21° 44' S 177° 25' E
Water Temp: 78
Distance to go: 825nm (from start, 1140nm)
The trip has been generally full of beautiful sailing so far. Luckness is currently sailing upwind at 4 knots in around 8 knots of wind in a gentle sea. The wind has varied from 4 or 5 up to around 15 knots, as I expected, the start of this passage has been generally light wind - all upwind sailing so far.
Last night at 1am the wind dropped from 8-10 to 4-5, which left me going slow enough to lose steerage - which is rather annoying. I reduced sail thinking I would raise the spinnaker when it got light the next morning, but by 6am I woke after a sleep cycle to find Luckness making our way toward New Zealand at 4 knots in light wind again.
The sun is just starting to peek out of the eastern horizon in a clear sky, it has been a beautiful night full of stars.
All is well aboard!
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Leaving Fiji - for real this time
I'm about to depart Savusau, Fiji for New Zealand. I'm expecting this to be a relatively slow trip, but I don't see anything serious in the forecast and I would rather get out of here and start my journey than wait for the 'perfect' weather window - which may never arrive.
I'll try to send a few updates along the way, maybe. As always, if there are no updates, nobody panic. Ok?
I'm looking forward to being in New Zealand again!
I'll try to send a few updates along the way, maybe. As always, if there are no updates, nobody panic. Ok?
I'm looking forward to being in New Zealand again!
Monday, November 2, 2015
Leaving Fiji ! Someday.
I try not to edit old posts in my blog in any major way. One example of this is that I leave spelling and grammatical mistakes in posts I make while on passage - on a passage you get tired and spelling takes a hit. I also try not to edit old posts when I change my mind - this blog is a peek into my cruising life, not a complete one, but still a little view of what its like "out there." Or what its like for me, anyway. So, while I was tempted to delete my previous post, I'm not going to - I've changed my mind. It happens.
Yesterday I had convinced myself that I would leave Fiji today for my passage to New Zealand. I also mentioned that this would have been my first passage where I didn't really like the weather window but was planning to launch into it anyway. I was feeling some schedule pressure - there is a Cruisers Rally in Opua, New Zealand from Nov 16-22. I was there for it last year and it was a fun social time. If I leave today, I would be there for the rally, but likely after a slow and possibly frustrating trip.
Todays GRIB files (weather forecasts) for both GFS and CMC are showing a nice weather window if I leave next Monday, 6 days from now. The winds become much more uniform over the whole area between Fiji and NZ. Also, the spinning low what has been deepening with each new forecast, a little east of my track, appearing on Friday would no longer be a concern.
I'll leave Fiji eventually - but not today.
Yesterday I had convinced myself that I would leave Fiji today for my passage to New Zealand. I also mentioned that this would have been my first passage where I didn't really like the weather window but was planning to launch into it anyway. I was feeling some schedule pressure - there is a Cruisers Rally in Opua, New Zealand from Nov 16-22. I was there for it last year and it was a fun social time. If I leave today, I would be there for the rally, but likely after a slow and possibly frustrating trip.
Todays GRIB files (weather forecasts) for both GFS and CMC are showing a nice weather window if I leave next Monday, 6 days from now. The winds become much more uniform over the whole area between Fiji and NZ. Also, the spinning low what has been deepening with each new forecast, a little east of my track, appearing on Friday would no longer be a concern.
I'll leave Fiji eventually - but not today.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Leaving Fiji for NZ. Maybe.
Well, after almost four months in Fiji, I may actually leave tomorrow (Nov 3rd local, 2nd in North America.)
Its been a good stay and I've enjoyed the country, but after four months I feel like its time to move along and am looking forward to being back in New Zealand for a while.
I've been watching the weather lately, trying to find a good opportunity to leave - and while the opportunity with my leaving tomorrow is by no means perfect, I think its reasonable. This departure is a little unusual for me though.
Normally before departing on a passage, I like to study the weather and develop a strategy for how I'll play what I'll see - trying to time my departure so that I at least have a good initial sail with an expectation that what follows will be reasonable. So far, this has paid off for me - I've sailed all of my passages so far, only motoring for very short periods. This is the first passage where I'm leaving and basically just hoping for the best. I don't see anything to worry about in the forecast - no strong weather systems, no cyclone. Rather, the wind looks very light and this could end up being a very long passage.
Normally, the systems between Australia and New Zealand are migratory - there is a steady stream of high followed by low, followed by high, etc, over and over. Last year when I sailed between Tonga and New Zealand that was the pattern - and I played the game where I tried to time my departure so that I arrived on the back side of a high, took the following front above 30S (where its not as strong) and then sailing into New Zealand on the back of the front. It worked out pretty well.
This year, there is a large area between the tropics and New Zealand where a large high has basically filled in and is not budging. For those that know him (or of him) Bob McDavitt describes this as:
Leaving now looks like it may be annoying, slow and long, but it should be nice to be out on the big ocean again. I hope.
So for this passage, basically I'm going to launch myself hoping to clear land before the wind runs out, bob around in calms for a while and then sail where ever and whenever I can, making the best time possible toward New Zealand. I have lots of food and water. I'll find out what the limits of my patience are: do I end up motoring and burning most of my fuel or taking a long time to get there, having sailed most of the way... stay tuned to find out
Right now, it looks like I will have ok wind for the first 36 hours, and then pretty much nothing for at least 24, and then it'll be scrappy, sailing here and there looking for pockets of wind to fill in. The first 36 hours should see me clear of all land, and after that, I can bob around until my patience runs out or wind arrives. If the forecast changes in the morning such that I won't be able to sail out of where I am, I'll probably delay - as I don't want to start an 1100nm passage by motoring for the first 24 hours...
These are the types of problems I have to deal with these days. I wait around in a beautiful and friendly country hoping the weather systems south of me get organized. A cruising friend of mine has a category for this type of thing: high class problems.
As always, I'll try to blog along the way, from time to time. If the blog updates stop - nobody panic. Things happen with fragile electronics in marine environments.
Its been a good stay and I've enjoyed the country, but after four months I feel like its time to move along and am looking forward to being back in New Zealand for a while.
I've been watching the weather lately, trying to find a good opportunity to leave - and while the opportunity with my leaving tomorrow is by no means perfect, I think its reasonable. This departure is a little unusual for me though.
Normally before departing on a passage, I like to study the weather and develop a strategy for how I'll play what I'll see - trying to time my departure so that I at least have a good initial sail with an expectation that what follows will be reasonable. So far, this has paid off for me - I've sailed all of my passages so far, only motoring for very short periods. This is the first passage where I'm leaving and basically just hoping for the best. I don't see anything to worry about in the forecast - no strong weather systems, no cyclone. Rather, the wind looks very light and this could end up being a very long passage.
Normally, the systems between Australia and New Zealand are migratory - there is a steady stream of high followed by low, followed by high, etc, over and over. Last year when I sailed between Tonga and New Zealand that was the pattern - and I played the game where I tried to time my departure so that I arrived on the back side of a high, took the following front above 30S (where its not as strong) and then sailing into New Zealand on the back of the front. It worked out pretty well.
This year, there is a large area between the tropics and New Zealand where a large high has basically filled in and is not budging. For those that know him (or of him) Bob McDavitt describes this as:
STR= Sub-tropical Ridge
It looks to me like I can either leave now, or wait until the middle of the month or so - and then take whatever comes. i.e. there is no guarantee that I'll like what I see after the middle of the month any better than what I have now.The axis of the STR is strong along 30S from north of NZ to south of Pitcairn Island. Strong enough to provide a zone of light winds for yachts heading to NZ from the tropics. Nothing much can be done about this except for motoring in light winds. The pattern seems to be in place until at least mid-month.
Leaving now looks like it may be annoying, slow and long, but it should be nice to be out on the big ocean again. I hope.
So for this passage, basically I'm going to launch myself hoping to clear land before the wind runs out, bob around in calms for a while and then sail where ever and whenever I can, making the best time possible toward New Zealand. I have lots of food and water. I'll find out what the limits of my patience are: do I end up motoring and burning most of my fuel or taking a long time to get there, having sailed most of the way... stay tuned to find out
Right now, it looks like I will have ok wind for the first 36 hours, and then pretty much nothing for at least 24, and then it'll be scrappy, sailing here and there looking for pockets of wind to fill in. The first 36 hours should see me clear of all land, and after that, I can bob around until my patience runs out or wind arrives. If the forecast changes in the morning such that I won't be able to sail out of where I am, I'll probably delay - as I don't want to start an 1100nm passage by motoring for the first 24 hours...
These are the types of problems I have to deal with these days. I wait around in a beautiful and friendly country hoping the weather systems south of me get organized. A cruising friend of mine has a category for this type of thing: high class problems.
As always, I'll try to blog along the way, from time to time. If the blog updates stop - nobody panic. Things happen with fragile electronics in marine environments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)