Passage from French Polynesia to New Zealand

Updates From the Captain’s Log

We left the island of Huahine in French Polynesia for Opua, New Zealand, on October 16, 2020. Below are the daily updates that Max sent to family and friends via satellite, and had posted on our Facebook page.

Departure from Fare, Huahine

We’re off… Settling into the passage. Calm weather, wind 12 knots. That’s Huahine in the background. We still have internet. Only 2155 NM till Opua (Great Circle route).

Spacegrazer Report: Day 01

Time: 1200 Fri 161020 (UTC-10)
Position: 17 29.4S 153 14.6W
Speed (SOG): 6 kts
Course (COG) 253
Last 24hr distance: 119M
Total distance: 119M
Distance to Go (DTG): 2054M
Average speed to date: 5.3kts
Wx: Wind: 6kts waves: 0, air temp: 27.0, water temp: 31.2, cloud: fluffy cumulus with blue sky (1/8)
Remarks:
We are off!
Yesterday at 10:30 we weighed anchor, leaving Huahine together with our friends Sue and Paul on sv Windchase who are also headed to NZ with Milli the boat dog on board.
The sailing was pleasant in a calm 12 knots.
We busted a lure off the south side of Rangiora and saw a whale blowing a good way off at about the same time.
At dusk the wind died down and we put on the donkey (Windchase’s term for the engine) at about 18:30. Apart from a couple of squalls that lasted 15 minutes, last night that brought a lot of rain, wind up to 20 knots, the wind was still. The wind is still slight and I’ve just checked the weather forecast. It seems that the lack of wind will hang around for the next 3-4 days. Nooooo. I don’t want to burn up all our diesel at the beginning of the trip. So we might just have to flop around. We’ll keep motoring until tomorrow morning and then make a decision then.
Kai’s blog: I love you, I hope we see you soon. And I hope there’s good internet where you guys are. XXXOOO.
Zoe’s blog: I don’t really know.
Beau’s blog: I don’t want to write anything.

Spacegrazer Report: Day 02

Time: 1200 Sat 171020 (UTC-10)
Position: 18 06.7S 155 52.7W
Speed (SOG): 5.5 kts
Course (COG) 253
Last 24hr distance: 175M
Total distance: 294M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1897M
Average speed to date: 6.0kts
Average last 24hrs: 7.29 kts
Wx: Wind: 13kts waves: 1.0, air temp: 25.4, water temp: 30.44, cloud: blue bird (0/8)
Remarks:
The last 24 hours have been great sailing. We had about 17 knots of wind and ran broad reach with full main and genoa.
Yesterday Bianca and I were both not the sharpest. Getting into our 3 on 3 off routine takes a while. Last night I took a melatonin pill to help me catch those elusive Z’s. Today we are much more on our game after at least 8 hours sleep each.
The sun is now shining and the wind is around 13 knots. The forecast is for the wind to drop later today. I might be putting the donkey to work. But then I said that yesterday didn’t I?
We are now less than 200M from the Cooks Islands. Unfortunately we can’t stop their because their borders are closed. It’s a place I wanted to see. Maybe next time. It’s feels good that it’s close by and there if we need it in case of emergency. As it turns out it looks like we will be passing through in the night. We have our chart plotter zoomed right in so that we avoid any smaller atolls.
The kids are happy and despite my prompting have nothing to add to today’s report.

Spacegrazer Report: Day 03

Time: 1200 Sun 181020 (UTC-10)
Position: 18 41.7S 158 04.8W
Speed (SOG): 3.0 kts
Course (COG) 248
Last 24hr distance: 132M
Total distance: 426M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1778M
Average speed to date: 5.8kts
Average last 24hrs: 5.5 kts
Wx: Wind: 9kts waves: 0.5, air temp: 26.4, water temp: 30.42, cloud: blue bird (0/8)
Remarks:
The forecasted drop in wind is here. Yesterday evening at about 5pm we switch the donkey on until this morning. A little breeze of about 10 knots is here and we’re crawling along at about 3 knots. That’s about walking pace. With the light forecast for the next few days we don’t want to burn through all our diesel. Anything above 8 knots is manageable with the sails, but under that and the sails just flap hopelessly.
The sun is shining and again there is not a cloud in the sky. B is optimistically wishing for fish to jump on the line. The fish of choice is Mahi Mahi and she cries out ‘Mahi Mahi’ to the world at large.
This morning the kids have been reading, B and I have been playing word games. Yesterday Zoe won the Ludo game with Kai and I. Yesterday’s lunch was corn fritters and today we are doing roast potato and salad. B is going to bake a bread for this evening.
@Tim from Patea – I hope your feeling better. The kids keep asking about Izzi and want to know when you’re going to overtake us?
@Windchase – the kids want to know how Milli is doing?
@Sanctuary – I think we are pretty close. We overtook you in the night with donkey power.
@Baccus – Are you getting these mails?
There are the odd birds flying around. What looked like gannets were diving into the sea yesterday. We haven’t seen flying fish or dolphins yet. At night there is a new moon and in the absence of its light the stars are brilliant in the cloudless sky. First the planets come out, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in the evening and Venus in the morning.
The lower batten in the main has slid out again. It must be just a couple of centimetres short. I tried putting gaffer tape around the end to keep it in place, but to no avail. Also ripped a small tear in the mainsail from the sail bag pole. I’ve put some sail tape on it and lowered the sail bag so that it won’t happen again.
We are only 60M from Manuae, a small still in the Cooks which is inhabited. At the speed we are going we won’t get there till tomorrow. And even then we won’t be stopping.
I hope for some more wind soon…

Spacegrazer Report: Day 04

Time: 1200 Mon 191020 (UTC-10)
Position: 19 19.1S 160 45.8W
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 255
Last 24hr distance: 158M
Total distance: 584M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1637M
Average speed to date: 6.0kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.6 kts
Wx: Wind: 11kts waves: 0.5, air temp: 27.1, water temp: 30.00, cloud: blue bird (0/8)
Remarks:
Another clear blue sky with little wind. The forecast is that tomorrow morning we should get some nice wind for a broad reach. The wind is then forecast to hold until we are almost at NZ in about 2 weeks. Still the forecast for that length of time is full of uncertainties. We shall see.
Yesterday the engine was spluttering a bit and the revs kept coming down. So I changed the secondary fuel filter, which was completely black. It has fixed the issue and hope it holds. I still have another spare, but hopefully won’t have to use it.
In the night we passed Manuae 12M to the north and then a similar distance to the south of Aitutaki atoll. B saw its lighthouse light during her night watch. Always reassuring that these charts that we are using are accurate.
Our next waypoint is Beveridge Reef which lies approximately 130M to the SE of Niue. It’s a fair weather stop only as the reef is submerged and is no longer tenable in winds higher than 25 knots. It’s our intention to use it as an emergency stop only. It’s currently 402M away.
This morning we hooked a fish and slowed the boat to try and bring her in. The rod broke! We are not geared up for the South Pacific.
Kai won yesterday’s session of Ludo. A lot of reading, tablets, and films are going on. The sea is so calm that it’s very comfortable. Most of the hatches are open. Today we are preparing pizza dough for a pizza session tomorrow.
Lunch is stir fried rice and after lunch we’ve got some card games organized. This should help Zoe and Kai focus their energy. At the moment they are bouncing off the walls with an over abundance of zest.
Are we there yet?

Spacegrazer Report: Day 05

Time: 1200 Tue 201020 (UTC-10)
Position: 20 00.1S 163 28.8W
Speed (SOG): 7.5 kts
Course (COG) 255
Last 24hr distance: 160M
Total distance: 744M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1493M
Average speed to date: 6.1kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.6 kts
Wx: Wind: 22kts waves: 1.5, air temp: 22.2, water temp: 29.46, cloud: overcast (8/8)
Remarks:
The predicted wind has filled in and we are sailing again. It’s great to have the engine off. The seas are not yet used to this new wind and there’s a choppy cross sea waves which feels like being a cork set in a washing machine.
The order of the day is to avoid squalls. There are a few here and there. We can pick them up by looking at the clouds and dark patches of rain. Also flicking on the radar now and again helps pick them out, especially at night.
We got a position update from Guy on Sanctuary yesterday. Noticing he was only 15M away I tried to hale home on the radio. Lo and behold he responded. He’s on his way to Bundenberg, Australia. We sailed together and kept radio contact until this morning. He warned us a a squall he was in the middle of with wind ls of 35 knots, which we managed to avoid.
We are cruising along nicely now with a reef in both the main and the genua and wind from about 120, so a nice broad reach. If the forecast is accurate, we should have this for another week. Which will take us nicely past Minerva reef. Another point where we will only stop in case of emergency.
The issue is that if we stop anywhere along the way, the NZ authorities will reset our sea time from that point. Even if it’s an uninhabited reef 300NM from anywhere. If we arrive be in NZ with less than 12 days sea time, they will transport us to a managed isolation facility somewhere in Auckland. The catch 22 is that, if they determine that there is too much growth on the boat in their bio security check then we will also be sent to managed isolation immediately, irrespective of how long we have been at sea. In which case they will clean the boat and we can’t come out of the isolation facility until we return a negative Covid test. Normally we would have stopped in Minerva reef which is 300NM south of Fiji and given the hull a thorough clean. Instead I gave the hull good scrub by division down on it with 3 full scuba tanks (thanks Mike and Jutta). So we’ll just have to sea what the authorities say when we get to Opua. I have booked for a lift and clean to be proactive.
We are now 244 NM from Beveridge reef, which going at this speed, will mean passing sometime tomorrow night.
Fun fact, we are now closer to Opua than we are to Niki Hiva (it’s these small things that keep me happy.)
After having flat seas for the last few days, it’s a bit of an adjustment getting used to the rock ‘n’ roll. Tomorrow should be a bit more settled as the waves adjust, and hopefully less squalls.
I am thankful to Chris Parrish fromTexas, who has on recommendation from from a friend, has reached out and is giving daily weather updates, which until now have been spot on.

Spacegrazer Report: Day 06

Time: 1200 Wed 211020 (UTC-10)
Position: 20 35.1S 168 28.8W
Speed (SOG): 7.5 kts
Course (COG) 255
Last 24hr distance: 174M
Total distance: 918M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1349M
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 7.25 kts
Wx: Wind: 22kts waves: 2.0, air temp: 22.5, water temp: 28.81, cloud: overcast (8/8)
Remarks:
The last 24 hours have been great sailing. At first the wave motion was uncomfortable, but now the waves are more settled and have lined up with the wind. Also they will become more spaced out as this south Pacific trade wind continues from the SE. It’s been another day averaging over 7 knots which always feels good.
The weather is overcast and there have been no squalls. The dip in temperature has bought a change in wardrobe on the good ship Spacegrazer. He kids were terribly excited in putting on T-shirts and long trousers and socks. A novelty after spending the last year in the tropics. B, always a barometer for changing weather even had shoes on yesterday and on her night shift got out the wet weather overalls. I can’t imagine what she’s going to have left to out on as we head further south. I mean, we haven’t yet crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and the whole wardrobe seems to be out. Prepared as always, B got the duvets and blankets for the bedding out from storage and ready to use before we departed.
My layer of hair is insulation enough it seems. Am hirsute or do I have a hair suit?
Tonight we will pass about 50NM to the south of Beveridge reef (For the landlubbers a nautical mile (NM) is 1,852 metres. So if you want to convert from NM to Km a quick method is to double it then take off 15%. Or from Miles add about 15%.) and continue tracking towards Minerva reef.
Due to yesterday’s lumpy sea, pizza was postponed, and is back on the menu today. We are talking Kai out of putting coconut on his topping.
Beau said today that he was surprised that we’d been at sea for 6 days, saying it only felt like a couple. We are so lucky that the kids are happy campers at sea. To them it’s just another day. They sleep fantastically at night. We send them to bed to read books just before sunset and they spring out of bed like fully loaded Durecell bunnies around sun rise. Their body clock keeping rhythm with the change in sun rise and set times as we head west…

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Spacegrazer Report: Day 07

Time: 1200 Thu 221020 (UTC-10)
Position: 21 12.8S 169 07.0W
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 255
Last 24hr distance: 155M
Total distance: 1073M
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1214M
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.45 kts
Wx: Wind: 15kts waves: 1.5, air temp: 21.6, water temp: 27.42, cloud: overcast (8/8)
Remarks:
We’ve been at sea for a week now and ticked passed the 1,000 NM in the last 24 hours.
It’s still overcast, only the wind has dropped to a calmer 15 knots. Earlier it was down to less than 7 and I was worried that it would die completely. Still we are cruising along nicely at 6.5 knots. We shook out the reed this morning. The weather forecast looks like we’ll have similar conditions tomorrow.
Last night we passed underneath Beveridge Reef at a distance of 50NM. Our next waypoint is Minerva Reef north. Apparently there is a dispute between Fiji and Tonga as to whom it belongs. Being hundreds of miles from either is neither here nor there. A story goes that Tonga erected navigational lights to the entrance of the reef and Fiji removed them all.
Tonga is just over 300NM away and I guess we could use that as an emergency stop also if needed. I know of a couple of other boats that were granted 72 hours to either rest or do repairs. Of course normally, e.g. in the times before the C-word (will we ever get back to that point?) one could just turn up at all of these places and check in.
We will cross the International Date Line (IDL) in the next 48 hours as we cross the 172.5W longitude (thanks dad for the coordinates). The IDL doesn’t sit just on the 180 E/W longitude, but curves around various countries. Time, it seems does bend to the political machinations of government. Crossing this will mean that we don’t experience 24 hours from ever happening, like a massive spring forward. Does this mean we’ll live a day longer?
The pizza yesterday was a hit. Smoother conditions today will make for further galley gatherings around the oven today.

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 08

Time: 1200 Fri 231020 (UTC-10)
Position: 21 55.8S 171 38.1W
Speed (SOG): 7.0 kts
Course (COG) 250
Last 24hr distance: 151NM
Total distance: 1222NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 1090
NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.29 kts
Wx: Wind: 22kts waves: 2.0, air temp: 18.7, water temp: 27.60, cloud: overcast (8/8)
Remarks:
As I write, it is raining. Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and it was fab. The night was quiet and the wind dipped to around 10 knots. This morning it came back up to 20 with gusts to 25 and Spacegrazer became a bronco horse until we reefed her down and now she’s settled nicely. The seas are somewhat more confused than yesterday and the wind is predicted to stay like this for the next few days. Which means we can continue our assault on the miles to go.
Yesterday I was deciding as to when we should turn left. Go directly to Opua, and we get there quicker (1.5 days quicker). The trouble is that under 20 degrees south the weather is variable and the wind can swing around to a westerly or southwesterly, which would mean going against the wind. Something I am keen to avoid.
So we’re taking the more conservative route that is recomended by Jimmy Cornell is his book of World Sailing Routes, which is to go for a waypoint (24 00.0S 178 00.0W) about 20NM east of Minerva Reef and then turn left from there. That’s now under 375NM away.
There are couple of additional advantages to this than going directly to Opua. The weather forecast I’m looking at suggests that we would run into a calm patch if we were to go direct. This would mean days of motoring. Also, it’s good to have Minerva Reef as refuge if required.
Once we get to our Go Left Waypoint we will have another look at the forecast and decide if we will go direct to Opua from there or to an further waypoint (30 00.0S 175 00.0E) roughly 300NM NNE of New Zealand’s North Cape. This gives us more westing as insurance against a westerly.
We decided that tomorrow we will have a party to celebrate several things that will happen over the next 24 hours;

• passing halfway mark (total number of miles)
• crossing the International Date Line
• crossing the Tropic of Capricorn
• under 1,000NM to go (great circle route.)
• There will be cake!

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 09

Time: 1100 Sun 251020 (UTC+13)
Position: 22 56.0S 174 00.8W
Speed (SOG): 6.0 kts
Course (COG) 245
Last 24hr distance: 147NM
Total distance: 1369NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 958NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.13 kts
Wx: Wind: 23kts waves: 2.5, air temp: 22.2, water temp: 27.04, cloud: a bit of blue sky (6/8)
Remarks:
Bugger I just wrote a nice whole piece about the last 24 hours and it got swallowed by the beast. Could it be anything to do with the fact that last night we crept over an invisible imaginary line that teleported us into the future?
Beau’s reaction to going to bed on Friday and waking up Sunday, ‘yeah that’s weird’, said in the dissing non-plussed monotone voice of a boy beyond his years.
Let them eat cake!
Yes, I can happily report that I just stepped out of a glorious hot shower. I have also set Kai and Zoe onto the task of, ‘who can take the best photo of the cake?’ They are running up and down the companionway showing me snaps of cake taken at obscure angles. Zoe hasn’t got a shot of the full cake in frame. Bless.
We are in Party mode on the good ship Spacegrazer. We’re over halfway, Opua is closer than 1,000NM, and we did that time travel thing. Crossing the Tropic of Capricon is moved to tomorrow’s to do list.
We’ve skipped setting our clocks to Chatham Time. No offence to the hardy breed of kiwis manning (and womanning) New Zealand’s eastern outpost, and moved straight onto mainland time.
We have cake!
The waves have built and at 3m, tomorrow is forecast to be the highest wind and waves of the trip so far. Spacegrazer and her crew are settled into this and enjoying the ride. We’ve had a bit of adverse current but that is due to change today with the current setting to the west up to 1 knot.
We altered course slightly as we approach the Tonga Ridge to avoid any possible weird wave action due to shallow (60m) water. The Tonga Ridge is where 2 of the earth’s plates intermingle and heap mind boggling pressure on one another.
Apparently we are in spitting distance to the Horizon Deep, which at 23.25833°S 174.726667°W, is 10,800 ± 10 m (35,433 ± 33 ft) deep, making it the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere (thanks dad and Wikipedia).
Did I mention we have cake?
Whoop! Whoop!
Party on…

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Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 10

Time: 1100 Mon 261020 (UTC+13)
Position: 24 06.0S 176 25.1W
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 240
Last 24hr distance: 151NM
Total distance: 1520NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 824NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.04 kts
Wx: Wind: 25kts waves: 3.0, air temp: 21.9, water temp: 27.34, cloud: cumulus with half broken blue (4/8)
Remarks:
The sun is shining! Yes! The sea is a lively unbroken young mare, wanting to break free, yet lacking the strength to completely unshackle herself. We have sustained winds of 25 with gusts up to 30. Still riding with a single reef in the main (there are only 2 reefs so it’s more like 1.5 reefs) and have put a few more rolls on the genua. Spacegrazer is riding the waves like a trooper. When your down below the movement doesn’t match the visual of coming up onto the cockpit and seeing waves rise up to above the height of our solar arch. Today is forecast as the most wind and waves for the whole trip.
We are also over the ‘shallows’ of the Tanga Ridge which is no doubt playing with the waves also.
Yesterday evening the wind veered more to the east and so to maintain speed and avoid the flogging of the sails from a downwind run we turned 15 degrees to port, now a sharper angle pointing more to NZ. It’s still tempting to head direct to Opua, but we will, for today at least stick to the strategy of westing before making our final descent.
We are now further south than Minerva Reefs and the chart tells me we are a day or so away from entering New Zealand’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) which is 600NM around NZ.
If the forecast holds true we should arrive in Opua in approximately a week from today, Monday 2 Nov. I sent NZ customs an email of 7 days notice as a courtesy to the previous forms I’ve submitted, and will send another when we are 48 hours out.
B and the kids are all good. We are into our passage rhythm now. It’s just about being in the present and enjoying the moment. A lot of reading, audio books, tablets, films and series being consumed. The kids sleep solidly during the night and B and I are on 3 hours on and 3 hours off watches, it works for us.
I am about to dish up the last of yesterday’s cake to the kids…

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 11

Time: 1100 Tue 271020 (UTC+13)
Position: 25 49.2S 178 42.2W
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 212
Last 24hr distance: 164NM
Total distance: 1684NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 676NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.83 kts
Wx: Wind: 18kts waves: 2.5, air temp: 20.3, water temp: 25.38, cloud: fluffy cumulus with lots of blue (3/8)
Remarks:
Yesterday afternoon was fun. The wind picked up with gusts up to 34 knots. The waves built up with some waves bigger than 4m. We had some slamming into the side of the boat. Luckily we have a tent that wraps around the cockpit so we all stayed dry. Only now and again a rogue wave would find its way through and we got a bit of water through our aft cabin porthole that opens to the cockpit. Nothing that a single towel couldn’t mop up. We haven’t had that before.
Today the wind and the seas are calming down, and due to grow less and less over the next days. Looking at the forecast we feel good about the weather staying from the east, so we have pointed the bow straight for Opua. Whoop whoop!
This morning I loaded the chart plotter with the charts for NZ. Yesterday we covered good ground and I anticipate similar distances in the next 48 hours. So we have an updated ETA of Sunday 01 November in the morning. Still there’s a ways to go and with sailing this ETA is very tentative.
As I write, Beau is reading . He finished the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Roald Dahl books. B and I both shared a smile and recognised that feeling of desperation of being between books as he finished his last Percy Jackson book and needed something else to sink his teeth into. After a couple of false starts he’s settled on the Last Olympian series.
Kai and Zoe have pulled all the cushions off the sofas below, piled them up on top of each other and climbing up the walls in the hallway and jumping onto the cushions.
When asked, the kids are more excited about arriving in NZ than Halloween. High expectations indeed!
B and I spent a good deal of the morning playing a word game on her phone and talking about what food we need to eat our way through before arriving in New Zealand. Fresh fruit and veggies, dairy products and honey seem to be on the top of NZ’s no no list. It’s such a shame that we are going to have to eat up all the chocolate I found in the bottom of our fridge. Really upsetting. Imagine how disappointed the kids will be as I starting doling it out…
We haven’t caught up on any international news since we departed, with the exception of the NZ election results and that we heard the Netherlands is going back into locked. I’m sure the world has managed in our absence, I know we have done ok in the absence of any news.
Apart from Windchase, who we left with together in Huahine and are also headed for Opua, and Sanctuary – headed for Australia, we haven’t seen any other boats in the entire trip. Wildlife has been scant (apart from the whales in the beginning), no dolphins and only a few birds (yesterday we saw a few) and half a dozen kamikaze flying fish.
Good luck to Patea and Bacchus who are, weather permitting, setting out today from Bora Bora to Opua. We are going to have a great party once everyone arrives…
@Patea – when should we start seeing these NZ albatrosses that you mentioned?
Now we are heading south the weather is getting cooler. Ever the barometer, B pulled out the duvets, it’s a sign we are getting closer…

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 12

Time: 1100 Wed 281020 (UTC+13)
Position: 28 05.7S 179 37.9E
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 212
Last 24hr distance: 163NM
Total distance: 1848NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 507NM
Average speed to date: 6.4kts
Average last 24hrs: 6.79 kts
Wx: Wind: 16kts waves: 2.0, air temp: 19.0, water temp: 24.56, cloud: fluffy cumulus with lots of sunny blue sky (2/8)
Remarks:
We’ve crossed over to the east side. Another imaginary line crossing. Now we get to watch the longitude numbers run down instead of up. It’s nearly 2 years since we crossed the 0 longitude on our way to Gibraltar. Spacegrazer has now sailed the four ‘corners’ of the world. NE/NW/SW/SE. Whoop whoop!
The weather is glorious. I think it will be the last day of sunshine as the forecast is for more clouds from tomorrow until we get to Opua. Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything.
Spacegrazer feels like an endurance horse that smells the finish line waiting for her over the next rise. The wind is between 15-18 knots,the wind from 70-80 degress off the port now, we are close reaching and it’s a lovely angle. I was thinking about shaking out the reef this morning, but frankly I can’t be bothered. The boats motion is fine, we are not heeled over too much. We still doing 6.5 knots. Our current ETA is just before dawn on Sunday morning. So there is no sense in going faster, if anything we will be slowing down on the last day to make sure we arrive during the morning daylight. We don’t want to have to wake up any poor officials early on a Sunday morning. Besides, there’s no point overstressing the rig or the crew as we enter the final stretch.
The water maker is now on the things to fix list. I couldn’t make any water yesterday. It’s not been working properly since Panama when the booster stopped working properly. No dramas. We still have lots of water.
@Windchase – love the good and bad inventions. Especially the gimballed water bowl (for their dog) as good invention and conversely as a terrible app a Sleep App of the sound inside a boat during 30kt winds and 3.5m waves.
@Patea and Bacchus – have you guys left yet? Fair winds if you have…
The kids have been doing art this morning making Halloween themed pictures. How they love their gore and ghouls. Zombie jokes are so hot right now.

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 13

Time: 1100 Thu 291020 (UTC+13)
Position: 29 46.4S 178 15.8E
Speed (SOG): 6.0 kts
Course (COG) 212
Last 24hr distance: 125NM
Total distance: 1973NM
Distance to Opua (great circle): 383NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 5.21 kts
Wx: Wind: 7kts waves: 0.5, air temp: 18.5, water temp: 24.02, cloud: fluffy stratuscumulus with big blue patches (5/8)
Remarks:
Are we there yet?
The excitement onboard the good ship Spacegrazer has been quietly simmering and stewing the closer we get. Let me tell you, today it’s positively frothing over. I got to speak to my sister Ami, who celebrates her 50th today (she’ll love me for posting this). Amazing to be out here in the big blue for weeks at end and then have a familiar and loved voice on the phone. Then I rang my folks and had a natter with them. Marvelous.
As forecast, the wind has died down over the last 24 hours and this morning we put the donkey on for the first time since the Cooks. It should pick up again this afternoon and carry enough wind to see us over the finish line. For now we are enjoying the sun and smooth seas. This morning I had Kai on my lap as we watched the sunrise over the horizon. Standing on the shoulders of giants, we know on any given day the exact time the sun and moon will rise or set over the horizon, just by looking at the chart plotter. So it’s a fun game with the kids to watch the sun come up and to be able to tell them in exactly 3 minutes this bright orange ball of fire will appear over the horizon. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it happen, but it remains a bit of magic each time, an absolute wonder.
This pondering of the big stuff and approaching NZ has me thinking about the first people to arrive in NZ. What amazing explorers they were. Sailing for miles in their huge wakas (canoes), navigating by the sun and the stars alone. The fact that nearly all the Polynesian islands got populated is staggering, NZ was the last by all accounts.
We still have chocolate to finish. It’s a struggle…

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 14

Time: 1100 Fri 301020 (UTC+13)
Position: 31 57.5S 176 42.2E
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 212
Last 24hr distance: 139NM
Total distance: 2112NM
Distance to Opua: 230NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 5.79 kts
Wx: Wind: 16.5kts waves: 1.0, air temp: 17.0, water temp: 23.28, cloud: grey wet tea bag (8/8)

Remarks:

Holy penguins Batman, it’s cold!

Two weeks at sea.

B has been doing her night shifts in about 163 layers of clothing including her wet weather gear. Last night, it got down to 14.5 C. Apart from donning my ubiquitous boxers and T-Shirt, I resorted to socks. Socks! We are not in the tropics any more.

The sky has dissolved into a grey wet tea bag, with intermittent rain flurries. There is so little sun, I’ve had to put the generator on this morning, as the solar panels are starved of photons to do their magic. It’s so cold, if you let the air touch your skin, it recoils in shock. I’m searching for long trousers…

The good news is that we have 2 more sleeps to go. I’ve sent off the courtesy 48 hours Advanced Notice of Arrival (ANA) email to NZ customs.

The crew onboard the good ship Spacegrazer (TGSS), with now hope of a good vista and avoiding above deck frostbite are now mostly congregating below decks. The kids are busy with Halloween activities for tomorrow.

B and I, continue our 3 on 3 off watch system. As such we are out of synch with each others day. As an example, I started my 9am shift this morning an the kids were watching a film. So to fit in with their morning, for breakfast, I had a cup of tea and a bowl of popcorn. I know right?

In an effort to finish off the last of our veggies, I’ve been chopping onions for French onion soup.

And yes, we still have chocolate…

Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 15

Time: 1100 Sat 311020 (UTC+13)
Position: 33 49.0S 175 38.6E
Speed (SOG): 6.5 kts
Course (COG) 221
Last 24hr distance: 115NM
Total distance: 2227NM
Distance to Opua: 109NM
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 24hrs: 4.79 kts
Wx: Wind: 12.0kts waves: 0.5, air temp: 19.2, water temp: 22.51, cloud: stratus cumulus (4/8)

Remarks:

The kids are high on Halloween candy, or lollies (in Nuw Zillund speak). The boat is decorated with ghosts and ghouls and the kids have been dressing up. Beau discovered that the costume we bought last year is too small for him. Fun fact, apparently (thanks mum), this is the first full moon on Halloween since 1944. I don’t suppose many of us remember that one.

Yesterday was a slow sail with the wind dropping off. At about 3 this morning I switched the donkey on as the wind faltered. About half an hour ago we went back onto stealth mode. We threw in the first and only gybe last night and are now on a starboard tack. Incidentally, we have done zero tacks. A sure sign of consistent wind.

Despite having only 12 knots of wind, I’ve kept a reef in, to keep our speed down, so that we can get to Opua comfortably in daylight hours. Mum and dad are driving up to Opua to see us sail in and are staying in an Air BnB close to the marina. Hopefully we can get processed through quarantine quickly.

B spoke to her folks this morning. Sounds like Europe is being hit hard with Corona and talks of further restrictions.

Sleep is pretty near the top of my list of nice things to have. I haven’t slept much the last few days. Last night we had the wind from astern and I couldn’t get the sail to sit without clattering. I don’t want to jinx it, but let me just say that all in all its been a really pleasant passage. We’ve been really lucky with the weather and not run into any low troughs or head winds.

We passed a bit of a milestone earlier with 25K NM on the Spacegrazer log. Tradition has it that you earn a swallow tattoo for every 5K sailed. Am I breaking a few laws if I get the kids inked?

The radar wasn’t working earlier. I checked the fuse, took it out put it back in again and the thing worked again. If only they were all so easy.

A bath. A bath is also in my top 10 things to look for right now. I can’t remember the last time I had a bath, but I really want one right now. In the meantime, today’s focus will be tidying up, showering, shaving and getting ourselves ready for landfall.

The remainder of our uneaten vegetables got tossed into the deep blue this morning. Getting ready for the strict NZ customs.

One more sleep (if intermittent sleeps of less than 3 hours constitutes actual sleeping)…

We actually really still do have chocolate…

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Spacegrazer Captain’s Blog: Day 16

Time: 1100 Sun 011120 (UTC+13)
Position: 35 18.9S 174 07.4E
Speed (SOG): N/A
Course (COG) N/A
Last 21 hr distance: 117NM
Total distance: 2344NM
Distance to Opua: 0
Average speed to date: 6.3kts
Average last 21hrs: 5.57 kts
Wx: Wind: 6.0kts waves: 0..0, air temp: 21.6, water temp: 24.65, cloud: cumulus (4/8)

Remarks:

NZ baby!

We are here in Opua.

Unbelievable!

Yesterday afternoon was a gorgeous sail with calm seas. Early this morning we motor sailed into the Bay of Islands (BOI) as the wind swing around and came from ahead.

As I was radioing Maritime Radio, sv Quokka 2, who we met in Niki Hiva came in on the radio and said they are a few hours behind us.

This morning we had a beautiful sunrise as we entered the BOI. Mum and dad were waving from the shore and watched us enter the marina and dock on the quarantine dock which is isolated from all the other boats.

We’ve since had customs come and we’ve cleared all the paperwork (I think). We now need to wait until tomorrow to do a Covid test. Hopefully on Wednesday we should get the results from that and we will be able to clear quarantine. Then we can go and see mum and dad and walk about. Until that time we are not allowed off the boat. Easy. The hard part has been done.

Thanks to Callie for doing the FB posts.

Thanks to Chris for sending the weather updates.

Now to catch up on some sleep…

And yes, we finished all the chocolate!

Thanks for voyaging virtually with us,

The Spaced-out-grazers

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