Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Tuesday was spent seeing the island and wine tasting with the very excellent Ananda Tours. We were picked up at the beach by the minibus right where we left out dinghy. Being high tide we hadn’t had far to haul the dinghy either.

We spent about three hours visiting three different vineyards (Mudbrick, Kennedy Point and Obsidian) where we tasted some delicious wines and buying a couple of bottles we particularly likes which we’ll save for special occasions (like any old evening really). We were then dropped off at the Stonyridge Vineyard for a late lunch and some more complementary wine tasting. We both had a very delicious steak meal.

We also got on pretty well with the other wine tasters on the minibus with us. There was a family from Long Island and a couple of post grad students from Singapore.

Helen’s foot survived the day with the swelling kept under control with ibuprofen. We were dropped off, by our request, on Oneroa high street where Helen wanted to look at a shop. The things she wanted had been sold so no purchases there. We did pick up some delicious fudge from the store next door.

We spent the evening watching a movie, eating light and drinking tea. All in all a very good day out.

Today we’re off to Auckland where we’ll stay at the viaduct marina for three nights. On Friday we’re meeting friends and on Saturday taking some others out on the boat. Very much looking forward to all that.

Bit of a choice to make this morning. High tide is at 10:20am which would suggest an early start to get the benefit of the incoming current. However, wind is light right now but strength and direction will be improving throughout the morning so it’s more likely we’ll be be able to sail later on.

With Helen’s foot inflamed rest is what the doctor would have ordered had we visited one. So we stayed aboard all day. Helen had the idea we should get on with some of the things on our list which, given that it was nice out and the water calm, was not a bad idea.

The main job was replacing the tap and shower head for the deck shower on the starboard transom. The tap was ok but the lid had been ripped off last year sometime. Can’t buy the lid, just the whole tap. As it was a European fitting I ordered it and picked it up while in the Uk. It took to Easter Sunday to get round to changing it over. It turned out to be a pretty awkward job as I had to get on my back down in the engine bay a few times to work on the hose fittings and to cut away glue. It was all eventually done and we’re now back in business. Most of the rest of the chores were regular inspection items so I won’t bore you any further.

The anchorage continued to fill throughout the day. I reckon there are about 200 boats here. And we were probably the only ones doing boat work. It is quite crowded here now, not what we like. However, Easter is over soon and most these folks will have to go back to work.

This morning Helen’s foot remains swollen so more rest is required. We may book a wine tasting tour for tomorrow after most of the crowds have left. Not too much walking involved with that.

Another pleasant day yesterday. We went ashore to walk to the bay to the north for a pie lunch. At the dock we noticed a lot of activity. It turned out the ferry delayed by weather since Tuesday, three days earlier, was on the way in.

Walking along the road we ran into the folks who we met at the hot springs who had intended to return on the Tuesday ferry. We also ran into Mary, met the previous day, who was in a similar position.

After our walk and lunch we returned to the boat where we prepped her for the trip. We put two reefs into the main anticipating some strong weather across the channel. I had to go up the mast to retrieve the courtesy flag line which had snapped and fouled in the strong weather.

Avoiding alcohol we retired early to be woken by the alarm at 2:45am.

The passage wasn’t as bad as we feared, in fact it was as good as I hoped. Better still, the moon was full which we hadn’t anticipated. The incoming tide was not interfering with the swell and we had winds in the low 20s. The current in the channel was left to right so we had to aim 15 degrees to port to go in the direction we wanted. Nevertheless we made 8-9 knots over the channel.

Helen went for some shut eye as we rounded the Coromandel peninsular. She missed all the fun. We lost the wind so I motor sailed for a bit – for a while having to bring in the head sail. When the wind returned it was light. I removed the second reef and later removed the first. Then the wind picked up. I reefed the head sail to lose some speed then reefed the main. Now losing some wind I took the reef out of the head sail. By then I was boiling hot with all the effort.

By the time I woke Helen things had settled down for a straight run into Waiheke which we made in good time eventually anchoring in Oneroa Bay.

We chose this bay because of it’s good holding, protection from the south and civilization ashore. We’re ready for some. As we sit here more and more boats are piling in. It is Easter weekend after all. It should be quite a crowd by the end of day.