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chidoroki · 4 years ago

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Head empty, pre-TPN season 2 thoughts only.

Normally I don’t even bother with hiding spoilers but since the new season is so close I’ll put everything below a cut (if tumblr cooperates) because I do want anime-onlys to enjoy the season with as little knowledge to what madness is about to happen as possible. This is just a bunch of notes that filled my head over the past couple days.. weeks? A long time.. and if I didn’t write them all down somewhere I wouldn’t stop thinking about them.. so if you understand this whole mess, then kudos to you.

So, here’s your post-season 1/ch37+ spoiler warning.

Demon language:

With Mujika and Sonju making their grand first appearances, I hope actually implement the demon language this time?

The only word spoken in the language in season 1 was the demon god’s name, which was just changed to “Him” (sub) or “The One” (dub), so ignoring it there was fine.

Granted, our demon friends don’t say much in their language during the upcoming arc, aside from this moment in ch48, but I can see the anime passing it off as a mere whisper between the two of them just so they don’t have to worry about it.

I don’t recall any of the GP poachers using the language though.. right? Pretty sure they don’t..

Anyways, all I’m saying is that they better figure something out by the Ayshe shows up way later in future seasons.

Episode count? 24?

Short answer: I don’t think so? Did once, but stuff happened. Anyways..

Season 1 ended in March 2019, which is also when we learned we were getting a second season and once we found later on that S2 was originally going to air in October 2020, I immediately thought we were getting about 24 eps.

I thought with all that time between seasons, 24 eps would be reasonable and that S2 would end at ch101. S1 managed to adapt 37 chapters, so 64 chapters in a season twice as long sound decent enough, right?

By the time we reach ch101, it would give us the demon forest, shelter B06-32, Goldy Pond and the short trip to Cuvitidala. (all of which would make this long wait for s2 sooo worth it btw.)

By this point we learn a bunch about the outside world, Norman being alive, what happened to Phil, and the demon bastard himself.

I bring up ch101 as a stopping point because it’s the last chapter before the two year time skip and.. I honestly can’t see them doing a time skip mid-season?

I mean, they could if they wanted to, I guess? Having everyone age up suddenly between episodes via a montage, a quick summary or even flashbacks of what we missed.. but maybe at the start of a season? Not in the middle.

Right now we know anime original scenes are going to be included into season 2 so I’m kinda hoping that once we do eventually reach the time skip we learn more about the search Emma’s group went on for T7W/golden water/temples.

I counted. If S2 does indeed get this many episodes, ep23 (or 22, if there’s a break in between somewhere or whatever) will land on my birthday and you can bet I’ll be beyond happy

HOWEVER! all the hope I once had about a 24ep season vanished due to the clusterfuck that was 2020. Thanks to the worldwide pandemic, many anime were put on hold and pushed back several months, with TPN airing this month rather than the original October date.

It was a bummer hearing about the delay at first but I never complained about it. I much rather have the studios prioritize their employee’s health over production.

Even if S2 did reach ch101, or even Goldy Pond, they would need to find a ton of new voice actors, and with how the world is working now.. eh, I have some doubts.

Cloverworks also has two other series airing this month aside from TPN so needless to say they’ll be a bit busy, especially if employees are still working from home, social distancing, or however they’re managing to produce these anime.

So, episode count.. 12?

The main reason I have a hard time grasping the idea of another 12ep season at all is because.. I don’t know where it’ll be a decent place for it to stop?

S1 ending at ch37 with the kids escaping? Perfect. You can’t question that decision. But now? When a whole bunch of craziness is about happen? How do you choose another perfect moment to end a season with?

No matter how many anime original scenes they have planned for the demon forest, I believe we’ll at least reach B06-32, which will get us to ch52.

Could they go farther? Sure. Perhaps ending at ch59-60? It would leave us off with Emma & Ray leaving the comfort of the shelter to follow Yuugo into yet another demon infested forest, much like how S1 left off, as the escapees left their once safe, comfortable life into the unknown world.

Or end at ch64? After Emma gets snatched by the poachers? It could work. It would certainly leave everyone wanting more, especially us manga readers because goddamn the GP arc would be SO close!

Perhaps ch74 after seeing Norman alive? Just so it’s not a big darn secret anymore to those who are going into this season blind? (how do people manage to stay anime only? i’m not trying to make anyone feel bad.. i’m just impressed? i caught up to the manga right after s1 because i didn’t have the self control to wait!)

Ending on that chapter would be so bittersweet to me.. because you know what appears in ch75 and it’s literally one of the only things I care about.

S2 preview trailers already teased some of the demon forest scenes I’m most excited about, so the only things left that will truly excite me are Yuugo and that darn outfit. (seriously, whenever we do get to see emma in her gp outfit for the first time, someone better scream at me so i can die from happiness.)

Okay, and all the GP kids too.. especially their trio!

Could they fit the Goldy Pond arc into a 12 episode season along with every other event that came before it? I.. seriously hope not?

Compared to s1, which was very dialogue heavy, GP is about as action packed as we’re gonna get in the near future, and those scenes are going to fly by once they get put into motion.

Quick example (because it was recent and i can’t think of something else atm): the Overhaul arc from My Hero Academia. Off the top my head it was about 40 total ch? That arc took up half of the show’s S4, which was a total 25 eps.

So with the GP ending at ch96, it’ll give us about 20-30 chapters (depending on where you personally see the start of this arc I guess? once yuugo leads the duo through the forest, when emma gets snatched or when the battle actually starts)

If GP were to happen in s2 where there’s 12 episodes.. literally everything would be so fast paced and I don’t want them to rush anything or leave stuff out?

Other options?

It’s very wishful thinking and I would be getting my hopes up for nothing, because I know it won’t happen, but I could possibly see them fitting GP arc if S2 was made up of 18eps?

6 eps for the demon forest, 6 for Goldy pPond, the remaining 6 to accommodate B06-32, Cuvitidala and any other anime original scenes as they wish.

Although fitting about 64 chapters into 12-18 episodes sounds a bit much.. but not really? I seriously have no idea at this point how much story we’re going to cover this season.

Could I perhaps place all my hopes towards a second cour later this year? Like for the summer.. or would I be expecting too much?

This all could’ve been avoided if they just tell us! Seriously, I’ve been thinking about episode count since last year.. and now you have to deal with this mindless chatter of mine.

I’d honestly be okay with another 12ep season though. We waited this long that I’ll just be excited to see all the children again.

Anime-only scenes:

Those 3 days the children spent learning from our demon friends? Yes please! Did you know Emma not only learned how to use a bow and arrow but a freakin’ harpoon as well? Like.. hello?? I must see this!

Perhaps they’ll even adopt some of the extra pages from some of the chapters, like they did in S1 with the flashback of Norman being sick in ep10.

I know this will be such a high hope, but I remember in ch177 how Emma claims that after they escaped, they all remembered how kind Isabella really was, so if they decide to adapt the extras from ch41-42 & ch45, I’ll cry.

And these pages? Cloverworks, please..

I’m literally begging here..

Especially these two! Even though I still doubt we’ll reach Goldy Pond if we get 12eps.. but in the future! Please!

Other random nonsense:

I may or may not get emotional upon seeing Isabella at the very start when she goes to confront Grandma Sarah. If her hair is kept down as it was at the end of S1 then I’ll give the anime staff my sincere thanks.

We only heard 15 seconds of “Identity” and yet it has been living in my head rent free ever since that trailer dropped. I need to hear the full song sooo damn badly, y’all have no idea.

Here’s hoping they don’t cut out the inner monologues again. At this moment I don’t remember any specific ones from the demon forest I want to see but I’m sure they’re present.

I’m ready to die at every cute Chris moment they give us.. and this entire scene where the kids scold Ray.

Literally every scene with Emma & Ray. They’re my top 2 favorites from this series okay? Of course I’m going to fangirl over them. (they already showed the hug in one of the trailers and i damn near cried)

If we see him, (which i’m sure we will, but i still have tiny some doubts) I hope they give Yuugo a fantastic voice actor.

Also, his nicknames for everyone!! Literally everything about that man I’m hyped for.

Again, very doubtful we’ll get GP in a 12ep season, but whenever that arc decides to grace us with its presence, “63194” better play on full blast when ch92-93 gets animated.

Speaking of music, while I’m completely excited to hear the new OST that Obata has in store for us (thank god he’s doing this season again btw!), I hope we hear some of those unused tracks from the first season, specifically “Their Own Thoughts.”

Every time Emma mentions their future, their goals or how her family will always be together, I’ll cry. (thanks demon god and your stupid reward)

Yes I’ll be doing those reaction posts (if you follow me i’m sure you’ve seen them by now) after every new episode as I do with other series I watch.. once I survive the usual long day at work, avoiding anything TPN related so I can watch in peace and quiet when I finally get home.. damn it, im already so anxious, help.

#the promised neverland #chidoroki used chatter

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jayankles · 7 years ago

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Spread the Love - My Forever Favourite Fics

Remember when I said that I asked y’all to send in your favourite fics of your own or someone elses?

Your Favourites

Well I think It was high time to tell you mine. I had been planning on doing this a long time ago but I hadn’t gotten around to doing it but now here I am posting this showing all my love to the most memorable stories have read since I joined this site. So without further a do, below are at least 60 stories that I have loved and thoroughly enjoyed. All have a comment about what I liked about it and if you’re lucky you may be on there twice.

BTW it’s a very long post.

Drabbles

Familiar - @torn-and-frayed I think about this all the time and have probably read this drabble at least three times. I would have loved for it to be turned into a full on oneshot to get the backstory of Dean and the Reader because the angst is just so enticing you can’t help but want to read more.

Oneshots

The Little Princess - @iwantthedean Jensen has awesome ways to make it up to his daughter. And a sassy one at that too! Love me some daddy!Jensen.

Even Though - @imagineteamfreewill I don’t read a lot of Sam but I couldn’t help but giddly grin at domestic!sam.

Marry Me - @ravengirl94 *slaps hand down on table* this was the cutest shit I have ever read. It was just so fluffy I could help but read it a second and third time.

Downsized - @deanssweetheart23 I love me some toddler!Dean and I think you captured him perfectly, especially his saucy little grabby hands ;)

Always - @winchestersnco This monster of a oneshot stands at 20k and it was worth the read. From what I can remember, it shows the journey of the relationship between Dean and the reader, following the seasons from one to twelve.

The Asshole Jock - @thegreatficmaster Nini, your fics just make me smile because your personality shines through and makes them so relatable. I love that you made this a gender neutral so every one could enjoy, definitely made me love you and Dean even more.

Sweet Relief - @winchestersnco Everyone needs some Nurse!Sam in their life so here you go. It is 10k worth of pure and utter greatness.

Wanted - @jotink78 This cute little oneshot explores Dean and the readers daughter’s feeling about not being planned.

Lost and Found - @little-red-83 This is an angsty Gadreel story that I hope someday gets a sequel or second part because there isn’t enough Gadreel love out there, not that I am aware of anyway, but this story is based on the angels falling in season 9 and it hurts my heart so much because the reader went through changes that she didn’t think could happen.

Eyes Like That - @little-red-83 The may be my absolute favourite Gadreel oneshot ever, it shows a different side of the reader that we are all used to reading or writing. It’s filled with angst and I should be called a monster for loving it but I can’t help it It was written so perfectly that I feel sorry for Gadreel.

The Ladybug and the Cowboy - @avasmommy224 This oneshot has Dean Smith in it and has a plus size!reader. For me, that was a win-win and only fueled my love for Dean Smith.

Trials of Silence - @moonlitskinwalker I read this twice. The second time I read it was better than the first. It was just so well written about the struggle the reader went through after losing her hearing and I was glad that someone reblogged it so I could give it the recognition it deserved.

People Can Change - @kas-not-cas I related so much to this AU story because I’m that chubby nerd that is full of self doubt so I fell in love with it and read it a couple of times through tears of how incredible this whole thing was.

A Darker Shade of Love - @roxy-davenport his was just so hot. It’s a little canon divergent but that is what makes this oneshot so great. It included the struggle that MOC!Dean goes through and the transformation into Demon!Dean what makes it so great.

Hold the Line - @lipstickandwhiskey At first I was intimidated by the word count but sucked it up and read the shit out of it and thank god I did because it was a fantastic read, I loved the build up of the relationship between Dean and the reader.

The Wish Spell - @emilywritesaboutdean I think this fic was the first that I had read from you and I automatically hit that follow button as soon as I read it. I’m glad someone reblogged it and it came on my dash, so I had the opportunity to read it and follow such a nice person.

Don’t Speak - @demondeanismybaby This oneshot hurt in the beginning because it was so relatable but Dean being the adorable fluff ball that he is saves the day again.

Those Eyes [Part 1] [Part 2] - @demondeanismybaby The first part gave me mixed emotions; the fact that they got along so well in the beginning then it turned out to be lies. The the end of that, I almost burst into tears with how sucky Dean was. Then that second part, it was just rude I thought that Ashley would make it better but no, she made it worse and didn’t care for my fragile little heart. Thanks for that.

Where Is My Mind - @magicalthoughtsendinterriblefics This was a head fuck from the beginning and it messed me up but I loved it from start to finish.

The Kiss - @iwantthedean What can I say about this? Well, apart from the fact that I have read it about three times already, it was amazingly written with any dialogue yet you have conveyed all the words through the loophole. I adore this oneshot because it gave me my love for Dean Smith.

The Smiths - @kayteonline I recently found your blog and this fic and I turned into a Dean Smith slut even more. I hope there’s more eventually.

Huddled - @kittenofdoomage A/B/O wasn’t really my thing until I read this oneshot. I also admire the fact that was reader was a strong character in this and helped Dean out.

The Price You Pay - @kittenofdoomage My heart was torn out of my chest, multiple times and put back together. The sacrifice that both Dean and the Reader made was perfect and the ending was amazing.

Cross My Heart - @deanssweetheart23 Honestly, I read this oneshot and I was all over the place. I was happy, excited, then it got to a certain part in there and my heart dropped. I was in tears before I had even finished it. But thank god I did. Because I absolutely loved it.

Dee - @percywinchester27 This cute oneshot make my heart melt. I absolutely loved the transitions in it, I adored how Dean automatically went into protector mode. And that beautiful ending just made me love you even more, Ana.

Series

Fantasy vs Reality - @avasmommy224 This Dean AU series where Dean has tattoos just melts my heart. There’s angst, fluff and it is absolutely to die for.

Unexpectedly - @winchesterenthusiast This is another Dean AU that I love. I mean Dean is adorable and FLEETWOOD MAC! I love them! It’s so perfectly written that I can’t get it out of my head. And just so you know, Kait is also an amazing person so there’s that too.

Private Lives - @katnharper This Jensen series is fantastic, it just reels you in from the start. Each chapter just gets better and better, the deeper you delve and I can’t wait for the next part of it.

https://iwantthedean.tumblr.com/post/146472156396/angeles-master-list Nicole, this series is everything. I loved that it was based on the song Jensen covered. I loved the imagery it created and soon I will have to read it again!

Forward - @blacktithe7 This series is just ripping me apart. It explores real life struggles and it’s not just fluff that doesn’t happen all the time. It is absolutely beautiful, each and every word of it. I also love the battle between Jensen and the Reader but my little Jaybird is too cute to harm and what do you do? Hurt her! I shouldn’t have trusted you.

I Know Your Wife (She Wouldn’t Mind) - @teamfreewill-imagine This Jared, Gen, Reader series just pulls me to the Jared side but the fact that Ditto has Jensen and Danneel as adoptive parents and JJ the coolest little sister. So cute with the right amount of angst and smut.

A Little Thing Called Love - @chaos-and-the-calm67 This Jensen series has been put on hold but I remember when it first came out that it played with my emotions because one minute I loved Jensen then the other I just wanted to hurt him but then again I understood why he did what he did. I can’t wait for the next part whenever that may be.

Series Masterlist - @thing-you-do-with-that-thing So I love way too many fics from Kari so I had to link her series master list. Find the following fics because you will not be disappointed: (DEAN) When You Least Expect It, Strawberry Wine, Kill Zone, Ties That Bind, (SAM) The Blue Beach House, (JENSEN) Living With Regrets. These are literally only a few that I love each series that I read just got better and better as you read the next chapter of each story.

Girls Night - @itswitchcraft-not-googlemaps I think this series is what made me follow you. I read it and automatically hit that like, reblog and follow button. I’d love to have a friend like Jody and you wrote her so well.

Invisible - @just-another-busy-fangirl This is another amazing series, at times it was frustrating when I couldn’t figure out how the Reader would be seen again! But in the end, love conquers all.

They’re Watching - @daydreamingintheimpala This mystery series fucked me up, it was so good and had me on the edge of my seat as I read each chapter. Also, check out The Donor because it gives you all kinds of Daddy!Dean feels.

Beauty and the Beast - @imagineteamfreewill This series is one of my absolute favourites. It’s all I can think about, and it just makes me want to watch the original and the new movie all the time as I wait for a new part to come out.

Close Every Door - @jotink78 It started with a shopping trip for a supply run and there are warnings that you have to read because it gets a little dark but Joanie tells an amazing story that captures your attention from start to finish.

The Chaos Theory - @frickfracklesackles Serial Killer!Sam warning. It’s only the beginning but damn is it a good start to an even better story. Also check out Gasoline (Jensen Series)

Lilies and Zeppelin - @deanscolette This Punk!Dean AU took me on a roller coaster of emotions. It hurt but it was also full of love and hate.

Masterlist -> 62 Minutes - @dean-the-smol-bean Luna has put out a one of the best series I’ve read, she’s so talented and manages the slow burn and the love story between Dean and the reader. Unfortunaly there isn’t a separate masterlist so it leads to the full one – look for 62 Minutes and you will not regret it.

Fresh Start - @like-a-bag-of-potatoes This is an AU series to die for. It shows the story of the reader and Dean before they got together and it is brillant story that has been told.

I See Fire - @plaidstiel-wormstache I read this and instantly fell in love with it. I was pulled and drawn in with the reader and her secret and her special powers. It’s what made me follow you, it was so memorable.

Stroke of Luck - @percywinchester27 This series annoys me because it is so good but on the other hand the SLOW burn makes me want to just get them and smash their bloody heads together. We get the insight of Dean and the Reader’s upbringing together and the significance of the best OFC I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Balconies - @lipstickandwhiskey This series was a great read, the seriousness of real life situations and the overall greatness of it all just makes me love it again and again everytime I read it.

Dirty Girl - @sis-tafics It’s Demon!Dean that should be enough but I just can’t leave at that because that wouldn’t be fair because the SMUT is just hot af especially with a Virgin!Reader at the beginning.

Our Little Secret - @sis-tafics this ongoing series is great one to read if you are a kinky son of a bitch but underlying all that smut is a plot that will make you love Dean, flaws and all, even more than usual.

The Good Parent - @faith-in-dean I’m kinda upset that Franzi lost interest in this story because I was loving this rewrite, and Dad!Dean so...

Series Masterlist - @luci-in-trenchcoats Michelle is just an amazing writer overall, I was struggling to choose only a few of them, but my favourites are; Simple Man, The Firefighter, Frat Boy, Locked In, Spend the Night and Worlds Best Dad. ← and this is just Dean. The reader is just so fantastically written. Dean is a loving and an adorable dork, who wouldn’t want that?

Wayward Daughters - @chelsea072498 I was enamored with this story from the get go. The detail of this story was just so amazing that most of the time, it’s all I can think about. The story of Dean, the reader and Alex is just so entralling that you can’t help but fall in love with it.

Celebrate Me Home - @callmesweetheartifyoumeanit IT’S 75K WORTH OF PURE AND UTTER HARD WORK. Every new chapter that Moz had put out I absolutely loved. She had captured so many different, conflicting emotions. I cried. A lot. Like a baby. But each part got better and better. The deeper you dove into the story the better you learned the characters and how they think and how they feel. And as you read it, it hits you right in the feels, like all the time. I will definitely be reading this over in the near future.

A Perfect Storm - @nichelle-my-belle This series is what made me follow Nichelle. I just loved the twists and turns at every angle. When you threw in the twist about the reader’s father and who she truly was, that freaking got me. Amazing writing.

Mr and Mrs Smith - @purgatoan I love that in the dean x reader series that both of them are hunters and have to hide it from each other and the little detail that the reader has the tattoo first and then Dean gets it and not the other way around

Where It All Began - @supernatural-jackles I have got to tell you. I fell in love with this series as soon as I laid eyes on it. I had saved it in my drafts and did nothing but read it for a week until I had caught up. Then I just sat there waiting for the next update from Jen.

Masterlist - @supernatural-jackles I also put Jen’s masterlist her because I also loved her ‘Meet My Daughter’ series and ‘Hell on Earth’ series, too, but honestly, you should just go and check it out anyway because she has written some of the most amazing fics that I have read in my life. I mean I try not to fangirl but it’s so hard.

Sexy Mutt - @larajadeschmidt13 I’m not really an OFC reader but I love this Dog!Dean x OFC. Dean, in this, is an aborable little pupper who has no clue how he ended up in a human body.

Stay - @larajadeschmidt13 This fic is another Dean x OFC but this time Dean is a professor! You wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity.

Fire and Ice - @huntingandwritingthings I think that this was the first fic that I had read from your blog, I loved that it showed real life struggles and you brought in an aspect from your own life; the reader being french, it was such a great read.

Undeniable Heat - @katymacsupernatural I am loving this series so far, it has so many twists and turns as you read each chapter and makes you fall in love with Jensen even more.

Daddy’s Little Lovebug - @torn-and-frayed I love this series it had inspired me to write my own series of Daddy!Dean. Little JoJo make your heart melt from the beginning and just gah it’s too cute. Also check out Send the Pain Below, Fragments and With All My Heart

#spread the love #bailey's favourites #i love them #all of them #bailey spreads the love

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sy-maya · 7 years ago

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Passage to New Zealand and next steps

Stats until now: sailing for 3.5 years, 18′130 nautical miles (33′580 km)

Family and friends ask us about our next steps. What next? Where do we go? What will we do? How long still? The short and the long answer is: We don’t know yet. But we’ll let you know as soon as we figure it out. In the next days, we have to do some repairs on Maya, haul her out, organize all that. Herbert has to catch up with work (Shortcut). Then, we’d like to do some sight seeing with the kiddos (Christmas?), etc. After that, we will see… Stay tuned! ;-)

In the meantime, here is our passage to NZ day by day. Thanks to our dear friend Grégoire Meylan for posting these in out FB page and thank you all for your motivating comments!

Some impressions can be found here: FB Album NZ Passage

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Day 1: Between Storm and Hurricane November 16-17, 2017

We left Tongatapu yesterday at noon and had a smooth start. Our friends Peter and Renate from the German boat SY Mardos left 2 hours ahead. Cool to have a sailing buddy. Even if we don’t see them, it’s good to know that there is somebody close by. We were analyzing the weather together for weeks, making Excel sheets and weighting different options (the good old German/Swiss way). A bit of background information. This passage is probably the most tricky/dangerous one we ever made. Until now we were stable trade-wind sailors, but down here, the weather changes from one hour to the other. Predictions are very unreliable e.g. now we should have 10 knots wind. In fact we have 20 knots. This is a 100% error :-/. At least the direction is correct. Also, there are weekly spring storms raging on the north coast of New Zealand (up to 30S). There is one right now with wind speeds of a predicted 50 knots. This means gusts up to 60-70 knots in reality. Not good. In comparison, you can imagine holding your head out of the car window at 140km/h. Now imagine it is your entire home that is looking out of that car window and on top of the street rushes 8-9m waves. We don’t want that and that’s the reason why we did not leave last time we planned to. We might have just passed before that storm, but any problem with the engine at the wrong moment could happen and boooom. We are so happy though, that our friends from SY Carapitanga and SY MeliMela just made it on time this morning! The weather window we are taking right now looks much better, at least for now. Weather might still change and will change. Second reason why this is a tricky passage are the hurricanes in the South Pacific. The season started November 1st. Even if there are no reported hurricanes before December 1st in Tonga, we do not want to risk to stay too long. Hurricanes are also very unpredictable constructs. There are outliers in every season. We checked before leaving and there is no hurricane in sight down here. We are right between storm and hurricane. Good that we get weather on board and have daily radio rounds with our friends here. Thanks HAM radio.

Due to the tricky weather here, some of our friend sailors (actually most of them) rely on the help of some weather guru. We don’t. He sent about 16 boats to New Zealand at the wrong time. They were all stuck at Minerva, a reef in the middle of the ocean, for almost 2 weeks in order to take a very risky weather window (the one we decided to avoid). We hope they all arrived safe and sound in New Zealand. But of course, at the end, everyone is free to do what they want, but we prefer to listen to our guts and blame only ourselves if something goes wrong.

Initially, we wanted to see Minerva, a reef about 2 days SW from Tonga in the middle of the ocean. However, the current wind direction below 30S does not allow for a visit (reminds us when we wanted to see Coco Island from Costa Rica to Galapagos and the wind was blowing from the wrong direction. History is repeating). We never made it there. Most ‘experts’ say to go west and then south to catch the west winds after 30S. Currently, the wind blows from E down there and this already since weeks. A change in the wind pattern cannot be seen. Therefore, we go South, until the SE wind comes in. Completely against all sailing literature. (BTW, there are tens of boats waiting in Fiji and New Caledonia already for weeks to cross, but they have the wind right against, and Hurricanes in the back).

Hope our guts will be right and we will make it safe and sound. So far so good.

Fun fact: By going south, we crossed the political time zone again to yesterday and will cross it once more in a couple of days to tomorrow. Don’t ask what day it is here :-)

We had Chili con Carne for lunch&dinner.

position at 9pm UTC+/-??? https://waypoint.li/map?q=-24.872,-175.0814

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Day 2: Active volcanos and pitted dates. November 17-18, 2017

We’re still heading straight south to catch the wind. The night was calm and nice. This morning, we started the engine to keep up the speed. At least, we listen to one of the sailor golden rules for the NZ crossing: DO NOT SPARE THE FUEL, KEEP UP THE SPEED WITH OR WITHOUT WIND! ;-) But still, we fly reef III on the main sail, safety first! We’ve sailed 360 NM, and there are 7xx NM more to go. Our average speed is 6.3kn. It was a lovely day, with smooth (motor)sailing. Even the sun decided to show up at the late afternoon, just in time to give us a wonderful sunset. So far so good.

The boys are fine, very energetic and challenging :-) They are quite excited by the surrounding sea trenches (more than 10km deep) and volcanic activities. We showed them on the map how we are crossing a geologically interesting (and scaring) active underwater area. So, instead of watching for dolphins or whales, they are fantasizing about eventual volcanos “Did you see that? I spotted some smoke, it is definitely a volcano!”.

We had yummy butternut Tortelloni for lunch and a chocolate-banana-dates-sesame cake for dessert. We’re trying to use all the “forbidden” items before coming to NZ. No fresh food, no dairy, no seeds, no lentils, etc. They have a very strict list in order to preserve their beautiful islands. The main question among sailors before leaving Tonga was “Do you need by any chance some lentils?”. It became a running gag ;-) For the story, our friends Meri&Manu from SY Carapitanga/Paprika, gave us a big bag of dates before heading to NZ. Asma was very happy and proud to find out that they were actually from Tunisia! Yeaaaah! The bag is almost empty now ;-) Position at 9pm UTC+/-??? https://waypoint.li/map?q=-26.732,-175.21

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Day 3: South, More South, Most South November 18-19, 2017

Again nice sailing, smooth conditions. The weather forecast seems to be reliable and stable. We are very grateful, so far so good. After sailing straight south since we left Tonga, today we switched to bearing Whangarei, NZ. 480NM behind us, and still 655 NM to go. We crossed this afternoon the 28S longitude, we have never been so far South. The most South we got was Pitcairn Islands (25S) in September 2016, when we first crossed the Pacific from Galapagos. We are all excited about it :-) Small things in sailing life. The air temperature is still nice here, and we are enjoying every bit of it, because our friends on the radio are complaining about the ice cold NZ! Brrrrr. We had a butternut soup for lunch. Soup leftovers and pop corn for dinner ;-). Yummy.

Position at 9pm UTC-11 (we figured it out, officially, it’s Sat 18th here until we cross the date line again.) https://waypoint.li/map?q=-28.603,-176.418

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Day 4: Half distance November 19-20, 2017

While writing these lines, we are only a few miles away from half the distance to Whangarei - New Zealand. Today, nothing spectacular but the sunrise, the sunset, the starry sky, and a splendid day of sailing. We read a lot to the kids. Adam is in Harry Potter fever and Herbert got addicted too (again). So he finished the remaining three chapters of the second book. Adam was so impressed that Asma had to tell him a lot of bedtime stories to get his mind off the scary passages. Samy didn’t understand all the details - better for his sleep quality. ;-)

Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-30.00,-177.04

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Day 5: Wind of Change ;-) November 20-21, 2017

After a quiet night, the wind is turning to the right side (From S to SE). Exactly as forecasted. The bearing is 230, straight to Whangarei NZ. Still 440NM to go. We’re passing the Kermadec Ridge right at this moment. Quite rough seas with gusts up to 30 knots (“Dream conditions” for Herbert, “Not So” for Asma but OK, the boys are sleeping). Quite impressive to be in these surroundings. Volcanos -new and old-, marine reserves, birds everywhere. We even spotted our first Albatross, which was following us for more than an hour. Amazing beast! Herbert somehow managed to injure his left hand. It got infected and quite swollen, which led to fever and weakness. Trying to fix him with antibiotic ointment. Last green lentils, carrots and potatoes stew for lunch&dinner.

Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-31.072,-178.917

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Day 6: 180 West or 180 East? November 21-22, 2017

The day started with a celebration: we crossed the 180W/E longitude line (and therefore the date line once again)! We have officially circumnavigated half the globe. Our last watermelon has been opened for the occasion ;-). The sailing has been quite bumpy, according to Asma, who is more than looking forward to its direction changing easterly so that we have the wind more from the stern! Herbert and the boys, of course, find it very cool. Maya is rocking, and after all it’s much more fun to play with toy cars when the floor of the living room is inclined by 30 degrees. There are not many houses like this out there. Adam had the ingenious idea to build a sleigh with our IKEA plates. It worked fine and it didn’t take long until the first plate broke… Because of these conditions, only leftovers for lunch (lentils yet again) and some crackers and pop corn for dinner. No way to cook! Even washing the dishes or moving from A to B reveals to be very sporty and to be carefully planned for. The good thing is that we could spot our buddy SV MARDOS since yesterday night and still now, we are about 3NM apart and could talk on the VHF radio! Funny! Herbert’s injury is not getting better, therefore we switched to antibiotics. The wound looks like a volcano by now! He feels a little better, though. Some readers might wonder what we are doing during our night watches when outside it’s freezing and the waves transform Maya into a roller coaster. Asma is watching Big Bang Theory and Herbert - officially on holiday - is (as a hobby) helping a Swiss startup implementing some features for their iPhone app. What a nerdy family ;o) Still 294NM to go. Good night! Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-32.60,178.73

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Day 7: Last night? November 22-23, 2017

After a rocky night, we had a very nice and smooth sailing day. Sun, no waves, perfect wind (Herbert: boring ;-) ). Well, the temperature is getting lower and lower (air at 20 and water at 18 degrees), and we adapt our layers of clothing, so it goes from 0 (only underwear) to 1 (t-shirt for Herbert) or 2 layers (fleece jacket and thick socks for Asma). The boys start with more layers after waking up, but end up with underwear after a few hours. Maya is well isolated, so we only notice the cold when we go outside, which happens less and less by the way… Bye bye tropics :-(

Still, we are all excited for the next chapter of our family journey. We have been sailing one week from Tonga, and it is - most probably - our last night at sea for a long time. Asma was very busy emptying the provisions, so there was much more cooking than yesterday: a bread with (last) whole grain flour and (last) seeds for breakfast, Gnocchis with (last) fresh tomatoes for lunch, a cake with (last) eggs, and (last) hazelnuts and (last) dates for the snack; and finally (last) sausages for dinner. For the New Zealand immigration, we have to get rid of all food items before arriving, and give a list of all “risk goods”. Herbert has been filling these forms. He could even call the officials on the maritime radio via SSB, to inform them of our soon arrival. His hand is getting better, but still a bit weak. The antibiotics are doing their job.

1042 NM behind us and less than 140NM to go until the customs berth in Marsden Cove marina, Whangarei NZ.

Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-34.268,176.459

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Day 8: Arrival November 23-24, 2017

At midnight, Herbert woke Asma up for her shift with a “We have a problem, the wind is gone, and the temporary autopilot doesn’t want to work, argh!”. Asma put on 5 layers of clothes and went outside to steer by hand. Herbert tried and tried to fix the problem without success, so he eventually went to sleep until his next shift. Asma was actually very happy to be steering outside despite the cold. It was our last night sailing (well at least for a while ;-)), so we fully enjoyed the starry sky and the peacefulness of the night. It gave us the opportunity to think about all this amazing journey.

At 6:30am, the kids woke up, put warm clothes on and went outside with Asma. Adam could steer, while she prepared their breakfast. He was so proud to help :-) At 10am, Herbert woke up and started to fix the autopilot again. Debugging. At 11am, it was working! Yesss, now, no time to sleep or rest, we have to clean the boat for clearance because we want to arrive today!! And we will. We could have slowed the pace and spent another night on sea but no, we want to arrive on Friday, as planned ;-)

Maya was grateful to be cared of and to be clean and neat. Even the boys were like “Ah wow, Maya looks nice like this!”. And both of us thought ”THAT’S THE WAY SHE WOULD BE IF YOU KIDS WOULDN’T MAKE A MESS ALL THE TIME”, but we didn’t say it. We’ve just asked them to keep her like this at least until the customs come in next day, otherwise they wouldn’t let us stay in New Zealand. Hihihi develish parents, but it worked :-) For lunch, we had some precooked French delicatessen: Boeuf Bourguignon and Ratatouille :-)

At 5pm, the boys were screaming “Land in Sight! We see New Zealand!”. So cool. We will make it. They went to bed to sleep a little bit in order to be fit when we arrive late. That’s what Samy did, except that he never woke up until next morning ;-) Adam was so excited, he couldn’t stay still for 1s, so we let him stay awake with us, and enjoy the breathtaking scenery outside. For dinner, Herbert, who was still in the mood of French cuisine, and who didn’t want to throw away all onions and garlic, cooked a wonderful onion soup. Yummy!

By 8:30pm, Adam was getting tired and overexcited. He could only calm down and sleep when Herbert laid with him in bed and promised to wake him up when we arrive. Which we actually did, but he was so tired, he just fell back asleep ;-) Herbert took radio contact with the NZ harbor to announce our arrival. It was getting dark, we were tired but also excited, that instead of taking shifts to rest, we just sat together outside to steer and enjoy our last miles under a new moon, clear sky, shooting stars, flat sea, and welcoming land lights. It was very emotional. We are really here. We did it. Amazing.

The harbor entry was quite tricky at night, we were so happy to have the navigation charts. It all went well with a huge amount of Adrenalin. At 11:15pm, we were safely docked at the customs’ berth at Marsden Cove Marina. Exhausted but overwhelmed by gratefulness.

Good night from New Zealand!

Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-35.8367,174.4686

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Day 9: Ship capsized and sank November 24-25, 2017

At 6:30am, the boys woke up and cheered “WE ARE IN NEW ZEALAND!!!”. No way to sleep any longer :-). We woke up, took our breakfast, and cleared up. At 8:20am, the immigration officer arrived, followed later by the quarantine one. This latter was Mike Barker, the guy we met in Vava’u during the “Blue Water Festival” (Corresponding blogpost still to come), and who we asked all about food clearance in NZ. Nice to see a familiar face at arrival. It went all well, and at 9:20am, we were officially cleared in! We learned from the custom officials that two ships didn’t make the trip. One ship has to be abandoned, the other sank. The crew, however, could be saved in both cases. We were shocked. This happened exactly in the weather window we wanted to take first, but finally didn’t take (see one of the FB posts). Lesson learned: wait, wait, wait, until weather is stable.

It’s amazing how the clearance procedure in New Zealand is dramatized. Adjectives such as difficult, expensive, impossible, tedious, long, etc. are often used to describe it. People start preparing already months before arrival. The truth is: It is very easy to clear in to New Zealand. The assistance of the officials is unbelievable and it takes no longer than 15 minutes to get cleared. This is about 4 times faster than Tonga for example. Not to mention the countries in Latin America. There is not much paper work to be done and it doesn’t cost a cent. Well, that is OUR experience, may be, we were indeed very well prepared ;-)

After clearance, we moved straight to our berth B52 (what a great berth name ;-) ). At 10am, we left the boat and went exploring the marina.

The Marsden Cove Marina is outside of Whangarei, the main city here. There is not much. Therefore, it took us quite some time to get decent Internet to write these posts.

By the way, Herbert’s hand is getting better. He hasn’t been to a doctor yet (everything is closed), but first thing on Monday.

The little we saw so far - the meadows, the woods, the cows, etc. - reminds us of Switzerland. Well, there are some palm trees, but otherwise, really similar. On top of that, everything is so clean. What also hit us was that everybody is so white. Really white skin. Or pale? ;-) The ‘small’ supermarket has everything one can imagine (well, at least for us) we bought fresh vegetables (Broccoli, which we missed most during our trip), fruits (KIWIS ;-), strawberries and blueberries), some meat, CHEESE :-))) to prepare a nice dinner. On Maya, the meat already marinated, and the veggies chopped, we fired up the stove. At least, we wanted to fire it up. However, it didn’t work. Gas was empty. Wow, how lucky are we. If this would have happened some days or hours earlier… Anyway, what now? It’s late Saturday afternoon. When do the stores close here? Let’s ask our neighbors form SY Tregoning if they can help somehow. Luckily, they had a spare gas bottle. We hooked it up and were able to start cooking. While Herbert prepared dinner, Asma went to check whether the shop was still open and had some gas. Yeah, it did. We were saved.

After dinner, we watched a movie with the kids and went all early to bed. Good night!

Position: https://waypoint.li/map?q=-35.8373,174.4685

#sailingonmaya #sailingwithkids

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