The passage we dreaded most...

...turned out to be a good one!

It's extremely rare to be able to be able to sail directly to a destination, so we expected to cover the 2300 miles in 21 or 22 days. We'd girded ourselves for the possibility of 25 days, and would have been thrilled to arrive in 20--but it only took us 18!

We weren't just being naysayers. Our anxiety about this passage was based on numerous accounts of rough voyages and gales at sea along this route. (Indeed, two vessels anchored in Raivavae when we arrived encountered exactly those conditions. They too left from Whangarei, but the trip took them 26 and 27 days.) It seems we made some good navigational decisions along the way, but we're well aware that we were simply exceptionally lucky.

The strongest winds we had were 45 knots but those were in gusts and squalls, not sustained for days--and they were from behind, so they were quite manageable. For several days we had 16-18' waves, but since they were from the stern, we didn't have to fight them.

Though we didn't get below 36 degrees south, we felt we got to experience some aspects of the Southern Ocean. Seabirds were magnificent, particularly the majestic albatross. Southwest swells, unimpeded by any land mass, were grand. Our norms changed; "large swells" and "strong squalls" now mean something much bigger than they did prior to this journey. That said, no conditions were stronger than we could handle comfortably. It felt like we reached another level of voyaging, ever more at ease on the ocean.

Scenery was limited to the boat, each other, and endless variations of water and sky. (Fortunately, we don't get tired of any of those.)

A few glimpses for you:

Bundled up

Not so bundled up
(though still in snazzy long underwear)

Benign waves

Not so benign waves
(sorry, no photos of the largest ones)

400 miles from New Zealand, a tiny bird appeared in the cockpit.
It didn't eat any tidbits we left out, but it did drink water Art offered.

It left, then returned a few hours later--with two companions!
The pull of home must have been too great,
because they rested a while then flew away.
Sadly, we doubt the little birds could have made it back that far
with 35 knot winds and heavy rain arriving shortly afterward.

Night watch

At one point along our route we turned from an easterly heading to a northerly one--and realized that for the next year, our primary sailing direction will be to the north. Heading home...