Thursday May 2^nd, Mimiwhangata bay, Whangaruru    New Zealand  South Pacific Ocean 35:25:971S  174:25.030E 

Today’s Blog by Daryl (Time zone GMT+11.00; UTC +11.00)

After helping Richard with victualling for 3 days and incidentally blowing the budget to ensure the wine was suitable for the captain’s table , I was put to work emptying and restowing  the lazarette .. While historically this might also have served as the ship’s brig I was assured it was normal to serve time in the hole….

Our cruising from Auckland to Great Barrier Island and on to Whangaruru has been plagued by light breezes so not only has the donk , fondly referred to as the iron tops’l, been put through its paces , but also the revered code zero ,the captain’s new sail which definitely gave us a lift in performance. The wonderful Frog  is obviously all part of the heightened performance.

This has however led to changes  in my sleeping arrangements ….when first released from the lazarette I was promoted to the comfortable cabin amidships only to discover that the real function of this cabin is sail locker for the most important piece of equipment ….the code zero. In between times I was also offered the spinnaker as sleeping companion , but have now surrendered this back to Richard!

The weather has been sunny but not hot so pleasant for those used to the Channel. The inshore channel at Great barrier Island was pretty enough to warrant sharing the photo below

Tomorrow  we head through the Bay of Islands to Opua , but may again end up relying on the iron tops’l since we have been forecast wind from the North

More anon