A challenging voyage: part 2

Last week, we estimated we were halfway the voyage from Tonga to New Zealand. This week, we will find out how long it will take Peter, Maurits and Ya to complete the trip. Enjoy and find out what the real challenges of the voyage are!

What happened? Read on!

Anchoring in the ocean

Sun Oct 19 2025 07:29:00 GMT+0200

Peter saw an irregularly high usage of the electricity. So he checked all devices, one by one. In this case he forgot to switch back the electric anchor winch. After two hours, suddenly the anchor went out, a big noise of the chain running out. Peter jumped to the switch to check it, switched it on again, and the winch motor started working as a brake, and in about 5 or 10 seconds the running was stopped.
Meanwhile, Maurits was already out of his berth.
We checked it out, and there was 40 meter anchor chain out, in the ocean, with the anchor on it. The speed of the boat was significantly down with one knot. We were anchoring in the ocean.
Technically, since the winch motor worked as a brake, it created electricity, and that burned some electronics inside. So, the winch didnot work anymore.
So we had to haul in the chain and anchor by hand. That was way to heavy. So we lowered the sails and connected a line to the chain, then to a big winch. Maurits reeled it in for a meter. Then Peter connected a next line, to the second winch, and Maurits winched that in. Peter loosened the first one, reconnect it, Maurits winched it in for a meter. That is what we did about 40 times. Two hours of hard work, from 9 to 11 in the evening, we were dead tired.
But 40 meter chain and an anchor at the end, that weight, in two hours, on a constantly moving ship, this is only possible with great teamwork.
So, if you ever want to anchor in the ocean, don’t hesitate and give us a call.

A day at the ocean

Mon Oct 20 2025 08:15:00 GMT+0200

The wind is easy, the waves are easy. The Ya sails easily, we are easy. Peter does his jobs (“one job a day keeps the pros away”) and reads his book, Maurits reads his book and cooks a meal.
Today is such a day that could be any other day. This is such a day the ocean sailor actually loves. Easy going, nothing breaks, the ship and the crew are all in laid back mode.
Sometimes one looks up from his book or from the chart or weather report and brings up a navigational question.
On these days the main question is always what we will eat for supper.

Today we ate a stew of pumpkin with lamb chops and a vegetable mix. With some fresh tomatoes on the side, as a modest salad. And we liked it.

Parasailor with bacon and eggs

Tue Oct 21 2025 09:05:00 GMT+0200

PredictWind predicted just a little wind so this morning we lowered all sails and set the Parasailor.
Maurits lifted the sock and wuusssh, the Parasailor opened and the Ya started sailing. From about 3 knots on the regular sails, we went to 4.5 knots on the Parasailor. Since the wind picked up a bit, we even made more than 5 knots for some hours. the Ya glides through the water like a warm knife goes through the butter.
Maurits spent some hours in the cockpit just to see the Parasailor work.

Then we ate bacon and eggs, with some cheese melted on it and some slices of tomato.

A day we will not forget.

All for the soup

Wed Oct 22 2025 09:52:00 GMT+0200

The New Zealand government has rather extensive regulations on what food you are allowed to take with you. Some other countries like Samoa have the same rules, but there you sign a declaration that your food will not leave the ship and will only be used for own consumption. The New Zealand authorities don’t give that option.
The trip from Tonga to New Zealand is a two week trip. But, since New Zealand is so close to the Roaring Forties, with its deep depressions, we take food and beverage for one extra week extra. three weeks. Like every yacht.
We are lucky, the whole trip will take 13 days. So we have food left for 8 days. All our vegetables, all fruit, eggs, meat, cheese, canned meat and more are not welcome must be thrown overboard, or we will face extreme penalties.
So what we did was cutting all our vegetables and make a soup from it.
We now have our two biggest pans full of soup. If anyone close to Whangarei reads this, you are very welcome to eat soup. Please bring your family, everybody is welcome, all for the soup.

Just in time, or not?

Thu Oct 23 2025 09:50:00 GMT+0200

We have a strange weather pattern. The prediction is pretty hard weather for the last 80 miles on our way to the coast of Whangarei, New Zealand. That is the simple part. But then, the wind will calm and will turn 90 or more degrees. Some weather prediction models say this turn is at 4 o’clock in the morning, some say it i at 6 and even one says it is even at 10 o’clock but we don’t believe the latter one.
Would the wind turn at 6 o’clock, we would be just in time. The wind will turn with us, when we change course to the river leading us to the Customs dock.
Would it be at 4 oclock, it would be too soon and then we have the wind against us. That would result in an extra 2 or more hours beating against the wind.
What will it be? will New Zealand play hard to get?

For lunch we ate an overkill of bacon and eggs. 8 eggs to be precise. With an overkill of cheese on it, it was really much, our metabolism was challenged during the afternoon. We ate a very light dinner, just a bit of salad and a bit of our soup.

Smugglers at last

Fri Oct 24 2025 06:47:00 GMT+0200

We entered New Zealand, so first we had to go to the governmental law enforcement agencies. We entered the Customs Dock and two men of the Biosecurity were already waiting for us. Maurits asked: “Could you take the line please?” No, they can’t, for whatever reason. Not hygienical, because Peter stepped from board and shook hands.
We threw away lots of food in the ocean, because New Zealand forbids about everything. Not only the fresh veggies, fruit and meat, but also many canned stuff and seeds, dairy, et cetera. Also no traces of organisms on the bottom of the boat, but that was OK because Peter followed that eleborate and expensive procedure completely.
The Biosecurity man started with thick forms, like long questionnaire, an interview, and a complete checklist.
In the meandwile the Customs came on board and started to do a big checkup. Open every drawer, searched for everything we even don’t know of. “What is behind that carpentry, sir” . Well, insulation of coarse. “Why are there screws used here? Now there could be cocaine hidden behind it.” Well, shall I ask the carpenter why he used screws? and so on.
Meanwhile the Biosecurity searched and questioned about our food. Then we realized we forgot the stuff in the fridge to throw overboard. We seemed to be trustworthy, since we did not get a fine for it. And, the Dutch Edam cheese we bought in Tonga, was suddenly allowed.
After an extensive interview about illnesses, ants, coconuts and bacterias, vermin, organisms and what have you, Biosecurity was happy and left after two hours.
Meanwhile one Customs officer was checking all medicines on board while the other continued to search in bags, sacks and cupboards.
Early afternoon Customs officer started an interview ending up in an interrogation. “this New Zealand crew you once had on board, did he leave happily?” and other weird questions. From Maurits they wanted to know why he sailed a certain detour at the night of arrival. It was because of the sudden lack of wind last night, but did you ever try to explain this to a bureaucrat? Well Maurits could, he deserves a medal.
Then, we were getting hungry, so we guess also the Customs officer did, because suddenly he was happy, gave us stamps, including the Immigration formalities. At 2 o’clock we were free to go.

After a good lunch outdoors (there was nothing left on board, it was all in the ocean), we set sail for Whangarei. Peter picked up something in the cockpit and saw a coconut. Which is forbidden!

So, while eating the coconut, concluded we entered New Zealand as smugglers.
But, we are there.

In front of Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangarei

A challenging voyage: part 1

A challenging voyage

Mon Oct 13 2025 11:46:00 GMT+0200

The sailing voyage to New Zealand is a special one. A challenging one. The first part of 600 miles is easy. That is just tradewind. But the second half can be with calms and storms. Most boats take lots of diesel with them, to go through the calms. Or much more. 300 liter is no exception. Many boats can even motor more than 5 days, and with a speed of 5 knots. We are happy with 4 knots average on sail, and motoring, no. Well, if we are desperate and when the battery bank is full we can do 48 hours 2 knots in a complete calm. With this limitation it is extra challenging. We have to keep sailing. We have to navigate precise and secure. We will have to make detours to prevent that we would find ourselves in a calm, being imprisoned, when after it a storm will hit us. That is the challenging part.

We rely on the three of us: Peter, Maurits and Ya.

Wet

Tue Oct 14 2025 06:44:00 GMT+0200

We experience a rather choppy sea state our first day.
Tonight it was Maurits’ first watch. He took over from Peter, who went to bed. Maurits stepped into te cockpit and splash! A big wave just broke on the hull and Maurits was soaking wet. Baptised, welcome to the sea.
The strange pointy waves also manifested this morning. We were fixing a small repair on the bowsprit and a wave exploded when Peter was lying there: wet pants. Then, Maurits got the next one: wet head.

These funny, sharp waves followed us even to the toilet. The waves even managed to push the water through the outlet of the toilet sink and wet the toilet roll next to it.

Energy

Wed Oct 15 2025 06:05:00 GMT+0200

Two weeks ago, sailing from Va’vau, the wind was good, so the speed was good, so next to the wind generator, also the hydro generators delivered much. And there was pretty much sun, so a lot of solar energy. When anchored in Tongatapu, the battery bank was full. Some meals prepared, and that costs energy, but there was pretty much wind and with the wind generator in the aft mast 7 meters high, it delivered more than necessary.
We left with a full battery bank. Now, we don’t use the hydro generators, just the solar and wind energy is already enough.

What to do with all this energy? Tonight we will sail into a calm. That will last for one whole day. We have the plan use a lot of the battery bank by slowly motoring through this. Tomorrow we will tell you how it works out.

We ate paksoi and salted meat, with rice and a sniff of Asian tastes.

Through the calm

Thu Oct 16 2025 07:44:00 GMT+0200

We promised to tell you how we would motor through a 24 hour calm. It was predicted from last night till this night. We thought this would be a good chance to get the battery from the 100% .
And yes, we sailed straight into it. But the Ya can sail and we can sail Ya, so we managed to keep her going on her sails. The speed was only some 2 knots, but we made progress. Then in the morning the wind dropped till nearly nothing. Then we started motoring. Again, only 2 knots, just enough to steer well. It only costs 1 percent per hour on energy so we can go far.

But already in the afternoon the wind picked up and we started sailing again. We only spent 10% and the props are charging the bank again. So our experiment was not so successful because it lacked a serious lack of wind :wink:

Perhaps the next calm is bigger and with a real lack of wind, we keep you posted. But, we doubt whether we will manage to seriously empty the battery bank, because the Ya sails well in light winds.

The weather, from God to PredictWind

Fri Oct 17 2025 08:47:00 GMT+0200

Like everybody, Ulysses sacrificed a lamb or sheep, to Neptune before he chose sea. They did this alreadyfor thousands of years.
Some 100 years ago things started changing. One could read the weather. Peter got a heavy examen on Meteorology on his nautical college. Also the old fashioned yacht sailors started to study a bit of it. You learn about High’s and Lows, about depressions and the isobars, how the sky looks like when good or bad weather may appear.
Yes, this is old fashioned. Nowadays you check a weather app. Peter sees Maurits working with the PredictWind and after a week he knows all smart shortcuts that Peter has not even discovered in 5 years. And Peter still looks at the cirrus in the key, then the cumulus, slowly forming a beautiful tradewind pattern for the next days, he knows, while Maurits calls the exact numbers of the windspeed and directions for the next days.
Till 20 years ago, a yacht skipper prepared his schip well for the voyage from Tonga to New Zealand. Enough food on board? For three weeks at least, because a series of depressions could hit you.
People now all think of the food to take on board. Like the barbecue meat to put in the freezer for the extra stop at the Minerva reef. There you check the weather app through your satellite connection for a good weather window. And when that is right, you go lol together wilh the other yachts.
Now, the forecast is democratized like the position finding has been 20 year earlier: it is for all yachties who can buy the app and the acces to the satellites.

Halfway

Sat Oct 18 2025 07:05:00 GMT+0200

Today we are halfway our route to New Zealand. So far, we still sail in the Tradewinds. As of tomorrow, we will be out of the tradewinds. From then, the winds can come from any direction. The day after tomorrow we start with a calm, as predicted. It will turn to any direction for a day. Then, the winds will be a Northern and Western wind. PredictWind forecasts a 25 knots blow, and that is unpleasant. Then, we will have a Southern wind for a day or two. With all these changes in strength and direction, the navigation is a challenge. Same with the sail setting, everything, including the cooking.
Sofar, we have done the easy part.

We have passed the 180 degree meridian. From then we will sail the Eastern hemisphere, and that feels like the Ya is half way the fossilfree circumnavigation.

Hi I am Maurits

Hi everyone! I’m Maurits, a 29-year-old Dutchman currently living in Australia, and I’m thrilled to be joining the Fossil Free Around the World adventure for this leg of the journey.

I first heard about the project through my colleague and honorable Ya member Inge. When she mentioned that Peter might be looking for someone to help with the next crossing, I couldn’t have been more excited. While my sailing experience so far has mostly been limited to the Netherlands, Greece, and Croatia, I’m eager to learn more and lend a hand wherever I can.

The one at the helm is me.

Watersports have always been a big part of my life — I love being out on the water and go kitesurfing whenever there’s wind (and work allows it!).

I’ll be replacing Brent for this leg — big shoes to fill after his legendary stories and his proud claim of being a Kiwi (the bird, not the fruit). I may not have wings either, but I’m hoping to stay just as flightless and focused on the voyage ahead.

Can’t wait to set sail, learn from Peter, and help keep Ya fossil free all the way to New Zealand!

— Maurits

Fruit from the Annona

Brent grows vegetables and fruit at home in New Zealand. He knows a lot about them (says Peter). We’re glad he shares some of his knowledge about fruit from the Annona family, because we have a change of crew. After sailing from Fakarava to Raiatea, from Raiatea to Samoa and from Samoa to Tonga, Brent is leaving Ya. So, here’s Brent’s farewell present to you, dear reader: enjoy!

The first taste here in the Annona family is the Rollina. Sweet, low acid, tropical taste with hints of apple, pear and banana. Next to taste in this family will be the saursop. Just waiting for it to ripen.

Other relatives is the American Pawpaw, Asimina triloba (not related to Papayas), it can be grown in areas with 20 degree frosts.

Annona Cherimoya grows in subtropical to warm temperate climates. I grow them in New Zealand. One of my favourites.

Most in this family are tropical.

Saursop

Saursop, Annona muricata, another in this family. Delicious sweet, tangy, fibrous white flesh with tropical fruit flavours. I especially enjoy them with banana, papaya and freshly grated coconut.

I have been looking for sugar apple, Annona squamosa, in the markets but haven’t found any yet. Often referred to custard apple. A loose name as others in this species is also called custard apple. These are sweet, no tang, and a richness, hence the name custard. I will keep looking.

On rolly rides and a royal welcome to Tonga

Apia harbour, Samoa

Bye Samoa

Tue Sep 23 2025 09:13:00 GMT+0200

Partir c’est mourir un peu – leaving is dying a little bit.
Samoa, we hardly saw you, but we met only friendly and helpful people. Jonathan of Comptec with the computer problems, Sharon on the marina, even the taxi drivers were nice, without exception.
But we have a good weather window now, or at least not a really bad one. So we go for it.

We go to the Vava’u islands, the Northern island group of the Kingdom of Tonga (yes, the only Kingdom in the whole Pacific Ocean).

Bye Samoa

Bumpy

Wed Sep 24 2025 07:35:00 GMT+0200

The day before yesterday, when we saw the weather window to go to Vava’u, it had one disadvantage. That is the weather we are in now. We are beating upwind against 20+ knots of wind and 3 meter waves. No fun. Just sit and don’t move, except when necessary. So that is what we do, except when you are on watch.
Just making a pot of tea is a job. Keeping yourself up, keeping the water cooker up, getting a teabag from the cupboard, it needs a lot of attention to keep everything on its place on a shaking ship. We are small, the sea is big.
Misunderstanding between us: Peter thought that Brent would have prepared a dinner, just to heat up. No, Brent had said he would prepare some meat to put in the freezer. So tonight we ate some sandwiches.
The shaking and bumping will last till early next morning, so tomorrow a more positive story.

The weather forecast nowadays can make sail you fossil free

Thu Sep 25 2025 07:07:00 GMT+0200

20 years ago a weatherforecast could be something like: ”the next 24 hours: wind: West to Southwest, possible northwest later and with force 2 to 3 over land and 4 to 5 at sea, possibly 6 in showers.” Actually you knew nothing. Well it would not be stormy.
Weather forecasts underwent a great development the last 20 years. Now it makes sailing easy. You can even plan your trips. It has democratized sailing. The original seaman/officer always knew a lot about Highs and Lows and fronts and depressions, but now you just read a beautiful designed graphic map. Predictwind is an expert here.
Side effect is, that you don’t need a big motor with a lot of diesel to make good what you cannot do by sailing. Now, when your ship is sound and safe and the crew can sail, you can travel the world, even fossil free. A bit of energy in some batteries is enough to run an electric motor, just to get in and out of a harbor.

Oh, just as important: we ate stew of beef and veggies, well-garliced and well curried.

Nature

Fri Sep 26 2025 07:44:00 GMT+0200

A booby landed on the railing. It is a sea bird, the size in between a goose and a swan. The way it landed, was beautiful. It came flying to us, slowly turned head into the wind, slid to the railing, and hung in the air for a while, despite all the turbulence. Then lowered the last 5 centimeter and the claws were around the railing. What grace, what refined motions, actually there were hardly any motions. Like it was easy to land here. We can learn a lot from nature: we need a landing strip and a traffic tower to guide our planes in.

About nature. Brent just finished a book about regenerative agriculture by Johan Kempf. Whilst the contemporary agriculture tries to reduce the soil, to some stuff the crop must grow on, Kempf explains that you can also let the soil be rich and take profit from that. Let the fungi and micro organisms develop and grow, and it is a stimulus for the photo synthesis, and that brings extra carbon into the plants (so bigger crops) and into the soil. Now chemicals like Round up have the effect that our soils decarbonise and that is a pity. The book shows a complete new approach of regenerative agriculture, with numerous elaborations. Yes, it needs skills, knowledge. But then you can harvest more crop easily. It is just as simple as that booby landing and it is our nature.

We ate a mutton curry with paksoi and bakabanana, this last is a banana tasting like a rich potato. It absorbed all the flavor of the curry. You would love it. The wind blows well and thanks to the weather forecast we have the good angle to get to Vava’u.

Arrived Neiafu, Vava’u Tonga, with compliments

Sat Sep 27 2025 03:18:00 GMT+0200

We spoke other yachts and they had ‘a rolly voyage’, and the funny thing is, we did not experience this, except for the first day. And our boat is -as always- one of the smallest.
So compliments for the designer, Dick Koopmans. Or also complements to us? Because we give the Ya speed, and the others boats don’t, on the contrary. It gives the Ya the opportunity to handle the waves, while the others are more the objects of these waves, is our theory. Anyway, it was a nice ride these last days.

The clearing in often costs a day. Not in the Kingdom of Tonga. Customs, Health, Biosecurity, Immigration, they all came for a short visit and everything was done in one and a half hour. Our compliments to them, and to their boss, the King of Tonga. It felt like a royal welcome.

Arrived and still talking

A trip of 13 days, with pretty hard winds, with the Parasailor, and two times drifting in a calm, , with great meals, with a fossil free awe, and more.

With sharing each hour together, from when you get up till you go to bed, and even hear the snoring of the other one in the night.

And still Peter and Brent talk to each other. Doesn’t that say enough?

Fossil free awe

Sat Sep 12 2025 18:08:00 GMT+1300

Again we are in a calm. We try to avoid it but each model -PredictWind can deliver us seven- shows different areas so we just took the most probable course to avoid it, but no success.
Other boats start the diesel then and motor mny hours, but we are fossilfree and kept on sailing this afternoon with nearly no wind and we enjoyed it. for miles. During dinner the wind died out completely. We enjoy the silence.

Brent starts contemplating and says:.
“It is quiet. It peaceful. It is simple: the sky, the clouds, the sea and the boat.
What do we see:
The clouds, the colors in the sky, the glassy water., a lonely white tropical bird flying into the orange sunset”
Brent is in awe.

Parasailor up

Sun Sep 13 2025 17:11:00 GMT+1300

This morning the first wind. About 7 knots, for most sailors only enough to start the engine, but we hoisted the Parasailor.

Brent’s impressions:
The setting takes time, but then you have a sail that is ((first impression) impressive. The sail behaves calm and also the course ot the Ya is straight. With 7 knots we make 3.5 knots and with 5 knots of wind we could still do 3 knots. Later we had more wind, about 12-14 knots and then we flew with 5-6 knots through the water. But still nice and gentle.
So it is relatively fast. And, this downwind sail even points well upwind, till 70 degrees if you want.
Then, after a day of such nice sailing, it feels a pity to lower the Parasailor for the night. But we have to, the wind is too much from the Southsouthwest so we have to sail closer to the wind to get to Samoa.

With such nice sailing it is actually a pity that we arrive there, already in about three days.

Suspense about arrival

Mon Sep 14 2025 16:43:00 GMT+1300

In stead of a nice 12 to 14 knots of wind as predicted, we got a mere 5 or 7 last night Man, went slow. We calculated we would enter Samoa perhaps on Tuesday night, or even Wednesday.
This morning we got a next weather report and the results of the models differ a lot. One predicts that the calm we are in slowly makes place for a steady wind, but it will be increasing to 30 knots on Tuesday night,just when we will arrive. the other one says we first get a next calm, which costs us a day, and then it starts blowing 30 knots on Wednesday, also when we would arrive. So in in the calm we were in this morning, we were discussing what to do. Can we enter the harbor? Or shall we just enter the bay and go on anchor somewhere there? We were even discussing storm tactics. The suspense was there.

And then the wind picked up, no calm at all, and tonight we are still sailing in a nice 14 knots of wind. This way we will arrive before any storm will hit us.

Date line

Tue Sep 15-16 2025 18:09:00 GMT+1300

Most people travel the world like us: from the east to west. Good reason for that is that so now and then you get extra time. You travel against the rotation of the earth, and since we invented the clock related to the earth’s day and night scheme, it makes you get extra time. And we enjoy that, because we like life. In the meanwhile we have gathered already 12 hours of extra time. thank you for the extra life time, Mother Earth!
Now, what happens today? We sail along American Samoa and see the next country Samoa, and in between there is an imaginary line, called the Date Line. They simply say that when you pass that line, you live one day later.
This is not a joke. It is an invention of the governments. They did this on purpose. Many departments came together to decide this. This is clearly one big conspiracy, It is one mountain of rabbit holes!
So what about setting up a Foundation to Erase the Date Line. Who joins?

Arrival at Apia, Samoa

Mon Sep 17 2025 16:43:00 GMT+1300

At 10 o’clock this morning we anchored before Apia, Samoa. It took us thirteen days, and just now we ran out of vegetables.
There is a lot to tell, but let us be short:

It has been 13 days, sharing every hour together, from the meals till the snoring in the night, and Brent and Peter still talk to each other.
Need we say more?

Sailing from Raiatea to Samoa: accept what nature offers

From 25 kts in > 3 m waves to dead calm in one week: everything is possible. Key is to accept what nature offers you. Be prepared and enjoy a week’s fossil free sailing experience on the Pacific, on board of Ya. In fossil-free awe!

Ya’s crew members prefer the papaya’s with some lemon:)

Prepared

Sun Sep 07 2025 06:32:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Since we left one day later (check the blog ‘Bureaucracy’) we knew already that we would be in 25 knots of wind with 3.3 meter waves.
Well, we’re in it now.
That is the beauty of PredictWind. You know exactly what the weather will do. So we prepared everything. An extra line here a strong fix there, the second and even the third reef in the mainsail.
Most important preparation: the food. We cooked for two days, so we only need to heat it up the next days, till Monday.

We go downwind now. The third reef in the main was not necessary, we lowered that sail. we prepared too much, just the 20 m2 staysail gives us enough speed when it is blowing.
And it is! The wind generator has stopped and the thing is set to stop not before it runs in 35 knots of wind…
No worries, we are well prepared.

Balance

Mon Sep 08 2025 04:49:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Brent referred to a Japanese painting style where everything is so much balanced. He looks at the wave crests and when the sunlight gets through you see this vulnerable transparant green color. That balance e so special with the waves that can be black and blue, with the sky now having various types from white to grey, and patches of light blue. This is the balance of nature!

About the food, Peter is glad that he can heat up the prepared food. Makes him feel he balances a bit with Brent.

The battery bank is full. Not because of the solar panels, because there is not much sun. The autoprops charged it and now it is so fully charged, the Battery Management system asked to start the last stage, the so-called Balancing Stage.

It is that you hear the wind wistling throug the rigging, or you would not believe we are in 20-25 knots of wind. The Ya sails calm. Calm in motion, but the speed is still high. So the waves come slowly onto the stern. We sail a running course, close to dead down the wind, but just enough running to prevent the rolling motion. The working staysail does its work, the centerboard is lifted. Our faithful windvane steering needs to give only light corrections.
Ya sails in perfect balance.

Cool

Tue Sep 09 2025 04:38:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Our problems.

Before we left the fridge broke down. so just before we left we filled it with 10 kilo of ice and, yes it shrinks every day but so far so good the problem will pop up later.

The battery bank is full,we cannot charge more and the generators make us very energy positive. So how to solve this problem?
Now we make ice cubes with our ice cube machine and fill the fridge with it.

Now last night one of us must have hit the switch to the fridge and we discovered it works again.

We have more solutions than problems. isn’t it cool?

Wed Sep 10 2025 07:49:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Shower

Peters night watch was one with showers. The rain is not the problem, but the wind. Depending from where the shower comes from, the wind slows down to nearly nothing and then suddenly starts blowing a lot. Or vice versa, coming from the other side, you get the blow all at once. So the mainsail is reefed preventively but before every squall the outerjib has to be furled in. And out. Et cetera. Ok, it keeps Peter fresh.

Well, fresh? Peter asks himself., Do I smell myself or is it Brent?

Time for a shower.

Calm

Thu Sep 11 2025 05:56:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Yesterday we sailed into a calm and PredictWind predicted we would sail till about 6 pm and the calm would leave us today at 6 PM. But, we could sail till midnight. Not because PredictWind was wrong, but Ya could continue sailing in these light winds. When the wind becomes light, most sailboats turn the nose away to the wrong course so one lowers the sails (and starts the engine nowadays). But the Ya has a mizzen on, is very aft ship, preventing the nose bearing away. In light weather we can sail on. At midnight there was no wind at all and only then we lowered the sails. This morning at 10 the first light breeze came and there we sail again. Still the breeze is light, and we can’t sail the downwind course we have to for Samoa, but we get close.

We enjoy what nature gives and stay calm.

Decisions

Fri Sep 12 2025 06:06:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Generally, our course is as the wind direction, so we have to gybe so now and then. When, depends on the wind changes we expect always difficult.

However, we let our thoughts go when eating a piece of fruit. And we have pretty much, . We stille have apples, papayas, pomplemouses, mangos, bananas, oranges, and some more I forgot now.
And every time you have to choose.

You understand, here on board the Ya are tough decisions to be made.

Fossil free awe

Sat Sep 13 2025 07:08:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Again we are in a calm. We try to avoid it but each model -PredictWind can deliver us no less than seven- shows different areas, so we just took the most probable course to avoid it, but no success.
Other boats start the diesel then and motor many hours, but we are fossilfree and kept on sailing this afternoon with nearly no wind and we enjoyed it. For miles. During dinner the wind died out completely. We enjoy the silence.

Brent starts contemplating and says:
“It is quiet. It peaceful. It is simple: the sky, the clouds, the sea and the boat.
What do we see:
The clouds, the colors in the sky, the glassy water, a lonely white tropical bird flying into the orange sunset.”
Brent is in awe.

Sailing from Raiatea to Samoa: bureaucracy

www.tahititourism.com

Bureaucracy

Thu Sep 04 2025 06:16:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Bureaucracy is a French word and we experienced this is well executed in French Polynesia.
When one leaves the country with a ship, the captain must report that at the Customs. He fills in a form, another form and another, often with the same passport numbers and so on. Then after half an hour it is done. So in an hour you are ready, you get a stamp and you may leave the country.
But French Polynesia computerized it. So now when you enter you fill out a 4 pager on the internet. With the very slow internet in Gambier, it took us three times 2 hours. (the third day the internet was a bit better.)
To clear out, you go to the Gendarmerie (the police). Everything should be filled in. Piece of cake. No. Things should be filled in different, and then the form has to be evaluated. Not by that gendarmerie, but by a man in an office in Tahiti, some 100 miles away. That man/woman there has no affection with the clients. Now it is depersonalised. In stead of clients, they only have pile of forms in a big inbox. So, instead of an hour like in the early days, it can take one, two or even three days before the gendarme gets the approved form back from ’Tahiti’.
We must consider ourselves lucky because this time it took only 1 1/2 day.

To consider: next to weather forecasts, there should also be a bureaucracy forecast.

Speed, Food and a good mood

Fri Sep 05 2025 08:38:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

In Brent’s watch this early morning the wind was that light, the speed was very low and the wind vane steering hardly worked. Brent had to correct the course nearly constantly. But, he likes sailing, the ocean, he did it with pleasure.
The wind came back, little by little during the day. The Ya sails her easy way over the waves and we enjoyed it. In the afternoon we set a reef in the mainsail and the wind kept increasing. We sail with a nice speed, the motors are charging the battery bank well and we like it.
Brent fried a beautiful Argentinian rib steak , with mashed potatoes and bok choy lightly fried with garlic. Wow. This is a great meal. Meanwhile the wind increases a bit and our Ya sails 7 knots, nearly the hull speed. Wow again.

Brent, Peter and Ya, we are all in a good mood.

Missing screws

Sat Sep 06 2025 05:41:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

So now and then we have discussions on climate change, single use plastics and other issues on how we can solve the world problems. During such a discussion Brent looked at the mainsail and pointed that the upper batten of the mainsail was loose. Just in time to discover this because tomorrow we get a lot of wind.
We took the sail down immediately. On one plate connecting the batten to the mast rail, there were three screws missing. Peter (backup is his middle name) found new screws in the screw box. Brent put them on, now with a bit of glue. Job done, sail up, here we go again.

Now, about the world problems we still have to solve, some missing screws are:
Regulation by the government, insight and skills, a bit of pain to make people change and a bit of hope to give the solutions a chance.

Map

Sailing from Fakarava to Raiatea with a broken rudder

It’s only a 3 days sail, but anything can happen when sailing from Fakarava and Raiatea in the Tuamotus in French Polynesia!

Sun Aug 24 2025 06:53:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Smoothly

We went anchor up and it went smoothly. Predictwind forecasted 20+ knots of wind, force 6 and we had to go through the North Pass of Fakarava, with currents up to 7 knots. We planned to pass on the slack, just when the current would alternate its direction. It went smoothly.
On the ocean Brent served a great pasta with soufflaki and with a stew. Delicious, it went smoothly through our throats.

Noises and noises

Mon Aug 25 2025 06:42:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

The Ya sails smoothly through the waves, although they are 3 meter high. You hear the waterflow along the hull and some splashing here and there. The 20-ish knots of wind creates sounds through the rig and there is also a funny sound made by the luff in the new mainsail.
Brent is new in board and all these sounds are new to him. But there are noises and noises. Peter distinguished a squeeze that was not familiar to him. He discoveted a damaged rudder bracket. Directly we secured it with a line. But we are glad we discovered it before the rudder gets loose or so. Safe for now.

The housing of the rudder bearing ripped. In this picture we are in the harbor and we already removed the rudder blade

detail of the rudder bearing


We will have a repair in Raiatea.

Moussaka

Tue Aug 26 2025 06:10:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

We found a beautiful piece of veal meat from the flank and Brent fries it with some onions and a bit of oregano.
Then he sliced some potatoes. Then an aubergine. These slices, he salted them first, to get the bitterness out. You scrape off the salt later.
Then you put the slices in a pot, layer by layer: potatoe, meat, aubergines, and a roux sauce. Grated cheese on top and in the oven.
Serve it there where nobody would expect it, like on the Southern Pacific between Fakarava and Raiatea.


It is delicious!

Autoprops

Wed Aug 27 2025 08:06:00 GMT+0200 (Midden-Europese zomertijd)

Normally we live energy neutral. But yesterday we charged an extra 3.2 kWh. It is our record of the last 10 years. It is just caused by the two Autoprops, the propellers we use. These are so efficiënt because they automatically adapt their blades depending on the speed and the use.no electrics or so, just by using nature. Peter loves them.
Today we got another 2.4 kWh out of them. Peter loves them even more. Brent is enthousiast about them.

We arrived safely in Raiatea, where we will have to fix the rudder. We keep you posted!

Kiwi on board

Brent overlooking the course

Hello, my name is Brent Burge. I have come to join Peter in Fakarava (FP) and to then help sail to New Zealand. 

I am a retired engineer. Taking this trip is an old ambition of mine. I m looking forward to the fun, adventure and great company.

In New Zealand I would say I am a Kiwi. But I have learned people here think I am saying I am a Kiwi Fruit. 

The Kiwi is flightless and nocturnal

The Kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand. It is flightless and nocturnal. The female takes 30 days to grow an egg. The egg weighs up to 25% of the mother’s weight. It then takes 80 days for the male to incubate it. Over a 100 years ago, the first modern commercial Kiwi Fruit variety was bred in New Zealand. It was then know as Chinese Gooseberry. For marketing reasons the name was changed to Kiwi Fruit.

So I am a Kiwi here on board Ya living a dream.