Sailing from NEW ZEALAND to FIJI: 1200 NAUTICAL MILES (Part 1)

Anyone who is about to or who has done an offshore passage before I’m sure can appreciate how Adam is feeling. There’s a saying in the sailing community that says ‘the hardest part is letting go the dock lines’. I think it’s fair to say that we were all feeling a little bit nervous and excited. Some more than others. The passage we were about to embark on is no mean feat. Sailing to and from New Zealand is one of the passages many sailors worry about the most because of New Zealand’s location to the roaring 40s, and at this time of year, New Zealand’s weather becomes dominated by the low pressure systems from the Tasman. These low pressure systems move higher and become more frequent which means we have shorter suitable weather windows to leave. For this ocean passage, we’d be sailing 1200 nautical miles leaving from Opua, in the Bay of Islands New Zealand, situated at latitude 35 to Savusavu, Fiji, situated at latitude 16.We hope you enjoy it!
As always, from the crew of Te Tāiko, thanks for watching.
Sincere thanks to Charlotte Rockstar Jones for composing and recording Te Tāiko's theme song.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We’re Adam and Vicki. A nomadic duo who traded land life for a life afloat. Follow us to see what we see and what it's like living a nomadic lifestyle. After spending 2.5 years exploring New Zealand's coastline, Tāiko is now a CAT 1 registered boat and we have made our first offshore passage sailing from New Zealand to Fiji where we currently are.
In December 2021 we moved aboard our sailboat Te Tāiko, a Chico 40. Tāiko is our floating home. She gives us the freedom to go anywhere the wind and weather allows. Our plan? We try not to make too many plans but we're currently in Fiji and will see where wind and sea will take us next. In the meantime, follow along with us as we navigate this lifestyle whilst sharpening our skills sailing New Zealand waters. We release a new video every Sunday.
#boatlife #boat #travelvlog #digitalnomad #lifestyle #sailing #travel #sailinglife

[@bryanbadger6841]

G'day folks. Just calling in from somewhere in the south. Like what I see, so have subscribed. Love your presentation. I have a few hundred sailing books that I've collected over the last 70 something years. Authored by the usual suspects. Dr David Lewis, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, Sir Alec Rose, Dame Naomi James, Rosie Swale, Robin Lee Graham, amongst many more, and your presentation sounds like these books come to life. Thank you for sharing. Lucky you, leaving our winter behind. I've got a hill behind me that the locals say, " if you can see it, it's going to snow. If not, it is snowing." I can see it. Take care, and all the best from down here. Cheers.

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment. You have a lot of history there in those books (history is something Vicki really loves) and we often say that writing then was a real art because they had to describe things so well as opposed to us just showing it on camera! After 2 years of being on Tāiko in New Zealand we are so so so so so (many more so’s) happy to leave the NZ winter behind (and that was in the Bay of Islands not even experiencing the winters down south 🥶). We love the saying you have for your hill…a good day there today then!

[@freerangewhanau]

That cockpit enclosure looks awesome, what a great boat!

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you very much 🙏

[@adrianlivingstone8520]

I recommend the port or Vuda Marina, great and friendly place to tie -up!

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you! Yes we have just been there for a couple of days and really enjoyed it. Very friendly.

[@pamelawaring6836]

Fabulous episode! Love your honesty! A wee bit faster than us 😂Had to laugh at the squalls rolling through…how we remember those! “It’s never a race but it is this morning..”Love it!😂😂

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you Pam. Tāiko kept a good speed particularly as we were entering Fiji in heavy weather. She was heavily reefed and doing 10 knots! The squalls were a pain but we were so glad to have the Hydrovane. Made a real difference to keeping Tāiko on course. It’s never a race but that morning it was 😂

[@petergeary9160]

What a great boat ...balances beautifully.... any chance of a tour arround it ... loaded up for passage

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you so much. She sure does balance well. We’re very happy with her. We did do a tour of Tāiko right back when we bought her but we can absolutely do an updated one as a lot has changed. We’re interested in your query ‘loaded up’. Tell us what you would like to see in terms of loaded up for passage and we can show that. We will be heading to Vanuatu soon so can think about it.

[@russellneville7145]

Well done guys. So happy for you all. All your hard work has payed off. I'm a bit jealous to be honest. Say hi to the one life crew if you bump into them. Awesome people. Fare winds & following seas. SV Kiwi Lady Opua Bay of islands New Zealand 👍🏿

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you. Your hard work will too pay off.

[@AnthonyParr-do5jk]

We always manage to leave with a major hangover on a big trip 😄

[@sailingtetaiko]

😂

[@Silvius.2]

Thanks Would be nice show at night southern stars and moon light over sea. .. Without light this go pro or digital camera not good to filming stars? Night sailing must be nice... up north

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you for watching. When the full moon is out with little cloud, it is very beautiful. The GoPro is not really good at filming things like that. Night sailing can be very beautiful.

[@BobJones20001]

I like this. No click bait bikinis and some good reflections on sailing, the reason some of us watch. I'll check out your other vids as you seemed to keep up a good pace so I'm curious about the yacht make/model

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you 🙏

[@BobJones20001]

I've watched a few more, and it seems you are quite new to this with only a few passages under your belt but acclimatising rather quickly. Well done for having the drive and vision to just get on with it. Perhaps after spending a few months in the islands you'll be interested in giving us an insight to what you wish you knew before you started this adventure, a vid idea maybe

[@sailingtetaiko]

Thank you and for your positive feedback! Yes, you are right. We have been onboard Tāiko almost 3 years now but we’ve mostly coastal sailed around the northern part of NZ’s coastline. Sailing in NZ can be quite challenging. Adam gained experience by doing a couple of ocean crossings with very experienced sailors. His first passage was from Tahiti to Opua, NZ and his second was from Tasmania to Fiji so he had about 5,000 NM under his belt of ocean sailing before we did this trip to Fiji. This was my first crossing and I was very nervous. We really like your idea of a video on what we wish we knew so we will give it some more thought. Thanks again for supporting our channel by watching our videos. Vicki