A life on the ocean waves

Position 29 18.35S 178 12.76E, course 065, speed 5.5 knots, swell 2-3m.  1100 NZT  After 24 hours respite, the wind and the swell are back and we are all slightly in survival mode.  Eloise was sick first thing, but now has made herself a little nest in the shelter of the cockpit and is chatting ten to the dozen again.  George and Jack are hunkered down on the low side in the saloon, watching Sean the Sheep, Ben and Holly and City of Friends on repeat on my phone.  We are going in slightly the wrong direction - heading ENE, when we would rather be heading north to clear the weather system that is approaching.  For now though, the wind and waves are from the north, so until the wind backs more westerly, we can't do much about it. It was a quiet night, but from 0630 it has been pretty hectic.  Angus woke me from my off watch at 0630 to put out some jib as we had enough wind to sail.  We turned off the engine, which is in much need of a rest after so much hard work over the last

All is calm on the good ship Victoria today.  The sun is shining, there is very little swell - just a gentle ocean roll - and we are motoring straight towards Tonga on a course of 035, making about 6.5 knots through the water.  There isn't enough wind to sail at the moment, but there should be by this evening.  We have to keep pushing north to clear the worst of the next low which will come across the top of New Zealand in the next couple of days. Angus and I almost thought we were going to get six hours sleep last night.  After an early supper of sausages, mashed potato and peas (all cooked in advance in a rare moment of organisation before we set off), the boys were tucked up in bed by 7.30, and Angus and I were looking with huge anticipation at a clear 12 hours of calm night-watch ahead of us. We split the time into four three-hour watches, and at 8pm on the dot his exhausted head hit the pillow.  I popped up on deck, shone my head torch up at the main sail, and - joy! - notic

First blog from on board the good ship Victoria as they sail northbound to Tonga, and away from the luxury of 3G, wifi and normal comms in New Zealand. It sounds like they've had a very tough start, but all safe and happy on board.  You can track Victoria's progress (updated approx twice a day) here: www.forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/rally/ICNZ_2019-PCR/   If you'd like to send them any short messages while at sea, please email me at goslingrosie@gmail.com and I will pass these on. Rosie x Well, we have survived our first 18 hours at sea.  Just about.  It was all very jolly as we left the marina.  "See you in Tonga!" we called merrily to the other boats.  About 30 boats from our rally left, and at least a dozen others, too. Everyone had waited for this weather window, and although it was a bit marginal, we went for it.  As we motored north, getting our fenders and lines away, we had a comfortable 15-20 knots of breeze, and we put our main up, followed b

I think we're leaving tomorrow.  That's the plan, anyway.  It's lovely and calm at the moment;  we are in Opua marina, tied securely to our pontoon, and the children are fast asleep.  The boat was looking pretty shipshape and tidy earlier today, but now every clear surface in the saloon is once again covered; dry laundry needing folding, an unruly heap of shoes which have been "tidied" from the cockpit, clean dishes and pans all over the surfaces in the galley waiting for the Good Lord to finish the drying up for us, and the odd random teddy, football and book sprayed around for good measure. There is a brief weather window tomorrow.  There is low pressure passing over during the morning, bringing lots of rain and strong north easterly wind.  Once this has passed, the wind will back to the north west, and that is our cue to get out of here.  Then we need to make best speed north, as fast as we can, to try and keep our noses as far ahead as possible of the next s

The view from the top of the mast - Angus doing our pre-departure rig checks When our friend Brett was on board, he introduced us to the phrase “shooting for the Tongas”.  We laughed so much at him, as he’s the only person we’ve ever heard who refers to the Kingdom of Tonga as “the Tongas”, but the phrase has stuck, and the time is approaching.  We thought we only had one more flat boat sleep before we shoot for the Tongas, but actually there’s a bit of weather north of here, which could turn into a named tropical storm, so we’re staying put for a few more days at least.  We’ve been alongside a pontoon in Opua, on the north-east coast of the north island, for the past week, and have been rushing around chasing our tails with our final preparations before we head offshore.  The great news is that our UK Ship Registration finally came through, so we are now legal to depart New Zealand when the time comes.  A few tweaks to our rig tension.. We’ve joined a rally called

Early morning haircut for George We’re well into autumn, and the days are short here now; it’s just about light by 7am, and pitch dark again by 5.30pm.  The nights are becoming colder, and we have gradually dug out our socks, thermals, trainers, and even blankets to layer over our duvets.  The leaves on the trees are working their way through their fiery colours before scattering themselves on the ground.  During the day, when the clouds part, there is plenty of warmth still in the sun, but we are reaching more frequently for our jumpers than our sun hats now, and although we are at anchor this evening, I’m not sure I’ll be hopping in the sea for an early morning swim.  A paddle on the SUP is more appealing. Eloise on our SUP “Ooh, it’s getting colder.”  “It must be time to head North!” is a frequent back-and-forth conversation between boaties on the pontoon.  This reminds us that things really are topsy-turvy here in the Southern Hemisphere.  The nights are drawing in an