The weather continued to be miserable. We also got a call from Whangarei marina letting us know a slot on the dock was coming available Friday afternoon. We didn’t get off the boat on Thursday and waking up this morning (Friday) we saw the mountain we wanted to climb shrouded in cloud. Our minds were made up. One hour after low tide we headed up river and here we are in Whangarei.
We overtook Scream on the way up the river who turned out to be anchored one bay away. We saw John on Sea Mist at Riverside Marina close to town. We all waved. He called to see if we were interested in a dinner at a nearby hotel on Xmas eve. We were so that was sorted even before we were tied to the dock.
Docking was tight but the wind was blowing us slightly onto the dock which allowed me to be totally cool and let the boat drive right into it’s place nudging the motors to keep us in place. This was in front of a ton of people all around the dock and restaurant which overlooks us. The audience can make or break you – this time I wasn’t beaten.
On the dock we soon ran into Laura from Jenny, Kim from Emily Grace and Mary Margaret from Leu Cat. Nothing changes. Here we are 15 miles up river and we’re still bumping into old friends. Should be a good time here. We also recognised a lot of other boats that crossed the Pacific this year. Hopefully we’ll meet all these in good time.
We’re now hooked up to internet and water (in that order) and sorted out our stay at the office. Tonight we’re off for a curry, if the rain stops.