday.  An E wind was coming in, with a lot of rain and wind forecast.  Wednesday and Thursday were both wet and windy.  We easily filled out water tank and jerries.  And it was nice to return to the Opua Cruising Club for cheap beers.  And of course the hot showers were marvellous, even with the horizontal rain en-route!

We'll be using the marina's courtesy car tomorrow to get our empty gas cylinder filled and for a provisioning shop.  We hope to clear out on Tuesday and depart towards Australia - if the weather window holds.  Otherwise we'll wait in the Bay of Islands.  New Zealand hasn't been kind to us with weather windows but perhaps our luck will change!

Trust all's well where you are.

Whangarei to Bay of Islands

Hi everyone,

We spent five nights in Marsden Cove, from Monday to Saturday last week.  It was a miserable week weatherwise so nice to be in a marina.  The marina stay gave us an opportunity to catch up with some friends, fill up water, fill diesel tanks from jerries, stretch our legs, enjoy hot showers and have our rig inspected.

Sunset in Opunga Bay

The rig inspection was carried out by Independent Riggers.  Their two guys were very professional and thorough.  We often do our own rig inspection but once in a while it's good to have the job done by a pro.  Happily no significant faults were found.  We also got a few tips which was very helpful.

View from Marsden Cove

Rig Inspection

We also replaced our engine battery.  This is a 300CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) lawn mower battery.  We first changed to this smaller battery type in Deltaville, VA two years ago.  Recently it has been cranking more slowly so it was time for replacement.  During replacement we found its engine compartment wall-mounted battery box was splitting.  We rotated it 180 degrees to remedy that too.

New Battery

On Saturday we sailed 53nm N to Whangamumu.  Escaping Whangarei Harbour was hard work with wind over tide conditions.  Once out we had a fresh SW breeze gusting to 30 knots with occasional light showers.  A great little shakedown which Zen Again loved.  We were down to double-reefed main (= triple-reefed on a full sized main) and triple furled yankee.

Here are the usual screenshots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

Departing Whangarei

Anchored in Whangamumu

We stayed in Whangamumu for two nights with half a dozen different boats each night.  It's a great anchorage.  Nicki tried out her recently completed knitted pullover.  Very warm!

Chilly in Whangamumu

We'd had a full week of cloudy weather with little solar input.  I knew the batteries were getting low but hadn't checked the individual battery Bluetooth status, relying on the Battery Monitor's state of charge reading.  Turned out they were lower than indicated.  After our first night in Whangamumu we were woken by the gas detector alarm.  On inspection it wasn't alarming for gas.  As I pondered the cause, still half asleep, I saw the voltage on a nearby USB charge drop from 12V to 6V then the lights went out!  There was also a loud 'clunk' from the pedestal/table housing our batteries.  Oops!

Each of our Lifeline LiFePo battery's internal BMS cuts itself off at 8V so we'd really given them a workout.  The lights came back on when I started the engine using the entirely separate (and new) engine battery.  The BMSs restore connection at 10V.  This incident reminded me of the 'cliff' LiFePo batteries fall off when deeply discharged.  Our battery monitor is good but the battery voltage needs to be monitored too.  Here's a graph from our Lifeline battery manual.  Unless very cold the 'cliff' is very steep...

Battery discharge graph

That (Sunday) morning ran the engine for several hours to put a little energy in the batteries.  On Monday we motor-sailed the 17nm to the Bay of Islands' Opunga Cove in very light winds.  We motor-sailed partly to put more energy in the house batteries!

Track

Arrival

Whangamumu astern

Cape Brett

Motukokako Island astern

Motoring into the Bay of Islands

This bay is very well protected from all but W winds.  It's quite popular with about a dozen boats each night.  After anchoring we realised we were next to a Fremantle-registered boat sv Zulane.  We met them today.  Their Contest 45 'lives' here in NZ and they spend their summers here.

Anchored in Opunga Bay

This morning (Tuesday) we swapped between our two 10kg GRP propane cylinders.  The empty cylinder had lasted since mid-November, soon after arriving in NZ.  Nearly four months.  Using our inverter-driven 600W kettle adds a month to each 10kg of gas lifetime.

This afternoon we had a hull-cleaning swim.  We were surprised to find the hull quite clean 10 days since our last clean, including 5 nights in Marsden Cove.  The fouling here in NZ can be really bad.  We expect to spend the rest of this week on anchor around the Bay.  We expect to move into the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua for a few days next week.

Happily the batteries are charging well in this week's sun!

Trust all's well where you are!