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A somewhat moist day in Whangarei

by steve, on December 18th, 2010 (New Zealand, Paleides, Sail Away)

Curry last night was delicious. We’d recommend the place – the Aroma on Vine Street. Not the best ever but the best we’ve had in a while. We also got pretty lucky in that we didn’t get rained on.

But it did piss down overnight. And this morning. And at various times throughout the day.

Helen and I did manage to make it out and see the Farmer’s Market close down. We found a few odds and ends to buy which was useful. In one store we ran into Fergus and Kay from Paleides – can’t keep away from old friends. We did a semi major shop on the way back borrowing a trolley to bring everything back to the boat. We all went out to return the trolley and went for our biannual MacDonalds. The last one we had was in Tahiti. We haven’t missed much.

I then thought I’d try out the car to make sure it was all right. It wasn’t. The battery was as flat as a very flat pancake. A quick examination revealed why – the parking lights had been left on by whoever delivered the car last Wednesday. Leaving Helen to go off walking around town some more I managed to grab Dirk from Sail Away who was willing to get me started. I had the jump leads and he had the car. On close examination we found that not only was the battery flat but the connections to the battery were loose. Dirk managed to wiggle them tighter so I was able to drive to a slightly nearer car park where I parked to get my tools.

I brought back some extra bits and pieces so I could wire in my earlier purchased device to fix the radio frequencies accessible from the Japanese radio we have. Unfortunately there still wasn’t enough juice to turn the engine. Fortunately Dirk and I had parked next to each other in case this should happen. He came out and jump started me again. This time I left the engine running while sorting out the radio and then went for a drive around town. Hopefully this will be enough to get us going next time.

Not a lot else to report so I won’t.

Whangarei

by steve, on December 16th, 2010 (Emily Grace, Jenny, Leu Cat, New Zealand, Scream, Sea Mist)

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.

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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.

Taurikura Bay

by steve, on December 15th, 2010 (Inspiration Lady, New Zealand)

Keen to ensure all the crayfish we’d caught would not be mobbed by octopus I set out at 6:30am to retrieve the trap. I discovered that two of the fish frames we’d hung inside the trap had completely gone and the other 3 had been stripped to the bone by overnight critters. And the total catch of crayfish was….. You guessed it….. Zero.

With no better reason to stay and keen to avoid any bad weather coming in we headed west to find shelter from the predicted bad weather due to come in from the east and then north. The fog and murk had completely lifted and as we passed the pass we had squeezed through the previous day I was quite shocked at how narrow it looked. If I could have seen where we were going we may have gone the long way around.

The wind was again light so we motored back. The genset shutdown with a temperature alarm on the way back which usually indicates the zinc pencil has crumbled in the heat exchanger and it needs to be cleared out. The problem was easily mitigated by easing back on the throttles thus demanding less from the generator. We eventually set our anchor in Taurikura Bay which we understood to have good holding and protection from all angles, especially the east and north.

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Here we found a couple of open internet connections so we could all catch up on communications.

Later in the afternoon we went ashore to stretch our legs and look for the store we believed was nearby. We found it nearby and picked up a few bits and pieces before returning to the boat. Later still we were joined in the bay by Gary and Jackie on Inspiration Lady who were making their way down the coast and ducked in here with the same idea to avoid the forecast nasty weather.

They invited us aboard for something to warm us up. We put the pizza in the oven and joined them where they ended up being quite generous with some fine rum. We ended up sending Ben back to Dignity to fetch the pizza which we all shared. Nicely warmed up I very nearly fell into the drink while boldly (perhaps too boldly) stepping into the dinghy. I saved my dignity by leaping back onto Inspiration Lady.

The weather this morning is truly miserable. The wind is around 20 knots gusting higher at times. It is cold, wet and murky outside. We had hoped to hike the nearby Mount Manaia but this is not on the cards for today. Fingers cross for tomorrow.

Whatupuke Island (Hen & Chickens)

by KC2RIY, on December 14th, 2010 (Emily Grace, New Zealand)

Yesterday evening was fairly normal except for being invited over to Emily Grace to share desert with them. Kim had baked a pumpkin pie which wasn’t a pumpkin pie but tasted like one. We hung around for about an hour before returning back to Dignity as we were feeling a little tired.

This morning we moved to Whatupuke Island, part of the Hen & Chickens group. The wind was light initially so we motored half way before being able to sail downwind with just the job out. It was foggy most of the way and it was a little nerve wracking coming through the nearby pass with such little visibility. But we made it ok.

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We soon had the fishing rod and handline out and not long after were reeling in the snapper. Ben looked up the legal size limit and although the fish were not exactly huge, they were certainly bigger than the number Ben quoted. We caught fourteen in all putting four back as they really were just too small. Five I filleted leaving all the guts intact (giving us five ‘fish frames’ for our crayfish trap) and five I disembowelled so they could be cooked whole. Ben and I then hung the five frames from the roof of the crayfish trap and, now in the rain, dinghied out to set the trap. I then double checked the minimum size limit and came up with a different interpretation to Ben. We may have to use some relavistic style argument to ensure all the fish we kept were above the minimum limit.

The trap with five fish frames looked irresistible. Our hopes are high. We have whole fish and some filets to cook and, no doubt, we’ll be bringing in the crayfish tomorrow morning.

If the current weather forecasts remain as they are we’ll have to hightail it out of here tomorrow as the winds are expect to become strong from the east making this anchorage untenable towards the evening. We’ll be heading west for shelter at the same time getting closer to Whangarei where we’ll spend Xmas. It looks likely that we’ll have Sam’s Godfather / old friend / of Helen and myself and his family over on Xmas day so we’re looking forward to that. They’re over here on vacation and the timing works out perfectly for a visit to the boat.

Not a lot

by steve, on December 13th, 2010 (Emily Grace, New Zealand)

We finished off Sunday being joined by Tom, Kim and Emily from Emily Grace to consume take away pizzas aboard Dignity followed by watching the movie “The Fall” which turned out weird but fascinating.

Today we agreed to help out Tom with some stuff on his laptop. In the end it took a while as things were either old or not working (except his laptop itself which ran fine). We made some progress but not everything is fixed.

I spoke to Whangarei marina this morning and we definitely have pilings for Xmas and probably have room on the dock. We’ll be heading in on the 19th ready for Sam’s arrival on the 21st. We’ll stay there through Xmas.

Helen and I went for a walk this afternoon out to the point. It involved a little wading as it was close to high tide. We’re used to this. Sadly we saw three dead penguins washed up. No idea how they died or why they ended up here. Perhaps it’s just the currents and normal mortality. On the way back we picked up a few provisions to last us until Whangarei. I also bought some squid for bait so while we’re out we can try and catch some snapper which can eat and use the frames (I’ve learned a new word) for crayfish bait.

We’ll probably leave here tomorrow morning after picking up bread.

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A somewhat moist day in Whangarei

Whangarei

Taurikura Bay

Whatupuke Island (Hen & Chickens)

Not a lot