37 02.90S 175 56.09E - Slipper Island
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Thu 29 Mar 2012 09:21
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Finally broke the ties with Tauranga! The dry weather is
continuing this week and it would be ideal for sanding the deck, but it's also a
good weather window to head north, and they have been few and far between. So
the lines were cast off and we headed out of the marina yesterday evening to
anchor just outside, to stow all the ropes and fenders and get the
boat ready for an early start today. As there are still over 100 lost
containers somewhere in the sea, hopefully on the sea bed, the
message repeatedly given out here is to be cautious and keep a very
good look out for them and any other debris still floating around. So
it's day sailing until well clear of the area. Today we sailed 40
miles north and are anchored on the western side of Slipper Island - a
small island about 2 miles off the coast that gives good shelter from
the current south easterly winds. We had expected a very gentle sail, good to
get us started again, but the wind was brisk on the starboard quarter
or directly behind, with quite a boisterous cross-seas swell which did
it's best to collapse the sails we had up. So it was straight back
into downwind sail with both genoas set and the windward one polled
out. This gave a good speed, 6 to 7kts, most of the time and we arrived her
quite early at 14.00.
There's still talk of a big storm arriving from the
tropics early next week, so we're not hanging around and hope to be on our
way again tomorrow, and be somewhere very secure by Sunday, should this storm
head for NZ.
 A fly past for the 50th Anniversary of the New
Zealand Air Force.
 Aurora B anchored on the western side of Slipper
Island.
 Above and below - pictures of Slipper
Island.
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