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Cruising NZ

November 2023 - March 2024
Sailing a 45ft sailboat around NZ, exploring islands, diving, and sharing our experience with mates along the way Read more
  • 110footprints
  • 1countries
  • 121days
  • 945photos
  • 53videos
  • 4.1kkilometers
  • 1.9ksea miles
  • 334kilometers
  • 138kilometers
  • 36sea miles
  • 5kilometers
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  • Cruising NZ
    Day 12

    Bland Bay - Oke Bay

    December 7, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today we made it to home waters.

    After some running repairs were made to a couple of small tears in the mainsail, we left Bland Bay to head into the Bay of Islands.

    Almost immediately the wind dropped away to nothing, so unfortunately there was a bit of motoring again today. We made a plan to stop on the southern side of Cape Brett to go for a fish and maybe a dive. As we approached the spot we had picked, we noticed some birds working. A quick change of direction and we were straight into some fish.

    We trolled for some kahawai and quickly pulled in 5 decent fish. We then thought we'd try a couple of deeper lures to see what might be deeper in this massive ball of fish we had found. We pulled up a couple of small snapper before Nathan hooked something significantly bigger, unfortunately it broke off so we didn't get to identify what it was, but best guesses were for a large snapper or a small Kingy. Jamie hooked a nice little pan sized snapper and with a boat full of fish we called it a day.

    We motor sailed around Cape Brett into Deepwater Cove where we planned to spend the night. We had one of the smallest kahawai for Sashimi, while three have been prepped to go into dad's smoker tomorrow (one gifted to mum and dad as a little koha), while the rest were filleted and have gone into the fridge.

    We moved spots down to Oke Bay after the South Westerly wind came in and made Deepwater Cove a bit uncomfortable. Vela cooked up the Porae from last night Chinese style with some courgettes and other goodies for dinner, and we watched the sun set with the R Tucker Thompson providing a pretty backdrop.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 13

    BOI Day 1 (the beginning)

    December 8, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We started today by ticking off a maintenance item. We pulled the mainsail down - something which hadn't been done since the boat was bought three years ago as it has an in-mast furler. After we figured out how to do get it down, we motored across to Doves Bay (getting a bit of work in on the way) where we met up with Nathan's parents.

    We received a delivery of essentials (beer, milk and some fresh fruit and veg) and handed over the mainsail to be delivered to a local sailmaker for some repairs and upkeep.

    A unexpected side-effect of dropping the mainsail was the foil clattering around inside the mast. After a little bit of problem solving we managed to stop this for the most part (otherwise there would have been no sleep on the boat) and we headed off to find a spot for a fish and a dive.

    We pulled into the Black Rocks, but unfortunately nothing was going on there for us, just a few undersized snapper on the rod. Nathan jumped in with his spear gun for a look around, but was only greeted with schools of Parore, two spot Demezel, and a couple of red Moki (which you aren't supposed to shoot as they're long lived and mate for life), and no sign of any crayfish.

    Vela put together a delicious snack player, and we cruised over to Tapeka to meet up with the owner of the boat for dinner. James and his family and friends have a bach booked for the week, and it handily comes with a mooring for Starling.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 14

    BOI Day 2 (the fish)

    December 9, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today was all about the fishing.

    An early alarm to get James' fishing boat in the water to see what kaimoana we could find. After a quick stop in Russell for some fuel, we set off. Target for the day - kingfish! And hoping to augment the catch with snapper and some other fish.

    Our first main stop was out at the nine-pin, where there were absolute scenes with masses of Parore on the surface feeding. We dropped our lines to the bottom in search of snapper, but only found fish just on the 30cm mark which weren't worth keeping. We did catch a number of rock cod (apparently a delicacy in China, but thrown away in NZ) Grandaddy Hapuka (delicious!) and also three eels (also something I'd usually throw back but James and his family were keen to keep).

    We tried a couple of lures after we saw a kingfish chasing a sinker back toe boat, but still no luck on that one.

    Sick of catching baby snapper, and keen to show a bit more of the bay to the visitors, we shot over to bird rock to see what was on the other side. We found amazing blue water on this side, so we parked up. Here we caught a few blue Maumau, a brace of pink Maumau, a couple more Grandaddy Hapuka, but we were still plagued by 30cm snapper. I'm hindsight, Nathan wishes he'd jumped in the water here with his spear gun to have a look around given how beautiful the water was.

    With a colorful bin full of fish (and empty of bait) we called it a day and went back to base.

    We spent the afternoon cleaning and eating the fish (in a range of different dishes) and playing at the beach and in the water. Ready for bed and a Sunday sleep in!    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 15

    BOI Day 3 (the finned friends)

    December 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today was about making finned friends.

    We started the day by splitting up. Vela went for a bike ride with James and his family, while Nathan and Jamie opted for a more chilled day on the boat. As Vela was leaving, a pod of dolphins came and played around the boat for about 30 minutes (are we lucky or what?!)

    The boat set sail for the sheltered area between Motukiekie and Moturua islands (fondly referred to by us as "the gap") and cruised there under sail at about 4kt - no rush, we had all day! We were greeted with tropical scenery and beautiful water.

    We went for a swim with the speargun and found another big fat Porae, and Nathan also decided to take a Parore to try - as we had seen them everywhere but didn't know if they were any good to eat. After about an hour in the water, Nathan and Jamie were knackered so swam back to the boat. On the way, Nathan gathered a few kina for the team back on shore to try.

    Before leaving, Nathan dealt to the fish and we were greeted by some very cool (and a little scary) neighbors - check the video!

    A late lunch of Parore wraps (delicious by the way) and we headed for home. The girls had made a pretty awesome little sand sculpture (got to remember not to fall in when we walk back to the boat later).

    Dinner was more fish from yesterday's efforts, including the eel (yum but a little finicky with all the bones) and the rock cod (aka shit fish) which were also pretty good. Full credit to the chefs!    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 16

    BOI Day 4 (island hopping)

    December 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today was a bit of a family day. The three families (boat family, James' family, and Jordi's family) split themselves between the yacht and the power boat and headed off to Roberton island (Motuarohia) for a picnic and an explore.

    When the yacht arrived, they found that the powerboat had been parked a bit close to shore and with the outgoing tide was a little bit beached. A slight learning curve still for James, but a pretty painless lesson really.

    After a quick snack on the beach, we split into two groups, one group walked up to the view point, while the other group explored the rocks. When the summit group returned, the rock explorers had found some decent sized crabs, which led to 30 minutes or so hunting crabs for tonight's hotpot.

    Afterwards we moved on to Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island for a drink and some lunch. After a quick walk to another viewpoint, and checking out the schools of Snapper, Trevally and Parore, we departed. We dropped a group back to the yacht while the main group headed for home base on the powerboat.

    The yacht group enjoyed a pleasant sail back in about 10kt of wind. A delicious hotpot for dinner which used up the rest of the fish from the other day, followed by a couple rounds of poker to round out the day.

    Forecast for the next couple days is for stronger wind, so we might be looking at some shore based activities.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 17

    BOI Day 5 (The Tour)

    December 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Very windy day today. So we left the boats where they were and had a little tour of Kerikeri.

    Nathan took the team to the Stone Store and Kemp house, and we went to the Plough & Feather for lunch. Afterwards we went for a walk around rainbow falls, then stopped in at Nathan's parents house to say hi to the cats.

    Finally we went up Pungaere Road to KeriCorn to get some fresh fruit and veg before heading back to base for dinner.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 18

    BOI Day 6 (Go Away Wind)

    December 13, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Another quiet day, trying to hide from the wind. Nathan's parents came over to Russell for lunch and to take Vela to the airport (off to Christchurch for her work Christmas party).

    After lunch, we set up a crayfish pot at the Black Rocks and left it to soak overnight before heading up the inlets looking for some shelter. We found a Blue Maomao and a legal snapper but that was all we managed.

    Early night.

    One small    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 19

    BOI Day 7 (Return to Roberton)

    December 14, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Last full day today with James and his family and friends. Nathan and James shot out for an early morning fish targeting kingfish - no luck - before returning to pick up the rest of the clan to head back to Roberton Island for the afternoon.

    James had a fish from the rocks while Nathan went for a dive. Nathan came out the winner, shooting a Parore and a Leather Jacket for dinner.

    Afterwards, everyone said their goodbyes (there is a chance we'll see everyone briefly again tomorrow, but just in case) and Nathan and Jamie headed back out to Moturua Island to spend the night.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 20

    BOI Day 8 (Legal Snapper)

    December 15, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Well it took us a week to find them, but finally we managed to locate some legal snapper.

    We started the day slow, but after the sun came out we headed over to the northern half of the BOI for some fishing. After not much luck (more baby snapper) we took a break for some smoked kahawai sandwiches (YUM! Thanks dad!).

    Rather than waste the skin, we thought we'd try it out on a hook. This quickly resulted in a legal (but still small) snapper being pulled on board. We also pulled in a blue Maomao, which we kept for bait.

    We parked up for the evening in front of Marsden Cross, and while we ate the earlier snapper for dinner (delicious salad courtesy of Jamie), the snapper came in the bite. We pulled in an extra three snapper, with the largest measuring 37cm. We also bagged a small kahawai which will be perfect as tomorrow's bait.

    We finished off watching the sunset and enjoying being back in the wild.    Read more

  • Cruising NZ
    Day 21

    BOI Day 9 (Team Racing)

    December 16, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Today starting pretty overcast and glassy. Nathan and Jamie motored the yacht up the Kerikeri inlet where they spotted the Kerikeri Cruising Club 420s heading out for a sail. Nathan's old school coach, Reuben, invited Nathan to jump in for a sail later on (which got Nathan fizzing).

    But first, we popped into the marina to grab Vela as well as Nathan's parents. We parked back out in the inlet and cooked up a pancake brunch with the 420s teams racing behind for some entertainment.

    After brunch, Nathan jumped in a 420 for a couple of races, winding back the clock to his high school teams racing days. Nathan's team managed a couple of wins (despite Nathan getting penalized on the start line - incorrectly according to Nathan) but once the exhibition teams were put together, Reuben and his team had the edge and made a clean sweep.

    Thank you to Kerikeri Cruising Club, it was great fun jumping back in the little boats!

    Afterwards, we dropped Nathan's parents back at the marina, topped up with some fuel, and headed out to Whale Bay for the night. Smoked kahawai and veg for dinner.    Read more

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