Position: 35 10.79 S 174 01.48 E
At anchor, Crowles Bay, Te Puna Inlet
Wind: SW F5-6
Sea state: slight Swell: nil
Weather: mostly sunny, mild
Day’s run: 10.1 nm

The front passed through at around 0200 but there was not a lot of wind in it and Sylph remained quiet at anchor throughout the night. This morning, on the other hand, the wind freshened significantly, and while the forecast was for SW winds, the wind was funnelling up the channel in more of a SE direction, which in turn  was blowing Sylph to within about 20 meters off the rocks on the northern side of Waiwhapuru Bay. I was not at all comfortable with this situation and I figured I had two options: weigh and re-anchor nearby in the same bay, or weigh and anchor in another bay. I decided on the latter. I was planning on making for Crowles Bay in the next day or so to meet up with Annie who had moved Fan Shi there to seek shelter from the strong SW winds (her regular mooring in Matauwhi Bay is open to the SW). While Crowes Bay was eleven miles away and we had to cross four and half miles of wind-swept water with a significant chop on it, I figured I may as well move there today and save an extra round of weighing and setting the anchor.

Consequently, at 1128 I weighed anchor, motored into the wind and set the main with two reefs. We then turned NW to head out of the narrow northern passage between Motorua Island and Moutkiekie Island. Once clear I shut down the engine and set a small amount of jib. As expected, the wind was strong out of the SW. It was a close reach across the open stretch of water before we reached the lee of Moturoa Island and relative shelter. I had decided to tow the dinghy rather than lash it on deck and this would have been fine as the dinghy tows very well and it was only a short distance. However, I had overlooked one thing, namely, I had forgotten to replace the bung in the dagger board casing which I had removed back in Sydney when I had taken the dinghy for a short sail in Rushcutters Bay. Without the bung in place every time the dinghy jumped off a wave, which was every ten seconds or so, a small spurt of water would leap out of the dagger board case and into the dinghy. Spurt by spurt the dinghy was filling with water. Fortunately by the time we were in the lee of Moturoa Island the dinghy had not taken on too much water and while she was squatting down by the stern a little, she was still towing comfortably.

It was a further five miles to Crowles Bay but now that we had gained some shelter in the lee of the land, the sea was much calmer. Also the course was now off the wind which allowed us to ease sheets, making for a more comfortable ride. At 1329 I handed sail and dropped anchor in 3.5 meters of water, some 150 meters astern of Fab Shi (Fan Shi has a shoal draft and can anchor a lot closer to the shore than us slightly deeper draft vessels).

Now that we are snug at anchor again, I have bailed out the dinghy and put the bung back in the dagger board case (though hopefully I won’t have cause to tow the dinghy in such bouncy conditions again for some time). This evening I will row over to Fan Shi to join Annie for sundowners and then return back on board for dinner.

We will likely stay here tomorrow then on Sunday find another place to explore within the island group. On Tuesday I plan to head back to Russell to revictual and then once we have a fair weather pattern we will start heading south towards Whangarei.

All is well.

Annie's distinctive little junk-rigged Fan Shi at anchor in Crowles Bay: