tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494Sat, 05 Oct 2024 04:19:55 +0000New CaledoniaIlot AmedeeNew ZealandNoumeaRangitoto Islandhttp://www.svgypseaheart.com/noreply@blogger.com (Sandy)Blogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-1714850916954045235Wed, 31 Dec 2014 22:42:00 +00002015-01-02T12:18:43.742+13:00 HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM US TO EVERYONE!!!  We hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season.  Speaking of season, here’s our cruising season wrap up.  From the title, you’re probably thinking what Vanuatu and New Caledonia, I thought they already made it down to New Zealand.  Well, you would be absolutely correct, however, we missed many http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2015/01/happy-new-year-vanuatu-and-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)3Whangarei, New Zealand-35.7251117 174.323708-35.9313977 174.00098450000002 -35.5188257 174.6464315tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-6342430542232150383Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:10:00 +00002014-11-24T15:19:15.393+13:00 Personal Note to Family and Friends:  Congratulations Ari and Andrea on the arrival of your beautiful little acorn, so exciting!  I am sure that Grandpa Ron and Grandma Rita are thrilled too.  We can't be happier for you.  Happy Birthday, Walt wish we could celebrate with you!!!  Cheers!  Happy Belated Birthday, Jerry.  We miss you when are you coming for a http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/11/sailing-from-new-caledonia-to-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)2Opua, New Zealand-35.3130147 174.112708-35.3648372 174.032027 -35.261192199999996 174.193389tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-2238201966956336535Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:48:00 +00002014-11-14T15:48:25.065+13:00Yesterday, we sailed down to Ile de Pins after a quick overnight stop at Baie Kouo on Isle Ouen. It was basically a place to stage, because we left Noumea too late to arrive in Ile de Pins before dark. It was a pretty anchorage with lots of singing birds all around, and it was flat calm so we slept well. Our sail to Ile de Pins was slow mostly making 5-6 knots, but at least we were able to http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/11/ile-de-pins-new-caledonia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-6761261592869124975Wed, 12 Nov 2014 03:52:00 +00002014-11-13T08:49:22.681+13:00 Personal Note to Family and Friends:  We know that each person/family has their own personal struggles and celebrations, but please know that we are there with you in both.  For privacy reasons, we won’t address everyone here, but for those who have already made some of their personal triumphs and challenges public here’s a few messages we’d like to share.  Tracy McMorrow:  http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/11/noumea-new-caledonia-cooking-exploring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Noumea, New Caledonia-22.2758 166.45799999999997-22.3933585 166.29663849999997 -22.1582415 166.61936149999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-1507521563883455611Fri, 31 Oct 2014 06:42:00 +00002014-11-12T10:49:38.074+13:00 I mentioned in our previous post that we were driven out of Signal (Te Ndo) Island due to wind conditions which made the anchorage uncomfortable.  The wind was blowing about 20 knots by the time we left Signal around noon which made for a quick sail North to Baie Maa about 5-6 nautical miles away.  Baie Maa has some nice protection from all winds except Westerly and good holding, so http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/10/baie-maa-new-caledonia-happy-halloween.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Maa Bay, New Caledonia-22.2024606 166.3376786-22.231863099999998 166.2973381 -22.1730581 166.37801910000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-7403080766737881990Thu, 30 Oct 2014 05:00:00 +00002014-11-11T19:15:23.397+13:00 We arrived here on Sunday, October 30th my dad’s birthday … HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!.  After a fantastic sail, we dinghied over to Astarte. During cocktail hour we admired this beautiful sunset behind Gypsea Heart.  What a great way to start an evening. Gypsea Heart Then we were treated to a spectacular dinner with our main course being Veal Cordon Bleu with rotini pasta and http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/10/ilot-te-ndo-signal-island-dive-bombing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Îlot Signal, New Caledonia-22.2972144 166.29352670000003-22.3045599 166.28344170000003 -22.289868900000002 166.30361170000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-7826270407138582085Thu, 30 Oct 2014 03:13:00 +00002014-10-30T16:38:36.557+13:00New CaledoniaNoumea We spent a quick couple of nights at Port Moselle marina.  We did some quick grocery shopping, enjoyed some fast internet and tried very hard to get the iPad fixed with no luck.  No worries, I'll get it all worked out in New Zealand.  We were antsy to get back out again, because the weather is gorgeous.   Our friends, Michael and Barbara on the sailing vessel Astarte http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/10/noumea-new-caledonia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)3Noumea, New Caledonia-22.2758 166.45799999999997-22.3933585 166.29663849999997 -22.1582415 166.61936149999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-2665182679862657453Sun, 26 Oct 2014 23:49:00 +00002014-10-30T13:23:46.361+13:00Ilot AmedeeNew Caledonia We left Ilot Ua around 8 a.m. after listening to the Gulf Harbour Radio net on SSB (8752 Mhz which begins at 6 a.m.).  We had a beautiful sail to Ilot Amedee taking the scenic route (which is not the most direct path) and traveling along the very edge of the Southern Lagoon reef.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the we cruised along at a moderate ~5 knots with just the jib (most http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/10/ilot-amedee-new-caledonia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)4Amédée Islet, New Caledonia-22.4767717 166.46896100000004-22.4804397 166.46391850000003 -22.4731037 166.47400350000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-5465884086527650524Sun, 26 Oct 2014 00:12:00 +00002014-10-30T12:24:49.880+13:00 Yes, yes, it has been awhile since our last post. Our friends on Evergreen (Heather and Jon), Panta Rhei (Larry and Karen) and Blue Rodeo (Mark and Anne) are so diligent about keeping their blogs up to date it puts us to great shame. They have wonderful blogs with exciting, interesting and funny adventures (I will provide their blog addresses as soon as we have internet). Even though we have http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/10/five-islands-area-new-caledonia-updated.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)3New Caledonia-20.904305 165.61804200000006-24.691526 160.45446800000005 -17.117084000000002 170.78161600000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-9076195304508127345Wed, 09 Apr 2014 17:30:00 +00002014-08-15T10:18:59.649+12:00New ZealandRangitoto Island On April 8th, we had a wonderful though slow and short (approximately 7 nm) sail from Pier 21 Marina in Auckland to Rangitoto Island. It was a beautiful sunny day with calm seas and an easy downwind sail with the jib moving us along at a slow 4 knots just right to enjoy a sail after being in a marina for a week.  I snapped this shot of Rankin as we drifted by the Auckland city skyline http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2014/04/rangitoto-island-new-zealand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Rangitoto Island, 1010, New Zealand-36.7898759 174.86721710000006-36.8407434 174.78653610000006 -36.739008399999996 174.94789810000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-6411791216732954829Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +00002013-03-26T17:06:31.144+13:00 As you may remember, back in June 2010 we took a family vacation to the Galapagos to celebrate Janie’s birthday (Rankin’s mother) .  We were so excited, because this time we were back only now we were on our own boat.  We left Las Perlas (Panama) around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29th.  The winds were light so we tried to fly our spinnaker (a light weight sail), http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/04/san-cristobal-galapagos-ecuador.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Galapagos, Ecuador-0.92555788742285361 -89.4451904296875-1.1795898874228536 -89.7679139296875 -0.67152588742285357 -89.1224669296875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-8681844811003899432Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +00002013-02-14T20:32:25.854+13:00 After a four day trip from Jamaica, we arrived in Portobello, Panama on Saturday morning (February 11th).  Upon our arrival, we were completely surprised by the large number of boats anchored in the harbor.  During our last visit in 2007, there were only a dozen boats or so anchored in Portobello.  As we entered the harbor, there were about 30-40 boats anchored.  We had http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/03/panamashelter-bay-marina-panama-canal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)1Gatun Locks, Panama9.2736102 -79.9229166999999739.2579392000000009 -79.943086699999967 9.2892812 -79.90274669999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-4638659869364794704Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +00002013-02-14T20:54:44.914+13:00 We left Port Antonio, Jamaica on Thursday, February 2nd around 5 p.m. and had decent night sail to Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We dropped our hook in the harbor which was a feat in itself because there was very little room.  When our friends, Debbie & Terry on the sailing vessel Wings who arrived just ahead of us, went into the marina it freed up a nice anchor spot for us so we quickly http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/02/montego-bay-jamaica.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Montego Bay, Jamaica18.4666667 -77.91666670000000718.3461812 -78.0780282 18.587152200000002 -77.755305200000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-2240377020002761239Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:59:00 +00002012-02-03T10:31:18.943+13:00On Sunday, January 22nd, we spent most of the day waiting for customs and immigration. No problem, mon, it’s Sunday.  Clayton from the health department came aboard around noon and gave us the thumbs up.  This meant we were allowed to remove our quarantine flag, raise our Jamaican flag and were now permitted to leave the boat though we were still waiting for immigration. Another boat http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/01/port-antonio-jamaica.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)1Norman Ln, Port Antonio, Jamaica18.1757009 -76.450252518.1606144 -76.4699935 18.190787399999998 -76.430511500000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-8348739590000124052Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:27:00 +00002012-02-03T10:28:56.354+13:00After waiting for over a week for a decent weather window to Cartagena, Columbia, we finally had an opportunity to head south for a few days not to Cartagena as originally planned but to Jamaica Port Antonio to be exact.  So, we left Clarence Town Long Island Bahamas around 6:30 a.m. and immediately realized there’s no wind at least not enough to sail. No wind means no sailing, but we threw http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/01/sail-long-island-bahamas-to-port.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-7590319540353434366Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:37:00 +00002012-01-14T10:37:29.595+13:00Around 9 a.m. on Monday, January 9th, we raised the mainsail, the anchor and then the jib leaving Conception Island behind.  We dropped two fishing lines in the water hoping we'd get lucky and had a wonderful sail down to Long Island experiencing winds 10-15 knots and rolling seas about 5-8 feet.  It was a bright sunny day and it felt wonderful to sail again.  Suddenly, we hear thehttp://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/01/long-island-bahamas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Long Island, The Bahamas23.1764239 -75.096154922.7093234 -75.7278689 23.6435244 -74.4644409tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-4953464884601038360Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +00002012-01-14T08:37:13.416+13:00We left Dreamer and the Exumas behind on Thursday, January 5th evening and had a beautiful night sail to Conception Island, a land and sea park, about 80 nm east.  We arrived Conception around 7:30 a.m., took a quick nap then had a nice snorkel on a coral patch located near the boat.  It was a beautiful, sunny warm day, so we continued exploring and met another boat anchored nearby http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/01/conception-island.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Conception Island, The Bahamas23.8345389 -75.113672123.6021519 -75.4295291 24.066925899999998 -74.797815100000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-7539182255532498757Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +00002012-01-14T06:53:08.126+13:00We left Highborne Cay on Monday, January 2nd around 10 a.m. with fishing and sailing in mind.  I guess between the two boats, we each had a different priority of the two thoughts.  While we were trying very hard to sail and did have a very nice spinnaker sail with our fishing line trolling through the water, Dreamer II was motorsailing along the coast also with a line in the water.&nbsphttp://www.svgypseaheart.com/2012/01/halls-pond-cay-exumas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)2Halls Pond Cay, The Bahamas24.3578783 -76.582054424.3000173 -76.6610184 24.4157393 -76.5030904tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-7305522676155327955Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:36:00 +00002012-01-12T13:00:11.517+13:00After Christmas, we stayed in Marsh Harbor until Friday, December 30th.  Between Christmas and the 30th on December 27th to be exact, we along with the crew from Dreamer II (Bill, Kim, Walt & Pat) rented a car to run errands around Marsh Harbor and explore a bit driving down to Pete's Pub, a little eclectic place, located south of Marsh Harbor.  After a 30 minute drive, remembering http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/12/tilloo-cay.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)1Tilloo Cay, The Bahamas26.4727663 -76.988787626.4159118 -77.0677516 26.5296208 -76.9098236tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-1918877997616162487Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:31:00 +00002011-12-27T12:48:17.577+13:00We arrived in Marsh Harbor and took a slip at the Jib Room as a Christmas present to ourselves ... water, electricity, cable which means football.  AAAHHH what a nice gift.  Shortly after we docked, we had a special visitor drop by ... Santa Claus and his Sumo Wrestler Elf!  What a surprise.  So,naturally, we invited Santa and his Sumo Wrestler Elf on board and sincehttp://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/12/marsh-harbor-happy-holidays.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Bay St, Marsh Harbour, The Bahamas26.542351 -77.0638226.4855305 -77.142784 26.5991715 -76.984856000000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-8439524510753634666Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:15:00 +00002011-12-27T12:46:55.583+13:00Before we began our update, we want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season.   We hope you had a wonderful holiday celebration as we did here in the Bahamas.  We've spent the past few weeks cruising around the various islands which make up the Abaco Islands.  In between bouts of high winds which keep us in harbor, we cruised around to Treasure Cay, Hope Town, and Great http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/12/abaco-islands.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Abaco Island, The Bahamas26.3555029 -77.148516325.9002214 -77.7802303 26.810784400000003 -76.5168023tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-6963210895350331787Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:45:00 +00002011-12-05T15:28:53.195+13:00We left Great Sale Cay on Monday, November 28th and enjoyed island hopping along the Northern islands (i.e. Carter's Cay and Powell Cay), something we had wanted to do for years. We especially liked Allans-Pensacola Cay with it's protected harbor and small, pretty beaches.  We had several days of downwind foresail only ghosting which was lovely.   We peacefully cruised around 4 to http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/12/marsh-harbor-bahamas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0Marsh Harbour, The Bahamas26.542351 -77.0638226.4855305 -77.142784 26.5991715 -76.984856000000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-564062406368643285Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:08:00 +00002011-12-05T13:45:12.083+13:00As of our last post, we had just arrived in West Palm Beach, Florida around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22nd.  Things were happening fast.  We had a decent weather window for a Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas, so we decided to leave West Palm Beach around 10 p.m. which gave us a few hours of rest and relaxation. Two other boats left West Palm Beach with us, a sailing vessel named http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/11/great-sale-cay-bahamas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)1Great Sale Cay, The Bahamas26.9966296 -78.210585726.940036099999997 -78.2895497 27.0532231 -78.1316217tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-2972606730389675500Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:29:00 +00002011-11-23T12:12:21.375+13:00After spending about two months in Charleston, South Carolina enjoying the beautiful city and waiting of hurricane season to end, we finally began making our way south.  We left Charleston on Sunday, November 13th made a quick overnight stop in Fernandina Beach, Florida on the 14th where we met up with our friends Dave and Camilla aboard Southern Heat.  We strolled for cocktails at http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/11/st-augustine-florida.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)0St Augustine, FL, USA29.8942639 -81.313208329.8392004 -81.3921723 29.949327399999998 -81.2342443tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2262064284071562494.post-3536069929190729664Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:07:00 +00002011-09-12T07:11:13.523+12:00Charleston City Marina We arrived safely in Charleston harbor yesterday around noon.  We're booked at the Charleston City Marina for a month which is located about two hour (sailboat time) down the harbor.  As we motor down the harbor, we slowly cruise past Fort Sumter on our port side ... it hasn't changed a bit.  The starboard side is lined with beautiful southern homes. http://www.svgypseaheart.com/2011/09/charleston-south-carolina.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sandy)071 Broad St, Charleston, SC 29401, USA32.7765656 -79.930921632.5629571 -80.2467786 32.9901741 -79.615064600000011