Year Two
Date: 28/5/2008 10:00
Weather: 26 deg celcius
Location: Tongatapu (21 08.28' S, 175 10.95' W)
Author: Peter

After our second major crossing we were starting to wonder what we had let ourselves in for. Our first crossing from Australia to New Zealand saw us sail through one gale and days of squalls with winds consistently up in the thirties and a maximum wind in the fifties. By the time we arrived we were both extremely tired and had had enough and we had a fast crossing (seven days). We had left Australia on a great forecast but the high pressure system on which we had hoped to ride the front edge of across the Tasman Sea decided to park itself in the Great Australian Bite. This in turn caused a set of three lows to also stall directly over New Zealand creating the squally conditions as they circled one another.

Our second major crossing from New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga again saw us leave on a positive forecast. Along with 4 other yachts heading for Tonga and a few more heading for Fiji we left on the back of a low with strong gale force winds from the stern. We then headed east of the rhumb line towards the Kermadec Islands for the forecast south easterlies that were to take us then quickly up to Tonga. Again the forecast was completely wrong. After three days of running in 30+ knots we then had a day of no wind. This was again followed by another unforseen low pressure system, giving us winds in excess of thirty knots but this time on the nose as we now found ourselves on the wrong side of the rhumb line sailing straight through the centre of the low (maximum wind 41.3 knots). By this point in time we were really starting to wonder if this is what ocean crossings were always like. Finally as we approached Tonga and we thought that the journey was over the wind again completely stopped and we bobbed around for an extra 12hours before we started to move again and finally made it. Apparently another fast crossing at 8 days.

Since our arrival we have gained some hope after discussions with fellow cruisers. Those on the crossing with us, and many more sea miles under their belts have commented that they have never had two gales in a crossing before and how rough this crossing was. Others here who are "in the know" have commented that we have done two of the hardest crossings possible (I am not sure) and come through well with only some very minor breakages. They have said that the Tasman Sea is renowned for bad weather and the winds around New Zealand for being notoriously bad.

They have all said that they usually spend most of their time in winds between ten and twenty knots (heaven) and it was rare to see wind over twenty-five. All this gives us heart that the rest of the journey should be nice and that we have just had a few difficult crossings. We also now have four months in which to forget.

On a side note after our depressed feelings after each crossing and our discussions with fellow cruisers we are contemplating heading back to Australia this season. The advice we are getting says this is a better option than getting slammed again while trying to beat back into New Zealand and then back to the tropics next year. Also New Caledonia and Vanuatu are easy sails from Australia (apparently).

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