We know we left this blog hanging 3 days out to sea last month. What happened is the weather turned nasty with winds 25 gusting thru 40 on the nose and we were making no progress toward Vanuatu. The seas were coming from 3 directions, steep, sloppy and unpredictable and we found new leaks so everything was wet in and out. We went out 301 nm, were both seasick and tired and decided we really did not want to sail the boat uphill all the way to San Francisco. Instead of continuing beating to the islands, we decided to turn around and head back to New Zealand to weigh our options. We arrived at the Q dock in Opua at 5:30 in the morning on Sunday and were glad to tie up and go to sleep. We had been in contact with Maritime radio who notified NZ Customs that we were coming back. A customs official showed up at the boat and checked us back into the country, giving the boat a year import permit and us 3 month visas.
After investigating shipping the boat home and finding it stupid expensive, we decided to try to sell the boat in New Zealand. We have contracted with a broker and Zephyra is officially on the market. We moved her back to Marsden Cove Marina, where the broker likes to bring prospective buyers from Auckland and where his agency has a real cheap deal on the dock space. We have been busy this week packing up all our belonging and bringing them to a freight company for shipping home. It is unbelievable all the stuff Russ has had buried on this boat. We have taken off a ton (literally) of stuff and the boat has popped out of the water considerably. This has been a hard month of hurry up and wait, as nothing has happened fast. It is winter in New Zealand and the weather has turned cold with much rain and we have watched many friends leave for the tropics. On the positive side, we have met several very generous Kiwis, who have helped us through every step of this process and who have become our friends.
On Wednesday, June 30, we fly back home to California. It is sad to leave our boat, hopefully for the last time, but we looking forward to seeing our friends and family and starting the next chapter on our life. Our cruise has been a wonderful adventure and has created memories which will stay with us for the rest of our lives. We have met many wonderful cruisers who we will always consider our friends. This will be our last post to this blog, as we will be officially land people next week, but we will continue to read the blogs of our friends as they continue their journeys.