Time for a catch-up!

Mooloolaba for Xmas 2014

OK, we made it safely back to Oz (Bundaberg then Mooloolaba), where Harlequin is parked for Xmas while we return to Hong Kong for an admin break. And to get cold. And catch a cold.

Checking the log, we've covered almost 8,000 nm since we were last in Mooloolaba, for Xmas 2012. We've sailed a bit of a round-Tasman circuit over the last 2 years.

Tasman circuit

Anyway, this gives me a chance to catch up on the blog, now months out of date! I apologise - been too busy cruising, and our Facebook page has kinda taken over as an easy howgozit.

So I'll be filling in the gaps from our year-long cruise around NZ's North Island, as well as bringing you up to date with our adventures since Fiji. Lots of good pics.

Bear with me, while I catch up the blog for the last few thousand miles of South Pacific cruising...

FISH ON...!!!

Ben

We had already been considering who we should eat first.

Obviously it would be Ben. A no-brainer really:  he was the youngest (as tradition demands), he was eating the most, and he knew the location of the rum stash. Luckily (for Ben) we started to catch fish on the evening of Day 4.

First, though, we had to be teased for an hour, heaving to for 3 strong takes but losing all of them, with 2 lures into the bargain. These were not small fish.

First fish

Fresh sashimi

Finally, a medium-sized Tuna was landed and quickly sashimied, followed next morning by a medium Mahi-mahi (Dorado), immediately battered and cooked, to be wolfed down with a cold beer.

Beer? Yeah, well, it was Sunday...

And we were all freshly scrubbed as we changed out of oilies and dressed in our Sunday best: Hawaiian shirts to mark our arrival in warmer waters. Boy did it taste good. And we smelled good too, for the first time quite in a few days!

Then again: FISH ON...!!!

This time Declan landed a large bull Mahi-mahi which was filleted and put straight in the fridge. With Tuna steaks for supper (mmmmm...) the lines had to come in. We had enough meat for days now. Strike 'famine'; read 'feast'.

Ben lives to fight (or fish) another day...

First mahi-mahi

Extremely fresh fish

8 kg

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..

Team Harlequin

     The team for the Fiji crossing:

Steve
A-watch leader
Chief Engineer

Adam
B-watch leader
Chef & Go-pro

Bert
C-watch leader
Electrics

Jim
Skipper

Roger
A-watch
Head Chef

Ben
B-watch
Go-pro & morale

Declan
C-watch
Fish-wrangler

Sue
Shore-boss
Comms Director

A-watch:  Brits Steve & Roger joined us again from Hong Kong. Steve was last aboard in January, cruising the Marlborough Sounds with wife, Jo and Roger was previously aboard in PNG and the Coral Sea with Steve in May 12 - when they lost the rudder! See the write-up of their fun & games here.

B-watch:  Adam & Ben are our tame Yanks. Adam raced with us on the Nelson Regatta back in January [write-up coming soon, I promise], working foredeck, before buying a car with Ben to explore every corner of NZ. Ben was a sailing novice, but a quick learner. Both quick to get stuck in, usually whilst taking 'selfies' with their Go-pros!

C-watch:  Bert is Dutch and an experienced coastal sailor. He kindly drove up from Auckland to help us prepare whilst on the hardstand in Whangarei, and is now an expert in re-filling compasses! Irishman Declan first joined Harlequin in Havelock and sailed with us to Nelson for the Nelson Regatta in January. Then again from Nelson - New Plymouth - North Cape - Whangaroa in March, so he's getting to know his way around the boat pretty well!

In addition, we had a cracking support team:  Sue holding the fort ashore (albeit, half a world away in UK) as Comms Director, keeping all the family and friends up to speed on our progress during the crossing. Also Alain, back in Hong Kong, keeping an eye on the weather for us with regular routing advice, and David (Bo-suun!!!) on HF duty in Sydney. Thanks, guys!