12.20pm. Arrived safely in Coffs Harbour, finished clearance procedures. Yay!!! Very big thanks to David and Patricia at Gulf Harbour Radio and Maritime Radio NZ for keeping track of us over the past five days.

3.40am. All well on board. Just over 50 miles to Coffs, so should be in by lunchtime. Chart plotter screen is getting very cluttered with AIS boats up and down the coast.

PLEASE NOTE: I may have accidentally activated a stored emergency message on our inReach Sat Tracker, that would have gone to Gulf Harbour Radio and Maritime Radio NZ, maybe even AMSA. The automatic message would have said we've activated our EPIRB (which we definitely haven't). I don't have a way to know if the message went out or not, but I don't think it did (there's no screen readout). Please disregard if the message did go through - all is well aboard Alchemy II at 8.26am. We've got good conditions, and have the kite up.

At 4am. All well. Having to steer a bit south to keep boat speed on. Trying to avoid using the engine, esp at night, as have had some overheating problems recently. Looks like either kite or motor sailing tomorrow to arrive at Coffs during working hours on Friday.

11.55am. Still a fairly bouncy ride, but going well. Now on a heading taking us pretty much to Coffs, just a little north to take advantage of the east Aus current as we close in on the coast.

At 4am. All well. Strong winds all day yesterday and a pretty bumpy ride. Wind has finally settled down, much more comfortable now.

All well. Bumpy ride today. Winds stronger than forecast, mostly 20-25 ahead of the beam. Some messy waves when the swell waves collide with the wind waves. Things are forecast to settle around midnight.

4am. All well. Wind has just started to pick up and go more to the south.

All well. Winds today have been lighter than forecast. Had the kite up for a while until the brace shackle gave way, then relegated to motor sailing to keep speed up. Need to average about 7kts to arrive in good time Friday. Breeze has picked up a bit now, so back to sailing with full main and jib, no motor.

9am. All well. Have some adverse current at the moment.

Talked to Matt and all well on board. GHRadio

At 6.10pm. All well. Less than a day out from Noumea, and already we're looking for the warmer clothes!

at 11.10am. All well on board. A bit bumpy, but otherwise good sailing conditions. Left Ilot Maitre around 6am. Planning to be in Coffs Harbour Friday.

Arrived safely in New Caledonian waters. Overall a reasonable trip from Denarau - first and last day were tough (mainly because of the sea state, but also strong winds), with a couple of good days in the middle. Thank you all for tracking us over the last few days. Sally & Matt.

At 6:40am Fiji/NZ time. Approx 14 n miles east of entrance to Havannah Pass. Very lively ride last night with strong winds mainly 20-25 Kts. Made for good boat speed though. All okay on board.

All well on board. Will continue on this heading until about 9pm when we have passed Durand Reef to starboard and then will bear away 20 degrees, aiming straight for the entrance to Havannah Pass.

As of 0700 Fiji time/UTC. All well on board. Good sailing conditions last 24 hours. Seas flattened out, and consistent trades. Planning to be at entrance to Havannah Pass on the incoming tide tomorrow (Wed) morning.

All okay. Have continued to sail south of the rhumb line in anticipation of strong southerly quadrant winds arrive on Wednesday as we approach New Cal. (Gulf Harbour: Patricia, it was us, Alchemy II, trying to contact you near the end of your broadcast today. Lara was able to hear us, but ended up doing a relay for another boat. No issues, we had just wanted to log our position. Had had a few hassles through the night, and didn't get up early enough to email info through).

Wind and seas have settled. Sat overnight winds 20-30kts, 3m messy seas. Lot of east in the wind direction, so heading below our rhumb line in anticipation of relatively strong winds from the southern quadrant to arrive on Tuesday. All well on board.

We are clearing Fiji Customs at 2pm today and are sailing from Denarau Marina directly to Noumea, New Caledonia. We intend to arrive at Noumea on the afternoon of Wed 2nd October.

At anchor at Nananu-i-Thake Island on the north coast of Viti Levu (Fiji). Very flat anchorage with good protection from the SE trades.

Just departed Bua Bay (Lekubi Point) on Vanua Levu Fiji. Sailing to the Fiji mainland today, Nananu-i-ra. Should be there early to mid afternoon (19.08.19)

At Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu Fiji.

Left BOI at Vanua Balavu around an hour ago (0600). Headed for Taveuni, hopefully Paradise Resort to pick up a moorning a nice meal this evening.

Anchored at Lakemba in the Lau Group, Fiji. Sailed 32 miles north from Komo this morning. Komo was a really rolly anchorage in SE winds (seemed like the waves were wrapping around the whole island, but that may have been the southerly swell, which we didn't notice until we were outside the lagoon). Unfortunately the S swell is coming in to the anchorage at Lakemba. The anchorage is really close to reefs - will be fine as long as the wind stays SE (all weather predictions seem to have consistent SE for the next couple of days). Planning to keep watch on the boat overnight. Will head to Vanua Balavu at first light tomorrow. Should be at the Tongan Pass early afternoon.

Anchored at Komo in the Lau Group, Fiji. Sailed 36 miles from Faluga this morning. Great sailing conditions. Were doing 8s and 9s most of the way. Mostly sunny up until around midday when it clouded over.

Very happy to be at anchor in Faluga. Bit of a battle from 6am - 10.30am, with winds in the 20s, sometimes over 30 knots, from the SW, and sometimes S. Beautifully protected spot in here.

Motorsailing. SW winds have kicked in earlier than we would have liked. Still nearly 20 miles from Faluga. Hoping conditions settle in the next couple of hours.

Motorsailing. All well. Should arrive at Faluga around 10am tomorrow (21st). Hoping to get in before the winds pick up and go around to the SW.

Just left the Copra Shed Marina at Savusavu. Heading for Faluga at the bottom of the Lau group.ETA approx 1pm Sunday 21st July. Expecting to have to motor or motor sail most of the way/

Should be arriving in Savu Savu shortly after 8am (in about 4 hours). Really good sailing conditions yesterday (Sunday), but had to switch on the motor during Sunday evening when the winds were too light. Looking forward to enjoying a curry in Savu Savu.

Sailing with reduced sail to time entry to Savu Savu in daylight. Much more comfortable sail today compared with yesterday. SV Fathom is about 1.5 miles behind us, also heading for Savu Savu.

Just approaching Vanua Balavu Pass in the Lau Group. Sailing, poled out. Winds lightened since yesterday. May have ended up in a trough for a few hours yesterday: winds 25-30 knots with rain from about 0730 to miday (NZ standard time). Should be able to time our entry to Savu Savu for daylight hours tomorrow if we keep the boat speed down.

Departing Vava'u for Savu Savu around 4pm today (Fri 12/07). Intending to use the waypoints provided by the Cruising Tonga app, using the southern route that goes just south of Vanua Balavu, passing north of Mango Island. Hoping to time the trip to arrive in Savu Savu during business hours Monday morning (good winds forecast, so we'll probably be having to slow down quite a bit).

On a mooring at Neiafu, Vava'a. Intending to leave for Fiji (Savu Savu) in the next couple of days.

Anchored off Lifuka in the Hapa'ais,just north of Pangai (just out from Hapa'ai Beach Resort - good hamburgers!). Not the best of cruising weather at present, but the anchorage here is pretty good, relatively flat and protected. Hoping to get some windsurfing in before heading up to Vava'au. May have to wait until Sunday to get a good sail north.

Anchored at Nomuka Ika overnight. Originally went to Kelefesia Is, but 2.5m SW swell made it a pretty untenable anchorage (anchorage is on the W side). Blind rollers didn't look too inviting either. Just upped anchor, heading for Pangai today to do inter island clearance. Intending to stay in port this evening.

Planning to sail to Kelefesia today, based on forecast easterlies. Currently closer to NE than E. If too much bashing, may turn around and come back to Atata Island.

Approaching Tongatapu. One mile south of the SE corner. Hoping to clear Customs at Nuku'alofa by lunch today.

planning to depart North Minerva for Tongatapu today, but will first listen in to Gulf Harbour Radio's info. Expecting to have to motor today, make some east, then hopfully get some sailing in tomorrow.

Arrived at North Minerva around midday yesterday (Wed). Very rough night of sailing Tues night and Wed morning. Strong winds from the east, plus very difficult sea state - short steep messy waves. Will stay at Minerva until we get decent conditions to head on to Tongatapu.

Arrived at North Minerva around midday yesterday (Wed). Very rough night of sailing Tues night and Wed morning. Strong winds from the east, plus very difficult sea state - short steep messy waves. Will stay at Minerva until we get decent conditions to head on to Tongatapu.

All okay. Very bumpy ride through the night, and ongoing. 3 reefs in main. About 35 miles south of North Minerva - should be there around midday.

All okay. Plenty of wind through the afternoon, more than predicted. Should be at Minerva early afternoon tomorrow (Wed).

All okay

Heading to Minerva, eta Wed afternoon. Had been motor sailing but just now switched the engine off. Heading east of the rhumb line to Minerva to get a better angle for Wed, when the winds are forecast to be from the east.

.

Now heading for Minerva Reef, instead of going directly to Tonga. ETA: afternoon of Wed 22nd May.

All okay. Good conditions so far, but looks like some strong winds heading into Tonga (ETA Thurs 23/Fri 25 - will need to slow the boat down to arrive on the Fri)

Good breeze all through the day, so not having to motor at all. A bit stronger than the two tweaked Predict Wind models forecast (more like 20 kts for most of the day, rather than low to mid teens). Got hit with a couple of mid afternoon squalls. Other than that, a pretty good day's sailing, with sun most of the day.

Managed to sail through most of the night with good breeze from the west.

All okay. Not quite enough wind to sail downwind. May have accidentally added the wrong position coords last message.

Good breeze all through the night, haven't had to use the motor. Just starting to drop out as this is written. Autopilot seems to be working well.

Just cleared Customs in Opua for the second time this week! Autopilot problems all fixed - we hope... Casting off lines now to head to Tongatapu. Two POB. Will possibly divert to Minerva Reef if something nasty springs up further north. Will try to listen in to Gulf Harbour Radio on HF for morning weather updates.

Back tied up at the Bay of Islands Marina in Opua. We took turns handsteered from 2:30am this morning until 8pm this evening. Turning back away from Tonga wasn’t much fun. Had to punch into 15-20kt headwinds most of the time. Bouncy rolly ride... It took 17 hours to cover 70 miles, averaging about 4kts motorsailing. A new “slowest trip” record for us. But of course it could have been much much worse.

Autohelm repairs planned for first thing tomorrow v

Having to return to NZ after developing autohelm problems in the early hours of the morning. Turned around at 0250. Had been heading to Tonga.

Left Bay of Islands Marina at 1150, sailing directly to Tonga.

at Opua marina, doing last minute preps for heading off for Tonga in the morning.

In Opua NZ after sailing from Hobart Tasmania in Feb to Nelson NZ and up the east coast of NZ to the Bay of Islands. Planning to sail to Tonga in May.

Arrived Port Nundaberg Marina Friday morning. Taking it easy, and spending too much money with access to too many shops!

About 20 miles from Bundaberg. Reported at 10/29/2015 7:31 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Motoring. Hoping for forecast wind to pick up later in the day. Reported at 10/29/2015 12:39 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Reported at 10/28/2015 6:40 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Moon's out, all is well. Reported at 10/28/2015 9:58 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Reported at 10/28/2015 3:36 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Winds lighter this morning. Reported at 10/27/2015 8:08 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

(our status). Reported at 10/27/2015 5:51 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Planning to resume our trip to Bundaberg around 9am today (Tuesday). Expecting to arrive there on Friday morning. Reported at 10/26/2015 9:39 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

At anchor. All okay. Reported at 10/25/2015 6:58 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Motoring, Reported at 10/23/2015 6:43 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Motor sailing, COG 259Tt. Reported at 10/23/2015 7:27 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Sailing in very light airs. Reported at 10/23/2015 1:26 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Motoring since mid morning. Tried the kite for a while, but too light and rolly to set. Reported at 10/22/2015 6:22 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Almost through the Chesterfield Grand Passage. Reported at 10/21/2015 6:50 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

COG 261T. Reported at 10/21/2015 6:36 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Reported at 10/21/2015 1:21 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Good sail through the night, all okay. COG 262Tt. Reported at 10/20/2015 6:47 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

35 m wsw of Port Vila, heading for Bundaberg via New Cal Grand Passage, COG 260Tt. Reported at 10/20/2015 4:28 AM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

Planning to leave Port Vila mid-morning today to sail to Bundaberg Australia

Still on a mooring in Port Vila, testing to see if the customised automatic position report in Sailmail will work. COG t. Reported at 10/14/2015 11:52 PM UTC using Airmail Custom Position Report

On a Yachting World mooring at Port Vila, waiting for good weather to go across to Australia. There are several boats here wanting to do the same thing. If possible, David and Patricia, if you have time, could you please include some info on your GHR sked re the weather for this passage (Port Vila to Bundaberg, passing through the New Cal Grand Passage, or going over the top of New Cal). Thanks so much for the fantastic GHR service you provide - it's very much appreciated.