We had a quite night at Kawau in Bon Accord Harbour. Matt started the diesel heater and we had warm showers all round. At 8 we upped anchor and had another lovely sail back to Westhaven in a moderate South Westerly. 157 boats on the AIS and two mayday calls on channel 16 on the way home. We arrived home about 2pm and quickly packed up a few of the important stuff and of home we went.

There will be quite a bit of fixing and resetting to be done on the boat and level 3 lockdown in Auckland to get used to. Not to sure we are ready for this. I am starting to catch up on my email and its quite daunting.

In reflection. This has been an amazing opportunity to miss out on all the lockdown issues in Auckland. It’s been wonderful to spend all this time with Matt, Jade and Josh and spend over 5 months in their company. Joy and I have really enjoyed that.

Joy and Jade have been amazing- they have both coped really well with the open sea sailing and Jade is showing signs of becoming an intrepid ocean explorer.

We have enjoyed sailing with the Thompson Family and watching them become seasoned sailers as they have completed their very first family offshore adventure. We have met such lovely people in Fiji and have enjoyed our friendships with the crew of Ibis, Rondo and Wiz.

We have been to amazing places and have seen such a variety of sea life and really enjoyed diving and snorkelling in such beautiful places. We have been lucky enough to catch lots of fish and we have Malcolm from Mahia to thank as last minute he dropped of his personal fishing gear and that had made all the difference. The effect of COVID on Fiji was really evident but meant that Fiji was virtually devoid of tourists and we had Fiji in all its beauty of ourselves. The Southern Lau Group must certainly be on everyone’s must do list.

In summary we have done over 4500nm over 5 months and have had some pretty benign sailing conditions for our ocean crossings.

Thank you to my colleagues, friends and children who have supported us in this adventure. Thank you too to Joy, Jade, Matthew and Joshua for making this trip so enjoyable

Charles

Picture of Jade leaning over the bow watching the dolphins

Another early start for the crew this morning. We released our mooring lines around 6.30am and were motoring out of Marsden Point at 6.45am. It was a beautiful sunrise over the hills and we headed into Bream bay in light winds. We unfurled the main but kept her double reefed as we knew winds were building later today.
We crossed from Bream head to Bream tail in 15-20 knot winds with the staysail and jib - Vingilot was steaming along at 7.5 knots. The dolphins made a beeline for us and soon we had many around the boat as we galloped over the waves. They were a delight to have looking up at us around the bow of the boat and leaping through the bow waves.
We enjoyed a delicious cooked breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs with manuka smoked NZ bacon and baked beans.
Winds started building as we got closer to cape Rodney and we brought the jib in and sailed under staysail and main only.
The morning was punctuated by rain squalls, dolphin visits, work ups and gannets diving around the boat - a lot was happening. It was pretty exciting.
Jade and Matt made cheese toasties for lunch and then we started to get into some heavier winds of 25-30 knots.
It was generally a magnificent sail with lots of activity throughout the day.
As we got closer to Kawau island it was looking pretty busy, we ventured past mansion house but it looked too crowded. In the end we opted for the bottom of Bon Accord harbour.
We anchored up and then headed over to KTD for a gin and tonic around 4pm.
It was a sad realisation that this would be our final dinner gathering with the KTD crew for a while. The end of our trip is starting to feel quite real.
Matt and Jade dinghied back to Vingilot to grab dinner supplies and then we made some mince enchiladas on KTD with a delicious fresh green salad. It was a lovely evening at Kawau and we made our way back to Vingilot around 8.30pm to have hot drinks.

Alarms trilled at 6.00am today. The faint pink glow of daybreak was just brightening the sky. Skipper was already awake and started the engine to charge the batteries.
At 6.45am after a hot drink, the anchor was pulled up and we motored out of the beautiful Whangamumu bay.
The mainsail was unfurled straight away although we started off with pretty light winds.
Breakfast was eaten underway - muesli with boatmade blueberry yoghurt.
We were briefly joined by four common dolphins on the bow of the boat. They leapt beautifully through the waves - such gorgeous creatures.
The wind freshened around 10am and we steamed along under jib and mainsail.
The scenery was pretty spectacular as well, we sailed past tutukaka and the beautiful long stretch of ocean beach with views of poor knights in the distance. The landscape was quite changeable with craggy, dramatic hilltops and also green rolling hills.
Lunch was yummy ham and cheese sandwiches with leftover coleslaw and crisps.
As we rounded bream head we were met with some pretty strong wind gusts and decided to let out the staysail and bring in the jib. We also reefed the main before we reached the headland.
We then followed the shipping channel into marsden point avoiding the sandbanks and with views of three large cargo vessels that were on the Whangarei roadsteads waiting to be piloted into the terminal.
We motored past a few vessels at the dock being loaded with lumber - the smell of the wood pulp was very potent in the air.
Around 4.30pm we motored into the visitor's berth and secured our mooring lines. Brendan had kindly called ahead and we were allowed to still moor up here overnight but had been told not to use the facilities or venture anywhere else. Northland being in alert level 3 was a little disappointing for us as we'd been looking forward to a nice meal out here.

We did have a delicious meal nonetheless as Tracy kindly cooked us up one of her passage meals - a cashew nut/butter chicken curry with Dylan's roti breads and we provided garlic rice.
We then had a cuppa on Vingilot before having an early night.

We all slept pretty well on the boat - the diesel heater had dried her out nicely and with a few blankets on us, we were warm enough.
Skipper was up first, keen to have a walk around and suss out what we needed to do first. Matt followed shortly afterwards and set about filling the water tanks and taking the dinghy off the foredeck.
Jade, Josh and Matt all set off for the general store around 8am and re provisioned food - mainly meat and some fresh groceries.
They met Charles on the way back and he’d been busy procuring a carbon filter, replacement toilet pumps and a fan.
At 9.30am the crew joined Brendan, Tracy and Dylan looking at an Amel 54 in the marina.
Around 11am we reversed out of our marina berth - goodbye Opua!
We had a fantastic motor / sail going past the beautiful anchorages in the bay of islands, including Roberton island and Urupukapuka island.
We rounded Cape Brett and then had an exciting excursion in the dinghy through the hole on the rock. It was pretty exhilarating- very choppy! We also had the added complication of picking up and dropping off Dylan on KTD as well.
We continued for another half an hour past work ups and many cormorants before we motored into Whangamumu around 4pm.

We hopped straight in the dinghy to walk up to the waterfall and Josh and Jade even had a cool dip in the pool. We also read the blurb about the whaling station and how they hauled whales up the slip in days gone by.
In the evening we were joined by the KTD crew for a delicious barbecue of steaks with coleslaw and fish burgers.

Today is our final half day in quarantine.
We were woken once again by the faint tapping on the door to signal that breakfast had been delivered. Matt staggered to the door to retrieve the paper bag delivery around 7.30am. Today the menu offering was pancakes with cream and tinned fruit. Yum!

The rest of the morning was spent finishing off watching movies we’d started yesterday, tidying the room, showering, doing some yoga/computer games and talking to family on FaceTime.
The health team came around to give us a final health check at 11.30ish. We were signed off without any issues and were told that we could proceed to reception around 13.10 as our bus would be there to take us back to Opua at 13.15.
We checked out without any issues and thanked the staff at the Novotel for the friendly and efficient service we’d received throughout our short stay.
Joy parted ways with the crew here as she was being collected by Rebekah and went straight home to the house in Auckland.
The rest of us piled into a mini bus with the KTD crew - they had also lost two of their crew members!
It was a speedy journey back to Opua with a brief toilet stop en route.
The rain set in during our journey and continued throughout, getting heavier as we journeyed further north.
We reached Opua wharf around 17.30 and were met by customs to retrieve our quarantine signage off the side of the boat.

The boat was in fine condition and we got the diesel heater going to warm up the inside. Tracy kindly invited us round for dinner which we gratefully accepted! Dylan whipped up some delicious anchovy pizzas which we enjoyed with red wine and chocolate for afters.

We had a minor hiccup with shore power- we suspect that our socket has an issue and as a result, we weren’t able to get any power. We turned the engine on to charge batteries in the evening instead.
Tomorrow we plan to get some provisions and leave by midday!

Last full day in our quarantine hotel today and then we get to return to Vingilot.
We were woken with the breakfast delivery at 7.30am outside the door - little paper bags filled with goodness! Matt had the scrambled eggs on sourdough bread and Jade went for yoghurt with muesli. The food portions here are very generous which makes eating three square meals a day quite difficult.

The film choices are pretty extensive so it was another day of browsing through the offerings. Jade did some yoga to break things up a little and Matt played his computer game.

Lunch arrived in paper bags at 12 midday sharp. Matt had pulled pork on rice while Jade had a smoky ratatouille on rice- both were delicious!
We all congregated outside at 3pm for our 45 minutes of daily exercise- walking in a coned circle in the car park. We had the sun on our faces and the breeze whipping past- it felt lovely!
The rest of the day was spent reading and watching more of the big screen.
At 6.15pm we all enjoyed dinner together in Josh’s room (we’ve managed to retain our bubble despite being in 3 separate rooms which has been fortunate).
Dinner was a hefty portion of roast chicken on mushroom risotto followed by banoffee cake.
Spirited discussions were had about our next steps - Joy is returning to the house while the rest of the crew will get the bus back up to Opua. We’ll re provision the boat on Friday and then look to move the boat south after that depending on the weather conditions.

Picture of our exercise yard

Our nasal swabs from yesterday (admission swabs) have returned negative results so we are entitled to the blue bands. The blue bands allow us to book one hour in the exercise yard. At 3pm we went and joined a few other people and walked around in circles. We were grateful for the fresh air

We have been swabbed again - our day 12 swabs - even though we had one yesterday - rules are rules. Hopefully these will be negative too.

We had dinner in Josh's room - butter chicken - and enjoyed his view that he has over the Manukau Harbour.

A view of the world from our Quarantine Room

Well a goodnight sleep in a comfortable bed, that doesn’t move. Unlimited hot water in a nice shower and meals we did not prepare.

We had our arrival swabs and with a bit of luck they will turn out to be negative and we will be allowed to go to the exercise area. I can’t see the sea. There doesn’t even seem to be any aeroplanes flying. There is nothing on TV. My emails depress me and I cant seem to connect with what’s going on in the news.

If all goes well we hope to be up on a shuttle back to Opua on Thursday to complete the final leg of the journey - coming home to Auckland. Of course once in Auckland we will be subject to the same lockdown rules as everyone else. Not looking forward to that

There may be at least 6 yachts on their way from Fiji - will keep an eye on Marine traffic to monitor their progress - we wish them a safe trip and fair winds - we certainly had one. I am aware that most will try and stretch the trip to 12 days in order to avoid the quarantine. I hope they can do it safely

Picture of Joshua being processed in the quarantine.

We spent a quite night on the quarantine wharf and then the customs and immigration officials came and from the dock completed the final bits of paperwork - all wearing masks and keeping appropriate distances. Finally the biosecurity came and removed all our fresh food and rubbish. Diary products are no longer an issue.

At about midday we moved our vessels (Vingilot and KTD) to the end of K pier and tied up securely - this part of the wharf is secured with a barrier. Then we were moved by the customs staff via dinghy (2 persons at a time) everyone with gloves and masks etc. and moved to a separate jetty and then onto the transport to Auckland. The bus was a 48 seater and the crew of Vingilot were placed in the forward section and the crew of KTD in the aft. Masks and gloves for the whole trip - nearly 4 hours.

We arrived at the Novotel Quarantine facility after dark and were greeted by just the politest members of our defence force who manage the facility - Our men in uniform are really lovely - actually the whole systems seems to be pretty well managed. Makes me proud to be a Kiwi.

Sent to our various rooms and then dinner arrived - a very acceptable roast lamb and vegetables

Still the only surprising thing is the huge opportunity cost of all this moving and all the people involved and if we really had COVID all the potential for transmission - we could just be left on the quarantine wharf or at anchor somewhere to complete our quarantine period - just like our blue lanes program in Fiji. We only came in early so as to avoid an unpleasant front with North Easters which isn’t a great place to be when approaching New Zealand We unlike anyone else in quarantine are capable of being self sufficient for extended periods of time.. So I don’t quite understand why??? There doesn’t seem to be anyone who is interested enough to talk about it.

Picture of Joshua being processed in the quarantine.

We spent a quite night on the quarantine wharf and then the customs and immigration officials came and from the dock completed the final bits of paperwork - all wearing masks and keeping appropriate distances. Finally the biosecurity came and removed all our fresh food and rubbish. Diary products are no longer an issue.

At about midday we moved our vessels (Vingilot and KTD) to the end of K pier and tied up securely - this part of the wharf is secured with a barrier. Then we were moved by the customs staff via dinghy (2 persons at a time) everyone with gloves and masks etc. and moved to a separate jetty and then onto the transport to Auckland. The bus was a 48 seater and the crew of Vingilot were placed in the forward section and the crew of KTD in the aft. Masks and gloves for the whole trip - nearly 4 hours.

We arrived at the Novotel Quarantine facility after dark and were greeted by just the politest members of our defence force who manage the facility - Our men in uniform are really lovely - actually the whole systems seems to be pretty well managed. Makes me proud to be a Kiwi.

Sent to our various rooms and then dinner arrived - a very acceptable roast lamb and vegetables

Still the only surprising thing is the huge opportunity cost of all this moving and all the people involved and if we really had COVID all the potential for transmission - we could just be left on the quarantine wharf or at anchor somewhere to complete our quarantine period - just like our blue lanes program in Fiji. We only came in early so as to avoid an unpleasant front with North Easters which isn’t a great place to be when approaching New Zealand We unlike anyone else in quarantine are capable of being self sufficient for extended periods of time.. So I don’t quite understand why??? There doesn’t seem to be anyone who is interested enough to talk about it.

It was another eventful night shift as the dolphins welcomed us back into New Zealand waters. They looked like little torpedos in the phosphorescent sea - magical and wonderful creatures!
We also passed relatively closely to a couple of cargo ships - these waters are much busier than the vast open ocean we’ve grown accustomed to.
We were mainly under motor during the night as winds were very light.
As daybreak arrived we spotted the northern tip of New Zealand - the journey is almost complete!
KTD had managed to gain more ground on us and were a mere 2 nautical miles away - it was great to be so close to our buddy boat once again.
The sun on the deck enticed most of the crew for one final naked deck shower - Josh even dunked himself down the steps into the sea water. It was freezing! Nothing like the warm waters of Fiji!
Breakfast was a delicious hefty helping of lamb sausages, bacon rashers, scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, baked beans and toast- can you tell we are trying to use up our supplies before they are confiscated by bio security?
We slowed our speed to try and arrive in Opua slightly later- if we arrive after 3.30pm we are allowed to remain one more night on the boat and will then be customs cleared tomorrow and shuttled down to an Auckland MIQ hotel. It just allows us more time to clean, make ship shape, pack our bags and eat more of our food supplies.
We arrived at the quarantine dock at 3.40pm, following on KTD’s heels. We remained a safe distance from them and secured our mooring lines.
A huge sense of achievement is felt by all on board. The skipper kept us feeling safe for the entire journey - we had calm seas overall and great sailing advice. It was an unbelievably comfortable passage.
Beers were popped and we had a brief catch up with KTD by shouting to them across the deck as we are not allowed to disembark.
Josh still had some energy and gave Vingilot a fresh water rinse. Meanwhile the plan is to have a chicken curry and an early night - we can all sleep through tonight hopefully!

Picture of Josh asleep at the chart table (life at an angle - you learn to sleep when you can)

We motored through most of the night as the wind died down. There is a little bit of urgency to miss a front that will bring 35kts plus North Easter to the Northland coast - none of us want to be in that. So when our boat speed is consistently below 4kts we motor.

At 0500 we stopped engines and started to sail in a gentle SW of 6-10kts - we had our full cutter rig up and had a lovely morning complete with dolphins to add to the picture.

Another front ahead saw us reef( double reef in main, staysail out and 50%headsail) ahead of time at about 1400hrs we but we had no more than 20kts with some rain and a southerly wind change that rapidly fizzled out to a less than 4 kts - on with the motor I'm afraid. So we are now less than 100nm from Opua - ETA 3pm (I'll have to remember that we are still on Fiji time and New Zealand is now back to daylight saving time.

Bacon and scrambled eggs on toast with baked beans and hash browns for lunch - yummy - toast and marmalade to follow

Knot Tide down has caught up and is now in VHF range. Triggering our AIS occasionally - She is 7nm behind going a knot faster than us (we are only doing 4)

Spaghetti Bolognese for Dinner - Dad's favourite. Last round of radio sheds with Gulf Harbour Radio and Taupo Maritime

We are missing our friends in Fiji onboard Ibis, Wiz and Rondo. We already miss the warm weather as it gets colder with each passing mile. We are excited about seeing the rest of the family and the friends back in New Zealand and can't wait to catch up.

Picture of golden dolphins in the orange light of the sunset - This evening we had a pod of at least a hundred dolphins around the yacht - really magical

The wind died down at 0200 and we started the trusty motor. Later on in the day we transferred the last of our diesel into the port tank. We have sufficient to get us into Opua should the wind let us down. Our aim is still to be in by Saturday afternoon with a view to missing the next front. We fully expect to be motoring most of this last 200nm

We have switched on our heaters that now run off the engine hot water just like a car - its brought the temperature up from 16 degrees to over 22 despite the companion way being open. We feel very spoiled

We have picked up some water in our diesel which fortunately we have seen early in the Raycor filter chamber and have emptied it out - its only a few mls but still worries me none the less. I am not used to having water in my diesel. We will keep an eye on this. Part of the value of regular surveillance of boat systems.

We motored all the way till 0900 and then managed to hold our course under sail, but not for long - back motoring by 1100. At 1800 a pleasant South Wester picked up and we are happily sailing back towards Opua, its only 7-10kts so we hope it holds. We think we may have motored through the ridge of high pressure and are picking up the wind on the other side.

It's been a glorious day, partly cloudy and warm considering the current temperatures. The crew have enjoy warm showers, washed some clothing, read books and watched movies.

We've had muffins for breakfast, “Sloppy Joes” for lunch and a lovely butter chicken for dinner. The pod of dolphins has topped off the evening nicely.

Evening scheds kept with “Knot Tide Down” and Taupo Maritime Radio. KTD is now only 13miles off and we are waiting for her to trigger our AIS in due course.

Picture of Joy in the galley - clearly has found her sea legs!

We've had favourable winds today coming from the SE and even some ESE. The sunshine is great and warms us up. We are now all using thermals at night on watch and our wet weather gear. Temperatures certainly have dropped and we are left in no doubt that we are no where near the tropics. A single squall overnight of 25kts across the deck, associated with a close cloud that we could easily see with the eye as well as on the radar. We are enjoying hot meals and treats on board. Had bacon and egg toasted sandwiches (which are definitely up there when it comes to favourite food). Some of the crew even indulged with deck showers (warm). Dinner was spaghetti beaf stroganoff followed by tinned fruit and homemade yoghurt. Looking forward to a good nights sailing.

Received a satellite phone call from Customs to let us know that they are expecting us and that we will be given a few hours to prepare to leave the boat and go into quarantine. Despite KTD effectively been in our bubble they have further said that we will be taken to Auckland MIQ in separate busses. Rather disappointed but thems the rules I’m afraid. Have yet to find out details about how and where we leave the yacht. We will give them a ring when we are in NZ phone range and found out more. Part of me thinks that a few days recovering in a hotel with endless hot water, a bed on the level, food that we did not have to prepare just delivered to the door 3 times a day easy access

Picture of Yesterday's good weather.

We have had to use more diesel overnight in light winds as we approached this last cold front from the Tasman. The winds ahead of the front backed from the NW ahead of the front and is now Southerly in its wake. The worst we had was 25kts - so we have got off lightly. Beating to windward in the big blue is different from harbour racing and our VMG towards New Zealand is a paltry 2.5kts at the moment - its a long way still go but we are still hopeful in making it before Sunday 3rd October. There is more motoring ahead which will need to be done quite carefully due to our lack of diesel.

Today we have had glassy seas with long Southerly Swells. We are all feeling upbeat and have had showers and hot muffins for breakfast thanks to Mum and a cooked lunch. The engine has ticked over slowly as we try to conserve fuel. We have motor-sailed under 5kts allowing Knot Tide down to do some catching up - they are currently 27nm off and catching up slowly. We continue to sail in a SSE direction - gaining some easting and getting closer to Opua. We are just over halfway home and are enjoying the sunshine and getting prepared for the cold front that will bring wind change from the current NW, the winding backing initially into a SW and then Southerly and finally into a SE. We expect the front to potentially bring squalls up to 30kts and a fair bit of rain and no doubt a further drop in temperature. The crew have taken out their wet weather gear which we have not used since sailing up 5 months ago, and their thermals in preparation.

The crew have all had a good daytime nap. We are looking forward to the wind filling in this evening and switching the engine off. We tried a few times this afternoon and had a gloriously silent sail in these long ocean swells, but have been forced to switch the motor back on this after evening.

Butter-Chicken for dinner tonight. And a catch up with KTD on the SSB and the usual flurry of activity around position reporting around with Taupo Martime and downloading weather.

We had a good night sail and Vingilot has been beating to windward all night and day with more to come I am afraid. There is about 17 to 24kts over the deck with quite consistent wind. We are carrying more sail than I like because we stop in the waves otherwise. The SSE wind flow has meant that we have more westing than we would like and our track looks like we are off to Norfolk Island. We hope to make some Eastwing when the centre of the ridge off high pressure passes over us and we are forced to do a bit of motoring - our aim is to be in Opua by Sunday all things been equal - even if this means some time in an MIQ hotel.
All well on board. Knot Tide Down is 40nm off and we have effectively seen no one for a couple of days now - we do feel rather small in this big ocean.

We have had good sailing today making about 6.5knts to windward against a South Easter (actually still the Tradewinds) Winds are varying from 12 to 20 knots and we have all our sails up - a bit over powered in the gusts and too little in the lulls. Well that's life at sea I am afraid. The swells are a good 3m but the sea state reasonable and we have all been up. Jade has been a trooper and made Beef Nachos for dinner and Joy made bacon sandwiches for lunch.

We still have 760 miles to go. We estimate getting into Opua on Saturday. There are still a few hurdles to cross - a ridge of of high pressure with reduced wind and change in direction and then a cold front sometime on Tuesday. Finally a high fills in as we approach Opua.

Everyone is feeling a little better and our humour has improved.

Light winds and a lumpy South Easterly swell meant that we were forced into motoring through the night - using our precious diesel - which we will need later.

We were greeted with a wind squall of 35knots sustained associated with a front at 6 o'clock. We were warned by our weather router about this and we picked up squall and associated rain on the radar in good time. We double reefed the main in good time before the wind and rain struck.

Winds are currently 25 knots over the deck and we beat to windward - in lumpy seas with a 3 meter swell. Staysail, 50 % headsail and double reefed main. Our good humour has waned somewhat as Mal de Mer has over taken us. On a lighter note we expect things to ease over the next two days. The is one more big front in store for around Tuesday with a southerly change - hopefully our sea legs will have returned by then.

Our trusty yacht Vingilot however is sailing this like a dream making a comfortable 5-6kts we are grateful for her.

Broken sleep meant there wasn't any need for a morning alarm today. Showers were had by 6.30am - even though within 10 minutes of showering we were sweaty again.
Joy went for a final bakery run for pies and fresh bread.
Fiji Customs came along to clear us out of Fiji around 8am.
We had a congregation on our finger to bid farewell to us and KTD. Sad farewells were said. There were tears.
At 9.41am the lines were cast off and Charles reversed us out of the berth.
Geoff gave us a toot toot as we motored out of the marina with KTD hot on our heels.
As we got further out, final phone calls were made to loved ones and the main sail was unfurled. Winds were around 10-15 knots and we managed to sail under staysail and headsail initially until the wind died - we were in the shadow of Viti Levu.
We exited through the huge reef markers and were into the big blue ocean. The depth dropped off very quickly and the clarity of the blue was fantastically clear.
We maintained a heading of 195 degrees true.
Lunch was pies from the bakery.
Around 3pm we were entertained by some booby birds that were skimming over the wave swells and sitting on the water surface.
The blue lanes and Fiji flags were both removed.
The seas were calm and the weather sunny and warm. We sun bathed on the foredeck and
showered at the back. It was a pretty magic first day sailing/motoring.
Dinner was Thai red chicken curry with rice and frozen peas.