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One more crew for Auckland-Christchurch trip 24th April


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We've got room for one more if anyone would like to help us sail from Auckland to Christchurch starting Tuesday 24th April on a Bavaria 49.  PM for details.

Hi, I hope your trip from Auckland went well. I am relocating our 50ft Ketch from Whangarei to Waikawa in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you have any thoughts based on your recent experience whether to go west or east coast of the NI. Cheers Tom

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Hi, yes it was fine if a bit tedious.  The BOP was great if lumpy, but then stuff all wind and a big storm arriving left us with options of Gisborne or Napier for a few days.  Naturally we chose Napier, which was a great place to stay, but that meant a whole lot of motoring to arrive in daylight.  Waiting for a weather window in Napier we skipped a couple of biggies that were 35-50kts forecast, so when we did finally leave we of course had absolutely zero wind and awful cross swells left behind.  Be aware that there is a whole lot of sod all from Napier to Wellington.  You are thus pretty much committed to a one-hit run.  I guess that's similar on the west coast, though.  

 

Doing it at this time of the year is likely to be a bit more pleasant although given the weather the last few days maybe not so much.  I don't like lee shores so would always choose to go East.  On the other hand our trip was from Auckland so way shorter going the east route than your plan.

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great tips, thank you so much for your prompt response. I think we'll go east, we just have to wait for a weather window and go for it. Number 1 objective is to get the boat to Waikawa so not too worry if we have to motor for a good part of the trip. We use Predictwind mostly and they provide a fairly accurate 5 days forecast but we'll also check other weather sources. Thanks again

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Good point, if we can get a dying southerly to push us up to Rienga before a NE would be ideal. I haven’t heard much about the north westerlies if you sailing the west coast. I understand that they are much stronger in the east coast as they pick up strength as they travel across the land....

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Even a westerly down the west coast is fine as your heading is 170deg after rounding the top

Whangarei to Waikawa will be much the same distance as from Auckland via the east coast

If your happy to take your time and seek shelter there are more options east

But I’d go north and wait for a settled westerly, hopefully with a little north in it and you will do most of the west coast in a few days

Just my thoughts

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Same Jon, I've done Auckland to Wellington /Mana/Nelson a few times now, and I prefer the West Coast down, and E coast back up...

No point in stopping on a delivery unless forced to by weather. Get a good 5 day forecast and go. Motor if it's to calm, motor sail if to weather. IMO.

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Cheers guys great advice I am starting to favour the west coast now. The boat has capacity for 1,800 litres of diesel consumption around 7 litres per Hour at 1,500 RPM so we won’t need to refuel even if we motor all the way. Still looking for an extra crew member, if you guys know of anyone let me know. Looking at start sailing around 8 Dec weather permitting of course. The boat is very comfortable and well equipped for offshore so it should be a pleasant trip in the right conditions. Cheers Tom

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