Hakura

Well it has been a very long time since we got back and no updates - naughty boy Cap'n. Crew - Doug Nicol and Lorraine Miller plus Ethan Jones (from Kerikeri in the Bay of Island, NZ). Ethan flew up specially to sail back with us and he did a great job. Thanks Ethan you were a fantastic crew and a pleasure to have on board. Here is a quick summary to let you know what we did and where we're at now. Trip back from Fiji covered 1171 nautical miles (nm) in 7 days 7 and half hours at an average of 6.69 knots. Best day's run was 172 nm (2 days over 170 nm) and lowest run was 155 nm; a quick trip. The Fiji trip had a total of 2950 nm (Opua to ... read more

Captains Log: Distance run 223 n miles. Total distance to date 1480 n miles (2740km). Date: 20.08.2011 Suva to Tradewinds 21.08.2011 Tradewinds to Lawaki Beach, Beqa Lagoon 28.08.2011 Lawaki to Yanuca Island 28-29.08.2011 Yanuca Island to Western Fiji via Navula Passage to Saweni Bay 30.08.2011 Saweni Bayto Port Denarau 03.09.2011 Denarau to Navadra Island 05.09.2011 Navandra to Mana Island and return The Bigger Picture: Leaving Suva and heading over to the Beqa Lagoon in brisk south easterly trade winds we were all pretty keen to start experiencing the Island lifestyle. Anchored off Lawaki Beach Resort was an awesome start to doing this. The Resort itself is not flash, a backpackers haven. You can have a room or pitch a tent. Meals are taken in the communal area and usually in the company of Sam, the brains ... read more

Customs cleared, the last minute preparations completed, we left Opua Marina at 11.00am on July 16th. Alex was given the first watch. (We work a three hours on, six hours off rotation with kitchen duties assigned to particular shifts.) It was exciting watching Alex’s reactions to everything, his eyes were like swivels in his head as the tried to take it all in as we headed out. The Pacific Ocean stretched before us, and as the New Zealand coastline diminished behind us we settled down and began adapting to the routine that would be our world for the next week or so. I was on watch for the first sunset, and thought back to enjoying the sunrise while on watch when we sailed up to Opua from Whangarei. I called Alex up from below decks ... read more

No 1 – The bigger picture Okay. So here we are, sat sitting in Opua, still waiting for the weather to clear so we can head up to the warmth. The difference is that over the past few days, instead of the bad weather sitting offshore, on Saturday it moved inshore and we are cold and wet and it gets very windy! So what better time to write another exciting episode in the continuing adventures of the good ship Hakura and all who sail on her … or more specifically, will be sailing on her. There is much to do, see and experience here. Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and as Monday was the planned departure day we decided to walk to Paihia to get supplies and then catch a taxi back from the supermarket to ... read more

Summary of Trip Sailed from Lautoka, on the west coast of Viti Levu Fiji, to Whangarei, NZ. Started from Lautoka at 10:30 am on Tuesday 21st September and arrive in Marsden Cove Marina 22:08 on Wednesday 29th September, having travelled 1195 nautical miles (nm) (or 2,217 km) at an average speed of 5.8 knots. The best 24 hour run from noon to noon was 158 nm with an average run of 143 nm. The lead up to the trip After Sharron left us in Denarau, our main jobs were to find a third crew for the trip back to NZ and get Hakura ready. To find a crew member, we put up notices in the Port Denarau Marine Office, the Vuda Point Marina and we had already put up a notice in Musket Cove. We also ... read more