SEPTEMBER , 2009
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SEPTEMBER , 2009 |
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| SMUGGLER'S BAY |
August 22 – 28, 2009 Wow, was it ever nice to be back at anchor after five weeks on the hard. We were somewhat energy-depleted from our bouts of sinus infection and the stress of our drama in Whangaroa Harbour and we welcomed the opportunity to rest up. We stayed anchored just off of the boatyard entrance for six days. It was only a 15-minute dinghy ride into the Town Basin and we made that trip a couple of times. |
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Dave and Margaret picked us up at the Town Basin one day for a drive to Opua in the Bay of Islands to see their launch (powerboat), which was on the hard at a boatyard, and then on to Paihia to see their bach and have lunch at the seaside. It was a very worthwhile trip, not only because we like their company very much, but also because we had a tour by land of the popular cruising area called the Bay of Islands. We plan on sailing these waters extensively in the upcoming months. |
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The water flowing into the Town Basin is very shallow and, thankfully, the channel is well marked. There are several areas that dry out as the tide goes out. This picture was of great interest to us as it is not very often that you see keelboats standing upright with their keels in the mud. This would happen twice per day for these boats. |
On Friday morning, we took Bella Via into the marina for one night. This eliminated a late night dinghy ride back to the boat after the theatre that evening and it also gave us an opportunity to pick up our new Rocna anchor (it had been back-ordered). We had an enjoyable evening at the theatre. Our tablemates at dinner were a retired Methodist minister from Paihia and his wife. While we were in Whangarei, Paul asked at the marina about the possibility of booking a pile berth for Bella Via while we return to Canada in February/March 2010. We were thrilled to be able to book a 12-metre catamaran pile berth for only $540.00 NZ for the two months. We will be able to book a bus ride to the Auckland airport on the morning that we fly out of New Zealand. August 29, 2009 It was time to move on. But first, before we left Whangarei, we had the opportunity to reconnect with Liz and Craig from Auckland. We last saw Liz and Craig and their two children in Vanuatu in 2006. They had been on a two-year South Pacific cruise on their catamaran, Scarper, and now were land-based back in New Zealand. They had been waiting patiently for us to arrive in New Zealand. They own a bach at Whangarei Heads and they offered us the use of their mooring. We arranged to meet them on Saturday and they had us up to the bach for dinner that evening. |
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Here are Liz and Craig arriving at Bella Via on Sunday for morning tea. |
Here is Bella Via on Liz and Craig’s mooring in McKenzie Bay at Whangarei Heads. |
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Liz and Craig had warned us that it would be uncomfortable on their mooring if the wind came out of the southwest or south. It actually became very uncomfortable when the wind picked up directly out of the west. We lasted until noon on Monday and decided to make a move. We headed out of the Heads and around Busby Point into a delightful anchorage called Smuggler’s Bay. (What a wonderful name for an anchorage – Mary can’t say it without visions of pirates and caves with treasure running through her mind.) There was quite a difference in the sea state from where we had been. We went ashore shortly after anchoring to walk a long trail that took us back into Whangarei Heads. |
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Here is a pretty picture of Bella Via at anchor in Smuggler’s Bay. Our friend Hilton (Spindrift II) has published his own electronic cruising guide of Northland and he has asked us to send pictures of Bella Via at anchor in some of the locations. We sent Hilton a few shots of this anchorage. |
As there wasn’t much wind, we motorsailed on our 12 mile passage north to Tutukaka. We arrived just after noon and when we were near the entrance, Hilton and Melva from Spindrift called us on the VHF radio. Tutukaka Marina is the home of Spindrift and Hilton and Melva live 10 minutes away in a new house, which they had built last year. They had gone out on Spindrift for the day and were awaiting our arrival. The water in the small harbour is quite shallow and, with Hilton’s local knowledge, we managed to anchor just off from the channel leading into the marina. We then went ashore by dinghy and Hilton and Melva took us by car to their house. We stopped on the way for a short climb to get a view of the harbour from on high. We enjoyed our evening ashore with these new friends and reciprocated the next evening with dinner aboard Bella Via. In the morning, with a slight shift in wind direction and because we felt that we were too close to the channel, we decided to move further away between a small island and the mainland. This proved to be a very comfortable spot. We had planned on heading north on Thursday but we received a dinner invitation for that evening from Bob and Leone, who live in Tutukaka and own the chandlery in Whangarei. We had met Bob and Leone at the chandlery when we were on the hard at the boatyard. So, once again, we had a great evening with yet another friendly Kiwi couple. September 4 - 6, 2009 We were only travelling about 15 miles this day and the wind direction was good. However, getting out of the narrow entrance to Tutukaka was a bit unnerving as the wind was against us at that point. We had both engines running and powered our way out with Paul keeping a close lookout for the rocks on both sides of the entrance. Once clear of the entrance, we had a very fast sail with lumpy seas to Mimiwhangata. We enjoyed our three days at Mimiwhangata, although some swell came into the bay on our second morning there and it became a bit lumpy. We checked Hilton’s cruising guide and decided to move to one of the other anchorages depicted as it looked as though the swell would be less. We moved before breakfast and also put a stern anchor to shore to reduce the effect of the swell. It was more comfortable in our new spot. Later that day, Paul was out fishing in the dinghy and Mary happened to glance out the window and saw a group of dolphins making spectacular leaps. She went out into the cockpit and enjoyed the show for about 15 minutes. Paul came around a point shortly after and spotted the dolphins. |
The antics of these dolphins were by far the most energetic we have seen and we heard later from another yachty that it is mating season for dolphins. Paul spent quite a bit of time just sitting nearby in the dinghy and watching the show. Paul was disappointed that he was unable to catch any of the spectacular, multi-dolphin leaps on camera. |
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Here is Paul, who has designated himself “MB – Mould Buster”, tackling another bit of mould that he had recently found around the hatches. Thankfully, it is now spring in New Zealand and the windows are noticeably dryer. Our mould problems should be almost over, and with another vigorous cleaning Bella Via should be back to normal. We have been cautioned by a Kiwi liveaboard couple to wait until October to do another thorough cleaning as we may still have some damp weather. Our cruising guide often mentions ‘settled summer weather’ and we are looking forward to that. |
It was time to move on to the Cape Brett Peninsula, which forms the southern boundary to the Bay of Islands. The weather was fine and the wind was good. We had a very nice sail, although we had at least 2 metres of swell. |
As we came closer to Cape Brett we could make out Motokokaku Island and the gap between the island and the Cape itself. We could make out the famous hole in the rock, a cave-like cut that goes right through Motukokako Island. We have been told that larger motor vessels have been able to go through the hole. |
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Northeast winds were predicted for the next few days and we decided to spend those days in Deep Water Cove, which is considered to be the first anchorage along the rugged coastline on the peninsula. We ended up staying here for one week as the wind was blowing quite strong and, although we couldn’t see the ocean from our anchorage, the weather reports were calling for rough seas. In fact, quite a bit of swell came into our anchorage for the last three days. We tolerated the rocking and rolling of Bella Via because we didn’t think that there was any better anchorage nearby. |
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Here we are at Deep Water Cove. This picture was taken as we started off on a two-hour climb on the Cape Brett lighthouse tramp. The tramp to the lighthouse and back is an all-day excursion and very rugged. We really enjoyed the two hours that we did tramp. |
Finally, a break in the northeasterly winds. The forecast was predicting 10-15 knots from the southeast with 3 metres of swell from the northeast. There was a possibility of southwest winds the next day, and southeast was better for our direction into Whangaroa, so we left on Monday morning after breakfast. We had 30 miles to cover and ended up motor sailing the entire way. For over 20 miles of the trip, we had basically no wind. We did get the 3 metre swells though! We sailed into Whangaroa Harbour at mid-afternoon and anchored in Waihe Bay, or Waterfall Bay. It was just over 8 weeks since we had our drama with the rock and the sail drive in Lane Cove. As Mary’s sister, Theresa, said – “Back at the scene of the crime!” We had a wonderful week at Whangaroa. We relaxed in the calm waters and caught up with many of the people who we had met eight weeks ago. We had a very nice sundowner session with Edwin and Cheryl who live ashore in Waihi Bay and another session with Dave and Marian from Orion. Twice we went two miles outside of the harbour to Stephenson Island in order for Paul to dive and spearfish. Both times, he brought several species of fish back to the boat. In a recent email from Mary’s sister, Theresa, she asked, “So what kind of fish are you spearing? Are there any new ones that are only found near NZ?” Paul answered: Paul’s Email Message to Theresa: “Thanks for asking about the fishing. I have done a LOT of fishing since we moved aboard and still I am astounded by the number of species of fish that I have caught, that seem to be unique to New Zealand. During our first few months here, every time I caught a fish it was a different species and none of them were pictured in my fish identification book "Marine Fishes of Australia and South East Asia”, in which there are almost 2,000 species illustrated. I had to go out and get a fish ID card, specifically for New Zealand fish. The card has pictures of 82 different species of fish. Most of which are unique to NZ. Just today I speared two species I have never had before, Sweep and Sandagers Wrasse. A few days ago the new one was a Silver Drummer and the time before that a Black Angel Fish. Just about every time I go out spearing I see a new fish. In total, I have caught or speared 15 completely different species that I have never seen outside of New Zealand. All are edible, some better than others. Here's the list so far: Kahawai - strong flavour, most plentiful |
Here is Paul returning from a dive with three Blue Maomao on the speargun. It is his practice to spear the first, re-load the gun with the fish still on the spear, and then go for the second and then the third. In this way he doesn’t have to return to the dinghy after each fish speared. This is a trick that Hilton taught Paul. |
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It’s Tuesday morning and we have moved into the marina for one night. We have arranged to borrow a car from Jude, the manager of the Sunseeker Lodge and we will be driving into Kerikeri to get groceries. After that, we will look for good weather to start heading south to the Bay of Islands. |