Tuesday August 30th
- Easy flight in front row, though just dozed off and on
- Collected bag and through Customs with no hassles (Home baking OK!)
- On shuttle and into town by 6:10, breakfast at Maccas
- Coffee at 0710 then onto Mana Bus (about a dozen passengers) and for the first time in living memory we by-passed Takapuna depot and Albany, first stop at Warkworth.
- A showery day that improved the further north we went. A 15 min stop in Whangarei and we still were at Opua hill before 11 am!
- An easy walk down the hill and onto E-pier once more.
- Fenton and Jim already ensconced and pleasantries exchanged.
- Kalai looked pretty good, bottom still clean and not too much mould.
- Unpacked, collected mail and then off to KeriKeri to provision with the prospect of some fine conditions for the rest of the week. Got enough food for a week or so and then back to dock.
- Arranged to look at the Marina's storage lockers and decided to rent a small (3.5 m3) one for six months to free up some space on the boat. Nice and secure inside a building with an alarm system and my new padlock!
Wednesday August
31st
Away early at 0800 and motored out towards Tapeka in light winds. After some discussion we decided to head south in the light NW winds predicted rather than try for Whangaroa. Raised sail before Paihia and eased out past the point before tacking in light airs around the north end of Moturua and then a long board out towards Cape Brett then squeezed through inside Piercy before having to motor-sail clear as the wind shifted and head us. Soon after dropped sail and motored down to Whangamumu with the lightest of Northerlies and a slight Easterly swell. Anchored about 400m off the shore and settled down for the night.
Thursday September 1st
- Still light early as we headed back out through the narrow entrance and headed south. We'd had a little roll that night with a slight easterly swell getting through. An easy run down the coast with Fenton hugging the shore line. We were joined by a pod of four dolphins who proceeded to stay with me for half an hour...
...later a fine tacking duel was had as we sped around the entrance to Whangaruru harbour and then came hard on the nose as we poked northward into this fine protected harbour, anchoring just to the west of the island near the head of the harbour... a quiet night.
Jim in the really little boat! 
Friday September 2ndA leisurely start to another fine day and we motored south out of the entrance as the breeze kicked in and I decided to break out the Gennaker and headed east off-shore to take advantage of a building NW. Back toward the coast Elizabeth reef was clearly visible at low tide and then I gybed away again and headed SE, dowsing the big sail as the wind built and we rocketed on a broad reach into Tutakaka harbour doing 7-8 kts. D14 and D20 were waiting for us as was a shower and a visit from B and R. Raewyn and Steve joined us for tea at the Pizzeria and we slept soundly in a calm berth.Saturday September 3rd
A
shallow front brought some showers overnight and we got away early
hoping to get north before the wimd shifted from the SW. Changing
conditions meant a frustrating trip back up the coast with the wind
shifting and then dying before strengthening again as we tried to get
to Mimiwhangata. Fairly exposed I wasn't too happy about
overnighting there and so we agreed to head back up to the head of
Whangaruru for the night, anchoring off the 'Green house' in calm
conditions.
Sunday September 4th motored out in deceptively calm conditions... on a cloudy morning... and just kept on motoring for three hours into a stiff northerly that was predicted to be 25 – 35kts. Through the gap and the wind died completely the north side of Brett. Slowly the breeze filled in and we reached across to Albert Channel and into Urupukapuka (known as 'poo-emergency' Bay – for good reason! I decided to try and fix the blocked toilet which had slowed froma slow empty to a complete stop the day before. Fenton 'volunteered' as Sanitary advisor and lived to regret the day as he became ankle deep in shite – unable to stop the “too much pressure” from the newly freed contents of the fermented header tank...
Needless to say we were keen to get back to dock and after a bail and sponge clean up of the offending load we headed off under headsails tight reaching in 15-20 knots of NW all the way back to harbour...
Lady Jane - a Hartley 32 on our mooring
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