The wind got up during the night and swung us 180 degrees, leaving us much closer to the rocks, than when we went to bed. Aristo the yachties we met yesterday must have got very close to the rocks, they sent Rowan a message that they nearly hooked a lobster pot that was very close to the rocks! They departed way before us. We had a few phone calls and finally got going. The wind was not behaving entirely like the forecast, staying in the low twenty knots. Our plan had been to stay in a southern cove on Great Mercury Island but it was not going to work with the wind, so we decided to have a nice sail to the eastern coast of Great Barrier island, about 40 miles away. A lot of the coast on Great Barrier is closed to yachts currently because of the spread of an invasive seaweed. The eastern side is open to yachts, but does not get frequented much as it is exposed and only possible in calm weather. Although it was very windy today the wind was from the right direction and is going to be very calm for the next few days.
We had a good sail up, we had a reef in the main sail, so very easy going and we seemed to be doing 9 knots a lot of the way. We finally got to the bay we were heading for around 5pm, there was a lot more wind than we were expecting, but we got the anchor down overlooking a really long white beach, and some big houses tucked away on the hill side. There was a big swell but at long intervals, so it was not uncomfortable. There were no other boats we had the place to ourselves and a magnificent sunset.
Leaving our anchorage
We are getting very familiar with passing this Hole in the Rock
Our new friends on Aristo went to Coralie Cove on Mercury island where we were with Carol and Tim, they took this photo of us passing by
Rowan was desperate to hit 10 knots, but we never quite made it with our reef in the main sail
We might have given this huge Cargo ship a bit of a headache, we spent an hour getting closer and closer to each other as we crossed paths!
We finally arrive at our anchorage on the eastern side of Barrier island
Lovely long white beach
Gorgeous twilight with an almost full moon
Great sunset
Followed by stunning moonlight
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