Arrived Coffs Harbour

We arrived at Coffs Harbour at 09:30 on the 1st November 2016 and were able to pick up a courtesy mooring outside the marina area to await Customs clearance (now called Australian Border Force).

Over the last 24 hours of the passage we experienced very strong winds and a cold front which, along with the numbers of ships around us, left us feeling exhausted.

The formalities were completed and we were declared termite free. So this 41 year old vessel has still been able to outrun the infestations of termites that must, by the sounds of it, be rampant through a fair number of vessels made of or containing wood.

We have since sailed to and anchored in the Camden Haven River.

All is well surrounded by the smell of the eucalypts again.

Wayne and Kathy

Passage Report Saturday

Day 5 of our passage to Australia from New Caledonia.
We are experiencing the Forth day of trade winds with currently South Easterly 15 knots. Since the southerly front arriving last Tuesday, the variation of wind has been from East to South East and from 6 to 18 knots. So very pleasant sailing conditions. We have used the spinnaker and Code "0" when the conditions were lighter and we have the Spinnaker set now from its top down furler on the poker pole in front of the bow as we continue tracking 240 degrees true, we expect to be able to carry it through the night tonight. There is a change in the weather tomorrow according to the Grib Files we download each evening. The wind will back around to the north and increase to over 20 knots by the evening. By midnight tomorrow we should have reached the channel of maximum East Australian Coastal current which sets south along the coast. We will set a new course then, direct to Coffs Harbour with just 100 nm to go. We are monitoring the water temperature to give us this indication.

Over the last 5 days we have seen lots of flying fish and many Gannets that often circle us to see what sea life we may disturb that they are always ready to pounce on. Or are they just taking time out from their fishing to check us out? Usually 2 or 3 laps of the boat and they move off to continue the search for food. We haven't seen any birds in the evenings flying in any particular direction which is an early sign of land nearby, perhaps tomorrow we will see more land based sea birds.

The sun has just set and all is peaceful as we listen to the water swoosh along the hull

Wayne and Kathy

At 29/10/2016 07:55 (utc) our position was 26°56'S 157°13'E
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Position Report bound Coffs Harbour

We departed yesterday, tuesday 25 Oct, from the lagoon off Noumea at 0700. It was very light so we motor sailed SW towards a band of cloud on the horizon. Five hours later we picked up a SSW 18 knot wind and we set full headsail and 1 reefed mainsail. The sea built up quickly with the front and we settled into the usual 1st day of a passage routine.

We have maintained the good conditions through the night and are tracking towards Cape Byron to keep north of the High and we expect Northerly winds on the weekend to help us track south along with the usual East Australian coast current that is strong between Byron and Coffs at the present time (BOM web site). A highlight of the night was seeing a flying fish take off about 10 metres from the starboard bow and flew then hovered next to the navigation light for about 10 seconds then floated back down into the sea.

All is well onboard as the sea is moderating this morning. We have 742 nm to Coffs
At 25/10/2016 21:08 (utc) our position was 23°15.08'S 164°04.23'E
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Farewell New Caledonia

Tomorrow, Tuesday 25 October we will be heading back to Australia. We cleared out this morning with the pleasant and organised government officials, bought our last baguettes, filled up with duty free fuel and sailed out to Ilot Nge. It is a little sandy island with a splash of vegetation in the centre providing a home for numerous birds. Not long after picking up a visitors mooring we had a turtle surfacing beside the boat. After doing a big cook up and last minute jobs we swam ashore and were able to swim beside a pretty big turtle for part of the way. It was a wonderful experience and a nice farewell from New Caledonia.

Now going back in time to fill you in since our previous blog post ....From Iles des Pines we sailed to Ilot Ndo, in the southern lagoon with a steady beam reach and sunny skies. On nearing the island we dropped the sails and switched on the engine to navigate our way through the reef to our anchorage for the night. From up on the ratlines I could distinctly see the deep water pass surrounded by reef. I also spied several reef sharks in the shallows near the island. Mmm...did we really want a swim? After anchoring in a gulch within the reef we rowed the dinghy ashore and discovered that the island was very popular with banded sea snakes. Their tracks were everywhere and we saw about twenty snakes as we walked around the island's shoreline. It only took about 15 minutes so you can imagine how small it was.

The next day we left early and headed across to another tiny island called Ilot Kouare. We had a light north westerly breeze and ran with just the headsail across 'unchartered waters'. This was an area on the chart that was greyed out and was labeled as such. But keeping a careful eye out we safely navigated around the reefs and Ilots. We arrived around lunchtime missing all the coral heads as we closed in on the island. We anchored in beautiful clear water and it wasn't long before we had three remoras or were they small grey sharks? hanging around the hull. Again we rowed ashore and walked around the island in no time at all. Sea snake tracks were once again everywhere on the beach leading up to the line of vegetation. But we only saw one making its way to the water. Perhaps we saw more at the previous island because it was dusk when we went ashore. As we rowed back to Ambler we spotted a reef shark in the shallows.

With strong winds predicted for the next couple of days we left the Ilots behind and sailed north to Port Koube on the Ile Ouen. Here we spent two nights surrounded by high eroded hillsides. Port Koube is a large natural harbour with no settlements. We spent one day kayaking around the shoreline. The beaches here were red mud as was the anchor and chain when we pulled it up.

On Friday 7th we left Ile Ouen and sailed a short distance to Bai de Prony on the mainland of New Caledonia. It's a huge natural harbour with many protected anchorages similar to Broken Bay in NSW. First we headed to the eastern arm and picked up a mooring in a little bay called Anse Majic. As we entered the little bay the water was tranquil, there was hardly a puff of wind and the birdsong was vibrant. We enjoyed 2 nights in this lovely spot. From the anchorage we walked to Cape Ndua lighthouse and marvelled at the spectacular vista of the nearby reefs and islands. The dark red earth of the track contrasted with the greens of the coastal scrub covering the hillside. We also kayaked around the east arm and found a watering point set up with a hose from a creek.

Our next anchorage in Bai de Prony was at Ile Casey. We really enjoyed our time here even though it poured rain for most of the time. There was great snorkelling and the walk around the island was stunning. There were a variety of forests within in the island from towering pines to giant fig trees to coastal forests all interrupted with sandy white beaches. The island at one time had a small hotel but this was being taken over by the bush. It was an intriguing little island.

The next couple of nights we spent anchored in the further most reaches of Bai de Prony in its western arm called Baie du Carenage and Baie des Kaoris. The scenery that surrounded us was of green bushclad hillsides. Apparently the locals use this bay as a hurricane anchorage. Each bay ended in a mangrove creek and at high tide we were able to kayak to where the first rapids began. We discovered another water point, this time the hose came from an underground spring. One day we walked to the first settlement called Prony and looked at the ruins that were left. It's hot work walking in this heat so we soaked our tired bodies in the 'lukewarm spring' at the head of Baie des Kaoris.

After spending another night at Ile Casey we had a brisk sail out of Bai de Prony and west through Canal Woodin to Bai Uie. As we sailed through Canal Woodin we cracked 10 knots boat speed with the wind and current with us. We spent 3 windy days and nights in Bai Uie and only managed to go ashore once for a short walk on the beach. Being on board gave us a chance to give Ambler a thorough spring clean.

By Tuesday 18th the wind had abated and we had a great beam reach back to Noumea. We have spent the last week anchored in Port Moselle, Noumea with strong winds. Most days we've spent half the day ashore walking and exploring and the rest of the time we've been preparing Ambler for our passage back to Australia.

All is ready for sea on board.

At 23/10/2016 07:57 (utc) our position was 22°19.54S 166°19.11'E
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Cruising New Caledonia - Part One - Isles de Pines

Since our arrival in New Caledonia, we have done a bit of exploring by sail, sea kayak, snorkel and foot.

We left Noumea on Thursday 27th Sept and our first stop was to pick up a mooring at Ilot Maitre just 3 nautical miles from the harbour. We dived into the crystal clear blue tinged water to snorkel around a couple of coral reefs nearby. We found them to be the most colourful we have experienced this year, perhaps it's the cooler water temperatures here, roughly 24 degrees as against the 26 degrees of Fiji and Tonga. We also saw many turtles and some very big fish that were unafraid of us as we snorkeled about. Needless to say it was a marine reserve and they appear to know it!

The moorings laid for our use were 2 ton concrete blocks with a rope shackled to them and a buoyed loop at the surface which we pass our own line through and back to the bow cleat. There is another submerged float to keep the lower part of the rope free of coral.

We stayed overnight and kayaked first thing in the morning around the island then sailed for Ilot Ouen where we found an anchorage for the night in Baie de la Tortue. This island is a large, hilly land mass with some eroded areas but is mostly forested and scrubby all over. There are many other anchorages around the island and a few settled areas around the shores.

We awoke early the next morning to sail through a shallow narrow passage in the reefs to the south of the island with Kathy up our ratlines spotting for coral heads. A couple of small motor boats passed us with the first giving us an incredulous look and the next one actually failing to take a turn soon enough and struck a shoal then slowly made its way onward with the outboard trimmed up. Anyway we made it through and then made our way to the normal shipping route where we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the day sailing with our asymmetric spinnaker to Isle de Pines, roughly 40nm south east of the mainland. On arrival we conned our way into a very busy anchorage in Bai de Kanumera which is on the south west corner of the island.

We stayed for 3 nights and enjoyed a walk to Pic Nga which is the highest point at 260 metres on the Isle de Pines. The views were amazing with all the shades of blue represented in the surrounding shallow and deep waters of the island. The track to the top was fairly direct and traversed a low farming area then ascended via an open ridge over weathered loose rock then re entered forest and scrub on the mostly flat top which afforded many views from different lookouts. The bird life was mostly made up of many vocal small insect and honey eaters which were hard to spot but sounded delightful. The pines that give their name to the island are incredibly tall and slender with not a lot of foliage spread for their height. The next day we paddled around the southern shoreline of the island then back via a few small offshore islands. On getting back to the boat we noted a huge crowd ashore on the beaches and snorkelling in the bay and discovered the P&O cruise ship Pacific Pearl was anchored nearby. We stayed aboard avoiding the crowds and later found out we had friends from Tasmania who had briefly escaped the winter and were perhaps among the crowd.

The third day we went ashore early and walked to the bakery to buy some baguettes. We then headed back for breakfast and got under weigh for a lively sail around to the eastern side of the island to anchor in Bai de Ugo. We had to negotiate a few more coral areas on the way so we just unfurled our genoa for the passage. On arrival into the bay it had clouded over which made it difficult to see the shoals from the ratline ladder so we had a cautious look around to find a suitable anchorage and narrowly missed a coral patch by hitting full noise reverse, we then executed a tight 180 degree (3 point) turn to get out of a mine field of coral heads. We were helped and advised by a newly launched Alloy Dashew designed FPB (F.... Power Boat) that we anchored next to in a perfect sandy area. We were invited over for drinks and a tour of the vessel after we were settled in. These boats are very well appointed and built in Whangarei, New Zealand. Perhaps a small scale cruise ship complete with stabilisers! We spent several days enjoying the crystal clear waters of this bay. We kayaked around the lagoon formed by the outer reef and the scattered limestone islets topped with towering pines, at low tide we walked along a dry, sandy creek bed to a natural swimming hole on a junction with another creek. This bay was breathtakingly beautiful and was a great anchorage in the westerly winds.

When the westerly wind went back to the south east we sailed around the northern end of Iles des Pines and anchored in Bai de Gadj on the north west corner of the island. This was once again a stunning place with clear water, numerous limestone islands and fantastic snorkelling. Here we snorkeled at a reef drop off and saw numerous large beautifully coloured fish. After a few days spent in this lovely anchorage we decided to sail for Ilot Ndo, a tiny island in the southern lagoon. As we sailed slowly out of the bay in light wind with the code zero ghosting us along we were treated to an amazing display of a humpback whale breaching. As the whale crossed our path ahead of us we realised it was a mother and calf. We felt very privileged to see these magnificent creature so close. The wind strengthened once we cleared the bay and outer reef so we replaced the code zero for the genoa and had a nice sail across to Ilot Ndo.

Stay tuned for more of our adventures in New Caledonia.

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Noumea, New Caledonia

Bonjour

We arrived at the entrance to Havannah Passage, New Caledonia at first light on Sunday morning having had to motor since 2.30am to make the flood tide in the pass, as the wind had died out. We began the next 40 nautical miles of navigation through reef and island passages, arriving in Port Moselle to anchor at 14:40.

Since last Tuesday's post we sailed in beautiful sunny conditions with just our genoa set in the 20 plus knot winds through to Thursday morning when the winds began to moderate to around 15kn. We then set a double reefed main through to Friday midnight shaking out the reefs as the wind moderated further. We enjoyed watching the full moon rise and set each night. At first light on Saturday we exchanged the genoa for our 0.5oz code zero sail. The breeze continued to fade throughout Saturday and disappeared on Sunday at 02:30. At this point we started the engine and passed an outbound cargo ship heading to Vanuatu. We were able to shut down the engine at 09:00 Sunday in favour of the code zero and full main again. The sailing was enjoyable as we cruised past many anchorages and bays we hope to explore later. The lush tropical bush gave way to eroded multi coloured rock and soil hills and gullies, perhaps mined in the past for the rich deposits of nickel.

As we neared Noumea there were hundreds of sailing vessels out enjoying the good trade winds. They ranged from wind surfers through to super yachts. It was a great sight with sails billowing on the iridescent blue waters.

Today we went into town and visited the Immigration, Customs and Quarantine Offices to clear in. It was a nice, easy, welcoming and free procedure, so refreshing. After that we practiced our basic school grade French on the shopkeepers. We're glad most of them speak English!

We covered 678nm in 5 days and 8 hours on the passage from Fiji.
All is bien on board.
Kathy and Wayne

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At Sea, Day 2- Fiji to New Caledonia

On Monday afternoon we cleared out at the Port of Lautoka in Fiji and spent the rest of the afternoon working to windward towards the main shipping channel through the outer reef. After a vivid sunset we discovered we would have some moonlight for at least half the night. We gained the channel but discovered one of the lazy jack cords holding up our mainsail bag needed re-stitching and there was a ship about to enter the narrow channel, so we turned landward and decided to anchor in Momi Bay to sort things out. Momi Bay was really protected and qualified as an allowable anchorage being part of Veti Levu (anchorage is forbidden in the outer islands of Fiji once outbound customs clearance is granted). Besides it sounded and looked a bit rough out there with the breaking waves visible in the moonlight breaking on the outer reef. Thanks Emma for your comment confirming our suspicions.

At first on light Tuesday we departed Momi Bay, with full main and genoa in the now lighter conditions, thanks to the overnight decoupling of wind and sea surface. The sea was running at about 2.5 metres and the wind filled to the predicted 20 knots which had us reefing twice then stowing the main altogether by 10am. The conditions were a bit lumpy but with the wind just aft of beam on, it was comfortable enough.

We have now covered 200 miles at 1700 Wednesday, with another 435 sea miles to go to the entrance of Havannah Passage. Today has been overcast with passing showers. Everything is shades of grey out here.

All is well onboard as we settle into our Swedish watch system.
Kathy and Wayne

At 13/09/2016 7:07 AM (utc) our position was 19°23'S 174°07'E
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Departing Fiji for New Caledonia

We have just cleared customs at Lautoka, Fiji and we have set all plain sail, working towards the main shipping channel entrance through the reefs of Fiji. We are expecting South East trade winds of up to 20 knots to help us on our way once we clear the outer reefs. We expect the voyage to take up to 7 days.

We hope you enjoyed the photos

All is well onboard
Kathy and Wayne
At 28/08/2016 5:35 AM (utc) our position was 17°39'S 177°21'E
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Fiji Photos

On a mooring at Savusavu. 

Kayaking at SavuSavu 

Viani Bay Area, Vanua Levu 

Vanua Levu 

 A villager grating coconut on Rambi Island. 

Walking to town on Rambi Island. The lorry is the local bus. 

An interesting sign in the grounds of a primary school. 

A typical dug out canoe used by the people on Rambi Island. 

A villager collects coconuts, dries the coconut meat on top of this oven and then sells it to the Copra Shed in town. Rambi Island 

Making friends while waiting at the bus stop. 

A Methodist Church in a village. Instead of a bell they bang the dug out pieces of tree under the shelter in front of the church. 

We anchored off this village at Kia Island. 

 The view from the top of Kia Island.

Looking down at Ambler from the top of Kia Island. 

A windy day on the island of Viti Levu. Note Wayne's newest lure...a toothpaste tube. 

Tonga Photos

 Kayaking around some islands near our anchorage at Nuku'alofa.

A typical day of exploring by kayak and snorkelling in Tonga.

Inside Swallow's Cave in Va'vau.

Terns resting on the sticks of a fish trap. 

Wayne playing with the local crabs. 

A glorious, sunny day of sailing in the Va'vau Group. 

Terns 

Coconut juice coming up. 

The perfect conditions to practice our kayak rolls. 

Terns 

Kathy up the ratlines looking for coral bommies and reefs. 

A beautiful uninhabited island in the Hapaai Group.

 A beautiful uninhabited island in the Hapaai Group.

 Hermit crabs of all sizes were abundant on the beaches in Tonga.

A perfect spot for a swim. 

The windward side of an uninhabited island.

Cruising in Vava'u and Fiji

Since our last post a few moons ago, we spent another 12 days in the Ha'apai group of islands of Tonga. We weathered a blow one night where the winds gusted to about 40 knots, we had moved from Uiha Island, north to another island called Tatafa, as it looked one of the few places in the whole group to offer any shelter in the predicted Northerly pre-frontal winds. We were joined by 3 other yachts the next morning and heard of their tales of survival in other not so protected anchorages. One of these boats a forty footer, had previously lost their best anchor and managed to snag some coral after a number of resets, with an old half sized plough anchor. We lent them our spare, an original 60 pound CQR, until they could manage to import a new anchor.

We moved north to the town of Pangai where we had to check in and out with customs with an inter island clearance process. This duty was carried out first, then we had a hamburger at a cafe and witnessed a dog fight between about 10 really mangy, mostly emaciated mongrels - Ugh! We bought some eggs then high tailed it back to Ambler. We then headed 3nm further north to anchor and await a better wind angle for the passage to the next group of islands called Vava'u. Over the next 5 days we snorkeled and explored nearby by kayak and also practised our eskimo rolls and kayak rescue techniques in the 26 deg crystal clear waters.

We then had a pause in the strong North Easterly winds and set out North around noon, for the overnight passage to Nieafu in the Vava'u group. We actually stopped at another island called Haano around mid afternoon for a snorkel and dinner before nightfall. We deployed our "Code 0" in the light south easterlies and watched 2 other yachts motor out of sight ahead of us. After sunrise the next morning we spotted some whale spouts ahead and an island to the west called Late Island. Soon after some lower islands began to appear ahead of us. These grew higher and more plentiful during the day. Around midday we sailed into the impressive Vava'u Group with its deep waters and taller islands. By mid afternoon we anchored just short of Neiafu.

The next morning we weighed anchor and sailed into the harbour to anchor at its southern end. This was a really nice quiet protected anchorage away from the busy port. We launched the dinghy and motored the 20 minutes to town with our paperwork to do our inter island customs clearance again and we also had to renew our visas for another month at the immigration office. These duties done we then had a good walk around and checked out the shops and market. We had another day of wandering about town and provisioned with fresh fruit and vegetables.

After a couple of days we headed out to explore the many and various anchorages and usually snorkeled and kayaked before moving to the next anchorage for more of the same.

Some of the highlights were the Hunga Island Lagoon where we negotiated a narrow, shallow gap over a coral ledge between rocky islands. From this anchorage we paddled over a shallow pass into another stunning lagoon called the Blue Lagoon. Another beautiful area was reached by sailing through a coral pass into the Eastern group where we had the place to ourselves for a week. We anchored in a few different spots including the old port of Nieafu and kayaked many miles exploring the shoals and smaller islands where keel boats wouldn't dare to go. We moved to Kenutu Island where we met up with around 6 other boats. Here we kayaked some more, snorkeled and walked over the island to stand on the sheer limestone cliffs above the crashing South East trade wind driven swell.

We have since covered the 425nm passage from Tonga to Fiji last week, arriving in Savusavu. It was a great 77 hour passage in the tradewinds.

Savusavu was a great, friendly little town. The Fijian people are always ready with a warm smile and 'Bula'. We got away from the port after a week of indulgence of the good, really cheap curries on offer and we stocked up on fresh foods such as meat and vegies. The port has 3 so called marinas, 1 with a real marina as well as moorings called The Copra Shed, the other two just have moorings with showers etc. We stayed on a mooring with Waitui marina. Joelene the manager arranged and transported all officials to our boat. She was fantastic and extremely helpful and we highly recommend her.

We spent several nights anchored off Costeau Resort in Savusavu Bay waiting for the right wind to sail east. From here we had several kayak, snorkeling and walking adventures and enjoyed the company of some fellow yachties. A 15-20kn southerly breeze arrived and we had a fast and boisterous beam reach to Viani Bay 40nm east of Savusavu.

Viani Bay was a large bay with a few anchoring options. The surrounding hillsides reminded us of anchoring in Banks Peninsula in NZ. The hills were high with a mixture of jungly bush and bare grazing land. We spent 3 nights anchored there waiting for a trough to pass over. We had heavy downpours that allowed us to top up our water tanks and more as well as giving Ambler a good scrub down. One day we had a good explore in our kayaks. That day began as sunshine and ended in rain squalls. However we did discover a good snorkeling spot a few bays to the north while the sun was still out.

Today we sailed north to Kioa island with light winds and are now anchored in a bay on its north west corner. After anchoring we watched the rain slowly envelope the high mountain ranges of Vanua Levu to our west before arriving to give us another dousing.

We plan to continue anti clockwise around Vanua Levu and the islands to the east of it.
All is well on board.


At 7/08/2016 8:23 PM (utc) our position was 16°37.7'S 179°56.0'E
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Happy in the Ha'apai Group

At 7/06/2016 9:19 PM (utc) our position was 19°54.11'S 174°24.81'W

On the evening of Sunday 29 May we made an overnight passage of 75nm with a nice 10 knot easterly from Nuku'alofa, north to Nomuka Island, the southern most island in the Ha'apai group. Arriving at 9am we conned our way in with myself half way up the mast on our new rat lines negotiating a clear route through the coral heads. We spotted our first turtle and were very impressed with the many shades of blue created by the different sea beds from a deep dark blue to a brilliant turquoise surrounding the outlying reefs. We safely dropped anchor in 14m off the smaller island called Nomuka Iki.

We spent Monday and Tuesday anchored here in light winds. We launched our kayaks and paddled ashore and met the only resident on the island, an old man and his dog. He greeted us warmly and in a mixture of Tongan, English and lots of hand actions we had a brief conversation. Racks of dried fish lay salted above the high tide mark, pigs wandered behind his tin hut, a smoky fire held a blackened kettle and the local radio station could be heard from his radio. After saying goodbye we continued to kayak around the island. The tide was out and as we paddled over the inner reef we occasionally caught glimpses of bright coloured fish below. At one point we pulled ashore to stretch our legs and discovered cow pats along the beach. We have since seen evidence of cattle on all the islands we've visited. Waves crashed with regularity on the outer reef as we continued paddling along in the calmer inner passage. We met a local guy jigging for octopus from his wooden out rigger who had been to Tasmania last year to visit his sister! We also enjoyed a snorkel from the beach as well as from the boat to check our anchor and chain was clear of any coral heads.

On Wednesday we weighed anchor and departed under sail. After clearing Nomuka Island we set our course for 35 degrees true. We could see lots of scattered low lying islands on the horizon, one of them being our destination for the day, Oua Island. With an 8 knot breeze from the ESE we were close reaching in a smooth sea. To our west we could see the prominent pyramid shape of Kao Island which is 1000m high. Next to it was the shorter island of Tofua which is an active volcano. It was a sunny day and flying fish were stretching their wings as they flew across the wave tops. As we neared the Ava Fonuaika pass between Wickham Reef and Fonuaika Island we watched the sea around us intently for any signs of breaking waves or green water which indicates a reef system. As we were now working to windward it became clear we weren't going to clear a reef ahead of us so we tacked twice to avoid it. Once clear of the pass we had a gentle sail in to our anchorage at Peapea Island. Once again we navigated our way in, using both our echo sounder (fish finder) which shows a profile of the sea bed as well as depth and myself up the mast distinguishing between the different shades of blue to find a nice clear area to anchor. Peapea Island is a tiny dot of an island on the outer reef system of Oua Island. Although we felt we were anchored in the middle of open water we had a reef on two sides and an island on the third.

The following morning we kayaked around Oua Island and saw all manner of fish leaping across in front of our bows as our kayaks must have startled them, quite a few black tip reef sharks in the shallows and a very large turtle only metres in front of us before it took a breath and disappeared into the turquoise depths. We stopped at the small beach fringed island of Fakahiku to stretch our legs. As we glided onto the beach at least a dozen crabs scuttled from the waterline up to the bush for safety. All that is except for one which wasn't as quick as Wayne who leapt from his kayak and blocked its path. The two of them get blocking each other as they side stepped along the beach. After Wayne decided it was too hot to be running around chasing crabs we walked around the island and collected four coconuts to open later.

In the afternoon we sailed north for 7nm to Haafeva Island. We anchored in 8m on the north west side of the island. Here we had our best sleep in awhile as the anchorage wasn't rolly. On Friday morning we jumped over the side and had the best snorkelling we've had yet. The visibility was excellent and the coral gardens between the boat and the shore were spectacular. There was a huge range of coral which were all alive and a magnificent variety of colourful fish darted in and around them. We had a wonderful time snorkelling here and we were left in awe at the beauty of it.

On Friday afternoon we sailed east to Uonukuhahaki Island. We had a terrific sail to windward in ESE 10 knots and covered the 23nm in five hours. We found a clear sandy area between coral heads and dropped the anchor. We eagerly went for a quick snorkel from the boat before the sun went down.

On Saturday we went ashore to Uonukuhahaki Island which is uninhabited and walked around its sandy beaches. We discovered a few bits of flotsam washed ashore and plenty of cowrie shells and pieces of broken, bleached coral. The tide was running out and at the northern end of the island we were presented with a spectacular nature show. We came across a fairly big tidal pool and I spotted a small black tip reef shark swimming through what I thought was weed. Wayne soon noticed that my weed was thousands of fish about a finger length long. This enormous school of fish was herded up one end of the tidal pool by a variety of predators including several sharks, a group of king fish and also making the most of this bounty were terns overhead and several moray eels. Every time a predator would lunge into the school the air would erupt in small fish flying to escape. In the afternoon we had another great snorkelling session, seeing even more varieties of colourful fish.

After spending a windy day on board on Sunday we decided to move to the next island to our north on Monday. We had a brisk sail in a SE 15 knot to Uiha Island and anchored in front of the southern village. Uiha Island has two villages. We have spent the last few days anchored here as the island provides good protection from the strong easterly trade winds. Yesterday we kayaked the length of the island and met some local boat builders and today we went snorkelling close to the shore and saw some cuttlefish.

We have been regularly listening to Radio Australia on our HF radio and hearing all about the floods in northern Tasmania. Our thoughts are with those at home enduring the bad weather and floods.

All is happy on board.

email is via our slow and limited* HF radio email system. * Limited by the atmospheric conditions and propagation of the ionosphere.

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Arrival in the Kingdom of Tonga

We arrived at Nuku'alofa the capital of Tonga last night just as the sun was setting at 1800 and dropped anchor next to Pangaimotu Island. In the fading light we could make out a strip of sandy beach, tall palm trees and about ten other vessels anchored to the south of the island. After a much enjoyed hot shower and a quick dinner we slept like logs until waking naturally with the morning light.

Our voyage statistics are; 1,132 nautical miles over 12 days and 6 hours. A total of 24 hours of motoring in calm conditions, the longest period yesterday (9 hours) was in 5 metre swells.

The last 4 days were a mixed bag of conditions. On Saturday we were sailing to windward on a building North Westerly with boat speeds up to 7 knots for 14 hours, then we endured a South Westerly gale on Sunday with a small headsail for 14 hours as a series of fronts came through. The wind abated early Monday but unfortunately the swells didn't abate as quickly, they stayed with us for the final 2 days as we made use of the .75 oz Code Zero and then completed the voyage under motor. It is hard to endure such light conditions once land is sighted!

This morning we entered the inner harbour to clear customs. After tying up alongside another yacht also awaiting clearance we patiently waited for an hour for the customs officer to arrive. Then several other yachts needing clearance arrived and tied up alongside our little flotilla. It was nice to be able to chat to other yachties whilst waiting for clearance procedures to take place. After another couple of hours the quarantine officer arrived and then an hour later the health officer arrived. All the officials were very courteous and relaxed.

After finally being able to leave the vessel we went to the local produce market and bought some fresh supplies. This evening we returned to anchor off Pangaimotu Island and enjoyed a swim over the side followed by a delicious papaya.

All is content onboard Ambler

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Some bumpy and now smooth sailing

Since our last post we had been running before a strong wind on the back of a low that had developed from the front that crossed New Zealand two days ago. It developed as a cut off low to the East of South Island and moved to a position South East of us. Fortunately the winds didn't get too much over 25 knots but the sea was rough owing to the proximity of this low. We ran briskly before it with just the head sail up for 24 hours and steered clear of the undersea ridges that can develop odd wave patterns.

The chart is riddled with undersea volcanoes, ridges and troughs that have odd notations such as "volcanic activity 2009" "dscoloured water 1983" and shoal depths with the year reported. In fact there's a whole new island at 20d 34' S, 175d 23' W, which we will not be sailing near as it is west of our planned route. I should have brought a Tassie Flag in case we find a new island to proclaim.

The wind died off during Wednesday and we are drifting north with the Assymetric Spinnaker heading for the subtropic ridge (an elongated high with little or no wind) that we hope to be able to sail through. Once across we will then be in the South East trade winds.

We also crossed the dateline at 30d 10'S on Tuesday at 1750 local which is 12 hours and 180 degrees in both directions East and West of Greenwhich England (lucky I paid attention in the spherical trigonometry lessons when I studied surveying) . We haven't changed the date though as Tonga and Fiji are aligned with NZ.

We still have the Mahi Mahi fish around us and have been spotting sea birds such as white necked petrels and masked boobies. We have stayed to the west of the Kermadec islands due to the big winds and sea which these birds nest on.

We have been generating electricity whilst sailing from a tow generator. The different bits cost me $230 and consist of an old wind generator called a wind bugger hooked up to a small outboard propeller on a stainless shaft and coupled by a 30 metre rope. The wind bugger was popular in its day with its large slow turning blades, ideal for a hydrogen system, unlike the fast turning modern wind generators.

So all bright and humming along on board.
Wayne and Kathy
At 17/05/2016 4:12 PM (utc) our position was 29°39.19'S 179°26.53'W

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The ocean is a desert with its life underground.

Position at 4.30am local is 31d 45'S, 178d 37'E, 721nm to go

Last night, just on dusk, a little mate joined us perhaps from the Tamar River. A swallow had lost his way. He almost landed on my arm then did a circuit of the boat and spied a more settled and out of the way place to land, the liferaft deployment cord. Once settled it gave a chirp and then it was only a minute or two before his little head tucked under his wing and was fast asleep. It became his final resting place as he passed away in the early hours of the night. At sunrise we gave him a sea burial.

We were forced to a stop next day with no wind. We were parked in the middle of a big round empty disc then we spotted an orange fishing float, we fired up the diesel and motored over to find a small mass of green rope which we hauled aboard. It was barnacle encrusted and was home to many small crabs. It was then we noticed that surrounding the boat was a dozen or more big Dolphin fish or Mahi Mahi along with many smaller species. These big fish are delicious too so I went through my fishing kit and threw every lure I had at them to no avail. We cleaned up the rope and stored it in the sea kayak for later disposal on land. Our new friends stayed with us for the rest of the day and attempted to keep up once the breeze filled in after dark. We could see them swimming along in the phosphorescent plankton then they must have given up the chase.

The wind has come in from the ENE and we have shaped a course North towards Tonga.

All is quiet on board as we sail through the night
Wayne And Kathy

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NZ explored, now it's Tonga Time

Hi
We have been on board for almost 3 weeks exploring the many stunning anchorages in the Bay of Islands as we prepare Ambler for sea. Our mountain bikes and associated land exploring equipment was washed and packed away. We sold the van to some friends from Tasmania who are sailing to Nelson soon to begin their adventures.

We cleared customs at Opua and left the bay in light winds behind another boat who was heading our way. We hoisted the code 0 and main and shut the noisy perkins down once we detected a breeze, where as he kept motoring towards the horizon. We were only achieving 3.5 knots until the breeze freshened a bit more. It was then too much for the code 0 so we furled that and unfurled the headsail. Just on dusk we called a ship that was lining us up to pass only half a mile behind. He agreed to alter course to increase the separation especially as our speed under sail wasn't all that constant.

We had a great night beam reaching (a sailing term, not being sick) until sunrise. A small pod of Common Dolphins enjoyed our bow waves as the sun rose. We poled out the headsail as the wind had backed to the west. The apparent wind speed eased off too so we then hoisted the massive Assymetric spinnaker and unfurled it, we shot back up to 6 knots again for an hour and a half but then the wind came around NW again. So off with the assy and back on with the headsail, beam reaching once more.

We have lost sight of the boat ahead and have another yacht converging from Whangarei or Auckland. We have them on AIS (Amblers Intelligence System) with a CPA (Closest Point of Approach) 5 hours away. So there are lots of yachts on this weather window to the Islands.

There was supposed to be a flotilla (operation Sea Mercy) departing today for Fiji to deliver goods to needy villages, but I suspect they (mostly Americans) might chicken out and leave Saturday instead, due to the Friday factor and especially as it is also the 13th!

This afternoon we had our 240 watt solar panels aimed at the sun so there was energy pouring back into the batteries.

It is midnight now and we had covered 110 nm in the first 24 hours and another 67 in the last 12.

All is well on board as we gain our sea legs once more.
Wayne and Kathy

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Photos of our South Island Adventures

 We walked up to Franz Josef Glacier on the West Coast. It had receded significantly since Wayne was last here about 30 years ago.

Walking up the river valley towards what is left of the Fox Glacier on the West Caost.

As close as you are allowed to get to the Fox Glacier. 

Reflections of the Southern Alps on Lake Matheson, West Coast 

Views of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook from Lake Matheson. 

Views of Lake Wanaka as we climb Roy's Peak in the Southern Lakes region. 

Views of Lake Wanaka and Mt Aspiring National Park from half way up Roy's Peak. 

Views of Lake Wanaka from half way up Roy's Peak. 

Views of Lake Wanaka from half way up Roy's Peak.  

We rode our bikes along the river valley to Mt Aspiring Hut. The snow covered peaks rose high above us on either side of the valley and highland cattle roamed free on the valley floor. 

A day walk to the base of the hanging Rob Roy Glacier.  

Looking up towards the Mt Aspiring area. 

Riding along Mt Bee's Ridgeline.

Lunch on Mt Bee (1246m)

 This was as far as we could ride along the Mt Bee ridge. 

A hut on a ride we did at Mavora Lakes. 

Riding to Twin Forks Hut. Mavora Lake is in the background. 

Twin Forks Hut 

Slope Point on the SE coast of the South Island 

Riding through a deer farm on our way up to the top of the Rock and Pillar Range in the background, near Middlemarch, Central Otago 

The wild, barren windswept and cold tops (1452m) of the Rock and Pillar Range 

 The high point (1746m) of Saddle Ridge between the East and West Manuherikia Rivers, Central Otago

 The rocky steep descent to the West Manuherikia River from Saddle Ridge

Views of dry tussock plains of Central Otago from the Mt Ida Water Race track. 

A relaxing gradient at last along the Mt Ida Water Race 

 Riding up the Ahuriri River Valley in the South Canterbury High Country

Riding up the Hopkins River Valley in the South Canterbury High Country

Riding up the Hopkins River Valley  

Having a rest on the Dusky Trail near Twizel in the South Canterbury High Country

The Richmond Trail above Lake Tekapo, South Canterbury High Country

The Richmond Trail with Lake Tekapo in the background. 

About to set off to ride up the Godley River Valley in the South Canterbury High Country when a massive flock of Canada Geese lifted into the air.

Some creek crossings were too deep to ride across in the Godley River Valley.

The Godley River Valley

Scenery on our Lake Sunmer Ride, North Canterbury High Country