Leaving New Zealand (part 3)
By Thursday we were pretty much ready to go, and Chris booked our customs clearance meeting for Friday morning, June 3rd. The customs officer came to us on the boat, and she made the whole process of clearing out of the country very straightforwards and fun.
And then we were done. With no standing on ceremony, Chris said “let’s go” and we were away, lines off, out of the marina (thank you very much Tauranga Bridge Marina, you were a fantastic place to stay and do our final preparations), then out of the harbour and onto the open sea. We had time for a few last photos with the land behind us, and some final emails and calls before we sailed out of mobile coverage. [Photos]
A small pod of dolphins came and had a fairly uninterested play on our bow wave for a few minutes before we were heading out to sea well and truely alone.
The last email I picked up was from my friend Frank in Ireland, explaining to me that the name Ohana means family or clan in Hawaiian. Put another way — the group of people that you extend your care and concern to. It was a lovely message to get as we sailed away, very moving. I felt him and the rest of my Ohana there with me as New Zealand faded into the horizon behind us.
I spent my 3am to 7am watch in the company of the moon again, this time only a narrow crescent, but with the rest of the sphere visible as a dark silhouette, a beautiful and unusual sight. I found it hard to stay awake by the end, I still wasn’t in the rhythm of the voyage, but it was certainly peaceful to be out at sea.
The voyage to Rapa Iti
- Part 1 — Introduction
- Part 2 — Auckland to Tauranga shakedown trip
- Part 3 — Leaving New Zealand
- Part 4 — Trying to get into the swing of things
- Part 5 — Action stations!
- Part 6 — Now we’re sailing
- Part 7 — A very happy birthday
- Part 8 — Action stations again!
- Part 9 — Whales
- Part 10 — A day with a bit of everything in it
- Part 11 — The sky is on fire
- Part 12 — Almost there
- Part 13 — Land ho!
