Thoughts on our passage to New Zealand

November 6, 2013; Day 4 of our passage from Tonga to New Zealand.  Lat/Long:26 d 00S, 179d 07 E

After just over a year here, RED is no longer in the tropics.  We’ve gone as far west as we can, now we’re heading east.

We were buzzed by a New Zealand Royal Air Force “Orion”.  For some reason it felt more friendly than if the US or Mexican Air Force had “visited” us.

The sea life we’re seeing is flying fish, and flying birds.  Oh, and phosphorescence!

We saw an orange fishing buoy. As we got close we saw a little crab decide to come to join RED, then change his mind.  Poor thing, literally hundreds of  miles from land and stuck on a buoy where his only companionship is a bunch of barnacles.  Wish he could have joined us.

We’re motoring a lot, but the passage is generally easy.

For being in the “middle of nowhere”, there are many boats around – mostly cruisers, heading to New Zealand.

The water temperature went from 80.5 degrees F in Tonga to 74 degrees here. We’re wearing more clothes than we’ve worn in a long time.  The outdoor air temperature is 74 degrees – who knew 74 was cold.

We’re having fun and are eager to reach kiwi land!

FNR