Closing out the season
Having survived our first cyclone tropical storm we were finally able to progress south towards Whangarei where Meriwether had a scheduled haul out in less than two weeks, and Kerri and I had flights back to the US booked for 4 days after that. There was a lot to do before both dates, so any major sight seeing was off the itinerary.
First task was to travel the 80-ish miles along the New Zealand coast line, which lacked a whole lot of safe anchorages along the way. Surely, we could have done it as one long sail – taking about 14 hours total – but we chose to break it up into a few more manageable chunks. Step 1 was just to get back out to Deepwater Cove (1) to stage ourselves for the following day’s milder sea state to venture out into the ocean itself. After a good night of rest, we set off – escorted by dolphins – and rounded Cape Bret and the famous “hole in the rock”. A fair wind carried south for six hours where we once again dropped anchor and overnighted at Whangaruru (2). Another day of good winds and ix hours of sailing brought us down to Tutukaka (3). Along the way we were among a few other boats making the same trek, either North or South. It was practically an Interstate Highway passing by so many other sailboats, but it did provide a little bit of excitement in an otherwise boring sail. With weather beginning to threaten another big blow by the afternoon of day four, we woke very early to knock out the last six hour sail to Marsdon Marina (4).
Initially we were going to stay at anchor for the week before heading the last 12 miles into Whangarei, but this area is a commercial port and not scenic at all, and we had a list of chores to accomplish. Kerri was crammed with work, and Meriwether needed a lot of prepping for a six month stay on the hard. Staying in the marina gave us both the ability to get shit done, even when the weather wasn’t playing nice. Oh, and hot showers, of course!
Four days to get down the coast of Northland, something we thought we’d be doing and enjoying at a slow pace. But it’s already mid-month and we can’t afford any more weather delays on our tight schedule between hauling out and catching a plane back to the states. Looking at the forecast in the coming days, we decided we wanted to make it all the way to Marsden Cove before the next big weather system. There, we’ll take a slip and begin prepping for six months away from Meriwether (never has either of us been away for longer than a month since we moved in). Now that we’ll begin splitting our time between the van in North America and the boat in the South Pacific and below, we need to sort through our stuff and decide, pack, and mail what comes with us back to the states. Then there’s all the boat prep and arrangements for leaving Meriwether on the hard for half a year, including getting multiple surveys for insurance and some minor work to be done on the sails. – Kerri
Six days later we motored the final two hours to Norsand Yard (5) where Meriwether was pulled out of the water at 10am… where it took another five hours before we were able to set foot back onboard, completely tanking a day of prep work that were a scant few before our flight with lot to accomplish.
Yesterday was Meriwether’s last day in the water for at least six months. Our Visas in New Zealand are only good for 6months out of every 12, and after six years — with the longest time spent off the boat this past New Year for a month — we’re honestly burnt out. While most of our cruising cohorts are now jumping back *into* the water and heading back up to Fiji or Tonga, we simply need a break from crossing oceans. So back to the states we go to visit family, get our “new” van ready to roll, head back to our roots of full-time land travel, and take some time away to assess what comes next. For those who didn’t know us prior to our last six years aboard Meriwether: Tim and I spent the prior eight-ish years traveling North America by land. Early on, we were both solo, Tim in his van and me towing my 27′ Airstream. We met at a nomad gathering of friends in the California desert during New Years 2015. He moved into my Airstream shortly after, where we caravanned up to Alaska with other Airstream friends, and I moved into his van the following year, to travel down to Baja. The van won out in the end, the Airstream became an AirBnB on a ranch in the Sonoma coast for a short time, and then we sold both of them after moving into SV Meriwether. This past New Year, we sort of in a whim purchased a new (1995) 4WD Sportsmobile van that ticked all our boxes. We look forward to getting to places further out there where we couldn’t reach in 2WD Big Blue and couldn’t stay without the connectivity of satellite internet, since I still work. I’ve got a lot to say about the differences between vanlife and boatlife that won’t fit into this post. But one thing I’ll say, after one night on the hard, is I already miss the gentle rocking of the water. But for the next six months, I will rarely miss a good night’s sleep again. – Kerri
The next few days were all about prepping Meriwether for a long stay; 6 or so months to be exact. The list of things that had to be taken care of was long. From removing the sails, to emptying the fridge, by our last day onboard we could barely live on the boat. Finally, at 5am on the 8th of May, we left Meriwether behind and drove the 3 hours to the Auckland Airport and boarded an flight back to America.
24 hours later we had arrived at Kerri’s parents house where we both got some sleep. After weeks of a heavy workload preparing Meriwether for storage, I now begin the rebuild of the van’s interior. Last time it took three weeks. I expect about the same for this time around. Soon, I will be able to relax… soon.
PS – I will be blogging about our van adventures at www.van-tramp.com (not here). Once we return to Meriwether, in November or so, I will restart this blog.
Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Sounds like a slog. Be sure to give yourselves a break too!