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Day 11 at sea heading for Whangarei NZ from Niue on board FGT Wed 29th September 2010 Noon Position Lat 35-50S Long 174-28 Zero Cape Petrel, Albatross and Tuna miles to Whangarei NZ Trip log 22306 at Noon today Days run 150nm – Wind 4-10 knots N-NW – Boat speed av 6.0 knots. Av boat direction 222 Barometer 1023.5 Sails – full main , jib #1 – and motoring cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 20C water temp 20C – going down Late rising moon. Things seen – another Tuna, Cape Petrels all over, gannets or boobies, dolphins, and 2 pods of whales right outside Whangarei Heads

Greetings from the crew snug and safe in the Marsden Cove Marina,

Mission accomplished! We cleared NZ Customs and the MAF ( quarantine) by 11am and headed up the river to the barn. Customs allowed the Falcon Gt 12 months entry – totally unexpected – and the MAF lady took away our 5 bags of garbage – how good is that? They even took off their shoes on the boat – Nice. Now for some stats – The FalconGT sailed 3684 nautical miles, or 4242 ordinary miles or 6,787 kilometers in the 53 days away from New Zealand We landed at only two places – Raoul Island and the Country of Niue both in the South Pacific, or better still – dreamed of as the South Seas. – and they were dreamlike. We saw lots of whales mainly humpbacks, and saw a magical humpback command performance in front of 200 people at the sun set in the West at the Matavai Resort. We carried out whale research with 20 different researchers on board, led by Olive Andrews, with Cara and Ben as her professionals We met many Niueans, including Fia Fia – the founder of Oma Tufua – to Treasure Whales – Vanessa, Pauline, Joe, Lofa, Roz, Stan, Willy, Robert, and lots of others – including that energetic doer – Graham Marsh – thanks for the diesel and advice. Commodore Keith of the Niue Yacht Club and the Sm took the Niue Radio operators for a sail they obviously enjoyed judging by the laughing and shreaks. We caught and ate ocean food for our main protein – mahi-mahi and tuna (still have a whole tuna for our friends on Monkey Foot.) Never hungry. The best thing about the whole trip was the crew – The Sm lucked out big time – from having only Doc Jason to crew back – to having Michael the Magnificent, and Martin the Marvellous – this situation soon showed itself to be as equally as good as the upbound crew of Gerry, Karen, Chris and Karlos who set such a high crewing standard that the Sm still finds his luck hard to believe. Crew is a small word packed with a lot – the crew have to live amicably, productively and safely with people completely unknown to them in stressful situations where your body systems sometimes let you down – talk about discomfort – when we completed these two long ocean passages there was, both times, a feeling camaraderie, achievement and satisfaction. Fantastic – thanks Karen, Chris, Karlos, Gerry, Jason, Martin, and Michael

Many photos now to sort out for to put on www.svfalcongt.com

Cheers from your adventure and sail-satiated sailors

ps you can use my gayfordjw@yahoo.ca email now

Folks,

Mission Complete

At Whangarei Heads -8:45am Wed 29 Sep 2010

Welcoming Committee – 2 pods of huge whales

Cheers

Jason, Martin, Michael, John

Folks -

The river cruise Thursday is canceled

due to the BBQ on Friday and that now we have a chance of going up the river to Whangarei on Wednesday after we clear customs – same time if anyone would like to come with us

Cheers

The Falcon GT crew

Day 10 at sea heading for Whangarei NZ from Niue on board FGT Tue 28th September 2010 Noon Position Lat 34-00S Long 176-42E 152 Cape Petrel, Albatross and Tuna miles to Whangarei NZ Trip log 22146 at Noon today Days run 130nm -not too shabby Wind 4-10 knots N-NW – Boat speed av 5.0 knots. Av boat direction 222 Barometer 1023.5 Sails – full main , jib #1 cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 23C water temp 23C – going down Late rising ( not us – the moon)smaller and smaller shiny full moon. Things seen – one Tuna, Cape Petrels all over, a few all black petrel types, no whales

Greetings from the crew still motoring home in the South Pacific Ocean,

Waiting for the wind, waiting for the wind – an old Jimmy Morrison song – that’s us. We enjoyed watching and making funny remarks throughout the film ‘Dr Strangelove – or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb’ – thanks Dougie – a great movie for 4 guys sailing home in very smooth waters – we ghosted along at 4 to 5 knots then motored the night and early morning, when the assymetrical spinnaker took over for a few hours. During which time Doc J hooked up a 10kg blue fin tuna – yeah baby – one minute no protein – next – lots – so you know what we had for brekky – the old pan seared tuna steaks, rice and try this at 9am – wasabi sauce! Internal head cleanliness assured! Then just as we settled down to watch ‘Out of the Blue 2′ – an educational diving documentary, a ship hove to on the horizon so the Sm revealed his role as Nosy Parker and questioned them on their name, crew nationalities and destination. Sounded like the Osna Broka heading for Tauranga NZ with crew from all over the joint. Then they said they were going to Brisvegas so the Sm wished them luck and returned to the documentary. The sun is out, the seas are calm, and tomorrow our adventure reaches another port. You are all invited for a BBQ at the Town Basin Marina and the FalconGT- downtown Whangarei on Friday 6pm as we realize you have to work hard during the week which precludes Thursdays river cruise. It’ll be some fun in Whangarei as each crew member relates their favourite story – so be prepared!

Cheers from your sailors within tuna swimming distance of home.

www.svfalcongt.com

Greetings from your crew motor sailing home to Whangarei from Niue in the South Pacific Ocean,

We want to celebrate with you our good fortune for the fabulous adventures we shared together in the South Pacific. (No shark stories please- the Sm is easily frightened)

We invite past crew, especially Chris, Karen, Karlos and friends including Johnny, Chris G, Anna and Kirsten W, Margaret, Susan, and Abigail, Jeannette, Olive, Cara, Ben, Joe, Anthony, Giselle, Kasey and boys, Brian, Sharron and friends, and the spirit of Sm’s family and friends in Aus and Can, and the yachties at the Town Basin Marina, to a

BBQ FOLLOWED BY A PARTY ON BOARD

6pm Town Basin Marina Friday 1 October 2010

There is accommodation on board and nearby for you.

Your sailors in the FalconGT

Day 9 at sea heading for Whangarei NZ from Niue on board FGT Mon 27th September 2010 Noon Position Lat 32-18S Long 178-35E 288 Cape Petrel, Albatross and Humpie miles to Whangarei NZ Trip log 22852 at Noon today Days run 120nm -not too shabby Wind 4-12 knots E -SE – nice Boat speed av 6.0 knots. Av boat direction 222 Barometer 1027.7 high for the Easterlies Sails – full main , jib #1, then not much wind from midnight on cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 23C water temp 23C – going down Late rising smaller bright full moon. Things seen – one Adult Wandering Albatross, Cape Petrels all the time, no fish, 2 whales

Greetings from the crew motoring home in the South Pacific Ocean, No wind is our lot lately so it’s in with the ear plugs and hang outside to escape the engine noise. We did try our best for windpower by hauling up the striped blue and white assymetrical spinnaker but just no wind – it is still loaded ready to go. Two whales blew a farewell kiss to us yesterday afternoon heading South – there was some discussion on the id of them – humpies or Brydes whales – did a nice fluky tail showing – white but a little far off for photos. Dinner demanded our talented Doc J get his creative and tuna juices going so we suffered the ignominy of having fish for lunch and dinner – but what a way to cook tuna – quickly seared both sides – a tad raw in the middle with rice and veges. And sweet chilli sauce – yes sir – that’s the right stuff. Feeling pampered we selected a movie which held our attention almost all through it – ‘The Last Continent’ a group of Quebeckers sailing a large boat in the Antarctic winter sponsored by the Canuck taxpayer. Last night was something special – no moonlight until later, a velvety black starry night sky, smooth motion, no visible sea surface, absolutely no lights except starlight, no horizon, and on the bow the effect was of silent soaring through the milky way – incredible sensation. One of those moments and we hadn’t even had a drink!

Still hope to for a late Wednesday customs check in, and the Thursday to sail up the river to the Town Basin Marina at Whangarei . We are looking forward to having friends join us on the ride up the river Thursday. The crew said come bearing gifts like pizza.

Cheers from your sailors in the seagoing motorhome.

www.svfalcongt.com

Day 7 at sea heading for Whangarei NZ from Niue on board FGT Sat 25th September 2010 Noon Position Lat 29-20S Long 177-59W 541 Cape Petrel, Albatross and Humpie miles to Whangarei NZ Trip log 22706 at Noon today Days run 93nm -because we delayed after 13 hrs at Raoul Island Wind 8-16 knots E -SE – nice Boat speed av 7.0 knots. Av boat direction 222 Barometer 1025.5 high = Easterlies -thank you. Sails – #2 reef in main , jib #2, we rolled all night cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 24C water temp 25C Bright full moon. Things seen – Adult Wandering Albatross Big, Cape Petrels by the 10′s,white gannets at Meyer Is, 6 whales, no fish – no fishing allowed by Raoul besides we still had mm left.

Greetings from the crew passing close to Raoul Island in the South Pacific Ocean, As the weather moderated and favoured us the good ship FalconGT pulled up her skirts and started rolling hitting 7s’ 8′s mainly and 9′s with a show-off 13. At dusk we realized that our arrival by Raoul would be about midnight and the joint is rocky! So we kept at it until 5 miles off, pulled down the sails, and motored gingerly arriving at 1am. Fooled about admiring the scenery in the moonlight until 6am when Ian on Raoul called us on the vhf radio welcoming us for the second time. He turned down our offer to take mail or passengers – The Raoulites like it there, or maybe a ride with 4 guys in the FGT was beyond the pale! We drifted about off the main settlement while we wolfed down pancakes and maple syrup courtesy of the chef of the morning Michael. The rugged magnificent scenery of cliffs, hills, the side of the caldera, all in various shades of green, washed by a pounding surf, – mesmerizing -in front of us prompted MtM to suggest this is a great place for a Survivor episode – certainly a Jurassic Park venue for sure but no pterodactyls seen. Plenty of gannets, and petrels, and the piece de resistance – an unbelievable show by 3 humpies who momentarily adopted the FalconGT as their newest best friend. They blew, they arched, they fluked mightily, they pec slapped, and then as we were sitting drifting with the diesel idling the boss tooled right under the bow about 10 feet down giving us the eye. The Sm had visions of the FGT rearing upwards and a huge open mouth scooping the crew up for brekky as it was 8am. There was an inadvertent trail of brown burly this morning. The whale family got bored with us after that and humpbacked off. That whale tale was a highlight of the whole adventure. We motored on our way to Boat Cove when out to the East 3 massive splashes signalled a male whale was busy doing his thing. Boat Cove was a bust – 4 meter swells and a good size surf so we tooled out to sea, switched off and got down to some serious domestics – Doc J marinated the fish, cleaned the fridge and freezer, we all 3S’d and – get this gals – did the washing turning the FGT into a floating Hills hoist. Brunch of delicious Doc J baked mahi-mahi marinated in ginger and soya sauce with steamed broccoli, and rice completed our morning – just one more high – spinnaker sailing to Whangarei – ah a sailors delight.

Cheers from your excitement filled sailors racing to Whangarei

www.svfalcongt.com for your comments

Day 6 at sea heading for Whangarei NZ from Niue on board FGT Fri 24rd September 2010 Noon Position Lat 28-05S Long 177-20W 610 Cape Petrel miles to Whangarei NZ Trip log 22462 at Noon today Days run 160nm – but only 151 good to NZ Wind 15-22 knots South-West. Then South and then S-SE from in front to onthe side – nice thanks to our weather guru Boat speed av 6.0 knots. Av boat direction 210 Barometer 1024.5 high = Easterlies – that’s what we want. Sails – was #4 reef in main , jib #2, midnight Jib2 and #2 reef in main – started trucking cloud cover varies 40 -80% Air temp 25C water temp 25C Really bright full moon. Things seen – Juv Wandering Albatross ( Naughty Girl) lots of Cape Petrels and one all black – petrel looking, no whales,one mahi-mahi – that’s what happens when you put the line out ( orange spoon lure)

Greetings from the less stormy South Pacific Ocean, Yesterday afternoon we were licking our wounds , bemoaning our fate, and generally hoping the worst of the weather had passed by. Still bouncy but pretty much it has but one small carp – being hard on the wind (or close to it) makes it difficult to function properly on board – the Sm keeps wacking his head on furniture – should get off the floor perhaps?? Not to worry – after a while it becomes kind of silly – look Sm – get out of your bunk and do something – what would you like given an open choice – muffins – yea – of course – so its out with the muffin mix and in quick time the blueberry mufflers were baked and cooling in the cockpit along with the hot chocky, then MtM -Martin the Marvellous – produced sweet rice – which was wolfed down by all crew so now things are picking up and the watches about to start as the Sm popped on Beyonce singing Naughty Girl – so those paying attention know we saw an albatross cruising smoothly past the FGT – hence the name of our first albatross – this morning MtM named an adult Albatross ‘Big Momma’ because of its size and 2m wingspan. – could watch these birds for ages – so graceful and they cast their eyes on you occasionally. Where ever albies cruise so do the petrels – lots of them. Now for the really big news – protein city – Michael hooked up a 4kg mahi-mahi. Jason claims to have ordered fish and chips for lunch ‘ see how it works guys – if you are behaving yourself sometimes you get what you wish for!!’ Allright hook to cook 1 hour – MM made the chips, the Sm hovered about, Jason preparing shasimi, and frying the fish, a real team effort. We congratulated ourselves around the table – all was well with the world – good and plentiful food – sun peeking out now and then, storm mostly blown by, and everyone feeling somewhat better. However we know the mark of wellness is the thirst for a beer which is sadly lacking still. All in all a pretty good fish and fowl day. Should be passing by Raoul early tomorrow – Saturday NZtime. Thanks to Karen for her words of support ‘a little rough should toughen up you softies’ – now that’s real ANZAC speak.

Cheers from the four post combatant sailors on the FGT