Northern New Zealand is nice this time of year, the days are cool and crisp and the flurry of coastal activity has mostly come to a halt. 'Boaties' (that's kiwi speak for anyone on any type of boat) seem to only go out on weekends now, perhaps because it gets dark so early. Most of the cruising yachts have left for Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It seems fitting that we spend the final few nights of our trip around New Zealand in the quite solitude of empty anchorages.
It has been two long months since Tenaya was free from docklines. During the time she was corralled in Gulf Harbour she was constantly busy. Even while we were in California for three weeks, she had regular visitors. New sails were bent on, a new canvas dodger was fitted, a new and heavier anchor replaced our bent one and a new instrument panel was installed. The bowthruster, water heater, watermaker and generator were all repaired, but not without multiple visits from the technicians. She came out of the water for new bottom paint but, to our surprise, she didn't need it. The Micron 66 from last year was holding up just fine. 4 mm of travel was detected in our prop shaft, too much according to Vernon of SeaQuip. His fix has finally quieted the disconcerting hum that came from that area.
We could have blasted up to Opua on an overnight passage but we chose to stop at Kawau Island, Tutukaka and Whangamumu to make sure everything is working properly before we head offshore. So far, so good.
Once we have provisioned, we will be ready to check out of the country and head north. It is sad to be leaving New Zealand as we've had two wonderful summers exploring by land and sea. But, we had an amazing time in Vanuatu last winter and are looking forward to continuing our travels further up the island chain.
We have finished our recap: Sailing to Fiordland and Stewart Island, what you need to circumnavigate New Zealand. Click here to download the 17 page PDF file:
Sailing to Fiordland and Stewart Island