Tag Archives: passage

Crewless: They Come and They Go

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Many people offer to come on a passage but very few actually do.  There are so many moving parts, sliding schedules, and things to work around that it makes it difficult for “the working man” to make the trip.  We had two people interested in doing the New Caledonia (New Cal) passage.  So, how did we end up crewless?

Adam from New Zealand was our first “victim.”  I say that jokingly.  Adam lives here in New Zealand which made it appealing because he could easily be at the boat at the first weather window.  However, the weather did not cooperate and the departure date kept sliding. Eventually, Adam had to back out due to family circumstances.

Jason from Austin.  Matt worked with Jason 15 years ago.  We ran into him a few years ago and he mentioned he would be interested in doing a passage.  He had lots of charter and sailing experience – just no passage or overnight experience.

We did not think he would be able to get to NZ in time but reached out and asked him if he was interested.  He moved heaven and earth to get here.

The Waiting Continues

We had been working toward a departure date about 6 days after Jason’s arrival.  In the meantime he worked remotely from the boat.  After his work hours we took him around Whangarei.

Matt took him on a 7 mile hike.  They hiked up to the top of the mountains (by the antennae’s) and then around the park and back to town.

We also walked the Hatea Loop several times.  I made the boys partake in all the fun activities along the trail.

The Disappointment

Our proposed departure date was upon us and we had to make a decision.  Depart and get pummeled by the weather or wait for the next weather window. 

We went back and forth, had many discussions, talked with several weather routers, and finally decided not to take the risk.

It was really disappointing as that meant Jason would not be able to make the passage with us.  Why is that?  He had a flight out on the 9th of June which meant we had to leave NZ no later than the 2nd of June.  However, there were no weather windows between now and then.

So, Jason made the hard decision to stay for a week, change his flights and go home a week early. 

Despite being crewless for the passage we were determined to show our crew the best time during his stay.

Overnight Sail

We left our cozy marina dock after many sad goodbyes.  We decided to take Jason out to the Bay of Islands to show him a little more of New Zealand.

And since, Jason had never done an overnight, we decided to give him that experience too.

We left Whangarei late in the afternoon and headed 50nm to Whangamumu.

We had a beautiful sunset to send us offshore.

The moon was 3/4 full which shown brightly during most of the night.

Jason and Matt found the Southern Cross.

Jason did really well.  He got a little sick once he lost the horizon, but he managed to stay outside all night!  It may not seem like that big of a deal but it was 40F outside!  Freaking cold.  What a solider!

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live event.

Jason visited Sugar Shack toward the end of May 2026.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Jason in New Zealand.

Baguette search success

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Well there you have it. Goal achieved

Baguette has arrived

Arrived yesterday morning, as planned, through pass at sunrise, can’t see the reefs until you are right there and just a change in wave behavior above them

The light house is there to guide you in.

Lighthouse at daybreak

Welcomed into the lagoon with this sight.

A welcome squall

A crazy run around to get immigration process complete before they closed at noon? Best government job ever.

A couple of beers and pizza with friends who met us at the dock and grabbed our lines and secretly dropped off some French pastries for breakfast. There was a band at the marina bar, started at 6pm… don’t think I was awake for the end of the first song.

What started out as 880nm trip, turned into 1047nm. I took the scenic route. Don’t know if it was more comfortable or not, I do know it was full day longer than following the direct route. There was some nice sailing in the middle part, but the beginning and end were definitely not champagne sailing, you would have missed your mouth with the champagne flute on every sip. We averaged 7.5 knots for the trip which is pretty good for a long passage.

Anyway cheers signing off till our next passage.

Baguette search day #6

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Last full day of core exercise.   The swell found us or did we find the swell?  

We have been doing the time warp all day long.  

It’s just a jump to the left

And step to the right

With your hands on the boat

Lock your knees in tight.. 

But its the floor you trust

Is driving you insane

Let’s do the Timewarp again. .. and again and again.

For every 3 meter wave that catches you off guard.

Finally found a rhythm that was semi-comfortable, and boat at a decent pace to arrive at daybreak the following morning.   There is a lot of charts and talk that its well marked and lit, can easily be done in the dark.  If the sea wasn’t as angry I imagine we would go that route, but with the sea state and possibly the swell at the pass, I just want to have a look and make sure there are no standing waves or big current coming out as we will be a few hours after slack tide when we arrive in the daylight.  

The Rocky Horror exercise routine was partially attributed to mother nature trying to make up for neptunes tempertantrum.  Neptune would make a bunch of racket and stir up the waves that splash and cover sugar shack completely..  Seemed like there was water falls at from every horizontal surface at points during the day.  The new solar panels were a water feature, salt water creating a curtain of water right in to the dinghy.   Mother nature must have felt sorry for us and promptly rinsed it off with drive thru boat wash, and then showed us she still cared with many colorful signs. 

Reward or Apology?

Then it got to be a competition, I think neptune must have summoned up some siblings and started make waves from a couple directions at once.  

Spicy cajun pasta for dinner, double checked the freezer we have indeed exhausted all the swine related products. My favorite is to show the bio officers the Trader Joe’s veggie chorizo, that always confuses everyone.   Looks like pork but…  🙂 

All good, another 12-15hrs and it’ll be time to find a cold beverage, a hot shower, and a bed that doesn’t try and throw you like an 8 second bull, and of course the long awaited fresh baguette.