Reality rarely meets expectations. We left New Caledonia with a so-so forecast. We knew there would be large southerly swells, which there were, but we expected to pass through a cold front a couple of days out, and then be pressed to get in to Opua before another cold front. The reality, besides the swells, was mostly light head winds, a trivial cold front with no punch at all, and then more light headwinds all the rest of the way. And we had no trouble making it in before the second front, which also turned out to be trivial.
In short, it was mostly a boring motorboat ride. We did have some excellent sailing the first day, and again late on the last day, but that was it. The rest was motoring. Of seven and a half days on the passage, a full six days — 142 hours — was spent motoring. Good thing we carry so much fuel. Oh, well, there are worse things than motoring. This patch of ocean has a deserved reputation. Most people get spanked pretty hard at some point, either approaching or leaving New Zealand. We have been very lucky.
The motoring conditions do deserve a few comments. Typically, such motoring is done on a pretty flat sea. Maybe gently rolling, as the sea is rarely truly flat, but maybe not that far from it, either. This time, there were swells up to ten feet or more in height rolling up from the south that we had to climb up and over. Such swells are actually quite impressive, vaguely evoking the image of endless rolling grasslands. They are not waves as you might think of waves — they have no crests, and their faces are anything but steep — but endless smoothly rounded ridges rolling up and under us from a faraway storm south of New Zealand. They were also a bit of a nuisance as the wind was too light (as well as on the nose) to generate enough sail power for us to sail up and over them — we do weigh thirteen tons. Had the seas been truly flat with such light headwinds, we might well have sailed some, but the addition of the huge swells meant we had to either motor over them or sail parallel to them (i.e. perpendicular to our course).
About fifteen miles out from Opua on the afternoon of the last day, we picked up a following breeze. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to use, and the tidal current was with us, too, so we happily shut the motor down and enjoyed a delighful, quiet ride in. It was also useful in that we didn’t want to have to deal with customs until the next morning. As it was, we arrived at the quarantine berth just before sunset, well after the authorities had quit for the day. So, by the time they came aboard in the morning, we were clean and well rested, and the boat was all clean and tidy, too.
After checking in, we moved over to an anchorage in the Bay of Islands near the house of some old friends, Dave and Jane Saunders. We’ve known them for over a decade now. Dave crewed for me up to Tahiti a while back, and they store our car for us when we are out of the country. So, anyway, we hung out with them over the weekend, then headed on down the coast towards Whangarei. One stop along the way, with a long, deserted beach to walk on, then a last day on the open sea, partly motoring, partly a pleasant sail, to reach the lower harbor. We typically anchor there the night before going up the river to the Town Basin, as we need to catch the tide right. The tidal current can be strong, so we want it with us, and the upper river is shallow, so we want at least the middle of a rising tide. Getting ready to get under way the next morning, we were pleasantly surprised to see another old friend on his boat there, about to head up the river, too. Graeme is a professional photographer, which is always a treat to have sailing next to us, it being surprisingly difficult to get good photos of one’s boat under sail.
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| Sailing Up the Harbor |
So, we’re back home in our slip in the Town Basin Marina in Whangarei, now. Time to clean up, fix a few things, socialize with old friends, and get ready for a summer cruise up the coast.
