S 18° 39.430, W 173° 58.977 We arrived safe and sound in Vava’u after an epic sail from NZ to Tonga. This time, for inbound clearance, we got immediate told to use the customs dock. Lucky as we were, a customs officer came down to the dock and took our lines. This helped because the…

S 26° 40.408, E 178° 48.937 I’m lazy and MaRe is lazy. MaRe was running nicely but then the wind took a few breaks. It seems it was exhausted from blowing strongly and consistently during the last days. In it’s breaks, the wind went down about 4 – 5 KN.. MaRe almost stopped. But then…

S 25° 20.404,E 179° 02.834 The wind direction continuous to be lousy. With east and sometimes even north of east TWD, we are about 45 deg off from the WPT we want to go to. It’s too early to tack already now. Tomorrow we will have to tack. I set the small jib as a…

S 30° 17.727,E 177° 37.262 At noon I calculated the day distance again. It turned out to be “only” 178 NM. We are again ahead of the planned sailing time up to the northern Minerva Reef. Although the nights are still a bit chilly – I needed a blanket while sleeping on the salon sofa…

S 31° 55.362, E 176° 46.335 This is the location at which in writing this narration. I’ll use the location information from now on Due to a not functioning Starlink, several narrations will be uploaded the same time when I get internet access again. Yes, MaRe made 180 NM in the first day out. That’s…

S 31° 55.362,E 176° 46.335 This is the location at which in writing this narration. I’ll use the location information from now on Due to a not functioning Starlink, several narrations will be uploaded the same time when I get internet access again. Yes, MaRe made 180 NM in the first day out. That’s pretty…

Lat: S 35°35.3135′ Lon: E 174°45.9575′ Today’s sailing is pretty bumpy. We have currently around 20 KN TWS and an AWS of around 80 deg. Wind waves are modest with around 2 n, and a light swell with a distance of less than 100 m between two waves and a height of 2 – 3…

S 35° 43.707, E174° 41.076 Once we reached the WPT South of Head Breams we set sail with wind abeam on STB. As Joe is a beginner, I decided for a safety approach and set main only with reef 2. Still MaRe make often more the 8 KN STW. A nice speed. The sky is…

The generator was really a big source of troubles. This morning, during the last oil check before starting the engines, I saw again leaking coolant. You might be able to know the words coming out of the hole beneath my nose…. It started with F. Looking careful at the coolant in the base plate and…

As there is no outbound clearance on Sundays, and no tax free fuel, I decided to leave Whangarei Marina only tomorrow, Sunday, for Marsden Cove Marina. I will stay over night at the visitor’s pier, refuel at shortly before 1000 on Monday. At 1015 the outbound clearance is made in the marina office, and thereafter…