Bay of Islands to Whangaroa Harbour

Hi everyone,

We departed Bay of Islands Marina on Sunday after another very pleasant stay.  We installed our new Starlink Mini system, installed s/s rubbing strakes to protect the transom from the stern anchor chain, and did various other small boat jobs.

Water buoy in Whangaroa Harbour

On Friday afternoon we attended an OCC get-together hosted by OCC Port Officer Nina.  We walked there and back with the crews of sv Beyond the Stars and sv Coral Moon.  Several crews had driven from Whangerei including Shimshal II, Bengt, Kingscem and Masterplan.  Masterplan is, like us, taking part in the Island Cruising South Island Rally so it was particularly nice to meet them for the first time.

We received several other packages at the marina.  One was the Rally pack, including a rally flag and the yearbook.  The latter provides a lot of useful information.  Most valuable is up to date information on Fiordland and Stewart Island anchorages, moorings and facilities.

On Sunday we departed the marina and returned to the anchorage off the Russell Boating Club.  We left the marina with little water aboard since the Opua area was under a 'boil water' notice due to e-coli in the water.  So we dinked in to the Russell Town Jetty where fresh water was available.  We just did one run to fill 4 jerries which almost filled our main water tanks.

At the Duke of Marlborough in Russell

On Tuesday we departed the Bay of Islands.  The 7.5 hour / 36 nm sail took us out of the bay, past the Cavalli Islands and into Whangaroa Harbour.  Initially the wind was light E.  It gradually filled in to 15G20 SE.   The 1.5m NE swell made it a little uncomfortable but it was a nice sail overall.

Track

Arrival Track

Graphs

Bay of Islands astern

Happy Sailor

Passing the Cavallis

The entrance channel of Whangaroa Harbour is fairly narrow and quite spectacular.  Inside the water was calm.  We went into the eastern part of the harbour to be close to the water buoy run by the local coastguard.  We anchored in 5m over mud with three other yachts and two motor-yachts.

Approaching Whangaroa Harbour entrance

In the entrance channel

Zen Again in Owhatanga Bay

On Wednesday we did three runs to and from the water buoy.  This 200 litres filled our tanks and jerries.  Water buoys seem quite common around New Zealand, particularly in remote areas.  They're fed from streams ashore.

Work on the job list continues as always.  We've replaced a worn reefing line and the WindPilot control line.  I've also been working on our New Zealand waypoints in OpenCPN, compiling them from various cruising guides.  Nic's been working on our YouTube videos.

A tranquil anchorage

It's great to be seeing more of Northland.  We're on the lookout for a weather window to take us 'over the top' and S to Abel Tasman National Park on the N coast of South Island.

Trust all's well where you are!