November 16

Ok, Fiji to New Zealand was the most grueling passage I have ever experienced. After being lulled into thinking everything was going fine – on day 5 we hit the lousiest weather. Huge waves, wind on our nose, cold temperatures… should I go on. Oh yeah Jonah and I both lost our sea legs instantly and were very ill. I could not move without throwing up for three days… yikes. I was so scared the waves were so huge.  Things broke – not due to the weather but gremlins.  

We came into Opua in New Zealand at night, it was a well marked entry but night entries are tense nevertheless. Our auto pilot which has worked flawlessly since the day the boat went in the water died several miles from the marina. Thank god it didn’t die when we were out at sea since our windvane was broken it would have meant hand steering for days!  

We fell exhausted into bed and woke at 8:30 and moved the boat to the Customs dock. They were nice and efficient. All our vegetables were removed and other items were inquired about and were handed over – open milk powder, eggs, cheese, raisins, honey. No meat was left since our freezer died on the trip.  

The worst was yet to come. We moved the boat to a slip at the marina but there is a several knot current which we didn’t anticipate (exhaustion?) and we smashed a solar panel on a piling maneuvering the boat and bent the stainless rail. That was a very expensive mistake.  

The boat is a pigsty – I don’t clean at sea except for dishes and the outside is salt encrusted. We found damage from the heavy seas – fuel jugs chaffed wood down to the bare wood. Our hard dingy smashed it bow from being slammed up and down.  Our bow pulpit needs welding – a bad weld over a bad weld. Our list of work is daunting and depressing. I think we are just tired.  We can not think of leaving (or staying!) until our autopilot and freezer are fixed. The freezer/fridge just needs a new pump so that is straight forward. We have already found someone who might help on the pilot.