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Saling the Legend


Megwyn

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Right, now I know where Lynx went to, scratch that one off my list. Dam list is in the negative now..

Megwyn don't worry about the hand stands I kept all of them. I let Tigre borrow a couple of them.... He has used them well :D :D

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Day 17

 

Easter Saturday. Up at 5:15am, out the door 15 minutes later with sleepy boy bundled into the back of the ute. We drove down to the boat, loaded the dingy, bundled us all into the dingy and headed out to the boat. There was just enough light in the sky to see clearly.

 

A throw and go, and we were off down the channel, hoisting sails, and heading down to the gap before high tide. As per usual at dawn, there was not much wind. So we motor sailed down, getting there about ½ an hour post high tide. I was very nervous we might not make it through. The idea of sitting on the hard until after dark on Saturday night was not my idea of a fun day on the water!

 

Luck was with us. Spring tides meant we had more water than our last dash through the gap, and we were able to make it all the way through without lifting the rudder.

 

Once the depth sounder read 0.9m, I whipped forward and stood up on the bow in order to try and cantilever the stern out of the water. The sounder read as low as 0.6m and we stayed afloat without touching.

 

Once through the gap, we sailed down to Motuhoa Island and dropped the pick. The billie went on for our first coffee of the day, and a hearty breakfast of bacon eggs and fried tomato later, I at long last felt not only awake, but human again. The pressure was off – we were through. From memory, I think it was about 9:30am when we sat down to break our fast.

 

A leisurely breakfast later, and we could see by the water out in the bay that the wind was putting in an appearance. Dishes done, everything stowed in its rightful place, anchor weighed and we were on our way to Tauranga.

 

We could see off the eastern point of the Island that there was rather a bit of wind disturbance, so we were prepared when we sailed out from the lee of Motuhoa. Suddenly – RO lifted her starboard hull and we were off!

 

On the nose on a starboard tack racing across the channel towards Rangiwaea Island. Watching our depth – 2m, 1.8, 1.5, TACK. A very quick and short tack across the channel and again, back onto the starboard and heading back towards Ranigwaea Island. Again, we watched the depth drop until TACK. Now we could tack out past the Island. We were following a launch down the channel – but of course he was going in a straight line.

 

A minute or so later, and it was time to tack again. So back on Starboard and heading up past Rangiwaea towards the southern tip of Matakana Island. We were looking for the entrance to the channel that takes you down to Sulphur Point. We watched the launch turn down, and wondered if we should follow. It looked shallow, so we went a little further. It still looked shallow. So we threw in another tack, and on Port, we went towards the port markers we could see marking the channel. Watching our depth carefully, I saw us get as shallow as 1.9m before the numbers started to rise again.

 

Now we were in good depth of water which could be seen by the colour, and were still tight on the nose, flying the windward hull, (Yes Pedro – I am testing your assurances that you did not give us any handstands) and fast heading for the far side of the channel.

 

“We will tack at 2m” said Himself. Okay I thought.

 

I watched the water change colour and the numbers on the depth sounder drop quickly again. TACK I called as they hit 2.1m, and we were back on a Starboard tack heading across the narrow channel again. Launch to our starboard, yacht to our port, and big floating branch off the starboard bow several hundred meters ahead. Depth decreasing fast again and TACK. Back across for a very quick sharp tack and we were around again on starboard. Pointing up just high enough to cross above the branch, and clear of the yacht, launch well ahead still, passed the branch and shallowing again then TACK. This time we squeezed up towards Sulphur point before having to tack once more to get around the shallows off the Point.

 

Whew. Now we were off towards the green markers outside the Tga Club, but not making it inside them, so had to tack around towards the Clubrooms. Straight for the yellow car barge, and 10m off another fast tack around brought us on a bearing to clear the point into the dredged channel. But now we had fishing boats sitting in the middle of the channel. Which way? Our point of sail – hard on – had us pointing directly at one, with another just under it, then a Green marker. “Can I go below that marker?” I asked Himself. “Lets try” was the reply.

 

Well, I can now testify that we can. Past the marker and we sailed into the channel a little before tacking around for a close reach up towards the bridge.

 

We started up the iron sail once we were no longer holding way against the ebbing tide, dropped the sails and picked up Lance's mooring yet again (thanks buddy – we are going to miss it when you bring the Tango home!). Then tidy up – lines coiled and put up off the floor, sails rolled and put away, motor up and cover on, etc etc etc.

 

Once satisfied with the deck, I went below and made us sandwiches for lunch. Txted Ballystick and let him know we were in Tga, and organised to meet him in town.

 

So we headed off on shanks pony to Tga Central to the Jazz Fest. I let Ballystick know were were on our way, and that I would txt when we were over the railway lines.

 

It is a nice walk across the bridge to the City Centre. We always enjoy a bit of a leg stretch after sailing. You get to check out what is happening in Hutchinson's yard on the way past, and a walk past Bobbies seafood place always gets the olfactory juices flowing.

 

“We have crossed the line” I txted Ballystick. Through the road closure cordons, and a tall man is looking at me in an expectant manner. “Hello, you must be Ballystick” I say. “Megwyn” says he. “How did you recognise us?” I asked. “We are in disguise, trying not to look like sailors”. (Our previous trip Mrs 2ToTango commented “Spot the sailors”. To be fair, I had forgotten to take off my lifejacket – but this time I had even changed into street party clothes as was not dressed like a sailor at all – or so I thought). “It's the hats” said Ballystick. Bugger.

 

He led us through to a bar and introduced us to a couple of the Tga sailing crew, and we shared a few yarns and a drink with them, before heading off with Ballystick and his lady for a walk around the town checking out the other bands.

 

There were old vintage cars on the way, and the young fella stopped and checked them out. Then we stopped by in a garden bar, to watch a Caribbean Band doing their thing. The man on the traditional drums was generating a lot of interest from the ladies (us included) as he was topless, and very nicely cut, with a big white smile. One woman was right in front of the stage snapping off pics of him sweating it out.

 

We wandered back to the first stage, and sat down at Lonestar, where we enjoyed some more beers, and a meal while listening to a blues band.

 

It was an awesome evening, and I really did not want to return to the boat, but we had no key to rescue our dingy from the marina, so had to get back before security shut the gates. So we said our goodnights and headed back to RO at 6pm. After tacking our way back across the bridge, the young fella in tow, and constantly talking (as he does), we were back on board by 6:40, helped said young fella sort himself out for bed, and I settled myself down with a rum before assuming the horizontal for some zzzd's myself.

 

No photo's, which is a real bummer. I gave the camera to the young fella to take, and he left it in the dingy. Otherwise I might have a pic for you of that nice young black man on the drums. :D

 

Distance sailed 18.3nm, max speed 13.6kt.

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RO does really good stoppy's when the board digs in at speed I can't wait for that tale :D :D

Hey Megwyn you are going to wear RO out she is not used to being taken out for a stroll so much.

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Ha ha ha Offender - I haven't told the coming home tale yet :lol:

She tells me she is loving all this attention too :wink:

 

 

Day 18.

 

As usual on the boat, I was awake at first light. It is a lovely time of day to be awake on the water. I much prefer it to dawn wake ups at home for some reason. 7am and we were all awake and up. I suddenly realised that I had miscalculated our breakfasts and had only bought enough for two mornings not three. So after coffee, we decided to go ashore for a walk and get some breakfast.

 

Just before we left the boat, the young fella shouts (he does this a lot – he is deaf) “Look – there is a trimaran coming in”. I looked out the back and said “That looks like Ladyhawk”. He grabbed the binoculars, certain I was wrong, and spelled out “L-A-D-Y-H-A-W-K. La-dy-hawk. Oh, yes. It is Ladyhawk”. So we decided to head in sooner rather than later, and go and introduce ourselves. I have admired the 'for sale' pictures of her for years, but being so far outside the depth of our pockets, have never gone and kicked some tyres.

 

So with the young fella at the helm of the dingy, he blasted us into the marina, with us telling him to slow down before security came and had words with him. Tied up to a parking spot a couple of short minutes after leaving RO, we headed around to say hello to Ladyhawk and her crew.

 

I introduced myself to the man working about Ladyhawk, and told him how I had salivated over the pictures of her for sale, but that she was beyond our means to purchase, and we had just recently bought a 9m trimaran. I asked him if she were as roomy inside as the photos suggested, and got an invite to look aboard. :D

 

Answer – yes. Ladyhawk is 10.66m long, and fits in a 12m berth. RO is 9m long, and would just fit in a 12m berth. Ladyhawk was launched in Dec 1998, RO sometime in 1997. But the comparison ends there. Step inside Ladyhawk and she is as roomy as an 11m keeler. Three doubles, and all they need to live aboard her – as they have been for the last 3 years. He built her himself, and has done an awesome job. She truly is a beautiful yacht.

 

We thanked them for showing us their home, and headed back towards land. I had heard Phils Place was a good place to eat, but they weren't open, so we went around the corner to the cafe, where the young fella and I had a rat pack each, and Himself had a huge sausage roll. Having looked aboard Ladyhawk, we had some new thoughts to bandy about over breakfast. Then we headed back towards the dingy, stopping by Touche to wish them well on their sail to Fiji in May.

 

RO was faithfully waiting for us on the mooring, so we freed her and motored up to Pilot Bay where it took me an embarrassing 3 goes to put us on the right spot. Every time we set the anchor, we drifted back onto the shallows. But the last time, I figured I had just enough water under her to keep her afloat at low tide. As it turns out – it was just enough.

 

We headed ashore – rowing this time as it was such a short hop and we do like to row. With the dingy added upside down to the collection of dingies on the beach, we headed into Mt Central, where we had heard that there was a music fest. Unfortunately it was not as fabulous as the night before, and we walked around, with the young fella jumping on the jumpy castles, and giving the Easter Bunny a high five, before walking across to the open beach to check out the swell.

 

We were hoping to go home on Monday via the outside Matakana route. It was all dependent on the swell. Too much and we could get to the Bowentown Heads and not be able to cross, then be stuck with how to get home. So a good look at the swell, and it did not look too bad. There were some impressive looking breakers on the Matakana sandbar though.

 

We walked back to Pilot Bay to find that Jade Lady and Windarra were anchored just behind us. So we rowed out to talk to them before heading back to RO for lunch and to gather some snacks and drinks to take over to Jade Lady. (By the way Willow, the yacht up here at Pio is Windora!)

 

A pleasant afternoon was spent aboard the above mentioned Lady, a few rums consumed. The young fella was sent back to bring over the bottle of Mt Gay on board RO, and a couple more rums consumed. Willow (off Windarra) checked Wind Guru for us, and Himself decided we would not chance the bar on Monday, and instead would sail across to Omokoroa tonight and stay the night there.

 

Did I mentioned I had had a few rums?

 

I navigated the perilous journey from Jade Lady to RO without incident, and we prepared the Offender for a quick sail across to Omokoroa, tying the dingy off to the stern. We decided the most direct route from Pilot Bay was across the entrance to the Harbour. So we weighed the anchor and hoisted sails. Surprise surprise, the wind was on the nose again! Dealing with the tidal flow as the harbour flooded with the spring tide with a few rums flowing in my veins added a whole new dimension to sailing. I was dealing with large amounts of leeway – I watched a launch going more sideways than straight as it came towards us. The wind was pushing us the other way, but still I had to point into the tide to counter the push. However, surprisingly enough, I really didn't care. . .

 

I asked Himself “Do we have good water off that point?” “Yes” he replied. (Normally I would ask to see the chart, rather than trusting to my crew to get it right! But so laxed back, I believed him!) So we navigated around the southern end of Matakana Island and were wizzing along flying the windward hull. Yeehaaaa! I had put the centreboard down a little, but Himself had dropped it all the way. Suddenly, the boat starts to stutter. A sensation of stop, start, stop, start penetrated my Mt Gay haze. “What's going on?” I asked. I was squinting into the sun, with a bright glaze all over the water as the sun was low in the western sky and we were heading west and thinking to myself "How bloody perfect is this!" I remembered the depth sounder and looked across to see it reading 0.9m. Oh – that's what is wrong! So we tacked around, (actually, himself grabbed the tiller off me and tacked, leaving me enjoying the ride for a change) released the line that holds the centreboard down, and got off the sandbank. Then picked up the wind again and blasted up towards Omokoroa, the dingy leaping around behind us and the outboard doing the highland fling. Bugger.

 

Another couple of long tacks later and we were in the lee of Motuhoa Island, and Himself said we would stay there overnight, rather than go across to Omokoroa after all. I was not too happy – there was a live band over there that sounded really cool, and I felt that a nice meal with good music was just the ticket again. But being a good lass, I abided by his wishes (as difficult as it was) and motored us up to a nice sheltered spot in the lee of the island, and just far enough away from the two keelers already anchored so they would not have to run away.

 

Safely anchored, the young fella looked over the back at the dingy and yelled “Look what the rope has done to the handle!” We looked aft to see that indeed, the rope had burnt a furrow in the bow handle on the dingy. I did not think that we had been going that fast! We must remember to pull the dingy onto the tramp if we are going to be going faster than motoring next time!

 

A simple dinner of smoked chicken salad and mash, and a big glass of water for yours truly, and it was dark, and time for the young fella to get some sleep. So I assumed the horizontal and read more of my “Safety in Small Boats” book. (As an interesting aside – it has a picture of Sundreamer on it. I had never thought of her as a small boat! I hope they are giving you royalties SD :wink: ).

 

Distance sailed 4.89nm, maximum speed 11.7kt; time sailing 42 minutes 11 seconds. A very fast trip! (even though we did a few stoppies :lol: )

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Day 19

 

We had decided the night before that we would need to get going at about 7:30am in order to be sure to make it through the gap before the tide turned. We had watched the tide go slack around 8pm and figured we needed to be halfway through before that happened.

 

So we were up and off before breakfast. The wind was so light one could say it did not exist. We hoisted the Genoa rather than our usual blade, and the main, but neither were overly interested in taking on a wind filled shape, so the motor remained on as we headed north towards the gap.

 

Even though I had my seeing eyes on, I could not see the green markers in the distance, and had to rely on the crew giving me directions as to their visuals. Checking the chart and the markers as I went, we manoeuvred our way up the harbour towards the gap.

 

Closing in on the last marker before the charted drying area, we dropped the sails and raised the centreboard. We were hoping to get through without having to lift the rudder out again, like Saturday, but once the depth sounder read 0.9m, we were touching the bottom, and even all my ballast up the front made no difference.

 

Out with the rudder, and Himself went on the helm. I had the chart in hand, and was standing on the starboard ama abeam the centreboard, directing Himself through the markers. (Even though they may be marked to take to port, some are actually better taken to starboard – so educated guesses are better than strict compliance to navigation rules.)

 

We again avoided running aground, and passed through into Katikati Harbour, where we replaced the rudder, and continued to watch the depth until we were out past the last drying marker.

 

At this stage, we dropped the anchor and brewed some coffee followed by our traditional bacon, eggs and fried tomato. The wind was non existent, and the tide was slack, so we had some time to relax and heave a sigh of satisfaction that we were nearly home in hose.

 

Just before the tide swung us around, the wind started to fill in. So we restowed, put all the dirty dishes in a bag to throw at the dishwasher at home, and raised the anchor from the harbour floor. Up with the Genoa and main, and we were on the nose again heading North in a SWer. :wtf: . The wind had swung around more to the north than predicted.

 

We had some lovely long tacks up the Harbour, weaving our way amongst the fishing vessels that littered the water like rat droppings. As we passed the entrance, we looked out across the bar, there was, again, breaking water all over it. We discussed what it might be like once the tide was on the rise again.

 

We dropped the sails and motored up to the mooring, collecting it and securing our Lady before killing the motor and packing the boat up for the weekend.

 

Once everything was packed and stacked, and the boat wiped out, we chugged back to shore to the ute. Once sorted, we drove up to the heads to look at the bar. It was pretty rough out there still. So we headed home to sort though the weekends stuff and get started on those washing and cleaning chores.

 

Not long after getting home, I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep. It felt like every muscle in my body had just had the stuffing squeezed out of it. After a couple of hours of kip, I prepped some dinner for us, and we headed out to check the bar.

 

The swell had died by 6pm – the time we were planning to cross the bar. So we could have made it home on the outside. But going by how shattered I felt, I was rather pleased to have been able to have a snooze, rather than sail all day long. Although a fresh fish would have been an awesome bonus had one jumped on my rod!

 

Odometer: 11.1nm; Max speed 8.8kt; Time moving 2hrs 38 minutes – this time includes the motoring through the gap which takes us about an hour.

 

What an awesome weekend. The wind put in an appearance to make for some nice sailing. The sun was out enough to get you burnt if you were unaware, and the weather was warm enough to fool you into thinking it was summer.

 

Thanks Ballystick and Willow for your company this weekend. Thanks Lance for the use of your mooring again. We hope to catch up with you all again soon.

 

M

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It was good to meet up with you, a good night downtown, for sure. Must remind myself not to enjoy the Mt Gay so much, again!!! Next time we'll meet some of the regular yachties, as they had their boats still up in Akld ready for the Akld - Tga. OK.

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Sailing Day 20

 

Support Mission

 

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. Unfortunately.

 

I had arrived home from work at about 4:10am, had a snack and a shower, sent Mr 2ToTango (2TT) a text to warn him of floating settee's, and climbed into bed. Mr 2TT responded saying he had motored half way to the Mercs on Saturday. It sounded like a right aweful trip, the way he put it.

 

I reckon I was asleep around 5am.

 

Himself was up soon after dawn, and disappeared out of the house in order to let me sleep. He had said he had jobs to do on the boat. His plan was to be home just after 10am to cook us some breakfast before heading out.

 

My phone went off with a txt soon after 7am, which I ignored at the time. When I got up around 10am, I saw it was from Mr 2TT. “If you do come out on RO, can you bring some petrol”?

 

I looked out my bedroom window. The neighbour's flag was hanging limply. Bugger, I thought.

 

When Himself came home at 11am, I asked him what he had been up to. I mean – he was 1 hour late!

 

“Down the club having a few were you?” I asked with a grin.

 

“No”.

 

“You didn't loose the dingy again”.

 

“No. Worse than that” he answered with a smile.

 

Well, his story goes that he was climbing into the dingy when he heard a 'plop' sound, and looked down to see his mobile phone floating down towards the sea bed. He dived in after it and searched around for it in the mud. After taking it apart (yes – he has done this before :roll:), he decided seeing as he was wet already, he might as well check the boats bum for barnacles. The water was nipple height, so he could easily run his hand under her bum, and even gave the centreboard casing a feel up.

 

By the time he had finished that, he was feeling a little cold, and came home to get changed into dry attire.

 

I told him about Mr 2TT's petrol predicament. I had just refilled our petrol refill bottle on Thursday, so we had spare petrol. The decision was made. Quick breakfast then out on a support mission.

 

So I cooked up my usual while Himself organised the fuel. Meantime I spoke to Mrs 2TT to try and find out if the motor took 2 or 4 stroke, Mr 2TT had not responded to my txt. She didn't know. Mr 2TT tried to ring us several times dropping out, then just sent a txt. He was thinking of dropping into Tairua to get some petrol. I assured him I would bring some, so he decided to continue on.

 

We scoffed our breakfast and dashed down to the boat. The quickest ever mooring drop occurred and we were on our way.

 

I came around the point, and looked at the bar.

“Feck” I thought (or something like it :wink: ). It did not look pretty. But as we went further out into the channel, there was a small area where there were no breaking waves. So we ran for it.

 

Safely across the bar, and headed north into a Northerly, rushing along at 5 knots on our support mission. We restarted the outboard to increase our VMG to 6kt. Tacking up towards Whangamata – which is where we figured we might meet him, I txted Mr 2TT and asked him where he was, and that I was listening on 85.

 

We saw three yachts sailing south, too far out to be the Tango - he had said he was “staying close to land”. Well, when you are out there, 2-3nm out can feel close to land, so there was a wide area of ocean that he could materialise out of.

 

One yacht did just that, right from the direction we imagined the Tango would come from. So we headed towards it. Once close enough to define it on the binoculars, we decided it was a keeler, and tacked back around.

 

I was laxing back on the tramp with Himself at the helm when the radio crackled, and it was 2TT calling RO. “I have sent you a txt with our coordinates” he stated.

 

I entered the coordinates into the GPS, and we altered our course to a more easterly one. We then thought we saw him sailing towards us, so headed towards him. But again, we got close enough to see it was a keeler, and tacked back around again.

 

Then Himself saw a yacht hugging the coast.

 

“Maybe that is him” he said.

 

“I don't think so” was my reply. “There is no way he could be there, if he was supposed to be over there (pointing in a northerly direction), at his last coordinates.” But Himself wanted to check it out, so we flew across on a fast reach towards the land, only to note that it also was a keeler.

 

Bugger, I thought. We had lost ground by reaching, and had to go hard on the nose again. It had been fun though. A bit of speed to brighten the afternoon.

 

I retxted Mr 2TT, asking him his coordinates. Once received I entered them into the GPS, and we altered course again.

 

The radio crackled again. “2ToTango calling Repeat Offender”.

“Repeat Offender receiving”.

“Can you see us, we can see you.”

“I think so” I replied with a giggle.

To our North was a vessel that could have been a Cat. As we got closer we could see it was a twin hulled vessel, so reckoned we had the right one this time :P .

 

So I tacked around and up past the Tango, to come up behind him, and spilled some wind as we sailed closer. I brought the Offender up beside Tango, and Himself threw a line over, to which was attached the fuel container. The boats were less than a meter apart as the transfer took place, then we inched away, heading to port and clear. A fine bit of manoeuvring if I say so myself :thumbup: .

 

Then we had 40 minutes of me trying to keep the Offender on an even downwind trajectory as Himself played with head sails, finally successfully launching the fractional Genniker and we were under way at last.

 

The wind was variable 10kt. That is, it varied from N around to NE, and required constant corrections of the helm to keep RO sailing at a reasonable speed. Once the Gennie was up, speed increased by 3kts, and I could see we just might make it across the bar before dark.

 

The sun was lowering in the sky, already hiding in the cloud just above the hills. With the wind over my left shoulder, the genny was filled nicely, and RO just picked up and started to hum. I looked at the GPS, and we were pulling 11kt. The leeward bow was not digging in, so we did not bother with the foil. At long last it felt like we were getting somewhere. We watched 2ToTango head off in a more easterly direction as she motor sailed towards the Tauranga entrance.

 

We gibed a couple of times, and then headed towards the bar. It was four hours after high tide, we had an onshore breeze, an approximately 0.75m Northerly swell, and the tide was ebbing. I was getting edgy that we might not make it over – that the bar might not be conducive to a safe crossing.

 

As we neared the outer marker, I was watching the breaking waves on the bar. It looked like there was a space there without breaking waves. Himself started the outboard, and put in the washboards, and I headed us in, with the northerly swell on my sterns.

 

We picked up a wave, and started to surf. The stern went up, and the bows started to dig in. “sh*t sh*t sh*t” I thought to myself. Working hard on the helm, trying to keep those bows in front of the sterns, then we dropped over that wave and slowed a little. Then we caught another wave. Another tense few moments and we were over that one. I looked behind. BIG mistake! There was another wave on our tail. And gaining. And it looked big from where I was. Standing up, but no crest – yet. “Shite” I thought – have I got my positioning wrong! GPS showed we were on track for the inner marker, although I could not see it yet. Himself reckoned he had a visual, and it was right where I was pointing, so all good. I hoped.

 

“Are you ok?” asked Himself. “Not really” I replied.

 

The wave caught our sterns and we were off again, bum up, nose down, surfing that wave in through the bar. Once that wave had thankfully decided to slip beneath us I was nearly at the inner marker. Luckily enough the swell had curled around as I had had to do in order to come around to the marker, so I had been able to keep in on my sterns. The sky was now a golden hue.

 

Keeping the motor on, we dropped the main when we lost the wind off the headland. We were now in the rip, and inching forward against the ebbing tide. A side rip grabbed hold of us, and I had to point us wide to keep off the rocks. Then we were through and past that rip, and going through eddies. The jib was dropped. The eddies tried to carry me into the rocks on the next point. I could see us inching closer to shore as we inched past. We seemed to be going almost as fast sideways as we were forward.

 

Finally we were past the second point, and out of the eddies. One more rip to deal with, and that one has no sideways pull, so I started to feel more confident in our arriving home unscathed. I was watching the depth, and it was dropping steadily. Once we were nearly at our mooring it dropped to 1m, and we pulled up the rudder and I motored us onto the mooring just as the solar light switched itself on.

 

I called Coastguard to let them know we were safe home, and Mr 2TT called to say thanks. It was good to know that he know we were safe home.

 

We quickly threw everything into the cabin, locked up and headed in leaving our lady in a right mess. It had been a long day.

 

Mission accomplished.

 

Max speed (I think this was under genni – before we came over the bar as the GPS went flat just as we came through the outer marker) 11.5kt.

Total distance sailed (and motor sailed) 28.5nm

Time out there 5 hours 05 minutes (plus about another 30minutes for the bar crossing and getting home).

 

What a perfect day to be out on the water. A cool steady breeze that was a little fickle in its direction, but awesome, a clear blue sky, and deep cobalt blue water. No fish – because I didn't throw a lure out. Maybe next time :wink: .

 

We headed out to RO this morning (Mon) to put away all the sails and give her a clean and tidy up. She is now ready for another days sailing – whenever that may be.

 

M

 

Addendum: I received a call from Mr 2ToTango Monday evening to tell me that he had only one hours fuel left when we dropped off the petrol. He made the entrance to the Harbour at around 8pm - two hours after we picked up our mooring at Bowentown. He got her home safe and sound, and returned his crew to Auckland in time for work on Monday. (Thanks Ash). :thumbup:

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another good story, that bar crossing sounds to be quite exciting - with a good outcome. Surely there must be a nicer way through? You've really earned the free time on 2TT's mooring, I feel

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bar crossing sounds to be quite exciting - with a good outcome. Surely there must be a nicer way through? You've really earned the free time on 2TT's mooring, I feel

 

The nicer way through is through the gap ballystick, which has its own limitations lol. We will miss being able to pick up 2TT's mooring when down your way - but there is always Pilot Bay which looks promising.

We are seriously considering bringing her down to Tauranga Harbour - I just need to get motivated to try and find a mooring . . .

 

What a good mate you are M. Sounds like the legend is sailing the legend! :thumbup:

 

LOL - not really AA. I am just a big skite that likes to prove to everyone that she is as good on the helm as she reckons she is :lol: . And coming up beside another yacht out at sea was another opportunity to test myself.

 

I omitted from my story the part where the bowman got a good tongue lashing for taking too darn long messing about when we needed to get underway after the fuel transfer. :twisted:

 

Besides, helping one another out is what being human is really all about isn't it? If we are not there for each other, then our lives are very insular. We were just lucky I did not have to go to work on Sunday night - we could never have done it had that been the case.

 

So see - I am no legend. Anyway - isn't that a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? :wink:

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Sailing day 21

 

Well - it is really day 22, but lets forget about the last attempt at sailing and call it quits at 21.

 

We went out on Anzac day. There was a light breeze at home, from the SE, so we decided to give it a go. After Sundays attempt, we were willing to pull the plug if there was just no wind.

 

So about an hour after high tide, we headed down to the super yacht (Himself's pet name for the boat). The young fella stated categorically on his way down the stairs that “We will only go down the harbour and back then. That's all I'm doing”. I remember thinking to myself – no worries – we'll just throw you overboard then . . . :shifty:

 

We mucked about as per usual for about ½ an hour getting ready to go before dropping the mooring lines. The sun was out, but the breeze cool. So I was wearing 3 layers. I could hear the beach surf from the boat, so we knew we couldn't get out over the bar. The fuel tank was full again after our last adventure out 'there', so we knew we could putt putt about if the breeze showed a complete lack of interest in proceedings.

 

As we prepared to slip the mooring, we watched a ketch motoring down Tanners channel, then he headed on down the Harbour.

 

Thumbs up from Himself at the bow, and I just let RO drift back. But she didn't drift back – she went sideways. The young fella started shouting about the buoy being between the hulls, so I tried putting the motor in reverse. Still the buoy (with the dingy attached) continued to travel back as if I were moving forward, so I put it back in neutral, as Himself pulled the dingy and buoy through behind the starboard hull, and I was free to manoeuvre into the narrow channel.

 

And we were off. Keeping well to the starboard of the channel so as to give incoming vessels room to use it as well. We are 6.8 meters wide, so take up almost all the channel, but the locals are now used to us, and most of them know I always keep as far starboard as I can – constrained by depth of rudder.

 

Out of the channel, and Himself raised the jib then the main. The wind was on the nose. LOL. Surprise surprise! :lol: Just enough to fill the sail, but not enough to push the battens through. The water was almost glass, with slight ripples and the odd eddie keeping me on the watch for submerged branches. (We get a few in the harbour). I had turned the depth sounder on, and was keeping a close eye on it. The tide was pulling us out towards the bar, but I had the pipi bed between me and the entrance, and as long as I could stay off that I reckoned I was okay.

 

The motor was killed, and raised out of the wake, and we were finally under way. :angel:

 

We did some long slow tacks down the Harbour (Sth), sailing at around 2-3kts, just holding our own against the tide. Factoring in tide pull while drifting just adds to the fun. 8)

 

I was on a starboard tack heading for Matakana Island as I noticed the depth was dropping. The pipi bed marker was well abeam to port. I have maintained all along that the pipi bed extends some way south of the marker – a Western Cardinal, although Himself has been of a differing opinion. As the depth continued to drop, I started to consider my alternatives, and informed Himself that the motor needed to go down. Suddenly, the boat stopped, then moved, then stopped again.

 

“Start that motor NOW” I called as I dropped the helm and raised the centreboard. “We're on the bottom. Rudder UP.”

 

As Himself did his part, I was still hauling on the centreboard line. It takes me a bit of omph to get it up sometimes. :wink:

 

Motor down and running – in gear, Himself was at the helm, and we stopped again. :twisted: “Whats happening?” I thought. A quick look over the back sorted that out. :wtf:

 

“Rudder up.” I called again.

 

Now the rudder was wedged on the bottom, and Himself was having trouble hauling it out. :roll: Finally it popped out of its home, and we were off the bottom again. Under motor we manoeuvred off the pipi bed, and once rudder and centreboard were down again, and Himself safely settled on the helm, I went below to make a couple of sandwiches. I was hungry and figured Himself must be too. The young fella had already helped himself to a sandwich while we were busy.

 

With my sandwich in hand, I returned to the cockpit, and ate it where crumbs are easy to clean up (Yes – us girls think of such things!). Then, still hungry, I went below to fix Himself a sandwich. With that in one hand and the helm in the other, I left him to his helming and went back below to calm the growling tiger in my own stomach.

 

No sooner had I made my sandwich, that I heard a scratching sound on the bottom of the boat.

 

“We're on the bottom” I called as I rushed out the hatch. I grabbed the centreboard line and lifted it again, as Himself tacked away. The young fella ran out onto the tramp and stared at the depth sounder. “Yeah. Zero point nine” he called.

 

We were on our way again.

 

The rest of the day went without further mishap. We tacked down the harbour until we reached the ketch which was anchored in the channel just SE of Kauri Point. Then we tacked around him and eased onto a reach. Then the wind died again.

 

Most of the time we were motorsailing. There was just not enough wind to keep us moving against the tide.

 

Without the motor on, under Genniker, jib and main (both of which were really not doing anything, and Himself was holding the Genni trying to keep it filled, while I played the helm and tried to keep us off the semi hard stuff) we were doing around 2.5kt. We were moving slightly faster than the seaweed which was on its way out of the harbour.

 

Hmm - I did not want to be on my way out of the harbour with it!

 

We got to where you need to decide whether go under or over the pipi bed, and the tide started to exert more influence. Himself was on the bow putting the Genni away, and the figures on the depth sounder started to slowly drop. I called out to Himself to stop what he was doing, that we were getting into shallower water, and he jumped over the back and started the motor again. I was not keen on another close encounter with the pipi bed!

 

Then the wind suddenly decided to play. And we had a nice fast reach up to where we absolutely had to drop the sails before heading back to our mooring.

 

Just inside our channel and the rudder was on the bottom again, so we had to pull it out and motor the rest of the way with only the outboard tiller extension.

 

I nosed us up to the mooring. Himself gave me the slow down signal, and as I was already in neutral, I waited until he reached over before I popped it into slow reverse, then out again. The bow swung around on him, and he was trying to get his hand on the mooring line as it slipped beneath the bobstay. I was awaiting instructions, and once given was able to put her back into forward and poke the bow back around making his retrieve a little easier.

 

Finally we were attached, and the motor was off. It was so quiet! :thumbup:

 

Top speed was just over 8kt yesterday. We were out there for about 4½ hours. As always, something exciting happened. Never a dull moment around here! :oops:

 

M

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Well, no sailing this weekend. By Friday I was getting a little scratchy one could say. I had not been down to see RO for 9 days.

 

So on Saturday morning, I organised with Himself that he would take my car to work, so I could use the ute to transport the dingy down to the yacht. And down to the yacht the young fella and I went.

 

While I sat out on the tramp, enjoying the sun, the young fella made me a coffee. Then I lazed about, listening to Sinead O'Connor on the stereo, while sipping cappacinno and watching the spectacle.

 

As another thread has mentioned, it is a super full moon tonight. She is the closest to the earth that she will be for this year. As such, she is having rather a large effect on the tides.

 

What this means for where we are moored, is that as it is such a shallow channel, when the tide is super low, the boaties can have trouble navigating it.

 

I spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting away to several boaties as their fizzies ran aground just off RO. One guy said as he pushed his boat along "I used to punt on the Avon". "Looks like you did it well" I replied.

 

Everyone was in a reasonably good humour, no one was swearing at the super low tide, and most boats had caught a good bag of fish - from the reports we got back.

 

We headed home soon after low tide, and Himself arrived home soon after us.

 

I discussed with him, in a disjointed manner due to continuous interruptions from the short fella, the possibility of a quick drive up to Auckland to pick up the solar panel that we had agreed to purchase off JG. Himself agreed.

 

So a quick txt to Pedro (which was answered this morning lol) and we were on our way in the car. We had to stop for money and fuel - 2 stops - but arrived at Westhaven just inside 2 hours. Just in time to catch Sailors Corner before it shut and drop off that dratted dingy key for Pedro, then a quick run back to Burnsco to look at their specials, culminating in the purchase of a new stereo for my lovely lady.

 

Then around to the marina, where we did the deal on the solar panel, and up to Ponsonby as directed to find some nourishment.

 

A 15 minute wait at murder burger saw us all with a tasty meal, and we were on our way home again. No mishaps, and home just before 8pm. A 5 hr round trip.

 

This morning, after the supermarket run which I was supposed to do yesterday, but couldnt due to the fact that my handbag with all my cards in it was in the car in Waitoa, and a check on my SOL boat to set DC's, and we went down to RO with her new toys.

 

The plan was to go for a sail if the wind looked to be playing, or to install said new toys.

 

Well, there wasn't much wind - so Himself sorted out the solar panel while the young fella and I removed the old stereo and installed the new one.

 

Now some of the wiring was a bit different, so I actually had to think about it a bit. But finally, the new stereo was fixed in place, and turned on. Now I got sounds!!!! :D Not only that, but I got a panel to charge the battery so I can have sounds whenever I want.

 

Came home for a sleep. Just writing this before I have something to eat, then rush down to work till 3:30 tomorrow morning. Work is picking up, and Himself is back on 6 day weeks.

 

Although we cannot take RO out sailing, she is not feeling neglected - I am buying her off with new toys. :lol:

 

Till next time

M

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Sailing day 25

 

Well, we have been out for a couple of sails in the last month or so – 4 to be exact. I did start to write up sailing day 22, but fell asleep, and never got around to finishing it.

 

Now, at last, the kiwifruit season is over, and I am trying to get my body to readjust to sleeping at night, and being awake during the day. We are hoping that the weather will play the game for us on the weekends so we can go sailing.

 

We took one of the young men from work out for a sail for sailing day 24, and he loved it. A total greenhorn from Germany, he was blessed with a couple of hours sailing in light breeze and an overcast sky which became rain. We all returned wet and cold over a lumpy bar after only being out there for about 1.5hrs. We hope to get him out on the water again before he returns home to Germany, and give him a real taste of multi sailing . . .

 

What should have been Sd 24 became broken rudder day – we slipped the mooring with a strong side wind that made steerage difficult without the rudder. As soon as we had enough (just) water beneath us, we put the rudder in, and before I could get steerage with it, there was a loud “BANG” accompanied by us coming to a complete halt. Up with the rudder to find it delaminated 2/3rds of the way up, and somewhat dangly. Sailing was of course called off, and Himself had another major rudder repair job on his hands.

 

Back to Sd25 . . .

 

We got a phone call mid week before Queens Birthday weekend from one of my sailing mates from the Waikato Yacht Squadron. We had never sailed together on the same boat, but competed in the friendly social racing, and enjoyed one another's company regularly aprez sailing. So I guess she is really my aprez sailing buddy :wink:

 

She was coming up to Waihi with her husband for the weekend to visit her Mum, who was having a big birthday, and was wondering if we were planning on going for a sail, and if not, if they could visit anyway. We replied that of course we would be sailing if the weather was favourable, and that it looked best on Sunday. So the plan was laid that they would come on Sunday.

 

I toddled off to work at 1730hrs on Saturday night, arriving back home at 0400 on Sunday morning, and promptly fell into bed in order to get a few hours zzzds before going sailing. I do tend to be a bit short on tolerance if I get less than 4 hours sleep.

 

Himself disappeared down to the boat when he got up, and the young fella disappeared to some friends to play. I slept.

 

0930hrs, and Himself had cooked some breakfast, so I got up and had a coffee and some food, then settled back for a snooze until our friends arrived.

 

Himself went back to the boat to muddle around, and the young fella was given instructions to be home by midday. I woke naturally about 1130hrs, and had a nice hot shower, then got ready to welcome our guests. The house a shambles from 2 months night shift, I did a quick tidy up so the place did not look like a bomb had hit it.

 

1230hrs and they were here. Mr buddy had a moonboot on, so decided he would not come with us, but would watch from the top of the Bowentown heads (well, as far as he could get by car). We headed down to the boat in convoy, and I emptied the car of the sailing gear while they oohhed and aaahhed over the boat. Then we walked down to as close to the boat we could get without getting our feet wet, and Himself released the dingy and let it float back to us – the wind was from the SW and the dingy complied by coming straight over to us.

 

RO was ready to go – motor running and mooring 2/3 slipped, just one line for Himself to slip and we were on our way. Water was 2 hours post low, so we were able to put the shiny new looking rudder in once we passed the first channel marker, and I finally had full control at the helm. We motored up and around towards Anzac Bay, preparing the sails for hoisting on the way. The hope was to take her over the bar to stretch our legs and get some real sailing in, but we could see the bar was standing up quite a bit, and as the tide was so low, we decided to just stay in the harbour again and reconsider going out a little later.

 

Up went the main and jib, and I rounded her off to head down the harbour. We were not far from the heads, and afforded a good view to anyone who was on the beach or up the top. No sooner had I found the wind and eased the sheets to our point of sail, than RO took off. My friend had a grin on her face that spoke volumes, and we were shooting down the harbour at over 15kts.

 

Queens Birthday weekend is a big weekend for the Waihi Beach fishermen. They were out in force, littered all over the harbour, 'cause they couldn't get out over the bar either. So we were blatting along at 15kt+, playing Russian Roulette with the fizz boaties.

 

“What's that white thing in the water up there?” I asked my crew. Without my glasses I cannot tell if something is a bird or a buoy – I either need my glasses, or my crew to be able to define obstacles when sailing – adds an extra dimension to the excitement. :D

 

“I think it is a buoy” said the young fella.

“Either a net or a long line” replied Himself.

 

As we got closer we could see a second buoy, so I headed up into the wind to sail around it, just in case it was a net.

 

Past the buoy and back with sails full and we were off again. Straight into the hole off Kauri Pt. It seems that the big gusts we get around Anzac Bay and Pio steal their wind from Kauri Pt and south, so we dropped into a hole and sat there. I looked at the trees on Matakana Island, and could see from them that we were now going backwards, so Himself jumped down the well and started the motor until I was back into the breeze again.

 

A nice sedate sail up to just before the pipi bed, and the wind kicked in again. Then we had another wild ride back to the point of Anzac Bay. We looked out at the bar and decided against it, so tacked around to repeat the run again.

 

We did 3 awesome fast runs down the harbour topping out at 17.7kts, checking each time on our return to Anzac Bay to see if we could cross the bar, (big discussions every time :) ) before we headed up inside the channel after our last blast down the harbour, and dropped the sails.

 

Sails down, tide incoming, lee shore, motor running at about 85% to keep us on course. Tide was high enough to go to the mooring with the rudder down, which helps with manoeuvrability with a strong side wind. Himself wanted me to go straight to the mooring, with the strong side wind and the tide pushing me in I was not keen, but headed high and tried to let us float over the mooring. Himself called that he had it, and next thing I see the dingy disappearing behind us, and realised he did not have it at all. :shock: We were moving very fast towards Lynx, and we had to get her around as fast as we could. The young fella and our guest ran forward to fend us off, himself jumped over the back, and I brought the rudder hard round as Himself brought the motor hard round and gunned it.

 

We avoided calamity by about 1.5 meters, too close for my liking, and were now heading against the tide, and into the wind towards the mooring buoy. Himself ran forward and with the help of the young fella who jumped into the dingy, they managed to retrieve the boat hook which was attached to the mooring line, and secured us to the mooring.

 

Phew. Never a dull moment.

 

Our friend had a bit of a laugh at the boat hook – it is very bent now.

 

Boat secure with everything stowed away, we headed back to shore, and home where a celebratory bottle of bubbles was shared amongst old sailing friends. Her men folk arrived to pick her up, and another glass of social lubricant was shared with sailing yarns and general light hearted razzing before they left us to it. My friend had a huge grin on her face. I reckon it is probably still there. :thumbup:

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Sailing Day 29

 

It has been a few years since we went winter sailing.

 

When we had the Wee Tri, we would get up at dawn on a cold and frosty morning, have some breakfast, and tow the boat 40 minutes to Lake Arapuni for a sail. Those days may have been cold, but they afforded us some of the nicest sailing weather that we experienced. :thumbup:

 

Having Hi Soon up at Kawakawa Bay for the summer, and bringing her home for maintenance in the winter precluded easy access for winter sailing. It took us a couple of hours to rig her, mainly because we only did it once a year and never really got the hang of fast rig ups.

 

The other factor was the bulb. She could not be pushed off the trailer, she needed to be floated off. It was hard to find a ramp that was steep enough to successfully launch her around the lakes. Add to that the fact that once the centreboard was bolted down it was not an easy lift if you DID hit soft stuff . . . :thumbdown:

 

So we are rediscovering the joys of winter sailing, and discovering the joys of ocean winter sailing. Calm seas, flat bars, steady gentle breezes. Once we are rugged up in our warm gear, there is little difference to a warm summers day . . . except the weather is better. :lol:

 

We packaged up the wireless Nexus instrument and sent it off to Kiwi Yachting last week for repairs. So when I turned on the instruments yesterday, there was none of the usual “beep” and I remembered – “ahh, they wont work without the little black box”. :shifty:

 

Essentially, this meant that we felt we were sailing blind. No problems at high tide as we know the channel, but at low tide, it was pure guess work as to how much water was beneath us. Looking over the side, like the old days, attempting to gauge the depth with the eye-ometre adds an extra dimension to the joys of sailing. :wink: I know that when the water is clear, I can see down to about 3 meters with my polaroids on. But often the water is murky, and I cannot even see the bottom when it is half a meter down. :problem:

 

But. When the weather Gods give you such a perfect day, you go sailing, with or without instruments. :thumbup: :sailor:

 

We slipped the mooring about half an hour after high tide, rudder down, breeze from the West, jib up as soon as we were out of our channel. Himself at the helm, and I got to do some crew work. As we slid past Anzac Bay I started raising the main. I almost got it all the way up, but set like grannies baggy britches, Himself had to finish it later once my error was obvious. :oops:

 

We got the cameras out yesterday, so I will let the pictures tell the story . . .

 

The young fella at the helm:

 

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Under sail with the young fella at the helm - it was a great day to build his confidence :D :

 

 

It's winter! :P

 

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What is that thing in the water? Is it a log?

 

No.

 

Is it a dead dolphin? :?: :?:

 

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Let's get closer and have a look. No, it's a . . . :?: :!: :!:

 

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Then the sea became oily . . . :wtf:

 

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Not quite glassy

 

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The wind dropped :problem:

 

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The iron sail was deployed :thumbdown:

 

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Himself on the bow :wink:

 

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The young fella at the helm again :D

 

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My two boys - one at the helm checking the GPS to make sure he was still in line for the outer marker, the other . . .

 

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The tricycle with three sails

 

 

 

 

 

Then the wind came in again to give us a close reach up to the outer marker buoy, then beating up to the inner marker buoy at the bottom end of an ebbing tide. :thumbup: We lost the wind and deployed the iron sail again, dropping the sails, raising the rudder as we neared the mooring, to complete the day motoring in about 500mm of water up to our mooring.

 

23.7nm, top speed of 11.3kt.

 

What a perfect day for a sail . . . Just under 4.5 hours of pure perfection :wave:

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