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   MAY , 2010
WHANGAPARAPARA


April 13 – May 1, 2010

This was a relaxing month for us and will be for the next few weeks.  We have no deadlines and no place where we have to be – we will travel where we want to go.  Our son, Jeremy, is getting married on July 3, 2010 and we will be returning to Canada on June 21 for two weeks.  Until we head for Whangarei in early June to store and prepare to leave the boat, we are at our leisure.
It was also a time to think about our passage to Tonga when we get back from the wedding.  A partial rigging check was started (to be completed later) and lists of provisions and meal planning completed.  Paul began to study the weather patterns and we spoke with other yachties about stopping at Minerva Reef on our way to Tonga – apparently a must-see place.
Insert Book Purging picture – There is never enough book space or weight allowance for the amount of books that Mary would like to read.  Here she is going through her supply to decide which ones she could bear to part with.
For months Paul has wanted to acquire and install another headsail that would allow us to sail wing-on-wing (two headsails up simultaneously – one to the left and one to the right).  In the correct wind conditions and angle, this would increase our speed and be easier to adjust and douse than the spinnaker. 

On April 13th we sailed into Auckland from Rangitoto in order to meet a sailbroker at the Westhaven Marina service dock.  Steve, the sailbroker, was advertising used headsails that Paul thought might suit our purpose.  We left the service dock after picking up two sails for a trial period and sailed back to Islington Bay at Rangitoto Island.

There is never enough book space or weight allowance for the amount of books that Mary would like to read.  Here she is going through her supply to decide which ones she could bear to part with.


We didn’t leave the anchorage in Rangitoto for Waiheke Island until we had a strong southwesterly wind that we could use to determine if one of the two new (used) sails might serve our purpose.  In fact, it didn’t take Paul long to decide that the lightest of the two would work perfectly.  We had a wonderful sail to Waiheke with this new sail pulling alongside our existing jib.

Paul spent the next few days installing a second forestay on which this new sail would be more securely attached when in use.  This second stay, just forward of the primary stay, might be called a ‘lazy’ stay because it is not responsible for holding the mast up.  It is simply a wire on which the sail can be affixed and raised.  Paul was able to attach the top of this stay to the mast just above the primary forestay and the bottom to the crossbeam that joins the two hulls.   The spinnaker halyard is used to hoist this sail into place and its sheets (the ropes that control the sail at deck level) are led aft to the spinnaker winches.

To attach the sail to the forestay Paul had to install 14 clips called piston hanks every 36 inches along the luff of the new sail.  The area of the sail around each piston hank needed to be reinforced by hand sewing a patch of seatbelt like material around the piston hank.  This, Paul says, was the most time consuming and painful part of the job.


We stayed at Waiheke Island for just over two weeks.  We had a variety of business items to take care of and Waiheke is a good place for that due to its proximity to Auckland.  Of top priority was dealing with a computer problem.  We had purchased a new computer when we were home in Canada and, unfortunately, we identified just before we left to return to New Zealand that the hard drive was faulty and needed to be replaced.  Toshiba agreed that we could have the computer serviced under warranty in New Zealand. 

After arranging with our Auckland friend Liz to meet Paul at the ferry terminal in Auckland, Paul took the bus to Matiatia Harbour and caught a ferry to Auckland with the computer and the extra genoa that we were returning to Steve the sailbroker.  Liz very kindly drove Paul to several locations that day and he was able to check off everything on his list as completed.  He returned to the boat on an afternoon ferry.

While we awaited the computer repair, we moved around to the various anchorages at Waiheke, depending on the wind direction. 

While we were at Waiheke Island, we received a call from Kiwi friends Dave and Fran, who we had not seen since 2008.  Dave and Fran had left their boat, Melric II, in Singapore and flew home to New Zealand for 6 weeks to visit with their family and friends.  We were really pleased that they had time to see us and they took the ferry to Matiatia Harbour where they came aboard for lunch.


By April 28, the computer had a new drive and had been sent by courier to Waiheke Island where Paul picked it up at the Post Office.  All we needed now was a good southwest wind to sail to Great Barrier Island.

We moved to the northeast corner of Waiheke, to Hooks Bay, in anticipation of the strong southwest wind being forecasted.

May 2 – 15, 2010

We had a beautiful sail to Great Barrier Island, leaving Hooks Bay at about 0900h and arriving at Whangaparapara at about 1500h.  We were last in this harbour in early January when there were about 80 boats anchored (much too crowded for us!).  We were delighted when we sailed in to see just a few boats moored at the northern end of the bay and no one anchored at Graveyard Bay, our favourite spot in the harbour.

Paul jumped into the dinghy soon after and went exploring.  He came back to the boat and informed Mary that he had met a local couple living on their catamaran and we had been invited for tea the next morning.

We spent a few delightful hours on board Argo the next day and enjoyed getting to know Tony and Carol.  They have lived on Great Barrier Island for about 30 years.  Tony has been building Argo for the last 10 years.  Tony and Carol used to manage the fish receiving depot at Whangaparapara and he is now the harbour master.  They are moored right up to shore and have several gardens which supply them with vegetables for several months of the year.

Here is the catamaran, Argo, which Tony has been building for the past several years.  He started with a burned out hull from a steel boat.  Tony has built several boats over the years and we are amazed at his brilliant mind as he is quite a novel and imaginative designer.


When Tony and Carol need to provision, they take the car ferry into Auckland with their vehicle and bring back everything that they need.  They do this three or four times a year and also visit their three grown children at the same time.  In between times, when Carol finds that she is getting low on certain items, she sends an order by fax to an Auckland grocery store and the groceries are delivered by plane. 

We were fortunate in our timing at Whangaparapara as Carol was planning on having some groceries flown over and she asked us if we wanted anything.  We were out of fresh fruit and vegetables so we jumped at the chance to get groceries at Auckland prices instead of at “island prices” - with only a small packing and delivery charge added on.  This is a very sweet system we think.

We drove to the airstrip in Claris with Tony and Carol.  Here are the groceries, packed in banana boxes, being unloaded by the pilot, copilot, and office staff from the small plane.
Paul had discovered that he was almost out of beer and added one case of Export Gold to the grocery order.  Here is the case of beer being handed over by the copilot.

Tony and Carol took us on a driving tour of the island one day and we climbed to Windy Canyon, well named as at times on the climb we were nearly blown away.  The view was stunning and well worth the many steps that we had climbed.
Can you find the dog’s head in the picture?  This was the view of the rocks from a Windy Canyon peak.

We shared our harbour with these two boats one night.  The one on the right is the Spirit of New Zealand which we have shown before.  The other boat is the brigantine, Soren Larsen, on which Paul was given a brief tour.  It’s classed as a brigantine because it has two masts, square rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the main mast.  The vessel is run by fulltime paid crew and takes on approximately a dozen paying passengers at a time for South Pacific passages from 10 to 20 days in duration.  It was soon to depart for Tonga.  While Paul was aboard, the paying passengers were getting a lesson on climbing the foremast mast to set the square sails.
One of the benefits of spending so much time at Whangaparapara Harbour has been playing badminton on a calm day.  When we arrived in the harbour Des (on the right) had just finished painting the lines on a slab of cement that years ago was the site of an old whaling station. Des has lived aboard his small catamaran in Whangaparapara Harbour for many years.  Coincidentally, we sailed alongside Des the day we arrived at GBI, as Des was returning from Auckland with new rackets he had just purchased.  Des had researched the rules on the internet and was thrilled when Paul announced that he had played badminton in high school and coached many a school badminton team during his teaching days.  On this day, they ended up winning a game each.

Tony and Carol took us on a 30 minute walk through a dense and fragrant rainforest to a waterfall called Kauri Falls.  It is an absolutely beautiful setting and one of their favourite walks.


May 15, 2010

It’s our 39th wedding anniversary today.  We are still at Whangaparapara with strong northwesterly winds and big swell outside of the harbour.  We are very comfortable.  Life is good!

 

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