Cloud 9's NZ cruise

36 52.895 176 46.579. Slipper Island 255 deg T. Rough Rolly day . 50 deg rolls regular. Protecting Cloud 9 by minimal headsail and going slow. Going to be a heavy night ETA Great Mercury still 3am. cheers Steve

Just to add a bit more Steve is making for shelter in Mercury Cove 50nm away. East Cape is 105nm behind and so far he has sailed 560nm from Lyttleton
The wind is now 25 - 30kts from the East and Steve will be helming Cloud 9 all the way as its too rough for the autopilot.
The weather system that has just battered Sydney is now halfway across the Tasman and expected to hit us fully on Wednesday.
At 9pm this evening now casting was recording 24kts average and gusting 37kts at Gt. Mercury Is. Channel Is. was averaging 35kts.
It will be a very rough and cold night for the poor fella.

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Vessel Name:	Cloud 9
Vessel Make/Model:	Farr 9.2 30ft. Built 1985
Hailing Port:	Milford Cruising Club. Auckland. NZ
Crew:	Steve Horne
About:	Round the bouys racing for many years. 28000 nautical blue water miles sailed on yacht deliveries
Extra:	Steve Horne sailing solo on his Farr 9.2; Cloud 9, is attempting to circumnavigate New Zealand over about 4 months. This blog has been set up so that Steve can update friends and family of his progress and so we can also share in his experiences. Cell phone coverage will be patchy and when Steve [...] is able he will send images and more detail. While sailing we’ll try to update the blog with a daily position fix on google earth via satphone. If there are no updates, don’t call the coastguard saying that we’ve lost Steve, It will probably be due to technology or our ability to master it. If we don’t get any updates while Steve’s ashore; he’s probably enjoying himself too much. Blog comments are welcomed (and moderated) and the email address for any other stuff is nzcloudnine@gmail.com. Mike Elliott More
Home Page:	nzcloudnine@gmail.com