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Hi team I am sailing an Outremer 45 2001 catamaran from Tahiti to NZ in October. I'm not an experienced sailor but do have sailing experience and heaps of motor vessel experience. Any advice would be appreciated. I've been told Jon, Booboo and island time are on here and know a thing or two. Once back in NZ my wife and 3 young ones will hop aboard and we will be living onboard. Thanks in advance

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Only advice I can think of quickly is stay above the tropic line to keep in the trades until Tonga or Fiji, the more westing you make the better your approach to NZ will be. North Minerva is often a good jumping off point, but you will want comms that allow weather updates as timing the last 3 days is everything 

Im picking your not keen to stop anywhere due to Covid ? Fiji is a backup plan but not sure about the details, they seem to be constantly changing.

Good luck, over 3000nm to Minerva if your straight lining it, then under 700 to Opua.

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With no covid you would clear out at Bora Bora, stop at maupiti (last atol in FP) then suwarow (northern cook islands), nuie, tonga Minerva and NZ.  Or the southern route aitutaki, palmiston, nuie.

But with covid I'm not sure exactly where you will be allowed to stop. As jon said Minerva is a great point to leave to NZ but I think you need 2 weeks at sea before entering NZ and they class that as a port even though its uninhabited. 

 

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2 hours ago, B00B00 said:

With no covid you would clear out at Bora Bora, stop at maupiti (last atol in FP) then suwarow (northern cook islands), nuie, tonga Minerva and NZ.  Or the southern route aitutaki, palmiston, nuie.

But with covid I'm not sure exactly where you will be allowed to stop. As jon said Minerva is a great point to leave to NZ but I think you need 2 weeks at sea before entering NZ and they class that as a port even though its uninhabited. 

 

Going by this https://www.noonsite.com/news/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-special-procedures-being-introduced-in-ports-of-entry-worldwide/ apart from Fiji, the Sth Pacific is closed. I see the Tongan link says you are supposed to get prior approval to stop at Minerva

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On 21/07/2021 at 8:15 AM, Jon said:

Only advice I can think of quickly is stay above the tropic line to keep in the trades until Tonga or Fiji, the more westing you make the better your approach to NZ will be. North Minerva is often a good jumping off point, but you will want comms that allow weather updates as timing the last 3 days is everything 

Im picking your not keen to stop anywhere due to Covid ? Fiji is a backup plan but not sure about the details, they seem to be constantly changing.

Good luck, over 3000nm to Minerva if your straight lining it, then under 700 to Opua.

 

On 21/07/2021 at 8:15 AM, Jon said:

Only advice I can think of quickly is stay above the tropic line to keep in the trades until Tonga or Fiji, the more westing you make the better your approach to NZ will be. North Minerva is often a good jumping off point, but you will want comms that allow weather updates as timing the last 3 days is everything 

Im picking your not keen to stop anywhere due to Covid ? Fiji is a backup plan but not sure about the details, they seem to be constantly changing.

Good luck, over 3000nm to Minerva if your straight lining it, then under 700 to Opua.

At the moment it looks like id need to follow the Samoan latitude due to the trades but I guess as the months progress that will move south and it could be a due west run and not risk loosing the wind. If I stop at the cooks and then again in Tonga I guess by the time I reach opua I won't have much isolation left to do to make up my 2 weeks. Manerva would be a good option as well if I am a bit unsure about the window

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On 22/07/2021 at 9:14 AM, B00B00 said:

With no covid you would clear out at Bora Bora, stop at maupiti (last atol in FP) then suwarow (northern cook islands), nuie, tonga Minerva and NZ.  Or the southern route aitutaki, palmiston, nuie.

But with covid I'm not sure exactly where you will be allowed to stop. As jon said Minerva is a great point to leave to NZ but I think you need 2 weeks at sea before entering NZ and they class that as a port even though its uninhabited. 

 

Yeah the quarantine clock is reset if I stop at manerva. I can have that up my sleeve as a place to wait if needed and just do the extra quarantine on the boat once in NZ

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43 minutes ago, Capella said:

Yeah the quarantine clock is reset if I stop at manerva. I can have that up my sleeve as a place to wait if needed and just do the extra quarantine on the boat once in NZ

Only if it takes you 12 days from when you depart Minerva.  To avoid NZ MiQ you need to meet some very specific conditions. 

 

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On 26/07/2021 at 10:52 AM, Black Panther said:

I'm anchored off the customs dock in opua. Seen a handful of boats arrive then sit for a number of days with yellow signs saying keep away.

Yeah after more research I won't be stopping anywhere. So will well and truly have my quarantine finished before arrival. 

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Any advice on my side stays. They are 20mm dyneema. Not sure if they are 2010 or 2016. Apart from inspecting for chafing or uv damage by looking for snapped fibers what else can I do apart from just replacing them as a preventative measure?

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6 hours ago, Capella said:

Any advice on my side stays. They are 20mm dyneema. Not sure if they are 2010 or 2016. Apart from inspecting for chafing or uv damage by looking for snapped fibers what else can I do apart from just replacing them as a preventative measure?

Well hopefully the bondage & whips guy will jump in here, who specialises in string, but for me there's a bit difference between 2010 & 2016.

One is fine, the other would have a question mark over it for me?

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8 hours ago, Capella said:

Any advice on my side stays. They are 20mm dyneema. Not sure if they are 2010 or 2016. Apart from inspecting for chafing or uv damage by looking for snapped fibers what else can I do apart from just replacing them as a preventative measure?

20mm?!

Noting that Dyneema is a brand name, is it actually Dyneema made by DSM? DSM released a study a few years back (I can't find a link).

Their findings were 60% strength loss after 10yrs of uv exposure. 

New 20mm dyneema would have a breaking strain of around 30,000kg.

 

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9 hours ago, Capella said:

Any advice on my side stays. They are 20mm dyneema. Not sure if they are 2010 or 2016. Apart from inspecting for chafing or uv damage by looking for snapped fibers what else can I do apart from just replacing them as a preventative measure?

Have they got covers on ? That will help protect from UV and abrasion.  I replaced my 16 mm ones after 10 years (had covers on them) and had one tested which came out surprisingly well ( from memory they got to 80% before stopping ie they didnt test to break point). As mine were over size ( I could have come down in size) I was still well and truly covered although I was happy to replace after that length of time (with 16 mm)

 

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4 hours ago, CarpeDiem said:

20mm?!

Noting that Dyneema is a brand name, is it actually Dyneema made by DSM? DSM released a study a few years back (I can't find a link).

Their findings were 60% strength loss after 10yrs of uv exposure. 

New 20mm dyneema would have a breaking strain of around 30,000kg.

 

60% is a bit unnerving but I think they are covered and I guess the UV up there isnt as bad

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3 hours ago, 1paulg said:

Have they got covers on ? That will help protect from UV and abrasion.  I replaced my 16 mm ones after 10 years (had covers on them) and had one tested which came out surprisingly well ( from memory they got to 80% before stopping ie they didnt test to break point). As mine were over size ( I could have come down in size) I was still well and truly covered although I was happy to replace after that length of time (with 16 mm)

 

Yeah that's comforting. I'm pretty sure they are covered so hopefully mine are more than 80% as well. I guess the only way to check is take them off and put a load cell on them and if happy then put back on?

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47 minutes ago, Capella said:

60% is a bit unnerving but I think they are covered and I guess the UV up there isnt as bad

Even at 60% loss they are rediculously oversized.

You could hang four fully laden Toyota Land Cruisers off them and still not break the line.  I suspect your deck fittings would rip off well before you got the fourth land cruiser hooked up. 

For a 100kg human to break the line would require a fall so significant that, (assuming your harness was strong enough), it would rip you apart before you broke a 12000kg line.

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7 hours ago, CarpeDiem said:

Even at 60% loss they are rediculously oversized.

You could hang four fully laden Toyota Land Cruisers off them and still not break the line.  I suspect your deck fittings would rip off well before you got the fourth land cruiser hooked up. 

For a 100kg human to break the line would require a fall so significant that, (assuming your harness was strong enough), it would rip you apart before you broke a 12000kg line.

Yeah I hear you. Do you know roughly what loads are generated when rigs usually fail? Is there a common weakest link?

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