When we look back upon our Pacific crossing, we are most impressed with ourselves for doing the 3 week crossing from the Galapagos to French Polynesia. We had to tackle our fears of being on a 3000 mile journey away from most help and the need to be self-sufficient should we have any failures. Over time we have become more comfortable with ocean passages and haven't been that anxious before leaving. This next passage is different! We have to cross maybe 1200 miles of ocean but the weather is much more unpredictable and over the years many cruisers have gotten pasted either coming or going to NZ. It seems that the trip is too long to complete it with one weather system and so it's common to leave with good weather, get to no more than 30 South and wait for the bad weather to pass before continuing on. Additionally, we have gotten used to tropical weather and now we are leaving the trade winds and sailing into New Zealand's springtime. The water and the wind will be cold! We like neither!

So here we are, in Tonga knowing that to avoid cyclone season here we must make this passage if we wish to get to NZ. How do you plan a trip like this?

You first need to have an idea of when to arrive. If you leave too early the weather is colder and the fronts coming off Australia are further north have more punch because they are further north. If you leave too late a tropical depression, storm or even cyclone may develop while you are underway and vulnerable. Boats try to arrive in mid to late November before cyclone season gets started in the south latitudes in December. In fact, there is a rally sponsored by the Opua Marine Industry to encourage cruisers to come to Opua for their marine work. They will have parties and events starting in mid-November for participants. They have sponsored a weatherman to give guidance and have arranged all kinds of prizes for the group. It's free and they have a radio net that keeps track of the yachts underway. Even though we don't plan to end up in Opua, we did join the rally for the free help and information available to all.

What we did do is to pay for a special service that will guide us on weather issues by radio email. The plan is to sail about 450 miles to N Minerva Reef (lat 23 37 S long 178 57 W) which is a small circular reef in the middle of the Pacific that provides a protected anchorage. There is no land but only reef. In the past, before GPS, boats found it by their misfortune. By doing this we only have to cover the last 800 miles on one weather window. We expect to anchor inside, do whatever repairs are necessary if needed and then leave on the tail end of a high pressure system. If all goes according to plan, we'll get to about 30 South, due north of NZ and wait for another front to pass before we complete the trip.

Much can go wrong but we do carry a large parachute sea anchor that can be deployed in very heavy weather to wait out a storm. Having it on board is like insurance. We hope never to need it but it's there if we get winds of 45 knots or greater or if we need rest and want to "pull over to the side".

We will stay in touch with radio email during the passage. We expect to check out of Tonga within the week to start this new adventure.

Nancy will write about Tonga and it's interesting history for the next blog.

We are now checked out of Tonga and at anchor waiting to start our trip by sailing to Minerva Reef. The boat's ready but unfortunately I'm not. I have been sick with some sort of upper respiratory infection and bronchitis which keeps me coughing and makes lying down to go to sleep especially frustrating. So with all the planning and now the weather is great to leave, we still aren't sure when to go It's bad to be sick but it's really bad on a boat at sea. We may have to wait up to a week or two if this cough doesn't resolve quickly. Well keep you posted by radio email�.....

The sea anchor is now rigged up down and stored below�... ready to go. All the lines on the boat are rigged for sea and we have now moved into the main cabin to sleep as the forward V birth is storing our spinnaker, yankee jib and is uninhabitable. Nancy's cooked some ahead so that she doesn't have to spend excessive time in the galley. The chart planning and navigation have been done with waypoints in the GPS and on the computerized charts. The SSB radio has been programmed for the frequencies used by the rally sponsors to provide weather and check-in information. Even the boat bottom is clean after two days of scrubbing 10 days ago.

From the Crew of Always Saturday