Yacht Delivery Blog

 I arrived in Tahiti a few days ago and stepped aboard the Nautitech 46 Open to begin preparing for the passage west to Fiji. I was lucky enough to meet the previous owner, who came aboard and saved me a load of time. He answered some questions, sorted out a few issues, and explained how various systems worked. Some of them would have been extremely tricky to figure out on my own, so that was a very useful start to the trip. Once we had everything shipshape, we began the clearance process with the authorities. There are often extra complications when taking a boat out of a country after it has changed hands, particularly when it has a new owner, a new name, a different country of registration and various other details to update. Sure enough, our first application was rejected. Nothing is ever quite as straightforward as it should be! However, we’re well on the way now, and Tahiti is behind us. We motored for the first few hours while we were in the wind shadow of the bi...

 And that’s a wrap! Tellus is safely tied up at the berth in Opua Marina, and we’re finished. It’s been a fantastic passage. Things went well, we had no major issues with the boat, and we made excellent miles. The days of calms and the low-pressure system during the last week slowed us down a bit, but I absolutely can’t complain. Tellus looked after us well and gave us a comfortable ride all the way in, even when the weather got a bit challenging. There were a few uncomfortable days towards the end, but that’s all part of the job. We made good progress overall, and it’s always satisfying to get the boat safely alongside with everything still in one piece. Now I have a few days off in Auckland before flying back to Tahiti to collect a Nautitech Open 46 for delivery to Fiji. So, another very similar passage coming up, except this time I’m hoping we can skip the freezing temperatures at the end! For now, it’s time to enjoy a few days on dry land, thaw out, and prepare to d...

Well, last night at sea! The breeze eased off early this morning, so we shook out a reef and sailed well all day until sunset, when we started one engine to give us a bit of a push. By 11pm the headsail was away, at 1am the second engine went on, and by 3am the main was down. We have 70 nm to go at 4am and are hoping to be tied up on the Q berth before everyone goes home. A big plus is that it’s not quite as cold, although that doesn’t mean I’m not still wrapped up in fleecy clothes. And, even better, there is no splashing to make me wet and soggy.                            Last day.  After the last few days of strong winds, big seas, squalls and water coming over the boat, it’s great to be motoring towards land in calm conditions. We made fantastic time on this passage, and if it hadn’t been for the poor weather at the end, which cost us a few days, it would have gone down in the record books. It’s ...

 It’s still blowing 30+ knots, with squalls rolling through bringing gusts into the high 30s, and we’ve seen 45 knots a few times. The problem with squalls is that it’s difficult to tell exactly what they are going to do, so we have to be on hand to reduce sail if one gets closer and looks ugly. It’s better to be cautious than to find out the hard way that we should have reefed earlier. At night, I’m dropping the main and creeping forwards with some headsail and the leeward engine running at 1,600 rpm. It’s not particularly fast, but it keeps us moving without having too much sail up when the squalls come through. We have about 250 nm to Opua, but we can’t aim directly where we want to go because there is a bit of east in the breeze. There is also enough south in it to make it very cold. The spray is making everything damp and salty, and intermittent rain is adding to the atmosphere. Its pretty bouncy and I’ve had to cable-tie a cushion onto the screen in the saloon to stop it bang...

 Not much blog today. The plan has fallen into place and the wind shifted around 1am, so we tacked. We currently have gusts up to 36 knots and some large seas. We are heading around 55 degrees off the apparent wind, with the headsail deeply furled and one engine running at 1,600 rpm. Despite all that, we are only about 30 degrees off course and heading north of BOI. The forecast is supposed to begin to ease off in around 18 hours, and Im hoping that will allow us to make a better course for Opua. For now we are making what progress we can and waiting for the conditions to improve. After all the weather-watching over the last few days, we’re dealing with exactly what we were planning around.

 We have about 450 nm to go in a straight line, but probably closer to 550 nm depending on the wind over the next few days. Given that weather forecasting isn't an exact science, even 24 hours out, getting the detailed timing right is tricky. The front looks as though it will/has mostly pass south of us, leaving us right on its northern edge. We should then get around 18 hours of westerly wind before it swings around to the south and stays there for the rest of the passage.      A first glimpse of NZ this morning - The                               Kermadecs Our current course is designed to give us a better angle into the Bay of Islands once the southerlies arrive. As things are looking at the moment, we should be able to make it into Opua without having to sail too hard on the wind, which would be a welcome after all the weather-watching and route planning of the last few da...