Tag: circumnavigation

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!

Outremer 49, our new home!

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

WE DID IT! 🤪😳😃😂. We are again boat owners!!!!
SV Kalea is officially ours! We had a few stops and starts but the deal finally went through today.
This boat we have drooled over for 4 months, 2011 Outremer 49.
A big thank you to Grant and Sam that are helping make the transition smooth. They are local New Zealanders, from South Africa. They sail from NZ to Fiji every sailing season to surf and live the life, in the fast lane!

Now to explore New Zealand in style…

Kalea means “happy” or “joy” in Hawaiian. Well, we sure are that! Keep pinching ourselves. We actually got lucky and found our great cruising friends who sailed all the way from Mexico with us on our last boat, Sea Bella. They were out here in Auckland for the day! They helped us celebrate our day and new life in NZ for the season.

From left, Kathy, Addicus, Adam, Scott, Jason, Candice, Ingrid.

Now, back to the new boat to finish off our contract, hand over the keys and discuss boat systems, processes, survey… all good! Better yet, all done and official.

Chaper Two; Adventure will Continue… on a Catamaran

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


There are so many differences in cruising catamarans. A few hours of surfing the net for boats for sale can hurt the brain.
As much as we have been “beach cat” sailors, mono hull cruisers and have been cruising with a multitude of great catamarans…..this is difficult. Above is Nirvana, a 50 foot voyage catamaran for sale in Fiji. Our friends let us cruise her for 6 weeks while they visited the states. Very comfy, slow cruiser with tons of space. Too much for us though. Our son Derek got to come to Fiji for a week and really enjoyed it.


But, everything is a sacrifice. What do we mean by that? Fast performance cats are typically not as comfortable as heavier slower boats like Nirvana. Not only are the super comfortable boats slow, but most of the time they don’t sail well. (Angle on the wind, slow, and can be noisy)

KALEA

Fast lightweight boats can sail really well but need expensive sails, don’t have as much room for big beds, couches, and water toys. One or our friends even ditched the water heater to keep the boat light. (Lol, you know who you are).
Fast comfortable boats are typically more expensive….(Think Gun, HH).
Finding a boat you want to live on and sail on is a balance of your priorities and $$$$s.
We don’t want slow. We really like our big couches and we have a good budget for the boat, but we still want to eat well.
And then there is alway “what does this boat need” and “where is it”. Sheesh….this might take some time.

This weeks boat (brand/designers) all are in consideration.
Not all of them are fast. Not all of them are comfortable.
But, they do prompt conversations…..and ultimately…..negotiations.

Sea Bella is Sold and sleeping in a pit in Fiji. Bittersweet for sure.

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

Cha cha cha changes…. 🎶🎶🎶
Wow-o-wow! We are spending the last night on our beautiful Sea Bella tonight! She is tucked away in a pit in Vuda Marina, Fiji. Her new owners await the end cyclone season and one more year of elementary school for their two boys. Krister and Amanda Bowman are from Alaska and will will keep her name Sea Bella. Such a warming thought for us! They will attempt to finish their circumnavigation, since they already have sailed from the US to FP to Fiji 9 yers ago.


It is with a little sadness and great love that we say goodbye to a special home and piece of equipment that has kept us safe for thousands of miles and adventures. We have quickly identified this as completion of “Chapter 1” of our cruising adventures and we are already looking forward to Chaper 2. Sea Bella sold very quickly to a young family of 4 in Alaska that will start cruising her next May. Nice that they have chosen to keep her name. Over the last few days Kathy and I have been carefully decommissioning Sea Bella for a 9 month sleep.


So, what’s next? We have been graciously offered a boat to hang out and baby sit for the next six weeks from our good friends on Nirvana (50’ Voyage cat). We have been cruising with them off and on since Mexico and they are going home to see their daughter get married. So, a bit more time in Fiji for us to decompress and see some of these beautiful islands. Nirvana is for sale here in Fiji so if you have any questions about this beautiful cat reach out.

Another option is buying Nirvana, it’s actually for sale!

Then, Chapter 2 awaits us. We consciously decided not to buy a new boat before we sold the last, so now begins our process of finding our next home/boat. We will be couch surfing for a few months seeing family (California and Texas) and will be traveling to see potential boats.

As much as we would love to have a boat be right here, we are very picky in choosing our next chariot. We will go anywhere in the world to find the “right” boat and already have considered boats in Virginia, Turkey and Australia.

Catamarans are very roomy!p
Just one option

Stay tuned…..our adventures are gunna get faster with more space for toys and guests. We absolutely love our family and friends and we look forward to seeing you all sometime in the near future. This diagram explains our research process these next two months. These are all boat types, varying in Performance, speed and comfort.

Venomous Sea Snakes of South Pacific

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

Warning! The below video is not for the squeamish at heart. This was a very spooky dive experience with the sea snakes of Niue. Not only cool snakes here, but our dive included some of the healthiest coral we’ve seen in the South Pacific, and the clearest water.

We had up to 300 foot visibility in places. After drifting over a coral garden we swam through an underwater narrow (dark) tunnel about 100 feet long, then up into a pitch black limestone cavern. This tunnel and cavern had a mix of salt and fresh salt water which changed the visibility and temperature. When the sea water yields to fresh water, it blurs your vision and makes you think you have Vaseline on your mask. (I’ve never been diving in the dark, never in a tunnel nor a cave, with poor visibility and NEVER with snakes!) Luckily the snakes were not aggressive.

You’ll see the snakes as we ascend at the end of the tunnel. What you don’t see is that when it was time to leave, Scott’s ears wouldn’t equalize. While everyone else was descending back in the tunnel to return to the open ocean, Scott was stuck in the cavern by himself (I was waiting below), yes with the snakes, unable to continue back with the group. (Could be some people’s worst nightmare). Fortunately with time and patience, Scott was able to clear the equalization issues and exit the cavern. It might have only been 5 minutes, but Scott felt like it was an hour!!

We can’t express enough the beauty of the coral in Niue. So healthy, so extensive and so fortunate for us to see it. Truely blessed.
Scott will be doing a second post about the island and the people, soon.

Passage West From Bora Bora

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

You might wonder what sailors do all day on their long ocean passages? It depends on the comfort factor of the sea state and your boat. We just completed a 900 mile passage, which took us 7 days. 💨 We had wind mostly behind us, at the stern, so Sea Bella was thankfully rather flat the first few days.

However, Mariners call this section of the Pacific the “dangerous middle” as the seas get confused. Stay with me on this. We saw swell of 10 feet for 2 days, which is the primary South swell. But, this area also has a small swell coming from both the North and the West. It’s also called the convergence zone. Primarily the swell was our port flank, slapping us along and lifting us up and down. Sea Bella does great, gliding, cutting and surfing down the big wave fronts. Making 11 knots of boat speed on some rides. 🌊

But, this makes for a lot of movement on the boat, which means no cooking, and not much walking about. Imagine brushing your teeth or using the restroom! Hold on! The last day King Neptune must have been grumpy. A huge 5 mile squall presented in front of us, on my watch! Reduce sail, put another reef in, furl the Genoa, take out the staysail, grab two rain jackets, Stow everything! It was a long night. As for watch schedules; Scott and I typically split up (1 in the comfy cockpit on watch and 1 in the salon with table made into a king bed). Over a premade meal and watching sunrise or sunset we discuss weather, sail configuration, and other happenings. ☀️ Either watch, we read, write, watch a movie, listen to audible, play online puzzles, stargaze, fish… or when weather gets crazy, it’s sail management.

As for watch schedules, it’s pretty loose for us. Scott does roughly sunset to midnight, I do midnight to dawn (ish) (this doesn’t guarantee the other is sleeping like a baby in the choppy conditions) 😴 Daylight hours its mostly Scott’s watch, with a few naps breaks. If you recall, Sea Bella has a partially enclosed, center cockpit. I made comfy cushions and pillows, but, you may know that the South Pacific has random but short bursts of rain, cause for an urgent rain drill and stowing 😂 We have noticed that passages always take a few days to get into this rhythm, but overall they are not too bad.

Laundry on a Boat?

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

Let’s talk laundry! We all have it. It’s a chore for all of us, like it or not. 😝 Whether you’re lucky and use a laundry service or your washer/dryer does most of the work, laundry is still a chore.


😅 Well, let me tell you…it’s quite an ordeal when living on a boat, and in the rainy or windy tropics. 😎 Here is the run down. First, I wait for a sunny morning and hope it stays that way all day, without huge winds. (I may have waited a week or 2 for this weather window, btw) Next, I make sure we’ve made water, and the tanks are full. If I am lucky we have hot water from yesterday’s motorsailing. In our small galley sink, I hand wash our clothes, being careful not to use too much soap or too much water, 😂! Next, (if rain suddenly appears) I string up my cockpit laundry lines. If it’s still sunny, I wipe the dust off all the boat handrails. I wring out the sheets and towels using the handrail. I then hang up all the laundry with very strong stainless steel clips. I stay home for 4 hours to keep a good watch out for sudden squalls or any change of weather. I take them down, fold and put away (The only typical part of laundry. Phew, done!! 🥰 It’s much easier to just wear a bathing suit and shower in it after my swim. Or the wind blows a towel overboard, thank goodness for the boat hook.

Atoll vs. Island

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

Headed to our 19th (new) Island here in French Polynesia of Taha’a. So cool, 😎 but wait, is it kind of part of Raiatea island. We haven’t gone out into deep waters so it should be just one island. If it’s part of Raiatea then maybe still our 18th island to explore. 😣 Good conversation here since many of us have been living in atolls and/or islands for a year now, and I thought I knew the difference! Ha, humble pie for sure. Here is the difference according to Wikipedia: 😜 But what do you think?

An atoll is a kind of island. It is made, volcanically, then a coral reef forms around an island that sinks over many years.

Chat GBT doesn’t know if Raiatea is sinking. Hmmm. We just left Raiatea and crossed a large bay of water about 100 feet in spots and we will drop anchor in about an hour at the north island of Taha’a. GPS picture above shows us as the blue dot. More research is needed. Or just watch this fun video.