Novembber, 2009

October 22, 2009

We said good-bye to Southern Star in the morning and wished them bon voyage. We then headed for the Opua Cruising Club jetty where we took on fresh drinking water for a donation. We have used this excellent service twice before. This time, as Mary was slowly bringing the stern of Bella Via towards the dock, she heard a loud grinding noise coming from the starboard engine. Definitely an unusual noise! (Unfortunately the noise did not consistently appear over the next few days and it took us a few days to decide what to do about it. More on this later.)

After filling our water tanks, we motored a short distance (using only the port engine) to the town of Paihia and anchored at Te Tii beach. Our purpose here was two-fold. We walked up to the Woolworths store and bought some fruit and vegetables and we wanted to visit the Waitangi Treaty House the next day.

Before we talk about the Waitangi Treaty House, here is a bit of history for you (taken from our souvenir guide pamphlet):

“Before 1840: The Bay of Islands attracted early Polynesian settlers and was occupied for centuries by competing Maori tribes. In the late 18th century, European explorers Cook and Du Fresne visited the Bay. Whalers, sealers, and traders set up bases there and Christian mission stations were established. Trade in muskets made intertribal wars more deadly.

By 1930 the Bay was crowded with visiting ships. Disturbed by reports of lawless behaviour the British government appointed James Busby as British Resident in New Zealand.

Busby arrived in Paihia in 1833 and settled at Waitangi. Without resources to enforce his authority, Busby was described as ‘a man-o-war without guns’, but did useful work as a mediator. In 1834 he helped northern chiefs to obtain a maritime flag and registration for locally built ships. In 1835 he hosted a gathering of 35 northern chiefs who signed the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand.”

“The Treaty of Waitangi 1840: In January 1840 Captain Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands to make a treaty with the Maori chiefs on behalf of the British government. On February 5, 1840 hundreds of Maori and scores of Europeans gathered in front of the residency at Waitangi. The treaty was read and explained in English and Maori. The chiefs debated all day at Waitangi and into the night at Te Tii, across the Waitangi River. On February 6, 1840 43 chiefs signed the Treaty at Waitangi. The site of the signing is marked by a flagstaff.

Copies of the Treaty were then carried around the country. By September 1840 over 500 chiefs had signed it. Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over the whole country on May 21, 1840.

Though debate continues over the interpretation of its parts, the Treaty is best understood as a whole. It is an agreement between two peoples to live and work together in one nation. This agreement is as relevant today as in 1840, for it guarantees the rights of both Maori and non-Maori citizens in New Zealand.” End of excerpt from our souvenir guide.

We were quite excited about our visit to the Waitangi Treaty House and we were not disappointed. We actually arrived in New Zealand on February 6, 2009, which is New Zealand’s national holiday called Waitangi Day and we felt a connection with this place.

We motored by dinghy to Hobsons Beach, which is the site of the landing of the Maori canoes and British boats. We left the dinghy on the beach and later wondered what the many tourists thought as they wandered the grounds and discovered Bella Baby sitting on the sand. If they had viewed the movie that we watched in the Visitors’ Centre they would know the significance of the beach.

October 30, 2009

On this day we said good-bye to the Bay of Islands and started our journey south to Whangarei for yet another haulout at Norsand Boatyard. We spent one night at Whangamumu Harbour and a night at Mimiwhangata.

Shortly after rounding Cape Brett, as we were just about to turn and head south, we could see a schooner at anchor and a large flock of birds – which led to quite a bit of excitement aboard Bella Via. Here is what Paul wrote later to his brothers, Al and Ray, and our friend Ray Robinet:

“I sure could have used your help aboard today while we traveled a few miles down the coast. The wind was very light so we were motor sailing to our next anchorage. As I often do, I set out four fishing lines in the hope of catching a marlin or yellow fin tuna. The four lines consist of two hand lines, one with a squid skirt lure and a little weight so that it runs just below the surface. The other hand line had a big 10-inch plug that pops along the surface. These hand lines are 400-pound test kept on a spool, tied to a bungee cord and pinned to a beer can to let me know when I have a hit. The third line was the old Penn reel that Ray Robinet gave me with the original 50 pound line still in use. This line was set at 20 feet deep on the downrigger with a 6-inch squid skirt and feather combination. The fourth and final line was a medium weight spin casting rod and reel with 25-pound line and a 4-inch diving Repala plug. Thus I had four lures in the water ranging in depth from the surface down to 20 feet.

While underway we could see a large flock of birds, a good sign of fish in the vicinity, almost directly ahead. As we got to about 300 metres away, sure enough I could see a real big "boil up" beneath the birds. "Boil up" is a Kiwi expression for a feeding frenzy of fish. This was probably the largest, most active such frenzy that I have yet come across. Much to Mary's dismay I altered course to bring us to the fringe of the boil up. As we went past I said to Mary, "Hang on!" as if we were about to be attacked by all these fish. The boat passed the boil up, and kept going – one, then two boat lengths, and nothing! Just as disappointment was beginning to set in, two beer cans clattered to the deck and two reels began screaming. Four "Fish on!" within a few seconds.

I think Mary's comment was something like, "Now what are you going to do?"

I did what any crazy fisherman would do; I played each one in turn starting with the lightest first. It was probably half an hour before I got all four fish landed. What fun! For me, not the fish!

Thank God Mary was there to handle the boat during all of the drama. Unfortunately all four fish were barracuda and although we have kept barracuda in the past, they are not the best eating fish when we have such excellent choice in the fish we keep and eat. On this day, three of the four fish caught were released. The fourth was chopped into chunks to be used as bait to catch snapper at some later date.

There ya have it, my most recent fishing adventure. Sorry you couldn't have been with me to enjoy it. I sure was thinking of you three during the whole time.” End of Paul’s email message.

November 1, 2009

For the past three days the wind was light out of the south. We would have preferred northerly winds as we were heading south but the travelling wasn’t too bad.

On our last day to Whangarei Heads, we had 30+ miles to travel and the wind was stronger – we ended up sailing close-hauled and tacking a few times to Bream Head. We then altered course and sailed into Whangarei Heads, through a strong southwesterly wind. We were not sure where we would spend the night. We headed first for Urquart’s Bay, just inside the Heads, but the moored boats there were bouncing madly and we knew that we wouldn’t want to stay there.

A quick look at the cruising guide showed that we should be able to get reasonable cover from the wind in The Nook, about 5 miles from the Heads. As we were heading there, we heard a weather forecast that announced a wind shift that evening to the west. Our cruising guide stated that a westerly wind in The Nook would be uncomfortable. So, more reading of the guide and we decided to stop just west of The Nook in a place called Munro Bay, where we could tuck into a decent depth of water behind a sand bank, and with reasonable protection from the west wind. We had a very comfortable evening.

November 2 – 12, 2009

We were booked for haulout on Tuesday at high tide and Kevin from Norsand wanted us nearby on the Monday. We travelled the rest of the distance to Norsand on Monday after breakfast and anchored in our earlier spot in front of the boatyard. Paul went ashore by dinghy to discuss a few things with Kevin and then he proceeded into the Town Basin by dinghy to start buying a few things on the never-ending shopping list.

We were hauled out of the water without any dramas. We had arranged to be met at the boatyard by the sales representative for International Paint, the bottom paint which we had purchased for the first time and applied only two months ago. Paul contacted the rep a couple of weeks ago when we could no longer ignore what was happening to the bottom of the boat. A green slime was growing all over the bottom of our freshly anti-fouled boat! In an email the sales rep suggested that we should wipe it off and see if it happens again. The rep said that sometimes this needs to be done to get the paint actively working. We chose to have him look at it first and then we would wipe it off. He was waiting for us at Norsand Boatyard when we came out of the water.

The priority for the first few days on the hard was for Paul to dismantle the starboard saildrive and to try and determine the problem. He already had experience removing a saildrive, as he had to remove the port saildrive only a few months ago. At that time, he looked at the starboard engine compartment and said, “I hope I never have to do this job on the starboard side because of how tightly everything fits in there. It’ll be impossible.” How prophetic!

However, from start to finish, the removal of the saildrive only took four hours.

Next was the challenge of dismantling the saildrive. Phone calls were made to the experts in Whangarei and Opua and it sounded like Paul would find it difficult, if not impossible, to take it apart. Well, those were the wrong words to say to Paul!! With the help of a mechanic at Norsand Boatyard, Paul managed to totally take apart the saildrive and determined that one of the bearings in the lower portion of the saildrive had disintegrated. This bearing failure caused the pinion gear to be damaged as well. We ordered new parts but they had to come from Japan and it would take 7 – 10 days. So, we had no choice but to sit at Norsand Boatyard for a while longer.

We kept busy by completing various boat projects. Mary polished and coated with lanolin all of the stainless steel on the deck. Paul waxed the topsides. We decided to apply a new product to the propellers – called Peller Clean, which has had some good reports as an antifoul on the props. A boat neighbour offered the use of his power sprayer when he saw Paul scrubbing the deck with a hose and brush and what a difference that made in the job.

We were preparing Bella Via for the first of our summer guests to arrive. Our Windsor friends, Pat and Brad, were due to arrive for their second visit to Bella Via on November 23rd. We were supposed to meet them in Auckland, however, since we weren’t sure how long we would be out of the water we decided to have them take a bus ride to Whangarei to meet us. That way we could have a few days with them in the beautiful Bay of Islands and they would sail with us down to Auckland.

The parts from Japan arrived on Wednesday, November 11, and we learned that we could be launched the next day if we could get the saildrive back together. With Paul watching, the mechanic used his expertise to reinstall the bearing and pinion gear into the lower unit of the saildrive. From that point Paul managed to reassemble and reinstall the saildrive and motor, working without stopping for six hours. At 1600h on Thursday, at high tide, we were put back in the water and we settled at anchor in front of the boatyard.

November 13 - 16, 2009

We stayed near Norsand Boatyard for a few days. We went into the Town Basin by dinghy on the Saturday for some Christmas shopping and a pub lunch. It was an enjoyable day.

On Saturday afternoon we received a text message from our friends from Spindrift, Melva and Hilton, who told us that they were headed to Norsand Boatyard for a haulout on Monday. This news surprised us as we had planned (until our latest saildrive issue) to be at Great Barrier Island with them. Hilton had two weeks of vacation and that is where they had headed. Spindrift arrived at our anchorage at 1930h and they told us that they had hit a rock at Great Barrier Island and had sheared a nut from a keel bolt, thus the need to be hauled out. We spent Sunday evening with them with dinner on Bella Via.

We will go back out towards Whangarei Heads for the weekend of November 20 as Craig and Liz from Auckland will be out at their bach and we want to visit with them again. Then we will head back into town to meet up with Pat and Brad from Canada.



NOVEMBER , 2009