Tuesday 20 July 2021
25 miles north of The Three Kings Islands
The official proceedings yesterday at the NZ Customs Office in Opua were friendly, yet professional. We each presented our passports, filled out our respective departure forms, there was the “Vessel Master’s” declaration and the Ship’s Registration document to sight, along with the yellow Temporary Import Exemption form I received in February last year (in Picton) on arrival … in return we received our “Certificate of Clearance”, duly stamped “New Zealand Customs Service, 19 JUL 2021, Opua”
This, most important of forms – which will be the first the Australian authorities will ask for on arrival – goes on to say that “Robert Latimer …being the person in charge of the above named craft has complied with the provisions of section 37 of the Customs and Excise Act 2018, and is hereby granted this Certificate of Clearance from New Zealand” … cool!
In the notes below there are two small points, the first explains …”you are required to depart immediately for your next overseas port as specified in the certificate (that being Westernport VIC). You are not to go to any other place in New Zealand. Every person who commits an offence against this requirement is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding $15,000”
Leaving the customs office, we all then headed to the marina café for a final celebratory coffee – which might have turned out to be a very expensive indulgence if … “any other place in New Zealand” … was to be taken literally – before stepping aboard and heading on our way.
Given there were only 5 hours of sunlight left in the day, and my initial plan was to “ease everyone into the voyage”, there was a thought we might anchor in a sheltered bay up the coast around 5:00pm, then head out to sea seriously the next morning. As things turned out, a combination of favourable sailing conditions, and the reminder at the desk back in Opua that we must proceed on our way and not stop, or anchor anywhere, meant that we set our course for Australia immediately upon clearing the Heads.
It was great to see Linda there on the Paihia wharf to wave us on our way. If all has gone to plan, then Linda will be home in Melbourne by now!! Her flight from Keriekeri to Auckland left around 6:00am this morning (requiring a 4:30am taxi pickup from her motel) and despite the current lockdown situation in Melbourne, at last report her Air New Zealand flight home was still running as scheduled.
Once I crank up the IridiumGo satphone device, later today, I’m sure there’ll be news from home to report.
Linda returning safely home, and Chimere (finally) under sail and heading the same way, certainly marks the end … or at least the beginning of the end, of our “4 month” New Zealand holiday, that started in January 2020. It’s certainly packed more than we could ever have imagined!!
Sailing through the night – our first night at sea – has really turned out to be the best thing. We’ve just clocked over our first 24 hours, a run of around 140 miles – roughly 6 knots average speed. The wind was steady from the south west at around 15-20 knots and although the sea was a bit lumpy, very little came on deck; always a good thing. The moon glistened on the sails and the sea early on, then once it sank below the horizon in shades of yellow and orange in the early hours, phosphorescent beads of light illuminated our spray and wake.
Harm prepared a very tasty vegetable noodle sauce “ensemble” dish in the big pot, last night, which made a microwaved-reheated-lunch-reappearance for some, and another form of reappearance for others, but that’s to be expected on the first day … even Captain Cook and Lord Nelson suffered the same … we just don’t talk about it … sorry, just broke that rule.
Despite the beauty of night-sailing, there’s something very special about sunrise. The promise of a new day and a closed door on the darkness of the night. Unusual noises, creaks and the sound of flapping aboard, seem to present less of an immediate threat when illuminated by the light of the day.
And as the sun rose on our first day out on the “serious” water together, we were past North Cape, making good time on the course Matt had set for us.
Early on in the evening – last night – Matt was considering a tack into the shore, before again proceeding north. But in the end we kept way out, maybe 20 or more miles out at one point, where we benefitted from the stronger wind. And as it turned out, we were progressively able to adjust our course, curving off in a more north west direction – our preferred course – as time went by
It’s now approaching sunset number two at sea, and we are about 25 miles north of the Three Kings Islands. The wind has moved around to the north west, enabling us to set a comfortable south-west-ish course – roughly in the direction of Hobart. The wind has died off to around 12 knots and with lumpy seas still, we have the engine quietly ticking over in the background, giving us a handy speed over 7 knots most of the time.
We are due to download another weather forecast soon, which will help us decide any likely course changes and whether we feel confident leaving all sails up through the night.
Right now, there’s a bit of sleeping going on, with Sam in charge in the cockpit. We are defrosting some frozen chicken because Harm – head of the Chimere Catering Sub-committee – proposed a Chicken Korma and rice dish, with matching white wine – no, I made that bit up about the wine – which we ae all looking forward to!
Smooth seas, fair breeze and a dream start
Rob Latimer
PS Just received a satphone text … Linda arrived home safely!
NZ2020 