Whangamata – Hauraki Gulf
I had prepared for the possibility of rough weather during the
trip up the East Coast of the North Island, but having made it safely to
Whangamata I began to relax and confidently look forward to long lazy days
working my way around into the relative safety of the Hauraki Gulf. Silly Man!
The first night in the tiny sheltered bay called "Boat
Harbour" in the Cruising Guide, just north of Slipper Island was a joy. A
second night in one of the outer bays of Mercury Bay was also pleasant in spite
of the occasional rain shower. But signs of what was to come began to make
themselves known as we passed through Hole in the Wall towards Great Mercury
Island. The forecast sounded ominous so we anchored in the main bay under the
cliffs as the wind began to build.
Over the next 24 hours more than 50 other craft anchored in
and around us and about this time we heard on VHF that a fishing boat out of
Tryphena had overturned and one crew was missing, presumed drowned. We stayed
put for four days. We did not have a lot of choice. Wonderful waterfalls
appeared over the cliffs after each downpour and two dolphins cruised by each
day to entertain us but all our fresh food was gone and without a fridge there
was only tinned food left.
On the forth day the wind had dropped to 35kts. Time to go! I
double reefed the main and we pushed our nose out of the Bay and headed for
Channel Island. The seas were huge but with wind and tide going the same way we
wanted to go ARCA was responding to the helm easily. Though threatening to crash
onto the stern the mountains of water behind us stayed where they were supposed
to be – outside the boat. We covered the first 25nm in little over four hours
and the GPS showed 9kts over the ground as we passed Channel Island.
Up ahead I could see a great band of dolphins advancing en
masse towards us. Suddenly out of the sky dropped hundreds and hundreds of
gannets in a great feeding frenzy. The dolphins had brought the fish to the
surface and the birds were having a field day.
About an hour later we sailed into the wind shadow of the
Coromandel Range and were suddenly becalmed. It seemed amazing that only a short
while earlier we had been weathering gusts over 40kts! When I went to start the
motor however, nothing happened. Upon investigation I found the fuel line loose
and air in the line. My attempts to bleed fuel lines had never been very
successful in the past, so I reported my situation on radio but advised I was
confident of getting to Waiheke Island without assistance. Ruthe Passage seemed
to be the best option and I checked I would have a favourable tide when I
arrived at the entrance. Imagine my consternation when part way through a
commercial fishing boat with trawling lines already deployed appeared straight
ahead. With no motor I would have preferred to stay in the centre of the channel
but he was bigger than me so I moved as close to the rocks as I dared and
thought rude thoughts long after he passed.
I chose a bay in the lee of Ponui Is to anchor for the night.
There were no dramas rounding up and dropping the anchor under sail. The people
on the next boat called out to stop "showing off" but later when I
explained to them why I hadn’t used my motor I could hardly believe my luck
when one of the scoffers admitted to being a mechanic on holiday and offered to
bleed the fuel line for me. My only bottle of Rum seemed a small price to pay to
be underway again the next morning.
