tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48608295267111683112024-03-05T21:32:51.351-08:00SAILING MOONSHADOWJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-44420139886824712962019-04-25T11:21:00.001-07:002020-04-28T08:39:11.679-07:00Epilogue, Part I
Moonshadow has sold
From Tenacatita it is a short hop down to Barra Navidad where the Grand Isla Navidad Resort has a marina offering hotel amenities to their guests aboard yachts.
We've been here before and liked the place.
Come on, it has a swim up-bar!!
We needed a place to leave Moonshadow while we flew home for a short John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-24849771339852470912019-02-13T13:56:00.000-08:002019-02-13T14:06:07.708-08:00A Whale of a Tail
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p.p5 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-84255616248740520092018-11-24T12:55:00.000-08:002018-11-24T13:40:51.822-08:00Cruising Again!
Back in San Diego the May Gray and June Gloom were beginning to break their grip on the coastal section and our morning walks were starting to pay rewards.
We never get tired of the ever changing sights along the La Playa trail with interesting yachts...
...and interesting waterfront homes.
And what could be easier on the eyes than a PC, built in San Diego by Kettenburg back John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-40601161085749953192018-05-08T17:00:00.000-07:002018-05-08T17:43:46.071-07:00Homecomings
The cruising life instills certain habits. Every day begins with a check on weather. Systems need checking, batteries need charging, water tanks need filling, is the fridge working? With Moonshadow secured aboard ship and all systems shut down, we stepped aboard our flight from Australia to San diego looking forward to being off-duty and reuniting with family and friends back John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-60413946779721946302018-01-28T00:06:00.002-08:002018-01-28T00:06:38.186-08:00Return to Sender
It was time to get Moonshadow up to Brisbane for her date with a big yacht carrier ship. As we took one last look at Sydney and Port Jackson's North Head in our wake, the weather was perfect - 15 knot southerlies with southerly seas measuring less than a meter.
But, as we know quite well by now, weather can change quickly. So when we saw the sky looking like this later that John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-20967094652611207572018-01-06T03:53:00.000-08:002018-01-06T04:47:31.554-08:00What Can You Do in Sydney?
As the crow flies, the distance between our two furthest positions, Sommes Harbor, Maine, and Sydney, Australia is about 8882 nautical miles. Yet somehow it took us 31,000 miles and six years to get here. Maybe that is why the sight of Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge seemed so monumental to us.
Whatever it was, it was just the beginning. Sydney was like no otherJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-84672649951710528262017-12-12T00:48:00.000-08:002017-12-12T04:22:24.403-08:00Reunions Down Under
After our tour of Fraser Island, we were presented with two options to continue further south along Australia's East Coast: Sail north to clear Fraser Island's northern Sandy Cape and the reefs and shoals that extend beyond the land there (about 105 miles additional distance), or navigate south inside the island along what is called the Great Sandy Strait.
John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-77125347451723428532017-11-15T17:05:00.001-08:002017-11-15T23:51:02.131-08:00High Winds and Shipwrecks
Needing to move south, it was time to say farewell to the Whitsunday Islands
After a windy night at Sawfell Island, we arrived at Middle Percy Island's West Bay. Here we saw the biggest tidal range of anywhere we've been. Twenty feet.
When somebody pulls the plug on the pond here, you better be in deep water.
Ashore, we noticed these tiny white signs posted on John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-8315032258064198962017-10-31T15:34:00.000-07:002017-10-31T15:34:26.637-07:00Selfies, Sunsets, and Smooth Sailing
We believe that when you have a good weather window, you take it. So when we left New Caledonia early, naturally our arrival in Australia was earlier than it needed to be, and we found ourselves somewhat stranded at the Mackay (pronounced "mak-eye") Marina until our flight back to San Diego. Anxious to see family and friends it seemed like that took forever. The marina is nice John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-77491203134276480932017-09-11T20:03:00.001-07:002017-09-11T20:11:33.271-07:00Après Pacific? Vamos por Mas!
In our last blog post, we mentioned strong westerlies while we were at Ile des Pins. On our return to Noumea, we found they had strong westerlies too. But the bay in Noumea is wide open to the west and here the wind was blowing 45 knots. That was enough to separate five boats from their moorings and send them all to their death on the rocks of the harbor. It didn't take long John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-88772941754544663502017-08-23T16:43:00.004-07:002017-08-23T16:43:44.771-07:00Pacific Cruise Sunset
In our last blog post, we claimed we'd be looking for some good sunsets. Some time ago, Moo-Crew-Deb challenged the rest of the crew to never miss a sunset, and the crew has responded. Unless it rains, we're all present and accounted for in the cockpit, cameras and cocktails within reach, looking for that perfect sunset.
Is there such a thing?
Aren't they all perfect inJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-66617469050915443872017-08-09T18:21:00.003-07:002017-08-10T13:19:57.133-07:00South Seas Light Shows
Celebrating the Fourth of July in Musket Cove, Fiji reminded us just how fast the cruising season was passing. We had to move on, but first dress up Moonshadow for Independence Day!
Perhaps the very best part of the cruising life is when you hear someone hail "Moonshadow", then you go on deck to find friends in a dinghy who you haven't seen since that exotic anchorage a year or John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-43296461199280332312017-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:002017-07-05T03:29:05.136-07:00Fiji the Second Time Around
Last year's tour through Fiji was not the original "plan". We came here to escape the relentless rain and gloom we found in Tonga. We loved every minute here last year so it's no surprise our Fiji track this year looks like a carbon copy. But we've stopped at some of the places we missed before to fill in the gaps.
One such place was a horseshoe bay on Matagi Island, theJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-9622366711665932802017-05-28T13:23:00.000-07:002017-05-28T14:08:10.465-07:00We Wonder: Which Weather Window
Opua, New Zealand is the launchpad for cruisers ready to head north looking for tropical relief from the Kiwi temperatures which begin to drop ever more noticeably about the time the cyclone season ends. It doesn't seem to matter where you want to end up, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, or Australia, odds are you will be in the crowd in Opua trying to understand the weather options forJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-35433585868986373242017-05-14T23:08:00.001-07:002017-05-14T23:08:34.029-07:00Shake Down
We have learned that after any significant work is done, it is imperative to have a shake down cruise so we can identify any issues before leaving the area. So, on our 200 mile round trip from Whangarei to Auckland and back, when we discovered a problem with the propeller shaft seal that had just been replaced, we scheduled a return to the boatyard to sort things out. We entered John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-36964936199757763212017-04-28T18:26:00.000-07:002017-04-28T18:28:59.707-07:00Worlds Apart
We know. It's been a long time since we've posted to our blog. What can we say? We've been busy! Not all of our time has been spent sitting on the balcony in Solana Beach, watching sunsets and thinking about Moonshadow so far away over the horizon. But some was.
When we weren't doing that, we were visiting family...
...and old John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-87899184336251238952017-01-10T21:41:00.001-08:002017-01-11T17:45:17.815-08:00Homes Away from Home
While hiding out in New Zealand to avoid the tropical cyclone season, our plans were threefold: Attend to Moonshadow's refitting projects; travel to the States over the holidays to enjoy some time off the boat; and return to cruise and tour the country of New Zealand.
Moonshadow's refitting tasks required a haul out and that meant someone would be living aboard while "on the hard"John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-54759182708730734222016-11-19T09:58:00.000-08:002016-11-19T21:59:19.506-08:00Full disclosue
Well now. How does one sum up a year like the one we've had aboard Moonshadow? Maybe the image below is a good place to start.
It is truly a big place, this Pacific Ocean. Moonshadow's wake during the 2015-2016 cruising season, starting in San Diego, ending in Whangarei, New Zealand, and including stops in Mexico, measures exactly 10,000 nautical miles. Here are John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-49714434254637847662016-10-06T16:32:00.002-07:002016-11-19T22:17:00.861-08:00Reunions
One of the things that we love about living on the sea is the constant change in our surroundings. Take the ocean. Below is what we saw after leaving Yadua crossing some of the bluest and calmest stretches of water we've seen. The water was so clear you could easily see 100 feet into the depths, maybe more. The sun's rays seem to just go on to infinity.
When we John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-41528658277417288422016-09-25T15:02:00.000-07:002016-09-25T15:02:45.948-07:00Barge Salvage in Paradise
With rainy weather finally behind us, we worked our way west from Savusavu along the southern coast of Vanua Levu, then up the western shore to the large open Bua Bay from which we could see our next day's destination: the island of Vadua.
After getting Moonshadow anchored and ready for the night, there was nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the sunset.
The sun put on quite a showJohn and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-47542264985562670512016-09-19T12:08:00.000-07:002016-09-19T12:22:56.593-07:00Fiji Phase One
After two nights and a day sailing from Tonga, a
glorious sunrise welcomed us to Fijian waters. Having endured weeks of rain and gloom in Tonga, seeing and feeling the warm sun was a welcome development.
We planned to arrive at the eastern edge of Fiji's waters at dawn because we still had day of navigating the countless reefs atolls and islands in the Lau Group of Islands. &John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-14362302951345322282016-09-02T19:20:00.002-07:002016-09-02T19:22:32.146-07:00Tonga, Tonga, Tonga
It seems most all the "Yachties"
(that's what they call us in these parts - it sounds better than homeless people) make Neiafu their base of operations in Tonga, then loop out to a few anchorages and return for supplies and to reconnect with other yachtie friends at one of the many restaurants and bars along the waterfront.
That's what we did.
Described as a "John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-71126153694716873522016-08-04T17:57:00.001-07:002016-08-04T18:16:10.607-07:00Suwarrow: A Pit Stop on the Way to Tonga
Our days in French Polynesia were numbered. Literally. The government here gave us (and all non EU member passport holders) just 90 days to see their five archipelagos and countless islands. So we had to go on July 17, exactly 90 days after checking in at Hiva Oa.
Our friends Mark and Dee aboard Speakeasy were in the same boat, so we celebrated our cruising exploits in John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-26470207046224098312016-07-13T02:22:00.000-07:002016-07-13T03:09:49.218-07:00South Seas Shuffle in the Societies
The Society Islands, one of five island groups that make up French Polynesia, run roughly 200 miles from the south end of Tahiti northwest to Bora Bora. Huahini, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Bora Bora are loosely referred to as the Leeward Islands because the prevailing south-east winds put them directly downwind of Tahiti and Moorea. So we planned both sets of visits by the kids to start John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860829526711168311.post-37498249490987534552016-06-29T12:19:00.001-07:002016-06-29T12:29:19.152-07:00The Societies - Six Islands in Nine Days
After leaving the tranquil Marquesas forty-five years ago when John arrived in one of the South Pacific's busiest cities, Papeete, it felt like we'd sailed into Los Angeles. This time around a very fast passage transported us from Hirifa, a motu on the Fakarava atoll, population 3, to Papeete, population ah, well... a lot. Our mission was to reprovision after two months John and Deb Rogershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13898216387828141515noreply@blogger.com1