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Cowabunga 2013-2014

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Cowabunga 2013-2014

Day: September 17, 2014

Tahiti to Tonga… A Video

A video put together by Jono of our last couple months aboard S/Y Cowabunga

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😢😢😢not gonna lie, this one stings a littl

😢😢😢not gonna lie, this one stings a little…

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and after 2 and a half years of owning this wonderful boat, it’s time for us to officially hand the boat over to its new owners.

It’s been a frantic few weeks moving all our stuff off the boat and making sure everything was ship shape for survey.

We will take the boys down to the boat one last time to say goodbye to the only home they can remember… 😔
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailingfamily #sailinginstagram #goodolddays

Day 4 - man that was a tough night… the wind bui

Day 4 - man that was a tough night… the wind built to 30 knots from the NW with a very confused sea. At dawn, a front moved through with a little rain and lightning, followed by a strong southerly breeze. Little sleep has been had.
We nursed the boat through all of that and now we’re pointing at Brisbane, on the home straight.

Having to clear customs/quarantine on arrival, we are working our way through the last of our fresh meat and veggies. The baskets made in Fiji out of coconut leaves get thrown over the side…

We are on track to arrive at Cape Moreton at first light, and most importantly, the start of the run in tide which will hopefully take us all the way up the river to the gateway bridge!
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailing family #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage #australia #brisbane

Day 3 - started right where we left off. Fast reac

Day 3 - started right where we left off. Fast reaching with the code zero deployed for most the day.

We officially cross into Australia waters by crossing the Capel bank. This area rises from 3000m to 60m, I was anticipating a fishing hotspot, but not one single strike. There was a large 200kg tuna following our stern for a while though. Better that one stays off our lines…

The next 24 hours looks very interesting. 30 knot northerlies, followed by a 30 knot southerly and anything can happen in the middle. Going to be a long night ahead!
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailing family #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage #australia #brisbane

Day 2 - Conditions don’t get much better than th

Day 2 - Conditions don’t get much better than this… I don’t think I’ve seen an ocean so flat considering the wind. Barely even 1.5m of swell.

The breeze eased for a period of time, so the code zero made a rare appearance, keeping us moving at 8–9 knots.

I’ve also never seen a moon so bright! I read it’s the brightest moon of the year and it has to be true. I was trying to sleep on deck at night and had to put sunglasses on!
No fish… with a bright moon the Mahi and Tuna can hunt at night, so that could explain the lack of action during the day.

A booby bird spent the night asleep on the bow, leaving a nice pile of shit for me to clean up.
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#sailing #lagoon450 #sailinglife #sailingwithkids #sailing family #sailinginstagram #pacificocean #pacific #oceanpassage #australia #brisbane

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!

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