Hello All,
We just got back from an epic weekend on the boat. We made it out to "Izzy" bay on friday night after a short motor in mill pond conditions. The next morning, after a leisurly breakfast, we decided to sail around Motutapu to an island we had never been to before, Rakino. Rakino is Northeast of Rangitoto and Motutapu and Northwest of Waiheke but pretty close. There are two good bays on the west side of it. Pictured is "Woody Bay" which Secret Agent Man has all to her self. Amy and I walked on the ridge road and checked out most of the island. It is all private and there is only 16 people living there. I would guess there are more in the summer because it is beautiful and very close to Auckland. We got back to the boat in the late afternoon and easily caught a choice snapper for dinner. We did almost get blown out of the bay in the early hours of the morning Sunday which was a bummer. The forcast was for NE 20 kts (045.) I didnt hear a squall warning on the radio that evening and we got hit by a big cloud. It blew hard fort a while from west of north. I heard a report of 330 degreese from Channel island. SO it was anchor watch time for me in the wee hours of the morning while Amy slept. There were no dramas though and later that morning the rain let up for our trip home...
That is until I was turning the boat into her slip. We were comitted to our docking maneuver when we got hit with a torrential rain squall. Luckily we had our Musto foulie bottoms on but as we tied up the boat it rained really hard and we got soaked and had a nice laugh. It was nothing the diesel heater and some hot soup couldnt fix and we have another epic weekend on the boat in the middle of winter.
Cheers
Eric