Tag: Year in Review

Covid, New Zealand

2020 A Strangely Wonderful Year

I guess it goes without saying that 2020 has been an odd year at best with Covid, lockdowns and all that came along with the pandemic. Of course if you’re from the US as we are there’s the rioting and election issues that only added to the chaos of 2020. Here on Dazzler, however, we’ve chosen to reflect upon the positive things that happened because we believe there truly is a silver lining to every cloud. Here’s a review of how 2020 treated us and the blessing we found in each moment.

January 5th started the strange events of 2020 when at 1500 in the afternoon we looked outside and saw the most bizarre sight. In the span of twenty minutes or so the sky changed from a brilliant blue with puffs of white to the most extraordinary shades of orange and red. It felt eerie and surreal and even somewhat apocalyptic. The air was thick with tiny bits of ash falling from the sky landing on the deck of Dazzler. We closed her up to keep the smoke and ash from coming inside. I put a t-shirt over my nose and mouth when outside so as not to breathe in the particulates as I knew they would not play well with my asthma.

The source you ask? A giant plume of smoke traveled the 4000 km (2485 miles) from Australia to New Zealand. Australia had been suffering calamitous wildfires since September and the smoke was so thick that it finally drifted across the Tasman sea to the our shores. A reminder of the devastation happening in Australia, it did create a beautiful, even if a bit ominous, sky that day.

None of the photos here have been altered. This is exactly what we saw that day.

At the end of January we put Dazzler on the hard at Harbourside Boat Works so that we could go back to the States to see our family for five weeks. We spent three fabulous weeks in Florida visiting Jilly’s family and friends. Then it was back to California for a couple of weeks to see Dan’s terrific crew. As always there were too many people to see and not enough time to see them all but we had a wonderful time and enjoyed every second.

Fun times in Florida where Jilly saw fit to actually put a baby alligator on her head. Apparently you’ll only understand if you’re from Florida.

More fun times with our California family and friends!

We arrived back in New Zealand at the end of February and promptly began working on getting Dazzler’s bottom painted. We also picked up Sparkle after she had new tubes put on by Seafarers Inflatables. Our plan….spend the next two months preparing to head back to the islands. We’d finish up the bottom paint, do a few other maintenance items, sell the car and sail back to Fiji where we’d spend a month visiting small villages and handing out some of the 2000+ books we amassed for the children. After that we’d take some time to do a little more sailing in the Yasawas, head on to New Caledonia and Vanuatu and then end the cruising season in Australia where we’d spend New Year’s Eve watching the fireworks in Sydney Harbor. Oh yes, we had a banner year planned. But, as they say, “If you want to see God laugh, just tell him your plans.”

Less than two weeks after putting Dazzler back in the water and getting set up at the Whangerie Town Basin Marina New Zealand went into stage four lockdown. We now look back and remember how all us cruisers were talking about what would happen if we went into lockdown but no one really thought it would happen. Oh how wrong we were about that.

One day into the lockdown and I tore my calf muscle simply walking up the gangway to do laundry. Of course there is a bonus here….I did get out of doing laundry that day and for several weeks afterward! Just ten days later on my first day off of crutches I slipped in the marina shower and fractured several vertebrae. And while most people would look at this and think it’s awful, I choose to look at it completely differently. These two things could have happened to me anywhere, especially out at sea. Instead, they happened in a first world country where I have access to excellent doctors and facilities to help me. I learned through the process that I have Osteopororis and need to be on medication for it. And, since these issues were accidents that happened in New Zealand the vast majority of my treatment was covered under their ACC plan even though I am not a citizen. I literally received thousands of dollars in care for a few hundred US dollars. Now there’s definitely something good to be found in that.

New Zealand graciously extended all the visitor visas so we weren’t required to fly back to the states and leave our home behind. They were extended until the end of September. Not knowing if they’d do another blanket extension, in July we set about making a formal application to be sure we would be allowed to stay here until the end of cyclone season which ends on 30 April each year. 

This required that we both get complete physicals, chest X-rays and bloodwork. It’s not a cheap process to be sure but one that ended up being well worth it. We learned that Dan’s blood pressure is a tad high and he is in need of maintenance medication. Once again being  here and learning this while on land, not after he suffered a major medical event at sea, is a blessing. Just one more thing to be thankful for this year.

And there are more wonderful things that came in 2020. Once the lockdowns were over we took advantage of the extra time to explore the North Island of New Zealand by car. We took dozens of day trips from Whangerie to Opua over to Dargaville and down to Auckland. We visited some of the most beautiful parks and waterfalls we’ve ever seen and along the way we found some great restaurants and met some really wonderful people. (Be sure to check back as we upload photo galleries of our day trips. New Zealand is a truly beautiful place.)

We never cease to be amazing by the stunning beauty of New Zealand!

Speaking of people…being here for this long has allowed us to spend time really getting to know the locals. Traveling and meeting the locals is something we love but so often times we don’t get an opportunity to really know them. This year, however, we got our chance. We’ve actually made some very great friends here in New Zealand and for that we are truly grateful. One of our new friends, Jeff, a mate we met at our local watering hole, even shot three turkeys and delivered some wonderfully fresh turkey breasts to us. YUMMY! And, we even got to spend a more time with our Kiwi family. Being a part of their life which included a new baby, birthdays and a wonderful Thanksgiving there this year was such a treat. Had we left in May we would have missed all of these fabulous family moments. 

We took advantage of the great travel prices after lockdown and spent ten days in Queenstown with our dear friends from SV SuAn during the winter months. Even though we really don’t like the cold we did enjoy the chance to see snow and relax by some cozy, warm fires with a glass of mulled wine. 

Whangerie Falls

In July we were aboard Dazzler one evening as a terrible rainstorm went on outside. Low and behold it turned out to be what they called, “The 500 Year Flood of 2020“. We received 220 mm of rain in a 24 hour period. Even as the storm began to dissipate there was 40-60 mm of rain coming down an hour! It was crazy and yet here we were down below and never thought it was anymore than just a bad rainstorm.

We woke in the morning to find debris covering the top of the water in the marina and began to learn of the destruction. All across Northland trees were down, roads were undermined, mountainsides had slipped onto roads, farms, houses and businesses were flooded. It was absolutely crazy! And to think we never realized what was happening. What good came from that? Well, we looked out that morning and saw yachties from all over the marina gathering together in their dinghies to help remove the debris from the water so it wasn’t banging up on other people’s boats. People across North Island were helping each other. Everyone came together to help each other. And….the waterfalls around North Island were simply spectacular after the storm so Mother Nature turned devastation into beauty.

Farms were completely underwater meaning cattle had to be moved from low ground to high ground. Here you can see the tops of the fence posts which gives you an idea of how much water fell. Note that these photos of the farms were taken several days AFTER the storm went through.

A wonderful first happened for me this year. Dan took me to the Great Moscow Circus. Yes, I grew up in Bradenton, Florida just a hop, skip and a jump from Sarasota which is home to Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey Circus yet I never ever went to the circus. Dan made sure that was rectified here in 2020 when the circus came to town. What a wonderful treat this was for me!

Being here longer also allowed us to do some upgrades to Dazzler including the new cushions in the saloon and a brand new mainsail. Dan went into maintenance mode varnishing down below including the galley and nav station. We got new intermediate shrouds made and Dan installed them. He also serviced the mast, boom and line clutches. He rebuilt the head, rerouted the foredeck halyards, built shelves for my locker and reworked all the scarf joints on the cap rails. My man even dug deep into a few sewing projects as well. He sewed dinghy chaps, made two purses from our old mainsail and replaced a large section of our awning. Oh yes, he had a chance to do some deck work too. Being here longer has definitely turned out to be a blessing for us and for Dazzler.

As for me, I’ve spent months reworking our DazzlersWatch website adding lots of great stuff for cruisers and travelers who come behind us. There’s maps, charts, cruising guides, business information and hundreds of new photos. Currently I’m working on Phase II where I’ll be adding information on car travel New Zealand and cruising Fiji as well language pages with the common phrases that will help you get by in any of the countries we’ve visited. Seems there’s always something to work on even though we’re retired.

One of the greatest things to happen in 2020 is that some cruisers who actually did head out to Fiji took boxes of books with them and close to 1000 books did actually make it into the hands of children there. When the first set of photos came in to us I was in tears for hours. Just seeing how happy something as seemingly insignificant as a book could be to a child is beyond humbling. The books, distributed by SV Pogeyan and SV Archer made it from the Lau Group to the Yasawas bringing smiles to the faces of the grateful children of Fiji.

Yes, we’ve so many things to be thankful for this year and while it could seem like 2020 was a bust because we didn’t get to go cruising the islands, it turns out it was exactly as it was meant to be and for us….it was a fabulously blessed year.

What’s on the schedule for 2021 you ask? We’re going to head out after the first of the year to do a little cruising around New Zealand. Right now we hope to go over the top of North Island and then head south all the way to Milford Sound and Invercargill before coming up the east side. Fully circumnavigating New Zealand can be tricky but we certainly hope to get it done.

And, we’re certainly hoping that we’ll get a chance to head back to Fiji and then on to Australia as cruising season approaches in at the end of April. Of course there’s no guarantees so as always, we will write our plans in the sand at low tide and wait to see what happens with the surf rolls in.

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan

Fiji, Fundraising, Kingdom of Tonga, New Zealand, The South Pacific, Tonga

2019 Rocked!

Well 2019 was certainly a spectacular year for the crew of Dazzler. It started off with a bang as our dear friends, Jack & Mary flew in from the states to join us on a three week road trip around New Zealand. We covered a whole lot of ground making it all the way down to Queenstown and back to Whangarei and we saw many wonderful sites along the way.

That trip ended and we were off to the states for a month to visit friends and family in California and Florida. Yes, having family on both coasts makes for a lot of traveling but we got it all in and still had time for a little sightseeing along the coast of California where Jilly got to see hundreds of Elephant Seals up close on the beach in San Simeon.

FIRST TO CALIFORNIA

THEN TO FLORIDA

After seven long weeks of traveling we returned to Dazzler who was on the hard. There was no time to rest as Dan got to work immediately preparing and painting the bottom as well as working on some other projects like replacing a thru hull and cutlass bearing.

No sooner had we completed all our work and it was time to start provisioning and preparing for the trip back north as our visas were about to expire. At the end of April we cast off our lines and headed back north on the nine-day passage to Tonga where we spent a month traveling the islands. We learned that we really love the Vava’u group of islands the most. And, we especially love the eastern most island of Kenutu. On one side of the island the Pacific Ocean crashes onto the craggily coast with the fury of God and on the other the bay is as flat as glass. It’s spectacular! The Tongan people are very kind and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.

By the end of May we were headed north to Fiji where we spent the next five months. Fiji is a spectacular place! We fully circumnavigated the northern island of Vanua Levu with our German friends Lutz & Gabi on SV SuAn. We visited islands and villages where they had not seen outsiders in years! One village was so excited to have visitors that practically the entire village came to the shore to greet us. It was fabulous to get a chance to visit these remote places and get to know the people there. Most have little to nothing. They live in tiny box like homes with no windows or doors, just cloths hanging over the openings. Most have no furniture to speak of except maybe a mattress on the floor where they sleep. They have community kitchens that are usually set up in the middle of the village and all cooking is done over open fires.

The villagers live on the fish they catch and eat the hogs, goats and chickens they raise. The have some solar power that is provided by the government and their fresh water is collected from the rain. These people have virtually nothing but we can tell you this…we’ve never met more genuine, honest, hardworking and selfless people in the world. If we’d have asked they would have given us, total strangers, the last of their fruits or vegetables and never once asked for a thing in return. It was quite humbling to get to know these fine people.  Each village we visited we had the same experience. In fact, in one village the Chief had his son, Soniala take us on several hour hike up to Tavora falls while his wife, Elizabeth, fixed us a huge lunch to have when we returned.

We visited the island of Makogai where they grow clams as big as humans! This island was once a Leper Colony where people with Leprosy from all over the world were brought to spend the remainder of their days. It’s now a marine conservation station where they grow coral and giant clams and even sea turtles to release back into the wild. We enjoyed several wonderful days here. We found some electrical items, line, clothes and other things on Dazzler that we donated to the village. We also gave the kids a brand new volleyball. They loved that! Dan played volleyball and soccer with them for several hours while I enjoyed the afternoon chatting with the ladies and learning about their culture. We intend to return here next season to spend a week or two helping in the village.

After a month of traveling Vanua Levu we headed west toward Vitu Levu, the Mamanucas and the Yasawas. WOW! What absolutely stunning islands and waters we experienced here. There were places we could see the bottom 200’ below us!

We spent a significant amount of time at the island of Malololailai also known as Plantation Island. There are three resorts on the island and one, Musket Cove, is particularly popular with cruisers as it has a marina and their famous Island Bar. The bay here is well protected and they have very strong moorings as well. We spent so much time here because Dan had to go back to the states for his youngest daughter’s wedding and I was left on the boat for 16 days. If a girl has to be left alone someplace this isn’t a bad spot at all.

Don’t worry, I wasn’t alone the entire time. I had my friend Donna fly in from New Zealand for ten days. Donna and I enjoyed our “girl time” on the boat. Donna isn’t really a boater so teaching her to get in and out of the dinghy and how to conserve water and power aboard was a bit tricky but all worked out swimmingly.

Once Dan returned from the states we took off for the Yasawa Island Group. These are the northwestern most islands in Fiji and also the most beautiful. We visited several islands and met some incredible villagers. We happened into the village at Noboro Pointe on the only day of the year that they hold their church fundraiser. What a wonderful experience this was for us. All three villages on the island gathered together. The goal for them was to raise $21K FJD. This is equivalent to the salary of two people working at a resort for one year. That’s a lot of cha ching for people who make between $100-$300 FJD per week. ($50-$150 USD)

We were treated to a kava ceremony to celebrate them reaching their goal. It was by far the largest one we’ve ever attended with forty or more people sitting on the woven mat drinking kava. It was an exciting and very enlightening day for us. We were honored to be a part of this special day and can’t wait to return next year.

Before we knew it the time had come for us to leave all of our dear Fijian friends and head back here to New Zealand. This is a passage that neither of us was really looking forward to making. You see this passage is known to be one of the toughest in the world. You pass through an area where the Coral Sea, Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean all meet. This makes for some pretty interesting weather systems and often times turbulent seas. Sailors who have made this passage all say the same thing… “This is not a pleasure cruise. This is a get there safely as quick as you can passage.” Just prior to our departure two sailboats sank making the passage. One was just south of Fiji and the other off the northern cape of New Zealand. In that sinking a man lost his life.  As you can imagine we just wanted to get it done.

Our eleven-day passage was, at times, filled with rough weather and more than half of the trip was fraught with issues including a large wave that crashed over the top of us literally swamping the entire cockpit sending water down the companionway. 

On three different occasions we had to heave to in order to work on the water lift silencer which ended up with several holes and a large crack. The first night we were bobbing in the sea in the middle of the night while Dan tried to diagnose the issue. At one point we lost all power, which really freaked me out. I had visions of the Navy coming to rescue us. As it turns out Dan accidentally hit the kill switch. He thought it was hilarious. Me….not so much. Thanks to an amazing little product called Minute Mend Dan was able to patch up the unit and make it work to get us to New Zealand. 

And let’s not forget the leaking jury can full of diesel fuel that we dealt with in the middle of the night or the leaking chain plate that allowed water intrustion into our lockers. Or, there’s my absolute favorite…the morning I was catapulted off the head with the seat attached to my bum as I slammed face first into the head door. Yes, this was quite a trip.

By day eight we were both exhausted and ready for our passage to end. Seems God must have sensed our exhaustion and blessed our final three days with amazing sailing and beautiful weather. We arrived in Marsden Cove Marina almost exactly eleven days to the minute from when we left Momi Bay in Fiji. I could have kissed the dock and probably would have if it hadn’t had bird poo all over it!

We now have the boat tied up at Whangerie Town Basin Marina. Dan has been working on many projects not the least of which was to replace the exhaust lift silencing unit, fix the leak at the chain plate and rebuild two teak hatches in the cockpit.

Of course we have taken a little time to enjoy being back in New Zealand. Our Thanksgiving was simply spectacular. We made a full Thanksgiving dinner on Dazzler which is quite the feat in a galley that’s only about three foot square. We enjoyed a wonderful day of laughter, family, food, drink and music with our wonderful German friends from SV SuAn and SV Rebell. Dan played his ukulele and I played my Irish tin whistle. If we couldn’t be with our blood relatives this was the next best thing. As we like to say, “ We had an American Thanksgiving in New Zealand with our German family!”

We spent Christmas in Auckland with our Kiwi family there. We had three lovely and relaxing days of family time and even met another wonderful new couple who have become the newest addition to our Kiwi family. Jilly got the new Huawei P30 Pro phone that has a 40 MP camera so you’ll see a lot of really great photos in the future. (Note the difference of the ones below) Dan got a custom made, hand-carved flagpole created for him by Macu, a wonderful Fijian carver from the Lau group of islands. Of course he says it’s too nice to put out in the elements so it’s become a beautiful piece of art that is displayed below deck on Dazzler.

Now that the holidays are about over it’s time to get back to work. Dan’s working feverishly on varnish while I’m working very hard on our Book Buying Fundraiser for the children on the remote islands of Fiji. During our travels to the remote villages of Fiji we were blessed to get to know many of the families and tons of children. On Kia Island when we visited they let the kids out of school early for their afternoon meal to visit with us. Two of the young ladies grabbed me by the hand and rushed me across the lawn to see their new library. It is a wooden building about 20’ x 10’. I could smell the freshly cut lumber and new paint. These girls, about 13 or so, were so excited to show me their new library but as we walked in I immediately noticed that the beautiful wooden bookshelves were virtually empty. I broke my heart!

More and more kids came pouring into the library. Each was as excited as the next to tell me all about it and how everyone in the village participated in building it. Still I kept looking at the empty shelves. Later Dan and I spoke with Epeli, the headmaster, who told us that reading books are what they need most. It seems the Fijian government provides textbooks, paper and pencils but no reading books. Before we left we asked the kids what they would like us to bring back to them when we return next year. Each and every child replied, “BOOKS!” They could have asked us for anything else in the world but all they asked for were books. As we visited more villages along the way we heard this same request over and over from the children. 

This experience touched us both very deeply and we made a pledge that we will  return to these villages next season with as many books as we can buy and carry. As of today we’ve raised $1405 USD which brings us just short of 50% of our goal but we’re not done yet. We will continue to take donations through March 1stand we truly believe we will get there with the help of our fans, friends and families.

If you’d like to help us help the kids of Fiji, please CLICK HERE to make a donation

Well, that’s about all from the Sovereign Nation of Dazzler. If you want to see some photos of our adventures be sure to check out our Dazzler Art Photos & Videos Page by CLICKING HERE We’ve recently posted several hundred photos. We’re also working on a book of our travels, which we hope to have ready this year.

We certainly hope you all have a Fabulous and Propersous New Year!

Cheers,

Jilly & Dan

P.S. Grape Ape also had the time of his life this year. He is growing rather quickly and acts much like a teenager wanting to spend more time exploring on his own than hanging out with us but then that’s kids for ya. He does enjoy riding in the dinghy when we pull it behind the boat though. He loves his Uncle Lutz of SV SuAn and he’s made quite a few new friends this year. He’s looking forward to seeing what 2020 has in store.