Blog

Made it! That’s the top line. We are in New Zealand. It’s the “how” we got here that is sort of crazy. The passage from Fiji to New Zealand is about 1,100 nautical miles. Last year, it took us 6.5 days. The passage is famous for its challenging weather, with frequent low pressure systems spinning up from the deep southern Pacific causing high winds and high seas. So before we take off, we make sure everything is battened down. All the hatches and portlights closed, storm sails ready to go, reefing gear double-checked. And so off we went. Sort of. It seemed Fiji didn’t want us to leave, as the windlass failed as we went to weigh anchor. So I had to pull it by hand. The anchor weighs 73 pounds. Plus the 3/8 inch chain. And the anchor was buried in a mud bottom. It was…challenging. But we got there eventually. Add that to the list of things to fix. We left just as Fiji Day was approaching, which is the Fijian independence day. The celebration had already begun, as we encountered tradional Polynesian voyaging craft and the Greenpeace boat kicking off the festivities. At first, it seemed like the voyage would go pretty much as we expected. The first 12 hours involved beating upwind into 24 knot winds and heavy seas. We were soaked and bruised by the end of that little adventure. Did I mention wet? Meraviglia is a lot of things. Dry is not one of them. We get a lot of water that comes in through both the hawse hole in the bow and the toe rails. That all ends up in the bilge, where it sloshes around and, when we are heeled over a lot, makes it way up into the cabin. That was fun. Fortunately, after the first twelve hours, the wind shifted to more abeam and weakened somewhat, making life a lot more comfortable. We then spent the next two days enjoying a really nice passage under sail. After that, not so much.

On Day Three, the wind died. And when I say “died”, I mean DIED. Nada, zero, nothing. We have never seen the ocean like that. The surface was like glass. No waves at all. And that meant…motoring. Because one of those low pressure systems was coming and we needed to get into Opua in New Zealand before it arrived. So on went the engine. Because in this region, surely the wind would be back soon! NOT! We motored for 4 days. And suffered from range anxiety. We carry about 360 liters of diesel on board. By the time we got to New Zealand, the jerry cans on deck were empty and both fuel gauges were on “E”. When did the wind come back? About 4 hours before we hit New Zealand. It was like being taunted. “You motored for 4 days, so here’s some wind for the last 4 hours.” At least the food was good. We had bought pre-made Indian meals from our favorite Fijian Indian restaurant before we left, so the evenings were filled with tikka masala, korma, and butter chicken. Yum! In the end, we made it, pulling into the harbor at midnight. About 2 hours after tieing up to the Customs Dock, the front came through with winds to 30 knots and heavy rain. We were very happy to be off the ocean before that came through.

So, we cleared Customs the next day. New Zealand takes yacht entry VERY seriously, so it was a 6 hour process involving dogs, inspections, reviews of the cleanliness of the hull, a search of our freezer; happily, we passed with no problems. First task? Refueling! After a good night’s sleep. We refilled our tanks and cans to the tune of 280 liters of diesel. In case you haven’t noticed, diesel is extremely expensive right now. And if you think it’s pricey in the US, let me introduce you to New Zealand, where it’s NZD $3.33/liter. That comes to USD $7.13/gallon! Yikes. That was painful. Which brings me to our second priority: mailing our ballots back for the upcoming election. We sprung for the $40 to make ABSOLUTELY SURE they arrive before election day. I’ll be tracking.

We’ve also done the more mundane things: we cleaned the interior, sucked the water out of the bilge, did laundry, put away the storm gear, repaired the windlass. Turns out it was a faulty fuse/fuse holder. Because the fuse holder wasn’t waterproof and it was inside the anchor locker! What bonehead did that? Oh. Right. That was me. Before I knew what I was doing. Well, it’s fixed now. And waterproof.

And then yesterday, we rented a car and took care of reprovisioning and resupply. A full-on grocery store! Produce for miles! All the things! (Except pretzels) It was SO exciting. And it meant a trip back to my happy place: Mitre10. It’s the New Zealand equivalent of Home Depot. I love it there. I still have to wash the exterior of the boat and reorganize the lazarette locker, but then we will take off and explore some of the Bay of Islands region. It’s not super warm here: down into the 40s in the mornings with highs in the 60s, but the sun is warm and as long as one stays out of the wind, it’s beautiful. The plan is to cruise the Bay of Islands for the next couple of weeks, then make our way down to Auckland. Kim’s sister is coming for a visit mid-November, so we need to be in Auckland by then to pick her up. We are super excited to explore New Zealand by boat!