The "wicked" aunts come to stay..

Current location    Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

                             36 12S  175 20E

Victoria has felt strangely quiet and empty for the last couple of days, after the departure of my sisters, Serena and Rosie.  Angus and I are now cleansing our livers, facing up to the vast amount of recycling we have on board, and have restarted "normal" boat life - homeschool, varnishing, laundry etc.  Serena has written a fantastic guest blog for us, which will give you a fresh perspective of life on board.

Before handing over to Serena, I must mention Australia, who are in our thoughts and prayers daily.  The smoke from the bush fires, more than 1000 miles away, reached New Zealand a couple of days ago.  In the early afternoon, the sky turned an eerie yellow-orange colour, and it became so dark that all the boats around us turned their anchor lights on.  Below decks on Victoria, we needed all the lights to see properly.  It felt like the night, and it made us all feel agitated and on edge.  The birds, too, were confused, as if caught up in a prolonged solar eclipse.  It honestly felt like the end of the world might be coming, and it stayed that way all evening, but luckily for us, all was normal again by the morning.   I have no idea how people in Australia are managing to live with these - and much worse - conditions indefinitely.  Let us hope that the arrival of this new decade - the twenties - will bring with it a huge shift towards putting our planet first, and bringing it to the forefront of everyone's consciousness.  

And now, over to Serena for something a little more upbeat:

"Like a lot of the blog followers, I have been living my life vicariously aboard Victoria for the last eight months, and indeed felt part of this adventure for many months (even years) before that, as Laura and Angus’ dreams and plans became a reality.  Due to the possibilities of modern communication, I have also been privileged to have had more regular contact than the blogs, so had a pretty good idea of life on board - with video calls when signals permitted – and the junior crew proudly showing me around the boat and surrounding areas.  Despite all of this, there’s nothing like living it to get a real insight into the Watson family’s big trip.

"My journey started in Whangarei where I met up with Laura, Eloise, George and Jack whilst Victoria was moored alongside a pontoon next to a giant Christmas tree in the town basin.  They had been there for ten days whilst Angus returned to the UK to visit his family, so day to day life was effectively as if you were living in the centre of town.  Imagine being moored alongside a city centre river, with bars and cafes (and a shower and a washing machine) only a short hop away, a large supermarket within a five minute walk, and other small city centre excitements such as a Smiggle shop and a well-stocked library for home school within walking distance.  Not to mention a swimming pool, a kids park and more… And no need to launch the dinghy and start the outboard motor to get to land.  After so many months of sailing in beautiful isolated places, this ‘walk ashore’ life was quite a new experience for all on board. 

"On arrival I was greeted by ‘Welcome Reens’ signs and pictures that had been made to decorate the area next to my bunk on board Victoria.  Of course the best part were the huge hugs with everyone – and then the kids were desperate to show me around the boat.  My first impression was the amount of space on board Victoria.  Perhaps this was mainly when comparing to the Watson’s previous boat, Snow Goose, who is 31’ and really didn’t have much room for anyone other than the family.  Victoria is a grown up boat – 50’ in length and plenty of living and sleeping room.  At this point I should probably caveat that like the rest of my family, I’ve grown up with life on boats.  When I say ‘plenty’ of space – it’s still a very small area for five people to live permanently, and we were now adding two more adults into the mix.

Welcome Reens!

"An attempt to describe life on board – the front cabin was taken by George and Jack, in two separate bunks, with the third used as storage – everything from a scooter to footballs and beach towels were crammed in beneath George.  Working backwards, next is the ‘master suite’ which is effectively a small double bunk to the left of the corridor leading to the front berth, with the door to the heads (loo) the other side of the corridor.  Next is the main saloon – with curved seating around a table and a galley to one side (two gas rings and a small stove and a deep fridge / freezer which is only kept cold if the engine is running).  Steps run down from the cockpit in the middle of the saloon, with the chart table the opposite side to the galley.  The chart table also acts as the all important charging station.  Thankfully charging phones / ipads / kindles etc doesn’t require the engine to be running…. Moving back from the saloon, there is another small double berth (Eloise’s bunk) squeezed in under the cockpit, which has very limited headroom, but with some clever curtain hanging around the edges made for a great den for a little girl.  At the back is an aft saloon, with a U shaped seat running around the edge, so Rosie and I could sleep on either side.  This was topped off with the aft heads, the door to which was about 10cm from Rosie’s head.  This area also doubles up a bit of a play room, so our quarters were regularly covered in Lego.  Aside from the living areas, there were many storage spaces, where all manner of food was stowed.  I was particularly pleased to find out that I had the coffee supply near to my bunk!

"We stayed in Whangarei for four nights, which included Jack’s 4^th birthday, a 6km walk to a beautiful waterfall (the kids’ endurance was impressive) and visiting various friends on land – including an old friend of mine from university who had organised a hockey tour for us to NZ in 1998, whom I hadn’t seen for 20 years.  With the boat now well re-stocked with food, and Angus back on board, we set sail south to Auckland, where we were meeting up with Rosie.  This took us via my first night at anchor (very calm and comfortable) in Urquhart’s Bay and a night on Kawau Island before we headed into Auckland to hide from a looming stormy weather front.  We’d hoped to take in another night on the journey down, but the forecast was for very strong winds so we wanted to get into the Auckland marina before the worst arrived.  Victoria is a wooden boat, weighing over 20 tonnes, which makes for great stability at sea, but not for easy manoeuvrability in a tight marina (think trying to park a large SUV in a multi storey car park designed for cars in the 70s when you are also being blown sideways by the wind whilst trying to get into your space!). 

A well-earned dip in Whangerei Waterfall

"The major excitement of the sail from Kawau to Auckland was landing an 87cm / 6.8kg Kingfish, from the lines that are normally trawling from the back of the boat when on passage.  The length is an important detail in NZ, where there are very strict regulations about the size of fish you can keep – so as soon as the type of fish was identified, the fish measuring device had to be found.  George is now seriously keen on his fishing and knew immediately that it was a kingfish and that the minimum length was 75cm.  The fish was a lot bigger than the net we had, so it was quite some effort by the fishing crew on the back of Victoria to get the fish on board, whilst I steered her in a straight direction.  The fish was expertly filleted by Angus and there was enough to last us several meals. 

"In Auckland we all enjoyed various land activities – trips to the Aquarium (firm favourite of the kids), the Maritime Museum, a look at the Team NZ base for the 2021 America’s Cup event that will held here, as well as some very wet and windy Christmas shopping.  It wasn’t quite the balmy southern hemisphere weather Rosie was expecting for her arrival….

"Next stop was Waiheke, which is an island off Auckland and a classic holiday destination for Aucklanders with and without boats (it’s an hour’s ferry ride away).  Sailing out of Auckland harbour we were lucky to see the NZ America’s Cup boat whizzing around for a training sail.  The next generation of America’s Cup boats are a mixture between Formula One and sailing.  A mono hulled boat, which gets up out of the water on foils on either side to reach incredible speeds through the water.  Precision design and engineering is required to get the balance right and all the teams are currently spending thousands of hours trying to design the fastest boat without pushing loads too far to break things or lose control.  It was pretty exciting to see the NZ boat sailing past us at high speed – phones were at the ready capturing videos.  What none of us expected was to see the boat lose control as it came to tack (turn around) just off our stern, and then capsize.  Unbelievable scenes!  And all the video had been turned off at the critical moment... This was the first time one of the new AC75s had gone over and incredibly it was righted quite quickly and sailing again within 20 mins.  The America’s Cup will certainly be exciting one!

"We stayed one night at anchor in Waiheke, before packing for a week’s holiday on land for Christmas.  We rented a house overlooking Rocky Bay.  Real beds.  Doors.  A dishwasher.  Washing machine. And a hot tub on a balcony looking out to sea .  A treat for those who’d been on Victoria for months and probably essential, so that we didn’t all drive each other completely round the bend for three weeks on Victoria!  The kids raced around in their new found space and we all enjoyed a fabulous Christmas week on this beautiful island.  Father Christmas found his way to NZ which was a relief for the junior crew, and we visited wineries, beaches, regional parks and managed to find a tiny church for Christmas Day.  From a historical point of view it was fascinating to learn that towards the end of WW2, the US had paid for the installation of a gun capable of firing up to 28km on the northern end of the island, to guard against possible Japanese invasion on the entrance to Auckland.  The build wasn’t completed until 1948 so it was never needed, but the gun case is still there and it was huge. 

Our very relaxed Christmas lunch

"One day we caught up with Jim and Karin, who were the previous owners of Victoria.  It was lovely for us to be able to meet them because they are a key part of the story of the boat, and the journey that the Watsons are on.  For anyone who wasn’t reading at the start of the blog, Victoria was built by Jim in his back garden over a period of 7 years, before she was launched 30 years ago.  He jokingly says that Angus has married his daughter… They are lovely people who spent a number of years sailing around the world, and just over a year ago decided that Victoria needed new owners to take her on her next adventure.  Jim and Karin were absolutely wonderful, and whilst still struggling to let go of their life project, are so clearly happy with the new owners.  There aren’t many places in the world that Victoria hasn’t already visited (I’m pleased to report she’s been to the Isle of Wight) so I’m confident that wherever she sails next, will be familiar territory for the boat, even if it may not be for the Skippers.

"Another night, the aunts babysat and Lors and Angus had their first date night since leaving England – there aren’t many babysitters available in remote locations whilst on a boat!  Soon it was time to get back on board - leaving our land base was a little tough for the kids, “we just want to stay in the house”, but they are now well used to leaving things behind and getting on with the next thing, and we all wanted to get sailing.  Next stop Great Barrier Island, or as the kiwis say, The Barrier.

"Our final ten days on board, was doing what Victoria does best – sailing, anchoring in bays and providing enough other floating vessels (two canoes, one paddle board which can also be a windsurfer, a dinghy with an outboard) for lots of exploring.  The Barrier is an island approximately 40 miles north east of Auckland and it’s fairly remote, with about 800 residents, no grid electricity or water supply, and very limited mobile phone signal.  Whilst there might have been a lot of boats, everyone brings their own provisions and stays at anchor in the many bays, and we didn’t come across any form of shop until the day we left.  The most sheltered places for boats to anchor don't have any roads leading to them, so the beaches and wonderfully laid out walking tracks were nearly always empty. 

"It was a magical time to see 2020 in Kiwiriki bay, with friends from another boat, Max, listening to a spontaneous self-made countdown to midnight with the boats anchored near to us, and several yachts' horns going off with an bright starry sky above us.  No radio or TV to coordinate the exact time but I think we got it right.  Whilst we were in The Barrier, we compiled a rough list of things we wanted to do, one of which was ‘go sailing’ and another to venture to the "outside" of the island.  So, on New Year’s day, we sailed around the northern tip of the island.  This is aptly called The Needles.  It might not have the famous red and white light house, or the chalk cliffs but the rocks were a familiar sight when compared to the Western tip of the IOW.  Our destination was a sweeping bay on the eastern side.  In this bay, we were looking out onto the South Pacific and there wasn’t much between us and South America.  It really was a stunning beach (even the Watsons said it was ‘up there’ in beaches they’d seen, and they’ve seen a few) – white sands with a steep green hill behind it. 

"A memorable New Year’s day was slightly dampened by our sailing experience the following day, when the weather wasn’t quite as advertised, and we faced very strong winds coming from the exact direction we needed to travel to get back, with a very bumpy sea meaning that we spent several hours crashing into the waves in a very uncomfortable motion – watching gusts of up to 35 knots (a gale), which thankfully didn’t build any further than that.  This wasn’t anyone’s choice for a sail – at times it felt quite dangerous to be putting the boat through this, and our progress was slow.  That said, in the big scheme of things this crew have already achieved, we didn’t have far to go.  We knew that unless something went wrong we would make it, which we did.  Victoria looked after us brilliantly and soon we were anchored in time for a celebratory spag bol together – and a large mince pie that we’d been meaning to make since Christmas.  The kids reported it had been their WORST sail on Victoria for a long time…

"The highlight of our final few days together was the sisters' ascent of Mount Hobson – the highest point on The Barrier.  Doing anything land based, from anchor in a bay, is never without logistical challenges.  This one involved Eloise and George going for a sleepover on a another boat, and us leaving Angus behind with Jack on Victoria.  Because Angus needed the dinghy to get to the sleepover boat, we couldn't take it to the beach and leave it there whilst we walked.  So Laura dropped Rosie and me ashore, whizzed the dinghy back to Victoria and them came ashore in a kayak – at which point we donned our walking shoes and started the walk shortly before 7.30am.  The summit is at 650m and we were definitely starting at sea level so it was a decent morning’s exercise through beautiful dense forest dotted with ancient Kauri trees and the huge giant ferns that are typical to NZ forest.  The Gosling girl competitive spirit was alive and well, and we were v pleased to reach the summit in 2 hours, when the advertised time was 3-3.5 hours!  The top was incredibly windy (a constant feature of our time in NZ) with great 360 views over the island and a real treat to have had a sisters walk.  Our calves felt it later. 

"On our return to the boat, there was a bit of trouble with the young crew.  Jack was a little disgruntled that he hadn’t had a sleep over and was winding George up – who had had his sleepover, but was now over-tired.  And Eloise was distraught that she’d been brought back to our boat and separated from her friend Sinead, so didn’t want to talk to any of us (probably didn’t want to be near us!).  All of this served to show that life on the boat isn’t all happy Instagram bliss.  When things aren’t going well, there isn’t much private space, and everyone can hear everything.  When the children make new friends, the friendships inevitably have to end – so the strength of the new friendship is stronger than it might normally be.  Add to this a few tired adults and it’s can be a testing situation, but I was continually amazed how patient everyone had learned to be, and how quickly these situations were resolved.  Being with your kids 24/7 is a serious test of parenting skills – there isn’t anyone else to pick up the pieces or share the burden.  Very impressive. 

"Our last night in Smokehouse Bay was the perfect way to end our stay – this bay was a veritable playground for adults and kids, and we were there with several people from other boats – some whom we knew and others we didn’t.  This remote bay, which was miles from any road, had been kitted out for visiting boats with a bathroom (effectively a shed containing an old tin bath, with bath water from a stream filling a tank which was heated with a wood fire), a pizza oven, fish smoking facilities for those who’d caught a fish, and brilliant tree swings which kept the young occupied for hours.  The sight of all the children self-regulating themselves into queues for who was having the next go and then seeing little Jack (just 4) confidently executing huge rope swings, whilst Eloise took on the brave ‘swing on to the roof’ move, showed the level of independence and confidence the young crew have developed whilst being away.  On a separate occasion, George took himself off in a kayak by himself, armed with his fishing rod, and caught his first ‘solo’ fish from the rocks, without any adult assistance.  They are certainly allowed freedom that would be more difficult to deliver back at home and I’m sure they will be gaining rich experience from the independence.

"All good things have to come to an end, and the next day it was time for Rosie and me to catch the ferry back to Auckland and wave our farewells to the crew.  Our stay on board Victoria had been fabulous, and gave us a great insight into the incredible adventure the family are on – and what a well drilled crew they have all become.  Thank you for having us to stay, and Jack – you can now have your playroom back!  Your wicked aunts have gone…  and when we are back in the real world staring a computer screen, we might even find ourselves missing that endless pile of washing up, the noisy water pump going off every time someone used the heads and the powdered milk .  Safe travels for the next stage of your adventure and I’ll hand back over to Lors for the next blog."