10/23/2009, Whangarei, NZ
A lot can happen in 10 days.
Zen's hauled and in her private shed at Friendship Yachts. Her crew is showered and comfortably settled in their private rental home in Onerahi, a small waterfront town just 9 minutes from the heart of Whangarei, which is a medium sized town just 90 minutes north of Auckland. Daily life consists of schoolwork, to-do lists at the boatyard, grocery runs, dance, gym and karate classes all done with multiple layers of clothing and left-side driving with a stick shift. My windshield wipers frequently go on full blast in total sunshine instead of the blinker. Life happens in a special way in New Zealand. And, we are loving every minute of it.
The Kiwis are open, laid back and phenomenally welcoming. A stranger, now friend, sitting next to us at a restaurant, loaned us his wireless internet card for our stay in NZ. Another let us borrow his handmade multi-thousand dollar carbon fiber yacht wheel to check it's size for Zen. So far, we've received 4 invitations to overnight hospitality and 3 family BBQ parties. People say that New Zealand is like America in the 1950's. I was not alive in the 50s, but if it was like this, I wish I was.
Locals have said Aucklanders are not representative of the average Kiwi. After visiting Auckland last week, we again saw an outpouring of hospitality by those city slickers. They also have a great sense of humor. According to them, we were quite brave for battling the Friday afternoon city rush hour traffic. What traffic? Thankfully, at the height of congestion, it resembled Newport on a Thursday afternoon. See our recently updated photo gallery for the whole technicolor story of our first week in New Zealand.
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Comments [1]
10/09/2009, Customs Dock Whangarei, NZ
The past 24 hours have certainly entertained Zen and her crew. We saw 18-20 foot seas freight-training behind us like moving mountains. Winds gusting to 40-knots, whipped Zen into making 20 knots of boat speed, with only a tiny piece of the jib flying. Autopilot did a magnificent job, needing only a few hours of hand steering, during the height of the beating. After 8 hours of challenging weather, we gained entrance into NZ with 25 knots of wind on the beam and stars overhead.
Now, we are about to experience NZ Customs and Immigration. We understand it is one of the most thorough in the world. Thus far, communications have included faxes, 48 hour in advance SSB, and emails. And, I think they had a spy plane out there, because at exactly one hour before arrival into the harbor, they hailed Zen on the VHF.
After our voyage from Newport, RI to the Caribbean, South America, Panama, Galapagos, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, we are excited to enjoy THIS spectacular destination. New Zealand, as shown in the photo, looks like it will beat all our expectations.
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10/07/2009, Underway to NZ
The photo is of a pending cold front about ready to slap us with some hefty winds from behind. When giving one's position and current weather on a sailor's SSB radio net, we say, "Oily ocean". Amazing how it can be totally boisterous, giving us a full-on amusement park ride, to becalmed and flat in just a day's time. At this point, it's noon NZ time on Thursday. In just 6 hours, we'll be sailing again, with 25 to 35 knots behind us, surfing us directly towards our mark.
Life onboard goes from boring to awesome. I am not complaining one bit about being bored. After all the built-up anxiety about this ocean passage, boredom is totally welcomed. Last night, Tom watched a movie or two and I played some solitaire while night watches transpired. There were no boats in sight and the double-reefed main and jib caught whatever wind there was, letting the engines do most of the hard work. During the afternoon, an unexpected awesome experience was had, when Tommy spotted a huge bird coming up from behind to check out Zen. Yes, finally, the long awaited albatross visited the Burgess Family. We had hoped to see these massive birds while touring the Galapagos, but to no avail. Our trip is now complete having been accompanied by the global aviator, who gracefully skimmed above the water, looking over at us, and then continuing on his/her way without ever flapping a wing. There's some kind of folklore about sailors and the albatross. Don't know the details, but I am taking this as a good omen.
Our weather details just came in. Tonight is going to be a major surf session. Tom's out on deck rigging the outer blocks, pulling in the awnings, and putting a storm cover on the dinghy. I will clean up after a breakfast of homemade French Toast on coconut white bread with cinnamon, nutmeg and real vanilla beans. Don't know what tonight's rock and roll menu will be, but it's time to hang ten for sure.
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