NZ retrospect: The Storm
05 May 2015 | Ashby's Yard, Opua, Bay of Islands
Our longer than expected stay on the hard meant we had missed the dry weather and the first of a number of very wet windy fronts started to cross NZ. The yard managed to antifoul the hull in-between showers and we were lowered into the water again. Yes! a fridge, showers, and operable head for night wees.
We settled back into a berth and felt clean and warm for the first time in some weeks. The weather was still damp and there was a Low making its way to the top of NZ and threatening high winds and heavy rain. We finished what we could on deck and prepared for wet weather. It was then that Paul's foot went through the floor of the starboard lazarette, bugger! The only solution was to head back to the Ashby's dock for repairs. The next morning we motored to the yard and were directed to a dock which we were to share with a very large cruiser that was having a major refurbishment.
At the time we were feeling sorry for ourselves - we had only just managed to get away from the yard. As it turned out, we could not have been better placed for the coming days. The next morning the easterly wind started to increase to a sustained 50 knots and then the rain followed. By the evening it was blowing up to 80knots and the rain was relentless. Boats on moorings heeled and strained in the wind and logs started to flow down the bay but because we were tucked behind the cruiser we were sheltered from the brunt of the wind and pelting rain.
The Low stalled north of NZ for 4 days and caused major flooding, damage to buildings and roads, and sunk 3 boats in Opua. At one stage during the storm several motor boats lifted their 4 ton moorings and bounced them across the bay. The wreckage and flotsam were impressive when it was over. We had survived without a scratch and our repair was completed the next day. Several months later in the Abel Tasman we cleaned the hull - it had been too cold prior to then - we literally peeled a half centimetre of sediment from the hull due to that storm.