Yacht Delivery Blog

 We're getting to that stage of a trade wind passage where there really isn't much left to write about that I haven't already covered. This is usually when I start making things up to entertain myself, and people get worried and start sending messages asking if we're OK. That happened after my rather hilarious blog about the Haunted Fishing Boat of Doom, that fell completely flat so I think I'll resist the temptation to invent another maritime mystery this time. Leaving Papeete - Seems a long time ago Yesterday's 24-hour run was just over 170 nautical miles, so we're still making fantastic time. The breeze has been in the high teens, with occasional gusts, and generally it's been very pleasant sailing. However, at around 2am this morning we sailed into another mysterious wind vortex. We had another wind shift of around 50 degrees, and the apparent wind dropped to less than 10 knots. Away went the headsail, on went one engine, and we motored f...

 Things have settled down a little now, and we're enjoying some more consistent conditions. The apparent wind has been sitting around 18–23 knots over the port quarter with the occasional gust, which makes for a pretty comfortable ride and good sailing with the steady roar of the wake keeping us in tune with the boat speed. Yesterday's run was a little less than I expected at 166 nautical miles in 24 hours. We also had a rather dramatic wind shift of around 45 degrees, which sent us heading further south for a while. Then the wind dropped away to almost nothing, so we furled the headsail and started one engine. About 30 minutes later, the wind came back as though nothing had happened, and we were back sailing again. Just one of those days when the weather can't quite make up its mind. We're now past the halfway point and still looking at a clear run to Fiji. We definitely picked the right time to leave Tahiti! Yesterday, the GFS was showing a cyclone trackin...

 We pulled the double-reefed main back up at 6am, with the apparent wind in the low 20s, and carried on heading west. We now have less than 1,000 nautical miles to go, so the end is definitely in sight. The plan is to dip south of Niue, pass through Tonga somewhere around Vavaʻu, then navigate the reefs east of Fiji before making our way in. A few more islands, a few more reefs to negotiate, and then boom — done! We've managed another excellent 24-hour run, again in the 180s, even though we spent quite a while sailing under just the headsail. The Nautitech is certainly proving to be a good boat for making miles. It's getting colder, though, and I'm now resorting to long trousers and a jacket at night. I thought we'd left the cold behind on the last delivery, but apparently not. At least I'm not back in full winter survival mode just yet. We ran the water maker again and topped off the tanks this morning, kicked a few flying fish off the deck and I had a ...

We've been making great miles, sailing with a double-reefed main and several rolls in the headsail. The apparent wind has been around 25 knots at 125 degrees, and we've been averaging 9 knots, occasionally surfing down the waves at 12 and 13 knots. It's a pretty good pace. We passed through the Cook Islands and even had about 30 minutes of shelter from one of the islands as we went past. It was a brief break and something to look at. The sky has been looking pretty bleak, and the forecast suggests things could get a little sporty. Despite the conditions, the boat has been comfortable. We're not really getting splashes across the deck, the motion isn't violent, and there's not much noise coming from under the bridgedeck. All in all, she's handling things very well. As evening approached, the wind started edging higher, with occasional gusts of true wind into the mid to high 30s. With the forecast still looking a little lively and the sky looking d...

Thanks to Elon internet is becoming an increasingly expensive game, so there is a moment of horror when you open the laptop and see the message Update ready to install . The immediate thought is, how big was it, and how do I stop that happening again?  The wind dropped to almost nothing yesterday around 11am, and we motored for several hours. If you look at the GFS weather forecast and spot a blue patch between Tahiti and Fiji, that's pretty much exactly where we were.  With the engine running and the boat moving, we took the opportunity to fill the water tanks and get some laundry done. It's always good to catch up on the domestic side of things when the conditions allow, especially when the forecast suggests we might be a little busier soon. The weather models were looking a bit dramatic, with the ECMWF showing gusts of up to 35 knots. After the last passage, when we had very similar forecasts with a huge high-pressure system sitting east of New Zealand, I'm a little caut...

 We managed almost 160 nm yesterday, which isn't too bad considering we did a fair bit of motoring on one engine. The boats going well and is a comfortable platform. Today, the breeze has been pretty light, but I haven't minded too much as there were a few things I wanted to check on the boat. It's incredibly distracting trying to work on things while sailing, as you're giving neither task 100%. It's much easier to concentrate on getting to know the boat when you're not being thrown around at the same time. There is always a period on a new boat when you spend half your time trying to remember where everything is, and the other half trying to work out why something doesn't work the way you expect it to. I label cupboards and paneling so I have a rough idea of what's in there. Around 2am this morning - so a few hrs ago, we started one engine and have been motoring ever since, with just a few knots of wind, which isn't enough to do much wit...