Tag: circumnavigation

New Zealand, Islington Bay

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

Ahhhh, New Zealand. Good people, good food, beautiful scenery and amazing sites. It’s good to be back and reconnect with friends we made last year. Although we won’t be in the states for the holidays, we will be spending Christmas and New Years with many of our cruising family members and a New Year’s party hosted on Kalea in the downtown Auckland (Viaduct Marina). 

Today’s post is about the hike and anchorage across the bay from Auckland. It’s a rather large set of islands called Rangitoto and Motutapu. In the 1920s locals would sail and row themselves across the bay to these beautiful islands and build little holiday homes/structures that they called Baches. About 140 structures. This island was government owned but it didn’t deter people from carving out a piece of the island and calling at their own. The government gave the tenets leases and used the residents to build walkways and roads around the island. They were modest cabins by any stretch, but these people put a lot of time into getting materials across the bay and moved lots of lava stone to create foundations and boat ramps. 

In 1937 conservationists convinced the government that the Baches were detrimental to the efforts to conserve the island and the courts agreed. The courts gave the residents 20 years to remove themselves and everything associated with their structures. A smart attorney continued to haunt the conservationists and finally in 1957 got the New Zealand Supreme Court to agree that the Baches were part of the environment that should be protected and kept preserved as long as the family has survivors. After the 20 years of required eviction, only 30 Baches were left and to this day many have been handed down in families and still are in use. 

As we walked around, it was fun to see the ruins as well as some of the Baches still occupied by some of the original families. 

As for us, we have decided not to sail to Australia, so will fly there for a few weeks. We want more time in the tropics before we move onto Indonesia. As always……plans are ever changing to adapt to our whimsical lives. 🙂 

My Bad Ass Diving Wife

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Scuba Diving

Here’s to my bad ass wife that saves the day! We had anchored Kalea in a small bay in Fiji, only for the protection it would give us for a windy night. After this little storm (still blowing), the anchor was fouled up on rocks and we tried everything to get it free. Driving to the right then to the left and again. With the next weather heading in soon, coming from the opposite direction, we needed to move. Kathy donned the wetsuit and scuba gear and headed to the dark bottom below us (50’). She directs me at the helm to the proper locations to unwind the boat as she clears the 10mm chain that was wrapped three times around a rock. She is a good swimmer and reported that she always kept one eye up on the boat and props. I’m so happy to have a true partner out here. She is as capable and brave as they come. -Scott ❤️

Done!

Anchoring down in Kadavu, Fiji is another world class diving area. The variety of corals, the colorful soft corals, the geologic formations and the little tunnels to peek into. Just dreamy. A typical dive for us is 45 minutes at about 60 feet. Sometimes it’s a wall dive or a pinnacle dive or short swim through. It’s also a sailors dream, with protected anchorages all the way around the islands.

Kadavu Islands, Fiji

A bit more about Scuba Diving, if you are new to it. We love to snorkel and see most everything that way, but it’s sometimes not as clear or the sea life is 20 feet down. So Scuba it is. We understand and avoid nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness, every time. Scott and I monitor our air supply and dive time a number of times during each dive. We also always make a safety stop during our ascent. I like to always make gradual descents, clearing my ears about every 8 feet. Scott is lucky as he learned (back in 1977) how to clear his ears hands free, by jutting his jaw forward, still with regulator in his mouth of course. We both learned in our scuba certification courses to always stay within safe depth limits, and if we go to 100 feet, we are only there for a few minutes, to maximize our length of dive.

On every dive we choose to have a whistle, an extra second stage regulator, dive computer and gauges, a glove, a knife, a surface marker buoy, a light, and a snorkel at the ready, as when we ascend we may need to swim a distance and don’t want to use our precious air. It’s essential for all divers to understand and take necessary precautions to have a safe diving experience.

Buddy diving with Candice
Soft coral
My favorite fish to date: Clown Trigger fish

Life on a Sailboat, Year 4 Begins

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

The trade-offs for this amazing experience: smaller spaces, fewer conveniences, missing family and a level of unpredictability most people would never sign up for.

My life on a boat; the highs, lows and a few other oddities. It’s probably often that you see sailing posts and YouTube stories about all the glamorous aspects of sailing. But it’s important to know that it’s not all champagne sailing nor is it all that it seems to be. It’s tough at times. This month had amazing highs for me, but did have lows, and some tough lessons that I am grateful to have learned.

Most of you know me, I am an optimist. I trust the universe. I have conquered fear (to date, anyway). I don’t like to complain or be negative, ever! I look for the good in every tricky or uncomfortable situation. And, I always remind myself that 4 years ago I “chose” to live on a boat.

Life is a choice. So I will start with the lows, but painfully: Since we chose to visit the very remote Lau group of islands in Fiji, we chose to have 0 amenities off the boat. 0 restaurants, 0 stores, 0 taxis, 0 resources, and 0 gas stations….for 6 weeks. I am so grateful that Kalea provided so much comfort and safety, because the feeling of isolation, without any other option, does creep in. Cooking 3 meals a day x 42 days is 126 meals, straight.

Thats one thing, but food management is another. So I have to make my own yogurt, bread and grow sprouts. We also got quite low on dingy fuel, which created more time on the boat and less adventuring. We didn’t catch any fish. And lastly, we got attacked by mosquitoes and no see ums both in the jungle and on the boat. Enough of that! On to the highs!

Too many to count….The stunning beauty. The amazing friendships. My bread machine. The friendly Fijians. The clearests waters. Shell searching. Very little humidity. Yoga. My amazing husband. South beach Ogea. My best girlfriend, Candice. Bugspray, bug couls and bug screens. Happy hour with friends. Sprouts. Cookies. Adventuring. Sailing. Cruising with Sea Bella. Wingfoiling. Playing with the local children. Jokers and marbles. Helping fix the villagers sewing machine and generator. Bonfires. And lastly; KALEA!

This life isn’t about escape. It’s about alignment. It’s learning what really matters and building a life around that. And, I am so grateful cuz it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

We now head back into civilization again. A quick stop at Kadavu for some world class diving. Then to Musket Cove. Fiji. I am excited to say we fly to California soon for Montana’s wedding. This October we head to Vanuatu, December New Zealand, March Australia, June Indonesia. (Loose plans for now)

Adventuring, sailing, diving, and living in the Yasawa Islands, Fiji.

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

Watch these amazing underwater wonders and the villager childrens dances and smiles!

We sure loved the Yasawa Islands of Fiji. There are 15 words in the Fijian language meaning Heaven and ‘Yasawa’ is the first. We found this heaven underwater. The island chain is home to some of Fiji’s best snorkelling and diving spots, so take a look. Mostly volcanic islands, with white sandy beaches and healthy coral reefs a plenty. The diving was excellent! One anchorage had a huge limestone mountain with snorkeling caves below. The top hits were seeing numerous anemones with their clown fish, lion fish, cuttlefish, squid, giant mantas, eels, and unique colorful corals. Of course, there are plenty of other adventures to be had on land. Beachcoming, bonfires, sand bar yoga, finding unique shells, learning the local culture & meeting great people.

With Stacy Kimmy

Great cruiser friends: Kevin & Stacy on Flying Free from Paso Robles, Pierre & Marie on Viva from Quebec, and Thomas & Irene on Ananda from Australia. All will be planning a circumnavigation, some headed to Indonesia this year, some next year with us.

Yasawa gifts
Stunning

The children!

Tuna

Maiden Offshore Passage on Kalea, Outremer 49! New Zealand to Fiji.

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

Sailing to Fiji from Opua, New Zealand! I know, I know, it was supposed to be Tonga, but… oh well, life sucks, lol. Winds were not in our favor. We are blessed though, as always, we spent 6 weeks in Tonga last year. It will be a sporty, swift 6 day sail to Savusavu, Fiji. A country we barely explored last year due to selling Sea Bella. By the way she is there waiting her new family. We may just see her out there on the water somewhere. Bittersweet, but mainly thrilled with the new family moving aboard soon.

Scott, Dave, Mark, Kathy

There are about 6 boats headed out together in just about an hour or so. But by noon we may not even see them till Fiji. We decided to have 2 crew join us in our maiden passage on Kalea. Dave LaRue from CA and a local Kiwi sailor friend, Mike Clough. We are all leaving NZ right as a Low pressure system passes by will slingshot us northeast off the top of it. Lows are typically pushed out of the way by a following High pressure system. These High pressures or anticyclones are massive. They can stretch thousands of miles high and wide. Typically they have mostly settled weather with sun and little rain or squall activity. That will get us maybe 200 miles a day without pushing the boat too hard. You can watch our track live on the link below, even see the weather etc for us as well. I will post updates there as well as here. Thanks all for your support, interest, encouragement and likes. ❤️

Exploring the Bay of Islands, New Zealand-2025

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

We are so glad to be sailing back to these beautiful islands next November, as we have never seen such an amazing cruising grounds as the Bay of Islands (BOI). Take a look at our video, such beauty! What makes BOI so unique is there are so many places to tuck into and most of the islands are uninhabited, nature reserves. If I was planning a trip to the northlands of New Zealand, I would book an Airbnb in the darling town of Russell for a week, then take daily ferry trips out to these islands for hikes, beach walks, kayaking, swimming, paddle boarding and maybe even camping out on our favorite island; Urupukapuka. The views from all the well manicured hiking trails are spectacular. You can wander through the fields of sheep and signing birds, right down into a charming outdoor cafe for lunch and some live music. Since we are on a boat, this island gave us 6 beautiful anchorages to choose from, as the winds change directions nearly every week! The video says it all.

Urupukapuka Island

The last few boat projects on the dock in Auckland are done! We finally set sail, New Zealand.

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

Getting a boat is kind of like your first date, so exciting but it takes months to get to know them. Well, same here on SV Kalea. We were sure busy in Auckland, New Zealand, both on and off the dock. She came equipped with everything needed for sailing, and some of the basics and extras like scuba tanks, paddle boards, compressor, an extra portable freezer, and this and that. However, like any boat, things break or need to be replaced, just like a house. Scott spent time trouble shooting our main power winch. This is a must have, as the mainsail is very heavy and our shoulders are starting to feel it. The gear box had seized up and needed to be replaced. Luckily, we were docked and just a stones throw away from a Marine store that luckily had our replacement. Then, our house stereo and our portable freezer (backup) both needed to be replaced, under warranty still thankfully! A quick uber ride across town, a bit of labor and all is well. Other items repaired including the water heater, diesel heater, head sail tac and obviously getting all the fishing gear prepared.

We got off the dock a few times to explore the neighboring favorite tourist island of Waiheke. Fun, but a bit high priced. We toured around, learning our sails and systems and as always meeting fun new people. We even met some friends who all wanted to go for a day sail to a favorite beach for a picnic and yoga. 12 of us in all had a good day.

Monthly scrubbing
Boat polish
Filling up
New power winch
Roland inspects
Chain regalvenized

Kathy searched high and low for a Heavy duty sewing machine for her various canvas projects for Kalea. The Sailrite LZ1 machine is most cruisers favorite. New machines flown in from the states would be too pricey for our budget. Used ones are hard to find and nearly the same price. Placing many adds on social media groups lead us to a great connection with a past cruiser needing to part with her LZ1. Hurray! Back in action. BBQ and Jerry can covers, helm seat cover, side shade screens pillows just to name a few.

Loading chain
Counters every 25’
New/used Sailrite
Sewing notions
Grommets are tricky
Shower curtain
Fun pillows
Shade screens

AC Panel
Drones come in handy to view the mast top

Now, back to cruising, it’s been nearly 8 months to switch boats and countries, but we did it! The first few remote islands were blissful and so rewarding. Our favorite was Motutara island with its huge sunken ship, see our reel below.

Travel the South Island, New Zealand. Round trip in 7 days: Christchurch, Arrowtown, Queenstown, Wānaka, Manipouri, Te Anu, Dunedin and back to Christchurch.

by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Travel
Queenstown Church

After spending a great, action packed, few weeks with my folks from California, and driving a rental car 1089 miles (length of California) here’s a few fun facts of our own South Island, New Zealand experience. (Turn up the sound in the videos for the full effect)

The inquisitive Kea

The most lush and loudest forest was seen/heard was near Lake Te Anue, biggest waterfall seen; in the Milford Sound, tallest building and best views: Sky tower (1076 feet) best town: Wanaka, best beach: Palm Beach, Waiheke. The funniest bird: The Kea, most common house: common white painted with pickets, prettiest flower: Hydranga, most interesting building: Ponsonby Hotel/Post office (built in 1911, was robbed and the postmaster was murdered). Best lamb served: Mudbrick Winery, on Waiheke island. We took two sailing adventures here on Kalea. The wind and weather was perfect, great to share this experience with my folks.

The most evasive wildlife: Kiwi bird, most fun activity: 1,000 sheep crossing the highway, cutest couple: my parents, largest tree seen: bottle brush in Auckland. Fun Trip for sure!

A little fun fact, Kathy has family heritage from New Zealand! The below book was written by her great, great grandmother on her father’s side. It is the endearing story of Esther’s parents from Scotland, who sailed for 3 months to Dunedin, in 1875. While traveling the South Island, Kathy and her own Mother, Sue Krevitt read aloud this story, recounting the steps the ancestors took, the places they lived, the gardens they walked through, the farmlands they planted and the old little towns they lived in. Going to settlers museums, cemeteries, churches and libraries. Searching the names and facts of Kathy’s heritage was a highlight!

Another book was written by Esther’s husband, soon to be read. Both books will soon be electronically scanned and preserved.

Auckland New Years Eve!

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

Staying in the biggest Marina in the Southern Hemisphere has its benefits! Views Galore! Parties Galore! Everyone on holiday for the month.

Us cruisers from Mexico having fun for New Years in Auckland New Zealand last night. We get to recover today and watch California celebrate at 9:00 tonight. Strange world. Strange time zones. The kids here are all on their 2 month summer vacation, picking berries and going swimming! Walking around the city I noticed the new architecture, clean streets and laid back attitude. Liking New Zealand a lot!

Maybe a bit too much fun! Pictured in this post is Michele and Michael on Elvira, the boat with the pole, and it is actually for sale now. Joanne and Scott on Fundango and Candice and Jason on Deguello.

KALEA video tour-Outremer 49, we love her so far!

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

Hi folks! This is the tour we promised everyone. We are sitting in an Auckland Marina, enjoying the lively city. We are busy fitting the boat for our needs. We had to learn to drive on the left side of the road, with our rental car, 😵‍💫. New Zealand is beautiful so far.

We have been doing a few boat jobs, have some bits of fun in the big city, and a ton of shopping. Kalea had some basics, but not the full Monty. Thank goodness Amazon Australia has most of what we need, they ship to NZ too.

So we were walking around Westhaven marina yesterday and dropped in a local Yacht Club for glass of wine. I looked up and said Holy Moley,
I looked around again searching for the name of the Club and it was the “Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron”. LOL


Right above our heads on the balcony was the Americas Cup!!!! Too fun and so random. The club walls were covered in hundreds of years of sailing history and trophies. The New Zealand folk take sailing very seriously and we were amazed how open the club was and how much the community is involved.
We had a very welcoming visit with a few of the members and one invited us back to see the Sail GP races here next month from the club restaurant.
Yup, gunna do that, after the holidays!