Just returning to Nelson after ten wonderful, peaceful days at D'Urville Island.

We finally made it to Nelson after waiting and waiting for weather to get here. We had a nice, non-stop, 42 hour motor-boat ride go get here. Lyttelton and Christchurch were great and we were very sad to leave. That said, we do love Nelson too

We'll hang out here for a while before heading off to Australia in January or February.

We're back in Lyttelton and it's nice to be on Legacy again. We'll hang out here for a month or so, before moving north to Nelson. Hi Y'all.

We made the 2400 mile passage from Los Angeles to Kona, Hawaii in just over 5 hours. Eat your hearts out Transpac boats (who are now arriving in Ohau). I love airplanes!

Perhaps you've heard about the massive food shortages in Los Angeles? Yep, our bad! We've eaten everything.

It's been a productive visit but there's nothing like two weeks in LA to make every the worst passage look good by comparison.

We'll fly back to Hawaii in a few days. Happy sigh.

24 Hour Run: 4221nm Average Speed: 574 knots. Yep, that's right. No, not on Legacy, we flew - to Hawaii for a vacation from our cruising lives. It's been seven years and we felt like a rest. We'll stay here four months.

That was our easiest passage ever!

We're back in the wonderful Lyttelton (The Ana) Marina after a really nice, 32 hour motorboat ride. We'll hang out here for bit while we try to figure out the meaning of life. Yeah, I know. 42.

Leaving today for Christchurch (Lyttelton) after another nice stay in Dunedin. We visited Milford and Doubtful Sounds by tour boat during a four day road trip. That was wonderful and made us glad we didn't do it on Legacy. From Lyttelton, who knows?

Back in Otago Harbour, waiting for high tide to move to the Otago Yacht Club. We'll spend some time here and see some more of the South Island by car.

Maybe, after going to Stewart Island, we should call this "the middle island?"

We're anchored in Halfmoon Bay, right outside the town of Oban. We'll spend the night here and if the weather forecast doesn't change, leave for Dunedin tomorrow morning (24 hour run).

There's not much room to anchor here as most of the bay is taken up with moorings, but we found a nice corner here in 40 feet of water.

We're back at Whalers Base to sit out the bad weather that's due over the next couple of days. There's a monster low that Oz is sending us and forecasts call for gusts to 50.

We went on a walk last night to see Kiwis on the beach and we were successful. Mostly. We did get chased off the beach, but not until after we saw some kiwis. It seems that no one is allowed in the Kiwi protection area between 6pm and 6am without some kind of special permit. The guide who kindly escorted us off the beach and back to the jetty ended up giving us quite a tour on the way back. Some would say that the way to do this is to scope out the trail and beach before 6pm, and then go back after the tour boat leaves at 10:30pm.

We moved away from town to a better anchorage for the blow. It got bad where we were when the wind went further south than advertised. This is one of the most beautiful anchorages we've been in. Stunning! There are a lot of tiny Islands all around us. It's kind of a roaring forties Palau.

We made it to the big city! Well, I guess it has about the same population, not including tourists, as our dock back in Tauranga, but after a couple of weeks in the wilderness, it's a big city for us.

What did we do there? Got lunch of course, and shopped at the Four Square. It's a bit of a trek up and down a hill to get to Oban, especially carrying eight bottles of wine, but we needed the exercise.

Oban is a cute little town. We didn't get to explore much. We got a break in the rain and took off for home. Maybe tomorrow as it looks like rain and wind today.

By the way, there's plenty of room to anchor here. We were needlessly worried about that.

We took a tour in Legacy of Port Adventure yesterday and ended up in the Heron River for the night. Nice spot. We"re anchored in a small, deep hole (7 meters deep) and tied to a tree on shore. "Did you get more Paua?" you ask. Why, yes we did. This time, just wading ankle deep at the rocky end of a beach. "Haven't you had enough yet?" you ask. NO! For us, there's no such thing as enough, and there are plenty here.

We moved to a nice anchorage in Port Adventure that's called Abraham's Bosom or Redsand Cove depending on where we look. There's a mooring buoy in the middle of the most ideal anchorage area but there's still room around the edges. A tale of two abalone: Yesterday morning at low tide, while we were still in Lords River, we took the dinghy to a kelp bed. I took off my jacket and shirt, put on my mask, and was able to get two abalone by just hanging my head and arms over the front of the dinghy (Cyndi sitting on my legs as a counter balance). What a dinner! This place is paradise!

We were expecting some wind last night so we tucked into a spot the Mana Cruising Guide for Stewart Island calls "The Nook". We had some shallow water getting here but we anchored (and as usual, tied back to a line already here) in 17 feet of water (5 meters). It's another great spot. For future reference of those using YIT's incredible Destination Planner, I'll say that The Nook is a Stewart Island must-do.

The sun came out yesterday in it was warm! We sat around in tee-shirts and shorts... And bug spray, although they don't seem to like the sun. When it comes out, they disappear. It got to 77f in the cabin (25C). It was like being back in Fiji again! Well, I guess it wasn't quite that warm.

We might move on to Port Adventure today. The name certainly sounds intriguing.

We moved from Port Pegasus to Lords River, about 12 miles east. What can I say... another day, another beautiful bay. A beautiful bay with a bonus: as we were coming in, we slowed down to talk to three guys on a little tinny. They asked if we'd been getting any fresh fish. "No, we're not doing very good in the fishing department" I said. "How'd you like a feed? When you get settled, I'll bring you some fish. We've got tons!" And an hour later, he dropped off a bag of trumpeter and two abalone (don't know how to spell paua?) Wow, what a dinner. People are so nice here!!! I love you New Zealand!

Yesterday started with heavy cloud cover and some fog that turned into a glorious, sunny afternoon. We took the dinghy across this little bay (twice) to find Smuggler's Cove. Our first pass was unsuccessful. After reviewing satellite images, we went on another search. First, we found a great cave. I thought that was it. Cyndi said it didn't match the pictures she'd seen. Then, around the corner, we saw the opening. Wow, what an amazing little keyhole bay (well, pond, really). Inside a narrow opening, there's a sand beach, all flanked by 15 meter tall vertical rock walls and covered by trees growing over the top.

Back at our bay, there were two big pinnipeds relaxing on the beach. (I say pinnipeds because our id skills are somewhat lacking. We think they were NZ sea lions. Once we have internet again, we can use the thousands of pictures we've taken of them to make a more exact id.) Another dropped by to swim around our boat for a few minutes. The background music was a beautiful chorus of bird song. Yep. Doesn't suck to be us right now!

Another day, another beautiful bay, what we saw of it, that is. We mostly had an indoor, rain day in pretty constant drizzle. Our heater is getting a pretty good workout here, but it's keeping us toasty and warm.

Note on the bay: there's room to swing here. There is a buoy that can be used to pull your boat closer to shore, but with the way the sandflies have been the last couple of days, we decided not to use it. We're anchored in about 4 meters with what seems like good holding.

We're anchored off a tiny but beautiful white sand beach in about 4 meters of clear water. So far, of the five nights we've been here, all but one time we've had to stern-tie to a buoy, line or tree or stern anchor. The water is pretty deep and the bays we've been in are pretty small. Most of the time, there are lines with buoys on them that you can tie to. Here, we had to put out a stern anchor. Up until yesterday, we didn't think bugs were a problem. Yesterday, the sand flies appeared. We are each nursing a couple of itchy bites. This must be unusual here as someone even said something about it on Meri Leask's radio net (Bluff Fishermans Radio).

We're off to explore the north arm of Port Pegasus today. Happy travels, boat work and sailing everyone.

We're still way down in Port Pegasus, about thirty miles south of Oban. We saw one yacht leaving the area as we entered the other day. They'd been here for five weeks (Night Music). There are a couple of people in tinnies camping about two miles north of here. And of course, the one fishing boat that threw a crawfish into our cockpit. Literally. He told me to stand back and made a perfect toss. I tried to call Meri Leask from Bluff Fishermans Radio but couldn't get through. We really are totally isolated.

Yesterday, right after we anchored where we are now, we threw some less-than-fresh blue cod to what we think was a fur seal. She was skeptical at first, and kept her distance. Then she smelled it and came in to investigate and chow down. After that, she was our best friend. She put on the most amazing acrobatic swimming display right next to our boat. It went on for an hour or so. We giggled, oooh'd and aaah'd the whole time. We got some video that we'll post when we can.

This place where we're anchored/tied up now is really beautiful. Then again, all the places we've been here are really beautiful. We're using the Mana Cruising Guide for Stewart Island but it's not great. It seems there are a lot of places here the author hasn't visited. It does give us a starting point so we still view it as essential. The Navionics charts aren't great for this area either. According to them, we crossed over an island yesterday. It wasn't even bumpy. I'm glad I made satellite charts and it's so handy to be able to display them on our chartplotter (Navico brands).

Wow. I'm tempted to leave it at that, but... We're anchored/stern tied in Disappointment Cove and it's not at all. It's beautiful. We took an arduous hike over the hill to the furthest south white sand beach in NZ. Beautiful. There were NZ sea lions (we think that's what they were) on the beach and they didn't seem to care too much about us. The hike was mostly a game of "which way do you think the trail goes?" and we're sore today. Later in the evening, we had a sea lion playing under Legacy. It's cold here and I play "the air is acid" every morning, trying to keep all my skin under blankets to escape the "acid" cold. Cyndi ran up to turn on the heater this morning. Much appreciated. It does warm up during the day. We had an hour of sitting in the cockpit in tee-shirts yesterday afternoon.

We made it: Port Pegasus on Stewart Island!!! We had a really nice downwind passage (if you don't count the brutal beat to get out of Otago Harbour and the two hours we spent beating the final 5 miles into Port Pegasus when the wind turned noserly!). At times the wind got to 33 knots, but with it behind us, it was still very pleasant.

I've heard from life-long cruisers that this is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I guess that's not a first impression type thing. It's pretty but so are so many other places we've been. We'll see if this grows on us, and give it every opportunity to do so.

After 28 days in Dunedin, we are finally on the move again. We left the marina on high tide and motored a little over half way out the 12 mile channel where we'll anchor for the night. Tomorrow, we're off to Stewart Island.

Cyndi said that she feels like a fan worm that attached itself to Dunedin and has now been set adrift. We really did get attached to the place. It's a wonderful place to stay for a while.

We're all tied up at the Otago Yacht Club and have had our first excursion into Dunedin. It looks like we'll be very comfortable here for the next week or two - until we get a weather window to sail to Stewart Island.

What a welcome we received on our entry into Dunedin Harbor (Otago Harbor). The crew of a dredge all gave us a great big wave while they honked their horn, albatross circled and seals swam by. The 12 mile ride up into the town basin was beautiful and at the dock, we were greeted by 10 local kids doing synchronized, wave-style back flips into the water. Barry, the manager from the Otago Yacht Club was here to show us our temporary spot for the night and help us tie up. We'll move into the club's basin tomorrow morning. We already love this place!

After a really nice stay at the beautiful new marina in Lytelton, we're off, bound for Dunedin.

After 300 miles and change and two days and change, we're in Lyttelton, near Christchurch, way down here in the roaring forties! It's a brand new marina that doesn't even show up on Google Maps yet. We'll hang out here for a while and from there, who knows what we'll do???

We made it to Napier and had a wonderful greeting at the Napier Sailing Club. It made up for the last 6 miles, beating into 27 to 30 knots. It's so nice to be in. We'll stay here for a week or so before heading to the South Island.

We made it to Gisborne on our half-hearted quest to circumnavigate the South Island. We might leave as early as tomorrow, bound for Napier.

We're in and tied up but I have to say, we're not happy to be back in New Zealand! We had the worst customs experience ever. This lady just seemed to have it in for us.

New Zealand, what's up? You seem determined to make it harder for cruisers to visit (and spend their money here) while Australia is opening the welcome wagon. I am regretting the decision to come back to NZ (a place we have always loved!).

And what a horrific passage. Yep, there were five nice days off motor sailing but the last three days were really terrible. As weather windows go, we choose poorly! (And to make all that effort to get here, only to be treated so incredibly bad by the customs official!)

Sailing Sucks!!! I hate boats!!!

It wasn?t my best Christmas ever. Maybe worse than the time I got a turtle-keck sweater from my parents instead of the erector set I wanted! It seems to be getting better now with the wind dropping and the seas confused but calming a bit. We have 137 miles to go to the Bay of Islands area.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! Well, our days of pleasant motor sailing are over. We had about eight ours of pleasant sailing yesterday, then the front crossed us. Wind went form 20 knots from the north to a 20 knot southerly within about 5 mintues. This made for interesting seas! Flying along now in very uncomfortable seas, heading for North Cape to try to get in the liegh of some of the wind and seas. It?s 220 miles ahead still. We hope to make Opua the morning of the 27th. We?ll see if that happens.

Still motor sailing even though the wind is up a bit, but it?s right behind us. It?s clouded up and been raining quite a bit the last few hours. It?s a little rolly with the still small swell right behind us. We could probably gybe and sail but we have the fuel to motor sail and it?s nice to keep our speed up. We will be glad to have some quiet once we finally turn the engine off though.

Another nice passage day motor sailing in light wind and calm seas. It?s getting a little rougher now as the north swell has built a bit. We?d probably be sailing if it wasn?t for the rolling around that dumps the air from the sails. I thought the sky was clouding up last night in advance of the front ahead but it?s cleared this morning. The full moon has been amazing ? as bright as I?ve ever seen it. We?re making great time. It looks like we might be in late on the 26th or early the 27th. Fingers crossed.

Still motor sailing in very nice conditions. Passed the Tropic of Capricorn so maybe it?ll be little cooler today (it was hot yesterday). We?re making very good time with almost a six knot average for the trip so far. Helped out by a nice current yesterday that turned a bit against us this morning. Oh well. We?re doing very well on fuel making over 11 nautical miles per gallon (sorry metric people!). We can?t motor all the way to Opua, but we won?t need to ? wind is coming, maybe tomorrow.

Still motor sailing in really pleasant conditions. The sky has cleared quite a bit, the sun is warm but not too hot (yet) and the seas pretty flat. Request: Lets just leave the conditions like this for the rest of the passage, but maybe with 15 knot winds so we can turn off the engine!

This was a really nice start to the passage. Last night we motor sailed in light winds and we?re still at it this morning. So far, we managed to miss the SPCZ that was descending down on Fiji, with only a few drops of rain and occasional lightning far off in the distance over Viti Levu.

Bula from Fiji, and "from" Fiji we shall try to go. We are leaving tonight around 5 PM local time, bound for Opua, New Zealand. Good bye Fiji. We love you!

Well, we're back in Pacific Harbour. Back and forth we go: Suva, Pacific Harbour and not New Zealand 'cause we just don't see weather we like for the passage. Someday, I guess we'll get there (or maybe Oz!).

We're still waiting for a weather window that will satisfy the reluctant sailors on Legacy. Maybe Friday or Saturday of this week will shape up into something good.

In the mean time, it's HOT here and only getting hotter tomorrow so we did something crazy. Instead of sitting for two hours inside an air conditioned movie theater (has we have the past two days), we moved about 5 miles to a bay just west of Suva.

It's really nice here. For those of you who know Fawn Harbor, it's a lot like that. We're anchored inside the reef, just a little ways from a small island (we didn't want to get too close to the island as it might have blocked our precious breeze.

Not only did we get a little breeze - 17 knots SE for a while - but we also had a wonderful thundershower with torrential but short-lived rain. We'll hang out here tomorrow or maybe a couple of days before we go back to Lami.

Lami Bay, Suva - again! We'll hang out here and get ready to head south when the weather cooperates. Same old story. You know the drill.

We're back in Malumu (at Beqa) for about the tenth time. This is a beautiful bay. We'll head to Suva soon and start thinking about a passage south.

We're back in at Yanuca and enjoying the first few days of sun in what seems like a long time. We're not complaining about the rain though - it's been keeping it nice and cool here.

We're looking for a weather window to get to NZ, but as usual, Legacy is tiger bait again. We feel like the last boat left in Fiji. I know that's not true, but we've been away from the "pack" this season - mostly off on our own. Now it seems like the "pack" is in NZ We'll get there eventually.

We're just hanging out in Pacific Harbor (again) while the wind blows (again). We'll go back to Beqa (again) and then back here (again) until it's time for the slow pokes of Legacy to head to NZ (again).

We did it! We just completed our circumnavigation! (Of Viti Levu!) We're anchored at Yanuca, which completed the 250 or so mile loop. I know: Small potatoes, but we had fun.

At Robinson Crusoe for the night on the way back to Beqa and Pacific Harbor.

We made it out of Denarau Marina. Not very far out of Denarau, but we cut the cord, and after only 8 days!

During that time, we replaced our cap and intermediate shrouds and cleaned and waxed the hull. Not bad I think.

It was hard to make the break. Marina life is so easy, even with all the boat work. We especially like Denarau with all the great places to eat.

We're going to cruise around the west side for a few days and then head back to Beqa.

Boat work and restaurants in Denarau, oh boy! We'll be here for about a week.

Volivoli is a lovely, cruiser-friendly resort with great food and really nice people. We're going to hang out here and go diving with them later in the week.

We've been covering some ground the last few days on our way, eventually, to the west side. We are really having a great season.

We went to Lami and only stayed a few days. We were uncertain about the mooring buoy we were on and with the very heavy rain, the water turned to mud so that we couldn't make water. We decided to move back to Pacific Harbor. Here, we're tied up in a berth with a hose right at our bow. Fresh water and security, what more could we want? OK, the great restaurants nearby are a nice bonus!

We're back at Lawaki Resort's mooring for our last night at Beqa. Tomorrow we're heading back to Suva, then up the east side and over the top of Viti Levu.

We've had an amazing time at Beqa and especially at Lawaki. Highly recommended.

We're tired up at a berth in Pacific Harbour in front on the Pearl Resort. Interesting. We'll update you as we learn more

Wow, what an incredible little resort here! We might stay the rest of the season ;-)

Having a nice, relaxed time at Beqa. Two really peaceful anchorage so far. We hope to do some diving while here, just not with their famous sharks.

We're in Beqa! After about a week in Suva to resupply boat and bodies, we left this morning on phase seven of our Fiji season - the Beqa area. So far, all I can say is beautiful!

Still having an amazing time in the Kadavu area. We posted a video of our manta adventure here: http://twoatsea.com/mantas-at-vurolevu-island/

Back in Kavala for a wind shift tonight. We have had the most amazing time in the Kadavu area! This morning, we dove Alacrity Rocks. Yesterday we snorkeled with 5 mantas including one GIANT one. Sometimes, we really are living the dream!

What a beautiful place this is! It's sad to leave after only a night but we're moving up Kadavu this morning.

Continuing to explore Kadavu and having a great time doing it.

Anchored of Yabu. Beautiful. This should be the quiet anchorage I've been craving for a while now.

We're in Suva! Food! Dentist! Yay! We recently found out that there's a Fat Burger here. That's a favorite of ours from Los Angeles. Here we come!

Tried to go to Wakaya and were chased out of the bay by resort staff. They said it's a protected bay and there is no anchoring. I don't believe them, but it isn't a very pretty bay anyway and we were happy to leave.

We're now anchored in the noise and fish smell at Levuka and it's actually nicer than Wakaya! Less rolly too! Tomorrow maybe Leluvia if the wind's not to strong.

We had dinner at the private island resort on Matagi last night. Very nice. We were going to head for Wailagilala today but it looks like the wind will be up too much over the next few days so we'll do who knows what instead. Wow, I love the freedom out here!

Nice anchorage for the conditions. The swell is a little north of east so it's a little hard to find something out of the roll. The reef here blocks it nicely. We'll probably spend a few days here.

Hanging out in paradise for a while (Paradise Taviuni Resort). It's wonderful here.

We got out of Savusavu yesterday bound for Eastern parts of Fiji. Spent last night at Cousteau and are in Fawn harbor tonight surrounded by turtles. Had a humpback next to legacy this morning. Life is good.

We did it! We're in Savusavu at a mooring, waiting for a visit from the Fiji officials for clearance. It was our fastest passage yet with an average of just over six knots since leaving Tauranga. That's flying for our little boat! It would have been nice to arrive to bright sun and warm tropical breezes but it was not to be. Instead, we arrived in squalls with winds up to 35 knots and cold, pouring rain! We don't even have any alcohol aboard to ease the pain!

Plugging away. Not exactly comfortable but far from bad. We expect to be in Savusavu tomorrow morning about 8 AM if all goes well.

We left Minerva Reef yesterday morning about 9 am and have had a pretty nice day at sea. When the winds clocked and dropped a bit, we had to roll the headsail and turn on the engine as the seas were too rolly to keep the sail filled. We've been motoring since about midnight. We're hoping the wind comes up a bit and we can sail today. With any luck, we'll be in Savusavu Friday morning. All's well on board Legacy.

Spent a nice day here at Minerva with a short walk on the reef and some snorkeling, but alas, no lobster (cray fish). We're planning to head off to Fiji on Tuesday morning, weather permitting. I think there are about 10 boats here now and it sounds like at least a few are planning on a Tuesday departure.

1021 We're hook down at Minerva Reef. We arrived at first light this morning and anchored amongst about 10 other boats. Kozmo got here at the same time we did. We both made it from Tauranga in six and a half days. Not bad. It's beautiful here! The color of the water is spectacular.

oops, meant SSE winds on my last post. I have Passage Brain!

Getting close to Minerva where we'll stop for a day or two or six. Life is much nicer on Legacy today. Yesterday was rough, noisy and hard.

Saw gusts to 40 knots just an hour ago but they didn't last long. It was behind us so not too bad. It's kind of a rough ride. We're hoping it's a lot better in the morning. We should be at Minerva sometime during Thursday night or in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Talked to Kozmo on the radio today. They were 30 miles due west of us at about 2 PM. They're hand steering but Pam sounded great.

At 2:17 PM NZST, Legacy crossed the Tropic of Electromotive Convection. This is the magical line where Cyndi and I simultaneously exclaim "It's hot in here" and turn on the cabin fans. This year the TEC was located at 29° 05.091 South.

All is well aboard (if a little warm).

Ruff, ruff! Oh wait, that's "rough, rough" in human-speak. I guess I'm getting a little (more) punchy out here. The wind's up but we're grateful that it didn't go as far north as predicted (yet?). We've been making good progress towards Minerva and still have room to turn down wind a bit more if we need to.

Thanks to Bob McDavitt for the great weather advice!

Just turned off the engine after 48 hours of motoring. It's been a great ride so far. Heading due north now so we can fall off as the wind heads us later today and tomorrow.

Nice first day of our passage, motor sailing in pretty light winds with diminishing seas. Cold though!!! We've been running our hydraunic diesel heater almost full time.

Kozmo is right behind us. Last we talked (9 this morning), they were doing well. So are we.

We're ready to get underway for Fiji, probably with a stop at Minerva Reef. It's been a great stay in NZ!

About a month ago, we moved a few docks north. That's our big cruise for this cyclone season. We're enjoying "land life" in NZ with the purchase of a nice used car and a gym membership.

Eventually, we'll head to Fiji. That might not happen until mid June.

We're home! We're in a berth at Tauranga Bridge Marina for the cyclone season. We've been going, and going, and going, for so long! It'll be good to get a break. For the next five months, it's not a boat, it's an APARTMENT!

We had a long motor today - about 75 miles from Waiheke island to a little island just off Slipper Island. We'll head to Tauranga tomorrow! It's been a nice mini-cruise getting here.

A couple of hours ago, we left a great little anchorage on the back side on Kawau, bound for Waiheke, and wine!

We rode out the blow just fine here in Whangaruru. We saw 44 knots last night but I suspect there we're gusts to 50 when the instruments weren't on. We'll head forget south on Sunday.

We made it out of town only five days after arriving from New Caledonia. Not bad, especially considering our track record ;-)

We'll hold up here in whangaruru until the strong low passes and continue on to Tauranga when the seas settle.

We just got tied up to the Q dock. To tired to write more. Going to go get rumfortable now! (Not a typo,)

Wind went a little west of south and so we're able to easily motor-sail direct to Bay of Islands. What a nice break! Seas are blocked by NZ. Cyndi said something I found funny after we turned the corner at North Cape: "Well, I guess we're going to New Zealand!" We weren't sure it wouldn't be Oz until about that point.

It's been a very long trip!!! (Sorry about the excessive use of exclamation points!) Nine days right now and we still have about 12 to go before we're tied up at the Q dock. We went the long way around and we consistently had strong current against us - usually 1 to 2 knots. We estimate that we traveled an extra 250 miles due to adverse current.

More when we get tied up (hopefully that'll be in NZ!)

Aaaargh! Uncomfortable! (So what's new?) At least we're getting close.

Back to sailing as the southerly fills in. We'll turn due east when we get to the latitude of Cape Reinga. The barn may not be in sight, but it's feeling closer.

Merry Christmas!!! All's well on Legacy on this beautiful Christmas morning. For more details, see www.twoatsea.com (It may take up to an hour for our update to appear there.)

Yea, we're beating. All this way to come, just to beat! I guess the good news is that the wind's not as strong as it would have been beating from Noumea, but it still sucks.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate sailing!?

Nice day again yesterday. Not so much this morning but I think it's just the squalls that are around. Nothing serious.

Wind died mosly but what there is makes it hard to motor (with no wind assistance) in the direction we'd really like to go. Still very nice out here, just not sure how we'll get there?

Wow, this is what sailing should always be like! It reminds us of the days on passage between Hawaii and California that were so good, we'd fantasize about spending a month at sea just to sail around the Pacific high. I hope this lasts.

New Zealand (we think). We're just going the long way. We're heading SSW to go around the back of a high that will hopefully be there when we are. Then we'll head towards NZ. At least that's the plan. It'll make a longer trip but we'd take 8 really nice days over a six day beat.

And it has been really nice. Yesterday was smooth and fast. Today is slower and very comfortable.

s 165 25.063e "Where the heck are those idiots going!?"

Legacy is finally underway for NZ!!!

Maybe there's weather on the horizon next week that'll get us to NZ? Fingers crossed!

Just read the last six posts... Still waiting for weather to go south... Anywhere south!

Still waiting for weather to go to NZ, or Oz, or???

Just enjoying ourselves while we continue to wait for weather that'll get us to NZ.

We're out cruising around a bit while we continue to wait for weather to get to NZ. We were all set to check out yesterday and leave Monday, but things changed again. Cyndi says she's suffering from "window whiplash."

Maybe in a week or so it'll really happen. Don't worry, we'll turn the lights off when we leave!

Last night: Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac ($5 a bottle here!) and a nice Chevre Premier De Moulis.

Just hanging out, waiting for passage weather that'll make the whiney little girls on Legacy happy.

We're just out for a little change of scenery for a couple of days before going back to Noumea for the stronger wind late this week.

Still looking for a good weather window to go to NZ.

Legacy is in Noumea at the dock while Cyndi and I are anchored in oceanside chairs at Le Meridien waiting for their amazing fish burgers!

Anchor down in Port Boise! Didn't quite make it to Noumea yet, but we'll get there.

What a nice passage!

About 18 miles from Havannah Passage. Nice ride thus far. We've had to slow down over the last six hours or so to try to make slack tide at Havannah.

Very nice passage so far with light wind, motoring last night but a good sail yesterday.

Leaving Port Vila bound for Noumea.

Back in Port Vila, waiting for weather to go to New Caledonia. Maybe Thursday? It's nice to be in town. All that wonderful dining! We had incredible steaks yesterday at Chill for less than $15, including a Tusker beer each.

(Some may get the idea that we cruise to eat. I guess that wouldn't be a totally inaccurate characterization.)

Pizza! Wood fired!

We're anchored in our second stop on the Havannah Harbor dining tour - near the Wahoo Bar - that's tomorrow's lunch.

Quick stop for lunch at The Havannah. Great lunch. Tough anchorage as it's really deep right next to shore. If the wind had turned SW, Legacy would have ended up in the dining room. Room service? ;-)

Playing hide-n-seek from the wind. Backed through a bunch of degrees today. Made our last anchorage pretty bad. This is flat, calm and very nice. We're anchored in about 18 feet on sand.

Anchored near Efate off Nguna and Pele islands. We took advantage of the change in weather to dart south.

Speaking of weather, I have never seen the weather models so wrong, so consistently for any other place we've been. We look at GFS, ECMWF, and the PredictWind wind versions of these and not only do they usually disagree and diverge, but none have really come very close to reality here. Could it be the lack of reporting stations in Vanuatu that causes this?

Still speaking of weather, what a great lightning show last night!

Anchored in Foreland Bay on Epi Island. We thought the smoke we were in on Embrym was from the volcano but it's just as bad here. Inversion layer?

Didn't plan to come here today but we also did not plan on 20 knots NNE!

Good news: the fly population is VERY healthy on Ambrym!

Anchored in Loltong Bay on Pentecost Island. All I can say is this...

Dear Vanuatu,

I love you!

Rich

Anchored at Asanvari. Wow! Another beautiful place. We spent the evening at the bar right next to a wondrous waterfall. They were out of beer but offered us a place to sit if we wanted to bring our own. Two other yacht crews were in our company - a French couple and another yank couple, and of course, Alex who built this amazing bar.

We'll head south to Pentecost tomorrow while the wind's still light. Today: Snorkeling.

Anchored off Maewo. Nasty southerly swell, some of which is making it into the bay.

Last night, we anchored near the eastern tip of Ambae. No volcanic action other than steam and clouds. Couldn't see any red glow at night. Maybe people will be able to come home soon?

Finally an opening at an Aore Island mooring this morning so we dashed over. We're now on one of Aore Adventure Sports moorings. Much calmer than over at Beachfront.

We'll hang out here a couple of days until we get weather to get to islands to the east.

Made it to town today, anchored of Beachfront resort. Good pizza!!!

We're anchored of Aese Island and it's very nice. We had some very good snorkeling yesterday on the little reef just outside us. The rock formations weren't interesting but there were a lot of fish and colorful hard coral.

It was a little hard to find a clear spot in between the bombies but we managed. We're a little short-scoped but it's calm.

We'll go into Luganville soon to resupply. We might do it from Surrunda or we might take Legacy back to Aore Island across from town. We'll see.

We're back from the Gimme Islands... Give me some batteries, gimme some fish hooks, gimme some cookies, some sugar, flour, wine, cash! While we saw some very pretty stuff in the Banks Islands (their real name), the canoes swarmed is endlessly with requests and very few offers of anything in return. Somehow, they seem to have lost the concept of trade.

It's also a very windy place with more than a few rolly anchorages. All in all, it wasn't really worth it for us, but your milage may vary.

Anchored in Waterfall Bay on Vanua Lava Island. Wow! (Seems I say that a lot here! I guess I also use a lot of exclamation marks!) Yesterday we visited the twin waterfall just south of where we're anchored and a really, really high waterfall about 2.5 miles north of here. Wow! It's kind of windy this morning so I think we might be staying put for a few days. There's a little roll in this anchorage but not bad as it's really only open from a little more that the western quadrant.

Anchored in Matanda Bay. Lovely. Not room for too many boats though and we're short-scoped to avoid bombies.

We're in 14 degree latitude land and can you believe it? We had to use a blanket last night.

Heading North to Vanua Lava this morning. We are having a GREAT time in Vanuatu. This is a magical place!!!

Anchored I'm beautiful Port Olry, waiting for weather to go the 50 miles or so to the Banks Islands. This is a really nice place to be "stuck" waiting for weather!

We've been in Hog Harbor for five or six days and it's been wonderful. There's really good snorkeling, access to town and the great little Lonnoc Beach Bungalows Resort where we've had a few meals. (Yes Dean, hanging out at a resort again!)

We're off today for Port Olry. Wish us luck with this grueling 8 mile passage.

Another beautiful bay and a great anchorage!

After almost three weeks at a Aore Island Resort mooring, we finally got out cruising again, kind of. We've moved all the way around to the other side of Aore Island (10 miles) to a Ratua Island Resort mooring! Life is good.

Sipping coffee across the channel from Legacy (at an Aore Island Resort mooring). We've been in Luganville, Santo Island for about a week and love it here. See what we've been up to at twoatsea.com.

It's been a long time since we've updated our position on YIT, mostly because of poor internet but also because we've been having too much fun to spoil it by sitting at the computer. We are really loving Vanuatu - the people, the scenery, the water! All wonderful!

We're in Port Vila and anxious to explore the city.

We left Tanna today and are now at Erromango.

After a WONDERFUL time in Anietyum, we changed our address today to Tanna where we hope to go to the volcano. I'm a little worried: I was never very good at dodgeball!

Anchored at Aneityum, Vanuatu! We got in at 9:00 this morning and we were cleared in withing a couple of hours. It was a good passage (for those of us who don't mind using our engines!)

We left Noumea, bound for Anietyum, Vanuatu with a stop somewhere along the way tonight before heading out the Havannah Pass tomorrow.

We're sad to be leaving New Caledonia but it feels good to be underway again.

We're still in Noumea rotting, ah, I mean resting! We've been on the go so much that it feel great to just hang out for a while.

That said, if the GRIBs can be believed, we might be leaving for Vanuatu on Monday or Tuesday.

Legacy is all tied up in a berth at Port Moselle Marina. It's so good to be in! Let the drinking and dining begin!

Almost there! About 8 miles to the pass and then another 15 or so inside to lagoon to Noumea. Nice day today with good conditions. Anxious to be in!

Really bumpy yesterday so that the slight knocking around we're getting now is relatively pleasant. Swells still have a pretty short period, but they aren't very big. We have about 225 miles to go to New Caledonia. Still heading a bit east of Noumea so that as the wind backs, it won't be as far ahead of the beam as it would otherwise.

Did I mention that I really hate passages?! -Rich

Really pleasant sail yesterday and not too bad a ride tonight. All's well (except for losing a great big mahi yesterday!)

461 miles to go to New Cal, motor-sailing in pretty nice conditions. We could be sailing, but we want to keep our speed up. Seems we're always trying to beat something into port. This time, it's just winds forecast to get a little stronger and a little more on the nose.

Left Middleton Reef this morning bound for Noumea. Motoring so far in very light wind.

Moved to another great anchorage spot at Middleton Reef, just because we wanted to explore a bit. Did some snorkeling until a bull shark (we think) decided it was time for us to leave the water (we are cowards, you know?).

We think we'll head on to New Caledonia tomorrow.

swells Still anchored at Middleton Reef. Pleasant!

Legacy is anchored on the northwest corner of Middleton Reef, in about 30 feet of water. The anchorage is well protected by this MASSIVE reef. Even during squalls with 20 knots of wind, there's nothing more than a little wind chop on the water. There is a lot of room to anchor in this area in nice sand with few rocks or bombies.

Leaving Lord Howe in a few minutes for Middleton Reef. We don't like the weather going to New Caledonia right now, so we'll try to hold up at the reef for a week or so. It'll be an adventure!

Still moored at Lord Howe Island, waiting for weather to head to New Caledonia. Looks like maybe we'll get it Thursday (18 May). Not a bad place at all to wait, though we're a little nervous about the low passing our way.

For a bunch of pictures of Lord Howe Island, see twoatsea.com.

My last few posts didn't seem to make it to the pages of YIT. That's a shame as they were very entertaining and beautifully written. They were pretty much all about how bad our passage sucked.

Oh well, we're in now, at a mooring in the lagoon at the amazing Lord Howe Island. Stunningly beautiful!

d: 04/05/17 15:00 AEST

ECMWF, PWE, GFS and PWG: They might as well adorn the pages of Sports Illustrated wearing skimpy swimsuits because these models don't work for predicting weather! The wind for this entire passage has been significantly stronger than advertised. We've had 23 to 30 knots the entire time with the exception of a brief period last night. The swells have also been larger than advertised.

And don't get me started on current! Let's just get real and admit that humankind doesn't have the ability to predict ocean currents and those who say they can are nothing but this eras snake oil salesmen! We were supposed to have current with us now, but it's 2 knots against us.

All in all, this passage sucks!

Rough! Fast! Rough! We'd sure trade some of our extra fast for a little smooth right now. Have I mentioned that I hate passages?! (Bound for Lord Howe Island - ETA Thursday before noon.)

Departed Sydney for Lord Howe, ETA Thursday noon or so.

We had a great time in Oz. Sad to be leaving.

We're in Sydney, four days and change after leaving Stanley, Tasmania. Now we need to get over this passage and get ready to head for New Cal. Our Aussie visas expire in early May.

Still underway, and where she stops, nobody knows! Maybe we'll go all the way to Sydney but the thought of doing for a night sure it's tempting. I'll ask the boss when she wakes up. Those decisions are above my pay grade!

Good passage so far. We're about 40 mile from Gabo Island but will keep heading north as long as the weather cooperates. We're kind of hoping to get to Sydney. Two more nights at sea. I think we can do that!

Underway, bound for Eden from Stanley (or somewhere on that big island to our north!).

We're tied up in Stanley on the North coast of Tasmania. It's not where we set our to go. We we're heading for somewhere on the south coast of mainland Australia. Until half way into the 36 got boat ride, I'd never even heard of Stanley. Fortunately, Cyndi had. Our beautiful weather window slammed on us and now, here we sit.

Will probably be sitting here for up to a week. Oh well. Another town to explore!

Anchored Sunday night in Kelly Basin. Great walks through the ruins of an old town, as well as through this really pretty temperate rainforest.

Now we're back in Strahan (pronounced Strawn) getting ready to head up to the big island. We hope to make about a four day passage and end up somewhere around Eden as our visa time is running out and we've lingered too long in Tassie.

We've had an amazing trip up the Gordon River, as far as Sir John Falls.

We're in Macquarie Harbour. Made it here before the big blow that hit today. PredictWind called for gusts to 51 knots. I'm not sure we've seen quite that here, but it was really blowing. We're in a great spot, and at a mooring another wonderful Tasmanian offered us. These are truly great people here!

Moved pretty much as far as we can go in Bathurst Harbor after a stunning walk up the mountain next to last night's anchorage. This place is really beautiful. Sorry keep droning on about that, BUT IT IS!

We've been in Port Davey for a couple of days. Today was very eventful but you'll have to wait for us to get internet to read it in our blog where we'll confess all our sins. The short story is that all's good aboard Legacy! Port Davey is amazing.

Slow day... Only two anchorages. We had a nice time in Dover. Great wine tasting at Imre.

It was a four bay day today. Reasons: there were places we just wanted to get a look at, we wanted to make a little progress towards the bottom of the island (we're hoping to go around to Port Davey Saturday), and we wanted a good place to hide from tonight's front. All missions accomplished.

Got out of Hobart yesterday after three wonderful weeks. We're heading south (slowly) and then (hopefully) up Tasmania's West coast.

Legacy is tied up to Constitution Dock And we're exploring Hobart and getting some annoying boat chores ticked of the list. We're waiting for some parts from the US so we might be here another two weeks. No worries. We're loving Hobart and Con dock is a great place to be.

We made it to Hobart today. Look out pizza, here we come!

We finally pried ourselves loose from Port Arthur for the 20 some mile trip to a bay outside of Nubeena (I don't name the bay here as it has about seven different names - all depending on what chart you view). Now we're only about 30 miles from Hobart, but we think we'll stay here for a few days.

We went much further than we'd planned to... all the way from Maria Island to Port Arthur. That even included a stop for a two hour walk in Pirate Bay (and two amazing lunches at Doo-licious - it was too good to only have one lunch!).

Now, we're anchored in a beautiful bay with no wind, despite the forecast 30 knots in the vicinity. Life in Tasmania is very good!

After a beautiful stop in Cole's Bay, we've spent a few days now anchored at Maria Island. We had an amazing wildlife adventure up in Darlington with sightings of wallabies, kangaroos, wombats, Cape Barren geese, and even a Tanzanian devil!

We're anchored off Swansea and it's not only a nice anchorage, but a nice little town. None of our guidebooks mention this place! We picked up some fuel yesterday (in jugs), had a nice walk and a good lunch. Life is good on Legacy.

Anchored in Wineglass Bay. Pretty spot.

We're hook down on the South tip of the Freycinet Peninsula. That's not where we thought we'd be tonight but in the great game of weather chess, the wind moved Queen to King's Rook 5 and Wineglass Bay was too rough to anchor. Oh well. It's not checkmate yet!

We're in St. Helen's, tied up at the wharf. We made it with only one bump on the bottom at Pelican Point. We just kind of bounced off and kept going.

We made it. We're in Tasmania!

We mostly across the Bass Strait, anchored at Prime Seal Island just of Flinders Island. It was a nice motorboat ride last night.

We're tired up at Lakes Entrance, waiting for weather to head south. It could be a week or more in coming. Who cares? It's nice here.

We're in the tiny holiday town of Matung. Dinner tonight at the yacht club then off to explore more of Gippsland lakes.

We just took a trip up a channel where our depth sounder read 3.5 feet at times. Neat trick since we draw 7 feet! Either it was a miracle or it was reading grass.

We're moored in Paynesville, hanging with our friends, the koalas. More here: http://www.twoatsea.com/koala-day/

We're twelve miles further into the lakes today. This place is beautiful! We're on yet another free mooring with a little cove to ourselves. We may spend a while here.

We're in the lakes. Beautiful! Merry Christmas!

Anchored in Eden, Australia on our way to Tasmania. If the weather stays as predicted, this'll just be a one-night stop.

At a berth in Bermagui (I just love that name!). We'll be here for about a week doing small boat projects and investigating all the local restaurants. Then we'll keep heading south a small hop at a time - destination: Tasmania.

We're in Jervis Bay. We just got out of Port Hacking before they were hit by a storm with 50 knot gusts. That storm is rumored to have blown trampolines (pleural) into power lines, according to the local news ;-)

It looks like there's a lot to explore here. What little we've seen so far is very pretty. We may be here for a week or so.

On our way south a hop at a time. We had a GREAT time in Sydney!

Does anyone know where I can buy a good, used piano crate? I'll need to be buried in one if I keep eating like this. The food is so good in Sydney!

We're at a mooring in Lavender Bay (Sail Corp "Marina"). More at www.twoatsea.com.

Started out for Broken Bay but we were having such a nice ride that we made it all the way to Sydney. We'll hang out here for a week or so and then continue south.

Started out for Broken Bay but we were having such a nice ride that we made it all the way to Sydney. We'll hang out here for a week or so and then continue south.

Normally, I'd say "Hook down, Coff's Harbor" but since we're on a courtesy mooring, waiting for clearance, I think we'll say "Looped Up!" Six days, two hours from Noumea to Coffs. Not to shabby for us. So good to be in!

What we always try to avoid on passages, beating, happened yesterday. We spent most of the day going into southerlies, to around 20 knots. That was enough to get me (Rich) seasick, despite it being our fourth day on this passage and even some help from Meclizine. Who knows, could have been bad eggs, I guess. Today is much nicer, motoring in light wind and confused but small seas. Should make Coffs tomorrow before noon, we hope. We gave up on Newcastle. There are southerly gales expected there Saturday noon and we wouldn't make it by then. No more beating!

Rough ride last night with gusts to 33 knots, squalls, and a brief period of HUGE seas. I felt like George Clooney trying to make the final turn in Perfect Storm! Enough of this. We're heading to Coffs! Should be in Friday morning.

It would have been a very fast day if the current hadn't robbed us of about 20 miles! Still, 135 miles isn't bad for us. Motor sailing most of the day.

Motor sailing, trying to keep the speed up to get into Newcastle before a front on Saturday night. It looks possible. Good day's run of 144 miles - lost 9 miles to adverse current just since midnight. That will hopefully turn around soon and be with us down the Australian coast.

Nice ride so far, and a fast ride for us with 155 miles in 24 hours. Still don't know if we're going to Brisbane or further south. It may be a couple of days before we decide.

In town for a while, then???

Working out way back to town.