A steady wind blows wisps of mist across the hillside and plays hide-and-seek with the lighthouse at Cape Reinga on the tip of the north island. Grey and gloomy, it is easy to see why the Maori named this Reinga, meaning underworld. The continuous sigh of the surf, where Tasman Sea meets Pacific Ocean, could easily conceal the snuffling sounds of the spirits of the dead as they descend the root-steps of the ancient Kahika tree to the water and make their final journey to their distand homeland, Hawaiki. The lighthouse first warned sailors of the rocky shores in 1941 [View Full Entry]

---

---

We are off again. We are headed to Brisbane to attend Adrienne's graduation and decided this would be a good time to fulfill a promise made to ourselves 27 years ago to spend more time in New Zealand the next time we were in the area. So here we are. We rented a camper van in Auckland and headed north. Having spent the last 12 hours on a full flight from Los Angeles, we headed for the Waiwera Thermal pools, just 30 minutes north of Auckland, where we luxuriated in the private spa and each had a massage before dinner. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

We awoke on Saturday morning to find this trawler high and dry on the rocks just off H dock in Port Sidney. As the crowd gathered sipping on the morning coffee, I opined that the skipper who parked her on the rocks must have either "been drunk, had no charts, or could not read charts". The old salt standing next to me sporting a shaggy grey beard and wearing a snug T-shirt emphasising his love of beer, said he was completely sober when he put her on the rocks. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the perils of trying to sail [View Full Entry]

---

---

We were afraid that the sleeper train from Zagreb to Prague was a misnomer as we had no sooner got into bed when the Slovinian passport control officer was knocking at the door followed 5 minutes later by the customs officer asking if we had any alcohol or cigarettes to declare. Luckily she did not ask if we had any bananas (our breakfast). We did manage to sleep thereafter as there were no more official interruptions as we progressed through Austria and on into the Czech Republic. The Golden Wheel, our hotel in Prague, is a small boutique located at the [View Full Entry]

---

---

We spent three rainy days in the safe but noisy harbour of Rab waiting for the storm, which packed winds of 35-40 knots gusting to 60 knots, to pass. From Rab we sailed north to Krk and on to Cres in brisk, cool winds and while these northern towns are interesting they do not have the extensive historical remains that we found on the Dalmation coast in Trogir, Dubrovnik, and Zadar, etc. The weather settled down to the hot Mediterranean weather we have come to expect and we sailed in perfect conditions on our last day from Cres to Pula. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

The new crew came aboard on Saturday and, after provisioning, we set sail on Sunday, heading south to Zut and the southern Kornati Island of Smokvica Vela, to eat at a restaurant from the Gourmet Sailing Guide. From there we headed north to sail through the desolate archipelago and spend the night on a mooring buoy at Mir in the national park. North of the Kornati islands is the Zadar archipelago which is more lush with many trees. We spent the night at a new marina in Veli Rat (which means large cape) then sailed a brisk beam reach to Pag, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Having sailed in and out of Zadar several times it feels a little like coming home. We are awaiting the arrival of our other four crew members before setting out on unexplored (for us) waters to Pula. The weather last week was a big improvement over the gales of our first week, yet with enough wind for K to sail every day. We reprovisioned in Trogir and set out for the Kornati Islands, anchoring in scenic, sheltered bays and coves with lots of opportunities for swimming and sunbathing. We are adjusting to a leisurely pace but there is always entertainment. Yesterday [View Full Entry]

---

---

The weather improved as we finally made our way to eat at Triton in a protected cove on Lastovo. We practiced the Hat-overboard drill and as you can see both the hat and the band from Ecuador survived the drill. On the history front we visited the Vela Spila archeological site, a cave 20 minutes walk above Vela Luka on Korcula. The cave has been continuously inhabited since 15,000 BC and was in need of a fresh coat of paint! Excavated objects, including the skeletons from four graves from the Stone Age, the oldest burial grounds found in Croatia, are exhibited [View Full Entry]

---

---

We have learned that if we want sailing to be enjoyable we need to be flexible. We had planned to head south into Montenegro for a few days before heading north with Thetis, however the 5-day forecast predicted, accurately as it happens, that we would encounter SE winds up to 40 knots. with rain showers changing to the NE after 3 days. This would means 7 hours banging into the wind to get to Montenegro and the same coming back. We decided Montenegro could wait for another year with more favorable winds and headed north on a leisurely broad reach. First [View Full Entry]

---

---

Wednesday was a good day to leave England as the showers had developed into a steady rain with gloomy skies. In Dubrovnik, however, we were greeted by a lightening storm and torrential rain that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. All things pass, however, and it is now a bright, sunny day as we stroll around the walls of the old town wearing shorts. We had planned to stay in the old town so I was apprehensive to hear that someone at Ekker Yachting had reserved a B&B for us 15 minutes walk away. A similar booking in Zadar [View Full Entry]

---

---