Month: April 2026

That’s a Wrap! Good bye New Zealand & Hello New Caledonia.

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure

The rains and winds have totally died, and we are all settled in a calm and favorite tiny anchorage to enjoy the Bay of Islands and our last 2 weeks here in New Zealand. Hiking about on Moturua Island was good for a few of our last favorite spots. Luckily Kalea is comfy and spacious with all the necessities, and she doesn’t leak, it is Autumn here, by the way. ☔️

Whats next? We begin our prep for our clearing out of the country, and we will take the first weather window after May 1 (funny because that is when our marine insurance agent says it’s “Cyclone safe” 🤣🤣 Again, due to this typically rough passage north, we have 2 crew join us. A great highschool buddy of Scott’s; Tom Dwyer, will fly in. Also crewing is Mark Clough, excellent Kiwi sailor who joined our last trip north.

Our sail plans are fully packed for the season, including 5 maybe 6 Oceania countries. We will be returning to New Caledonia, as those were some of the clearest waters we have seen and has friendly turtles! 😁 Then we head to the marvelous Islands of Vanuatu. Our aim is to visit 5-6 new islands, each having a unique cultural Kastom (Ni-Vanuatu, a Bislama word for custom), dress, dance, and stunning blue holes. One tradition you may have heard of is the land diving of Pentecost, it’s called Naghol. (Research that one for a shocker) We then will clear out and check into the remote Island country of Solomons, a lot of rich WW2 history there. Moving north, we sail up and around Papa New Guinea, staying at the outer islands along the way. A slight possibility is to head to a tiny, but stunning US Territory named Palau. Heading East to our final destination of 2026, Indonesia! Our cruiser friends out there have reported amazing things like such friendly people, yummy foods, and cheap prices. Raja Ampat will be our highlight destination, so we will stay there for as long as possible. A much needed flight to the states will also happen in there somewhere.

Thanks for staying connected and joining us online for this sailing travel adventure! If you want to see some of our past experiences, our YouTube channel has 60 sailing videos and 27 yoga videos for anyone interested.

@Kaleasailingadventure

Cyclone Vaianu, hits Northland, New Zealand

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure

Thank you for all the safety wishes as Cyclone Vaianu clipped Fiji then went to northland, New Zealand. It was as a large, powerful and potentially historic systems. There were good chances the north island was to get a direct hit, with winds at 60-70 knots, but all we saw was 53 knots. Not any problems really, just a lot of wind and rains for 2 days.

So, what did that mean for Kalea? We of course had to stow all gear, and watched the weather regularly all week. We tucked into a local favorite hide an away, in Opunga Cove in the northland in the Bay of Islands. The choice for us was at anchor in a snug hurricane hole, on a mooring ball or at a dock in Opua Marina. Neither of these options are were great, but we felt the safest at anchor and we were ready for whatever may occur.

Cyclone Vaianu, turned into category 3 with winds building as it went south. The worst part for us, besides being trapped inside for a few days is the sideways rain. This can sometimes blow under our hatches, creating moisture inside the cabins, but only in big gusts. In addition to all the prep work, we decided to wrap a halyard around our furling jib, extra protection is always good.

Funny, we came to New Zealand because it’s supposed to be out of the typical storm region. 🤷 (reminds me that I need to go reread my insurance policy, lol) We love weather in general and enjoy seeing the awesome power of Mother Nature. As much as many feel we are crazy, these were very interesting times. What does tend to get me down though is the days and days of rain. We really questioned coming back to New Zealand this year because of how wet April was last year. Oh well, only a few more weeks till the tropics.

Anyway, there is a lot of land between us and the reported 24 foot seas off shore. The land also knocks down much of the wind velocity other than gusts that make their way around the mountains.

We met some new friends who reached out on Facebook who are anchored right next to us. Too funny! And another new friend called us on the vhf, a rare occurrence these days, and mentioned they are good and making up some afternoon South African pancakes. I often make ham, avo, tomato sandwiches for lunch and spent the afternoon working my 1000 piece puzzle. We sure thank you all for your support and kindness, 🥰 less lonely this way. All is well.