Whangarei to Sydney on Silver Fern

‘Resfeber’

A Scandinavian word, meaning “travel fever”. It describes the mixed feelings of anticipation just before a journey or adventure begins.

We are now 44 hours into our journey to Sydney across the Tasman Sea. The 5 of us, Skipper Bruce, Chief Mate Liv, and crew, Brent, Tom and Chris began our trip a little later than planned. It allowed time for the build up and anticipation to become very prominent on the morning of our departure, and sat here on watch at noon, with the sun on our faces, the deep sparkling blue around us, and Silver Fern chugging a long at 7.5kts it was certainly not for nothing.

An unexpected rise in wind speed last night meant we were able to turn off the engine and enjoy the calm, gentle sound of the rigging and water splashing much earlier than forecasted! With just the 5 on board, manoeuvres and skills are being picked up quickly as we all have an important role. Which I must say, our newbies on board are picking up skills very quickly!

Waking up this morning, that wind has left us for now and our motor is back on, with the light tail winds behind us, Albatross, Minky Whales and the odd Shark are keeping us company along the way and Silver Fern is sitting comfortably on a direct path to Sydney.

Let’s hope we continue to get some more tickles of stronger winds and exciting sail changes and manoeuvres to keep things varied. But at this moment, we have happy crew, a happy boat and happy seas to enjoy for the afternoon and evening.