NZ: Bay of Islands

Insurance companies don't cover boats in the tropics during cyclone season (Nov. 1- Apr. 1), so most of the cruising community spends that time in New Zealand. We ended up staying in the Bay of Islands (gateway toward the north end of the North Island) for a month, combining exploration and boat work.  

Our first treat was having Art's dad visit from Arizona! We're so grateful he made the long trip, and it kickstarted our land touring (translation: allowed us to postpone boat projects).

Our first stop was the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where an agreement was formally signed by Maori and British representatives in 1840. 

Maori meeting house

The carvings are symbolic as well as striking

 

Extreme eye and tongue motions are intended
to strike fear in potential enemies
(we agreed to enter in peace)

Ceremonial war canoe

Still entranced by local cultures and knowing Clarence would love the music, we went to an exciting performance in the meeting house.

Next we visited a kauri forest. Similar to our redwoods, these trees used to cover much of the land before they were extensively logged; now just a few patches remain.

Tane Mahuta, the "Lord of the Forest"
This magnificent tree is 51 meters high
(yes, we are learning to use the metric system)
and estimated to be 1500 years old

Look up, and up, and up, and up, and up...

It's not just the kauri trees that are gigantic; the ferns are enormous too!

Many ferns are taller than surrounding trees

This unfurling frond is as large as my fist

And a few other activities (or inactivities):

A kid and his dad fishing

A dad and his kid napping

Can you believe the man in the center turned 87 on this day?

Opua is a good place to get boat work done, and we joined the queue of cruisers maintaining major systems with marine suppliers and specialists nearby. No need to include photos of Art in the engine room or me doing computer business. Instead, here's some fun stuff from that month:

The sheltered and beautiful anchorages in the Bay of Islands
attract large numbers of local and international cruising boats

We saw a lot of these large spotted jellyfish in the marina at Opua

Motuarohia Island: windward side...

...and leeward side (okay, also about an hour later)
The 'pool' on the right has an underwater snorkel trail (i.e. explanatory signs under the water, not visible from above);
locals will swim in bathing suits, but even wetsuits wouldn't make this water comfortable for the rest of us! 

The oldest surviving
stone house in NZ
(Kerikeri, 1835)

The oldest surviving church in NZ
(Russell, 1836)

These trunks are ferns, not trees!

You can tell we were captivated by the ferns...

Our first turkey in the galley oven!

Cruisers from 3 other boats
joined us for the feast

Rocky anchorage at Moturua Island

Flowers from the pohutukawa tree;
hillsides turn red with these blooms

A World War II defense outpost

When not in the midst of ferns,
trails are covered with archways of tall bushes
(in NZ, 'hiking on trails' is called
'tramping in the bush)

Pohutukawa trees along a steep trail

Typical scene: green hills with both trees & fields--
and a tramping track

Another typical scene: sailboat (in this case, Second Wind)
anchored among the islands...and a sheep!

Proof we're in New Zealand

More proof (be careful where you walk)

But so cute!

  Not quite as cute, but almost

After thoroughly enjoying the Bay of Islands, we headed south--around Cape Brett and through a bay full of playful dolphins. Here we are motoring under the raised bridge in Whangarei...

...and at our home base for the next few months: Riverside Marina.

It feels odd to tie to a dock and know we won't be sailing for quite a while; a chapter is over.

The next adventures are on solid ground! 

Passage to New Zealand

After seven months of sailing west, it was finally time to sail south. What a mixture of feelings! Big picture: excitement about seeing New Zealand + sadness at leaving the South Pacific; closeup view: eager anticipation of a voyage + wariness about the difficulty of this particular stretch of ocean.

That concern was greatly offset by the addition of Pete Pierce to Second Wind. Pete was one of my best friends in high school, and also happens to be one of the best sailors in the country, winning numerous regional and national racing championships. The combination of comfortable companionship and superior expertise made him a huge asset!

Pete & Lyn Pierce--at home in Kansas City when not touring the world--
on the bow of Second Wind at Vuda Point Marina, Fiji

Though the boat was already well stocked, we didn't want Pete to get hungry
(postscript: he didn't)

Vuda Marina staff serenade boats departing on long journeys with a farewell song.
Very touching!

Old friends and intrepid sailors enjoying the song...

                                            ...then heading out the channel to the sea

Chartplotter's version of passing through the reef to exit Fiji...

...and the real thing. Next stop, New Zealand!

The passage was more difficult than we hoped, but not more difficult than we expected. The predicted westerly winds never did materialize, but neither did a nasty low pressure cell that initially seemed threatening. It turned out we were upwind almost the whole way (non-sailors: that's the equivalent of riding an entire bike trip uphill), and for a couple days we felt like a submarine. There was so much water over the bow that a fair amount of it found its way inside--not good for the boat or its contents (including Pete's bedding!). Post-arrival stories from other cruisers who'd encountered the same conditions made us feel better, though; everyone had water indoors, and many had damage much more severe than ours (the bag for our inner foresail, stored on deck for quick access, tore through; got it quickly sewed up in Opua). All in all, we turned out just fine! 

As expected, we were upwind from the get-go

And things didn't get any calmer

Foot-steering worked for a while...

...but hand steering had to take over
(sailors: yes, the wind vane  usually did most of the work)

Then the fun began!

Playing games on the foredeck: Art
(rescuing the sail bag)

Playing games on the foredeck: Pete
(stopping leaks)

A rainbow getting swallowed by Big Waves

Challenges aside, we did get to experience many of the joys of voyaging: glorious sunsets, bioluminescence sparkling in our wake at night, endless kaleidoscopes of waves, living in a cocoon all by ourselves in the middle of infinite blueness...

There's a reason they call it bluewater sailing!

Relaxed on watch

Could there be a better frame for a sunset?

Maybe this one: the mundane + the magnificent

Or maybe it doesn't need a frame at all

Cooking in the Fun House

Eating in the Sun Room
(a post-Halloween orange meal; one should always play with food!)

The cockpit at night; sailors use red lights to preserve night vision

Pete tethered in and bundled up for night watch;
1000 miles further south was much chillier than when we started

Last but definitely not least, the camaraderie couldn't have been better: so many stories and so much laughter, even on the most difficult days. And Patient Pete managed to teach us old cruising dogs some new sail trim tricks! After 9 1/2 days, we arrived at the Bay of Islands in northern New Zealand, proud of what we had accomplished together. 

Boys playing games again,
this time with tangled fishing line

And though some very large fish made off
with lures from a 200-lb. test line,
this little guy...

...quickly became sashimi

Pete's first class concoction: a Grey Goose vodka martini.
Who knew those were available in the middle of the ocean?

Fashion on the high seas

Half-way celebration
(No, we did not drink much! We just had a lot of fun with the little we did...)

Pete checking sail trim

Land Ho!

Raising the New Zealand and Quarantine flags outside the Bay of Islands

And the old friends & intrepid sailors arrive safely in New Zealand, still old friends and intrepid sailors.
Lyn thoughtfully provided a champagne reception on arrival; her support all along was invaluable!

Most of the above photos were Pete's. Also, this is his take on the trip, from an email to friends & family that he was willing to share:

  
Now is the end of the yearly weather window for boats to "safely" make the Fiji (or Tonga) to NZ passage.
After talking with other boats that crossed same timeish, we're feeling good about our crossing... 
One had a jib halyard failure. Two couldn't make it upwind during the solid two day high wind, tall wall like waves. All of us, including some bigger "really nice" boats found multiple new deck leaks, as we became pounding submarines during the 7&8th day stretch you normally get a helpful westerly.   Lyn via on-shore chat heard of a cat that lost its mast a week prior. I think a combination of a great  boat (Nordic 44), good big picture weather navigation from Nancie, and attention to sail trim allowed us to continue making ground upwind toward the late arrival westerly for a reach to the finish/NZ... while munching on some fresh caught tuna sashimi.
Personal records dreamed up... Longest port tack - 1st 6 days.  
Never saw another boat from last Fiji land sighting to 1st NZ land sighting.
Longest time only seeing 2 other people  ( 10 days). Deepest water (2.7 miles) ever sailed over. Largest shark fin sighting ever (researching type).
Fiji - NZ race update!  Second Wind vs Dave & Kathie (Sunflower) of a few years back. The official data is in.  Second Wind - 9 days 13hrs. Sunflower - 9 days 18.5 hrs. giving SW the slim 5.5hr victory  (parade to follow).   After careful race analysis... Sunflower had the lead heading into NZ. Probably against Kathie's wishes, Dave headed a tad far east creating a last few hour upwind/current challenge to NZ, costing the win(and a home town parade).  For our journey, Dave was quite helpful in reporting weather systems to us/Nancie along way. HOWEVER, as we came reaching into NZ/finish line, he recommended not making landfall at night & waiting til morning. Hmmm,  we quickly calculated this would cost us the win.  So... the rest is history.