Closing the loop

 We motored to the outer reef past Tavarua and Cloudbreak, for a final farewell in the grey and stormy conditions.

The forecast was for a rough first night, with wind in front of the beam, followed by a few days of reaching in more settled weather. A change of some sort was forecast coming through just as we approached the North Island. This change could have involved some nasty weather; so we thought it would be good to get into the passage a day earlier than the rest of the southbound Fiji cruisers and beat the queue at NZ immigration: there were at least 20 ready to go. 

As we exited the pass, the south east wind started to kick in. Evenstar began to plunge into the short period swells. Just as things started to get a bit woolly, Rob had a strike on the big reel. I slowed the boat in the rough conditions as he and Paul fought to land a good size skipjack on the pitching aft deck. After a tussle they got it on board and cleaned it up.

Night was falling, and the conditions were becoming borderline. I was keen to get everything shipshape and ready for what was going to be a challenging night’s sail. 

Unnoticed by me Rob put the line out again; he’s certainly an enthusiastic fellow…. Almost straight away there was another strike. Again he boys fought to land the fish on the rolling deck; only now it was a little darker, windier, and rougher. The aft deck activities, with no safety gear on, were looking decidedly unsafe. 

Not being a fish eater, I had to grit my teeth somewhat: one fish alone was probably already too much for the crew to eat. However, as night fell, the fish was landed, the deck clean, everything put away and a semblance of a shipshape vessel was achieved.

As the wind built towards 30 kts, we used the last of the light to furl both sails in, depowering the sail plan to about a second/third reef. Evenstar wasn't as fast as she could have been, but we were ready in case conditions deteriorated further. Despite the Hallberg Rassy offshore pedigree of Evenstar’s hull design, the motion was less than comfortable; everyone exhibited signs of seasickness. However, at no time did she feel out of control or overpowered. 

The wind was gusting solidly into the mid-30kt range overnight, but by dawn things had started to settle down a little; we let some sail out and got moving properly. 

We settled into the watch routine over the next few days as conditions continued to improve. Sleep, stand watch, eat, repeat. We ran 3 hours on at night, then 4 during the day. It meant there was always 9 hours off at night and the schedule revolved so everyone had a different watch each day.

On Thursday, conditions really picked up; with 20-25kts from just behind the beam, we were confident with most of the sail area out and we really started to move. We had a 197 mile day; so we pushed harder and on Friday, unrolled all the sails and clocked a noon to noon run of 202 miles: she’s certainly fast in the right conditions. Rob showed us his technique for having a swim whilst underway in a fast boat:

Things were cooling down fast. Out came the thermals and the fleeces. By Saturday it was obvious we were in southern climes. The wind continued to swing further behind the beam and ease. 

Sunday we started to motor as the change affected the wind speed, then on Monday we arrived. 

It had been a good passage with a challenging beginning, but it could have been a lot tougher. Nonetheless we were pretty stoked to sail into the Bay of Islands in the weak New Zealand spring sunshine, escorted by a large pod of big dolphins, and head for the Q-dock.  

The loop was finally closed on the season’s voyaging ; it was time to pack up and head back to the real world. There were a few things we could have done differently, and a few we would reprise in a heartbeat given half a chance.  We’d taken 6 months and sailed about 3,500nm through some of the most famous and remarkable cruising grounds in the world; a lifetime of learning, researching, planning and  imagination had come to pass. 

Thanks Easso for being a great co-captain and crewmate, and for helping make a dream reality.

With slightly misty eyes we said our goodbye to Evenstar; and headed for the bus.