S/V Tender Spirit: Ocean Cruising : SailBlogs

Off Shore November 8

Joan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:44:00 -0600

We made a lot of progress yesterday so we were thinking landfall, but alas, the wind is now 15 to 20 knots straight where we want to go, so we will be tacking back and forth. Oh well. That's how it goes sometime. The wind is supposed to shift later today and that will really help us. We are 200 miles out from Opua now. All is well on board. We have spotted another albatross near the boat this morning. I really love watching these large sea birds. They gracefully soar, dipping and diving between the swells without beating their wings. They make it look so easy and effortless. We have only seen a few on our passages, so it is a happy event when one is around to observe. (View Post...)

Off Shore November 7

Joan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:49:00 -0600

Wind! Rain! Yippie! We are moving along quite nicely now, and under sail. The poor engine sure has been getting a work-out this time. We are getting closer though. We have 300 miles to go and we are looking forward to making land fall in the next 3 days if we can keep up this progress. All is well and happy on board. (View Post...)

Off Shore November 6

Joan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:39:00 -0600

Well, it is getting cooler. The indoor temperature this morning is 70=B0, and much colder outside. We have definitely left the tropics. The crispy air is without the humidity, and is kind of a nice change. We definitely will be doing a bit of clothing shopping when we get situated as neither of us have much in terms of warm clothes any more. Last night sure was beautiful. The seas were mirror calm and I could see reflections of individual stars in the water. The only ripples on the water was that made by the boat. The phosphorescence was also viewable and looked beautiful through the the clear water. By 2215 local time (1115 UTC) the waning moon lit up the sky. It sure was orange! We are moving along still under power, but with enough wind now to fill the sails. We have about 390 nautical miles left. This afternoon we will be trying to make contact with Opua officials for our second notice of arrival. We have already faxed our pre-arrival paperwork, but they need additional 72 hours of notice of our impending arrival by radio. Every country has its arrival procedures. New Zealand is one of the more progressive on its attempts to keep bio hazards such as unwanted pests and disease out of their country. I don't blame them. They will be going through the boat carefully to make sure we don't accidentally introduce a foreign pest into the country. We had the bottom scrubbed 24 hours before leaving Tonga, so hopefully no slime or barnacles are on the hull. We also sprayed below the floorboards for bugs. I'll do that again today to make sure nothing has survived. We feel lucky that we haven't had any cockroaches or ants on board so far. We sure are looking forward to visiting New Zealand especially after seeing all the beautiful pictures in books and magazines. (View Post...)