Greetings from Opua!

Hi Everybody,
Made it to Opua NZ in 9 days 6hours from Sydney, pointing most of the way with NNE winds that ranged from 0 to 40 knots and seas from flat calm to 3-4 meters. We are told that this is one of the worst 4 ocean crossings. Caprice handles very well, even in rough seas, although when we spotted a huge lightning storm behind us, Vaughn put the "pedal to the medal" with both engines and Carol hugged the EPIRB most of the night. I really enjoy the Spectra Watermaker. It is so neat to be able to take a shower in 15 -25 knot winds. I can't imagine doing that in a monohull. We only saw 5 ships during the entire Tasman Sea crossing and no airline contrails. But now we are in the quaint little village of Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The marine facilities are excellent and the local supermarket has most of the provisions we need.
The local Opua Cruising Club is a lot like RYC - family type, cook your own steak and reasonable prices. We will join them for Xmas day dinner, where everyone brings something and helps out. Met Commodore and Nancy Tompkins here yesterday. Small world.
David Rasmussen and Vaughn were perfect crew members for the Tasman Sea crossing - pleasant, skillful and very helpful. Couldn't have asked for a better crew for our maiden voyage. Of course Carol kept the stew pot full although we didn't eat nearly as much as she anticipated.
Jenny and the grandkids are due in Auckland tomorrow morning, so Vaughn and David are driving down to pick them up. Looking forward to cruising out to some of the Islands to do some snorkling and to test out our Hookah.

Land Ho!

Hi Everyone,
Can you imagine, here we are beating upwind in 15 - 20 knot winds at 6.5 knots in the Tasman Sea and taking a shower? With the watermaker, we can enjoy such luxuries every few days. We spotted the Three Kings Islands at 1530 today. Soon we will fall off and head for Opua (Bay of Isles), where we will check into customs, set foot on land and find a laundromat. We may even get some time to try our our Hookah in the clear waters of Bay of Isles. We expected the crossing to haved taken 10 days total, so we are right on schedule. Much of the trip we motorsailed to keep moving during the light winds and to get to New Zealand as much before Jenny's, Michaela's and Westley's arrival as possible. We have all enjoyed the trip, learned a lot about Caprice and ourselves along the way. Had a variety of weather from zero wind and flat, calm seas, to 35-40 knot winds with 4 meter seas. All in a day's work. Caprice handles beautifully and takes even gale winds in stride. Vaughn and David have been invaluable crew members, handling all situations with precision and calm. They have been a real pleasure to have aboard. We found that the iPods (one per person) are extremely useful and help the watches go by very quickly.
Cheers.
Dan, Cook Carol & Super Crew

All is well!

All is well aboard Caprice. Little rain for the last 24 hours. We are all ready to see land. we figure that we have about 2 to 3 more days to New Zealand.
-Caprice