M/Y Iron Lady

Well, Great Barrier was butt ugly after we hit Bowling Alley Bay. Winds and Williwaws in the bay ran up to 35 knots. Rain – well imagine torrential. Didn’t drop until 1900.

So much for heading off to Great Mercury (owned by a friend of Joe’s) Deb took advantage and had a great rain day sleep. I was just tired and bored. New plan was to leave at 0530 the next morning and head for Whanagmata before the southerlies (forecast to 30 plus knots) and low tide arrived (river bar entrance and shallow harbor).

I went to bed early when the wind dropped to 10 knots. Slept until 0200 and then was up once an hour checking things. Just the way I am.

The 7 hour trip down south to Whangamata was delightful. More good news since the Coleville Channel between Coramandel and Great Barrier is infamous in NZ. The Pacific squeezes between the two and add in wind and current and it has a deservedly fierce reputation. Today it treated us kindly with just confused seas. Iron Lady was making good time.

Lots of nice pictures on the way down. These is a view along the Coramandel Peninsula.

Hear are some nice views of Needle Rock.

We also had some dolphins join us – fish pictures seem to escaping me at the moment.

Here is a picture of Castle Rock.

Whangamata – well – a new experience. Great marina – just nerve racking getting in. High tide was around 1000 – we arrived around 1300 at the peak of the outbound tidal flow. Not many options since we couldn’t get in at low and didn’t want to arrive on an incoming tide. Tides here run at 2.5 meters plus so you can imagine the current. Then there were winds building to 35 knots this afternoon from the southwest had we arrived later. Not a pretty picture. Best scenario would have been to arrive just after the top of the tide when outgoing flow was establishing. That is probably what I will do next time (in a similar situation) even though it would have meant a 0300 departure from Great Barrier. If we had gotten to Great Mercury, it would have only been a 3 hour run so it would have been easy.

Crossing the river bar tested my nerves in tidal flow that looked to be over 5 knots. Once inside, the tidal flow eased only slightly and there were long rows of pilings parallel to the tidal flow with boats moored between them. It was difficult to ascertain which alley to take. Once further down, the entrance channel to the marina was not clear to me so I had to hold station in an area about two boat lengths long and one wide surrounded by boats, pilings and no water. Making the turn in to what we thought was the marina entrance channel meant making a turn and that put us broadside to the tidal flow – not a place to make a mistake.

It exceeded my ability to hold station for very for long and I asked Joe to take over. Being practical, Joe suggested we tie up to a channel marker until we could get things sorted. (Kiwi for getting things sorted out)

Folks from the marina were kind enough to come out and guide us in. Just to add some additional spice, a large catamaran outbound met us in the narrow twisty entrance channel – fortunately with his shoal draft, he could slide outside the channel enough for us to pass. Once inside the break wall, things were cool and I took over to back the boat into her slip.

Here is a picture of our route in – much more imposing in real life. You can see where we held station.

A picture as we approached the bar.

And a picture looking back out of the marina.

Unfortunately, no good shots of the tidal flow and the congestion inside the bar – I was a bit busy at the time.

Best

Finally tossed the lines and NZ Ship Despair is behind us. On this trip with us is Joe Richardson – lots of real world ocean time and a Kiwi who knows all of New Zealand.

Our destination the first day is a familiar one – Great Barrier. Weather was superb but gale to storm force winds are in the forecast tomorrow`. Once clear of Whangarei Harbor, the fishing lines went out.

Not far off the Whangarei Heads, we spotted a pod of Killer Whales – sorry for the crummy pictures – best I could manage. They were busy feeding on something.

Shortly after, we spotted this fellow. Again, sorry for the crummy pictures. Some kind of whale but we could not identify them. Perhaps one of you know?

As we passed the Hens and Chicks, we picked up a nice albacore. Iron Lady is still a fish magnet. We invited him to stay for dinner.

We caught another a short time later but he got to live for another day.

Lines went off at 0900 and we dropped the anchor at Kaiarara Bay on Great Barrier some 60 plus nautical miles later at 1600 including the slow trip down the harbor at Whangarei and negotiating our way into Kaiarara Bay at Great Barrier. 1700 RPM – not bad. Here is a shot of Little Barrier.

We put the dink in, but the rains and wind soon drove us back to the boat.

Mount Hobson looked a bit sinister in the forming storm clouds. Dinner was grilled, marinated albacore, rice and a salad. Early to bed for all but a bit sleepless with the wind and adjusting to life at anchor again.

In the morning, Deb grilled up fresh bacon and eggs and it was off to the Port Fitzroy in the dink for some special lip balm made from bees wax that only is available on Great Barrier.

After, while I stayed behind for some boat chores, Deb and Joe hit the mussel farm to harvest a big bucket of green lip mussels (while this is a commercial operation, you are allowed to pick a bucket for free).

With the forecast of 30 to 40 knot northerlies, Kaiarara was starting to look like the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show with everyone running for cover. A bit too crowded for our taste so we headed off to Bowling Alley Bay about 6 miles away – a place Joe knew where not many people go. It was just us and two other boats.

A late lunch of steamed green lip mussels in garlic, onion, cream and white wine served with fresh cole slaw and bread. Probably don’t need any dinner but we will see.

The weather looked like it might improve over forecast but I have been there before so we left the dink aboard. The sunset looked a bit ominous but the wind was down.

That was true until about 2300 when the first gusts came up. They were spilling over the hills around the bay down in to the anchorage and coming at us from various directions and continued to build thru out the night. By 0300 they were up to a steady 25 and gusting into the 30’s. The big Rochna anchor did just fine but every time a gust hit and we would skid off, the chain would drag on the bow roller with a loud thunk.

The solution, of course, was an anchor snubber but while an anchor snubber would have stopped the racket, it also would have muffled the sounds if we had dragged. Being cautious, I decided to live with the racket. Not a whole lot of sleep and the day promises more of the same with heavy rain easing tonight. Probably stay where we are.

This morning we got in contact with Margaret who we know from Circa and she was kind enough to ask us out to visit her on her life style plot (Kiwi for a 10 acre farm).

In addition to visiting with Margaret, we got to visit some of the other residents. Deb is feeding Pansy.

This is WIng Nut, the resident ram and pet of sorts.

The rest of the residents were a bit less accommodating preferring to keep their distance. Might have to do with the fact that one or more is headed for the freezer in short order.

One of the cows is going to end up there as well but they have more time left.

Margaret also has a nice garden full of fresh veges.

The yard is also home to apple trees, a walnut tree, guava tree and plums trees among many others. The neighbors yard sports a beautiful flower garden.

Both Deb and I have been impressed by the variety and quality of fruits and produce here. The things Deb brought back from the local farm market were spectacular. Prices, however, are no bargain. According to a recent study, the cost of living in Auckland is on par with living in London.

After a nice visit with scones and home made plum jam (yum), Margaret was off to the beach and Debby and I went for a drive up the Tutukaka coast. The following pictures were taken around Whale Bay. While not far from Whangarei, the roads to get here are torturous and steep with numerous switchbacks. Average travel speed is not much more then 35 miles per hour. Bridges are typically one lane (smart these Kiwi’s) – reduces construction costs and each one indicates in advance who has the right of way. ALong with traffic circles and clear “give way” rules, things function pretty efficiently (except when an errant American forgets to stay left).

On the way back to Whangarei, we stopped by Whangarei Falls for a quick visit. The falls are over 80 feet high and very impressive.

Best

Pete and Deb

Todd Rickard (FPB Program) is in town and Todd and I spent the morning going thru a boat systems discussion and refresher course. Later in the day, 2 prospective buyers stopped by. Deb (having little interest in reviewing boat systems) was off for a day of site seeing with Norma (wife of Rolf, the electrical systems guy for Circa) and a friend.

First stop was a local park and woterfall.

A little picnic lunch with wine was also in order.

Then it was off to the Kauri Museum. Logging of huge Kauri trees played a large role in New Zealand’s early development. The oldest living Kauri is not far from here and is estimated to be over 3000 years old and has a circumference of over 53 feet.

The following is a picture of a “smaller” Kauri – it was a seedling in 1100 AD.

The following is a picture of Kauri seeds – apparently there is both a male and female version.

And here is some nice antique furniture made from Kauri.

Before dinner with Todd, Deb and I stopped by the Towne Basin as there is a carving competition underway.

The following carving of 2 marlin chasing tuna carved from a single log was particularly amazing.

The pieces will be auctioned off Saturday – just a bit too large for Iron lady though.

Cheers