Sailing to Whangaroa

I left Opua yesterday just as the tide began to ebb, coasting down the channel under jib alone to the open beach anchorage off the town of Paihia. This tourist resort has a Countdown grocery store on its outskirts that promised cheaper provisioning than the smaller stores in Russell.

Roz and Holger take a break from working on their boss Tim's boat. I kept them company for a morning, helping with sanding and scraping Tim's 99 year old wooden yacht.

It turned out to be a good long walk through the town and out the other side to the store and an even longer walk back with 2 weeks of groceries including some chicken for my slightly non-vegetarian Christmas dinner (sorry Rani - your good influence is wearing off already as far as my bachelor diet goes). I walked the row-boat end for end down the beach, loaded the groceries, and rowed back to Ladybug, stopping to chat with Paul on Trumpeter, a local cruiser whom we had seen in Fiji earlier in the season. Paul told me I was a silly sod and could have anchored much further down the coast if I had sailed around a set of islands that fill the bay. This would have put me much closer to the store. I had already noted this fact on my long walk in but we had an amiable chat anyway.

A paint-spattered Tim looks like he would perhaps prefer to own a 2008 Beneteau just at that moment!

Once the groceries were stowed, I pulled up the hook, again under jib alone, and sailed dead downwind for the north entrance to the Bay of Islands, marked by a giant shark tooth rock named 'Ninepin Rock'. A lovely schooner crossed our bows at one point and several yachts criss-crossed the bay on their way to anchorages at Kerikeri and among the islands. As I passed between the rocky coast and the shark's tooth I left all this activity behind and entered a different world, turning west and sailing along a coast of rocky cliffs capped by green rolling pastures. The wind blew steadily off the land and the lowering sun reflected off a million wavelets like so many jewels.

Mike and Marni of Picara repaint their lovely steel boat. They rebuilt this boat virtually completely over a period of several years in Sidney, BC. They are taking a break from working on other people's boats in Opua to work on their own.

While I chatted with Mike and Marni, I helped clean up Picara's propeller. They plan to coat this with a special epoxy based compound that prevents growth from sticking to it. Most of the local yachts use this.

I had left Paihia around 2pm and was concerned I would not reach a safe anchorage before dusk at my sedate pace, so I hoisted a reefed main and was soon bowling along at 6-7 knots, the wind building and turning into the south west. I passed only one other boat - a small but speedy coastal cruiser hugging the cliffy shore for shelter heading for the Bay of Islands. A little further on I began to pass through rafts of sea birds resting on the water as Ladybug drew abreast of the Cavalli islands.

Panorama as we leave the Bay of Islands - click for a bigger image.

Shortly before 7pm, I furled in the jib and dropped the hook using the mainsail to coast into a small indentation on the Purerua Peninsula known as Orokaraka Bay. This bay is well sheltered by the cliffs of the peninsula and has stunning views of the Cavalli islands, which form a protecting ring to the north and east.

Without Rani's helping hand I have had to resort to unusual strategies when I need assistance on the helm.

Urupukapuka Pictures

I have had a few hikes on Urupukapuka island in the last 2 days. This is a large island that was once home to hundreds of Maori. There are archaeological sites all over the island including deep storage pits for the sweet potatoes they once grew here and Pa forts, guarded by defensive ditches. The oldest site dates from about 1340 but most have been built upon several times over the 600+ years of occupation. The island has trails all around its coast and the terrain is extremely rugged particularly on the north and east sides with drop offs of a few hundred feet.

Dotterel feeding on the beach. These little pipers nest here also.

Pohutukawa blossoms. The Tui birds and insects love these flowers that bloom around Christmas time. These trees are also referred to as Christmas Trees.

There is quite a large flock of sheep at the east end of the island. The wharf in this bay is used by passenger ferries who bring tourists daily. There was a restaurant here but it appears to be shut down.

DOC maintains the island and I met a warden who was patrolling with his terrier rat/mice dog. The island is pest free now, but they have had 4 incidents of introduced pests in the last few years. The terriers they use are crosses that are good ratters but also amenable to training, since the dogs and their trainers are involved in both public relation and extermination exercises. Apparently they have done genetic testing to determine that the rodents on the island have all come from the nearby mainland probably swimming over via the 'Stepping Stone' islands. Norway rats can swim kilometers and there are only a few hundred meters between these islands. DOC also maintains a network of baited rodent traps. Other rodents, such as mice, have likely stowed away in tents and come ashore at the campground on the east end of the island.

Panorama looking east. There is a Pa hill fort site to the right and the campground is on the left

"Rock and Roll Star "- a Baba 40 sailboat liesat anchor in a bay on the northwest end of the island. It's owner, Matthew and I explored this end of the island together.

Pictures from Russell, Home Port, and Roberton Island

I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures from our first week in New Zealand. Some of these are from Russell where we spent the first weekend visiting with Roz and Holger who make their home here on board Melody when they are not at their farm near Whangarei Heads, 'Home Port'. Others are from Home Port and the last few are from Roberton Island in the Bay of Islands where Ladybug is currently anchored. 

Holger discusses rigging issues with Chris 

This is the policeman's house in Russell. It is a historic home, built around 1860. The giant Moreton Bay fig tree was also planted around this time.

Cruise ships visit the Bay of Islands, anchoring off Pahia

View out over Russell to where our boat is anchored 

Hedgehogs are a frequent sight in New Zealand

This Tui is enjoying the nectar in flax plant flowers.

Chris taking a leek in Roz's garden at Home Port. Actually she gave us 2 leeks to take home.

Roz has looked after cows ever since she arrived as a girl in New Zealand from Australia. Samson and Delilah are her latest.

We visited briefly with Jo and Rob in Mcleod Bay Their health center and B&B is nearing completion and should open next year.

There is an underwater trail as well as one to the look off at Roberton Island. Jan and Rich from 'Slip Away' climbed the look off trail with me. 

Panorama from Roberton Island look off.

The look off has spectacular views in all directions

Matthew from 'Rock and Roll Star' arrived at the top shortly after us.

The island is rich in wildlife including parrots, oyster catchers, and bees.

I

Boat Projects in Paradise

The winds have been light for the most part of the week we have been in New Zealand and the skies sunny. Rani with her knack for timing, has left this fair land in summer and returned to the darkest days of December to visit British Columbia where she has work lined up at a Pharmacy in Parksville. I will remain on the boat, working through the list of projects (about 40 at this point) and making her ready for a passage next season. I plan to do this work in various bays around the north end of the north island - Bay of Islands, Whangaroa, etc. I Will post pictures and descriptions of what I find.

Projects completed so far include cleaning 4 years of surface rust spots from the 'stainless'steel, taking off the running backstays, which had hairline swage cracks and bringing these in for replacement, a rig inspection (mentioned in an earlier post), removing the cockpit level anchor light and wiring in the mast-head anchor light after putting in a new LED bulb.

The price of 12 volt LED bulbs has fallen dramatically since we left in 2008. Back then I looked at replacing 25 watt anchor lamp with an LED bulb and the cost was $50 (Canadian)! It is now about $13 (Canadian) even in New Zealand where boat bits are expensive on average.

Removing the wiring for the cockpit light that I put in shortly after we bought Ladybug proved to be a chore. When I installed this, I did a very good job of tying off the wire and feeding it neatly through various bulkheads and lockers. This meant I had to remove everything from our 'closet' - the large quarter berth where everything that does not fit in a locker is stored - spinnaker, spare genoa, inflatable kayak, etc. This allowed me to wash off the staysail, which had got salty on the last passage and re-stow various pieces of gear that usually lived under the berth. The wire snaked through the lockers under the quarter berth, then into a book closet and finally through a bulkhead into the area under the cockpit.

In the process of crawling into the lazarette via the cockpit locker - a feat worthy of Houdini because you have to squeeze between the steering column, 2 cockpit drain hoses, and a bulkhead - I noticed the automatic bilge pump hose hanging in mid air. Its end had perished and When I touched it, it crumbled into fragments. I presume this is due to years of exposure to heat from the sun. It is in such an impossibly inaccessible place that it rarely gets looked at. I must have crawled in and out of this space 6 times, broken up by a 1.5 hour rowing trip into the marina area for new hose and a joiner in order to fix this. Thus a one hour long project escalated into a day long ordeal.

I am in Russell today and will do some grocery shopping before heading out to the Bay of Islands.

Good News about the Rigging

We had a rig inspection done today by Hamish from Cater Marine and he gave us a clean bill of health. He assured us that the light ripples in the tapered section of the mast are the normal results from the welding process. The mast taper is produced by cutting a section out of a straight mast and welding this mast section back together with multiple passes. The heat from the welding distorts the aluminum producing regular waves.  Hamish also told us that the rigging looked to be very well done and in good shape as well as being a little over-sized for our boat. We were very relieved to hear this!

We are having new running back stays made up because we found hairline cracks in the swages on the old ones. Once these are back in place we should be good to go.

Recovering in the Bay of Islands

The problem with booking a flight months in advance is that it can make you do silly things. Rani leaves on Saturday for Canada, so she has less than a week here to visit with friends and get herself organized for the trip home and a follow-on trip to the UK to visit her family. After our arrival and less than 2 hours sleep we spent a full day exploring Russel with our friends Holger and Roz. The next day we joined them on a drive to Whangarei Heads where we visited their farm at Home Port, did a little work around the garden, and enjoyed their beautiful property, which is set back from the sea with sweeping views of old growth forest. We also crammed in a visit with Rob and Jo (off Blue Moon) who are finishing up the construction of their spa and B&B just down the road from Home Port.

The next day, both our bodies said ENOUGH and we slept in and had a day 'off'spent with Rani trying to organize things for her visit to Canada while I cleaned and polished all the stainless steel fittings on the boat. Do you have any idea how much stainless steel can be found on a typical cruising boat? It took 10 hours of cleaning with an oxalic acid mixture and I still have half the wind vane and several blocks and fittings to do. Then these all have to be polished to slow down recurrence of rust staining. I have a list of 37 projects to complete on the boat and plan to tackle at least 1 a day for the next couple of months. Some are large and some a few hours long - nothing major.

Last year Rani left New Zealand without saying good bye to the friends with whom we had spent a a good part of a year crossing the Pacific. So, this year, we are busy filling the calendar with potlucks, meetings in bars and restaurants, and drinks on various boats. At last count we will try to fit in 6 engagements in the next couple of days. Then Rani has a bus booked from Opua to Auckland where she flies to Vancouver on Saturday evening. I will stay on the boat and work on boat projects while we figure out what we will do next year. 

Day 8 & 9 - Safe Arrival in Opua

We sailed on a broad reach for the last couple of days of our passage, arriving off the Bay of Islands early on Saturday morning. In the pitch black we motored up the channel to opua, following the excellent New Zealand charts on our computer with me on the bow as a lookout with a bright headlamp. Despite a slight current against us, we had no problem maintaining 3-4 knots of boat speed.

We arrived around 4 am and had a little difficulty coming alongside with a strong current setting Ladybug away from the dock such that I required Rani's help to get her lines on the dock cleats. We had no problems with our kava bowls and baskets and gave up only a few veggies and 1 apple.

We are now anchored up in Russell visiting our friends Holger and Roz who moor their boat here and work as painters in this lovely community. The back bay away from the ferry wharf is a lovely anchorage and very secure. We plan to go down back to Opua on Monday to meet up with our friend on 'Slip Away' and 'Gato Go' who are just coming in from their passage and to visit other cruising friends who now live and work in the area.

Day 7 - Broad Reaching toward Cape North

We spent yesterday under full canvas, broad reaching in a big rolling swell with a pleasant but light westerly wind. Row upon row of low cumulus clouds drifted past us - the type of clouds that look like people and monsters and geological features. At one point a huge middle finger appeared to be directed at us, but this fortunately morphed into a rooster.

The wind continued through the night, but lighter, and we saw the North Cape of New Zealand at dawn this morning.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 34 14 S and 173 16 E with a total 121 NM run in 24 hours, 109 NM made good.

Day 6 - Testing the Rigging and our Patience

Shortly after the morning radio net, we decided that the only way to go to NZ with a light following breeze would be to hoist the spinnaker. We always do this with some trepidation, which has only been increased by our recent forestay breakage. Still, the alternative would be more motoring.

The swells were large and confused - a big 2.5 to 3 meter swell from the gale force winds to the NE of us and additional north and northwest lumps mixed in. This combined with winds of from 2 to 4 knots made setting and flying the spinnaker tricky. When Ladybug was thrown on her side by the swell on her beam, the wind created by this motion would either cancel or accelerate the real wind, causing the sail to collapse or snap open with a bang. This put huge loads on the mast head, furler foil base (where the spinnaker tack is lead through a plastic glove that fits over the furled jib), and the spinnaker sheet. As the wind filled in, this jerky violent motion relaxed and we were able to make about 17 miles over a few hours sailing almost as fast as the wind. The loads we put on our rig during this time give me more confidence that we did a good job with our repairs and that the upper mast section is strong!

As the wind increased, we decided to drop the chute and continue under full main and jib, which we were able to do until 9:30 pm when the wind was so light that we were unable to keep the sailed filled. The big swells were still with us and in order to save damage to the sails and running rigging, we downed sail and motored through the night. Just before sunrise the wind filled in again, this time from the west. We hoisted the main and jib and are running downwind on starboard tack for a change. This was not a forecasted wind direction and perhaps it tells us that we are now sitting above the low trough that we know is currently giving northern New Zealand a pasting.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 32 22 S and 172 40 E with a total 107 NM run in 24 hours, 96 NM made good.

Day 5 - Windless

The wind continued to lessen through the morning still out of the northwest. Around 3pm the wind dropped below that critical threshold where it was enough to prevent us thrashing the sails in the large cross swell rolling in from the nearby low. We turned on the engine and have been motoring ever since, with a short break around supper time for the evening radio net. The forecast shows very little wind between here and New Zealand today, but hopefully something will come up tonight or tomorrow morning.

Our position at 0700 NZ time, 1800 GMT was 31 04 S and 171 33 E with a total 98 NM run in 24 hours, 87 NM made good.