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In June 2016 the 20m monohull yacht Platino on passage from NZ to Fiji ran into problems and two crew lost their lives. The report from Maritime NZ is very extensive and much can be learned from it.
In the past couple of years boats have had problems trying to extend their stay in Tonga. Immigration has a clear process for crew and a stay of up to six months is possible. However a boat only gets 4 months on entry so a process needs to be followed with Customs. This is detailed in Flotsam and the key person in Tonga for all yacht related correspondence is Mr Felefonum Mapakaitolo.
May 15, 2018 sees the new requirements for boats entering NZ come into force. Hulls need to be clean and an approved bottom paint used.
See www.yit.nz/Forum for details and read the MPI publications. The Pacific cruising season is about to start and if you haven't already done so, please update your boat information on www.yit.nz BEFORE you depart. And make sure you can log on as many folk forget their password during the summer. Contact mike@yit.nz if you have any problems.
Fill in your crew names, call sign and emergency information. This information is only available to YIT and GHRadio (Mike and Patricia) and is used when emergencies occur and we need to communicate with NZ Maritime Radio or the RCC - Rescue Coordination Centre. David needs boat information to better answer weather requests - a 60' catamaran will travel faster than a 30' monohull!.  Cascade Bay, Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island has finally opened their new dock at Cascade Bay. Previously cruisers had to use the dock at the main port of entry in Historic Kingston. Situated in the south of the island Kingston is rather turbulent in some weather conditions! The new dock at Cascade on the east of the island gives cruisers an option when there is a sou' wester blowing. And it enables you to get ashore more easily from this anchorage. It is a ways from town but normally passing vehicles will usually offer a lift. Thanks Ashley for the photograph - taken March 2018. Please note that you need to have a NZ or Australian passport to arrive at Norfolk without a visa. See Flotsam for details After 7 years of operation we have this year, 2018, developed our own web site to concentrate on Weather and Communications.
www.ghradio.co.nz with email ghradio@xtra.co.nz This gives us the opportunity to quickly add relevant information, mostly of an educational nature. The live streaming of our morning broadcasts can be accessed from this web site. Gulf Harbour Radio will continue to work closely with Yachts in Transit, www.yit.nz We closely monitor the YIT site to see where boats are so that we can include the weather for that area in our morning broadcasts. It is useful to have up to date reports into www.yit.nz by 1900UTC so that David can check your actual conditions versus model predictions. Any questions and comments relating to weather and radio communications should be directed to ghradio@xtra.co.nz. Any questions relating to position reporting or any of the cruiser related topics on www.yit.nz should be directed to mike. Please be aware that Mike works full time so a response may not be instant. His email is mike@yit.nz |