Part 2 Passage Day 1!
26 October 2015
Position as at 1400
Speed 5.4 kts
COG 105T
Wind 15knts SE
After a couple of days looking at a reasonable weather window to take us from Norfolk Is back to Nelson, the forecast has changed and the low that is developing in the Tasman has slammed the window closed with stronger and more Southerly winds. So we left Norfolk early this morning (Monday) with 8 other rally boats and are now heading for Opua, the first clearance port in the North Island. Once there (by late Thurs hopefully), we will look for another weather opportunity to head down to Nelson -hopefully with the same great crew if time permits.
One good side of the change in plan is we now have to eat 6 days worth of passage food in 3 days (NZ Biosecurity will take and destroy any fruit, vegetables, meat etc left on the boat when we get to Opua).
Norfolk Island was an interesting, if very brief, stopover. The island doesn't have a sheltered harbour, so you have to move anchorage if the wind shifts direction and it is almost impossible to get out of the constant swell (which wasn't too bad when we were there but I think it tried the patience of some of the monohull yachts.) We had to move a couple of times in one anchorage to avoid other yachts that were wallowing/drifting at different rates in the swell and light winds. In the process we managed to get our anchor chain wrapped around aBoulder or something and for a while we thought we would lose the anchor, but fortunately it finally came free.Norfolk Island has been independent since it was settled by people from Pitcairn Island who were descendants from Mutiny of the Bounty but is soon to be 'taken over'by Australia. I'm sure the place is normally very lively but as we were there on a Sunday it was closed ((ah the good old days)