Still weatherbound

Hi

Well, we were intending to leave today; we turned the dinghy over and lashed it down and otherwise prepared the boat - advised Customs, etc. However, there is a gale warning in force for the Brett forecast area at the moment, and also after careful analysis of the weather maps it seems that there is a deepening low just to our east which is holding the large high over Australia in a stationary position. The result of that is that the isobars between the two systems get very much squashed together which means very strong winds - 30-40 knots mid week by our estimation. This area of wind extends well north and, although in the right direction, would make for a very cold, bumpy and unpleasant passage with 5-6 metre swells. However, later in the week the high is only just starting to move as the low finally weakens and moves away and conditions look much more benign. A fishing charter skipper we talked to yesterday reckons we are making a sensible call and he also said something we have long felt - that NZ is a very difficult country to leave from. So, here we still are and we would far rather make a good fist of leaving than than go out feeling pressured for any reason simply to go. For those interested enough you could have a look at the website we use for most of our weather forecasting which is www.metvuw.co.nz They show weather maps 7 days out for all sorts of areas including the SW Pacific which is our area of special interest. We also look at GRIB files which we obtain through Sailmail. With these we specify the area we want by lat/long co-ordinates. These come through as weather maps on the laptop and will be our main source of weather information when at sea. These can also be specified to cover several days into the future.

This morning we said goodbye to a Swedish couple, Laila and Claes-Olof Kall who have a 42' Halberg-Rassy called "Comedie". They have decided to go and we hope to see them either in New Cal or Vanuatu. They very kindly asked us to drinks on board the other night. Their English is fluent which you certainly couldn't say about our Swedish!! As near neighbours we have a young English couple, Andy and Riann who have sailed direct to NZ on their ferro sloop "Zephyrus" from Ushuaia, Argentina! Andy is a mountaineer and has also been crewing on a youth sail training vessel out of Opua called "R. Tucker Thompson". Apparently they have to have an early morning swim every day, even at this time of the year! Apart from that there is still the usual international collection - Canadians, Dutch, etc.

Well, hopefully the next time you read a blog from us it will be confirmation of our departure.  We can't wait to head north on 331 degrees true - a distance of 890 nautical miles.

Cheers until then................