CRUISING THE HAURAKI GULF

One of my adoring readers told me recently to "update the blog".  How sweet.  OK, you might not be adoring, but obviously you are readers.  So, I'm back.  Now, what have I been up to since my last post?  Well, some great coastal cruising here in New Zealand, plus some truly heinous boat work.  Fun part first.

On Thanksgiving day, we motored out of the Town Basin Marina here in Whangarei for a cruise around the Hauraki Gulf that lasted almost two months.  The weather was not the best, often a bit cold and rainy, and we were boat-bound several times, but the un-summer-like weather also brought lots of un-summer-like wind.  Sailboats do go better when the wind blows, and we took full advantage of it.  Some of the best sailing I've ever had was on this cruise.

The first couple of weeks, we buddy-boated with Dennis and Pam and their son Lindsey on "Pamela".  We've been with them off and on since the Baja Ha-Ha in 2013, sharing many good times.  They will be missed sorely when they leave at the end of this season.  But for now, we had a great time together.  The first stop was Great Barrier Island, the large island northeast of Auckland that forms the Hauraki Gulf.  The Pamela crew are keen hikers, and we covered some ground.  The longest of our hikes took us up Windy Canyon, a narrow, scenic gorge with lots of stairs, to the summit of Mount Hobson (the highest peak on the Barrier, with a 360 degree view over the island, the Pacific to the east, and the Gulf to the west), then down a circuitous route back to our dinghies at the shore.

From Great Barrier Island, a romping sail brought us to Man O' War Bay on the east end of Waiheke Island, the largest of the Lower Gulf islands.  The rural east end of Waiheke is home to a number of vineyards, Man O' War Winery among them.  Robyn and I are not generally interested in wine tastings and such, but this place is special.  We'd been here once before for lunch and a tasting, and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with the Pamela crew.

Another repeat stop was to climb Rangitoto, the iconic volcano just outside Auckland's harbor.  Then it was up to Kawau Island where the well-known cruising couple Lyn and Larry Pardey live.  We were fortunate to meet them and begin a friendship with them some years ago in the Marquesas, and have always enjoyed dropping in on them in their island home here.  Dennis was keen to meet them, and Larry in particular enjoyed Dennis' superb guitar playing.

Then it was back to Whangarei for a brief reprovisioning stop before heading out again, this time with our old friend Martin on "Oraka".  After some lovely sailing inside the harbor, we set off again with Martin for a second visit this season to Great Barrier island.  Once again, the sailing across the Outer Gulf to the Barrier was superb.  Did a little hiking with Martin there, then sailed back across the Gulf to Kawau again.  Christmas dinner with Lyn and Larry, then we all sailed on south for the short hop to the magical island of Tiri Tiri Matangi.

Tiri Tiri is a great ecological success story.  Several decades ago, it was a ruined sheep farm, the native forest long since replaced by grassland, many invasive pests, few remaining birds.  With tremendous effort, mostly volunteer, the island has been returned to native "bush", the pests have been eradicated, and native birds have been reintroduced or have self-recolonized.  

It is a delightful place to wander around, watching the plentiful, but yet for some species rare, birds.

Martin had to head north, but we sailed back south into the Lower Gulf to the west end of Waiheke Island.  The west end is semi-urban, a bedroom community and popular vacation spot for Aucklanders, only a short ferry ride away.  This is where we had arranged to meet Patricia, Robyn's sister, on New Year's Day.  Patricia has visited us on Mintaka quite a few times over the years, in Mexico and here in New Zealand, but we've always been in  a marina.  Before this time, she had only been on short day-sails with us.  This time was for a complete cruise, and she got the full treatment.  Patricia had just flown in and taken the airport bus down to the ferry terminal in Auckland.  Robyn took the ferry over, and then right back with Patricia.  The weather was awful, rainy and windy.  They took the local bus from the ferry terminal to the bay where Mintaka was anchored, but the tide was out, leaving a quarter mile of so of muddy sand for them to carry Patricia's bags across, in the rain, to where I could meet them with the dinghy.  Not a great start, one which could easily have caused a bad mood in a novice cruiser.  Patricia, however, was laughing and giggling at the absurdity of it all the entire time.  Then we were all "boat bound" in horrible weather for a couple of days.  But Patricia was cheerfully game for the adventure, and the following week was much improved.  Patricia was treated to a grand tour of the Hauraki Gulf, with some fine sailing.

We stumbled upon friends Frank and Lisa on "Mango Moon" -- we met them a couple of years ago in Vanuatu -- on Motutapu, another Lower Gulf island.  We revisited Tiri Tiri with Patricia, then "treated" her to a hard upwind sail in high winds and big waves back to Kawau (sorry about that Patricia).

Beginning to head back south towards Auckland, we were sheltering from a blow in an anchorage with only two other boats.  One of the two was a boat we know from Whangarei -- well met -- but unfortunately, the other boat was a derelict sailboat that broke free of its anchor and drifted down on us.  Relaxing below, we were startled by a loud bang as the hulk collided with our bowsprit.  We fended her off -- Robyn thinking to pull in our solar panel just in the nick of time -- but we couldn't just let her drift out into the Gulf to become a hazard to navigation.  As she slid down our side, I snagged a line on her stern and secured it to our stern.  OK, now what do we do with her?  After some time talking with authorities on the radio, and waiting, the owner finally came out and organized a tow.  Not to worry, we suffered no damage; the hulk hit us sideways against the steel cap on our bowsprit.

Last stop with Patricia was back at Waiheke.  After seeing her off on the ferry again, we were just about to head home to Whangarei, to start on a long list of projects, when Frank and Lisa tempted us out to Great Mercury Island.  What the hell.  The jobs will wait.  So, we met up with them there for a delightful time hiking, snorkeling and just socializing.  Mango Moon is a gorgeous catamaran that Frank and Lisa built some years ago in Vietnam.  Neither Robyn nor I had ever sailed on a "cat", so we jumped on the chance for a day sail to another anchorage a few miles away.  I was impressed.  I still prefer monohulls like Mintaka, but I have to admit that I was impressed.  Frank and Lisa are keen snorkelers, too.  We are not quick to jump in the rather brisk water here, but that was the order of the day, so in we went, and quite enjoyable it was.

Another brief visit with friends at the Barrier, then another brief visit with Lyn and Larry on Kawau, and it was back to Whangarei to start work.  So, lots and lots of great sailing, criss-crossing the Gulf, sometimes in company with friends, visiting both new places and old favorites.  But, it was finally time to get to work on Mintaka, so now we're hard at it back in the Basin in Whangarei.  Some of the list is just routine maintenance, but much of it involves improvements.  Just as with a house ashore, after living with some nuisance for a period of years, the time comes to just deal with it.

This post is long enough, though, so I'll be back soon with the "projects".

Lindsey in Windy Canyon

Robyn on the stairs in Windy Canyon

Looking west on Mt Hobson

Summit of Mt Hobson

One of the ubiquitous swinging bridges in NZ

On Waiheke with the Pamela crew

At the Barrier

Little Barrier Island in the background

What do we do with this?!

Robyn and Patricia

Robyn and Lisa on Great Mercury Island