Tauranga

Date: 15/7/15 Position: Pilot Bay, Tauranga Harbour

We had a great time in Napier. It's a small town on the foreshore of the beautiful Hawke Bay. We spent ten days tied up alongside the visitors pontoon at the friendly Napier Sailing Club. There are many great cycle trails in and around Napier and the surrounding countryside. We made the most of the sunny days and either walked or rode these trails. One day we rode into Hastings visiting a few markets on route and rode to the top of Te Mata Peak. The views were stunning and the climb well worth it. After the glorious warm, (16-17 degrees) sunny days came a polar blast from the south with plummeting temperatures and snow falling to 200m in the Hawke Bay area. The higher mountain ranges surrounding the bay were completely white. It was the most snow they have had in 35 years and resulted in lots of road closures. Along with the cold weather came the inevitable strong southerly winds that kept us and the whole fishing fleet securely tied up alongside for several days. The fishing fleet consisted of mainly long line fishing boats and I watched in amazement as a crane lifted individual tuna over a metre in length out of the fish hold and into the back of a waiting tipper truck lined with ice. Whilst at the Sailing Club we had regular visits from what appeared to be either two or three resident seals in the small harbour. They would often swim alongside or bask on the boat ramp or pontoons. It was nice to watch them each day.

On Saturday the 11 July we took advantage of the moderating southerlies and attempted to leave at first light. Once all the shorelines were cast off we discovered our keel was stuck in the mud as it was low tide. With limited maneuverability we managed to turn to face deeper water. We then employed our Perkins Tractor motor to do what it was originally designed for and plough a furrow through the mud to deeper water.

After leaving the small Inner Harbour we had a fast passage across Hawke Bay with a 25 knot wind directly behind us but, a 3 metre swell from the south east on our beam which made this passage rather rolly. Mid afternoon on Saturday we rounded Portland Island and shaped a course north towards East Cape. Ambler immediately settled down with a 25 knot wind off the stern quarter and the swell was taken more comfortably on the stern. We romped along at a brisk 6.5 - 7 knots boat speed with 1.5 knot current on top of that, averaging about 8 knots all through the night to East Cape.

At first light we rounded East Cape the most easterly point of New Zealand. The southerly breeze which had helped us up the east coast began to weaken, perhaps due to the high mountain ranges now to windward of us as we tracked west towards the Bay of Plenty. Our familiar cruising companions the Cape Petrels and the occasional Albatross regularly flew around us. There were also several large rafts of what might have been fluttering shearwaters. They looked similar to the shearwaters we had seen in Marlborough Sounds.

On nearing Cape Runaway the wind fizzled out so much that even the asymmetric sail wouldn't fill. So we motored out of the influence of the mountain ranges past Cape Runaway and into the more open waters of the Bay of Plenty. Only to discover a light 5 knot westerly headwind had developed. It was a pleasant afternoon so we shut the engine down and made the most of the sunny conditions. On the horizon we could see plumes of smoke rising from the active volcano which is called White Island.

At dusk the breeze redeveloped as a southerly and built up to about 15 knots. We experienced a pleasant night of sailing, passing White Island in the dark and arriving at the leads into Tauranga Harbour at dawn on Monday. The channel was quite busy with lots of small fishing boats heading out to make the most of the calm conditions forecasted for that day. Unfortunately the tide was flowing out at about 3.5 knots so we had the engine on hard to make our way in. We motored into Pilot Bay which is behind Mt Maunganui and dropped the anchor.

After a hot shower, eggs on toast and a few hours of sleep we rowed ashore and stretched our legs with all the holiday makers. In the sunshine we enjoyed a walk along the beach and completed a circuit of Mt Maunganui on a nice walking track.

Yesterday we walked from Pilot Bay into Tauranga, dropping off a gas cylinder for testing and refilling as all three of our gas cylinders are due for their ten year retest this year. It was a long walk into the city itself so we caught the bus back in the early evening.

Today was wet and windy so we stayed on board and watched ships entering and leaving the harbour with the assistance of two tug boats only a few hundred metres from our anchorage.

Tomorrow we plan to head north up the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula.

All is prepared for another passage tomorrow.

Kathy and Wayne

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