Noelle got rowed along the shoreline so she could get photos of the birds by her gondolier.

Adult Red-footed Booby

Immature Brown Booby. You can still see the baby down feathers stuck to his maturing feathers

Baby Red-footed Booby, we think

We saw this mother, or father, return from the sea with food for the baby

We really liked this anchorage and stayed there several days. In between birding expeditions we did some snorkeling. This is a Banded Sea Krait. Its venom is said to be 10 times stronger than a rattlesnake’s. We didn’t find out though thankfully!

Can never resist throwing in a photo of Clownfish. This is actually a Fiji Anemonefish

From our anchorage we made a trip to shore to look for coconuts

We then moved on to a different group of islands. The anchorage at Navutu-i-Loma was beautiful

Did some beach walking and Noelle thought she might have the fish eat the dead skin off her feet like we did in Thailand. This fish was a little bigger though!

Watching Noelle walk around the beach playing with the fish gets boring, but the dinghy is a good place for a nap

We had a calm day so we took the dinghy 3 1/2 miles to the atoll entrance as I thought it would be good snorkeling. The coral was mostly dead though. But we got some snorkeling in anyway found a little live coral

We arrived at Fulaga with the tide going out so had about 3.5 knots of current against us as we navigated the rather narrow pass

In Fulaga, after doing Sevusevu with the chief ( he accepts our gift of Kava and welcomes us to the village) you are assigned a host family. Our family fed us some roti’s for lunch and met their youngest daughter, Emily.

Roti’s were great and Emily sweet!

We then visited some wood carvers who were making bowls and bird statues. This island is known as the home of good wood carvers

You might have noticed the floor of our host families home was covered with woven mats. This lady is stripping pandas leaves before they are boiled and dried before weaving.

After a nice visit to the village we were off to our anchorage.

After using the dinghy to place the stern anchor out behind the boat I used the bow anchor windlass and the engine to put pressure on the centerboard. Didn’t take a picture with lines on so I drew one in the photo below. No luck. Still stuck. Actually tried this twice. Once in a shallow bay with mud bottom, stern anchor just pulled through the mud. Then a bay with a sand bottom (with few bommies to get hung up on) which held well.

So when all else fails its best to head back to Viani Bay and go snorkeling on Rainbow Reef again

We then caught a favorable wind back to Savusavu where there is a boatyard that has the largest travel lift in Fiji. We’ll need it since we have a 3 meter draft with the board down in order to haul out

Hauled out and within 2 hours, of hard work, had everything fixed with me under the boat and Noelle controlling lines.. Was able to unjam the board by beating on it with a large chunk of wood. We then lowered the board and I turned over the nylon slides that the board pivots on. It seems I installed them upside down in New Zealand when I did some service on the centerboard which seems to have caused all my problems. We even had to move the boat out over the water in the process because the travel lift could not get me high enough for the board to swing all the way down. All fixed now!

Now back to the marina to hang out a few days while a storm blows by

We took the dinghy from our anchorage to do some snorkeling out on Rainbow Reef. Found a pretty Rockmover Wrasse

Cool looking Blackfin Dartfish

And one of my favorite species to find on the reef. The elusive Blue Finned Dinghy Puller. I have photographed this species in Mexico, Panama, French Polynesia, Tonga, Indonesia, Thailand, Malyasia, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. Now in Fiji!

Amazingly whenever I see a Blue Finned Dinghy Puller it seems a shark is not far off. This time a Black Tipped Reef Shark

Had a nice last meal at the marina of fish and chips

Noelle hasn’t been at sea for almost 4 months. Our first day was rocky going into the wind and Noelle didn’t quite have her sea legs yet!

At least we were blessed with a pod of dolphin before we made it to our anchorage

We anchored in a place called Viani Bay. We took the dinghy to go to some good snorkeling spots. Noelle was feeling much better and was doing her hip surgery rehab with swimming

At least that was what I thought she was doing until I noticed a shark following her :)

Below the main restaurant at Nawi Island Marina they have names of visiting boats. On our 2nd visit to Fiji we were there soon after they opened and still under construction

We could not leave the marina in Illimité until we got a cruising permit which is going to take 5 days since we arrived on Friday. So we kept busy doing boat chores such as new hinges on the shower doors.

Still do not have our cruising permit but this may be our last good evening for the rest of Mikes visit as rain and high winds coming so no leaving the marina until after Mike leaves and Noelle arrives.

One of the nice things about owning a boat is that there is always something to do, so we kept busy with boat chores. Getting Illimité shiny and clean for Noelle’s arrival. Feel bad that Mike did not get to do much fun stuff after arriving. Mike left on a Saturday morning and Noelle arrived on the following Monday morning

Thought Noelle was getting off that plane pretty well for being 7 weeks post total hip replacement. Now the fun times can begin!!!

At the helm departing Whangarei, New Zealand. Temperature in the low 50’s, drizzling and windy

We pushed Illimité hard and by day 6 the large winter storm passed right over Whangarei and we managed to stay at the edge of it which gave us some good wind for sailing. Nothing over 29 knots.

Feeling good as we missed the storm, temperature is getting up in the 70’s during the day and only 3 days left for Fiji

With only one more day to go Mike lands a nice Mahi Mahi

Just downriver from Whangarei we had to have a bridge open for us so we could get through to town

We came to the marina in Whangarei a few days early to take care of a few things and wait out this storm that was heading our way

SV Azurite was already in Whangarei and we got together at a very nice Greek restaurant our first night

Illimité was full of fuel but my jerry cans were empty so when Julie got a van she gave me a ride to get them filled. The price was about 70% higher than a month prior. Also got a new propane tank filled. We don’t know what the fuel situation will be when we get back as they were saying New Zealand only had about 1 1/2 months of fuel left. So at least we are as prepared as we can be.

After a nice spell in town we went back through the bridge downriver about 3nm to Port Whangarei and had Illimité hauled out of the water. Since she has only been in the water for about 2 months we didn’t even have to power wash the bottom!

While Illimité is out of the water I am having a ding in my rudder repaired. We hit some small logs at night during our South Island attempt in February and one of them I think did this

Once Illimité was set on her blocks I hurried and got the rudder dropped out and then we drove to Aukland to catch our flight.

I plan to return to New Zealand in June, Noelle maybe later. With this change of plans we are putting off Tasmania until next year and may do a Tonga-Fiji loop this southern winter instead.

The North Island Kokako has cool blue waddles on his chin

Its obvious where the Whitehead gets its name!

If you are quiet and look closely you can sometimes spot a beautiful purple chested birdwatcher! I think this is the Floridian subspecies

The Stitchbird is one of my favorites as they have a pretty song

Through the trees on one trail we spotted Illimité riding peacefully at anchor

The Red Crowned Parakeet is always nice to spot and are frequently feeding on the ground

SV Chaos and SV Fundango came to our anchorage and joined us for happy hour one evening. We later went ashore that night and looked for Kiwi birds but no luck

The Tūī has a distinctive song as well as a unique white tuft of feathers from its chin

Some of the vineyards had sheep busily tending the vines, not sure how they train them

There were three gun batteries to protect Auckland and there was an extensive tunnel system connecting them

They were big guns as you can tell from the size of the yellow projectiles next to us

After our long hike we ended up back at the Man O’ War winery to do some wine testing and eating!

The Sky Tower of Auckland is visible in the distance as we approach.

After a few days in Auckland we’re back out to the islands in the Hauraki Gulf. A friend of ours took our photo from his boat at sunset on Waiheke Island.

The next day a friend of Noelles came over on the car ferry to visit us. After a tour of the boat she took us out to see the sites in her van. Unfortunately later that morning she tripped on the side walk and broke her arm as she fell. She got taken to Auckland in an ambulance leaving her van with us. So now we are having a ferry ride back to Auckland to get her van to her daughter. (She is out of the hospital now and doing well.)

After all that excitement we moved on to an island called Rotoroa that is a wildlife sanctuary to do some hiking

This endemic flightless bird is a Weka

Went out and did a little spearfishing. Water clarity was not the greatest though. Had fresh fish for dinner

The next day went snapper fishing with a friend and while cleaning fish on the back of the boat I had a visiter. I was putting the fish guts in a bucket so as to not attract sharks to the anchorage but just rinsing the fish in the water attracted them

This is a Bronze Whaler shark. Not especially agressive but I did take a little more care when washing the fish off in the water that I was dressing

Instead of fish that evening we went ashore and made pizza in a pizza oven that some boaters made for use in the anchorage. Worked really well!

Lots of beautiful tree ferns blocking out the sun

This walkway allowed me to cross over into the top of a 600 year old Kauri tree. These trees have been prized for their wood and over the centuries most were cut down. They are now protected.

Two happy hikers

At the peak you can see our anchorage. Illimité is actually still hidden by the hill

Moved the boat around the corner to the Cook’s Bay anchorage. We did a hike to the tip of a peninsula and the small beach in the middle is Lonely Beach. Cook careened the HMS Endeavour here in 1769 to clean the hull

Nearby was a cool cave we took the dinghy into

Illimité visible sitting at anchor outside

Then off to Great Mercury Island where we met up with SV Scout. A couple from England that we first met in Annapolis back in 2022

Got to discover that Teva sandals are probably not the best foot attire around cow patties

Enjoying the New Zealand countryside as we pumped some water out of a stream to a holding tank

The following day Jeremy and I did a little shooting with a 308. The target was a small hanging steal plate 325 yards away. Made it ring 4 times in a row! You can’t see it in the photo but it is at the tip of the arrow

After some nice dining out and grocery shopping it was time to move on and leave the farm

Moving north up the coast. The southern half of the North Island is having some record wind and rain

Right after rounding the East Cape of the North Island with a straight shot to the South Island we caught a 56 pounds yellow fin tuna. Right at the southern limit of their range

The next day we were expecting some beam winds around 20 knots and planned to make an anchorage where we were going to wait out some high winds that would be right on our nose before heading on south. Unfortunately at the aptly named Cape Turnagain we had sudden onset of 35-38 knot winds in front of us. We were prepared with 2 reefs for 20+ knot winds but needed 3 reefs for what we encountered. By the time I got the 3rd reef in there was no hope of making our anchorage before the worse winds arrived. So we “turnedagain” and headed back north.

I’ve had some people say they would love to see more video of storm conditions. This is what my tech room looked like after we turned around. Every thing fell out of the supportive net. The reality is these things usually occur around 0300 in the morning and you are busy trying to keep in control of the boat and not go overboard which would most likely be a death sentence. So not too many action shots

At least we had a nice dolphin escort back north to the land of the sun and not as fierce winds. We talked about pulling in to a marina and retrying but they were not getting back to us and we finally decided that it was getting late in the season anyway and kept going north. The first time in 11 years that we did not make a planned destination.

We also enjoyed some nice yellow fin tuna on our way back north

We went all the way to Whakatane where some friends of ours live nearby and they met us as we arrived. We had a 5 day journey ending up almost where we started!

Jeremy, our friend in Whakatane, said Cape Turnagain is known for its high winds and he himself and many other Kiwi sailers “turned again “ there just as we did. Looking forward to some relaxing days in Whakatane

Then flew back to New Zealand after a couple days delay due to canceled flights through Dallas and got Illimité back in the water with a new coat of bottom paint

Got busy installing new wiring for a new Starlink Mini as well as a few other projects

Took time to catch up with some of our New Zealand friends

Trying my hand at brewing beer

After getting some supplies on board we plan to head to the South Island of New Zealand. Weather permitting of course as it can be a bit stormy down there

We moved the next day to another anchorage for some hiking.

I know you're probably thinking we are hiking in Jurassic Park, but no. Just normal New Zealand fern trees

At the end of the trail was a pretty waterfall

The next day we had an escort to Tauranga, our final destination for the year

Coming into Tauranga

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Then on to Tiritiri Mantangi island. This island was all pasture by the early 1900’s but starting in the early 60’s thousands of volunteers (probably long haired pot smoking hippies) descended on the island and eradicated introduced pests and planted thousands of native trees and shrubs and then reintroduced endemic New Zealand wildlife. Today it is one of the more pristine parts of New Zealand where endangered endemic species exist without getting eaten by rats, dogs or cats.

The Tuatara resembles a lizard but is actually the only living member of a distinct lineage dating back to the age of the dinosaurs

If you look closely you can even see a birdwatcher with a camera. Sometimes they are hard to find but I find if you open a bottle of wine they seem to come around!

The Tui is also endemic to New Zealand. Definitely not endangered however. You can hear their beautiful songs all over

A little more endangered however is the red crowned parakeet

We went out at night one evening and walked trails hoping to see a kiwi. Did not see a kiwi but did have a couple encounters with Little Blue Penguins closer to the beach.

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