Position report sent via Iridium GO

We've been making great progress through the "Goldilocks zone" where it's not too hot, not too cold, nice and sunny with just the right amount of wind. Just 4 days ago it was uncomfortably hot. It gets about 2 degrees cooler each day as we sail South. Apparently winter has properly arrived in NZ! From here onwards it is getting decidedly chilly and there will be mostly too little wind from the wing direction. A lot of motoring to be done after we lose the wind but we are only a few days away and we still have plenty of fuel. Opua cruising club is reportedly open (yay!). We are very much looking forward to a beer and a long sleep!

All going very well and making good progress. Chris has a great signal when reporting to Northland radio on 12Mhz and when he talked to me on 8 MHz he came through clearly too. They are making great progress and although there is the option of stopping at Minerva they have the bit between the teeth and will likely head straight for the barn. Patricia GHRadio

After two great weeks in Nuku Hiva we are on the move again! Life in Nuku Hiva has returned to normal, there's no lockdown so we were able to do some good long walks, build sand castles, buy expensive food, enjoy fresh pamplemousse and even party with the other boats! Now back to easy trade winds sailing under clear blue skies. French warship inspected us today, seemed happy with our credentials.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Great sailing conditions continue. The last couple of days have been a giant slalom between huge drift nets 30 miles long, marked by dozens of AIS buoys. We just entered French Polynesian waters so hopefully there will be no more of those. Our ETA at Nuku Hiva is daytime on the 8th (local time). We are really looking forward to getting off the boat for the first time in a very long time! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Sorry for the lack of updates, every day is the same out here! Mostly nice sunny weather with the occasional rain squalls once every day or two to wake us up. We are taking our time, sailing for comfort not speed. Satphone email is working normally again at last after two weeks of technical problems at iridium. Meanwhile we are now in range of the PacMagNet SSB radio net so we are less reliant on the satphone and it's nice to chat to other boats in Polynesia and the South Pacific. We are not alone out here after all! Less than 1000nm to Nuku Hiva now and we have been granted permission to stop there. Looking forward to stepping on land for the first time in nearly 2 months!

After motoring through the lee of the Galapagos islands this morning we have now picked up gentle trade winds and making good speed under sail at last. Fine weather and comfortable seas. Everyone enjoying the ride today! We've had better wind and used less fuel than expected, plenty of fuel in reserve and we should have a good wind all the way to the Marquesas now. Tonight we cross the equator!

Just a reminder: please do not worry if you don't see any updates here on YIT. There's no guarantee that the satellite phone will work, it could easily have a fault or get broken. We often have it turned off anyway for various reasons. Position updates here should be considered a bonus, not an essential! If updates on here stop then nothing is wrong, you'll hear from us in about 4 weeks when we reach French Polynesia (if we can stop there) or otherwise in about 7 weeks from NZ. Perhaps much longer if something slows us down. For example barnacles on the bottom could slow us down a lot! No need to worry for 12 weeks, if we had a problem we'd use an EPIRB.

We had a couple of days of heavy rain showers with many wind shifts to follow. Hard work but we managed to make good progress to the South and we have been motoring SW in clear, completely calm weather for a few hours now. Bob McDavitt has updated our weather routing and we should soon find stable, light southerly winds which are the edge of the trade winds, then we will be South of the disturbed ITCZ area and can relax a bit. All's well.

After a very stressful few weeks wondering how long we'd be stuck on the Atlantic side, we were in the first set of three boats to go through the Panama canal since the lockdown. All went smoothly and we departed Panama City at 1400 yesterday. We are now gently sailing South at three knots in flat seas, with a very light breeze behind us. A nice relaxed start and we are quite happy to be fully self isolated out here! Happy Easter to everyone ashore.

Departed Marigot 6pm today, heading for Panama canal. Greg has joined us as crew today and is doing a great job. Occasional showers, making 5kn average due west. Taking it easy for now with just the jib, will add more sail in the morning. All's well on board.

Approaching Guadeloupe, be there in an hour or so! Tired after a long day so we will catch up with everyone after a good night's sleep.

We will cancel the satellite connection today as it is billed per calendar month and very expensive, so this will probably be the last update until we arrive. We still have the SSB radio for safety communication and weather information. Position updates will also stop later today until we arrive, which will hopefully be around the 4th of December. We have no wind so we are motoring for the first time since leaving Lisbon. This is good because the water tank (and the electricity tank) were empty. We are also carrying too much diesel, it's heavy! The engine is generating lots of power today, the batteries are nearly full now so we have plenty of spare power to run the watermaker. That means we can have a shower... Yay! There's more cloud now so the sun is not as fierce but it's still very hot and humid with no wind at all.

All's well, still enjoying fine weather and calm seas. Here's a message from Bea: Hello family and friends onshore! We are all good, sailing towards our destination slowly but surely. The current estimation to arrive is a bit over a week so I have plenty of time to improve my sailing and lemon cake baking skills. To read, sleep and enjoy the amazing sunrises and sunsets. Also meantime we arrived into the summer. 30+ during the day and 25+ during the night. miss you all and cannot wait to call you and send pictures! Million kisses and hugs!!! Bea

Another fine sunny day with light winds. Very hot, 30 degrees in the shade and we are not acclimatised! Progress is slow in these light winds but the seas are calm. We just saw the first other yacht since leaving the canaries, only on AIS, too far away to see it visually. All's well.

Half way day! We're getting heavy showers due to what the forecast is calling an "upper low" in our area. The rain showers are messing up the wind, which keeps changing direction and dropping to nothing. As the batteries were very low we are motoring for a while until we find a steady wind, charging the batteries as we go. The second jib is down and the main is up, ready to reach off to the south when the wind returns.

Very little has changed since our last report, still trundling downwind at good speed under just the twin jibs. Beata was attacked by a flying fish last night (at least that's her story, the fish may have a different opinion) but she eventually returned it to the freedom of the ocean.

We had a good fast day yesterday. We are now clear of the Canaries wind acceleration zone so we have slowed down a bit from our peak when we surfed at 17 knots. We are still making good speed dead downwind with just the twin jibs up, goosewinged on the new furler. This setup is working really well. We are managing to sail comfortably at half the wind speed with just the jibs. At this rate we will not need to use the main at all! All's well and the sun is shining.

nice sunny morning, weather has been patchy showers but mostly fair. wind keeps shifting but all reaching. progress is very good. All's well and we are starting to get into the rhythm of watches and catch up on sleep.

We are preparing to depart early tomorrow morning if the forecast remains suitable. We will try to update our position here regularly but if you are following our updates here then please DO NOT WORRY if the position reports stop appearing, it doesn't mean there is any problem.

In lisbon preparing to cross the Atlantic

Cuxhaven

Lauwersoog

Harlingen

Amsterdam westerdok!

Breskens

Anchored off ramsgate

Dungeness waiting for tide

Sussex yacht club, shoreham

Weymouth

Totnes

Dartmouth

Fowey

Falmouth

Penzance

we've had two days of strong winds and big waves, probably broken a few records for Ohana, surfed some huge waves... Max speed was 20 knots! Now the sun has come out, the wind is dropping and the seas are getting much more regular but still up to 6m high. The music is on and dolphins are playing around us, great fun sailing conditions.

nearly half way there! Wind is filling in from the east after a day of motoring. Forecast looks good for moderate to strong tail winds from here onward, hopefully make good speed. A stop in Ireland is looking more likely depending on how the forecast develops.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

we've covered a lot of miles over the last 24 hours, maybe a record for Ohana! Wind dropping off gradually now. The satphone has an intermittent problem - sometimes it stops charging and then the battery goes flat so don't worry if our position reports are sometimes irregular. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Wind picking up. Making very good speed now, 9-10 knots as we broad reach in 25 knots of wind. Great sailing!

We picked up a fair wind early this afternoon and stopped the engine. Now making good speed under sail. Wind SW15, speed 8kn, COG 033. All's well. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

We are on our way! Lovely sunny day. Flat calm. Motoring north east to find some wind.

Arrived safely in a breezy Bermuda! Going ashore for lunch :)

Another beautiful sunny evening. Due to a rip in the mainsail we are using an unusual sail plan (trysail+jib+reacher) but conditions happen to be perfect for it and we get to practice using all the special sails in nice weather! Still averaging 7 knots and the forecast looks good for the rest of the passage. Wind SE 12kn.

We departed green turtle cay at 6am, now clear of the outer reef and making over 9 knots on a course of 005t. Beautiful sunny morning, perfect conditions for Ohana. Wind ESE 21kn.

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enjoying Warderick wells in the exuma national park

Anchored off Palm Cay marina

shroud cay

staniel cay

Arrived george town

Arrived Rum Cay

Arrived Mayaguana, Bahamas

Arrived Provo, Turks & Caicos

Departed Port Antonio

Arrived Montego Bay

it's a beautiful sunny day with a gentle breeze and we have grand cayman in sight! Progress is slow as the wind is very light now but we hope to arrive in Georgetown by early afternoon.

we picked up the trade winds and turned off the engine an hour ago, looks like a nice day for a sail and the shipping has thinned out. Wind ne 15kn, gradually shifting more easterly. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

We are ready to depart tomorrow bound for Grand Cayman, Chris, Steve and Luke on board. Looking forward to some tradewinds and slightly cooler temperatures, it's way too hot and humid here! Forecast looks pretty good.

arrived safely in panama this afternoon, very busy shipping lanes on the approach... time to catch up on some sleep now.

we used the spinnaker all day today as the winds are getting very light and behind us. For the night we have the big reacher goose-winged. Winds getting lighter, progress slower, might have to resort to using an engine soon...

i've had a couple of emails reporting that our positions are heading south! We are still on course at position 1 34N 87 14W so there is a bug in the software somewhere, either in our satellite phone or YIT. Good to know you are out there watching our reports and please ignore any positions in the southern hemisphere!

crossed the equator this morning, toasted neptune with a glass of the finest sea water!

On our way to panama after a wonderful time in Galapagos! Departed this morning in fine weather. Forecast is for an easy downwind passage all the way. 5 of us on board. Dozens of dolphins played and jumped very high around us this afternoon!

We are enjoying being in Santa Cruz - the "big city" of the galapagos islands! Explored a 1km long lava tunnel yesterday. Heading for Panama soon!

Sorry for the lack of updates, we are all having such a great time in Isabella that I've not got on the internet very often and it's very slow when I do. We welcomed new crew members Uta and Lise last week. Everyone is having a great time here and really enjoying the wildlife, volcanic landscapes and snorkeling. We'll be in Isabella another week or more before a short sail to Santa Cruz, our last stop in Galapagos.

anchored in San cristobal celebrating our arrival! Sea lion defences in place! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Land in sight! We can see the volcanos on Santa Maria and Gardner islands. We should arrive in San cristobal this evening. Today the seas are flat and we are gliding along with a good breeze for the reacher, speed is 8-9 knots but there's 1-2 knots of current against us.

still making good speed toward galapagos, not long now! Today we completed installing the new seat I've been building on top of the stern arch. It's like a giant deck chair/hammock, made from half of the old trampoline net on an aluminium frame we built. It has turned out to be every bit as awesome as i imagined it would be. Very comfortable indeed and the view is amazing. You can see twice as far as from the deck and can see everything on board too, with no blind spots. Many happy hours on watch will be spent in it! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

We are now at 96 degrees West longitude which means we are more than 90 degrees from our starting point at auckland at 173.4 degrees East... That's quarter of the way around the world already! This planet is pretty small and seems to be mostly made of sea! Celebrating this milestone with a banana cake, using the last of the pitcairn island bananas which we saved in the freezer.

ohana is in her happy place with 18-20 knots of wind dead on the beam! Flying along at 10 knots average speed with spurts to 15 knots, the seat belt sign will remain illuminated throughout the flight due to turbulence... bumpy ride but fun! We can ride the trade winds all the way to galapagos now. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

after three days of motoring with no wind we finally had a light breeze from behind us today and have started sailing again, albeit slowly. very peaceful drifting along in the sunshine under the big reacher and jib goosewinged. Trade winds are forecast to be back in full effect from tomorrow afternoon, should be a fast trip north from then on. We're getting lots of jobs done meanwhile in the calm weather - today i made a new remote control for the autopilot and completed the first stage of installing the new stern arch/seat which we started building back in auckland.

if you're wondering why we slowed down, unfortunately the bottom part of the main sail got torn yesterday so we have to sail with two reefs in it to avoid using the damaged part. It will slow us down having a smaller mainsail if we have to go to windward in light wind (like today). Otherwise it's not a big problem, we have many sails and hopefully this passage will be mostly downwind. I guess I made it happen by posting an ETA yesterday, I won't be doing that again!

making great speed, got ohana so perfectly balanced that she has been on course for an hour without touching the wheel, autopilot off! Perfect sailing weather. Sunshine with patchy cloud, 18 knots wind, speed 8 knots, course over ground 060. Heading direct for Galapagos without stopping, looks a bit windy around easter island this week and we're lucky to have an ideal weather setup so we don't have to go that far south. ETA first week of September.

A wonderful sail so far with mostly sunshine and starry skies. great conditions where ohana is so balanced she will steer herself at 7 knots for 5 minutes without using the autopilot. A front just passed through and the wind has switched from NW to SW, equally favourable for our course, just a quick gybe and on we go! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

had a wonderful ten hours in pitcairn before the wind changed, lovely people, spectacular and beautiful scenery. On our way again as the wind is coming round to the north now but it's still calm. A nice quiet night to catch up on sleep and tidy up all the fresh fruit and veg we've been given.

excited to be approaching pitcairn at last! It's only possible to anchor there when the weather is perfect so we will probably only stay one day. Very calm seas and light winds today, motoring as fast as we can now to maximise our time at pitcairn.

On our way to Pitcairn! We have a very brief weather opportunity to visit pitcairn so we departed rikitea as quickly as possible yesterday. On our way, motoring with no wind. Hope conditions are still like this when we arrive! 3 POB, Chris, anthony and joachim.

Arrived safely in Rikitea and enjoying some rest and relaxation!

everyone wishes pauline a happy birthday from mangareva, especially nico! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

course 050m, speed 6 knots. Beautiful sunny day today, gentle rolling swells, perfect weather as we approach the tropics and the trade winds start to pick up from the south east. Hope to arrive in the gambier islands tomorrow morning after a nice easy passage. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

departed Rapa Iti at 1115 tahiti time bound for rikitea, gambier islands. 5 persons on board. On the move again! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

safely anchored at Rapa Iti. Yay! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

we motored through last night but we don't want to arrive in rapa in the dark so now we are conserving diesel and waiting for the wind, planning to sail into Rapa at dawn tomorrow. Mark took advantage of the calm to climb the mast yesterday on a successful mission to sort out a problem with the jib halyard. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

baking cakes and bread, whistling for a wind, catching up on maintenance. Port engine all fixed and put back together last night! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Nico has baked me an awesome catamaran shaped cake for my second birthday on Polynesian time and the sun is shining at last. Yay! It has been cloudy almost all the way from new Zealand, probably my fault for bringing a sextant. We are experiencing what i think David would call isolated convective systems and what most people call showers, but they don't seem to have much wind in them. Still gliding along with the reacher but the wind is slowly dropping. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

saw a pod of very large whales this afternoon! They followed us up close for about an hour. Making good speed again with the reacher up and calm seas. Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

jib furler jammed so we're going a bit slower under main only until the wind drops enough to set the big reacher. New oil pickup pipe improvised and manufactured, hopefully use it to get the port engine back in service later today as we might get becalmed tomorrow. Reading the waves to find Rapa, thanks mum (still on nz time on board!).

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

lots of maintenance to do during the last two days of light winds and calm seas. Not a rest and relaxation period! Joe took an exciting trip to the top of the mast to reeve a new rope after the main halyard chafed right through and I've spent a lot of time getting the sump off the port engine to find a crack in the oil pickup pipe. Looks fixable! Meanwhile the starboard engine is good to get us into harbour if we can't fix the pipe before we get to Rapa. All's well and we're back up to speed again with a light northerly breeze and calm seas.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

no wind, motored all night. Made lots of fresh water, water tank now full, showers for everyone! Electricity tank also full again. Very slowly motoring north east hoping the northerly winds will catch up with us soon so we can sail. Making lots of tea until then.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

light southerly wind still holding, it picks up again whenever we think of starting the engine. Gliding along under the big reacher at average 4kn. It's still cloudy in the middle of this high pressure system... we expected a sunny morning and we want a refund! Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Mark's birthday messages to the outside world... Russell Coyne Clan:All is well but please send supply of venison steak and Malbek... Kim: I opened your card, thank you so much, keep writing lots!... Eleanor: your pygmy hippo gift arrived safely, perfect pet for a boat! Tell Oceania hello! ... Frank, Noel and Gers, you are on Ohana in spirit!

Nico on night watch. Conditions calming right down but we are pushing hard while we still have enough wind. making very good speed with the wind behind us at 16kn and still ahead of the high pressure. It might start to catch up with us tomorrow, which is mark's birthday! Weather routing suggests fair winds for Rapa after the high goes over. (N-NW then SE).

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

not comfortable but good progress. Good radio signal.

Going great speed, reaching with steady southerly 18kn wind, 9/10 cloud, comfortable(ish) long period 3m seas. Fun sailing weather, racing to stay ahead of the light winds in the high pressure system behind us. Pizza for dinner!

On our way! Dolphins said goodbye off Tauranga, light winds, motored for most of day 1 but been sailing since then. Had the big reacher up for a while but now wind direction is too much ahead. Mark says hi lovely Kim. Nico performing well despite copious vomit! All's well.

In Tauranga awaiting the right weather to depart then we'll be heading east towards Rapa Iti.

Testing. At anchor in auckland. Heading for Rapa Iti soon!

arrived Opua marina. Thanks very much to Patricia, David and Mike from Gulf Harbour Radio and YIT for a season of excellent weather information and a really well designed website, especially mike for implementing the special text message satphone weather service. We'll be sleeping through the radio sched today but we'll miss you!

On final approach to Opua ETA 0400 and the wind has died, looking forward to a good but short sleep before being rudely awakened by customs!

wind s10kn. Cloud 5/10.1020mb. Speed 5kn. Cog 115t. Trysail down main up again. All's well.

wind sw18kn g32kn. Cloud 9/10.1015mb. Speed 8kn. Cog 155t. All's well.

wind sw19kn gusts 25-35. Cloud 8/10.1016mb. Speed 6.5kn.Cog 160t.Busy morning.Mainsail down trysail up.All's well.

land ho! norfolk island in sight! wind sw16kn. Cloud 6/10.1015mb. Speed 9kn. Cog 170t. All's well.

wind sw10kn.Cld 4/10.1017mb. Speed 6kn. Cog160t. Will wave at norfolk island & proceed direct to nz.All's well.

wind sw14kn g18kn.Cld 9/10.1016mb.Spd 8kn.Cog 150t.Just entered band of showers.we'll decide soon norfolk or not.

wind wsw8kn. Cld 0/10.1016mb.Speed 6.5kn. Cog 165t.6 hrs good sailing overnight but motor on again now.All's well.

wind sw5kn. Cloud 1/10.1014mb. Speed 6.5kn Motorsailing.Cog 175t. Beautiful sunny day. All's well.

New Cal to NZ

wind 0kn. Cloud 1/10.1016mb. Speed 5kn. Cog 200t. Motoring south to find some wind. All's well.

departing noumea in one hour bound for Opua with a possible pause at Norfolk Island to wait for weather, looks like we will miss the elections in scotland, fiji and NZ!

preparing to depart Wednesday afternoon and head for Opua with a possible stop at Norfolk island depending on weather.

hove to off noumea waiting for marina to awaken. Sunday so may have to wait aboard til tomorrow for customs.

wind se15kn.Cld 1/10.1016mb.Spd 5kn.Cog 158t.Running engines to push round cap des pins against current.alls well.

wind se7-12kn. Cloud 3/10 .1016mb. Speed 5kn. Cog 200t. ETA Noumea 2 days from now. All's well.

wind se7kn. Cloud 3/10. Patches rain passed earlier. 1015mb. Speed 4kn (occ. 6kn motorsailing). Cog 190t. All's well.

cleared customs, departed port vila, three POB (chris, ryan & geoff), course over ground 185t, speed 5kn, wind se 12kn, 1/10 cloud

departing port vila in the morning bound for new caledonia.

arrived port vila this morning, lots to do now before we leave!

departing Revolieu bay in a few hours bound for port vila. ETA 0700

Fresh lobsters for dinner at uliveu, $10 for two! tomorrow we snorkel at the giant clam sanctuary.

just departed malokilikili en route to port stanley or maskelines. 4pob. 5kn ne wind occ. shower, 9/10 cloud

oyster island, peterson bay has been lovely. departing tomorrow to start working back south in short hops. Now 4POB with a 5th possibly joining us tomorrow. No wind for days, where did the trade winds go?

arrived luganville, anchored at beachfront resort. Wind E7kn

arrived nopul, staying here 3 days for the rom dance festival

a peaceful night in Lamen bay, epi island

departed havannah harbour under sail heading for epi island. sunny morning 1/10 cloud, wind se15 10kn here in middle of harbour

departing port vila 3pob heading for havannah harbour wind se15 patchy cloud

approaching port vila.Speed 6kn.Cog 260t eta1030 wind dropped 10-15se

course og 255t spd 9 kn, occasionally 12! Trade wind steady ese 18kn.Cloud 2/10.No rain. Eta vila 08-1200 tomorrow

course 290t. speed 8kn. all is well after a moonlit night with patchy cloud, no rain.

cleared customs and departed Lautoka 1040 local time. ETA port vila monday afternoon. 5kn S wind here inshore off vuda point, motoring at 5.5kn

preparing to depart friday morning from lautoka bound for port vila, vanuatu

back in the mamanucas, currently at Mana island

Anchored at Nanuya Sewa Island, Blue Lagoon

departed navidamu 1015, no wind at the moment, hope it picks up away from the land. Probably destination Blue Lagoon ETA 1500 tomorrow.

after three days with the super-friendly villagers of Navidamu we will depart in the morning for the Yasawa group, passage expected to take about 26 hours via raviravi passage, and outside the great sea reef. 4POB, wind SE10

spent two wonderful days with the people of naviqiri village, N coast of vanua levu

Been at musket cove for a couple of days, heading out to yasawa group soon.

At beachcomber island - will try to post photos in blog section

anchored at treasure island catching up on some jobs

Arrived Lautoka, anchored and having a barbecue - awaiting customs clearance tomorrow.

approaching navula passage clear sky wind ene7kn,0cloud getting hot. Eta 1200 entrance,1800lautoka. Next update when we have internet.

cog355ttill doing over 8 knots avg under trysail!

ohana is a reaching machine! Swapped main for trysail due to broken batten.

Still doing 8kn in 15kn e wind! Cog005t eta sun eve

great day at 10kn yesterday, down to 6kn overnight. Cog 010t. Saw 3 strobe lights in the water at 24 47S and 177 03E and reported to maritime Radio. ETA Lautoka Saturday

still 8.5-9kn, wind e 17kn, cloud & lt rain, cog015t all's well

weather stable se15-18 occ. Showers,starry night 8.5kn 015cog

increased sail at dawn now doing 9kn 005cog wind ese16kn

steering 030t at 6kn wind s 15-20

on our way to fiji!

Cleared customs and departed opua. Forecast looks good and we are on our way!

arrived safely in opua, quick passage but dead downwind.

test message - departing nz soon