Captain's Log
16 February 2000

Passing North Cape NZ

By mid afternoon yesterday the wind failed us and the ship motor sailed the last 15 nautical miles to the anchorage in Whangaroa Harbour. Once at anchor the crew proceeded ashore and commenced the hike to a local peak called ‘Dukes Nose’. The track was steep, wet and slippery which made the going tough. The effort was well worthwhile as the view from the top was absolutely stunning. The return journey was more difficult as it started to rain and some people spent more time on their bottoms rather than their feet. With all crew back onboard by 1800, the pool was opened allowing everybody to go for a swim and get rid of the mud that most were covered in.While the crew had been climbing, the chef had prepared a BBQ on deck (despite the rain) and we all ate very well. For some, this had been their first meal in a while that had not been converted into fish food. Those who had been sick were all looking much happier. All good things must come to an end and at sunset we weighed anchor and proceeded out of the harbour. I will certainly return to this anchorage in the future, hopefully in my own yacht one day. Once back out to sea the ship was forced to motorsail due to light winds. North Cape (NZ’s most northerly point) was passed at 0300 and the ship then altered to the west towards home.We are currently motor sailing in very light winds on a stunning clear blue sky day. It would be great to be on a beach somewhere but somewhat frustrating in a sail training vessel. We are still rolling around a bit but nearly all signs of seasickness have gone. Hopefully we will get some breeze this afternoon so that we can conduct some tacking drills and shut down the engines.

Latitude/Longitude:

34° 17' South / 171° 56'

Conditions:

Course 270, Speed 7kts, Wind light and variable, Temp 24C, clear blue skies.