Crossing the Tasman Sea

0700 04/04/ 08 Position 29 49S 162 25E

We are currently midway between New Zealand and Australia traversing the Tasman Sea.

This is my third time crossing this body of water in the past three to four months. We've sailed from Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to the Marlborough Sounds in South Island New Zealand and now from Auckland to Queensland.

This morning the sun is rising over the eastern horizon, bursting light over the mixed swells and storm tossed Tasman. The first light of the day is spotlighting three intense water spouts (mini water tornados) just off of our port beam. In the darkness before sunrise we navigated around this strong squall line by watching it on our radar monitor. Sailing just south of it to avoid the high wind, and now we can see three water spouts! Good call to divert a few miles!

It really is an amazing sight, I guess mother nature is ever changing the seascape and horizons for us and that is one of the strong allures this occupation has for me.
It's so close yet we are out of harms way. One of the water spouts is a fierce solid dark column, absolutely exploding the oceans surface as it moves across it. Another water spout extends down from the squall clouds to the sea. It has a wicked arc to it...its building power, defining its shape, size and direction...it is twisting, bending and curving like a cobra ready to strike its prey.
To the right of this spectacular nature show is a SOLID wall of rain, none of the mornings powerful first light can penetrate this. Those sun rays that are making it above the horizon paint a bold yellow, gold and red background, creating an erie background for all of the action on our immediate horizon.

This stretch of the Tasman Sea between Cape Reianga NZ and Queensland Australia skirt two prevailing weather systems. Their are highs and lows coming over Australia and tropical lows forming in the north and piping out of the New Caledonia area. This morning we are splitting - aka "threading the needle" between two very powerful systems. A strong high pressure system (rotates counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that originated in Tasmania and a Tropical Depression - Low pressure system (rotates clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) that is moving very quickly out of Caledonia.

It's perfect sailing weather for us on this 1800 mile transit. We are scooting along at an easy 10 knots, rolling down 2 - 3 (6 to 10 feet) meter seas, broad reaching with the wind off of our port aft quarter.

To make the trip even more interesting and special, I am sailing with long time friend and mentor Murray Jacob. Murray is about as Australian as can be! He is chock full of knowledge and one of those few people I would trust my life with when in the s*#t on the high sea.

We are leaving Auckland "the City of Sails" just as signs of the Southern Hemisphere winter are revealing themselves. We have spent the last 5 to 6 months south of latitude 23 degrees south to avoid Cyclones. This is the same as the boats in the Northern hemisphere staying out of the Caribbean until November to avoid Hurricanes.

In this time we have hauled the 28 meter/90 ton yacht out of the water and completed an extensive refit. The goal of the refit is simple: to keep the 7 year old yacht in as close to "new" condition as possible and to ensure all systems are mechanically sound to insure our self sufficiency as we continue to circumnavigate the world.