Date: 23.11.2014 19:00 UTC
Latitude: 32° 07.7'S
Longitude: 173° 34.9'E
Course: 177 T
Speed: 6.8 knots
Wind Speed: 10.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 270 T
We are happy sailors again, heading directly for Opua. There is a front expected for Wednesday, so we are glad we made some haste!
After a calm and glassy day all is "tiketiboo" (Kiwi slang for "wonderfull") on board. Spirits are up, but we are all glad to get there tomorrow.
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Marcus and Michaela sailing the world's oceans on their most beautiful boat Alita. Join the adventure!
22.11.2014
Position Report for ALITA - 22.11.2014 17:00 UTC
Date: 22.11.2014 17:02 UTC
Latitude: 29° 23.1'S
Longitude: 173° 47.2'E
Course: 184 T
Speed: 7.1 knots
Wind Speed: 2.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 160 T
Not having run any kind of combustible engine since we left Vuda Marina in Fiji, enjoying our solar power, finaly at 3am this morning (14:00 UTC) we reluctantly had to give up on sailing, when the wind dropped to two Beaufort (less than 6 knots) from changing directions. We are a motor vessel now. Shame on us!
Despite the irritating rattle and hum everything is wonderfull aboard. At least the 1 knot counter current we had for the last 48 hours stoped as well, so we can enjoy full speed along with the noise.
With the help of fossil resources it seems we can keep up with the master plan to reach Opua on 25.11. noon local time (24.11. 23:00 UTC).
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Latitude: 29° 23.1'S
Longitude: 173° 47.2'E
Course: 184 T
Speed: 7.1 knots
Wind Speed: 2.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 160 T
Not having run any kind of combustible engine since we left Vuda Marina in Fiji, enjoying our solar power, finaly at 3am this morning (14:00 UTC) we reluctantly had to give up on sailing, when the wind dropped to two Beaufort (less than 6 knots) from changing directions. We are a motor vessel now. Shame on us!
Despite the irritating rattle and hum everything is wonderfull aboard. At least the 1 knot counter current we had for the last 48 hours stoped as well, so we can enjoy full speed along with the noise.
With the help of fossil resources it seems we can keep up with the master plan to reach Opua on 25.11. noon local time (24.11. 23:00 UTC).
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Fast trip
Hello from my midnight shift. We're already less than 3 days away from New Zealand! Unfortunately the wind is going to die soon - actually it basically already has, but I am (in my shift) still reluctant to start the engine when we're kind of sailing most of the time. But, the wind changes direction and strenth (3-9kn) all the time, constant corrections are necessary. Soon we will have to motor for a day. It's so peaceful out there right now, considering that until early this morning we had strong winds and waves of up to 3m / 10ft) and basically banged our way through the waves. There is nothing like a calm, beautiful day after a rough time, it's a wonderful feeling.
So far this trip has been a 24hrs work out every day. With a constant strong healing to our starbord side you constantly need your muscles to move around and even sit or sleep. The toughest part is cooking in the kitchen - great belly muscle work-out. We're all well up and enjoying the ride. However these last days I did not feel like sitting at the computer downstairs to type. So thankfully Marcus copied his daily status report (which he sends to our friends expecting us in New Zealand and to the ones who left a day before us)to the blog. ALso Marcus helped me out in the kitchen by sharing the cooking.
So, nothing else exciting to report. I probably won't be posting again until we arrive in New Zealand. But the copies of the status reports will continue to be posted so that you can follow where we are.
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So far this trip has been a 24hrs work out every day. With a constant strong healing to our starbord side you constantly need your muscles to move around and even sit or sleep. The toughest part is cooking in the kitchen - great belly muscle work-out. We're all well up and enjoying the ride. However these last days I did not feel like sitting at the computer downstairs to type. So thankfully Marcus copied his daily status report (which he sends to our friends expecting us in New Zealand and to the ones who left a day before us)to the blog. ALso Marcus helped me out in the kitchen by sharing the cooking.
So, nothing else exciting to report. I probably won't be posting again until we arrive in New Zealand. But the copies of the status reports will continue to be posted so that you can follow where we are.
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19.11.2014
Position Report for ALITA - 20.11.2014 20:00 UTC
Date: 21.11.2014 18:00 UTC
Latitude: 27° 02.9'S
Longitude: 174° 19.1'E
Course: 181 T
Speed: 7.1 knots
Wind Speed: 13.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 090 T
After three days of beating into the wind (40° APP) it feels good to be on a reach (60° APP)!
All wonderfull aboard - no more seasickness!
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Latitude: 27° 02.9'S
Longitude: 174° 19.1'E
Course: 181 T
Speed: 7.1 knots
Wind Speed: 13.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 090 T
After three days of beating into the wind (40° APP) it feels good to be on a reach (60° APP)!
All wonderfull aboard - no more seasickness!
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Position Report for ALITA - 20.11.2014 20:00 UTC
Date: 20.11.2014 20:00 UTC
Latitude: 24° 44.7'S
Longitude: 175° 05.1'E
Course: 199 T
Speed: 6.9 knots
Wind Speed: 20.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 112 T
It was a nice day, with calm seas and a huge barracuda landed and released.
Then came the night and a small front and it got rather unpleasant.
We are thru the front now, but winds remain a bit challenging.
All good aboard, except one seasick guest.
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Latitude: 24° 44.7'S
Longitude: 175° 05.1'E
Course: 199 T
Speed: 6.9 knots
Wind Speed: 20.0 KT
Wind Dir.: 112 T
It was a nice day, with calm seas and a huge barracuda landed and released.
Then came the night and a small front and it got rather unpleasant.
We are thru the front now, but winds remain a bit challenging.
All good aboard, except one seasick guest.
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18.11.2014
Day 1 of passage
We're a good day out of Fiji now, spirits are up, crew is well up, we're enjoying beautiful weather and a good sailing so far. The first few hours out of the reef were a bit choppy with the waves coming around from the island + wind waves = cross sea. A seasickness pill made me happy and prevented any bad occurances ;-) So all is good, very calm sailing yesterday and now Marucs and I are in the process of preparing a dinner with the Mahi Mahi from yesterday, since yesterday all we were able to do was cook pasta and heat up the pumpkin sauce I had prepared (actually that was Marcus' cooking act yesterday for his crew:-) )I am really happy I finished pre-baking bread yesteday just before we exited the reef. A big group of cute spinner dolphins waved us good-by with playing with the boat and jumping on the sides. Very cute.
Unfortuntately, as predicted, the wind slowed down this morning, so instead of 7-8 knots we're travelling at 5-6 knots, sometimes even 4-5. In our first day we travelled 160nm, an average of almost 7 knots. That's very good, considering that we travelled at 6 knots the first 3 hours within the reef. Our long distance average is 140nm/ day, our maximum so far over the years has ben 210. Tomorrow the wind will pick up again and for about 2 days we expect it to get more uncomfortable, but not really bad and no storms. So, let's keep the fingers crossed that all will remain to be good.
On our website and the german blog you can see our current position each day at noon our time (just in case I once don't feel like writing) (Click on "Where is Alita").
Our current position is: 20deg 54,6S and 176deg 40,2E
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Unfortuntately, as predicted, the wind slowed down this morning, so instead of 7-8 knots we're travelling at 5-6 knots, sometimes even 4-5. In our first day we travelled 160nm, an average of almost 7 knots. That's very good, considering that we travelled at 6 knots the first 3 hours within the reef. Our long distance average is 140nm/ day, our maximum so far over the years has ben 210. Tomorrow the wind will pick up again and for about 2 days we expect it to get more uncomfortable, but not really bad and no storms. So, let's keep the fingers crossed that all will remain to be good.
On our website and the german blog you can see our current position each day at noon our time (just in case I once don't feel like writing) (Click on "Where is Alita").
Our current position is: 20deg 54,6S and 176deg 40,2E
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17.11.2014
Mahi Mahi
Last port in Fiji
Hemisphere
16.11.2014
The last resort
That is not only a beautiful song from the Eagles, but right now we're seeing the last resort of this year's trip to Fiji. We're on our way back to the marina on „Mainland" now, after two exciting weeks with our crew Barbara and Roland enjoying the Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands. We had beautiful lonely islands with their beaches and coral reefs with all their fish all to ourselves. We anchored in front of nice resorts where we could feel like a real tourist and enjoy a drink or two at the bar overlooking the ocean (and our Alita ;-)). We went to see a village and asked the chief for permission to anchor and set foot on the island, hiked the hill and visited the school. We went into caves and swam and dove in there. We saw lots of fish and ate some good ones, Marcus and Roland had some nice diving. No time to get bored, lots of time to relax. We had good food, great conversations and beautiful sunsets. Last night we topped it all. We were back at anchor in Musket Cove, took a big chunk of tuna fish, which Marcus had caught in Minerva Reef and kept in the freezer, and two steaks as well as boiled potatoes to the bar. There they have BBQ grills, which operate with $2. You can BBQ your stuff there, at the bar they give you plates and silverware which you don't have to wash later on. Sooooo cool. Of course you buy your drinks at the bar. They have nice tables in the sand, that's where we ate until shortly before sunset and for the sunset we moved in to the lounge seats with sunset view. What a gorgeous finish of sailing in the beautiful part of Fiji.
Tomorrow we have change of crew. Markus, a young guy from Switzerland, ist joining us to sail to New Zealand. We will most probably start on tuesday early in the morning (that's 1,5 days from now), which gives us a lot to do. Clean the boat, do washing, prepare for the trip with shopping and cooking - and I have one day for that. Bread no 1 and 2 are already in the process, no 3 & 4 follow tomorrow…
The first 3 weeks were way too hot for me in Fiji, but this last week was just perfect - as were the anchorages and the weather. Marcus and I took turns sleeping outside, enjoying the good air and a fresh breeze - I even saw a falling star last night just before closing my eyes. So I am happy we had this good time and although I really enjoyed it now I am looking forward to sailing to New Zealand - even more to getting there and seeing all our friends there…
Here are some pictures. You find more online.
This is the lovely school we visited, the last picture is the head of the school with his son „Junior". They are very well organized but don't get much support from the state other than the necessary papers and pencils. The would LOVE to have some learning books, toys etc. in english. If you know someone or a school who throws old things out maybe you can send it to them? They would love it!
T
If you or someone you know would like to help the school by sending things of the wish list, pls. use the address stated above: 1038 RATU Namasi Memorial School, PO Box 1226, Lautoka
Life on board Alita: Roland enjoying my Roland E-Piano Fresh fish with from the grill with salad
„Cloud 9" bar at Musket Cove in the most beautiful turquoise water...
Our final dinner out in the islands, using the BBQ_opportunity at Musket cove
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