New Zealand Bound Across The Tasman Sea

New Zealand Bound Across The Tasman Sea

We finally kept our date with Allanah our friendly customs official and cleared out of Eden at 9am on the 11^th April. There would be no going back from here unless we went through the hassles of re entry quarantine inspections etc on the boat so we were ready to go at last. A sense of anticipation for the long trip and anxieties over what the weather had in store but on the whole we were happy to leave the Eden wharf and crumbling fishing boats behind. The sky was blue, with patches of white cloud and winds of 18 to 20 knots, sails were set for a broad reach across the Tasman Sea.

At 10nm out from Eden the sky started to look grey, seas became larger and the wind strength increased. This was not as predicted by BOM or the software routing program Predict Wind, I guess it must be that 40% larger, stronger or higher stated at the beginning of every forecast. By 5pm we had seriously foreboding skies, 5m seas at least and winds gusting up to 33knots!! I thought we had made enough offerings to the wind Gods but may be not. I hoped it wasn’t going to be like this for 6 plus days. Helming in the dark was akin to taking a very long Wet and Wild ride with white water in all directions or skiing in a white out and only your feet feeling the motion under you. By this stage we had 2 reefs in the main and a postage stamp up for a head sail and we were still making 9 knots across the water!

 In the distance there was a sense of hope for a weather change. The last sighting of Australia showed sunlight through a slit in a darkening night sky and with the knowledge that this was heading our way; it helped to calm the apprehension on board as night darkness fell over the Tasman.

We altered our watch pattern with 2 persons on deck at all times with one resting for 2 hours. It was comforting to know you’re not on your own as white water appears to boil around the boat. As so often seems to happen with the progression of night the winds began to loose their strength and the seas calmed. Stars began to appear through the cloud and a bright golden moon shown on the water, the Southern Cross stood out from the rest on a bright lit night. By morning we had a ‘balmy’ 15 to 20 knots from the starboard quarter which allowed us to pole out the headsail and begin to enjoy the experience. We covered 170nm in our first 24 hours the benefit of such a wild ride.