Leaving New Zealand - Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 2 May 2009 21:19
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35:18.854S 174:07.321E
Last Monday (4/27) the weather finally improved and
we left our cozy cove prison and motorsailed the short eight miles to Opua
and the Opua Marina. This is the same place we stayed when we first
arrived in New Zealand six months ago, so it's a bit of a homecoming.
Not only are Michael and Jackie on Lady Kay here, but Sue and John on
the new Storyteller (they made the big switch from a sailboat to a trawler) are
here as well. We've had quite a reunion this week including a few run-ins
with Tiny the taxi driver and the Fat Pig Winery.
Opua is definitely the place to be for
boaters. This is the place most boats in New Zealand
congregate before setting sail (or motoring in Storyteller's case) for the
South Pacific Islands when the weather turns cold (and cold it is with
a bit of frost showing up on the deck of the boat next door yesterday
morning). At the moment there is something like 50 to
100 boats waiting here in Opua for a good weather window before taking off for
Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia or Tahiti. Surprisingly, a good many
of these boats are American. We've met more American boaters in the
past week than we met sailing across the whole of the Pacific last year.
For sure we aren't the only Americans to love New Zealand.
All these boaters hanging around one small harbor
lends itself to a massive party atmosphere - reminds us of our World ARC rally
days. Speaking of rallies, we decided to
join a small rally for the sail to Tonga. The rally organization is called
the Island Cruising Association. Every season the ICA rally sails from New
Zealand to Tonga/Fiji/Vanuatu, then on to New Caledonia and back to New
Zealand. We remember seeing the ICA flag flying from boats we saw in
Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia last year, so the rally is familiar to
us. The price for the New Zealand to Tonga leg was right and we
have no obligation to stay with the rally beyond Tonga. We can
join the rally for additional legs later (Tonga to Fiji, for
example) if we choose to, but for now we've just signed up for the sail to
Tonga. There are only 20 boats in the group including Lady Kay,
Storyteller and Harmonie. The majority of the other 17 boats are Kiwis,
with a few Americans and Brits thrown in for good measure. There would
have been 21 boats in the rally, but one sailboat was lost sailing to Opua from
Auckland earlier this week. Unbelievably, the boat was only a few miles
from Opua when its engine quit and the crew didn't have time to react
before the boat was driven into nearby rocks. The boat sank in less
than three minutes. The couple on board was injured, but not critically,
and were rescued almost immediately by helicopter. It's hard to tell what
exactly happened since we heard the story 3rd, 4th or 5th hand, but we wonder
why they were motoring and not sailing and why they were so close to a lee
shore? The ugly weather here has led to more mayday radio calls than we've
ever heard in the space of three weeks before.
Since arriving here on Monday, another two low
pressure systems have rolled over us - that makes five in the past two
weeks. It's definitely time to move on to a warm place where nasty lows
typically don't go. The rally had planned to leave today, but the gale
force winds and rain kept us here for an extra day. The new plan is to
leave tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:30am. The weather looks good with southerly
winds. We'll be heading mostly north, so having the wind behind
us will be a very happy thing. We are as ready to go as we will
every be. The freezer is stuffed full as is most every other crevice on
the boat. The past five days of partying have prepared us well for the
next seven or eight extremely dry days of sailing. It is possible that we
will stop at Minerva Reef along the way, weather permitting. This is a
small coral atoll in the middle of nowhere. We've been told that anchoring
in the lagoon there is almost like anchoring in the middle of the ocean
with only the tiny surrounding coral reef for protection against the wind and
waves. Nothing like an extremely precarious anchoring spot to keep the
excitement in our lives.
That's the end of New Zealand for us - we are sorry
to leave, but at the same time, ready to go.
The next update will be from the high seas on
Monday.
Now that it's officially May 2nd in the US...Happy
Birthday Mom!
Anne
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