Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

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.

The big event of the day (relatively speaking) was moving the boat. We’d begun to get a little fed up of the chop that had built up within the bay where we were as well as the sudden slams from chunks of wind that would find us around the hill.

With the winds now forecast to be coming from the south east for sometime we headed for nearby Shoal Bay where we’d last visited in the dinghy to find shops. On the way over we left our shelter of Mulberry hill encountering 40 knot winds just south of the hill where the land allowed the wind through. It gave us an idea from what we were sheltering ourselves from.

Shoal Bay was less protected from the wind than where we were but it was sheltered from the incoming swell. What is more, the wind was more even which promised some return on the wind generator which hadn’t been helping much in the strong occasional gusts we’d been experiencing. We first attempted to anchor in a big gap in the mooring field but our anchor slipped. That may be why there were no moorings in that spot as the holding may not have been good. Our second attempt was just outside the mooring field where the anchor set solid. We put out a lot of chain and settled down.

The first thing we realized is we have no internet access here. Oh well. We’re cut off. It’s not a bad thing from time to time. We expect it and plan for it up in the islands but it’s not expected here less than 50 miles from New Zealand’s biggest city. Just goes to show how remote NZ can quickly get. So all our email chats will just have to wait until we reconnect with the world.

NZ coastguard and their maritime service communicate regular weather forecasts on VHF and we can still download weather data via the SSB so we can still make our departure decisions from here.