We made it to Aotearoa (New Zealand) safe and sound after 10 days and 16 hours at sea, including a 40-hour stopover at North Minerva Reef. We covered 1,227.4 nautical miles from our departure in Neiafu, Kingdom of Tonga to Opua, Aotearoa. Below are some details from our passage.
- Fastest Day: October 18, 185.1 nautical miles (NEW RECORD FOR US!)
- Slowest Day: October 25, 118.9 nautical miles
- Hours motorsailing/motoring: 29
- Gallons diesel used: 35
- Vessels seen at Minerva Reef: 13
- Vessels seen while sailing: 1
- Flying fish in cockpit: 1
- Squid in cockpit: 2
- Crew in ocean scrubbing hull: 2
- Pizza parties: 1
- Days wearing shoes: 2
- Blankets used in cockpit on night watch: 3
- Repairs completed underway: 4
Our friend Josh was a great crew member. He learned to sail on this passage, often reminding us that the first time he raised a sail was departing Tonga, and kept everyone’s spirits high with his ridiculous jokes and can-do positive attitude. It makes such a difference to complete long passages among three friends! When not bouncing around in rough seas, we all were able to get enough sleep to actually feel pretty good upon arrival at 2:20am on October 27. Here are some thoughts from our logbook and Kris’ journal throughout the passage:
October 17: Cleared customs. Depart Tonga. Motorsailing out of Vava’u Group. Engine off at 12:50. Champagne sailing!!! Fast sailing! Swell starting to pick up. Main at 1st reef. Reefed the jib. Mix of stars & clouds. A little bouncy. Fast sailing. Amazing stars & bioluminescence. Saw Kao & Tofua volcanoes!
October 18: The sea state has really picked up in the last 20 hours. We watched the waves grow from 1.5 to 2 to 2.5 to 3 meters. Not so fun, but also not the worst. Wind is still around 20 knots. We’re making great time, only about 195 nm to go to North Minerva. It will be close to be there by dark, but there are not really other options at this point aside from heaving to outside the reef for 11 hours. Mark & I also passed 10,000 nm of our circumnavigation! It’s exciting, but also reminds me of the equator crossing – intense conditions where we need to reef rather than celebrate.
October 19: Bilge pump use. Stubbed toe. Ran dry bilge pump 2 more times. Bumpy ride. Ran dry bilge pump once. Still sporty out here. Calmer at sunrise but increased. Sporty. Deck getting pooped a lot. Bilge pump running. Calming a little. Anchored in North Minerva Reef!
October 20: We made it in about an hour before sunset yesterday. It was an eerie approach. We were about 5 nm out when we could see a few masts. We only saw the waves breaking on the reef about 3nm out. Our charts and GPS told us where the reef was, but it was odd to wait such a long time to see any indication of it. We typically see land between 10 and 30 nm out. There is no land to see here, just a disruption in the waves. It is absolutely one of the strangest places I’ve anchored. Inside the depths max around 60 feet, outside its around 4,000 feet.
October 21: Weighed anchor. Off to New Zealand! Found and fixed leaky loose bolts on Hydrovane base. Slightly calming conditions. Suns out. Cloudy. Getting colder. Bilge alarm intermittent. Flying fish landed in cockpit! Countdown to the Eastern Hemisphere!
October 22: The ocean is really beautiful this morning. The wind died down, leaving us with gentle rollers. The sun is shining brightly as it rises in the morning sky. Yesterday was quite overcast, so it’s nice to have this change. Change is always certain at sea. We’re only making 5.5 knots instead of 7.5, but we’re cruising along and all is well. Except the water intrusion, I suppose. But the pumps are keeping up and we plan to pull the Hydrovane rudder once everyone is up and about this morning.
October 23: Sparkling bioluminescence. Lovely calm sail. Slow going. Smooth sailing. Dead downwind. Main only. Removed hydrovane rudder and vane, tightened bolts again, drained bilge. Cooling off. Started engine. Motorsailing and rain.
October 24: Clouds rolled back in. Fog bank. Winds increased. Rain. Washing machine waves. Cold. Chilly. Drizzly. Smooth downwind sail. Sun trying to poke out. Rain came through. Passing through unforecasted mini-low. Misting. Sail change. Wind shift.
October 25: It’s a gloriously sunny and rowdy morning out here today. This sunshine and blue sky is a welcome sight, even if it comes with 2 meter waves on a short period on the beam. It was blowing in the high 20s overnight but has dropped down to a steady 20 knots now. We have one reef in the jib and two in the main. We’re cruising along at over 7 knots. The waves are really crashing over the deck. We’ve had a few splashes leak through the hatches and the aft portion of the cockpit is a big splash zone. Mark & I just reviewed the weather forecast. Looks like we’ll be in these lively conditions until this afternoon, or more likely until midnight. It’s not bad though, just have to hold on with 2 hands or stay seated.
October 26: Nice stars. So cold. Motoring into it. Squid in cockpit. Still pounding into swell. Motor off. Jib and full main. Beautiful morning. Great sailing conditions. Rain. Squalls stole wind. Wind came back! Through squall line. Fast sailing. LAND HOOOOOOO @ sunset. Bright moon and stars. Land glow ahead.
October 27: Checked in with NZ Maritime Radio. Shooting star. 2:20am, tied to Quarantine Dock in Opua, NEW ZEALAND!
You may have noticed some notes about the bilge pump running and water intrusion. This was our first passage where we had constant water intrusion for multiple days. We were first tipped off to it because our low bilge pump alarm was going off and the pump was running over and over. Our bilge pump counter was hitting 30-40 and even over 100 at times. We would run the dry bilge pump to completely drain the bilge, and then less than an hour later the water level in the bilge would rise up and trigger the low bilge pump (and alarm and counter). Prior to this Kris had thought it would be terrifying to know water is coming in the boat, in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from safe harbor. But it wasn’t. We were actively paying attention, the pumps were keeping up, and Mark was in the aft lazarette area behind the steering column constantly checking for the source. At first we thought the rudder post grease had run thin and the high sea state was forcing water in around the rudder. This had happened once before and adding grease solves that issue. At Minerva Reef, Mark added new grease to the rudder post and we thought the problem was solved. Not even 10 nautical miles out of the reef and our low bilge pump alarm was going off again. Watching the aft area below deck again showed us that the leak was actually coming in around the bolts that connect the Hydrovane to the stern. Mark was able to tighten the bolts a bit from the inside using long extenders. However in the high sea state it was not safe to have someone holding the bolts on the exterior of the stern so we could not get them as tight as we needed. Watching more, we observed that the high sea state forces hitting the rudder of the Hydrovane were continuously working the bolts loose. We waited for calm weather and removed the rudder to take the pressure off the bolts. Then Josh stood on the stern holding the bolts while Mark crawled underneath with the extenders for a final tightening. That did it! We ran the dry bilge pump and now there is only a very minor drip that causes the low bilge pump to run once or twice a day. When we haul out in a few months we’ll pull the bolts and apply a sealant for the final fix, but for now we’re set.
Passages can be rough with intense weather and unanticipated problems, but they are also amazingly rewarding with views and experiences you cannot get anywhere else. There is no other sense of accomplishment quite like that when pulling into port after days or weeks at sea. We’re so happy to be here in Aotearoa and look forward to exploring this southernmost part of Polynesia over the coming months.
Next Stops: Anchorages throughout the Bay of Islands
I love reading your travel log and seeing the great smiles. Enjoy the next part of this adventure.
Wow! Good to see you all made it safely to New Zealand! Congratulations!
Not sure how you could handle the filling bilge in real time. Frightening just reading about it. I will be in the Philippines in March. Any chance you will be?
Congratulations, again, on another successful passage and landfall. Love watching your videos and reading this blog and remembering the feel of passage-making. Eric and I were in the Bay of Islands with John Neal and his wife Paivi last December, his last expedition sail in NZ. I’m on my way to South Africa to sail around Cape of Good Hope in World ARC, leg 11, on Mahina Tiara III now owned by Ken Denholm. Small world!