Unfortunately, the Bay of Islands has only been where we sail to at the end of our cruising season and where depart from at the beginning of our cruising season. We are always in a hurry to either put the boat away so we can get home for the holidays or get all of the boat maintenance chores done so we can depart for the islands. While we have been able to go out and do day sails (sea-trials to make sure everything is working properly before we leave), this is the first year we have actually spent the night at anchor at a few of the many anchorages.

The islands that give the Bay of Islands their name have numerous bays - some large and some small to choose from depending upon the wind and swell. We enjoyed Pipi Bay in Moturua Island and Urupukapuka Bay in Urupukapuka Island. We got to see a pod of porpoises off Twin Lagoon in Roberton Island playing around another boat. The boat was stopped and the person on-board was leaning over splashing the water and the porpoises were coming up to him - amazing to watch.

As we approached Pipi Bay I realized we were looking at a catamaran drying out on the beach at low tide. The next morning the cat had floated and was gone. We had several other boats in the Bay with us including our good friends on SV Toccata. I used our anchorage in Pipi Bay to commission our water maker. We replaced the membranes this year since our product water quality had risen from 200ppm to around 550ppm TDS. While drinking water guidelines would say it is safe to drink the performance of the membranes were clearly deteriorating and so we choose to change them out before it got worse. I didn’t want to commission the system in the muddy marina water so the clear waters of this anchorage were perfect. We were happy to see product water between 150 and 200ppm TDS!

The next morning we motored over to Urupukapuka Bay, where we found a beautiful sand beach with no one else in the anchorage. By the end of the afternoon a half dozen boats had joined us. We launched the dinghy and went to shore to go for a hike along several of the many tracks that are maintained by local conservation groups. In addition to other hikers, we shared the tracks with sheep.

Depending on when we get a suitable weather window north, you can bet that we will try and get back out in the Bay of Islands and see more of these beautiful cruising grounds.