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Firefly - Firefly en route to New Zealand



Firefly's crew increased by one with the arrival of Gareth on Saturday 1st November. Arriving following a couple of weeks touring New Zealand with family, Gareth's timing was great as the preparations for the first World Cruising ARC New Zealand were in full swing and all 9 boats were in Port Moselle Marina at Noumea, New Caledonia. Gifts of chocolate and gin were gratefully recieved, in particular the gin as during the shopping trip earlier that day the alcohol sections had been closed, due to it being a holiday and Firefly was dry.

In order to give Gareth some experience of tropical sailing we had a couple of days and a night cruising the islands and reefs just off Noumea. We spent the first day on a mooring off Illot Nge, sailed over to Baie Maa for a peaceful night and the following morning went to Illot Maitre for an excellent snorkel. It was during this period of time that we finalised our plan to depart for NZ early on Tuesday 4th November and then came back into the marina the night before, just in time for the ARC NZ dinner.

Interestingly, of the 9 boats sailing to NZ as psrt of ARC NZ, the four British boats and one from the US all left on Tuesday, Firefly leaving the dock first at 0840 - the four German boats all started their passage on the Wednesday. Our first day at sea was relatively comfortable considering we have been close hauled since we started, the wind being south easterly so coming from where we want to go. We expected Wednesday to be uncomfortable based on the forecast telling us winds would be 20 knots plus - they were and it was!

Now, on Thursday morning, 6th November we are still fully close hauled, 2 reefs in the main and a few rolls in the jib. The sea state is a little better. Firefly is still enjoying things more than the crew and is pounding along at up to 7.5 knots. As forecast the wind is starting to back to the east so our course is now almost where we want to go. During the next few days the wind is forecast to back more and also reduce so things should get easier.

So, why are we pounding into the wind as opposed to running goose winged trade wind style? Its because NZ is actually a difficult place to reach by yacht and for this passage timing is everything - we have to avoid getting caught in bad weather as we approach the North Island. There are numerous theories about the timing but the agreed wisdom is that its best to leave in un favourable weather and arrive when its good. We have about 600 miles to go to reach Cape Reinga on the north tip of NZ and from there about 100 miles to reach Opua located in the Bay of Islands. Based on our current position and the future forecast information things are looking fine and we should be approaching our destination on Monday or Tuesday.

Paul, Susie and Gareth


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