Malolo Pass was easy to identify and negotiate by the two islands that were on its boarders. We proceeded to a waypoint to clear off lying dangers, followed a compass course through it and kept a sharp lookout to spot any uncharted reefs. Once through we were quickly off soundings in 900 fathoms and put the rigors of navigating through the reefs behind us. This would be the last reef on this trip since New Zealand is too far south and too cool to support coral. It is also the end of our Polynesian, Melanesian adventure as we left Fiji, and I am watching it recede into the distance with great remorse. The places we had seen and experienced; the people we dealt with and got to know will be an unforgettable experience. I would have liked to stay in Fiji another week but a favorable weather window appeared and felt it would be foolish to past it up. Any time one has to cross the Tasmanian Sea, you get the best window possible and go. The 1200 miles that separate Fiji from New Zealand are regarded as a fairly nasty piece of ocean with storms forming very quickly and packing high winds and seas. The Queens Birthday Storm of 7 years ago is a prime example. The trip is generally expected to take from 8-10 days with the first few being in the SE trade winds and the second half generally westerly. Common theory is to make some Westing while in the SE trades and prepare for winds from any direction and up to 60 knots during the last 4 days. The High pressure systems coming off Australia were moving very slowly and only had a weak Low between them which gave us a favorable forecast for 3-5 days so off we went. We took full fuel plus all our extra cans in case we had to motor and set our minimal speed at 7 knots. Whenever the wind slackened enough to let our speed drop below that, we would motor or motor sail to keep up the pace and not waste time. People that insist on sailing the entire distance often get caught out by taking too much time and pay a heavy price.
The forecast indicated that we would have SE winds in the 25 knot range with a rough SE swell, this would mean a close hauled sail for the first day or two but we thought that was OK to get good weather at the other end. After clearing the reef, the winds and sea were light and since we started off with a double reefed main anticipating bigger winds, we shook out the reefs and rolled out the Genoa. Within the next hour however the winds and seas were up and we were back down to a double reefed main and Genoa the speed was 9-10 knots with the bow buried most of the time and constant solid water to the mast. It was fast but just too uncomfortable. We went to the staysail instead of the Genoa and it worked well with the windvane steering the boat easily and solid water coming over only occasionally while doing 8 ½ knots. The wind shifted to the East the second day making it a close reach, a little more comfortable and bumped the speed up to 9 ½ knots, it didn't look like we were going to need all that fuel. The wind continued to back putting us on a broad reach which was a welcome break from all the pounding and slamming we had been experiencing for the past 2-3 days, but it also became quite light and the engine came on at times to keep the speed up. We caught two nice yellow fin tuna and had some good meals on a moderate sea. The wind continued to back all the way around until we were close hauled again but on the opposite tack. It finally ended up due South and right on the nose so we motored the last day arriving in Opua that night after a 6 ½ day trip, not bad time and no major weather.
Making an unfamiliar landfall at night, threading our way through the Bay of Islands and up the inlet to Opua was exciting as usual. We didn't have detailed charts of the area and the depth sounder decided to quit again, but we did have some GPS waypoints, all the navigational lights and ranges seemed to be working and RADAR kept us from bumping into the big things in the dark so everything went OK. We found Opua and the quarantine dock with another boat on it so we rafted up. Fortunately they were still up at 1:30 AM and helped us tie up. We invited them over, against all rules, for a celebratory beer and had to clear them out quickly when we found out Ministry of Agriculture was coming. They are very concerned about introduction of agricultural pests and the quarantine officer checked us out at 2:30 that morning. He was very cheery as he took all our fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat and any thing that might grow if planted, i.e. popcorn; at least he took all of the garbage too.
Opua is a nice little tourist town with one restaurant, a general store, a fishing and ferry dock and that's all. The trip South had placed us in early spring with temperatures in the 50's, a let down from the 75 we were enjoying six days earlier. We had to dig out whatever warm cloths we had, but the hardest thing was putting on shoes and socks. These clothing items have been unused for the last eight months. Even in church most people including the priest were barefoot, unless the priest had a new pair of sneakers, which he would wear. We found prices a little higher than in New York but with the exchange rate of $1.00US for $2.00NZ, things looked pretty good. We're enjoying New Zealand, the people, and being in port and we plan to move down to Auckland and the America's Cup in a few days. Eight months, 14,315 nautical miles, a long trip.
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