Beautiful days such as this are gems and too precious to waste... so, breakfast was toast and tea about Russell as i got under way early on an ebbing tide. The breeze was filling in as the fresh whole wheat sour dough from the General Store was being toasted on the grill. Ceylon Supreme tea and chunky peanut butter on toast - such are the simple pleasures of a sailors life! Paragliders abounded and sails hoisted as we rounded Tapeka Point with a building SW breeze up our stern.
Yesterday I ticked off the last major task when I spent the best part of the day organising and fitting some "senior friendly" grab rails on the cabin top. Trying to find something that wouldn't detract from the nice clean lines was tricky, but I reckon these look pretty good. The kind folk at Cater marine allowed me to use their workshop to carefully cut some threaded stainless rod to the (prayerfully) right length before sucking in some breath and drilling holes through the 19mm ply deck, carefully coating the holes with epoxy and then sealing the lot with terrastat compound... Meanwhile, Roberton island hove into view as the stovetop spluttered its welcome to my morning caffeine fix... ahhh Indian Elephant Hills Peaberry beans freshly ground are hard to beat! Wind was more southerly than SW so Omakiwi Bay wasn't a good prospect, likewise Urapukapuka bay turned out to be a little exposed. So, motorsailed across to Rawhiti bay and found a gorgeous lunch stop... and another desirable bach to add to the list!
A leisurely lunch and a tiki-tour of the bays in the inflatable... then weigh anchor and back across to Urapukapuka with the wind now more SW and some shelter to be found tucked up in the western corner of the bay. One of my favourite spots - especially when found in spendid isolation on a pristine day. The obligatory row ashore and walk to the top was undertaken, with photos accompanying... (I've noticed that boat does hog the camera!)
It really is a quite spectacular place... Homeward bound after a (very) brief swim in the 15.8 deg water!!! Thank goodness the solar shower had gained some warmth... Magnificent sail home, hard on the nose tacking in 12-16 knots f steady SW saw us average over 5 kts and nudging 7 at times. Home on a full tide and a clean up with time for a quiet red in the cockpit after a long but immensely satisfying day. Several messages and a phone call as I sat in the cockpit (My Back Door view) from an old friend whose son wants me to take his wedding in January - in NZ! Could be possible - I may have to come back again - it's tough, but someone has to do it!
Paragliders abounded and sails hoisted as we rounded Tapeka Point with a building SW breeze up our stern.
Home on a full tide and a clean up with time for a quiet red in the cockpit after a long but immensely satisfying day. Several messages and a phone call as I sat in the cockpit (My Back Door view) from an old friend whose son wants me to take his wedding in January - in NZ!
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