Back to New Zealand

Back to New Zealand after another wonderful sailing season in Fiji.

Roam on mooring #8, Port Denarau, Fiji. We're here for provisioning and Fiji customs/immigration clearance. It's a great place to gear up to go south.

We leave Fiji for New Zealand today. I know. It feels like we just got here. I love this beautiful country and its warm, friendly people.

The weather has presented us with a very good window to sail south. We've got some upcoming travel and work commitments. This is a chance to get the boat to New Zealand for safe keeping during cyclone season.

Route plan from Fiji to Auckland. Each weather model shows a different color route. Tight alignment means high confidence in the forecast. You can see the storm front two-thirds of the way across. It should clear out before we get there.

This time we are planning to clear into Auckland instead of Opua. It's a longer trip and also a slower trip than last year. We expect much lighter winds on the NZ end of the route. We averaged 8.2 knots last year. This year will be closer to 7.5 knots.

Pre-departure rig inspection. Fortunately, Greg doesn't mind going up the mast! I hate going up the mast. I'm not afraid of heights, but I hate finding problems up there.

Our friend and crew from the trip up, Greg and his daughter Miya, have flown up from New Zealand to give us a hand. It is always a huge win when you can bring experienced sailors along to share the load.

Inspecting and running the lines and marking the reef points. The time to do this is when it's calm on a mooring. All of our rough weather sail handling is done without leaving the cockpit.

Miya is an aspiring super yacht crew-person and an apprentice at Evolution Sails in Auckland. She loves the chance to accumulate more sea miles. I'm sure she will have a few things to say about our aging sails and the need for new ones.

Greg and I will have many hours to discuss all of Roam's projects while she is back in New Zealand. He'll look after Roam in Tauranga while we are away.

Roam's fearless crew (L-R): Pam, Miya, Greg, Jim

I wrote about the strategy and tactics for this passage last year. It is the most challenging ocean passage I've ever done. The 1,200-nautical-mile route leaves the trade winds and crosses three climate zones and the subtropical ridge. It often requires leaving Fiji with an active storm on the route. That is the case on this trip. We bet on the forecast models being right about the bad weather clearing out before we sail through it.

The forecast as it stands is about as good as it gets. We'll be posting updates on our PredictWind tracker so as to save your inboxes from too many posts.

The bottom is clean. The fridge is full. We have fresh coffee beans. The boat is ready. The crew is ready. Here we go!

Passage Forecast

Miles sailed: 1,205 - 1,246nm
Time enroute (days:hours): 06:06 - 06:21
Average speed: 7.4 - 8.0 knots
Motoring time (boat speed <5.1 knots – days:hours): 00:13 - 01:20
Maximum sustained winds: 21 - 28 knots
True Wind Angle: 70° - 110°
Maximum wave height: 3.3 meters
% of time RMS roll > 4° (sea state): 3% - 12%¹
% of time vertical acceleration > 0.2 g (sea state): 24% - 27%¹
Sail configuration: Main (full and single reef) and Solent

¹We use these two calculations as indicators of how rough the seas will be. When the seas are smooth, anything is possible. When the seas are rough, everything sucks. It's not the wind that causes problems, it's the sea state. Our routing software calculates these from Roam's hull dimensions and forecast wave trains across the entire route. You couldn't figure this out just by looking at swell height on a wave map.