Thursday February 11th - Sat Feb 13th 2016
Up early for the obligatory swim (or three!) we waited for the promised easterly to kick in before weighing anchor and heading NNW out of the channel and reaching toward Cape Wikiwiki.
A messy sea-state with NE swell and ESE breeze meant a bit of rock and roll as we cleared the cape and set the Gennaker for the run through to the Cavalli islands. Two yea
rs ago we had threaded our way through these islands while returning from Whangaroa and promised ourselves we would come back to explore further.
A leasurely afternoon with less than 10 kts meant a slower trip in a lumpy sea. Eventually we doused the headsail and motored the last couple of miles through a narrow gap with reefs just a few hundred metres apart - not a shoreline to treat lightly!
Anchored in the lee of the largest of the islands with a curving and steep pebbly beach stretching for more than half a mile. Several other craft joined us through the rest of the evening as we swam and took our ease!
I was reminded of Shelley's "Hymn to Beauty" when he wrote...
The awful shadow of some unseen Power
Floats though unseen among us; visiting
This various world with as inconstant wing
As summer winds that creep from flower to flower;
Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower,
It visits with inconstant glance
Each human heart and countenance;
Like hues and harmonies of evening,
Like clouds in starlight widely spread,
Like memory of music fled,
Like aught that for its grace may be
Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery...
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| Canny looking north from ancient Pa site on Motukawanui Is |
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| Shipwreck cove? |
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South toward BoI
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I've been reading John O'Donohue's "Divine Beauty" this week and I resonate with these words he writes:
We lie between the act of awakening and the act of surrender. Each morning we awaken to the light and the invitation to a new day in the world f time... Awakening and surrender: they frame each day and each life; between them the journey where anything can happen, the beauty and the frailty... (the ancients saw) all the frailty and uncertainty to be ultimately sheltered by the eternal beauty which presides over all the journeys between awakening and surrender, the visible and the invisible, the light and the darkness...
When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we feel immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.
In the experience of beauty we awaken and surrender in the same act...we slip into the Beautiful with the same ease as we slip into the seamless embrace of water; something ancient within us already trusts that this embrace will hold us.
These sailing expeditions and explorations are a vibrant reminder of the frailty of my existence and of the grace experienced in the capacity to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of this creation. This becomes especially evident when I eventually arrive at the tops of small hills somewhat breathless and trying to remember when I used to run up the hills with much less effort than it now takes to walk! Nearly half a lifetime ago Brian and I used to sail with Bru (my Dad) and loved nothing more than to head off exploring, often running most of the way for several hours... ahh the memories!
Friday, Feb 12th
Desperation for "Griffins Gingernuts" (an essential accompaniment for cuppa's)meant we up-anchored the next day and motor-sailed across toward the mainland where we knew a small camp-store resided... but alas a lee shore with a strong easterly negated any chance of a safe anchorage and so we kept going around the next point to discover a delightful cove, Opounui Bay which seemed to invite us to linger. The obligatory swim (sans costumes as per normal in these quieter bays) was followed by an explore in the 'little boat' several kms around the interesting coastline. Some lovely spots with baches tucked away on hills and shore.
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| Looks like some interesting weather up north heading our way... |
A somewhat restless night with a persistent swell bending around the point and an easterly that wouldn't quit...
Maybe it was the spirit of Bru reminding us that it's his birthday next week!
Sat Feb 13th
It seemed like either our 'start' battery or starter motor was starting to die as we struggled to crank the engine the next morning. We removed the starter motor and cleaned the brushes, but still the problem persisted and we were forced to decompress the cylinders one by one until we eventually fired up the 'Barrington' which then seemed to run fine...
Motored back out through the narrow passage keeping Tarawera Is to starboard and Motukawanui island's rocks close to port and had a marvelous sail beating and tacking at 5.5-6.5 kts in 12-15 kts all the way back to Waiti Bay where our old friend Sam the Stingray greeted us as we lunched and swam our way through the afternoon.
Late afternoon we joined the procession of homeward bound vessels as we ran toward Tapeka point in a light NE breeze, hardening up and surfing up the estuary ahead of a squall-induced freshening easterly making 6.5-7 kts on flat seas, docking safely around 1900 hrs on a low slack tide
Fush and Chups at the Club watching the sun set topped off a great day...
After much consideration and consternation it has been confirmed that the above new model will soon replace the old and now deceased model pictured below decorating my cabin floor - looks like I'll be working 'extras' for a few more years...:)
On Wednesday Fenton (A fellow boatie and ex-pat kiwi who with his wife Barb also commutes from Aussie to sail his Jeaneau 29.2 moored just along the pier from us)and I removed the old engine and associated accessories, including engine mounts, control panel, wiring loom and exhaust system, cleaned up the engine bay and now is the time of waiting... 
