On passage for New Zealand!

We're off and sailing - a beautiful morning. We've left in company with Damian, Kerry and Verdo on Sel Citron.

Before the departure, Lionel got his toolkit out to build an interesting construction:

Can you tell what it is yet?

Comfort for the helm

The forecast looks pretty good for the passage so we're hoping for a comfy trip! We'll update this blog with some photos and stories when we arrive in NZ.

T minus 24 hours

The full view of the living room

After a busy day of shopping and boat preparations it all looks good for a departure tomorrow morning. We'll clear out with the authorities today and anchor out in a bay close to pass through the reef. The forecast suggests that we should get good breeze for most of the trip.

Hopefully our bunk up at the front end of the port bow will remain a comfy place to sleep as the swell is predicted to be relatively small.

Looking forward along the port bow from Suzie's bunk

Our queen-size bunk; we sleep across the boat

Whilst we are on passage, we'll be posting a daily position update, with comments, of a very god website called Yachts in Transit. It'll show our position on Google Earth plus our track and our predicted 24 hour position and shows our 24 hour run. The website page is: http://www.yit.co.nz/yacht/kiapa

Preparing to head for New Zealand, again

We're back in Port Denarau marina going through the pre-departure preparations, planning to leave on Friday if the weather still looks ok. So today it's a bus ride into Nadi to get provisions, plus boat cleaning and preparations.

Compared to the last time we were here, the Marina is pretty quiet; most yachts have already left as the Cyclone Season officially starts on the 1st December. A few boats are staying here through the summer, having booked 'safe' places to run to if a cyclone is forecast; a favourite plan is to ram the boat's nose into the mangroves up a river, with long lines taken to substantial trees to hold it in place. The crews remove anything above deck that could flap - so sails, dodgers and bimini covers are taken down - and then hope for the best. Not something we'd want to do!

Anyway, we'd better get on with the shopping! We'll post a few more photos before we leave.

Aargh! Please make the douf, douf music stop!

Kiapa's normally wonderful mooring at Musket Cove, Malolo Island (just west of Denarau) has been blighted for the last three nights by what Kerry on Sel Citron calls 'douf, douf music' until about 3.00am. About 200, 18-20 year-olds descended on a beach resort about a mile upwind of us for some kind of festival and the noise of the dance music rolled down to us, the bass reverberating through the boat. Douf, douf. 

Yesterday morning, though, the wind came up and the low tide exposed the sandspit shown in the previous blog update, so Graham joined Lionel, Kerry and Suzy in the dinghy. Kerry and Suzy are learning how to kite-board so the conditions were perfect for Lionel to give them some tuition. You can just imagine how delighted we were to find that the festival had moved out there, complete with temporary stage, bar, DJ, huge speakers and more crap music. Douf, douf.

Everyone make some noise!

A helicopter circles the party-goers to film this momentous event

Lionel waits patiently for the helicopter to depart before launching the kite. A good safety measure we thought.

In spite of the noise, the kiting was good and both Suzy and Kerry were happy to make progress in a sport that looks particularly tricky to learn.

Suzy about to launch the kite

Lionel about to hand over the kite as Kerry looks on

Kerry about to take control

Kerry getting the hang of the kite

In between instructional sessions, Lionel had a quick blast to show us how it's done

Here's a quick video:

We returned to mooring and decided that another night of douf, douf would just be too much to bear so moved around to an anchorage sheltered from the SE winds only for the weather gods to have their laugh at us and promptly deliver an un-forecasted NE which left u on a lee shore. So, we moved back to the mooring and had a good supper before applying the ear-plugs. Douf, douf

Pretty stressful

Just chilling at Musket Cove - enjoying the snorkelling and swimming. Lionel and Suzy have been kite-boarding in good conditions and our days start with yoga and finish with a beer and bbq. 

We're looking at a possible window to head south towards the middle of next week. 

A very different sailing experience

After a busy morning shopping for food provisions in Nadi (the veg market is absolutely huge on Saturdays), we left the delights of Port Denarau for the short passage across to Musket Cove. The wind was light but just enough to give us a hint of Kiapa's performance.

Di enjoying the big wheel

Beginning to get some speed

An impressive wake begins to form at 10 knots

Numbers we can only dream of in Maunie - 10.5 knots of boat speed in only 15 knots of wind!

We have a fourth crew member, Suzy, arriving today and are thoroughly enjoying being back in the warm waters and sunshine of Fiji after the cold spell in New Zealand.

Three hours Vs. Two Hundred

Wow, those Boeing 767's go well to windward! 3 hour after we left Auckland we touched down in Nadi after a very pleasant flight, our first for about 7 years we think! Strange to think that a trip that took us eight and a half days was dispatched so quickly!

Anyway we're delighted to be back in the warm air and we've just met up with Lionel our skipper - a quick drink and then we'll be aboard the good ship Kiapa.