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Author: Iain & Fiona Lewis Published Date: January 8, 2025

Author: Iain & Fiona Lewis

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Fiona and Iain Lewis 🇬🇧

sy_ruffian

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Westerly Oceanlord, Ruffian of Amble. Destination uncertain:
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We did a thing! Meet "Tipi Haere" (to roam about We did a thing! Meet "Tipi Haere" (to roam about in Maori). Our new to us transport on wheels for adventures around New Zealand. #isuzuelfcamper @noyrais #newzealandroadtrip
Yesterday, we made it to Marsden Cove Marina, Whan Yesterday, we made it to Marsden Cove Marina, Whangarei, New Zealand after a mammoth 740 mile motor. Team Ruff joined together to turn off the engine and celebrate the peace and tranquillity. Thank you to everyone who contributed to help us in our predicament. From RCC NZ who coordinated nearby boats for diesel drops, and watched our every move until we arrived safely, Island Cruising who notified of nearby boats that might be able to help. SV Eleuthera, SV Zipper and SV Forever & Ever who kindly paused their passages to deliver diesel or Jerry cans or both. Special thanks to Ant who had been crewing on the luxury catamaran Eleuthera, but opted to come Ruff it with Team Ruff - he was an invaluable addition to the team, bolstering spirits with his sense of humour, making tea when spirits needed bolstering, and just generally being a lovely chap. We are also grateful to the sailing community who stepped up, gave us moral support and guidance when we needed it most. Thank you 😍 Thanks also to our trusty Volvo Penta D2-40, which chugged away constantly for 8 days, without missing a beat or dropping a drop of oil, and consuming an average of only 2.2l per hour. Finally, thanks to our weather router, Chris Parker, for finding us a benign route around all the cold fronts, with low winds and moderate seas. #dismasted #rccnz #islandcruising #cruisingcommunity #volvopenta #volvopentadiesel #VolvopentaAtSea @volvopenta @marinewxcenter
Ruffian being guided towards NZ by an Albatross. Ruffian being guided towards NZ by an Albatross. Thank you Ant Nualls for the photo. About 150 miles to go.
We had a bad day Friday evening. 700 miles from N We had a bad day Friday evening. 700 miles from NZ, after 4 days at sea from Tonga, our mast snapped. The sailing community was incredible, within hours we had an escort of two huge catamarans who shadowed us all night. Then at dawn Hew from Eleuthera launched his dinghy and transported some Jerry jugs of diesel across the ocean waves, he then brought more from the other catamaran Zipper. Incredibly, one of his crew then volunteered to jump off this 60ft luxury yacht and ruff it on Team Ruffian. Later in the day, Collin and his crew from Forever & Ever, affectionately nicknamed "the tanker" appeared on the horizon. Like a seasoned captain he had prepped and organised his crew, instructed team Ruffian in how the manoeuvre would be orchestrated, and well, I'll let the video and pictures speak for themselves. Now the three members of Team Ruffian have a long slow motor to NZ, avoiding any strong winds or big swells. It's going to be a long week, but we are hugely indebted to the whole cruising community, Rescue Coordination Centre NZ and Island Cruising who were able to advise on the location of several nearby boats. #dismasted #rccnz
New blog! "Fixing, Fettling, and Finally Fitting" New blog! "Fixing, Fettling, and Finally Fitting" 17th July 2024 Fare, Huahine, French Polynesia – Haamena Bay, Tahaa, French Polynesia via Pointe Tenape, Baie Faaroa, Uturoa Town, Tapuamu & Pointe Tenape, Raiatea & Tahaa, French Polynesia When people reach retirement age they are usually ready for it. After 35 years of hard graft their bodies have started to wear out and intellectually they might not feel as sharp as they once were. After 35 years of faithful service the bracket that holds all our autopilot gears together decided that it was time for it to retire.* In its retirement however it would leave a gaping hole and its position would need to be filled.... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! 7th July 2024 "Surprise, surprise." O New blog! 7th July 2024 "Surprise, surprise." Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia – Fare, Huahine, French Polynesia via Hana Iti, Huahine, French Polynesia Some surprises are good, some are bad. We like good surprises and do everything we can to avoid the bad. Continuing our push to the west, our lives have been full of both good and bad surprises. Leaving Moorea and our new found friends behind us we were in for our first surprise. Usually the sun just sinks into the sea beaming its last rays and is replaced by twinkling stars or bright planets. Tonight was different. For what felt like an eternity, the sun, that was already below the horizon, lit up the underside of the clouds that floated above us, and we were ensconced in a world of red. Those red clouds were then reflected in the sea and turned Ruffian’s sails a shade of pink. Heading west we’ve seen many 100’s of sunsets but this was a really nice surprise.... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! 1st July 2024 "Hiking our socks off." New blog! 1st July 2024 "Hiking our socks off." Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia The Rias of Spain are famed for their culture and food; and we hiked. The Balearic Islands are known for their blue water and raucous partying; and we hiked. The eastern Caribbean is famous for its European and African roots and epic sea battles; and we hiked. Moorea, in the Society Islands is no different. Everyone is wowed by the blue translucent waters, the abundant sea life and its majestic peaks and so……. we hiked.... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! 26th June 2024 Carrefour Bay, Tahiti, F New blog! 26th June 2024 Carrefour Bay, Tahiti, French Polynesia – Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia via Opunohu Bay, Moorea, Moorea, French Polynesia & Airport Anchorage, Tahiti, French Polynesia Rallies and riggers both have bad names within the cruising community. Rallies take away your freedom to wander and can remove your independence. Riggers seem to climb your mast, give you a big bill, and it’s not until 1000’s of miles later you realise the predicament they’ve left you in. Our experience in Tahiti and Moorea has turned the aforementioned reputation of both rallies and riggers upside down... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! 14th June May 2024 "Fakarava Philharmoni New blog! 14th June May 2024 "Fakarava Philharmonic. " Punaruku, Makemo, Tuamotus, French Polynesia – Rotoava, Fakarava, Tuamotus, French Polynesia via South Pass & Hirifa, Fakarava, Tuamotus, French Polynesia Philharmonic orchestras are made up of many sections that all come together to create a great performance. You have the strings section crammed with violins and violas, the brass section gleams after lots of elbow grease, the percussion sits behind the scenes driving the tempo and sometimes a choir complements all the instruments. Finally, there can be a soloist that shines alone, but at the same time pulls everyone together creating an unforgettable crescendo. This has been Fakarava for Ruffian.... To read the rest of this blog, and to see more pictures from our travels find the link in our bio @sy_ruffian #fakaravasouthpass #fakaravawallofsharks
New blog! 4th June 2024 Kon Tiki, Raroia, Tuamot New blog! 4th June 2024 Kon Tiki, Raroia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia – Punaruku, Makemo, Tuamotus, French Polynesia "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Tales of floating our anchor chain and holding an IT clinic. To read this blog and see more images from our travels, follow the link in our bio @sy_ruffian.
New blog! "We're all going on a summer holiday" 2 New blog! "We're all going on a summer holiday" 28th May 2024 Kon Tiki, Raroia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia Cliff Richard sung a great yarn about ‘Going on a summer holiday’, apparently there would be ‘No work for a week or two’ and along the way, knowing his wild ways, there would be lashings of fun with friends, excursions to local attractions, extravagant meals in amazing venues and adventures galore. If these were Cliff’s ingredients for a summer holiday then in Raroia we’ve been on a summer holiday.... To read the rest of this blog and to see more pictures from our travels, follow the link in our bio @sy_ruffian @sailingblownaway @browncouncill @simoncurrin
We often get asked where are you now. But then wh We often get asked where are you now. But then when we say The Society Islands, French Polynesia you are non the wiser. So here's a World map showing you where we are in the World. The Pacific Ocean is a vast piece of Ocean, and this part is scattered with many archipelago, The Society Islands being just one of them. Fun fact, they probably got their name because when Captain Cook came here in 1769, his trip was sponsored by The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge.
New blog! 24th May 2023 "Target practice" Wheneve New blog! 24th May 2023 "Target practice" Whenever we sail offshore we have a target of arriving at our destination in daylight. This is usually a pretty easy target to hit. We had a different sort of target to hit leaving the Marquises. We had to hit one which was constantly moving, unknown in its scale or location and we felt like our firing squad were a bunch of blind geriatric hedgehogs who were aiming from the inside of a bag. With the hedgehogs taking aim our chances of hitting the target seemed unfathomably low.... To read the rest of thus blog, and to see more pictures from our travels follow the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
New blog! 14 May 2024 To see all our photos and t New blog! 14 May 2024 To see all our photos and to read the blog "The letter W" please follow the link in our bio @sy_ruffian
Happy Birthday Iain. My soul mate, my standard be Happy Birthday Iain. My soul mate, my standard bearer, my partner in all things fun and adventurous. Yesterday was spent rowing local canoes, feasting and watching Polynesian dancing and singing. Today, maybe you'll get a cake, fingers crossed.
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