Sailing – Our World Adventure

New Zealand, Islington Bay

December 14, 2025 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. 🙂

Sailing South for Cyclone Season

November 24, 2025November 24, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure, Sailing

⛵️ Kalea, our sailing home 49’ Catamaran, left New Caledonia and headed back South to Opua New Zealand. We had to say goodby to the warm tropical waters and beautiful coral sealife, to seek safety from the upcoming cyclone season. Most cruising boats leave the region of Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia by December and head south, to NZ or OZ, all hoping to return in May, when it’s safe again.

This journey started as a 20 knot bash, meaning close hauled, with not much swell, heading east at first. Rather uncomfortable and loud. As we tacked south, the wind shifted and we still were bashing. Still uncomfortable. Finally the 3rd day we were blessed with a speedy downwind blow but with 3 meter swell forward of the beam. A bit calmer feel, but you still need to keep a seat or hold on while moving about. Every angle of wind and swell is a different feel on a boat, especially on a catamaran. And as most of you know, bashing is never comfortable, in either boat.

Some friends asked about the most used sailing tools that we use. As you can imagine, paper charts are a thing of the past, since Starlink. Our most common tools are PredictWind, Open Cpn, Navionics and out boats Chartplotter program. Also handy are:

You wonder what we do for 5 days in a boat beside sail? Mainly sleep (or try to) eat (or try to) read (or try to) cook (or try to) and maybe watch a few downloaded movies. I have been successful at ocean water sampling for Citizens if the Sea, a fun side hobby so far. If you know me well, I did finish my puzzle the first day, played rummicub the second day, and I tried bananagrams, but it was a bit too lumpy that day. But overall, I am still enjoying the ocean, sunrises, sunsets, stars, my amazing captain, our passage crew friend from California, and our sailing home.

Then, it’s Land Ho! We Motor sailed the last few miles into Bay of Islands, aka Opua, New Zealand. All is well, nothing broken, just ready for some land time. Not much to report about for sealife, one squid on the bow and a few black seabirds, and no fish caught. Oh well, the lamb and meat pies are sounding great! 😋

A ton of boats returned to NZ, but we saw none out there on the passage south. PredictWind is an amazing tool.

I finally got some great photos of the full moon last month

And last but not least, my favorite video this year, taken on my go pro 12 in New Caledonia. Most of the little islets, as the this French colony calls them, are homes to multiple endangered migratory seabirds and friendly Sea Turtles! We only got to stay a week waiting for the weather window to jump south. So we will be back in May!

Free mooring balls at all the islets of New Caledonia, this helps protect the corals.

Sailing and experiencing beautiful Efate and Malehuka, Vanuatu

November 6, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure

An amazing adventure in an among various small and big islands in Efate and Malehuka in Vanuatu. The highlight for us for sure were the genuinely kind and happy local people.

Sailing west from Fiji to Vanuatu on our beloved sailing home Kalea, we adventured through three island groups visiting numerous villages, meeting amazing people, and enjoyed some very special experiences. Lucky for us, Kathy’s brother Andrew joined us for 3 amazing weeks. We had some terrific snorkel days, saw some dugongs (like manatees) and had a great hike into the cocoa farms. Also lucky, that our good friends’, Jason and Candice (on SV Deguello) buddy boated with us the entire way. We are feeling blessed.

Headed into New Caledonia waters

Follow our tracks online below, as we soon head to New Caledonia, New Zealand, and next season back up to include Solomons, Papa New Guinea, and Indonesia.

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_Kalea/

The daily market, so much fresh produce!

Village children are the cutest! Fun game nights were had.

Bislama language of Vanuatu

Hello: Halo
-Good bye: o revar
Thank you: Tangkyu
Yes: Yes
No: No
Good: Gud
Nice to meet you: Mi glad blong mitim yu
How are you?: Yu stap gud?
I don’t know: Mi no save
Thank you very much: Tangkyu tumas

Although there are more than 80 languages here in the Vanuatu islands, some English, we have been having fun with the common language of Bislama. It is creole like, so fairly easy to interpret. Bislama’s vocabulary is basically English, with influences from French and local languages.
Bislama language is important for Vanuatu’s culture as it ties the far off island villages together, also providing communication for young dating couples. Read the signs aloud, you’ll surely chuckle!

We are “Citizens of the Sea”

October 9, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure

🌏 As Scott and I travel and sail through the South Pacific Ocean, and enjoy all that the sea has to offer, we want to give back, scientifically speaking. We have found and paired up with an organization for testing these waters while on our passages. I am excited to say that our first sampling was just the other day on our sail west from Fiji to the small island country of Vanuatu.

🌎The Pacific has a vast expanse of marine ecosystems, and is a vital contributor to biodiversity and ecosystem health. From providing us oxygen through marine microbes to sustaining billions of people with seafood, we all know the ocean plays a crucial role in supporting life on Earth.

🌎“Citizens of the Sea” a Non profit from New Zealand, is on its second year spearheading efforts to bridge this knowledge gap. They have connected with us adventurous leisure sailors exploring island groups such as Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. There are 26 sailboats participating this year, and we are outfitted with special tools and apps for data collection. We gather environmental DNA by dragging this torpedo behind Kalea for a few minutes everyday while on offshore passages. Our mission is to help document the rich biodiversity of each region we sail through.

🌎 We, as sailor scientists are collecting this data to help the lab identify 1 billion DNA sequences from 600 samples across the Pacific Ocean. (Assisting this program provides data for only 10% of the cost of traditional ocean data acquisition.) We are proud to partake! 🌎

Want to read more? Click link https://www.citizensofthesea.org/news/the-importance-of-biodiversity

My Bad Ass Diving Wife

August 16, 2025 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 ❤️

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.

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.

My favorite fish to date: Clown Trigger fish

Life on a Sailboat, Year 4 Begins

August 9, 2025August 9, 2025 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)

Venua Belava, aka Bay of Islands, Fiji.

August 5, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in Sailing

A quick photo dump of the beautiful Island of Venua Beluva, Fiji. We stayed a week, had some great hikes, dingy raft up, limestone caves, Scott’s 60th birthday, swims, and a bonfire with friends! Gorgeous! There are no homes around these parts due to the unforgiving landscape. The video below shows it all!

Tricky Sailing & Navigating Fiji Waters

June 27, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure

Studying numerous charts, checking all our resources, discussing routes with other sailor friends and pulling anchor at 4am this morning, we are off!

From Nananu-i-Ra to Namena Island, (just) a 50 nm journey through unknown and difficult (to us) seas on our Kalea sailing adventure. Mega reefs, narrow passes, bommies, 100 foot tall pinnacles of coral, barely seen on our 3 charts, but we are ready for a big day of 110% attention to navigation.
Established just in 1997, Namena is the largest marine and bird reserve in Fiji. In the 80’s fishing this area was a booming business, but was diminishing the fish population. So, ten Fijian Chiefs from a nearby island gathered and established this area as a no-take preserve. Its 60 km encompasses a horseshoe-shaped barrier reef and a small uninhabited island. In 2016, Cyclone Winston passed directly over Namena destroying the one small diving resort in the strongest winds ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.
Why go? We are so excited to possibly see the red-footed booby birds that nest in the trees along the coast. Supposedly the adults rocket down at 60 mph to dive down 45 feet to catch their dinner. They have special airbags to protect their organs when they hit the water! Wouldn’t it be great fun to scuba dive to witness this wonder! Not to mention the thousands of fish and coral species, blue eel, seahorse, dolphin, manta and whale that visit this lagoon… and the nesting grounds of 4 marine turtles!!
Stay tuned for photos and videos!

https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_Kalea/?useGoogle SV_Kalea

Fabulous Fiji

June 21, 2025 by Scott and Kathy Erwin, Sail the World, posted in adventure, Travel

I will admit, this is a photo dump of our fabulous time in Fiji! The locals are incredibly friendly and so honest. The weather has been perfect, not too humid this winter, so far. The views are beautiful, however we are on the western dry side of the islands lately. Meeting new cruising friends is always a bonus. And lastly, we are loving our boat, getting spoiled we are.

https://fb.watch/AmOmN5aUEJ/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Click the above to watch stunning drone photography of our last few months scenic anchorages. Don’t forget to unmute the music.

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

June 5, 2025June 13, 2025 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.

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.