Christmas 2017 ...

Merry Christmas to all from us on SOL 

Our very natural Christmas Tree

We left Whangarei Tuesday 19^th December and sailed in a good 15 to 20 knot breeze down to Algies Bay, passing so many familiar places on the way – Langs Beach, Waipu Cove, Mangawhai, Te Arai, Pakiri, Omaha and Takatu Peninsula before going out the back of Kawau Island then turning towards Sandspit and Algies. Unfortunately, as we went around the bottom of Kawau we had to drop the sails and motor – a very bumpy wind against tide ride – the port engine overheated. So, under one engine we limped to the mooring in Algies we had borrowed.

Once we were safely moored – albeit rather hesitantly as it was very close to two other boats – we inspected the damage - the issue we had had with our starboard engine back almost a year ago to the day had occurred on the opposite side – we had melted our port engine water lock box. So, first thing Wednesday morning we walked to Snells Beach to Mahurangi Marine and managed to source a replacement which was in Albany and our very kind friend, Colin Chester, drove from Silverdale to pick it up and delivered it to us. We hadn’t seen Colin for ages and spent time catching up over coffee and cake on SOL. Colin then dropped us in Warkworth where we walked the car yards in search of a cheap, tidy, reliable car for the next 5 months – we found a pretty good 2008 Toyota Camry for sale privately and by 730pm we were its new owners. We celebrated with a drive into Snells for fish and chips for dinner!!

John and Sibyl - looking just the same!!

Whilst in Warkworth we dropped in on John and Sibyl Patrick, Sibyl used to look after the children after school back in the days when we had Warkworth Printing and was like a grandmother to them. It was lovely to see them, and find they hadn’t changed at all – we sent a photo to the children and the resounding response was – “oh, that’s John and Sibyl” and “they’re just the same”.

Thursday was spent replacing the old water lock box and checking there were no further problems. Then, as my sister, Theresa and her husband Des had arrived up to their holiday house here in Algies it was off to have drinks with them!! They have been so very helpful, especially with finding us the mooring here in Algies. 

Friday morning dawned overcast, drizzly, and initially with limited visibility but we headed to Kawau anyway. By the time we arrived in Mansion House Bay though, it was another beautiful day. We anchored SOL just metres from the beach, walked around and up to the Coppermine Lookout. It’s a pity but due to some wind damage causing trees down, most of the tracks are closed at the moment.

Mansion House, Kawau Island

We decided not to go through the publicly owned historic house – originally the home of the Coppermine superintendent then purchased in 1862 by Sir George Grey, former governor of New Zealand – this time, we will do this when we have visitors aboard, so just wandered the grounds. The Department of Conservation has, over many years, reintroduced many of the plants Sir George had, spending many hours on the manicured gardens and the house has been restored and furnished to how it was in his time.

Anchored so close we could almost walk ashore!!

Friday night we availed ourselves of the free bbq ashore (eating another yummy tuna meal) then to bed, planning to explore more bays of this island Saturday, maybe going into the bay where we had owned a bach and spent all the summers of our childhood – Speedy Bay, between Bon Accord Harbour and North Cove. However, the ever-clumsy Mrs Docker managed to sustain a nasty eye injury and after an extremely painful sleepless night, Saturday morning saw us racing back to the mooring at Algies, then spending two hours waiting at the doctors’ surgery before having confirmed that, yes, a rather large piece of cornea had been scraped from my right eye by an errant fingernail when removing contact lenses. Local anaesthetic drops gave instant relief, to be followed over the next few days with drops for pain and as a precaution against infection, and the warning that it probably not improve until at least Christmas Day. Grrrr.

Christmas morning, we drove down to Norah (my stepmother) in Castor Bay then to Christmas lunch in the Rest Home in Forrest Hill with Thomas, my father. We had a superb lunch, then spent some time sitting outside on the deck with him (dozing) so we left him to rest. We went back to Norah’s then down to Castor Bay beach before tackling the traffic back to Christmas dinner with Theresa and Des. Sandy, Jamie and their three young children (Sandy is my niece) were there too so even though we didn’t have our children close we still had a lovely family Christmas Day.

Wednesday 27^th December, we drove to Orewa 35km south, to renew our NZ driving licences so we could change the car ownership, and do a couple of other bits and pieces – not a good plan we discovered when having done what we wanted to do we started the drive back north – everyone else had decided to go north as well – the traffic was banked up bumper to bumper from just out of Orewa. Enough of this, my ever-patient in traffic, husband said after looking at the stationary line of cars ahead of us, and he turned around. 

We decided that even if it took just as much time, we would take the scenic route – through Waiwera, Puhoi, Ahuroa then out towards Kaipara Flats before turning back to Warkworth – and we had the road to ourselves.

Puhoi is the place where my ancestors came to from Bohemia (in the Black Forest area on the Czechoslovakia-German border) back in 1863. The Turnwald block was at Ahuroa. So often we have been here in the past but never tire of it.

A visit to Puhoi is never complete without a trip to the old cemetery

Between Puhoi and Ahuroa

Nearing Algies we got a call from Theresa to tell us that Des, who had been keeping an eye on SOL from their place, felt that the little red wreck of an abandoned sailboat moored behind us appeared rather too close for comfort, so we hotfooted it back to find that – yes – it was almost in our cockpit!!

Time to move.

So, at 2.30pm we waved them goodbye for now and set off in the direction of Whangaparaoa.

And it's "Cheers" to all for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Abel Tasman National Park …

A great couple of days were spent in Nelson, a part of the country we had only visited very briefly in the past. On our first night, Peter Jones, whom I had grown up with back in Auckland, and his partner, Donna came down to SOL bearing gifts of homegrown veges, a cooked chook and wine – a lovely surprise, they stayed for dinner and we chatted for hours. On Monday, an old neighbour of ours from when we were living in Matakana, north of Auckland, 20 years ago, Frank Carlisle, drove over from Blenheim, for normal people a near 2hr drive, but Frank, who has never been “normal”, whizzed over in his very sporty Lotus Elise!! to spend most of the day with us, including taking us to The Boat Shed for a super, late lunch. 

Then Tuesday we enjoyed a Tiki tour of Nelson and surrounds with Peter, going out to the Boulder Bank – a 13km naturally formed bank of rocks which provides protection for the Port of Nelson from the weather of Tasman Bay, the Matai River, past the centre of New Zealand – geographically – and to the hills overlooking Motueka, culminating in lunch and a bit of ‘home-made wine and port tasting’ at his place – and a very nice drop he makes indeed.

Peter and Jamie at the Boulder Bank

Looking out from Nelson, Boulder Bank visible on left, Abel Tasman National Park in background

Having restocked, organised NZ sim cards for our phones, and tossed up as to whether we would go up the East Coast or the West Coast to get to Auckland (I thought the East Coast route would be prettier, however, West Coast won due to the better weather – gale force winds in Cook Strait not being too appealing). Wednesday, we left for the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park anchoring the first night in Stilwell Bay where we headed ashore and walked the coast to Marahau, a really pleasant 15km round trip walk – we hadn’t walked far since leaving Australia of course so it was excellent to get off the boat and stretch our legs. 

A great 7.5km walk through the bush to Marahau

A natural tunnel on the way to Takaka

This magnificent piece of New Zealand coastline would have to be one of the best. We moved on to Onetahuti then Totaranui, spending a night in each of these delightful anchorages. Whilst in Totaranui we bussed into Takaka for a little look, the lovely lady bus driver giving us an impromptu guided tour!!

Tuesday, 12^th Dec, Jamie and I set off on the next 550 nautical mile leg of our trip. Leaving the amazing South Island for now, we will be back here in April 2018 with Jim and Terry, friends visiting from Canada, doing it by land in a motorhome then. 

We upped anchor as the sun rose and set the sails, starting out with three reefs in the main and just the little stormsail as we were expecting 25+knots of wind as we passed Farewell Spit – and we were not disappointed – she blew! and she blew some more (30kn for a time)!! We were off the Taranaki Coastline, where, had we been closer to shore, we would have seen Mt Egmont/Taranaki, by lunchtime. We made good passage, over 180 nautical miles on day one. 

Tuna, tuna !!

We caught our first tuna, followed later that day with another, woo hoo were we excited, Tuna, Tuna!!! 

Tuna steaks for dinner

Rounding Cape Reinga, the tip of the North Island of New Zealand is quite amazing, it is here where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet – and yes, you see a very obvious line of very disturbed water, what looks to be waves hitting each other from two different directions. We rounded the Cape 54hrs after departing the South Island, it had been a great sail, hassle-free and comfortable, but it was not finished yet. 

We turned and made our course in the direction of Auckland, where we plan to spend Christmas Day with my dad in Forrest Hill, (sadly, he is in a Rest Home there with dementia).

Bypassing the Bay of Islands for now, we will be definitely back there in mid-January, we kept on sailing till we dropped our anchor in Whangarei – slightly more than 3 ½ days constant sailing and after fish and chips for dinner – we headed to bed, a place we had not spent long in since departing the magical Abel Tasman area.

Whangarei Quarry Tropical Gardens with Jenny

Three great days were spent in Whangarei, anchored just outside the Port of Whangarei Marine Centre, where my oldest brother, Andrew, has his fishing boat. We had a couple of meals with Andrew and wife, Jenny, did the usual - washing, grocery shopping and had some time for a bit of sightseeing in what is actually a really nice spot - Whangarei - having only quickly driven through it in the past it was great to spend some time. The inner harbour area where the marina houses many boats is amazing - so many boats, from so many countries as well as boutiques, eateries, local craft and souvenir shops. After staying to help celebrate Andrew's birthday we set sail south.

Our anchorage, Stillwell Bay, Abel Tasman Park

Could have been Thailand !!

Nesting gulls, Onetahuti

Crossing the Tasman ...

Away at Last - 

0700 hrs Thursday 23^rd November 2017 saw us finally cast off the docklines in Australia and set off across the Tasman.

Bye bye Coffs Harbour, Adieu Australia

Sailing to NZ !!

The first hour down the coast was filled with sending and receiving farewell messages to and from family and friends. Even the dolphins came along with us for a few miles to see us off.

Our route was more of a U shape due to the prevalence of the Easterly winds which were going to make passage to New Zealand unpleasant were we to try to go directly. 

So, we initially went down the coast, although the winds were not very strong we were making good speed, travelling along at an average between 8 and 8.5 knots. We put a reef in the main for the night, just as a security measure – we didn’t want to have too much sail up if the wind increased during the night, so reducing the size of the sails in the daylight is a good idea, but around 3am on Friday morning the wind had dropped away and so the reef was shaken out, the jib furled away and the port engine started.

This was to be our view for the next few days

We ticked along like this for the next four hours, only managing about 5.5 knots boat speed, we only run one engine as the increase of speed through running two in these conditions is minimal yet running two uses more diesel, of course. The sky was clear blue with next to no cloud, the sailing was pleasant if unexciting – a few more knots of wind would have been superb. This continued all the next day, alternately motorsailing as the wind dropped away then turning off the engine as the wind filled in.

We had the fishing lures out constantly, with no success – until WOO HOO – FISH ON !!!! it was big, it fought, it leapt out of the water just beside the boat showing us its beautiful blue colour and its marlinlike bill – then with a final twist it broke away, taking our special new lure with it. Sorry, Lilly, the swordfish you wanted us to catch got away.

We seem unable to break the 10-knot boat speed barrier and with the wind no greater than 15 knots maximum we were wondering if we would ever see the shores of New Zealand!!! No longer were we reefing before dark – just in case – we would have welcomed the wind being stronger and necessitating reefed sails.

Night watch, moon hiding behind cloud

The trip continued in this vein all through Friday night, with some periods where we sailed along nicely and others where it was completely frustrating with minimal wind and engines on – certainly not how we had envisaged the passage.

Saturday afternoon saw a change – the wind got up to 27 knots, we reefed the main, furled in some jib, then put a second reef in the mainsail, furled the jib and pulled out the staysail – a smaller sail than the jib. We were taking waves over the bows and the occasional one over the cabin top – SOL was uttering the odd creak and groan of disapproval as water splashed all over her. 

Unfortunately, the hatch over the forward starboard cabin sprung a leak – right as we were in the midst of sail changing – of course, which meant that water was leaking down on the bed – the seal around the hatch had split. We did an emergency repair which entailed tying a plastic bag over the hatch on the outside, then squirting the gap full of mastic – and it worked!! Luckily the amount of water ingress had not been great and a strategically placed towel covered the damp patch. We had two reefs in the main and just half the jib out for the next couple of days, each time we shook out a reef in the main we ended up putting it back in an hour or two later.

But…on Wednesday evening around 8pm the wind had died away yet again. Now as well, the current was against us – it was back to motoring.

Sunrise over a calm Tasman Sea

The sea was flat calm, an absolutely azure blue colour, but flat calm all the same. We were becalmed in the Tasman Sea. Unheard of. We were all prepared for cold and wind – these sunny days and lack of even the slightest breeze astounded us all.

Not even a ripple

We didn't need the foul weather gear this trip!!

We have been underway 7 days now and had the winds been in our favour we would have been rounding the tip of New Zealand – instead we were stuck in the Tasman – not complaining about the very temperate weather, just some wind would have been nice. It was totally bizarre to be sunning ourselves up on the trampoline with a book in hand in comparison to the last time Jamie and I sailed across to New Zealand where we were in our foul weather gear from day two!!

Admittedly though, these windless days made for some superb photographs.

Still, we tried

There was no point in having the fishing lines out either – for a start we weren’t going fast enough and secondly with the very calm flat seas came the jellyfish, millions of these small creatures which clogged up our lures.

At 0800hrs (Australian time) Saturday we changed to New Zealand time losing 2 hours in the process – surely this means we are 2 hours closer to New Zealand!!! At 0730 we had raised the sails in the slight breeze and we were sailing again with the screecher up and making way. A very large pod of dolphins came alongside and all around us, cavorting in our wake like there was something exciting about to happen….

And yes, at 1300hrs Saturday December 2^nd 2017 came the call – LAND HO!!!

New Zealand was in sight. Up on the starboard spreader went the Yellow Flag – the international Q flag signifying “we are entering your country’s waters from overseas and we need customs and immigration clearance before we can make landfall”.

Nelson, the top of the South Island, New Zealand

As we approached Farewell Spit the wind increased. 

In the space of just a few hours it went from around 8 knots to 30 and sails went up and down more often than a whores drawers!! At one stage we were flying along at boat speeds more than 16knots and the dolphins were having a ball, leaping and laughing as they raced us to the New Zealand coast.

Heather (NZ Customs) and Stuart (NZ Immigration) were at the quarantine dock to take our lines – what terrific service, totally unexpected but welcome. The whole customs and immigration process went without a hitch and an hour later we were free to enter a berth in Nelson Marina.

WHAT – NELSON???????

Yes, as we say when cruising…

Plans are written in the sand at low tide

Always open to change, and due to the conditions, added to the fact that we would probably not sail down to this area, when we were becalmed and it seemed the wind would not cooperate with a northerly passage, we had decided to make landfall here, spend a few days cruising around the beautiful Tasman Bay/Marlborough Sounds before going north. 

Another amazing photo opportunity mid-Tasman

Bruce and Jamie relaxing on the trampoline - many hours were spent thus