Milestone achieved – we made it safely to New Zealand! I am happy to report that our 1100 mile journey from Tonga to New Zealand was a peaceful if not monotonous one – though we did have some fun and adventure along the way. As this sailing region has a reputation for potentially difficult conditions and strong winds, we were thrilled to reach New Zealand safely.
Our strategy for this passage (as with all of our passages) is to carefully watch and pick the right weather window. A day or even hours can make a difference between uncomfortable and difficult conditions, or literally, smooth sailing. We took extra care with this passage, not wanting to put ourselves in the way of any of the strong lows that flow between Tonga and New Zealand.
We’d been watching weather and the synoptic charts in the New Zealand area for two months leading up to the passage. And we were careful to not box ourselves into needing to be in New Zealand by a certain date.
Friends who’d left just before us had unfortunately encountered a deep trough with reports of 50 to 60 knots and 5-6 meter swells which had developed quickly and caught a number of cruisers off guard. We were cheering our friends on (all arrived safely – just some damaged gear) and we continued to carefully monitor weather hoping to avoid a similar experience for ourselves.
Luckily our crew for this passage – my dad – has a flexible schedule and he was able to wait for favourable weather. Also, Julia flew to New Zealand with my mom, and they were set up in Russel in luxurious accommodations, happy to wait the time in took for us to reach Opua, the Bay of Islands.
As it happened, we broke the passage up into three legs which allowed us to rest, hike, kite, swim and snorkel in between legs. We were prepared to sail straight through if the weather allowed, but it turned out that we needed to take some breaks to wait for a good stretch of weather.
First Leg – Vavauu to Tofua – “Look Mom, it’s smoking!”
While we had the luxury of time, we were also anxious to get moving. After celebrating Halloween with friend kid boats (thank you SV Knot Home and SV Allondra) and getting a few last items organized we set off from Vavauu close reaching into 20 knots. 5 miles out we heard the reel zing and reeled in a delicious yellowfin tuna. The weather forecast called for similar winds but better angle the following day so we decided to turn back, enjoy our tuna and share with some friends, and leave the following day. Besides, there was no rush to get to Minerva reef (leg 2) as the boats there were expecting strong winds which we wanted to miss.
The next day turned out to be a beauty – beam to broad reaching in 20 knots and covering the 80 miles to Tofua by the early afternoon. We had a beautiful speedy sail. Half way to Tofua, the reel squealed again and we excitedly reeled in another nice sized Mahi Mahi. It was so fun watching Papa and Nathan haul in the huge fish we all peered over the back watching to see what we’d caught. We decided to put the lines away as it’s a big job to clean and process the fish, and we were feeling pretty lucky with our catch so far. There is always tomorrow! The fishing in Tonga is the best! We enjoyed another delicious Mahi dinner as we watched the sunset, anticipating the exciting hike the next day.
We’d been wanting to climb Tofua – an active Volcano – and were excited to stretch our legs. We’d picked a good weather window where we were able to anchor in the relatively unprotected area adjacent to Tofua. The holding seemed fine (we were happy to have our large 55kg Rochna in 40 feet of water with 200 feet of chain). The next closest protected anchorage is 25 miles away, so we were prepared to sail onward if we didn’t feel comfortable anchoring.
Following hand drawn instructions from fellow cruisers, we managed the challenging anchoring of our dinghy and hopping on to the rocky shore in between large swells. And after a few missed attempts, we found the meandering trail taking us a few hours upward to the rim of the crater.
The hiking was steep with wild pineapples, beautiful views of the neighboring volcano, and careful checks of Slingshot to make sure she was still anchored safely.
I’ll never forget Nathan’s excited cry when we reached the rim of the crater, “Look, it’s smoking!” We clambered up after him and down the other side, we saw a large beautiful lake with a mini crater to the north eastern edge, with smoke billowing skywards. The surroundings were lush and green with the exception of the leeward area from the mini crater where the trade-winds blew the toxic smoke and gas towards a stark and lifeless red moonscape.
We enjoyed lunch and marveled in the beautiful views as we sized up if or how we would hike down to peer into the crater to see if we could see any molten lava. Papa decided to take a well deserved rest while Gavin, Nathan and I sidestepped down the steep slopes. We carefully made it down the sides and across the moonscape to get close enough to the crater. We felt uneasy as we walked across red rocky ground which seemed hollow underneath in places. This was my first experience of a live volcano. Hmmm…with the nearest other human and likely non existent rescue tens of miles away, was this a smart idea?
We were careful to approach upwind of the crater to keep out of the toxic gasses. However, I remember my first sniff of what smelled like ammonia – a bitter smell – and wondered how smart we were to be so close to this unpredictable display of mother nature. Curiosity got the best of us and we carefully and quickly crept to the edge of the crater and peered over. We saw sputtering and smoking red lava in a small chimney in the middle. There were faint rumbles and we didn’t stay long, and quickly ran back across the moonscape and out of the toxic gas pathway.
After reaching the top of the crater again and collecting Papa, we made our way back to the rocky shoreline through the grassy hillside and down through the tropical foilage. All the way we were marveling at what a spectacular hike this was. Not easy, with a trail tricky to find, no other human or boat for tens of miles, and amazing views – all to ourselves.
It was a day to remember which we capped off by a delicious sushi and fresh fish dinner. Wow. I feel so lucky we were able to all share this amazing day together!
We’ve done some beautiful hiking in the Pacific northwest, and of course our other hikes on our journey to date, but I can safely say that this was the most amazing hike I’ve ever been on. And I think Papa, Gavin and Nathan would agree!
Leg 2- Tofua to Minerva (320 miles)
The next leg of the passage brought us to Minerva in two days with pleasant sailing in 15 to 20 knots. We reduced sail to slow down so that we arrived in Minerva in daylight. It was exciting to arrive at the fabled Minerva reef that we’d heard so much about. It is an enclosed protected reef with no land (highest point is one rock that barely stays above water at high tide) in the middle of the southern pacific, hundreds of miles from nearest land.
We entered the broad and easy to navigate entrance and motored to the windward inside of the reef alongside approximately 16 other boats. We found new kidboat friends to anchor beside and watched the weather daily. With 700 miles still to go to New Zealand and the real possibility of encountering serious weather, we wanted to ensure we picked a favourable window. From the forecast, it looked like we had at least 5 to 7 days to wait at the reef before we began the final approach.
It was easy to pass by the time here. We enjoyed several days kiting in turquoise water – some of the best kiting conditions we’d had to date. No land mass to disturb the wind and beautifully flat water up behind the reef at low tide – we were loving it! Also, we had some fun walks exploring the reef, at low tide. The large boring clams with their colourful mantles were a highlight. And seeing and old wreck, nothing left but the anchor and ballast rusting on top of the reef was interesting and humbling at the same time.
We passed another fun afternoon snorkeling the pass. It was great until we saw a reasonably sized white tip shark investigate us. When he returned a second time, we all got out of the water. Friends had told us how they had ‘caught’ a tiger shark by accident fishing from their boat in the middle of the reef. It was always in the back of my mind.
After some fun social time with our new friends and fun days enjoying the reef, it was time to set off again.
Final Leg – Minerva to Opua – 700 miles of calm seas
We waited until a front passed over top of us and then left that afternoon. The wind was light and we had a slow night sailing upwind in smooth water. A large high was moving across the region and we were looking at light wind sailing with a stronger finish.
The wind turned out to be lighter than we’d hoped and we spent several days motoring through the glassy waters. While of course we prefer sailing to motoring, we were happy to make the jump with a lower wind forecast than we would normally choose, especially in this part of the world.
We alternated between sailing and motoring for the rest of the trip, finishing this leg in 6 days – definitely a slower speed than we’re used to, but we were happy to make it safely. We had fun times listening to Papa’s favourite music, cooking delicious meals and the days passed quickly.
Highlights were being able to share special times with Papa as he entertained us with stories of childhood in Australia and early days in Vancouver. The sunsets, evening skies, and sunrises were glorious. The calm night sailing over smooth seas was some of the nicest night sailing of our trip. And the phosphorescence was bright and plentifuul.
After clearing in to Opua it was a joy to pull up to Russell to see happy smiles from Julia and Grandma waiting for us. We enjoyed bubbles with lunch to celebrate our arrival!
Thank you Papa and Grandma, it was a trip to remember!
Bay of Islands – Gorgeous Scenery and Walks Galore
We were fortunate to have some more time with Papa and Grandma (and some beautiful weather) to enjoy a few days cruising in the Bay of Islands together before they set off on their own New Zealand adventure before heading home.
We’d heard about the good cruising grounds in this area and the walks and scenery here surpassed expectations. People said the area would remind us of cruising in the Pacific Northwest. It does, in places, but the green rolling hills, beautiful and numerous walking trails, and flocks of quietly grazing sheep everywhere make this place pretty special.
We felt the adjustment to cooler temperatures – 20-23C felt cool after so much time in the tropics. But we enjoyed the new scenery, beaches and rocky coastline.
This was just the start of our cruising in New Zealand and it was a great introduction.
Gavin and Jen and family,
I have been following your wonderful trip and all your escapades…..what a
fabulous time you have had. Jer set me up on your blog and I am so grateful for that.
Talking to him today I understand you are so caught up in this Covid 19 virus that has
shut down the entire world. This will go down in our history books forever and your
kids and their kids will talk about it or read about it in all the years to come.
We are all doing o.k and self isolating…we are taking this very seriously.
We think and talk about you often and hope that you will find away to get home safely.
We look forward to a time we can all get together and share some laughs and stories
of your trip…….Mayne awaits you……take care and look after one another.
Hugs Jane and Al……❤️
We are so glad to hear from you and happy to hear that you are doing well. We look forward to connecting again when this is all over! So far, we are holding tight in New Zealand and waiting for things to settle as we figure out where we go next. Wonderful to hear from you! J&G