Coromandel to Great Barrier Island, NZ

Author: Pete
Location: Coromandel and Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

 

Coromandel is the rugged peninsula that forms the eastern side of the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland. We motor-sailed in scant wind heading east in calm seas and tucked in behind Whanganui Island just off Coromandel Town where Jessica would be leaving us the following day. We soaked up the rest of the afternoon on the boat and had a lovely farewell dinner watching the sunset.

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After dropping off our precious cargo and poking around town, we pulled anchor and sailed out of Coromandel Harbor in light breeze and raking summer sun. Swimming off the bow was an obvious choice on a slow sail, floating between the hulls, climbing up the transom and then hucking off the front again in a mismatched game of leapfrog with Tayrona. We did have the good sense to leave one person on the boat at all times. Once anchored off Rangipukea, we went ashore to stretch our legs, keeping a watchful eye on the ‘fully functional’ bulls that guarded the beach.

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The next day brought winds from the south, solidifying our tentative plans to go north. We put up the spinnaker and scooted happily along the Coromandel then across the Colville Channel to Great Barrier Island.

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Great Barrier Island has only a few roads and no electrical grid or internet connectivity. Despite the island’s isolated feel, she sure didn’t seem lonely as we settled into Whangaparapara Bay. Kiwis, the mammalian variety, had flocked from all over to spend New Years on the island. We tracked down the Kaitoke hot springs, hidden in the interior of the island, about two hours hiking from Whangaparapara. The headwaters of Kaitoke stream are fed by volcanically-heated upwellings so the whole stream is steaming hot. The Maoris used to bath in the river as a ceremonial cleansing to return to normal life after warfare. The stacked stones that created pools in the river were quite possibly as old as human habitation on the island. Even in the crowded ‘silly season’ around Christmas, Miranda and I had the pools to ourselves!

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We heard that there was a New Year’s to-do in Port Fitzroy, the next anchorage north so off we sailed in and out of the rocky islets along the coast. The day dawned clear with piled, poofy clouds on the horizon. Soon, high altitude cirrostratus clouds moved in; they’re almost invisible when looking aloft but show up as distinct halos around sun. I remembered that the halos are almost always harbingers of imminent inclement weather and my novice meteorological skills didn’t disappoint. The forecast for the next three days predicted thirty-knot winds with gusts to fifty. We pulled in close to shore just beyond a silty drop-off and laid double anchors out in chest deep water to make sure we weren’t going anywhere. Then the weathermen made good on their predictions and the winds howled in. It was more than a little unnerving to see the anchor chain pull almost horizontally out of the water when the gusts hit and we were sitting on a low tide.

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Dionysus must’ve had a word with Zeus about the night’s proceedings because the celestial levee held for a few hours into the new year before the deluge came down in buckets. We were back on the boat by then holding on with Tayrona through the gale. Welcome to 2016!

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Christmas in Auckland, New Zealand

Author: Pete
Location: Auckland and Waiheke, New Zealand

The collection of islands crowding the harbor mouth eventually parted ways and let Auckland’s pointy skyline peek out. The Sky Needle loomed as we sailed in, as did the freighters bulldozing out to sea. We did our best to stay out of the way and spread good tidings.

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Slid easily into a berth at Westhaven Marina, right downtown Auckland. Due to it’s ideal location the marina is purported to be the largest in the southern hemisphere. It showed; our slip was on X-Dock and took Miranda twenty minutes to walk to the marina office to check in while I cleaned up the boat and made ready for our incoming crew!

When our friend Jessica arrived the next morning we wandered around the city, provisioned the boat for the imminent Christmas feasting, and then went out to dinner to get our palates readied for the gastronomic onslaught. Waddled our way back to the boat through the lit-up houses in Auckland. Got a kick out of the New Zealand Christmas Kiwi in place of our Midwestern Lawn Reindeer.

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Christmas lights were up and shining all night on the boat. I don’t know how Chris Kringle does it, but he found his way to Tayrona without a problem. The boat isn’t fitted with a chimney and I’m not sure which through-hull he had to squeeze through to get aboard. Maybe I don’t want to know. But in the morning there were presents under the Christmas herb garden, and Sweedish Tea Ring baking in the oven!

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After presents and breakfast we cast off and sailed out of Auckland harbor, running under full canvas in fifteen knots. The fair winds were a gorgeous Christmas present and all of Auckland was out on the water. We covered the fifteen miles to Waiheke Island and found our gaggle of boat friends in Oneroa Bay. There was ham and lamb, pierogis and mushroom soup, champagne, and a whole lot of bollocks in true sailor fashion. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

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Kawau and Tiritiri Matangi Islands, New Zealand

Author:  Pete
Location:  Kawau and Tiritiri Matangi Islands, New Zealand

 

After topping up water tanks and giving the boat one last wash, we threw off the dock lines and motored quietly out of Marsden Point Marina.  Tayrona was happy to be out sailing again after a week in the captivity of a dock.  Her exuberance was felt somehow by the ocean gods who sent fair winds and a dolphin pod to ride our bow wake south to Kawau Island.  Along the way I picked up an island on radar that wasn’t supposed to be there according to the charts.  It was the wrong signature to be a boat.  Something wasn’t right, and we approached wearily.  Turns out it was a house!

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The island of Kawau is a twenty mile sail from Whangarei, home to a historic manor and the ruins of an 1840’s copper mine.  Things are pretty low-key when it comes to exploring on your own and we nosed around the fancy mansion ground and industrial ruins with touristic impunity.

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Another twenty miles south the island of Tiritiri Matangi is a bird sanctuary.  The squawks and growls that emanated from the vegetation were something out of Jurassic Park.  The sea life was pretty good too, with green-lipped mussels, burly Red Moki, and Bull Kelp dancing in the swell.

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In the evening a small commercial fishing boat anchored next to us in the empty little cove.  The two Kiwis aboard shouted for us to come over, and when we dinghied up they gave us two big snapper, saying they saw the US flag on the back of our boat and thought we might be hungry after sailing all that way.  We offered to trade them some cold beer for the fish, but they insisted they couldn’t drink on the job so we brought them home made muffins early the next morning before they pulled anchor and went back out to sea. 

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