It was a cold start to the morning and again very calm, so we ended up having to motor sail another day. We did have the gennaker up, but needed the engine on, otherwise we would not get to the anchorage before dark. We started out before 6:30am and at that time we were the third boat leaving the bay with a fourth boat following us out. Obviously, everyone else had the same idea to start off early.

We saw the flocks of birds again and this time Neil decided to drive right through the middle of them to see if there were fish there and that was what was attracting the birds to stay so close together. There was thousands of them around us and they made weird little squeaky noises. We could not see any fish and so it didn’t give us a reason why there were so many together.

It was another cold trip south to Great Barrier Island and I spent a lot time downstairs today. I and the cockpit cushions were also downstairs, as Neil decided to clean the teak cockpit seats, hand rails near the companion way and the toe-rail that is on the deck and goes around the boat. Neil only cleans the teak properly once or twice a year and only he will do it, as he is very particular about how it is done so the teak is not damaged, just like he is particular about anyone touching the antifouling on the hull.

Much to my horror, the amount of mess made from scrubbing the wood which looks like oily, muddy water has now made my clean cockpit and deck look like a dried up mud bath. Even the sides of the hull are dirty from the water running down, the jammers and sunbrella cover for the cockpit table are all spotted with mud. The other problem is that the brown/yellow water that comes off the teak has residual stain and oil from the teak as it used to have varnish on it. This brown/yellow water often stains the fiberglass yellow/orange colour if not washed off immediately. I often complain to Neil about when the rain gets in the cockpit and the teak gets wet, as I have to mop up the yellow water before it stains the fiberglass, otherwise once dry, I have to get fiberglass cleaning products to remove the stain. So it looks like Echo Echo might arrive in Tauranga looking very dirty, unless I get motivated to clean her again or Neil cleans some of it. It frustrates me no end, how fiberglass absorbs anything spilt on it. Especially things like red wine and coloured foods, even if you pick them up when they are wet. It also doesn’t help having white fiberglass. Maybe it is good I am leaving the boat soon, as I will not have to be worrying about keeping the white fibreglass clean and looking good. I think keeping a house clean is way easier than a boat or maybe I am just a clean freak!

We are still having problems with our autopilot and now the chart plotter. I am not sure if they are related problems. As we came into the bay today the chartplotter screen upstairs froze and so I had to get my ipad chart up and working, plus refer to the chartplotter downstairs. We have anchored in Smokehouse Bay at Great Barrier Island and it is a lovely location. Very protected and calm. If we had more time and our dinghy down then it would great to explore the island. It is a large island with many bays to anchor in and explore. We hope to visit here again when we come back to the boat. Tomorrow, we will go out the other way between cliffs through a narrow pass and head south again.