They say timing is everything, and this time we just couldn’t get it right. The strong winds that we’d had for the last three days suddenly stopped when we were 35nm away from Minerva Reef. On went the motor and we looked forward to an easy entrance into the reef later in the day. But Huey, the wind god, had other ideas. Continue reading “Bad Timing – Passage from Opua to Fiji, Pt 2”

Being in a small boat in the middle of the ocean can be a stark reminder of who’s the boss out here. And it’s definitely Mother Nature, no question of that. Sailors do their best to prepare themselves and their boats, and make sure of having a good handle on the weather forecasts, but at the end of the day it’s Mother Nature who calls the shots and all we can do is respond as best we can. Continue reading “Who’s The Boss? – Passage from NZ to Fiji”

If patience is a virtue, we must be approaching sainthood by now. It’s been a month of waiting for a weather window, a month since Geoff and Scottie arrived. Sadly Scottie ran out of time due to his other commitments, and has had to return home, so it’s back to Threecans again. Continue reading “Please Release Me – Opua, NZ”

We’ve been ready to leave NZ for the past two weeks, but the weather gods must be having too much fun messing with our heads. Just when we think there’s a window opening up, it gets slammed on our fingers. Ouch! Continue reading “Stir Crazy – Opua, NZ”

It can be very frustrating waiting for a weather window, and finding enough activities to keep ourselves occupied becomes a bit of a challenge. But when our buddies on ‘Escape Velocity’ suggested an outing to the public toilets at Kawakawa some 10km away, we thought they must have a particularly severe case of cabin fever (or something much worse). Continue reading “Skip To My Lou – Kawakawa, NZ”

We’re delighted that Geoff and Scottie have been able to join us on the passage to Fiji. As many of you know, Geoff Sherman (aka ‘Sherm’, aka ‘The Pirate’) is very familiar to Toucan, having travelled with us from the Caribbean to the Marquesas last year. Last time we saw Scottie was in 2010 when we were crewing together on ‘Secret Men’s Business’, in the Sydney-Hobart. So it was wonderful to see them both step off the bus from Auckland last Wednesday ready for the next exciting chapter in Toucan’s travels. Continue reading “On The Road Again (sort of, maybe) – Opua, Bay of Islands”