Going Coastal with Canny

As I sit in the cockpit in the upper reaches of of Whangaruru supping a good NZ Pinot Noir with the smell of Thai Green Chicken curry wafting from the galley... life is good!

Yesterday my old sailing buddy, Brian (Canny) Caston and I set off from Opua for a bit of coastal exploration.  We had intended to get around Cape Brett and head down the coast but 25 gusting 35 knots of NW meant that it was a little like a washing machine and, not being in a hurry, we detoured to Awaawaroa (Pipi) Bay for the night till the front blew through. Went ashore in this gorgeous bay and bushcrashed along the ridge (so Canny could get cell coverage!) - the necessities of the modern electronic sailor!

Gradually ticking off my maintenance list - scraped, sanded and refinished the tiller while Canny rewired all the flourescent fittings to work on my new led energy efficient tubes. The old ballast system had to be disconnected but they now work great.

The SW front disappeared overnight and we were up bright and early to get some other jobs done (after some nice poached eggs on Vogels toast). Replaced the solar ventilator (which fortunately fitted into the same screw holes and did a few other little things before setting off toward Cape Brett in a gentle NW breeze.  We saw some of the Coastal Classic yachts which had raced up from Auckland on Friday to finish at Russell.  A few of the smaller yachts were still finishing and the big boys were already motoring flat out back south.

The breeze stayed in the north all day and we had a brilliant relaxed broad reach from the cape down the coast, averaging 4-5 kts in 8-10 knots of wind.  Must get a light air sail sometime...

Decided to continue on to Whangaruru, arriving a little after 5pm and motored deep into the harbour anchoring in 2.5m at nearly low tide.  A great day!

Canny taking his ease!

Cape Brett Lighthouse

Sunset in Whangaruru