The one thing we try hard to never do in this blog is complain - about anything. In the big picture, really... what in the world do Jeff and Melody have to complain about? We're in our early 60's, relatively healthy, retired and sailing the South Pacific. We are extremely fortunate and grateful for this charmed life we've lived the last few years and any complaints just seem a bit unwarranted. As fellow cruiser Jamie of Sophie generally ends their sailing blog: "Have I told you recently how lucky we are?" He's right. We are.

But, wait: can we talk about the weather? In these past few months we seem unable to catch a break in the weather department and I think we are on the verge of... complaining. Maybe even whining.

Besides wanting to spend time with our families over the holidays, one big reason for going home was to go skiing. We named our boat Double Diamond, right? Seems that we ought to go skiing and see if we still have any turns left in us. But did Mother Nature co-operate with these intentions? No. We were home for over two months and did anything pile up in the mountains during that time? No, not really. We did get to make some turns for a few days in Sun Valley, (for which we are very grateful) but please - Sun Valley's snow was almost 100% man-made.

Oh, and it really did dump in our local mountains - finally. The week we left to come back to our boat in New Zealand. Funny thing is (or not so funny depending on how you view these things) we just KNEW that would happen. The idea that it would start snowing just as we left seemed so predictable.

Upon our arrival back in New Zealand we heard glowing reports from our fellow cruisers about what a glorious summer the past few months had been in New Zealand while we were away back home - waiting for snow. We got to our boat, unpacked and it then proceeded to pour rain on us for a week straight. We made due with inside projects and the like while it poured outside and then, adding insult to injury, we kept reading online how, back at home, it was now DUMPING snow in our local mountains in "epic" proportions.

Can it get worse? Yes, it can.

We are now about to go through a cyclone here in New Zealand. A hurricane as we call them back home in the USA.

A few weeks ago, we sailed from Opua (where we left our boat while away at home) south to Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city. One of our goals here in Auckland - besides being tourists and spending time in a world-class city - has been to avail ourselves of the fabulous boat repair/construction trades and well stocked boat parts stores that are present in Auckland. We have not been disappointed.

Honestly, there is nothing you cannot get accomplished here in the Auckland area on a boat, regardless of how big that boat might be. New Zealand (and Auckland in particular) far excels at boat repair and construction than anywhere we have sailed including San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle - although Seattle does have the ability to build large yachts, but for the most part, Seattle yards tend to build large power boats. Here in Auckland the specialty appears to be giant sailboats. Look up Alloy Yachts (http://www.alloyyachts.co.nz) if you are interested in seeing more about this.



But we've just about accomplished all the tasks and touring we laid out for ourselves and we now have the opportunity to continue on sailing the east coast of the North Island, exploring the coast and staging for our jump to Fiji in April/May. But can we leave? No. For the next several days, we are stuck in Auckland. Why? Weather. Specifically, Cyclone Lusi.



Lusi developed over the past 10 days in the area of Vanuatu and has grown to a Category 3 Cyclone. It is now heading south at a rate of 14 miles an hour and is forecast to arrive at the North Island (where we currently are) on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

There are some funny (well, perhaps not-so-funny) things about Cyclone Lusi.

First, despite being less than 48 hours away, forecasters are having a hard time predicting her track. Will it strike North Island and Auckland directly as first forecast a few days ago? Will it instead veer west and miss us, as late breaking news now seems to indicate?

Not-so-funniest of all... why will Lusi still be a Cyclone when it arrives in New Zealand? History and climatology says that Cyclones degrade dramatically once they arrive in the cooler waters off of New Zealand and they then become cold tropical storms, losing their status as a cyclone. But so far, this is not happening with Lusi. She may still arrive in New Zealand as a full-fledged Catagory 1 or 2 Cyclone, which is unprecedented.

So yeah... In the big picture, Jeff and Melody still do not (repeat, WE DO NOT) have a lot to complain about. But come on Mother Nature, can we catch a break?