Whangarei Town Basin Marina, New Zealand
Our brief cruise here in New Zealand is wrapping up, eight weeks full of all sorts of nautical and cultural delights. Visiting Urupukapuka, Opunga, Whangamumu, Whangaruru, Tikorangi, Wainui, Okahu, Mokohinahu, Whangaroa, Tutukaka, Orokawa, Paihia, Parua and Kerikeri was enough to keep us up on our Maori vowels and history. But rest assured, occasionally there were places surely named by the resident white man: “Shag Rock” (ouch!), “Groper Island” (get a life!), “Harry’s Hole” (fishing, we hope), and “Assassination Cove” (yikes) … the list could go on and on. It is always fun to cruise foreign lands and learn the history through the eyes of the seafarers who came before us.
We hiked, we fished, we explored new towns and bays previously off limits due to Kailani’s deep draft. We enjoyed getting out to the Bay of Islands before the locals showed up for summer holidays, with most anchorages all to ourselves, and magical mornings and nights accompanied only by the sounds of birds and sheep. All in all we were very happy with how Dragonfly performed in all sorts of weather conditions, including riding out two 50 kt storms at anchor. We broke out every piece of gear and tried it out, with only one small misstep when we decided to take our high speed center-console dinghy for a 14 mile round trip to get some groceries … what could go wrong?
Up and out early in order to dinghy over and back before the winds got up was critical. Our course required us to cross one section directly open to the incoming ocean swell and one area with a seriously craggy lee shore. All was fine and with groceries provisioned we were making our way nicely out of the harbor when our dinghy fuel line parted from the outboard (likely a tear due to UV damage). Luckily we were only a bit down wind from the outskirts of the harbor and were able to frantically paddle against the wind to the last mooring, saving us from being blown out of the bay.
Using our handheld VHF we hailed for a rescue to get back to shore. Being a Sunday morning, there was not much traffic on the water or radio, but eventually NZ coastal rescue relayed our messages and we caught a tow – from a ferry! So yes, there we were, part of the tourists’ highlight that morning as we were ingloriously dragged behind the ferry, photos being snapped of us the whole ride in. Oh so much fun. Once in town, Harley worked his magic, finessed a ride from a local to a different bay where he could caught a ferry (as a passenger, not a tourist attraction) to a town with a chandlery, procured a replacement part, and repeated it all in reverse to get back to our waiting disabled dinghy.
By the time all was repaired, it was 3:30 in the afternoon, winds were 20kts, and seas very choppy. What had been a 20 minute ride was now over an hour. Into the wind, into the seas, and all the while both of us wondering while crossing upwind of the rocky lee shore “what else might break on this untested dinghy??” Happily back aboard Dragonfly, we were wet and humbled. No harm, no foul. Just one scary lee shore, and two very wet sailors.
Anyway, we have now made it back to the marina were Dragonfly will remain while we travel back to the US for the holidays. Meanwhile, since we left, the marina has filled up with all the international cruisers making it down from the islands. Catching up with our cruising friends is long overdue. And while we know New Zealand is a relatively small country (population 5 million) we were astounded to run into three sets of people while running about inland that we knew from our last times here over 10 years ago. Each time we were greeted with “Hey – I know you two! You’re on a boat, right?”. Surprisingly, it did not even take having our little minion along for these folks to make that connection!
We look forward to returning in February to continue our adventures in this amazing corner of the world.
35 43.4 S 174 19.6 E
At the dock, Whangarei Town Basin Marina
North Island
New Zealand
It’s a good thing you two know so much about weather, boats, engineering, problem solving and fortitude, not to mention delighting in adventure. It is a joy to read about how you both live your dream.
Glad you are likely back for the holidays. Do you remember where you parked your car?? Just kidding.