French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
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sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
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Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

12/1/21

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. We have had a mix of no wind, and some beautiful sailing under clear blue skies. Our routing has meant we can’t make the most of the sailing opportunities, we are instructed to maintain a certain course and certain speed to ensure that we don’t arrive at the low pressure system too early. The grib files show it now directly ahead of us about 120 miles away and we are already experiencing the weather associate with it. The sky is now cloudy, the wind has picked up a little and is slowly backing as the low pressure moves from west of us to south west of us.

We have had no luck landing fish, though we haven’t tried very hard. We lost a second one two days ago – something large that ran off 900m of line. We recovered 800 then it simple dumped the hook and took off. It was a pretty good workout anyway!

Other than that we have been amusing ourselves with jewellery making (Lesley), working for Derek and stowing all the light weather sailing stuff in preparation for the next 36 hours of passing behind the low. We have a great little tablet loaded with movies to watch and our kindles have many books on them so we are keeping busy.

Our satellite communication allows us unlimited messaging with the two other boats sailing with us so we can keep in touch with them too throughout the day to compare weather and share information and trivia.

All round things are going pretty well. Its slightly frustrating not to be heading towards New Zealand for the last few days but we anticipated it. At some point tomorrow we expect to make that left turn, the it will be full speed ahead direct to Opua.

DTG: 835nm
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

9/1/21

Much of the same today. Hardly a breath of wind and no squalls so all very relaxed. The engine has been on continuously for a couple of days now so we are monitoring fuel usage carefully. We carry a lot of diesel, but even so we want to ensure we have plenty for the second half of the trip – when weather systems develop you often have two choices – power up and try and get ahead, or slow down and pass behind. Which you choose can affect the passage beyond that system too so its often not a simple decision, hence why we are using a router for this trip. We have been advised to slow down a little more over the next few days to give us greater separation between us and the system we expect to pass behind on or around the 13th. Just half a knot decrease in speed will put us about 12 hours further back from it and that should mean we get less waves and less wind in its vicinity. the other boats are spreading out a bit now. Neither carry as much fuel as we do so they are having to be far more aggressive in terms of looking for and utilising every breath of wind they can find. Its not a problem for them, just a little frustrating but was expected. The wind hole we are currently in is expected to last for another 36 hours at least so we don’t expect much to be different tomorrow. The up side of calm weather is its much easier to do things on the boat. Lesley has been doing a lot of the jewellery making she learned in FP and I have a lot of work that can be done offline which is progressing well – better than it would have done had we continued with the fast bumpy conditions we set out with.

DTG 1056NM
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association

French Polynesia to New Zealand

9/1/21

Much of the same today. Hardly a breath of wind and no squalls so all very relaxed. The engine has been on continuously for a couple of days now so we are monitoring fuel usage carefully. We carry a lot of diesel, but even so we want to ensure we have plenty for the second half of the trip – when weather systems develop you often have two choices – power up and try and get ahead, or slow down and pass behind. Which you choose can affect the passage beyond that system too so its often not a simple decision, hence why we are using a router for this trip. We have been advised to slow down a little more over the next few days to give us greater separation between us and the system we expect to pass behind on or around the 13th. Just half a knot decrease in speed will put us about 12 hours further back from it and that should mean we get less waves and less wind in its vicinity. the other boats are spreading out a bit now. Neither carry as much fuel as we do so they are having to be far more aggressive in terms of looking for and utilising every breath of wind they can find. Its not a problem for them, just a little frustrating but was expected. The wind hole we are currently in is expected to last for another 36 hours at least so we don’t expect much to be different tomorrow. The up side of calm weather is its much easier to do things on the boat. Lesley has been doing a lot of the jewellery making she learned in FP and I have a lot of work that can be done offline which is progressing well – better than it would have done had we continued with the fast bumpy conditions we set out with.

DTG 1056NM
————————————————-
When replying please be brief, and also trim off the
original message from your response. Messages are
sent over a very low-speed satellite or radio link.

The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: 2ejh8@sailmail.com
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply– which may only be a “…” at the
bottom of your reply.

Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.

This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners.

For more information on this service or about the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:

SailMail Association