After a wonderful 6 weeks in South Africa, with the highlight of Phoebs and Dani’s amazing wedding, then a sunny April back in the Mettingham, with all the kids home for a very happy Easter, we are finally back at sea. It was the sunniest April on record in the UK which was blissful with all the Spring flowers out and the countryside looking stunning, while weather reports in NZ looked ghastly. We had to drag ourselves away, it was a busy time seeing friends and packing up the house after 30 years to make it respectable for renting out on Airbnb. What a monumental job decluttering our house!
We have had a manic week back in New Zealand, all while recovering from the time difference. We had to delay PolePole’s splash date because the solar panels hadn’t arrived yet. To my horror we found the cockroach infestation alive and partying even though the boat had been bug bombed 3 times! We had to clean 3 month’s worth of filth and dust from the boat yard, endless workers had been on board and bird’s nesting activity made a nasty mess too. We also had to provision for a year away….it has been hectic to say the least! We need a holiday!
A perfect weather window appeared departing Monday and Rowan was determined for us to take it. The solar panels got installed in between rain showers, the new air con for our hull was commissioned, as was our back up water maker. The yard squeezed us into a new splash time for 7am Thursday, very early for us still recovering from jet lag. We packed up where we had been staying, the same lovely Airbnb we stayed at earlier in the year.
PolePole splashed, all checks were done and we were water tight. The slipway was right next to the fuel dock, so we tied up and filled up our 800L of diesel into the two tanks and another 100L in Rowan’s new fuel bladder he had bought. We finally threw the ropes off to move to the other side of the Marina to our berth, only for Rowan to find that the one engine was stuck in reverse and chaos unleashed in the tiny area between all the boats. Luckily the yard guys who splashed us were about and jumped in a dingy to help us and got us into a tight fitting gap on the pontoon opposite. During which time we luckily only hit one of the marina post’s on our davit, which has given Stinky (Starlink satellite) a jaunty new angle but at least we avoided hitting any boats, a very close call! Not a great way to start the day.
Luckily our marine engineer who was still working on the new solar panels on the boat, discover the snapped gear cable on the engine and was able to get the only spare one in the country couriered up from Auckland. We had hoped to stay on board, but with ceilings still down and people all over the boat, our Airbnb hosts luckily said we could return for the night. Friday the workers all finished, the new gear lever was installed and we could start the massive clean up. Every evening we managed to meet up for dinner with various sailing friends at the marina restaurant, which was very sociable. We had to do our final fresh produce provisioning over the week end, packing away a year’s worth of UHT milk (100L), and tins of beans, tomatoes, coconut milk, not to mention gin, wine and beers, toilet paper etc. It was a manic week end with our customs departure slot booked in for 9am Monday. There are 20 boats waiting to leave the area on Monday, all heading up to the islands. Custom slots were all taken on Sunday and Monday. This is not a weather window to miss as it looks like another 10 days before another suitable window appears.
We saw off our English friends on Alia Vita on Sunday, who are also heading to Vanuatu, they couldn’t get a Monday slot with customs. In the afternoon Roy (Rowan’s cousin) and Libs came to say goodbye which was a good break from work. By the end of Sunday, the boat was looking a lot cleaner and most things were put away. We collapsed into bed, Rowan very excited about departing, I have to say I was too exhausted to even think about it.
Phil, who has crewed two passages for us now, joined us on the boat just after 8am today and by 9am we were in front of Customs at the Marina office. They had already checked out 4 boats. All went incredibly smoothly and by 10am we had launched, this time with both engines behaving! We motored out the Whangarei heads for the last time, such dramatic rock formations. We got the main sail up and we were off. The sea was pretty bouncy with good wind around 20knots, the main land soon faded away, we passed the Poor Knights islands, wondering how they got their name. We had a good sail all day and quickly got back into the rhythm of things.
I did the first shift until midnight, which meant navigating our way through the 50 odd boats leaving Opua, the other check out port up north. At 9pm it was a huge stream of boats mainly heading to Fiji and Tonga, and I had to cut right across it. Luckily I had a good gap between 9 boats, just one boat had a very intermittent AIS and gave me a start appearing rather close. Luckily I had full moon light and I could see the boat lights easily. No chance of nodding off on the watch and by midnight we were well clear of all the other boats. I hit my pillow and was asleep in seconds.
Sunset over the Whangarei Heads from our Airbnb
PolePole leaving the yard
PolePole splashing
We are off – a bit of sunshine as we leave the pontoon
Phil on watch as we wind our way through the marina
Leaving the manicured marina
Last view of the crazy Whangarei rock formations
Sails up, the boat ahead of us at customs
Leaving New Zealand behind
Crossing the path of the main Pacific Rally, the majority heading to Fiji and Tonga. PolePole is the orange dot just below the boat Overdraft that we were heading directly towards.
AIS showing the gap I had between the boats to cross the main flow of boats departing in this good weather window
Discover more from sailingpolepole.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
