Wairahi Bay

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Thu 19 Nov 2020 04:11

Position:  36 12.74 S  175 20.42 E
At anchor Wairahi Bay, Great Barrier Island
Wind: SW F5. Sea calm. Swell nil. Weather: Mostly sunny

On Tuesday evening, with the Smokehouse Bay anchorage getting very crowded and seeing our friend Shirley making for Wairahi Bay, we decided to up anchor and follow her. But, as we heaved in the anchor we found the chain fouled in a big knot and had to slowly motor clear of the anchorage to heave the lump on board and untangle it. Somehow the chain had managed to tie an overhand knot in itself which is a first for me. After much head scratching wondering how this could have happened, I concluded that the anchor had only partially buried and, in the shifting wind and tide, Sylph had wrapped some turns of chain around the anchor then, as we were hauling the cable in, the anchor with knot was heaved up and then the anchor slipped through the turns and created the knot. I had to disconnect the chain from the anchor, untie the knot and then reconnect the cable.

Once the cable was clear we continued into Wairahi Bay and dropped anchor at 1915 in six meters about half a cable from Speedwell of Hong Kong. We enjoyed a very pleasant evening catching up with Shirley and then last night had Shirley, and Hurgen and Jill from Morwenna of Cape Town on board for a meal, some wine including Shirley’s excellent home-made vintage, and much convivial conversation. This morning we caught up with Mong and Jenny from Ella of Auckland who we had also met in Docklands 5 before the lockdown. So, in all, it has been a very social couple of days.

The plan from here is to remain at anchor while the fresh S to SW breeze blows itself out and then on Saturday, if the forecast light westerlies proves correct, we will aim to start our passage south.

Speedwell of Hong Kong

m_Speedwell

Morwenna:

m_20201118_125741

and Ella:

m_20201118_125741 - Copy

All is well.