Many people offer to come on a passage but very few actually do.  There are so many moving parts, sliding schedules, and things to work around that it makes it difficult for “the working man” to make the trip.  We had two people interested in doing the New Caledonia (New Cal) passage.  So, how did we end up crewless?

Adam from New Zealand was our first “victim.”  I say that jokingly.  Adam lives here in New Zealand which made it appealing because he could easily be at the boat at the first weather window.  However, the weather did not cooperate and the departure date kept sliding. Eventually, Adam had to back out due to family circumstances.

Jason from Austin.  Matt worked with Jason 15 years ago.  We ran into him a few years ago and he mentioned he would be interested in doing a passage.  He had lots of charter and sailing experience – just no passage or overnight experience.

We did not think he would be able to get to NZ in time but reached out and asked him if he was interested.  He moved heaven and earth to get here.

The Waiting Continues

We had been working toward a departure date about 6 days after Jason’s arrival.  In the meantime he worked remotely from the boat.  After his work hours we took him around Whangarei.

Matt took him on a 7 mile hike.  They hiked up to the top of the mountains (by the antennae’s) and then around the park and back to town.

We also walked the Hatea Loop several times.  I made the boys partake in all the fun activities along the trail.

The Disappointment

Our proposed departure date was upon us and we had to make a decision.  Depart and get pummeled by the weather or wait for the next weather window. 

We went back and forth, had many discussions, talked with several weather routers, and finally decided not to take the risk.

It was really disappointing as that meant Jason would not be able to make the passage with us.  Why is that?  He had a flight out on the 9th of June which meant we had to leave NZ no later than the 2nd of June.  However, there were no weather windows between now and then.

So, Jason made the hard decision to stay for a week, change his flights and go home a week early. 

Despite being crewless for the passage we were determined to show our crew the best time during his stay.

Overnight Sail

We left our cozy marina dock after many sad goodbyes.  We decided to take Jason out to the Bay of Islands to show him a little more of New Zealand.

And since, Jason had never done an overnight, we decided to give him that experience too.

We left Whangarei late in the afternoon and headed 50nm to Whangamumu.

We had a beautiful sunset to send us offshore.

The moon was 3/4 full which shown brightly during most of the night.

Jason and Matt found the Southern Cross.

Jason did really well.  He got a little sick once he lost the horizon, but he managed to stay outside all night!  It may not seem like that big of a deal but it was 40F outside!  Freaking cold.  What a solider!

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live event.

Jason visited Sugar Shack toward the end of May 2026.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Jason in New Zealand.