Why not now?

We were back in the Bay of Islands with a weather window developing on the forecast, so we told ourselves. The forecast changes. It always does. For now, we waited. Kerri was on the WhatsApp with the community, watching the same ten-day horizon everyone else watched, knowing it would shift and crumble as it got closer. Meriwether was ready – we’d provision in Russell when it was time – but first we had to let the latest system pass over us and ride its tail out into the Pacific. The math was simple: slip between two systems instead of getting hit by one directly. Waiting meant moving the boat every day. Not vacation anchor-hopping but survival anchor-hopping. The wind kept coming from a new angle, and we kept chasing protection. It was March into July now, that endless cycle of “we can stay longer in the next anchorage” only for us to move again in a day. The Bay of Islands accepted us back By early July we were back in Opua, docked, running the final chores: laundry, fuel, water,…