I am still recovering from the sail from New Zealand to Australia. It was one of our longest passages and a challenging trip. The good news is we made it, and are now basking in the warm sun in Australia!
The Route from New Zealand to Australia
Our sail from New Zealand to Australia covered over 1200 nautical miles. We departed from Bay of Islands Marina in Opua, New Zealand aiming for Southport Yacht Club in Gold Coast, Australia.
Our route took us from the Pacific Ocean north up the east coast of New Zealand and then west along the north of New Zealand into the Tasman Sea to Australia. The Tasman Sea, known as “The Ditch” in sailing circles, is infamously rough due to the currents of the Southern Ocean colliding with those of the Pacific. So yes, we expected rough wind and waves and that’s what we got.
Rough Seas
From the first day until near the end of our passage, the waves were like a washing machine. Also known as confused seas, the waves came from every direction. To make it even more uncomfortable, there was no break between waves. The incessant confused waves made me sick a few times the first night and next morning, and I continued to feel sick for a couple more days. It wasn’t until late on the third day that I felt human enough to spend time inside the boat and to eat anything besides crackers.
Strong Winds
Not only was the sea state terrible, strong winds prevailed for most of our sail from New Zealand to Australia. This was mostly a good thing, because the terrible passage was at least shorter than we expected! For the majority of the trip, winds were on our side at 20 knots.
Our fifth day at sea was probably the toughest. I was over my seasickness, even managing to bake bread and cook meals, but we hit some bad weather. The winds ranged from high 20s to almost 40knots, and were nearly on the nose, so we had to keep adjusting our course to move in the right direction. We sailed through a few squalls over this 18-20 hour period, and no one got much sleep, but the rigging held, and we made it through the worst night unscathed. After that night, everything seemed easy, and the waves even subsided for a few hours.
Lots of Water
The squalls I mentioned, combined with huge splashing waves from the confused seas, dumped lots of water into Go. Yes, a couple of our portlights didn’t hold so well, and we are working to get those fixed now in Australia. Water flowed all over a bed in one of the sleeping berths, into the galley, and onto the salon floor. Nothing significant was destroyed, but we need to seal those portlights before we go back out to sea.
Funny Story
Rough seas and lots of water meant we all got a little salty. It’s par for the course when you live on a boat. But one of those incidents was memorable in its timing and hilarity. It happened the first day we all finally managed to shower because the weather had calmed enough. I took over the shift from Brian, and after he filled me in on our heading and recapped his shift, told him he could go sit and relax. Within minutes of him moving from the steering wheel to the cockpit settee, a huge wave came up and washed all over him, soaking him to the bone. It was like a slapstick routine! Poor Brian. We had to laugh. He got another fresh water shower later.
Power Problems
It’s approaching winter in this hemisphere, so we’re already getting a lot less solar than we did in Fiji. Pair that with squally cloudy conditions, and we needed to run our generator and/or engines on the passage. We had problems with the generator before we left New Zealand, with air getting in the line, which we fixed before the passage. However, once underway, a belt broke rendering the generator useless.
Also while underway, the starboard engine stopped charging the battery. With so much wind, we really didn’t need to run the engines besides power. Especially at night, we needed to power the autopilot and the running lights. One night, the power dropped down to 15%, which you could never do with AG batteries and why we wouldn’t buy a boat without lithium!
Positives of our Sail from New Zealand to Australia
One of the best things of the sail was it was fast. We averaged 6.5 knots over the whole trip, thanks to the strong winds. This meant we arrived in Australia two days earlier than we expected. It also meant we didn’t eat all the food we’d purchased, and got produce, meats, and rice confiscated by the Australian authorities when we docked. Better too much than too little.
We also had a great crew member on this passage, which made the tough times better. Our watches rotated every three hours, affording us six hour rest periods, which was enough to relax and get some real sleep. Aaron also helped with trouble-shooting when things broke, and was a great crew member for our sail from New Zealand to Australia.
Domino did really well on this sail. Unlike me, she held onto her lunch. I guess she’s more seasoned than I am after 5+ years. We popped her into her portable carrier in the salon, where she could watch us in the cockpit and when we came into the galley. She was comfortable and is currently soaking up the sunshine in Australia.
With such strong wind and waves, we were lucky the autopilot worked like a charm. Even a couple days without autopilot is bad.
The last days of the sail from New Zealand to Australia were perfect. The seas calmed, although after the storms anything seemed good to us! We had a full moon the last night guiding us in to the harbor and dock at the marina, glowing over the high rises of Gold Coast, welcoming us to beautiful Australia.
We Crossed The Ditch!
Another positive of the sail was the temperature gradually rose as we got further west. It’s not summer here, but it’s definitely not a New Zealand winter either. We’ve got some work to do on Go and then we’ll start exploring Australia. Can’t wait!
We are now in Australia and plan to stay for several months enjoying the East Coast. Please share your favorite things to see and do in Australia in the comments.
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