Adventures at Sea

Finally.... after nearly 9 months, we have left New Zealand waters. Not that were at all tired of New Zealand itself, but having done an incredible amount of work on the boat during our stay, we were both more than ready to "get going" again. Having finished up our alternator/charging system install, we said a quick goodbye to Rob and Ruth, our South African friends in Opua, and armed with a favorable weather forecast from Bob McDavitt, NZ's weather Guru, we pulled away from the fuel dock a little after 3:30 pm on Monday. Destination: SavuSavu, Fiji. Right now, two days into a projected 8 day trip, and 250 nm's from the NZ coast, we are barreling along at 7-8 knots in calm seas and medium winds, with all the canvas up that we can muster. That means screacher (huge foresail) and full mainsail. So far Bob's weather routing has been spot on, both in regard to direction of travel and expected wave/wind conditions. Life could hardly be more pleasant ....hence the title of this blog entry "sweet as", one of the favorite NZ colloquialisms we have embraced during our stay. Expected arrival in Fiji, approximately 850 nautical miles N/NE of us, is Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. We will, of course, keep you all posted as the trip progresses. PS: our new windows are AWESOME! Steve, you are a carpentry god!