Nuku'alofa to New Zealand, Day One
We were anchored in front of Big Mama's bar and restaurant on Pangaimotu, a favorite anchor spot for cruisers who are waiting to start their passage from Tonga to New Zealand. The island is only a mile from Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga. Big Mama's had cold beer and good fish and chips so it is a nice place just to hang out waiting for that good weather window. We used a weather router, Bob McDavitt to help us plan our passage. So we felt pretty confident on our decision to leave today. We raised anchor at about 11 a.m. and we were on our way. Of course we have mixed emotions about leaving. We are departing the tropics warm weather and heading to cooler NZ where it is early spring there, time to get out the long pants and socks. We are excited to get to NZ as we hear that it is very pretty and that it is a great cruising area. Tonga has turned out to be one of our favorite cruising places. Nice islands, picture perfect , non-rolly anchorages, and friendly people. We are planning to return next season.
Tonight we have 18-20 knot winds from the South and we are heading into a swell of about 6 feet so it is a bit rocky out here, but we are making nice speed of 6 knots with a double reefed main and a single reefed jib. That's all for tonight.
Tonga to New Zealand Day 2 Position: 22 55' South 177 49'West
Our second day out of Tonga has been fast. The winds picked up and we are flying along. Tonight we are under a double reefed main sail and double reefed jib and still going 6 knots. We are trying to slow down a bit to reach Minerva Reef in daylight hours. If we can, we plan on stopping there for a couple of days to break up the passage. Passages are not my favorite thing to do, I endure them because that is how we get to all the neat place we have been, but they are uncomfortable. Imagine trying to do everything while the boat is at an angle, and moving up and down and for fun sometimes side to side. Everything becomes a challenge. Tonight I was washing dishes. I would wash and rinse them and set them on a towel then the boat would heel over and plop back in the sink they would come. I had to wash and then rinse, and then quickly dry and put away each dish. Lucky I was smart and cooked many meals ahead so I just have to warm things up, even that is hard. Tomorrow we should be at Minerva Reef. I will write more about that next time. For now all is well aboard Mazu.
Minerva Reef.
After a two day sail from Nuku'alofa, Tonga we arrived at Minerva Reef. Minerva Reef is a large reef in the middle of no where, google it on google earth and you will see what I mean. It is a popular spot for cruisers as it is a safe and comfortable anchorage and it breaks up the passage to New Zealand. We have been here for 3 days now awaiting a good weather window to continue our passage. As of now there are very light winds out there, not enough to sail by. Our weather router Bob McDavitt tells us that Tuesday November 5th) looks to be a good day to head out again. There are currently 11 boats anchored here all waiting for the same thing as us, so on Tuesday there may be a traffic jam at the pass out of here! It will be nice to have company as we continue to NZ
Yesterday we went snorkeling. There is an exposed wreck that made for a very interesting snorkel. The water is gin clear and the most beautiful color of blue. I saw several fish that I had not seen at the other islands we have been to. Also at low tide part of the coral reef is exposed so you can walk on.
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| ENTERING MINERVA REEF |
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| BOW OF A SUNKEN SHIP, A GREAT PLACE TO SNORKEL |
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| MAZU AND THE FLEET IN MINERVA REEF, WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR THE WEATHER TO CHANGE SO WE CAN CONTINUE ON TO NEW ZEALAND |
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| WALKING ON MINERVA REEF AT LOW TIDE, NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME |
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| MINERVA REEF SUNSET |
On the road again,
We left Minerva Reef today (Nov. 5th) with lots of company. There were 13 boats in Minerva on Sunday and by today at 10:30 there were none, we were the last out so we turned out the lights. As you can guess this is a good weather window to continue our voyage to New Zealand. As we go south the weather gets a little tricky with lots of lows and highs moving around, so having good weather information is very important. Tonight we are motor sailing with only about 8-9 knots of wind out of the east. With the light air we are also getting flatter seas, a welcome relief. This leg of the passage should take about 7 days. That makes this our second longest passage to date. Right now we are in lots of company, it is strange to see so many boat lights tonight. Usually it is rare to see any boat light in a given night. Tonight in our little flotilla, I am keeping an eye on 6 sailboats in my neck of the woods. This afternoon we had an interesting thing happen. A New Zealand Air Force plane flew right over us very low. Moments later we were hailed on the VHF by them. They wanted to know our last port, and our next port of call and our estimated time of arrival, all very official. After that one by one he called each boat in our flotilla, finally we heard him hail a boat and said, "ok, now it's your turn", we all must have kept them busy today. It is really comforting to know that they are patrolling this area... Well that was all the excitement for today...
Nov. 8, Position: 28 degrees 34' south 179 degrees 16' east
Well another day closer to New Zealand! Today was a nice warm sunny day, calm seas but light wind so we must motor sail. We have lots of fuel so this should not be an issue, but the motor is noisy. Last night we had a bit of a rough time. We could not get out of the path of heavy rain, (no high gust of wind thankfully) and lighting. Lighting and sailboats do not get along, with our tall mast we feel like a lighting rod out here in the middle of nowhere. You certainly do not want your boat hit as most likely you will fry all of your electronic navigation and communication equipment. When I see lightning I put the satphone, our hand held GPS and hand held VHF radio in the microwave oven to protect them. Luckily it was uneventful and no harm done but some lost sleep.
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| BELLA STAR ON OUR PORT SIDE |
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| LAND HO! NEW ZEALAND |
New Zealand.
We made it safe and sound to New Zealand. We arrived on November 12th. As we got closer to land we could see the hills and the trees, we were awestruck on how much it looked like the Northwest! It is beautiful. We arrived at the customs dock just before dark.
Tonight we are happy to have arrived safe and sound. We reflect on what we have accomplished and how far we have come on our own vessel. We left Seattle in August of 2010, sailed down the Washington, Oregon and California Coast. We were lucky enough to spend three seasons in Mexico where we fell in love with the people and places, especially our beloved Sea of Cortez.
We then just completed this amazing adventure of crossing the Pacific Ocean.
We know we are lucky to have this opportunity. We have crossed and ocean, which is an accomplishment few can speak of. We learned a lot about ourselves, and what you can do if you put your mind (and money ha, ha) to. We have seen many beautiful places and met many wonderful islanders.
I cannot even put into words how I feel, I just know that want to keep on sailing onto more adventures...
