Expedition Cruising : Postcard from Mangonui

I have been to Mangonui three times before, but always as a stop on a 2 handed race around the North, and/or south Islands. No pressure this time, and its rather pleasant. We have walked the interestingly historic harbour town, getting a new appreciation of what a great little harbour it is, fantastically sheltered from the strong southerlies over the North Island at the moment.

My goal for this summer cruise was to explore more of the North East Coast that I have enjoyed so many times racing past, at a distance, hopefully exploring some less frequented areas. Its been an interesting holiday period, for weather. While feeling moderately adventurous, I am also in cruising mode, enjoying sleeping at night. So I now watch the weather from a cruising viewpoint There has been some interesting weather (omnipresent tropical lows) happening in our little corner of the Pacific .

This year is the first time I have been cruising with the full functionality of Expedition combined with Nexus instruments and Autopilot and weather fax via HF linked to our computer. (NO I am NOT a geek !) The nice thing for me is having more time (cruising, not racing shorthanded) to use the tools, which is always more interesting when you have a vested interest in the outcome, ie."optimised cruising".

Weather info recap.

I am using a standard gsm modem, on a 2Degrees plan, this has been working on parts of the coast, and perfectly in the Bay of Islands, Whangaruru (east and west arm) and Mangonui. The HF fax fills in the gaps, confirming the models when we are out of GSM coverage. We like Predictwind (for which we have a subscription) I can download High res (1km) for the Bay of Islands (covers Whangaroa to Tutukaka) Lower resolution (8km) for Northland (covers New Plymouth north to 3 Kings, and lower (100KM) resolutions for the ocean areas) p.s. I also listen to VHF weather for metservices version.

What does this mean ?

 

Information is good. I like to make informed decisions to maximise my (family and friends') time/enjoyment on the water. Have a look at this screen shot from Expedition. The leeward windshadow off Northland between Cape Brett and Cape Kari Kari extends for 100nm north out to sea. I find that incredible but we have found the Predictwind model to represent geographically modified winds i.e. high land/islands/ranges  very well in these cases, and are developing great confidence in the program.

I have studied weather with a great deal of interest and while I can understand and follow the outcome, I would not consider it intuitive and never cease to be amazed at how the effects of the landforms of our NZ on both a small and a larger scale affect the local weather.  Thus the value of all this information is great both when racing, as in our recent White Island Race success, and cruising. We have been able to enjoy cruising the coast between Whangaroa and Mangonui in comfortable conditions when other nearby places on the coast are less enjoyable. (Sally informs me it is very windy in Auckland).

I really appreciate the system we have on Expedition Coppelia and would like to thank Sally and Neil for all the work they have done to set it up and of course Nick White for making such a great program and supporting us.

Rob