NZ to Fiji - Part I

Smoooth sunset...

Having missed the ideal weather window, we knew we were in for a few days of motoring, but we were pleasantly surprised to soon find a usable NW'ly to drive us up our 008 deg T (350 deg M) track at over 6-7 kts.

And so began the pattern:  A-watch would find the wind, B-watch would take over and nurse it, then C-watch would step on deck and kill it stone dead. Spooky, how often that cycle repeated itself.

Everyone settled nicely into the watch system which, given the calm conditions, was modified on Day 2 to 3 hrs on and 6 hrs off, day and night - plenty of rest for everybody..

Forecast: Day 2

Forecast: Day 4

So they started eating. The remainder of Sue's pre-cooked, vacuum-packed & frozen meals was quickly consumed (we'd had to use them at Opua as they'd begun to defrost) then the zombie horde turned on the fresh rations, then the tins and the dried goods. They could not be satisfied.

Roger and his acolyte Adam seemed to spend every waking hour (OK, that's not as much as you'd think) in the galley cooking. Taste-test half, serve the remainder, wash, rinse and repeat. Just as well we'd stocked up for a month of cruising in Fiji as well, although how much was going to survive even the crossing was now in serious doubt. We're going to need some fish!

Given how much we were motoring or motor-sailing (we had a hard Fiji deadline to meet), the old heart skipped a beat when the daily engine check on the morning of Day 3 revealed a substantial gearbox oil spill. Thankfully the cause was immediately apparent:  one of the top casing studs was missing. The engineering team, it transpired, had not checked them in the rush to get the Saildrive fitted just 3 days before, assuming: "Hey, it's a new gearbox - the bolts should all be factory tight." They weren't.

And could the missing stud be located? Could it buggery; totally disappeared. Out came the old Saildrive (buried under a ton of sails, kayaks, etc, in the forepeak) and we robbed a bolt from that.

No harm done, just a mop-up job, refill, check the tightness of all the bolts, and we were back in business. Calm, my beating heart...

Hitch-hiker

Nothing can resist the Go-pro..