Hello All,
We headed it out of Opua Tuesday morning and headed for the Whaling Station anchorage for the night. It took us about 6 hours to get there. We had wind in our face the whole way so we had to motor. We hung out there for the night and left at 0700 yesterday. The wind shifted in are favor and we had a wonderful sail the whole 28 miles down here to Tutukaka. This place is a little town that mostly does sport fishing. There is a nice little marina here but we anchored just outside of it and took the dingy in to take a look around. Dan has been here many times so he was telling me about the old days when it was a little rougher place to hang out.
We have been having a great time visiting. I am amazed of how the people here remind me of the folks back home, very isolated and very independent.
We will be heading for Whangarei this morning. We should be getting in there in the early afternoon.
I will let you know more as we go so I will talk to you later.
PEACE
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Heading south in the morning
Hello All,
I will leave in the morning headed for Auckland. I will meet my new crew Dan at the dock in the morning and hope to set off around 1000. We will take a a few days to get to Whangarei where I hope to meet up with Compass Rose and Albatross 3. I think Dan will get picked up and go home in till I'm ready to head down farther. I hope to be pulling into Auckland around the 24th or so. The weather and wind is suppose to be good at least for the next few days but we will see. I will be out of Internet for the next few days but I will fill you in when I can. It will be good to get the boat out again and get some sailing in. I got it all cleaned up today so she should be ready.
I had dinner with a cruising couple tonight. They are both from North America with there 2 small girls. They have lived here a few years and are loving it. It was a really nice visit and I will see them again when I return in 3 weeks.
Well I am tired and have a big day tomorrow so I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
I will leave in the morning headed for Auckland. I will meet my new crew Dan at the dock in the morning and hope to set off around 1000. We will take a a few days to get to Whangarei where I hope to meet up with Compass Rose and Albatross 3. I think Dan will get picked up and go home in till I'm ready to head down farther. I hope to be pulling into Auckland around the 24th or so. The weather and wind is suppose to be good at least for the next few days but we will see. I will be out of Internet for the next few days but I will fill you in when I can. It will be good to get the boat out again and get some sailing in. I got it all cleaned up today so she should be ready.
I had dinner with a cruising couple tonight. They are both from North America with there 2 small girls. They have lived here a few years and are loving it. It was a really nice visit and I will see them again when I return in 3 weeks.
Well I am tired and have a big day tomorrow so I will talk to you soon.
PEACE
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tsunamis
Hello All,
I got online this morning at 1030 to look at my email and I was devastated by the news in Japan. I looked at the Tsunamis warning center and saw that almost all of the Pacific was going to be affected to some degree from the earthquake. As I was reading I heard water starting to slap the bow and I thought oh great, I have varnishing to do today and the wind came up and was making waves. I am still in Opua on a mooring. This a very protected harbor at the mouth of the Kawa Kawa River and at the very head of the Bay of Islands. I went out to take a look and what I saw amazed me. We had low water this morning at 0800 so the tide was coming back in but not at its usual pace of usually less than a knot, the water was screaming in. I got out my manual water speedometer and clocked the water speed at 4 knots. I was watching the beach and saw the water rise over 2 feet in less then 5 minutes. The mooring anchor buoys that were not occupied were drug under water. I thought to myself this is the surge from the Tsunamis. In the coarse of an hour all was back to normal, the water had receded back to a somewhat normal state and the current was basically nil.
Mother Nature has a way of reminding us all who is in charge and my heart goes out to the many lives that were lost in this tragic event.
All is good here, I will talk to you later.
PEACE
I got online this morning at 1030 to look at my email and I was devastated by the news in Japan. I looked at the Tsunamis warning center and saw that almost all of the Pacific was going to be affected to some degree from the earthquake. As I was reading I heard water starting to slap the bow and I thought oh great, I have varnishing to do today and the wind came up and was making waves. I am still in Opua on a mooring. This a very protected harbor at the mouth of the Kawa Kawa River and at the very head of the Bay of Islands. I went out to take a look and what I saw amazed me. We had low water this morning at 0800 so the tide was coming back in but not at its usual pace of usually less than a knot, the water was screaming in. I got out my manual water speedometer and clocked the water speed at 4 knots. I was watching the beach and saw the water rise over 2 feet in less then 5 minutes. The mooring anchor buoys that were not occupied were drug under water. I thought to myself this is the surge from the Tsunamis. In the coarse of an hour all was back to normal, the water had receded back to a somewhat normal state and the current was basically nil.
Mother Nature has a way of reminding us all who is in charge and my heart goes out to the many lives that were lost in this tragic event.
All is good here, I will talk to you later.
PEACE
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Making another mess
Hello All,
We are getting fantastic weather so I thought I would go back to sanding again. I am varnishing the companion way hatch this time. It is another original piece on the boat that will not take much more sanding off and it will keep it from weeping water and ruining the inside finish. I have been sneezing teak dust all day. I got the first coat on today and will lightly sand tomorrow and put on some more.
We are still on for heading out on Tuesday to go south, I hope the weather holds.
I got to chat with Cameron off of Dawn Star last night online. He is one of the 3 guys that are on Dawn Star, they are all friends from New Port, Rhode Island and saved up to make this trip. I met them in the Marquesas Islands almost a year ago. They were on a fast track to Australia so they could enter the boat in the famous Sydney to Hobart race. He informed me they did the race and placed about the middle of the pack. He said it was intense and I'm sure he was being kind. If your curious about the race then google it sometime. Its called Sydney Hobart Race. Cameron told me his visa is about to run out there so he may come to NZ for a time. He offered to crew on my boat when he gets here, I told him, no sweat, come on down. We had a great time hanging out in French Poly so will be good to catch up.
well I will get going so I will talk to you soon.
P.S. Ill save you the time , I found Dawn Star on the race site, here is the adress, I dont know how to link on here so you will have to copy paste , sorry im working on it.
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_details.asp?raceEntryID=12582
PEACE
We are getting fantastic weather so I thought I would go back to sanding again. I am varnishing the companion way hatch this time. It is another original piece on the boat that will not take much more sanding off and it will keep it from weeping water and ruining the inside finish. I have been sneezing teak dust all day. I got the first coat on today and will lightly sand tomorrow and put on some more.
We are still on for heading out on Tuesday to go south, I hope the weather holds.
I got to chat with Cameron off of Dawn Star last night online. He is one of the 3 guys that are on Dawn Star, they are all friends from New Port, Rhode Island and saved up to make this trip. I met them in the Marquesas Islands almost a year ago. They were on a fast track to Australia so they could enter the boat in the famous Sydney to Hobart race. He informed me they did the race and placed about the middle of the pack. He said it was intense and I'm sure he was being kind. If your curious about the race then google it sometime. Its called Sydney Hobart Race. Cameron told me his visa is about to run out there so he may come to NZ for a time. He offered to crew on my boat when he gets here, I told him, no sweat, come on down. We had a great time hanging out in French Poly so will be good to catch up.
well I will get going so I will talk to you soon.
P.S. Ill save you the time , I found Dawn Star on the race site, here is the adress, I dont know how to link on here so you will have to copy paste , sorry im working on it.
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_details.asp?raceEntryID=12582
PEACE
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Trip to Auckland take 2
Hello All,
I have been looking around and I found help to get to Auckland. Dan is a local New Zealander that has his own boat and a certified captains licence. He has been sailing the waters for over 30 years and Im glad to have him come along. He wants to go to the tropics this year so he will be on the boat for a few weeks to see how everything goes. I will be leaving the first part of next week and hope the weather is good for the sail south. I will make a stop in Whangarei where I will meet Rob and Luanne on Compass Rose and hope to meet up with Jons old skipper Rob and his wife Ruth on Albtross3. I will be in Auckland by the 24th or so for the concert then we will head back up here to Opua.
I am i limbo here of sorts, the boat is tip top and not much to do but wait for the weather to be in my favor of heading south.
I will keep in touch and let you know how it goes.
PEACE
I have been looking around and I found help to get to Auckland. Dan is a local New Zealander that has his own boat and a certified captains licence. He has been sailing the waters for over 30 years and Im glad to have him come along. He wants to go to the tropics this year so he will be on the boat for a few weeks to see how everything goes. I will be leaving the first part of next week and hope the weather is good for the sail south. I will make a stop in Whangarei where I will meet Rob and Luanne on Compass Rose and hope to meet up with Jons old skipper Rob and his wife Ruth on Albtross3. I will be in Auckland by the 24th or so for the concert then we will head back up here to Opua.
I am i limbo here of sorts, the boat is tip top and not much to do but wait for the weather to be in my favor of heading south.
I will keep in touch and let you know how it goes.
PEACE
Sunday, March 6, 2011
In Opua
hello All,
I know it's been a few days since I have written. I am now solo, my crew left the boat on Friday. It came to a head on one of the anchorages heading south not far from here. I am currently back on my borrowed mooring in Opua. The wind started blowing southerly so I will be here till next week. I have a concert to be at in Auckland on the 26 or March so I still have time to get down there. I have got some leads on crew for Fiji and on the trip down south, we will see. Something will happen I'm sure.
For now I am just hanging out and enjoying my time here. I have made some good friends here. I hung out with Bob that works at the marine store, I hung out with him for a few hours today and visited. He is from Florida originally. He has been a good friend and I borrow his car to go to town once a week for food and run errands.
The future is uncertain but that's what makes this so much fun. If we had it all planned out, wouldn't life be boring.
PEACE
I know it's been a few days since I have written. I am now solo, my crew left the boat on Friday. It came to a head on one of the anchorages heading south not far from here. I am currently back on my borrowed mooring in Opua. The wind started blowing southerly so I will be here till next week. I have a concert to be at in Auckland on the 26 or March so I still have time to get down there. I have got some leads on crew for Fiji and on the trip down south, we will see. Something will happen I'm sure.
For now I am just hanging out and enjoying my time here. I have made some good friends here. I hung out with Bob that works at the marine store, I hung out with him for a few hours today and visited. He is from Florida originally. He has been a good friend and I borrow his car to go to town once a week for food and run errands.
The future is uncertain but that's what makes this so much fun. If we had it all planned out, wouldn't life be boring.
PEACE
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Whaling Station Anchorage
Hello All,
We made it down the coast to Whangamumu Bay. This is the site of an old whaling station from back in the 30's. There are lots of trails here so we are looking forward to going exploring tomorrow.
We got in at 1800 hours so it took us 9 hours to do the 40 miles from Whangaroa Harbor. We had a beautiful north wind so we were on a broad reach. I only had the main up but it was plenty to get us here. I only ran the engine to get out of Whangaroa and to get in here so I was pleased.
Last night I ran into some locals that were on a sailboat next to us. They invited me over for a beer and we visited for hours. I was very tired this morning so I think I will sleep good tonight.
We will be here till Saturday I think, so we can have time to explore. It rained pretty good as we were coming into the anchorage but the weather says it should clear tomorrow, I hope.
Well that's all for now, we are all settled in and I am tired.
PEACE
We made it down the coast to Whangamumu Bay. This is the site of an old whaling station from back in the 30's. There are lots of trails here so we are looking forward to going exploring tomorrow.
We got in at 1800 hours so it took us 9 hours to do the 40 miles from Whangaroa Harbor. We had a beautiful north wind so we were on a broad reach. I only had the main up but it was plenty to get us here. I only ran the engine to get out of Whangaroa and to get in here so I was pleased.
Last night I ran into some locals that were on a sailboat next to us. They invited me over for a beer and we visited for hours. I was very tired this morning so I think I will sleep good tonight.
We will be here till Saturday I think, so we can have time to explore. It rained pretty good as we were coming into the anchorage but the weather says it should clear tomorrow, I hope.
Well that's all for now, we are all settled in and I am tired.
PEACE
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