Experienced motor yacht owner, Leigh Hopper gives a personal perspective and insight into venturing offshore on a recent trip to Fiji in his Maritimo M70.
Around March 2022 several situations came together to trigger a decision to take on a boat trip to Fiji. These included having the boat I was comfortable with, having recently completed and enjoyed a 6 week round the North island trip. Good friends Doug and Miriam Godfrey encouraged me to join them on their Fiji adventure, as they planned to meet family there, who were completing a 4 year round the world sailing adventure. Departure was planned for mid – July. There was much to do and little time to do it.
Around March 2022 several situations came together to trigger a decision to take on a boat trip to Fiji. These included having the boat I was comfortable with, having recently completed and enjoyed a 6 week round the North island trip. Good friends Doug and Miriam Godfrey encouraged me to join them on their Fiji adventure, as they planned to meet family there, who were completing a 4 year round the world sailing adventure. Departure was planned for mid – July. There was much to do and little time to do it.
“Under section 21 of the Maritime Transport Act, a Master of a pleasure craft must notify the Director of Maritime NZ of their intention to depart NZ before they leave. Additionally, they must also:
Satisfy the Director that the vessel and its safety equipment are adequate for the voyage
Satisfy the Director that the vessel is adequately crewed for the voyage
Observe any other relevant maritime rules.
All NZ registered vessels must undergo a safety inspection prior to departure to obtain a Category 1 safety certificate. The inspection will focus on:
The design and construction of the boat being suitable for the voyage and meting the required standards
The safety and communications equipment meeting the specific requirements and ensuring all safety equipment is well within its expiry date
The skipper and crews’ ability to undertake the proposed voyage safely and demonstrate preparedness for emergency situations.
The decision on whether to grant section 21 clearance is made by the Director or their delegate (i.e. a yacht inspector). In addition to the above requirements, all vessels must be registered as a New Zealand ship with the Registrar of Ships at Maritime NZ (MNZ).” (extract from MNZ’s web site, www.maritimenz.govt/recreational/the-basics/going-overseas.asp#cat_cat1)
A flow chart of the process is also on the web site and is a helpful tool to chart progress.
SETTING UP THE BOAT
My vessel is a Maritimo M70 launch named Moon Shadow. She has the pedigree for offshore but did not meet the strict requirements of Cat 1. In early March, Dean Ryder and his team at Motoryacht Services in Auckland were on the case adding the deficient elements which included amongst other minor items;
Fixing of a 6-man life raft.
Recharging fire extinguishers where necessary.
Manufacturing and fixing perspex shields to the saloon windows.
Checking, repairing and fitting extra fuel bladders and associated pumps and hoses.
Communication systems.
While on the hard it was also appropriate to check underwater items such as shaft seals, rudder seals, trim tabs, anodes, condition of skin fittings, and condition of antifoul. In our case and intending to be away for three months a clean bottom would be required for re-entry. Topside, everything needed to be checked and all maintenance items addressed. Any minor failure in the anchor winch or crane would have been a pain in the proverbial, as they were used so many times each day and we would cover more than 4000 nm over the three-month trip.
With 500 engine hours likely, extra oil was stored in 20 litre containers. An oil change and filters were carried out on the engines while in Fiji, Not for the unfit in the heat of the engine room in tropical Fiji.
PAPERWORK
Insurance for offshore seems difficult to arrange within NZ. Pantaenius Australia Pty Ltd provided cover for the NZ and South Pacific regions. Premiums are generally higher but so are the risks navigating around the tropics. Much of the areas we covered remain uncharted or are simply mapped incorrectly. A 12-month policy and premium are a significant outlay, but rebated pro rata months used for the south Pacific component.
Small Ship (under 24 m) Registration is required. This involved an application to the Registrar of Ships in Wellington. I also needed to supply a certified notice of deregistration of Moon Shadow X in Australia from where I had purchased her. A strict measurement of the vessel was required, and the certificate was duly issued with a registration number. Given other NZ vessels held the name Moon Shadow an X was added to differentiate.
A modem was added to the VHF to enable ship tracking (AIS), Iridium Go acquired and set up with Predictwind subscriptions and downloads for satellite comms.
A registered yacht Inspector was engaged to vet the vessel and her crew. Half of the crew is required to hold a “Safety at Sea” certificate (a 2-day course) and one (myself) the “Offshore Medical” certificate, also a 2-day course.
Moon Shadow was back in the water a week prior to anticipated departure and I took her directly to Marsden Cove being a Customs “Port of Entry”, handy to the crew and provisions. Monitoring Predictwind indicated a window of suitable weather for our planned 4-day trip to Minerva Reef. A departure date was set. The crew included my son Gray and his keen Northland fishing mates. Plenty of time was available to stow their considerable gear, fill our 6,300 litre tanks and an additional 1000 litres in a gunwale bladder for extra measure. As it transpired, we didn’t need the extra fuel but being the first trip, it provided an extra level of comfort, and I was mindful it may take several days to pull this crew away from fishing and diving Minerva Reef.
DEPARTURE PAPERWORK
There is plenty of information required to be submitted. I kept electronic and hard copies of everything. You will need it for each boarder.
“Advanced Notice of Departure” (AND) which essentially discloses salient information of what and who is onboard including critical communications information.
Completed Certificate of Clearance
Craft Registration
Cat 1 Certificate
Passports
Departure is required immediately on clearance, we set off loaded and well prepared.
Predictwind, through the Iridium satellite communication system enabled regular and reliable weather information to make course judgements and anticipate what was ahead. Iridium also enabled phone calls, txt and basic email service. We maintained daily discussion on the weather outlook with a land-based contact in Auckland and a call to my wife Linda as a conduit of the crew and followers on What’s App. Comforting for her also …. I’m sure, I think?
It’s a six-day transit to Fiji via Minerva at 8.5 Kts. The last two days approaching Minerva were a little lumpy with 20 to 25 knot beam seas on a 3 to 4m short swell, thankfully softened by the ARG Tohmei gyro.
Minerva loomed up on the horizon, so the game gear was deployed regardless of the less than desirable condition for fishing. A Short-Billed Marlin was hooked within two minutes. Sixteen gamefish, mostly Yellow Fin tuna and Wahoo were hooked, released or taken by sharks, within 60 minutes of arriving at the reef.
Four days were spent at Minerva South and North in beautiful conditions in the shelter of the reef. The crew had a ball fishing and diving in 30m visibility. Minerva is quite an experience.
Prior to departure the services of Yacht Help Fiji were contracted to assist with clearance into Fiji. An Advanced Notice of Arrival (ANA) was required including similar information on boat and crew as sought for departure from NZ. Our 48-hour notice of arrival was given to Yacht Help over the Iridium. A VHF call to Denarau Marina directed us into a berth for the ensuing clearances;
Biosecurity
Customs
Financial reporting
Quarantine
Food Safety
Immigration
All undertaken in the usual friendly Fiji fashion, our Certificate of Clearance was issued. Fees apply.
The crew departed back to NZ and Linda arrived via the 3-hour transportation versus the 11-day option. The following six weeks were spent with rotating groups of friends and family in glorious conditions in the Yasawas and south to Momi Bay, snorkelling, diving with Mantarays, meeting locals and other boaties, including a lovely day with the locals of Hawini village at the northern tip of the Yasawa’s who prepared a scrummy lovo. We were discovering and fine tuning each leg for maximum coverage and enjoyment, meanwhile we heard nothing but bad news about the weather back home. So sad. Yeah right.
Provisioning proved easy and reliable with the help of Farm Boy who would assemble the provisions required and deliver via ferry services anywhere throughout the Yasawas. Local produce is also available at Musket Cove and Nanuya stores. Denarau has all you need but seldom an available berth so many anchor outside the entrance and tender ashore as required.
Preparation for the return journey was not so arduous but still required a couple of hours on the computer filing another ANA and Inwards Small Craft Report for NZ prior to departure. I did however manage to stuff-up by submitting to the wrong email address. The correct address for all notices is yachts.yachts@customs.govt.nz.
A Fiji Customs office is 50m from the Denarau fuel dock so during the 4 hours it took to refuel (on the slow pump) we were able to arrange a departure time that dovetailed with the new crew arriving on a flight from NZ and deal with the departure documentation.
. Fiji departure processes were relatively simple and quickly executed. The crew were in and out of Fiji in 1 hour. Vessel and crew requirements are not as stringent coming home as vessels come from all corners of the globe and I imagine it is not possible to impose NZ standards on departures to NZ. I have no doubt they will receive the same search and rescue service in the event of need however.
The return crew comprised four mates who also demanded a diversion to Minerva, and they were not disappointed as the full freezer of Tuna and Whaloo would soon indicate.
The 4-day journey from Minerva to Marsden Cove began with 15-20 knot beam seas but eased to a pleasant aft wind and finally light head winds, exactly as predicted from the outset. One small hiccup…the Iridium connection failed or rather I failed to take account of the termination date on the SIM Card and could not activate a new card outside internet coverage. We did manage to get out a 48-hour arrival time to a Marsden Cove Customs agent who would have been monitoring our progress tracking the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to within cell coverage.
Marsden Cove is a very convenient Port of Entry given we were heading for home port of Whitianga Waterways. Once cleared by the friendly MPI and Customs agents we off loaded a bilge load of the outbound crews gear and hightailed it to Whitianga arriving to happy wives, family and friends all standing on the dock outside the house. A party ensued.
In summary, there is much to do in undertaking an offshore adventure. The decision to do so should be well in advance of a departure date, probably 6 months, it’s surprising how time flies in preparing for a first trip. The amount of information to be provided for both departure and arrival is extensive. The hard copy of vessel info, online documentation, issued certificates, comms data, insurance details, registrations, background info, contacts, medical, crew passports etc, the file is 60mm thick. Plan well ahead.
The costs can be significant. In our case the sum including preparation and during the trip was in the order of $160,000. Perhaps reasonable considering the hours and miles involved.
Mechanically the boat never missed a beat and was perfect for the trip with only minor anticipated maintenance to be addressed on return, although, 3 months of salt on a dark blue hull will demand plenty of elbow grease.
The rewards are however significant. We have fantastic memories to share with friends and family, and the WhatsApp record of the trip will preserve memories for all. Linda and I love an adventure and this one ticked all the boxes.
