So
having spent hours trying to start the outboard last week we now find out (from
Ash) that there’s an Australian product for stubborn engines appropriately
called “Start Ya Bastard”. We are definitely getting some of that at the next
provisioning stop! To be fair though the outboard has behaved impeccably since
then. (Footnote from Debi: Pat did use the verbal form of this product
in his efforts to fix the outboard)
We
went ashore to Urupukapuka Island on Thursday and had a nice 6km walk around
the island with some stunning views of the Bay of Islands. There was a relay
race going on around the island whilst we were there, where the baton seemed to
be a beer bottle! As we are still on dry January Pat was tempted to join in,
but it all seemed too energetic, so we retired to X-Pat to resume relaxing.
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| A walk around Urapukapuka Island |
On
Friday we said goodbye to the Bay of Islands and headed north. We had a great
sail for the first hour, with the new mainsail performing well and a pod of
about 15 spinner dolphins keeping us company.
However, the wind died after that and the engine came on for the rest of
the way.
We
are now anchored in Waitepipi Bay, part of Whangaroa Harbour and about 35nm
north of the Bay of Islands. It is stunning here, with sheer rock faces and
lots of native bush. Yesterday we took the dinghy up amongst some of the
mangroves at high tide, which was beautiful. Pat also had a go with the fishing
rod, but was clearly applying the wrong technique for the area and we ended up
having vegetarian moussaka for supper!
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| Across Waitepipi Bay |
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| A view from the deck! |
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| A trip in the dinghy |
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| A cruise in the mangroves |
There
are a lot of gannets here doing their spectacular diving for fish and being a
lot more successful than Pat. We are surrounded by the sound of gannets
plummeting into the water. Pat had a go at trying to capture the spectacle with
the camera, but they were too quick to capture the plunge.
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| About to take the plunge |
Today
Debi has been for her regular 1km swim and Pat finished cleaning the bottom of
the boat using the Hookah dive gear. We are now all ready to head south and
plan to depart tomorrow (Monday) for Tasman Bay at the top of South Island. The
wind looks like it will be fairly light and the expectation is that it will
take us four days to get there. Our arrival is carefully planed for the 1st
February, the end of dry January, when we plan to celebrate our arrival in
South Island in style. Our progress can be followed in the “Our Position” part
of this website or directly at http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/XPat
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