First solo experience for a week of sailing return to NEW ZEALAND...If cruising in paradise alone is something frustrating as you can't share anything,  offshore solo sailing give a good challenge and the strange and delicious feeling to be "the king"...nobody can understand without trying...

Any way, you are the king without subject and the weather was not so nice: I had to reef very quickly after leaving New Caledonia; sun vanished, wind gave a bad angle all the way with waves exploding more n more on the portside hull; day after day wind increased and offer a bad surprise:

As I was sailing in about 35k of eastwind, only with 3 reefs on the main without any jib  at roughly 100m from the goal, I decided to use the camera to enjoy the shy return of the sun and in fact got a scoop: the live death of my seagull striker...

The seagull striker is maintening the mast in up position distributing a traction force on both floats as the middle of the front aluminium bar is to weak to do it.

The accident is my fault, even if the cable was 14 years old,  as my lazyness  left the triangle bowsprit outboard  with the Code O ready to be hauled, waiting stupidly smoother conditions without securing the bowsprit to the mast with an halyyard....Result: another nasty side  wave just fall on the triangle and the weight impact broke everything; the triangle  hanged with the extremity in the water.

Immediatly, I secured the mast putting down the mainsail and fixing 2 halyyards to each float.

The longest job follows: Getting back and securing on the trampoline the  hanging parts; I had to secure myself with a Harness and a line, fortunatly as during the operation, 3 times other waves explode again on the trampoline and could have eject me overboard.

Last 100 milles were done with engines n the last challenge with this strong conditions was docking alone the cat on the locked custom dock of Marsden cove marina, fortunatly this space is smartly designed to offer on last meters a very small but very good protection... OUF !

Last sun n "french baguette" from my kiwi friends of "PAWS TIME"before the "window"

Start of the party, 1 day after leaving Isle des pins

The "crash" at 100 mills from Marsden cove; the lucky shot got the fall of the seagull stricker

Not less than 3 hours to move from this situation to the one below

Motoring to New Zealand

Happy end : ALCYONE docked on custom dock

Nice family time with Jim; 2 steacks each ones this evening !

Back to Whangarei NORSAND; Alcyone on a dry dock another time for a few months

Kevin n Mark the best team in the world for the operation

A lot of work...plus de bow....

"PAWS TIME"Leopard family again in Aukland; time for christmas summer/winter break