Tag Archives: pacific crossing

New Caledonia to New Zealand: A Surprisingly Happy Sail!

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Some passages are memorable for their wild seas, howling winds, and tales of survival. Others are memorable because nothing much went wrong! And after leaving beautiful New Caledonia for New Zealand, we were delighted to have the latter.  Come along with us as we have a lovely sail across the Pacific.

Note:  As you know, our blog posts usually run 6-8 weeks behind live events.  However, I inserted this update in true time so you know where we are now, New Zealand.  Our blog posts will resume tomorrow from New Caledonia until they catch up with us 🙂

Our passage treated us to light winds, favorable seas, and sunny skies. Sugar Shack sailed along happily, the weather cooperated, and Mother Nature seemed to have decided we’d earned a little kindness.

We happily repaid her kindness with some Citizens of the Sea Sampling three times a day, every day.

Ideal Conditions

Now, those of you who follow our adventures know that I’m not exactly the poster child for enjoying a rolling ocean. I get seriously seasick, so a passage with gentle conditions and sunshine is about as close to sailing paradise as I can get. No dramatic waves, no wrestling with the elements, and—best of all—far less time negotiating with my stomach!

Of course, even an easy passage requires watchkeeping, navigation, and keeping an eye on the weather. But when the seas are friendly and the skies are blue, it’s a whole lot easier to appreciate the magic of life at sea.

Navigating at night always keeps us on high alert.

And just like that, our New Caledonian adventure gave way to the familiar comforts of New Zealand. We arrived grateful for a safe, pleasant passage and reminded once again that sometimes the best sailing stories are the ones where the ocean lets you enjoy the ride.

Matt hoisting the yellow quarantine flag.

Matt and I sailed from New Caledonia to New Zealand in 5.5 days with an average boat speed of 6.4kts.  We crossed the Pacific Ocean in early October 2026.

Out blog posts typically run 6-8 weeks behind live events.  However, I inserted this into our schedule so you know where we are now.

Our blog posts will continue in New Caledonia – but rest assured, we are in New Zealand.

Another beautiful Sunset

Traversing the Pacific to Galapagos

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Now…catch up on previous events.  We hope you have enjoyed our live blogs.  This blog is from November 2018.

Matt and I so desperately wanted to leave Costa Rica.  Not because it was a bad place to visit, but because we wanted to get out of the rainy / lightning zone and because we had been there 5.5 months longer than originally planned.  Once we ensured all of our new equipment was in working order, we set our goal for traversing the pacific.

First, we had to clear out of Costa Rica and that entailed a 160-mile sail from Quepos to Golfito.  We considered doing the journey in one trip, overnight, but considering we did not have our “sea legs” just yet, we broke it up into 2.5 days.  After a 2 day stop in Golfito, we did a light provision and began our journey across the pacific.

The plan was to head for the Galapagos and if the wind took us toward Isla Cocos, we would make a “random” stop.  The schedule was estimated at a 6-7 day sail to Galapagos, with an additional 2-3 days added if we stopped at Isla Cocos.  Matt and I took 3 hour shifts (meaning 3 hours on and 3 hours off) the entire way.  We motor sailed most of the trip because the winds were very light.

Matt was able to live blog during the first 3 days so I will not duplicate his efforts.  However, below, I did add some details that were left off the blog and I added updates on the last part of the trip.  Matt could not update the blog after the 3rd day as the SSB failed for some reason.

Overall map of our track:

Crossing: Costa Rica to Galapagos

Crossing: Costa Rica to Galapagos

TOTAL TRIP STATS:

  • 809nm – Miles Traveled
  • 11.0kt – Max Speed
  • 6.kt – Average Speed
  • 6-1kt – Wind Speed

Each 24 hour period breakdown is below along with some additional highlights that missed the “live blogs.”

24 HOURS

  • 147nm – Miles Traveled
  • 9.5kt – Max Speed
  • 6.1kt – Average Speed
  • 6-8kt – Wind Speed
  • 562.27 – Distance to Destination

We had a beautiful brown footed boobie land our boat and traverse the pacific (or at least part of it) with us.  Not sure why they call this a “brown” foot boobie when his feet were clearly yellow, but they do.

Brown Foot Boobie

Brown Foot Boobie

We also had a gorgeous sunset to start the night voyage.

Sunset Traversing the Pacific

Sunset Traversing the Pacific

48 HOURS

  • 296nm – Miles Traveled
  • 9.9kt – Max Speed
  • 6.2kt – Average Speed
  • 6-2kt – Wind Speed
  • 465.95 – Distance to Destination

A couple of hitchhikers made their way onto Sugar Shack.  At first it was entertaining as we watched them prune and play with each other.  But then, we watched them barf and poop all over the boat which was disgusting.  So we did our best to keep them away,