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.