MAY , 2009
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MAY , 2009 |
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| PETER, ILONA & LODE-STAR |
We left Queen Charlotte Sound after breakfast and headed back to Pelorus Sound, a distance of about 30 miles. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the motor sail. We were hoping to meet up with our friends Peter and Ilona on their boat Lode-Star, either in Port Ligar or somewhere on D’Urville Island. VHF radio communication was difficult due to the mountains and we had not received any word from Lode-Star about their location since they had left the marina at Nelson a couple of days previously. We were hoping to be able to contact them by VHF radio once we got out into the open water and closer to Port Ligar. As we neared Port Ligar Paul tried to reach Lode-Star by radio several times but alas, with no response. We were then pleasantly surprised when we rounded the last point of land and headed into Homestead Bay in Port Ligar and saw Lode-Star tied to a mooring. We tied up to another of the moorings and no sooner had we accomplished this when we heard Peter calling us on the VHF radio. Mary had already noticed that Lode-Star’s dinghy was not tied to Lode-Star so assumed that Peter and Ilona were on shore. When she heard Peter calling, she then assumed that Ilona was on shore and Peter was still on the boat. She didn’t get a chance to mention any of these thoughts to Paul before he answered Peter’s call on the radio and he was thinking that Peter was calling from Lode-Star. It took a few minutes of confusing conversation to sort out that no one was on Lode-Star and that Peter and Ilona were calling from a hilltop and using their handheld VHF radio. They had climbed the hill in the hopes that they would be able to contact us by radio. They had no idea that we were actually moored right beside them when they called. Thirty minutes later, we were joyously saying hello to each other. |
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The next morning Paul and Peter went off in the dinghy to fish and collect green shell mussels. Ilona and Peter were anxious to try the mussels so we invited them over to Bella Via that evening for a mussels and freshly caught fish dinner. Again, we talked the evening away. May 3, 2009 We were all anxious to get to D’Urville Island, one of the largest islands in New Zealand and our last stop in Marlborough Sounds before we headed up to the North Island. We hoped to spend a few weeks at D’Urville and explore many of the anchorages. Peter and Paul were also excited to be able to catch Blue Cod, a fish that is currently banned in Marlborough Sounds but can be legally caught at D’Urville. We had a comfortable sail of 15 miles to our first anchorage on D’Urville Island – between two islands (Tinui and Puangiangi) called the Rangitoto Islands. Our cruising guide said the area is sheltered from sea conditions in southwest to north winds and is not all that exposed in southeast to southwest winds. The draught on Lode-Star is almost two times greater than Bella Via’s and they anchored in the middle of the anchorage. We can get in closer so we dropped our anchor and backed into shore and set a second anchor in the sand on the beach. This manouevre gave us much more shelter from the wind than Lode-Star. |
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Paul claims that this anchorage at Rangitoto Islands is one of his all-time favourites in the South Pacific. |
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While at the Rangitoto Islands anchorage we took the dinghy across to Puangiangi Island hoping to find a hiking trail. We found a narrow path in tall grass that is used by sheep and cows as they traverse the island. Luckily we didn’t encounter any livestock as we scrambled over the hillside. |
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The fishing was so good that Paul wrote this in an email to our friend Ray Robinet back home in Windsor: “I sure am having fun catching the local ‘best eating’ fish, called blue cod. It's a lot like pickerel in size, shape and flaky white meat. Just delicious and oh so plentiful. They virtually jump into the boat. Yesterday, I went fishing with a yachty friend, Peter. I caught more fish but he caught the two largest, and both have a fish story associated with them. In the first case, he brought in this large fish and the next thing I know, Peter is handing me the plastic lure, hook and line that I lost 15 minutes earlier in what I would call a "cut off". Yes, sure enough, that fish came back for seconds and Peter got it. The second fish story has to do with what we were using for bait. Peter was using chunks of abalone that he had been keeping from a dive we did a week ago. I was using my usual variety of soft plastics. Near the end of the afternoon's fishing Peter ran out of abalone so I tried to give him one of my plastic baits. He wouldn't accept a whole new one. He would only accept an old, half chewed up piece that had no tail. Within moments of dropping this stupid looking piece of plastic in the water he brought up the largest blue cod that either of us have seen since we arrived here in NZ. I can't give you a weight and I can only say that it was approximately 18 to 20 inches long. It was surely enough fish to feed 4 people. I continue to catch a few almost everyday and seafood is on the dinner menu two days out of three, much to my delight.” End of Paul’s email to Ray. Unfortunately, this was not a favourite anchorage for Peter and Ilona due to their exposure to the wind and they had a couple of rolly nights there. After five days they were ready to move on. We decided to move as well. May 9, 2009 We traveled about 30 miles to Port Hardy, a large bay at the top of D’Urville Island. We followed Lode-Star into the eastern arm of the Port and settled in Maori Quarry, using the tandem anchor arrangement off of the bow and setting the 40 pound Bruce on the beach to pull Bella Via up close to the shelter of the shore. |
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Here is a long distance view of Lode-Star and Bella Via in Maori Quarry. All of the surrounding land is farmed and there are few trees. Paul learned a few days later from the caretaker of the land that we were standing on to take this picture, that an American owns this land and over 5,000 acres in total. |
This view of the entrance to the eastern arm of Port Hardy was quite stunning, especially as it was a beautiful day. |
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We decided to move to the south arm of Port Hardy. Peter and Ilona had moved the day before and they had called us on the VHF radio and said that they were in a very pretty spot and comfortable. We motored for the 5 miles and picked up a club mooring in Philante Bay. Lode-Star was nearby but at anchor, Peter having chosen not to pick up the mooring. |
The land at Philante Bay was not privately owned and there were no “Fires Banned” signs so we went ashore the next morning to burn rubbish. Here are Paul and Peter monitoring the burning process. |
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Ilona does not have a washing machine aboard Lode-Star and she was delighted to find a good-flowing fresh water creek at our anchorage. She took advantage of this and did a large load of laundry by hand at the creek instead of hauling water back to her boat. |
Our 38th wedding anniversary today and Peter and Ilona had invited us over for a celebration dinner, except the dinner almost didn’t happen! The weather turned foul at about 0400h. We were fine as we were on a substantial mooring, but Lode-Star dragged anchor a few times in the strong gusts of wind. We didn't know about their drama and had a good night's sleep. Peter came over after breakfast and told us that they were moving around the corner and across the bay to an available mooring. That would have been too far to go in the dinghy late in the day (choppy water, strong wind, who knows what it would be like) so we decided to postpone the event. When they were settled, they called us on the radio and offered to have a late lunch/early dinner at 1400h and then we could be back at the boat by dark. They also said that there was a second large mooring right beside them so we decided to move as well. That meant that the dinner was now back on! We went over to their boat at 1500h and had a great time. Mary brought champagne and some mussels as an appetizer and Ilona served a delicious, multi-course, chicken dinner. We ended up playing cards again and had some great laughs and got back to our boat at 2030h. A late night for us. |
Ilona is preparing dinner. Lode-Star is a beautiful 55 foot Tayana monohull and inside it is one of the best-designed and appointed boats that we have ever been on.
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It is a very comfortable boat on which to socialize with good friends. |
We are waiting for a good weather window to travel up to the North Island. Winter is fast approaching and Kiwis tell us that we should get north soon. We still find it quite comfortable here in the South Island. The nights are cool but when there is sunshine during the day, the weather is quite enjoyable. However, we do want to get to the North Island so we will go as soon as we find the right weather to make the passage. The passage is a journey of more than 400 miles and will probably take us three days, depending on our speed. We are reminded as we write this of a recent email that we received from Mary’s sister Theresa, in which she asked some very good questions about ocean passage-making and we think that this would be a good time to share the questions and our responses: Theresa’s Questions: “I know that ocean sailing is your only means of travel, but when all is said and done, and you reach your destination, do YOU feel it was worth it? The seasickness and the lack of proper sleeping and eating, and knowing you are out there miles from land? (Obviously this is something I would not look forward to.) I read the journals and I could see that while Jenn Sabean found it exhilarating at times, she also found it hard. I just wonder if that memory fades quickly, like childbirth? Maybe I am perceiving this all wrong and you just see it as a minor annoyance. That is how I imagine Paul sees it...like a necessary evil...but I know that I would be dreading ocean passages and clenching and grinding my teeth the whole time!! I don't care how beautiful the prize is!! New Zealand is no new baby! I was just wondering. It's probably a good thing that you don't do it every month though, right?” Mary’s Response: “Thanks for the questions. I use the phrase ‘it's a necessary evil’ myself. Because that's what ocean passages are, I believe. As I get more of these passages under my belt, I may feel differently but for now, they are only a means to get to another country. And I am actually much more relaxed (but still a bit nervous) while we are out there than I am when we are getting ready to leave. The recent one (Hobart to Nelson) was a good example of this. We had talked and planned for so long for this VERY important (and potentially the most dangerous) passage that I was getting very nervous. The closer we got to leaving the more nervous I got. But then, when Jeremy and Jenn Sabean got aboard in Hobart and we got busy with pre-passage prep stuff, I just wanted to go and get it over with. And as I said earlier, actually being out there so far has been better than thinking of it. We haven't experienced any dangerous conditions - due mainly to the careful planning and weather-study that Paul does. I remember saying to Jenn just before we left, and I could see that she was a bit nervous, that I would deal with whatever we experience if necessary. So I hope that I answered your questions. And I have just now re-read your questions and so have three more thoughts - first of all, it is very exhilarating to make landfall. No ifs ands or buts about that. Everyone is up on deck for the final approach and it's very exciting. And second - my memory of anything bad fades quickly. As people ask how our passage went, the answer gets softer each time! And thirdly - this is a great life but I wouldn't be doing this without my best friend, Paul. He is the adventurous one and he makes me stretch. The uncomfortableness of ocean passages for me is a small price to pay for living aboard Bella Via, I think. I am very happy that we have been given permission to stay longer than a year before we have to go offshore again. Then I will deal with preparing for a 6-8 day passage to Tonga and the tropics.” End of Mary’s Response. Paul’s Response: “Theresa, thank you for asking such probing questions. For my part, making the right decisions about which route and which weather window to take, this is my greatest stress. I try not to express it to the crew because it's important that they feel confident in the decisions that I make. It's important that the crew, Mary and whomever else is aboard, has a realistic understanding of the dangers involved. It is equally important that those dangers are not blown out of proportion by fear or misinformation. My decisions have huge ramifications for others lives, that is what is most stressful. Especially this past passage having the safety of a child (if Jeremy can still be considered a child) and someone else's child (Jenn#2) on my shoulders. For this reason, I like to get the passages over with as quickly as possible. There are times during the passage, both night and day, where the sailing is tremendously exhilarating. However, most of the time it's just long, hard, boring work. The boredom of long watches is my greatest challenge at sea. Certainly NOT the handling of the boat, especially most recently with Jeremy aboard. Like Mary, I consider passage making "a necessary evil" with a few rewarding experiences during the passage, a tremendous sense of accomplishment and new people and places to see, after the passage.” End of Paul’s Response| |
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Here is a different view of Bella Via at anchor. While in Port Hardy, Paul took this picture from a porthole on Lode-Star. |
We went ashore at 1000h with Lode-Star to play boules on a rocky beach. It has been difficult to find walking trails (non-existent where we are right now) or a sandy beach here on D’Urville Island, with the lush foliage growing right to the water’s edge. We have been playing boules on all kinds of surfaces and we keep telling Peter and Ilona that they will see the difference when, and if, we find a sandy beach on North Island. While we were ashore we discussed the latest weather forecast and Paul announced that we would be preparing that afternoon for an early morning departure for the north. Peter and Ilona decided to get ready as well. That afternoon was very busy –
We went to bed early and slept well. May 20, 2009 We arose at 0500h in the dark and set about getting ready to leave right after breakfast. The first item of business was to listen to the weather forecast on the HF radio. We not only needed to pay attention to the weather for the area where we were but also for the weather that was being forecast for the entire west coast and top of North Island. We learned this morning that the wind forecast for the area where we were, and would be in for the entire first day, was increased to 30 knots with gale warnings (34 to 40 knots) which was significantly stronger than the previous night’s forecast. We decided to wait for one more day to leave, as the forecast was getting progressively better over the next few days. That meant that we had an entire free day, which was difficult for Paul as we were ready to go and wanted to go. We couldn’t even socialize with Lode-Star as both dinghies were out of commission for the passage. Paul was champing at the bit. It was like living on land and having a day off work and NO car available. Only this was worse because we could not get off of the boat and walk. So, by 0800h, he was back in bed having a nap! And then he kept himself busy completing a few of the items on the endless ‘to do’ list. Peter was the first to give in and put his dinghy back in the water. He came over to Bella Via and he and Paul went ashore to burn rubbish and to climb to the top of one of the hills for some exercise. We ate dinner earlier than usual that evening, watched a movie, and were in bed by 2030h. May 21, 2009 At 0630h, we said good-bye to the glorious mountains of South Island and sailed back out into the Tasman Sea. It was definitely time to leave the South Island. The temperature in the salon that morning was 9 degrees Celsius and Paul slipped and almost hurt himself on the frost that had formed overnight on the deck. We can put this in perspective with what we would experience when we lived in Canada. In our home, an electronic thermostat that was programmed to be at certain temperatures during the day and night during the workweek and different temperatures for weekends controlled our central heating temperature. At night in the winter when we were sleeping, the temperature in the house would go down to 17 degrees Celsius and then the furnace would come on at about 0400h and gradually warm up the house to a more comfortable temperature of 21 degrees Celsius for when we arose. So, what we were experiencing on Bella Via was much colder house temperatures than what we are used to. We didn’t get the wind that was forecasted for the first day and motored with little wind until the evening. We continued to motor sail for most of the passage even though we reached speeds of 12 knots on a few occasions. Despite these occasional bursts of speed we motor-sailed because we wanted to get to our intended destination, Tom Bowling Bay located on the north shore of North Island, before dark on the third day, if at all possible. Prior to our departure, Paul calculated that we would have to maintain an average speed of 7.1 knots for the duration of the 413 mile trip if we were to arrive at Tom Bowling Bay before dark. Our little old Garmin 72, handheld GPS has a nice feature whereby it continuously calculates and reports the vessel’s moving average speed for the duration of a trip. During the 57 hour passage our wind conditions averaged 15 knots and were always abeam or aft of the beam, a nice way to travel on a sailboat. The surface waves were never more than a metre over top of a two-metre swell which was also coming from aft of the beam for the entire trip. Winds gusting to 30 knots and the threat of a few rain-squalls on the morning of the second day encouraged us to put the first reef into the mainsail. Shortly after doing so, Mary reported seeing a gust of 50 knots but only the once and very briefly. The engines had an opportunity to rest that afternoon as the winds continued to blow 25-35 with gusts of 40 knots for most of Mary’s watch. Of course, as soon as Paul came on watch the winds died and the iron-jenny, as it is sometimes called, was started up once again. |
This is Mount Taranaki and our first sight of North Island. Mary was off watch sleeping when Paul first sighted the mountain at around noon. The snow atop the mountain made it shine like a jewel, so much so that Paul thought about waking Mary so that she could enjoy the view. Better judgment prevailed and she was still able to appreciate much of it when she awoke around 1600h. |
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It was cold out in the cockpit and Paul preferred to keep watch from inside the salon. During the day he created this comfortable perch atop the salon table. From this perch he had a 360-degree view of the water and could check the set of the sails better than from the cockpit by looking through the overhead windows. At night he would sit in the salon watching the radar display and go outside for a 3-minute visual check every 10 minutes. Mary preferred to bundle up and spend her watch time in the cockpit in the helm seat (it’s better for her stomach to be outside). She also would get up and do a visual check from the aft corners of the boat every 10 minutes. |
In the early afternoon, we rounded the northern tip of North Island – Cape Reinga. We had already gone by the northwest tip at Cape Maria van Diemen. Our cruising guide and other yachties had warned us about getting too close to Columbia Bank at Cape Reinga; a place which is particularly dangerous and where the sea almost always breaks. Our Lonely Planet describes it as “the Columbia Bank maelstrom, where the waters of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet, and generating waves of up to 10 metres high in stormy weather”. We stayed a couple of miles off shore and went through a period of quite choppy seas for about 20 minutes and, although difficult to see them in the picture, enjoyed watching the breaking waves. |
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May 23, 2009 Due to the lateness of the hour, we decided not to go all the way to Tom Bowling Bay and headed for the far eastern end of Spirits Bay, a distance of about 10 miles from Cape Reinga. Lode-Star was about an hour behind us. When we reached our destination we were disappointed to see that we would be anchored in ocean swell that would be a bit uncomfortable. Due to the southwest wind conditions, it looked as though we could find a calmer spot if we went halfway back along Spirits Bay. So, back we went and at 1500h we were anchored in comfortable conditions in Spirits Bay at the top of North Island, alongside Lode-Star. We were giddy with delight. We felt like we had landed in another country after an ocean passage and we didn't have to do Customs and Immigration. What a beautiful and remote place! May 24 – 27, 2009 We had a very nice time at Spirits Bay, although getting ashore in the surf was a bit of a challenge. Timing the landing of the dinghy on the beach so that we didn’t get swamped with seawater was the aim and getting off of the beach was just as critical. Mary often thinks of the advertisements for exotic location resorts when we are in these situations – where are the breaking waves and big surf when the resort guests are at the beach, we ask? We don’t see anyone wearing their ‘oldest and least likely to get ruined by seawater’ clothes in the ads! |
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Here is Spirits Bay and we took this picture on one of our walks. The temperature is noticeably warmer here in the north. We are awaking to temperatures of between 13 and 15 degrees Celsius in the salon. We have actually had shorts and t-shirts on for a few of our walks. |
On our third morning, with a wind shift to more easterly, we woke up to more swell and our anchorage was becoming uncomfortable. We decided to go back to the far eastern end of Spirits Bay. The ocean swell was indeed less when we re-anchored at the eastern end. While we were anchoring, Paul had noticed what looked like a small cove and went off in the dinghy to check it out. He returned shortly to get Peter from Lode-Star and they went back together to continue discussing the cove as an anchorage. They spoke to two fishermen (they were camping nearby) on the point that said that they often saw boats anchored in the cove. So, we re-anchored in the cove and put out a stern anchor to get us in closer to the beach. We spent a very comfortable few days there in strong southeasterly winds. Lode-Star was anchored at the entrance to the cove and they were very comfortable as well. May 28, 2009 The forecast was predicting light and variable winds for Friday and northerly winds for Saturday, and we intended to round North Cape and start heading down the east coast at that time. As the winds were light out of the southeast, we decided to move closer to the northeast tip of the island and anchor in Tom Bowling Bay. Peter and Ilona had decided to move to this bay as well and they were waiting for the right wind to do an overnight passage to Opua, as Peter needs to return to Australia for one week for business purposes. Ilona would stay on the boat at a marina. On our way to Tom Bowling Bay, Peter called us on the VHF radio and stated that since the weather was so good they would start their journey to Opua right away instead of anchoring for the night at Tom Bowling Bay. We said our farewells on the radio, knowing that we will probably see each other again in a month or so in the Bay of Islands. We are in no hurry to head south and managed to find an even more beautiful small cove in Tom Bowling Bay. We were very sheltered there. It was so peaceful that we decided to stay one more night. On our second morning there, we went ashore and walked the beach for almost two hours. We intend on leaving this anchorage tomorrow, May 30, to round North Cape and head for Houhora Harbour. |