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New Zealand Sailing

The Nina goes missing

‘He’s living my dream’ I thought, after briefly meeting David Dyche, owner of Nina shortly after we had motored 10nm, from a coastal marina, all the way up the river and into the Whangarei Town Centre for lunch in January 2012, with friends.

I got talking with David and he explained he was sailing around the world with his wife and three sons and they had just won the annual Bay of Islands Regatta the week before. Nina was 85 years old and had been designed by an Americas Cup winning designer in 1928. She entered and won a New York to Spain race followed by winning the Fastnet Race a month later. In 2012 she was clearly still fast for her age.

David Dyche, owner and skipper of ‘Nina’ doing some maintenance, while berthed at the Whangarei Town Centre in Northland in January 2012

Nina was 70 foot long and I could tell from talking to David Dyche that he was an experienced sea captain. We headed off down the river after lunch and I did not think much more about the Nina until reading the headlines in the New Zealand Herald 18 months later when the Nina was several days overdue from a trip from New Zealand across the Tasman to Newcastle, Australia. I followed the story for the next few weeks, hoping that a miracle would occur and they would be found safely somewhere in the Tasman Sea.

The disappearance of the Nina launched New Zealand’s biggest maritime search ever, with no success. The crew of the Nina had departed the Bay of Islands at the end of May 2013 and headed out into the Tasman Sea at the worst time of the year. Its wet, windy and cold and storms roll up the Tasman, one after another from June to August each year.

An old, heavy 70 foot long wooden schooner is a handful at the best of times. Add cold, wet, fatigued crew, eight metre swells and winds gusting 65 knots to the mix and its a recipe for disaster. Sadly they disappeared after a final text message said “storm sails shredded last night, now bare poles”.

Some months later I read an article claiming the Nina had not been out of water for three years and was showing signs of deterioration while berthed in New Zealand. David Dyche had originally planned to leave in February 2013, but was delayed until May with engine issues. Eventually they departed for Australia three months later than planned and headed straight into a bad storm.

By October 2013, hope for the Nina’s safety re-emerged after a USA based search group claimed to have seen a satellite image of a vessel the shape of the Nina drifting west of Norfolk Island. I contacted the search group and explained we might head close to the search location on our pending Trans-Tasman trip and they asked me to keep a lookout on radar and visually for the Nina and to send a copy of our latitude and longitude daily logs after arrival in Australia, to confirm the area we had sailed through.

It was a long shot and given the horizon that we could see was only 4-5 nm away and we went six days in a row without seeing a single boat. When you consider the Tasman is 1,100 nm wide, its easy to sail right on past a distressed yacht thats sitting just over the horizon out of sight. Its still hard to believe they were a happy cruising family one day and gone without a trace the next.

Nina tied up at the wharf in the Whangarei Town Basin

This was all happening in the media in the 2-4 months before I was due to head to Auckland to complete final preparations for Ocean Gem’s voyage across the Tasman Sea. As the weeks passed and there was no good news, I became increasing anxious about what might go wrong crossing the Tasman and would lay in bed at night for hours visualising different disaster scenarios and what I would do to overcome them.

What if we lost someone overboard at night in big seas? What if we hit a submerged log or container and started sinking? What if the mast came down and then punched a hole in the side of the hull before we could cut it free? What if the keel broke off and we rolled upside down at night in the dark and I was in my bunk? What if I had a lifejacket on in an upside down hull and I could not get out in the dark? How would we get the liferaft out? What if the seas were six metres and wind 50 knots? What if, what if what if!

What hope did we really have of getting the crew out of an upside down hull, in the dark, in a big sea and launching a liferaft without the wind blowing it away, and all climbing into it before we drift off into the night in different directions, only to die from hypothermia before a ship could steam for two days in our direction to rescue us.

For about a month I had grave fears that something bad would happen to us and I contemplated just paying a delivery skipper to do the job for me. But I was committed to the voyage, it was the adventure of a lifetime for my Dad. Chris Evans (a crew member) was excited too and we would talk endlessly about preparation plans and there was just no turning back. I realised that if I could not brave this trip, I would probably never have the courage to sail across open oceans and I might as well kiss goodbye to my dreams of sailing around the world.

So I doubled my efforts to prepare for every possible scenario. I planned for repairing holes, broken windows, the capacity to pump hundreds of litres of seawater out of a sinking hull, finding crew overboard in the dark and the ability to ride out a powerful storm and even a cyclone. I spent hours reading research on storm survival and discovered an endless list of failed attempts by yachts in storms to deploy parasail anchors and drogues.

The graduation from sails to storm sails to bare poles to sea anchors and drogues as the weather deteriorates is a science that is not exactly perfect. If you screw it up, you lose equipment, injure crew and may watch your storm survival device shred or disappear overboard if you deploy it incorrectly.

Ocean Gem berthed at Whangarei Town Basin in January 2012, just along from where the Nina was tied up

The more I read and researched parasails and drogues, the more I eliminated every device on the market. Traditionally designed drogues have a single rope a couple of hundred metres long, that stretches initially, until the drogue bites in, with the sudden drag causing the drogue (hand brake) to leap out of the water, with the end result being an out of control yacht racing at pace, down the face of the large wave before hitting the trough and pitch poling (cartwheeling) or, broaching and then rolling 180-360 degrees and snapping off the mast on the way through.

I read one story after another of yachts whose best laid storm plans left to catastrophic failure, loss of yachts and loss of lives. The research led me to the Jordan Series Drogue. It was designed and tested using engineering data from the fatal 1979 Fastnet Race. Rather than a long rope trailed behind the yacht with a large drogue (sea brake) on the end, the Jordan Series Drogue has 150 individual small parachute like cups spread along the 150+ metre rope, acting as a sea brake and reducing a yachts speed when running before a storm by up to 75%.

I read of more than 119 yachts that had all used the drogue successfully in storms across the globe with only three yachts lost and no loss of lives. Once I understood why traditional drogues fail and how the Jordan Series Drogue worked differently, I realised this would give me the confidence that was missing should I end up in a bad storm.

The drogue costs about US$2,400 and is custom made in the USA to match each yachts specifications. It also requires very strong cleats and winches (able to carry 70% of the yachts total weight).

Its so successful at slowing the yacht in a storm that it places massive loading on the attachment points on the stern of the yacht. When I ordered my Jordan Series Drogue, I contacted the boat builder in Auckland that was working on Ocean Gem and sent him the specs that needed checking, so that my stern cleats could handle the load of the drogue.

I was quite surprised by their casual response; “she’ll be right”, “we have never heard of the Jordan Series drogue”, “you will never need it anyway” and “don’t know anyone who has ever used a drogue”.

I thought, yep easy for you when you are safely tucked in your bed while I am in the ocean in the middle of a storm. If The Nina had had a Jordan Series drogue onboard and deployed it, I am in no doubt they would have had a lot more options, more control of their yacht and may have been alive today as well. As I don’t really know what happened to them other than ending up bare-poled in a storm, I can’t say for sure they would have survived, but its all about stacking more odds in your favour rather than against you.

The Nina captured on camera under full sail in Bermuda in 1957

Reading the story of the Nina made me prepare for the absolute worst. I realised that when you are hundreds of miles from the nearest coast, no one can easily save you. You are out of helicopter range, ships can be days away and even if they are nearby, there is huge risk of getting injured or killed climbing up the side of a commercial ship in big seas.

The fatal 1998 Sydney to Hobart race reinforced why getting into a liferaft is an absolute last resort. They can tear, get holes, come apart, flip upside down and eventually if you are out there long enough, will attract sharks.

The goal of any sailor is to keep the hull intact and right way up. No matter what happens, its always the best option to stay with the boat as long as its afloat. Our ability to manage Ocean Gem through a severe storm that could last days was critical to our survival. We could not afford to under prepare and my list and budget just kept growing.

This illustrates how a yacht using a Jordan Series Drogue runs before the sea under control, doing 1-3 knots boat speed while the swell and breaking seas pass underneath at 10-12 knots. Its easier on the yacht and the crew can rest until the storm passes. A yacht running with bare poles before a following sea, will accelerate and surf down the face of the wave, at high risk of losing control and cart wheeling, or broaching and rolling 180-360 degrees in the trough with devastating consequences. A drogue that is not designed to do the job will cause the same outcome.

This content is from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.

Planning a Trans-Tasman July 2013

There’s a saying in business, that “if you are the smartest guy on the team, the teams got a problem”.

After reading as many books as I could find on sailing disasters, sinkings, storms, tales of survival and the sailors that have perished at sea, I decided that if I was to sail the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, I did not want my survival in an emergency to rely on someone else’s knowledge and experience.

In business I have seen lots of job applicants exaggerate wildly about their skills and experience; in fact its more common that not. When you are sailing across 1,200nm of ocean and things go wrong, you need capable people who know what to do. If my yacht ends up dismasted in a violent storm or upside down with no keel in the middle of the night, seconds are the difference between surviving or disappearing 3000m down into the murky depths and its no good blaming someone else if it all turns to custard.

When it came to training I researched the things the round the world sailors do to prepare themselves for weeks of isolation at sea and preparation for all of the things that can go wrong. I found a company called Southern Cross Yachting that ran courses under license from RYA (Royal Yachting Association) in the UK.

‘Oceans’ the Sydney 41 owned by Southern Cross Yachting that I completed my 630NM offshore training course on from Airlie Beach to Brisbane

From the lessons learned in the fatal 1979 Fastnet and 1998 Sydney to Hobart races, the standard of training and preparation of sailors for offshore passages and adventures has improved significantly.

I researched all of the recommended courses for offshore sailing and decided to complete all of them from July to October 2013. They included;

  • A 6-day 630NM offshore sailing course.
  • Advanced first aid.
  • Radar operations.
  • Sea safety and survival.
  • Diesel engine maintenance.
  • Marine radio operation VHF/HF.

The 12 days of practical and classroom training and exams was a real brain drain. When you have a clear goal in mind, thats just weeks from commencement, its easy to stay focused on the task at hand.

Sailing down the Queensland coast on Oceans. Instructor Steve in the blue shirt

The offshore sailing trip from Airlie Beach to Brisbane was a long one. Although we completed it in six days, Oceans was an out and out racing boat. There was no bimini or dodger to protect us from sun or rain and no chart plotter or auto pilot. Oceans required sailing 24/7 and constant navigation to ensure we knew where we were so as to avoid running aground or into reefs. There are plenty of places on the Queensland coast to get yourself into trouble.

By day two of the trip down the coast, I was dehydrated, tired and had a headache behind the eyeballs. I quickly figured that if I sat in 30 degree heat with no shade all day, did not drink enough water and then spent 3 hours on watch and 3 hours in bed at night, that I was getting fatigued really fast.

First aid training required the use of chicken breasts to practice injecting morphine and stitching up an open wound. It also covered burns, poisons, broken bones and CPR.

My crew bunk was only just big enough to wriggle into

This was great training for the Trans-Tasman, where we would have four crew working around the clock in far more challenging conditions. Managing the health, sleep and wellbeing of my crew would be critical to a safe passage and for avoiding injuries.

The Southern Cross Yachting instructor Steve, was a real character and he told many colourful tales of his life at sea including his time in the merchant navy. Steve was a walking encyclopedia of nautical terms and maritime law and I suspected he had done the 630NM trip one too many times. He was very casual and constantly reminded us that “gentlemen I want VMG” (optimal speed towards destination).

That meant doing everything we could to keep Oceans moving fast including motoring when the breeze dropped away. Again this would resonate with me on the Trans-Tasman, where I was determined to average 7 knots to get us safely across the ditch in a timely manner, even if that meant motor-sailing to keep up our boat speed. When storms roll through the Tasman every few days, completing the trip in eight days instead of ten can make all the difference between hitting one storm or hitting two.

When I first met Steve on the diesel engine maintenance course, I thought he was Scottish. I soon found out he was a Kiwi from Glen Eden of all places (I have lived there) and had lived in Australia for most of his adult life. He had a well rehearsed Billy Connelly accent and he lightened many of our moments aboard with his comedy.

Leaving the marina at Yeppoon as we head south toward Brisbane

Toward the end of the trip we were tied up at the wharf at Bribie Island late evening and relaxing in the cockpit when he pulled out his iPad and starting playing some Split Enz music. Next minute he’s telling us a tale about playing in a band in a New Zealand pub in the 1970‘s and a guy walks up to him and says “we are on next, can I borrow your guitar as mine is broken?”. Steve says “of course mate”. He realised later the guy was Neil Finn of the new group Split Enz.

While sailing down the Australian Coast was spectacular in many ways, the hundred or more commercial ships we passed by day and night was a chilling reminder of how much traffic there is using shipping lanes and how tiny a 40 something foot yacht really is, if it was to collide with one of these monsters.

After spending the past two years reading stories of yachts that have disappeared without a trace and those that collided with ships and sunk in a matter of seconds, killing most of the occupants, it really made me think long and hard about the steps we could take to avoid coming into close contact with what is probably the biggest risk at sea. You can set your sails and configure your yacht for almost all conditions, but nothing will save you if you collide with a big ship, especially if it happens at night.

Oceans was also the sister boat to ‘Midnight Special’, famous for losing a large section of its cabin top in the fatal 1998 Sydney to Hobart race after having a large wave break on top of the boat. With a one metre long hole in the top of the cabin, the crew did their best to block it with sails and sleeping bags before succumbing to hypothermia and being winched to safety by helicopter.

Despite abandoning Midnight Special in the middle of the storm, it was eventually found still floating a few days later when the storm had passed and was salvaged and restored and is still racing today. Its a real lesson in the age old advice of not abandoning a damaged yacht for a life raft if its not in danger of sinking. These early lessons would serve me well, I would prepare marine ply, pre-cut patches for the windows and hatches in case of damage from breaking seas before departing Auckland. I set up a tool kit that included drills, saws, bolts, glues and other items that would enable me to chop up bed boards and attach them to the hull or cabin top to effect temporary repairs. If you can stay afloat and keep all water out, then regardless of any damage to mast, sails, rudder or super structure, you have a high chance of survival.

The instructor on my sea safety and survival course was a salty old sea dog called Gerald (Gerry) Geraldson. Gerry was an excellent instructor, having sailed most of the worlds oceans including sailing to the poles on vessels of all shapes and sizes. Gerry had advised the police and navy on various special projects and had been on a 60 foot yacht during the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race. Early in the race they had received weather advice from their weather advisor Roger Badham, that the ‘mother of all storms’ was about to hit Bass Strait and that the media weather forecasters had under estimated the full force that lie ahead. Roger advised them to withdraw from the race immediately and head for safety, or they would risk passing the point of no return and lose the option to turn back to safe port.

Life aboard Oceans, the 41 foot offshore training yacht was reasonably hot and cramped for 7 guys

Gerry said it was a tough decision for the crew, given the build up and desire they had for completing the race. As a crew they voted and agreed to withdraw and headed safely to Newcastle, where they sat stunned in the local pub and watched the loss of lives and yachts unfold on TV in front of their eyes.

Chilling tales of near disaster just kept reinforcing to me the importance of managing the yacht and the weather and getting the crew safely across the Tasman Sea. These lessons would serve me well with the trip planning and the extra patience we needed in the final days before departure, to wait until the weather window was right.

One of the big lessons of the sea safety and survival course was spending three hours fully clothed in an olympic sized swimming pool. The first few minutes in the water was spent without a lifejacket on. What a shock, to suddenly weigh 20kg more due to the weight of my wet clothes and realise after three minutes of treading water I was going to drown without assistance.

We saw more than one hundred ships as we sailed down the coast

So much for sailing on nice fine days with the family, in one metre swells and not wearing life jackets. Whats the chance of sailing downwind with a gennaker up and taking more than three minutes to get the sails down and find my way back to the spot where I lost someone overboard? Quite high I imagine. Its changed my attitude to when crew should don life jackets, I am a lot more cautious now.

Back ups for backups

From August to early October 2013, I was busy doing training courses, sitting exams and in between times, adding to my growing list of things to do, things to buy, training to complete and all sorts of other preparation and planning. Every time I read another handbook or tale of the high seas, I found new ways my trip could end in disaster and new spare parts, tools or equipment I could purchase to add to my many contingency plans.

The cost of preparation just kept rising and Ocean Gem was going to sit steadily lower in the water as I added more and more weight. By the time the 18th October 2013 rolled around, it was time at last to head to Auckland. I had finished work the day before with no fanfare. It did not seem that sailing the Tasman was anything significant and most of my employees treated it like I was going on just another 2 week holiday.

I figured that maybe its just one of those awkward times when people assume you are going to succeed, but are well aware of the dangers of perishing along the way and they just want to avoid the “hope you make it” type comments.

I had purchased a lot of tools and equipment from Australia and online from overseas and had figured it was easier to pay the extra for baggage and have all I needed with me than try and ship it to Auckland to be stored in various friends garages beforehand.

So I packed my bags and boxes and loaded a total 92kg of gear into my car for the drive to Brisbane airport. This was one of those moments in your life you dread, its just not easy saying goodbye to your family when you know there is a small chance that its the last time you will see each other.

Curbside airport drop offs really help keep it short and sweet. The long goodbyes inside airports can make it a lot harder for everyone. I got to the Virgin check in counter and the checkin lady was looking around for my traveling companion, due in part to my two trolleys of luggage. When she asked about the contents, I proudly explained the luggage was all mine and I was going to sail my yacht back across the Tasman. I was really going to do it, four years after planning to buy a cruising yacht and two years since I had started planning the trip, it was finally happening and there was no turning back.

My luggage at the check in counter at Brisbane Airport. Every item was packed to the 23kg limit exactly

Little did I know about the unforeseen challenges that lay ahead over the next two weeks as I relaxed in the Koru Club lounge with a glass of champagne, to toast my sailing adventure.

I landed in Auckland around midnight and got to my nearby motor lodge by 1:30am. I had to be at the boat builders yard at 7am on the Saturday morning to meet the safety certificate inspector. I decided the risk of leaving my gear in the rental car in full view was too great, so I carried it one item at a time up two flights of stairs to my unit before collapsing into bed for a brief four hours sleep.

This content is from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.


It’s hard finding the perfect boat

My love affair with cruising began in the summer of 1986/87. My friends dad owned a Lidgard 42 called Renown and I was invited to spend an endless 5 weeks of summer with his family, cruising the Marlborough Sounds, Tasman Bay and Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island.

As a 16 year old, this introduction to sailing gave me an incredible taste of the endless possibilities for fun and adventure when you had your own yacht. I dreamed from that day forwards of one day buying my own yacht, to go cruising with my family, and continue the adventure, I had tasted only briefly that summer of 1986/87.

It was the summer of 1986/87 that I spent on ‘Renown’ that Michael Fay also became a household name, when he funded New Zealand’s first challenge for the America’s Cup in Fremantle, Perth, Australia.

It’s funny how life is full of paths that cross by chance and the one-in-a-million coincidences that occur. It was the 1st of January 2012 and we were on our first summer cruising holiday on our yacht Ocean Gem 25 years later. We were anchoring at Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island, when I looked across the water and saw a yacht named ‘Renown’ tied up at the fuel dock.

Renown anchored at Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island

Surely this could not be the same yacht that led to my cruising obsession some 25 years earlier and more than 400nm south of where we now were. I approached the crew of the boat and shared my “Renown” teenage, 5-week summer cruising story and it was indeed the same yacht. The current owners had restored her to her former glory, rescuing Renown from seven years of neglect, on a mooring on Auckland Harbour. They said they had spent a lot of time and money on her restoration. I helped them fill in some of the gaps from Renown’s earlier life, as I knew she was built for the Fong family in Blenheim thatI had sailed with in 1986/87.

It was one of those days, when you take a chance and meet someone interesting. I assumed it to be a lucky sign that symbolised many safe and happy years of sailing ahead for me and my family on Ocean Gem, as we were starting our journey together on the water, 25 years after my first cruising experience.

Before we purchased our 1992 Beneteau 44.5 in March 2011, I had read every possible book on how to find the perfect yacht. With so many choices and so many things to consider, what helped me most was reading the tales of round the world cruisers and visiting several boat shows.

I had narrowed my choice down to a ‘40 something’ foot Beneteau, given it’s popularity with cruisers and its history as the number one production boat competing in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) and the Sydney to Hobart races each year. Its a yacht thats easy to sail short handed, its forgiving for novice families, roomy and easier to maintain than a wooden yacht.

Ocean Gem was the only yacht for sale that we actually looked at. It had spent its first seven years from new as a charter boat in the Bay of Islands before the current owners John and Kerry Peterson had bought and sailed her for the next 12 years. They had cruised coastal New Zealand, before doing some upgrade work in 2007 and then spending 6 months cruising the Pacific Islands.

Anchored in Mansion House Bay, Kawau Island, Hauraki Gulf on our first weekend away on Ocean Gem.

John was an Air New Zealand 747 captain. I learned within an hour of meeting John, that the quality of the yacht is a direct reflection of its owner. John went to great lengths to talk about his spare parts and maintenance programme. His knowledge of his yacht was passionate and detailed and as I started making pages of notes, I realised owning a yacht requires you to be a capable plumber, electrician, builder and all-round fix it guy – most of which I was not.

Ocean Gem was in great condition for 19 years old and priced at 60% less than the cost of buying new. I figured that if the engine, hull, rig, sails and systems were in good shape, she had to be value for money, so we purchased Ocean Gem in April 2011 and my love affair began.

A comfy saloon when anchored in wet weather

A spacious galley makes cruising enjoyable

My first introduction to anti-fouling in March 2013

This content is from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.

New Zealand Cruising

We purchased Ocean Gem while living in New Zealand temporarily for seven months, before returning to our home in Australia in July 2011. My dream of sailing Ocean Gem across the Tasman in late 2011, took a further two years of planning, training and funding to become a reality.

With Ocean Gem berthed at Gulf Harbour, we had the perfect excuse to escape the Gold Coast in Queensland and head to New Zealand for sailing weekends and holidays throughout 2011-2013. The big highlights were our ability to spend 10 weeks during two summers cruising and exploring to the top half of New Zealand’s North Island.

Our first summer took us from Gulf Harbour, Whangaparaoa to Coromandel, Great Mercury Island, Slipper Island, and Tauranga before heading to Great Barrier Island, Tutukaka, the Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Kawau Island, Tiritiri Island and home.

Anchored at Te Kouma Harbour, Coromandel

My wife and three daughters went from first time sailors to capable crew members who could confidently help manage sailing, anchoring, berthing and a multitude of other nautical tasks.

As a family we enjoyed days of exploring new islands, bays and harbours, reading, swimming and in the evenings, playing cards and drinking hot chocolate.

This was my baptism of fire with repairs and maintenance. I had problems with an anchor windlass that would stop when the anchor was part way up or down. Its amazing how exposed you feel 50 miles offshore at an island, when you can’t anchor a ten ton yacht.

Exploring Great Mercury Island

We also had an alternator that blew a fuse and stopped charging all the house batteries, a bilge pump failure just as one of our three water tanks leaked 260 litres into the bilge and a chart plotter that randomly blacked out a couple times for up to five hours. We had shower pump blockages, water pumps with air in the pipes and lots of strange noises in the night to get used to.

We also managed to run aground on an un-marked seaweed covered reef as we left an anchorage at Great Mercury Island and after five minutes of terrifying my family, managed to reverse off with no damage done.

Sunset in Parapara Bay, Great Mercury Island

The mechanical challenges (despite the frustration caused), taught me about the importance of knowing every part of the yacht, having all the tools needed on board along with plenty of spare parts and fuses for every scenario. Summer 2012/13 we spent eight weeks on holiday in New Zealand during December and January. We flew into Queenstown from Brisbane and then made our way by rental car to Auckland in time for Christmas with friends.

This summer of sailing was to be different to the last, as all three daughters had the chance to take turns bringing friends along for part of the 5 week trip. We had a mixture of friends, boyfriends and friends parents spend time with us and did some great cruising to Rangitoto, Waiheke Island, Devonport, Coromandel, Kawau Island, Mahurangi Harbour, Omaha Cove, Marsden Cove and our favourite from the year prior; Tutukaka, where the marina cafe makes amazing pizzas and banoffee pie. By far the best time we spent this summer was at Waiheke Island where you have the option to anchor on any side of the island, depending on the weather forecast.

Roberton Island, Bay of Islands where the snorkelling in three large rock pools is amazing

Waiheke Island has a population of 8,000 that swells to 30,000 over summer. The cafes, wineries and restaurants give you many civilised choices for eating and enjoying great coffee and its a magic combination when you can return to the sea at the end of a fantastic day ashore.

Our first 2011/12 summer adventure on Ocean Gem was over too fast and we could have carried on cruising for many weeks more if school and work were not beckoning. A second fantastic summer on Ocean Gem made it even harder to tie her up at the marina berth in Gulf Harbour and head back to Australia.

I told myself, next summer will be in Australia and I was determined to sail her across the Tasman in 2013 and relocate her to the Gold Coast in Queensland where I live and operate my business.

A 75 foot high archway at the Poor Knights Islands.

Anchored at a bay in Te Kouma Harbour, Coromandel. The water was crystal clear and very fresh.

One of my favourite places in New Zealand, Oneroa Bay, Waiheke Island

This content is from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.

Introduction – Sailing the Tasman Sea

In 2011 I met John Peterson. He was selling his 1992 Beneteau 44.5 after 12 years of ownership. I had spent the previous two years researching cruising yachts and had decided on a Beneteau, around the 45 foot mark. ‘Baami’ was Johns boat and he had her berthed at Gulf Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand and had been trying to sell her for 18 months.

John and his wife Kerry were headed to the Mediterranean the following month to take possession of their new 55 foot yacht, Lurata to commence what could turn into five years of northern hemisphere cruising.

I stepped aboard Baami and immediately fell in love. This 19 year old yacht had been well maintained and was in excellent condition and I sensed from John’s detailed description of each system and how it was operated and maintained, that John had been a loving and fastidious owner. Choosing a quality second hand boat is as much about the boat, as it is about the quality of owner you are purchasing it off. A poorly maintained yacht is a liability with a hundred problems waiting to unfold.

I decided to look no further and made the decision to purchase Baami immediately. I asked John where the name “Baami” was from. He said he thought it was French, but did not know what its meaning was. I Googled ‘Baami’ but found it did not appear to translate into anything meaningful.

Well before I discovered Baami, I had decided on a name for my first cruising yacht. I love the Ocean and my daughters names are Gabrielle, Eugenie and Madison, soOcean Gem was what Baami was renamed shortly after we purchased her. I believe ‘the good sailors get the good luck’, so did not get hung up on superstitions such as avoiding renaming a boat, not taking bananas on board and not leaving port for a long voyage on a Friday. So far so good.

This is my story about falling in love with cruising New Zealand waters on Ocean Gem, before planning, preparing and sailing across the Tasman Sea to the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia where I live today. This blog is a step by step story of my extensive preparation, plans and checklists that will help any blue water sailor safely prepare and cross any large and dangerous ocean.

The following chapters are all from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.

This content is from my iBook – Sailing The Tasman Sea by David Hows, available in the iTunes store for $5.99.  It includes; 206 Pages, 46,055 words, 232 photos and 11 videos.