Date: 26/10/15 Position: Matauwhi Bay, Russell, Bay of Islands
On Wednesday morning we woke to a calm and still anchorage. We weighed anchor mid morning and drifted with just the headsail open out of Pekapeka Bay. As we rounded Takahi Point we spotted two small seals basking on the rocks and were also met by a strong headwind. So we furled the headsail and turned the engine on to motor the short distance up Whangaroa Harbour to anchor off the locality of Whangaroa. We went ashore and followed a walking track that took us up to a large bald cone called St Paul's Rock. The 360 degree views were worthy of the climb. After returning to Ambler we headed across to Totara North to drop anchor for the night and shelter from the north westerly. We had a walk ashore at Totara North and saw the remains of the last kauri sawmill and shipyards that closed ten years ago but had been in operation for over a century. That evening Wayne helped the guys on 'Brenda' with an engine issue and we enjoyed some lovely smoked fish with them for dinner.
Thursday morning was windy and we spent the morning aboard getting a few jobs done. In the afternoon we sailed down the harbour to Pararaka Bay which is on the southern side of the harbour. Here we picked up a mooring and collected water from a water point that had a hose installed which was connected to a reservoir ashore. After filling our tanks we motored into a headwind and crossed the harbour and entered Waihi Bay. It was a stunning small bay surrounded by high rock walls. However it was too much of a wind funnel to consider dropping the anchor. So we continued down the harbour, spotting the seals still lounging on the same rocks and entered Waitepipi Bay. It was very protected and we dropped anchor for the night near two other yachts and a motor launch. The smaller of the two yachts had stunning varnished timber top sides.
On Friday morning we rose early with the sun. After breakfast we hoisted the main sail, weighed anchor and partially unfurled the headsail to allow the breeze to push the bow downwind. Then we unfurled the full headsail and poled it out to allow the 5 knots of breeze to take us towards the harbour entrance. We lowered the pole to go through the narrow entrance with the outgoing tide and virtually no wind. Once outside the harbour entrance we had a 10 knot north westerly so we beam reached across Whangaroa bay towards Flat Island. At 9am on the dot the 'zzzzinngg' of the fishing line caught our full attention. Ambler had caught a fish on her trolling lure. Wayne wound the line in while I dived below to find the net. We were sailing along at 5 knots at the time and the fish stripped all the line off the reel and Wayne was left looking at the knot, hoping that it would hold. Thank goodness he's good at tying knots. We towed the fish until it tired itself out and once we had it in the cockpit we were very excited to see it was a kingfish just less than a metre long. After all this excitement we had almost reached our turning point to pass east of the Cavalli Islands. Not far from our position at the time lay the wreck of the 'Rainbow Warrior' which had been sunk near the smaller northern islands of the Cavalli group. It was the second time it had been sunk after the French government sunk it while it was alongside in Auckland Harbour. Now it provides an artificial reef and a scuba diving location. A large number of Buller Shearwaters glided past us and we even had an albatross soar by. We haven't seen an albatross since East Cape. When we altered our course to pass east of the Cavalli Islands and on to Cape Wiwiki we poled out the headsail again and ran wing and wing before the north westerly 15-18 knots. After rounding Cape Wiwiki and entering the Bay of Islands the wind increased by another 5 knots. We took the pole down and broad reached across the bay. It wasn't long before we had to put a reef in the mainsail because Ambler was travelling at her hull speed of 7.5 knots. We dropped all the sails just off the tightly packed mooring area in Russell at 1430 and proceeded to our mooring under engine. It had been a fast and enjoyable sail.
The last three days we have spent here on the mooring in Matauwhi Bay, Russell. On Saturday it was very windy and rained heavily and we did some jobs and relaxed on board. On Sunday the sun came out and we spent the day walking the Full Circle Walkway. This involved catching the ferry from Russell to Paihia and then walking from Paihia to Opua on beaches and bush tracks across the headlands. From Opua we caught another ferry to Okiato. From Okiato we followed mainly bush tracks and some boardwalk sections through mangrove swamps back to Russell. This last section was the nicest with lush forest, towering trees and man ferns. Today we've been doing jobs again and dug our bikes out of the forepeak ready to put together and use.
All is relaxed on board. Kathy and Wayne
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment