Author: Pete

Location: 30°46.900S’,  165°33.934E’

 

Day 4 at sea.

Exciting day! We saw a jet fly overhead today, AND it was warm enough to take a shower on the transom! Good times! Taz was in a good mood today. The majority of the day was clear and sunny, though a squall or two rolled over us and washed the decks of salt. We sat in the sunny cockpit for lunch and dinner, a nice change as it’s been prohibitively cold in the last couple days! Thanks for northing!

Ah, we do have two new crew members to add to Wendy and Belinda the Diesels, and Otto the Autohelm: Lee the Headsail (made by Lee Sails), and Mac the Mainsail (made by Mac Sails). Lee has been fussy in the last couple of days. It’s not his fault. The wind shifts slightly and Mac the Main shadows Lee, making him flop all over annoyingly. We’ve been waffling between running wing-wing and a deep broad-reach as we sail almost downwind. All that waffling is making me hungry. It’s one of the many sorrows of a sailor, no waffle irons aboard.  There are still sea birds out here, gulls and albatross. All those shipwreck movies where the castaways know land is near because the birds show up? Bubkus! We’re five hundred miles from the closest land and there are still birds out here.

It’s a clear, moonlit night, a welcome change from the pea soup we were wading through last night. Sitting on deck watching the rollers pull up behind us, lifting our stern, then nose, then passing along. It’s nights like this when I want to spin the wheel hard a-starboard, run Tayrona north to New Caledonia, and put the kibosh on this whole sale thing.

Author: Pete

Location: 32°50.157S,  170°08.380E

 

Day 2 at sea.

Fresh winds and building seas today. We saw peaks of twenty-five knots and three meter waves through most of the day. Makes for speedy sailing; our fastest wave surf was twelve knots. Very exciting!

Trying to get our bodies used to the constant motion again. We’re taking waves abeam, which jostles the boat around, slewing us this way and that. It’s not a pretty motion. It is remarkable how little Tayrona seems to notice the tumult.

An occasional albatross wings by, but no boats on the horizon. It’s just us chickens out here. More stars and bright moon tonight. A clear night sky does wonders for one’s constitution at sea. More to come.

Author: Pete

Location: 34°03.103S,  172°57.360E

 

Day 1 at sea.

Well it’s pretty darn nice to be back in open water. Hauled anchor, perhaps for the last time in the Bay of Islands before daybreak and motored out to sea as the sun rose. Winds didn’t fill in until the afternoon, but we’ve been making six knots on a beam reach.

Watched the sun set and caught the last glimpse of New Zealand as North Cape fell hazy and sank away. Albatross and gulls still around; they don’t seem concerned with being so far from land. It takes a while on a creaking, lurching boat to have their fortitude. Enchiladas help a lot with that though.

We’re estimating it’ll take ten days to cover the 1200 miles to Brisbane, and it’d be just peachy if they’re all like this. The sky is mostly cloudless and the moon is lighting up the sea. I’m on my favorite graveyard watch. I love the peace of the night time. I’ll keep this short. Have to keep a good look out for the big boats running in these waters. Eek.  All is well aboard.