Safiya in Auckland New Zealand
Safiya
Harvey & Sue Death
Sat 21 Oct 2017 00:38
last Tuesday at 9.30pm. We had lively winds most of the way and spent the
first half of the journey heeled right over making life in general very
difficult - cooking, sleeping, showering etc are all very challenging when
the boat is on its side, the benefit of this of course is that we were
sailing very fast!
In the middle of the week we had one day of respite and no wind when we were
able to rest and get ready for the next onslaught which came as we
approached Auckland and we experienced possibly the roughest seas of our
journey so far with waves breaking right over the sprayhood. Sitting below
all that could be seen through the windows was foaming green water, and I
felt very much as if I was in a washing machine.
Battered and tired but safe and sound we were very pleased to get to
Auckland. The majority of the fleet aborted the trip to Auckland and docked
up in the North of New Zealand and we were the first Oyster to arrive in
Viaduct Marina.
Auckland is a very vibrant City with a huge choice of restaurants and bars.
The weather has not been great since we arrived with a biting cold wind and
we've been wearing every layer we possess. Hopefully this will improve as
summer officially starts here on 1st November. The weather hasn't been very
conducive to outdoor activities and we've spent the last few days carrying
out maintenance on the boat. After sailing half way around the world and 9
months at sea it is time to thoroughly check through the boat.
We will be in New Zealand until April. We are having some warranty work
carried out in November- luckily Auckland is a centre of excellence for
marine trades, on a par with the UK.
The marina was originally built for the Americas Cup and is very
conveniently located in the Centre of Auckland so we will be using the boat
as a base to explore the North Island. Next month while the works are being
carried out, Declan will oversee it as were are going travelling in South
Island.
We were lucky enough to see the Americas Cup which is currently housed in
the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron club house.
