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And so it begins, the final leg… We’ve done ba

And so it begins, the final leg… We’ve done ballpark 12000nm this past 2 years, and now, only 800nm remain to get us, and the boat safely home.

We have been keeping a close eye on the weather this past week. The passage to Brisbane can throw a bit of everything at you, and it’s shaping up that way.

With no better weather window on the horizon, we make the call to check out of New Caledonia after a brief week long visit.

We have good trade-winds for the next couple days, so we‘ll do our best to knock over as many miles as possible.
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage #australia #brisbane

I had been envisaging days like this for years now

I had been envisaging days like this for years now..

Surfing perfect waves in the glassy morning until the arms give out.
Head back to the boat which is parked nearby. By now the wind is building to 20 knots, pump up a wing and go wingfoiling - until the legs/hands give out.

If I was in my 20s, I would have then gone back to the boat, pumped up a kite and kite surfed that wave until sunset, or until the back implodes.
The mind says yes, however the body says no!

Thanks @bystrom_photo for the action shots!
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#fiji #surf #wingfoil #wingfoiling #waves #cloudbreak #namotuisland

We were so lucky to have a heap of friends and fam

We were so lucky to have a heap of friends and family visit us in Fiji 🇫🇯.
The last couple weeks of our time here was spent hanging out around Musket cove, Namotu and Cloudbreak. Enjoying the wind and waves, and also sneaking the kids into Plantation Island kids club 😂😂.

It was swell after swell after swell… Fiji turne

It was swell after swell after swell…
Fiji turned it on for the end of September. I can’t think of a week where I have paddled so much!
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#surf #fiji #namotu #cloudbreak
@namotuisland

Enjoying the beautiful colours of Tonga 🇹🇴…
I think we found the best flat water kite spot in all the Pacific!
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#tonga #kitesurfing #drone #islandlife #ocean

How good is this place…. The bait fish school in

How good is this place…. The bait fish school in the darkness of this cave during the day.
Not surprising, there are plenty of dog tooth Tuna and trevally patrolling the entrance.
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#baitfish #tuna #fishing #cave #tonga

Blink and you’ll miss him hanging on tight… Th

Blink and you’ll miss him hanging on tight…
This spot in Tonga might be the best kiteboard location yet!
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#kitesurfing #kiteboard #duotonekiteboarding #tonga @kitesurfingworld @duotone.kiteboarding

What a magic day with friends, parking Cowabunga r

What a magic day with friends, parking Cowabunga right next door to @cloud9_fiji and pretending we are still in our 20’s 😂😂
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#fiji #cloud9 #partyboat #party

It’s a joke, but the numbers are solid😂😂 -

It’s a joke, but the numbers are solid😂😂
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage

The side eye and the spit at the end 😂😂…

The side eye and the spit at the end 😂😂…

Natures own Gatorade, the mighty coconut. We drink them by the hundreds!
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#coconut #sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #fiji

Niue 🇳🇺- having sailed past this little isla

Niue 🇳🇺- having sailed past this little island the last two crossings and not stopping, we were determined to make a pitstop to check it out… and I’m so glad we did.

What a gem… caves, chasms, swimming holes, whales, crystal clear water and beautiful sunsets. In the three days we were here, we didn’t stop moving the entire time. Definitely felt like we needed more time, hopefully we get to come back one day!
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#niue #niueisland #sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage

Such a pleasure to get back in the water with thes

Such a pleasure to get back in the water with these gentle giants. The mighty humpback whale 🐋 .

They cruise the calm waters of Niue 🇳🇺 during the winter months. Breeding, birthing, hanging out…

We were very fortunate to get a last minute call up to swim with the whales with local operator @explore_niue. They were fantastic, letting the boys watch from the boat while mum and dad got in the water.
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#whale #whalewatching #humpbackwhale #whaleswim #ocean #niue

The battle continues, Part 2 of the epic fish figh

The battle continues, Part 2 of the epic fish fight…

The fish took a dive when it was under the boat, I was trying to guide the line away from the hull with my left hand, when finally the line snapped at the tip of the rod.
I managed to hold onto the line and quickly got both hands on it. I then got a little bit of line back and Bucko tied it off to the boat. We were down but not out!

We fought the fish by hand for what seemed an eternity. Claiming a few metres before the fish would take a few. It kept swimming big circles.

We finally go it to the back step where I felt I could lock the leader in one hand while trying to swing a gaff with the other.

In the end, the 150lb fluorocarbon leader finally broke where it was chaffing on the Tunas mouth…

I was completely devastated at the time. But as time passed, I was pretty happy with what went down. That was way too much fish for us to handle, and being a few days out from land, it would have been hard to store all of it before we could have given some away to locals and fellow cruisers.

We don’t target big fish for this reason. This monster was caught on a tiny 5 inch red/white tuna feather.

Next boat is going to have an electric reel…
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#fishing #fishinglife #fishing🎣 #tunafishing #yellowfintuna #battle #sailing #gamefishing

A fight for the ages… Part 1 The moment we put t

A fight for the ages… Part 1
The moment we put the spinnaker up the line got smashed.
At this point we have to make the decision to sock and drop the spinnaker to stop the boat (a lot of work), and fight the fish. Or just lock the drag and bust it off.
I didn’t see a fish jump, so I was convinced it wasn’t a Marlin (good!). So we quickly sock and drop the kite and get the boat as slow as possible.
With about 400m of line taken, I get back what I could but soon stopped making progress.
Bucko backed the boat down over the fish until we were on top of it.
After an hour and a half, I was spent, but the fish kept taking long dives down and taking hard fought line…
To be continued….
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#fishing #tunafishing #gamefishing #sailing #battle

The little atoll of Maupiha’a, on the western ou

The little atoll of Maupiha’a, on the western outskirts of French Polynesia 🇵🇫 is a real gem…
A handful a locals call this place home. Living self sufficiently off the abundant coconuts, crabs, lobsters and fish. Some without electricity.
If they’re lucky, a supply ship swings by every few years.
So glad we stopped by…

It’s never easy to leave this place. Goodbye Fre

It’s never easy to leave this place. Goodbye French Polynesia 🇵🇫. Hope to see you again soon.

Next destination - unknown
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage

Swimming pool days…

Swimming pool days…

When a gang of stingrays (plus a shark) interrupt

When a gang of stingrays (plus a shark) interrupt your morning swim…

Don’t worry, they are harmless.. (mostly)
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#shark #stingray #ocean #reef

Ah yes, the Tuamotus - there’s not much else to

Ah yes, the Tuamotus - there’s not much else to say about this place. It truly is paradise and what dreams are made of.

It has it all…
We’ve speared, surfed, kited, winged, foiled and dived.
Eaten our weight in fish, washed down with hundreds of rum and coconut waters.
More sunset fires than we can remember and so many great memories.

I have no doubt we will pass through this part of the world again on the next Cowabunga. Until next time Tuamotus…😢

It’s well and truly time to retire our first ens

It’s well and truly time to retire our first ensign (flag) 🇦🇺.
It’s been proudly flying for over 18 months now off the stern of the boat and racked up some 15000kms!

How much fish do we eat? Lots! I’d say we averag

How much fish do we eat? Lots!
I’d say we average 5-10 meals a week. When inside atolls and lagoons, we spearfish. This allows us to target the exact fish we want to eat. One that hopefully doesn’t carry ciguatera.

Ciguatera poisoning occurs when little fish eat the toxic algae off the reef, which are then eaten by bigger fish where the toxin accumulates.

These bigger predators are high risk. Fish such as barracuda, Spanish mackerel and big grouper are known carriers.

In the Tuamotus, the fish which are safe to eat vary greatly from atoll to atoll, even bommie to bommie. So it can be risky.

We are very careful, however after eating tonnes of fish, I still got low level poisoning. Mainly the common symptom of itchy hands and feet when I drink rum!
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#spearfishing #spearfish #fishing #ciguatera #coraltrout #grouper

Is there a better way to spend an afternoon?? - -

Is there a better way to spend an afternoon??
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#bonfire #campfire #fire #sunset

After a month in the Tuamotus, we start taking the

After a month in the Tuamotus, we start taking these kind of views for granted.
We have to remind ourselves, just how lucky we are, to be able to take our floating home to what is my most favourite place on the planet.

Tag a mate who still couldn’t catch or spear one

Tag a mate who still couldn’t catch or spear one…

The fish - Marbled grouper… good eating, and one of the few fish in French Polynesia that is less likely to give you ciguatera poisoning.
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#fishing #spearfishing #grouper #ciguatera #freediving

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