Cleared for Cavallis

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...

Canny looking north from ancient Pa site on Motukawanui Is

Shipwreck cove?

South toward BoI

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.

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.

300 foot of luxury... Equanimity

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...

Cavalli Cruising with Canny...

Tuesday Feb 9th - Wednesday Feb 10th

Ahh, the familiar bleary-eyed early morning arrival into Auckland Airport...

Not much sleep this trip as I swear those airline seats are getting harder and smaller.  Right on time at 0515 we touched down to a grey Antipodean dawn.  

A brief encounter at Customs: "Nothing to declare, sir!" and on to the 0615 shuttle to the City.  Unfortunately little brother had forgotten our agreed breakfast rendezvous and was out on a morning ride.  Fortunately Ryoko graciously let me in and we had a nice catch up over a cup of tea before Roger arrived back.  

On to the Naked Bus (aka the big red double decker Mana Bus) at 0800 and off we went.

 A brief stop in Whaaaangarei enabled the acquisition of the very fine Smoked Hapuka crusty pie from the Hub Eatery.  A worthwhile pause indeed!

Young Canny Caston dutifully was waiting atop the Opua Hill and we loaded bags, nicked off to Paihia for a few more supplies and within an hour or so were poking our noses down the estuary on a beautiful afternoon...

A brisk easterly was predicted to remain constant for the next few days so we tucked in to the south side of Moturua island (Waipao Bay).  A delightful spot.

 Several swims later confirmed the impression that this was an idyllic hiatus - visited briefly last year with sister Jan and Sir Graham.  Though this time the water temperature crept toward an unseasonably warm 22 deg.  Some interlopers had impudently attached themselves to the hull with slime accompanying so I swam, scraped and brushed the offenders while Brian dutifully dove to clear Cretaceous accumulations around prop and rudder...

 ...before putting the 'Little Boat' through its paces around the Bay - he reckoned over 6.5 knots from 2.5 horses wasn't bad!





   

A little reef fishing at a 'secret' nearby location proved fruitful with half a dozen eatable schnapper and a decent sized Yellow-fin mackerel.  The BBQ , twinned with lemon and good old NZ butter proved ideal companions that night.

Such was the serenity and the vibe that we elected to stay he next day - we had no set schedule!

A little walk over the hill the next morning turned into a circuit of the island over several hours - equipped as we were with the ubiquitous 'tramping' footwear, aka Jandals!  Naturally we had to swim (contour) each bay visited, until arriving at Army Bay on the NE side where I spied another Davidson 31 that I thought was the same one I'd seen over at Waitangi previously.  So, naturally, we swum out to say hello and were welcomed on-board by the charmingly loquacious Rozanne Barton and her more taciturn husband Peter, out cruising with their friend (Lisa?) for the day.  Immigrants from England and previously peripatetic round the world cruisers, they told us how they had sold up in their early fifties and bought a 35' yacht in which they spent the next number of years idling on the oceans.  Now retired to Haruru Falls here in the north they'd  recently bought the boat having previously raced a half-tonner in the UK. An hour or so later we managed to get away by agreeing to sign their visitors book(!) and swam ashore to continue our circuit.  Several gut-busting climbs later and we descended back into 'our' bay and settled down for another night in paradise...

Kalai Logs for 2014 and 2015

2014 log of Kalai

2015 log of Kalai

2015 News from the Melbourne Stewarts

The ‘Melbourne Stewarts’ News2015 This year has been another full one for us as a family; with births, a death and no weddings!

We were delighted to welcome the very cute Letty-Brooke into the extended family on Jan 3^rd – she is indeed a joy and delight and Brandon, Safina, Arieta and Samuel are justifiably proud.  

She was born right on her due date and the next few weeks Grant was often found down in Wonthaggi with Brandon helping renovate their 1950’s newly purchased bungalow as the “Young ‘uns” prepared to relocate 125kms southeast.  They eventually moved in February with nearly all the work complete.  Brandon and the kids especially love being 10 mins from the coast with plenty of coves, rock pools and swimming beaches, not to mention some delightfully challenging kayaking opportunities on the wild south-facing coastline!

OK Brandon... now what?

January we scarpered to NZ to meet up with Grant’s sister Jan and Graham for some summer sailing in the Bay of Islands.  It was fantastic to see them both looking so well and we had a wonderful week cruising what is one of the best sailing destinations anywhere.  We even managed to join in with the annual “Tall Ships” race, albeit as spectators…  Unfortunately, Kalai developed some overheating problems with the engine which restricted us from some longer planned expeditions and meant some re-conditioning work over the next few weeks.  Ahhh, the joys of boating are certainly mixed with the challenges!

Grant was back again in April to complete the work and also to make a few more improvements (as is his custom).  Together with Barry and Ruby, they picked up a second-hand little dinghy in Dargaville which only needed a few minor seating modifications to work with the 2.3m ‘turbo’ hand-crafted oars which he managed to smuggle onto the plane in Melbourne.  

Sir Graham on the helm!

A highlight this trip was meeting up with some old buddies (aka ‘The Balunatix’) to celebrate Mike Enright’s 59^th birthday – they all decided that the ‘x9^th’ birthdays were much more worthy of commemorating and to meet again next February for Grant’s.

Cathy returned to NZ again in February (along with Amber) as a surprise for her parents who were celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary.  It was a very quick four-day visit, but they were totally unaware of the surprise until we arrived on their doorstep.

Meanwhile, Amber and Nick were busy preparing to move into their new home in a delightful terrace house in North Carlton… upon which Amber promptly started drawing plans for renovating.  Around this time an announcement was made that a second grandchild would be forthcoming in 2015 and November was the due date – for both baby and the completion of the renovations!  Unfortunately, the building work had some delays, but fortunately so did the expected birth.   The builders finally signed off early November and Edward Frederick (Ted) was born on November 18, a fully-formed and long-limbed 9lb 1oz young man!

Hey... What's up, Doc?

He’s certainly an active character, rolling over at 2 weeks and wanting to engage with the universe right from the start.  The grandparents are also suitably delighted to add two more to their tally in the one year!

Grant continues to pastor part-time at East Doncaster Baptist with some encouraging signs in the development of new connections with a younger generation through a variety of fresh ministries and some real positive signs for the future.   He continues to chaplain the Melbourne Storm NRL team and has picked up some exam supervision and teaching opportunities.  His commitment to the sailing regime has curtailed some of his other recreational pursuits, though he still enjoys sea kayaking on a regular basis with friends, particularly with his good mate Bob Fergie.  

Cathy continues to work two jobs over 4 days a week as well as keeping busy running Jonathan around to various evening activities and as volunteer Site Manager at emotion21 Adults group (Jonathan’s dance group).

Jonathan started the year well with part time work at a local Community Centre, but unfortunately this only lasted 5 months and stopped once the funding for this work ceased.  He has continued to attend a course one morning a week and volunteer at the emotion21 dance office on Friday mornings.  We are hopeful of work with Melbourne Storm next year which is being set up differently to previous times and he will have 3 shifts a week, starting in February.  He continues to be involved with basketball, gym, Special Olympics (athletics) and dancing.  This year he was privileged to be part of the group dancing at the Mazda Foundation Gala Dinner, which was held at the Crown Casino.  As the date was also his 26^th birthday, he was surprised when everyone in attendance sang “Happy Birthday” to him, which made his day.  

Brandon finally handed in his last assignment for his degree in Mission Studies at Tabor College last month after working hard these past few years and has started work at Connecting Skills Australia, an organisation that provides work for people with disabilities.  The best thing is that it is five minutes’ walk from their new home!

In December Grant was delighted to have Brandon and young Samuel accompany him on a ‘Boys Sailing Trip’ (See ..\Davidson31\Videos\Boys trip.mp4 ) to NZ with young ‘Samu’ quickly becoming an accomplished sailor, delighting to scramble into the ‘little boat’ and relishing the opportunity to explore ‘Pirate’ Ships, learning how to steer a yacht and to discover some secret coves!

Sadly, we had to have Shana, our 14 yr old greyhound and family member for nearly 12 yrs put to sleep this past week.  Ash, our other greyhound is missing her, as are we.

We managed to get most of the ‘mob’ together again this year for Christmas – next year should be a beauty with an 8yr old, 5yr old, 2yr old and 1 yr old no doubt all leading the charge! 

Lots of love, Cathy, Grant and Jonathan

Father, Son and Little Fella

Samu at the helm

Concentration!

Warrior Samu guarding the wharf at Otehei Bay

Back in Opua tonight after a marvellous four days of adventure with BJ and Samuel... will post more details tomorrow.

Top of the hill at Roberton Island