It is early autumn here in Opua, certainly some weeks behind the much cooler South Island seasons.

The last few days have seen misty mornings turn into glorious blue sky days.

We took the opportunity to take Curious out into the Bay of Islands to give both Terje and new crew Darren

some time getting used to the boat. We were joined by Darren’s wife Wendy and together they run a yacht charter

and sail training business here in Opua. An experienced coastal sailor and yacht instructor Darren is keen to get some ocean

passages under his belt and will be a real asset on the journey back to Fiji.

A number of boats have headed out after waiting for a week or more for a better weather window but with a mixed bag of northerlies

forecast for the next few days and with days in hand we have decided to wait for an improved forecast before we too head north.