We went to Great Barrier Island for a week to shake off some of the rust on our skills as well as “break-in” stuff on Charisma after a six month layoff as well as just because it’s such a stunning place.

Well, success was declared on all accounts.  We broke the toilet, found the water maker to need some (minor) repair, made some abysmal choices in anchorages and paid for it in the middle of the night AND we had a fine week!  We really enjoyed the time spent there even though we now have a 28 item list of things we need to do before leaving for Fiji (OK, two of them we have already completed).

Chalk it up to more South Pacific Adventuring.  We both agree we want to go back to this place when we have more time to explore – maybe on our way back in November (when it will be summer down here and not quite so chilly).

To help ease our way back we had a fantastic 40 mile beam reach in 15-18 knots of wind and three foot seas, doing 6 and 7 knots all the way.  Truly a great way to end the week.

The anchorages were so pretty...

...I can't help but posting some.

The oysters, plucked right off the rocks, couldn't have been fresher or taste better with our evening Charisma.

The full moon smiled upon us.

The moonlit anchorages were magical.

Bye, bye Barrier Island. Hope to see you again soon.

And the dolphins came to say "goodbye, come back soon".

Yep, Bob is out fishing for snapper but no repeat just yet.

Our repeat refers to our moonlight dancing.
Goes like this:
“Ann, quick, get up, we need to move!”
“What? Again?”
“Yep, the winds have changed again.”

So up and out of bed, 1 AM this time, up to the helm waiting to follow Bob’s lead in the dance. I count the steps, kind of..really the depth (in feet) under the keel…
“18, 15, 9, 7, 5.6.” I try to keep my voice calm as Bob maneuvers Charisma away from the rocks. I count so he can keep his eyes on the water. Thank you again, almost full moon!

There were two other boats that joined our lovely little cove-turned-lee-shore. One was already headed to a safer bay as we left. We hope the other one got moving soon too. The wind was gusting and swirling and making it dangerous.

Again, thanks to the input from Gary in Riverside, Bob had some ideas for where to head next. It only took an hour and a half to up anchor and find a new spot and re-anchor. We are anchored below Mt. Overlook, where we hiked the other day.

We are getting good at this dance but sure hope the only dancing tonight will be to enjoy the light of the actual full moon in a safe cove. We don’t want to look too suspicious moving every night. Don’t want to worry our friends on the Customs patrol boat. 😉

We took an day off today and went ashore looking for a trail but couldn’t find one. But Bob collected oysters. We haven’t eaten any yet…busy catching snapper…I hope!

Yummy! Fresh oysters!

P.S. (from Bob)
It is now after dinner and I can report that the oysters were awesome as an appetizer with our Charismas. All I can say is they “taste of the sea”. Sublime!

Don’t do this.

Last night we had to relocate across the bay at 0430 because our anchor was dragging.  Sounds pretty benign when I sit here writing it, but the sheer adrenaline rush of seeing our neighbor – who was 200 feet behind us when we went to sleep – about ten feet away when the anchor alarm went off or so it seemed in the dark (for the third time) and I got up, yet again to check.  It had been going off regularly because the wind was shifting around 180 degrees and I had it set pretty tight since our anchor “set” was less than perfect.   How did that happen? Laziness, complacency, take your pick.  I was tired from our hike and having to already have raised the anchor earlier in the day.  The main thing was that I knew we weren’t set firmly but made myself believe that we were “OK” since we were in fairly shallow water and had a lot of chain out.  “This should hold in anything below 20 knots” was my thought.  Well, guess what?  It always blows 20 when you think it won’t.

So, my reward for faulty decision-making was a hasty departure at 0430 from Port Fitzroy where we were anchored.  There are a lot of moorings there and a couple other boats had the only clear spots in the shallower water, so I decided as long as we had to move, we would move big and go somewhere else.  Not a lot of fun to move in the middle of the night, in the rain, with squally wind (forgot to mention that part).  But that’s when it always happens.

So, Ann at the helm, me at the radar and plotting our course across the bay.  Fortunately our friend Gary from Whangarei had shown me some spots that were good for anchoring at Great Barrier Island and one of the ones he called “good holding” was Stoney Bay just across the bay.

(from Ann) So there I was, barely awake trying to see in the dark and rain and wind taking directions from the captain down at the radar. Thank God for a little moon light that really helped out. But very frightening to go into an unknown bay in the dark. Thank you radar. And yes, the penguins were obnoxious but funny… after we were anchored and ready to go back to bed! And how delightful to awaken to a lovely little bay a few hours later!

Back to Bob…
The only problem, it was close to pitch dark.  There was a moon but it was largely hidden behind the clouds (it always happens that way) so we were definitely flying blind.  And to compound things, this spot is popular with the penguins who were very unhappy there was a boat near their spot and were screeching at us as we approached.  Very distracting. Fortunately the radar was working along with the GPS otherwise it would have been a long couple hours “standing off” until daylight when we would be able to see where we were going.

So…long story a little shorter, we slowly entered Stoney Bay, not being able to see a thing, with the following plan: head straight toward the cliff using the radar to guide us and make a right turn to parallel the shore when we got to the 40 foot depth contour.  We would then move up the bay a bit (it’s not very big) and then drop the anchor.  The chart showed an underwater rock in that direction, so we didn’t way to go too far.

Well, fortunately it worked.  The only issue is, the 40 foot contour is only about 120 feet or less from the cliff.  Well, it’s like that here.  In Fiji, you have to anchor 1/2 mile out and then go over the reef in the dinghy to get in.  Here, you can almost jump off the boat to get ashore you anchor so close.  So we’re anchored, but when we swing we can almost reach out and grab a tree branch.  Well, not quite, but it feels like that.

All done at night.  Whew, don’t want to do that again soon.  So, learn from this.  Don’t be complacent with where you anchor.  Sweat it out and do it right.  You’ll sleep better at night.  Heck, you’ll sleep all night.

(more from Ann…)
And our reward for successful night time maneuvers…work! Yep! Bob spent the day repairing the head while I spent the day scrubbing first out waterline and then the ceilings and walls that I could reach without interrupting Bob. An exhausting but highly productive day!

Oh, and as I cleaned “toilet rags” in sea water on the deck we were visited by New Zealand Customs! They appeared racing into the cove and headed right at us. Do we really look that guilty? They boarded us and checked our import papers and passports and then segued to express disappointment in the America’s Cup outcome. Actually quite nice chaps just doing their jobs.

Nice guys, these NZ customs chaps.

OK, so I caught a fish, but the head’s broke.  What to do.  We’re batting .500 so far.

“Let’s go hiking”.  That was Ann’s vote.  “We can fix the toilet tomorrow when it’s going to rain”.  “OK” says I and we do.  Go hiking.

First we had to move the boat over to the other side of the bay to Kaikoura Island which is our target for the hike.

We found a pretty little cove to anchor in while we went ashore. I'm not used to anchoring so close to the rocks, but it's deep here so even though you can throw a stone to shore, you're still in 40 feet of I water.

Heading up the trail.

The view from the top was quite expansive. Yesterday's anchorage at Nagle Cove is in the background.

Looking out to the Pacific Ocean from the mountaintop.

With the telephoto, we can see Breem Head (where we came from) 40 miles in the distance.

Our selfie on the mountain. (Oops, I shouldn't stand so close to the wide angle lens - I look like a giant).

Along the way, we saw some of the most beautiful mushrooms ever!

So, overall a great day.  I caught a fish, we had a great hike and I postponed fixing the head ’till tomorrow.  The only issue right now is that since I had to haul the anchor out of 40 feet of water twice (150+ feet of chain – two cranks per foot equals 300 cranks times two, or six hundred cranks), it’s a three aspirin night.  I’m not in cruising shape yet.

P.S.  We’re sitting now tucked into Port Fitzroy (not really a port, more a little bay) and it’s fun – we can hear penguins screeching all around us.  There’s some rocks off to one side and a little island behind us and the penguins are there for the night.  Hilarious.

By the way, we have posted pictures in the “Hens and Chickens and Penguins!” Blog. Enjoy.

Yup, got up with the sun (more or less).  Beautiful morning anchored in a little bay by ourselves.  Calm, sun just throwing an orange glow on the clouds above the hills of the island.

Made a cup of coffee, grabbed my fishing pole and sat down to see if I could find a fish for dinner.  Dropped the line around the boat.  No joy.  Made a few casts and dragged the lure across the mud – got a little nibble at one spot but cast to a few others.  Nothing.  Decided to cast hard out to the area I got a nibble.  It’s in towards the rocks.  I let the line drop all the way then started to drag in toward the boat.

Nibble, nibble, then a gulp.  I jerked the pole to set the hook and the race was on.  This was a big-un.  I just watched as it unwound the line from my tiny spool.  I bought a little spinning rod/reel combo before leaving.  It’s fun, but anything heavy and you have to be very delicate.  So now, I have set the drag for as tight as I dare and am just watching as this fish drags it out.  It’s all I can do to sit still, but I kept saying to myself, “He’ll tired soon.”

So here I am, old man and the sea.  He did finally tire and I was able to reel him in.  Check it out. And yes dinner was delicious.  We’ll have the other half tomorrow.

I gotta think there's a fish out there somewhere...

...hey, something's happening here...

Hey, look at this! A snapper! I think they call them that because the have two rows of very sharp teeth.

So after that kind of start to the morning, what could go wrong?

The head broke.  Yup, the toilet won’t flush.  Well, that’s why we do a shakedown.  Better here than two days out on a ten day trip.  It’s the same problem as last year.  The copper rivet that holds the flapper valve seems to have disappeared.  I think I’ve finally figured this one out.  I put a little white wine vinegar in the water when we leave the boat to keep the water in the toilet from getting foul.  The problem is this stupid little copper rivet com combines with the vinegar to create…a battery!  Yup, electrolysis.  We leave for a few months and it corrodes away just enough to work until we’re a couple days out at sea and then – BAM – broken toilet.

So…we looked at a beautiful day and decided…to go for a hike.  It’s going to rain tomorrow, so why waste a great day when we can do it mañana.  Fortunately I have the spare part.

Another day, another boat project.

Oh yeah, it feels good to have the ocean under the keel again.

Charisma (and Bob) are happy to be heading out.

We’re at Urquarts Bay right now.  Moonlight on the water, gentle motion of the ocean.  Yeah, this is what it’s all about.

Bittersweet to part with our friends from Whangarei, but we’ll see most of them either up in Fiji or back in Whangarei in November. Thanks to the many that helped us leave the dock! Wish we had better Internet to put up all of the great pictures!

Bye, bye, Janette and Alistair - we'll miss you!

Rand, how are we going to survive without your wonderful bread!

Gary, thanks for the tips on where to go on Barrier Island and Herbert, if we don't see you in Fiji, we'll see you back in Whangarei in November!

Bob and Linda, we're looking forward to a season of cruising with you guys in Fiji. Hope to see you in Marsden in about a week for the "jump".