Vela Huang

Vela Huang

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Cruising NZ
Return to Auckland
March 24, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Today was the big one. Yes we briefly popped back into Auckland on Friday, but today we headed in and berthed Starling back in her home where she'll be staying for the winter.

We started the morning with a bit of fishing, adding a couple of snapper to the haul to take home. Mike and Cass sorted breakfast with a cruisers take on chicken waffles (nugget pancakes). We then hauled up the anchor and headed for Auckland.

On the way, we popped the final beer of the trip, a delicious toasted marshmallow flavoured beer. We also saw a few work ups on the surface, so we threw the kahawai lure in and ended up with three nice fat fish. We stopped on the eastern side of Motuihe, where we turned one of the kahawai into some sashimi and cooked up some burgers for lunch. We went for our final swim off the back of the boat, and mucked around making a silly video for a bit of a laugh.

A few last clouds of the trip, a motor sailing race against an old America's cup yacht and a trimaran, and then we were safely back in Westhaven. We quickly tucked Starling into her berth and then said goodbye to her. A little bit emotional, she had taken us all the way around the north island of NZ and kept us safe. It was a bit like saying goodbye to a cherished friend.

Now our sailing adventure for the year is completed, it's time to set our sights on things to come as we take off on our international travels!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Saturday at Awaawaroa Bay
March 23, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We woke to a soggy Saturday morning. The forecast rain had appeared, but it didn't bother us too much. Nate's on board cafe was open for business, and soon everybody had their coffee order in hand and pancakes were served.

With it being wet already, the only logical thing to do was to get in the water. So Nathan, Jamie and Mike all changed and went for a dip. Afterwards it was time to sample the first hazy of the day while Cass prepared a grazing board for lunch. It wasn't long after that when the second hazy came out to say hello.

A couple of games of Catan were had downstairs (which Mike won both of) and the weather cleared upstairs. There was a bit of fishing going on, with a couple of nice pan sized snapper being caught. Cass caught the fish of the day with a big fat red Gurnard, which had a couple of nice big rowe inside. And Jamie caught a baby shark just to mix things up.

For dinner we had Gurnard a la Vela, snapper a la Nathan, and potato wedges a la Cass. The final hazy of the day was cracked and then movie night downstairs. Before bed, the whole bay had gone completely glassy and we had a great view of a few stars, a nice relaxing way to end the day.Read more
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Cruising NZ
The final weekend
March 22, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Another amazing sunrise greeted us this morning, before it gave way to blue sky and some very cool cloud formations. Today was the unfortunate day that we had to return to Auckland properly. We motored for about 3 hours to get back to Westhaven where we would meet with Mike, Cass and Jamie.

Once we berthed in Westhaven (after trying to berth in the wrong spot) Nathan quickly popped over to Burnsco to get a new furling line for the big genoa and some fishing supplies, while Vela was left on board to start filling the water tanks with new, drinkable fresh water.

The team arrived and we quickly stowed everything away on board and escaped Auckland as quickly as we could. We pulled out both the mainsail and the big genoa and cruised back out to Waiheke. Although conditions were flat, we hit one big wake awkwardly and managed to get a waterfall down the front hatch and all over Nathan and Vela's bed. Fortunately it was mostly on Nathan's side...

We parked back up in Awaawaroa Bay (a couple of obligatory hazys were consumed along the way) and Vela made another round of her delicious snapper sashimi don bowls, as well as steaming the Gurnard we caught the other day. Jamie hooked into something which absolutely took off, screaming from side to side before eventually busting off. Again we didn't get a good look at it but best bet is a stingray.

We chilled out and watched a movie downstairs before bed.Read more
TravelerHaha. Nathan says "it's a stingray man". Vela says" I can cook it". Haha. I bet she could and it would taste delicious 🤣🤣
3/22/24Reply
Traveler😎🤣🤣
3/22/24Reply
TravelerCompleted a circumnavigation of the North Island of NZ. Well done another tick on the list of achievements 🍺🍺
3/22/24Reply
TravelerThank you!🥰💪
3/22/24Reply
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Cruising NZ
Chamberlain's Bay to Awaawaroa Bay
March 20, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
The wind died down to a level that would make docking at the Oropiu Bay wharf very easy. So we headed over at high tide and filled our water tanks. Unfortunately the water was untreated, so we will need to make a short stop in at Westhaven before the weekend for drinking water.

Afterwards we popped around the corner into Awaawaroa Bay. The water in here was amazing and glassy, and it appeared to be full of snapper, pulling in a fish every bait (though lots just under the 30cm mark). We did manage to keep a few good eating size fish.

We hooked something large, which peeled line off the reel for about 10 seconds before it broke off at the hook. Possibly a stingray, but we'll never know for sure.

We were treated to a couple of great sunset/sunrise events, and the weather was perfect to get our last load of boat washing dried. We are spoilt to have such beautiful locations so close to our largest city.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Crossing the Firth of Thames
March 18, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
Well, with fresh water on board being very limited, we had to bite the bullet and head towards Waiheke. But first, Nathan had a little early morning fish which provided one of the first "decent" snapper of our trip, around 35cm.

Mid morning we hauled up the anchor and set off. On our way out we witnessed an unusual set of waves that looked like the wake from a boat, but there weren't any boats around to cause it. Not 100% sure what caused it, but think it might have been some sort of tidal effect.

We had an uneventful motor across the Firth, directly into a 5kt westerly, so unfortunately we couldn't get any of our sails out. Once we arrived, we headed to the wharf at Oropiu bay for fresh water, but a 20kt SW kicked up so we opted to wait for calmer weather to attempt this. We headed to Chamberlain's Bay to hide from the wind.

Vela cooked up an epic new dish for lunch. Using some freshly caught snapper sashimi she made a don bowl. That will definitely be going on the menu!

It feels a bit surreal to officially be back in Auckland (although we don't count it until we see the sky tower). Starting to feel a bit sad that our journey is nearly over. One more weekend with friends before we pack up and head into the next chapter of our journey.Read more
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Cruising NZ
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Rangipukea Island
March 17, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
The morning we woke to was stunning and glassy. This prompted a post coffee paddleboard around the bay for Nathan. He reported back lots of eagle rays which he chased around the shallows. It's amazing how eagle rays can glide along so gracefully before flapping their wings and taking off like a bullet.

Meanwhile, Vela, William and Momo played a game of Bananagrams back on Starling, with Vela taking out the win (pretty standard). Then it was time to start heading back to drop Momo and William off as they could only spare a short (but high quality) time on board.

Afterwards, we motored over to Rangipukea Island where we planned to spend the night. Wet lazed away the afternoon with a bit of fishing. Two legal snapper got added to the freezer and we also caught some extra bait for tomorrow!

We were treated to a beautiful, glassy golden hour as our reward. Nathan took some photos to try and show what it was like, but remarked that photos really couldn't do it justice.Read more
neat photo [Jeanette]
3/18/24Reply
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Cruising NZ
Whanganui Island
March 16, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After a relaxing morning, Vela cracked the whip on Nathan to go and catch a fish. So Starling headed out into the channel and attempted to catch a fish. The only bit of action we had was when the line suddenly took off, but after about 30 seconds of fight the line went slack. Best theory is we had a shark on the other end that chewed through the line.

We decided to move over to the mussel farms, but when we went to drop the anchor it wouldn't go down. This led to 30 minutes of dismantling the anchor winch and panicked problem solving, before Nathan found it was a simple little ratchet that must have jostled loose and engaged. Good thing it was an easy fix!

By now we had to give up the fishing as it was time to collect Momo and William. After a successful pick up from the end of the wharf, we headed out of the harbour and to the northern side of Whanganui Island. Along the way there was a Titanic reenactment (not the sinking part) and we caught a fat kahawai for dinner.

We stopped and Vela made a delicious hot pot with the kahawai, not too spicy though, to cater for William. We then had an amazing sunset over the distant Waiheke Island to enjoy. We went downstairs to settle in for the night (settlers of Catan that is) when it suddenly got very bouncy with a chop pushing right into where we were anchored. After 20 minutes we voted to find a better spot so we motored 15 minutes in the dark to a different bay. It was well worth the move and we enjoyed a peaceful sleep after finishing our game of Catan.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Shag Bay to Coromandel Harbour
March 15, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
When we awoke our anchorage had become a little bit rolly, and because it was a rocky bottom we hadn't slept particularly well as we were listening to our anchor chain grate on the rocks all night. So rather than wait around, we had a quick coffee and bite to eat before we set off.

Once we were out of our little bay, it became apparent why our anchorage had become so rolly. We were greeted by a very messy sea with some bigger than expected chop of about 1m. We motored into the wind for a bit until we were able to bear away and pull some sails out. Nathan liked the first headland we went around, because it actually looked like it had a head, but it didn't seem to like him so much as it appeared to give us the middle finger as we went by.

Vela cracked herself up along the way at her own joke:
Vela - "why did the chicken cross the road?"
Nathan - "why?"
Vela - "becaaaawws!"

We continued around the top of the Coromandel, through a couple of rain showers which dropped the temperature significantly, and ran into our favourite pirate ship again - The Spirit of New Zealand. On our way, we pulled in a little Kahawai for dinner.

We arrived into Coromandel Harbour, picked out a spot to shelter from the incoming SW wind, and settled in. Vela turned the Kahawai into a delicious hotpot with some rice noodles for dinner.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Kennedy Bay to Shag Bay
March 14, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After a stunning sunrise that Vela even managed to get up in time to see, we made our next move up the coast towards Port Charles. Along the way we got as close to Great Barrier Island as we are going to get on this voyage (time constraints and anchoring restrictions due to Exotic Caulerpa being the main factors).

We picked out Shag Bay as a sheltered spot for the evening. Unfortunately it was a rocky bottom, so although we were sheltered from the weather and waves, we had to listen to the anchor chain grating against the rock.

Update on the water maker issue, after speaking to some experts back in Auckland, it sounds like it could be a broken coupling between the electric motor and the pump, not fixable until we're back in Auckland unfortunately. We're trying to avoid a quick trip back to Auckland to fill the water tanks, so hopefully we can find somewhere that we can top up out here. We also stripped the cover off the furling line (which we noticed was wearing back in Nelson) for the big genoa, so won't be using this again until we can replace the rope.

Vela whipped up an evening meal with the last of the Chinese bacon and cabbage - yum!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Whitianga to Kennedy Bay
March 13, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
We're on the move again!

Unfortunately, we are now in the twilight of our sailing adventure, with only two more weeks before we hang up our sailing boots and return to life on land. This means we need to start getting Starling back to Auckland.

We made the first jump along the Coromandel Peninsula with a four hour motor sail to Kennedy Bay. Unfortunately when we arrived we found we had an issue with the water maker. So until further notice we're drinking bottled water and on high water conservation. We have at least 100L in the tanks and plenty of bottled water, so not code red at this stage.

Fingers crossed the issue can be sorted, otherwise we'll need to find somewhere to fill our tanks, or make a quick pit stop in Westhaven before returning to the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

Vela made a fantastic Korean noodle soup with pork ribs and potatoes for dinner, and Nathan spent a bit of time cloud watching before bed.Read more
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Cruising NZ
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Back to Whitianga
March 11, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
After a relaxing night at Opito Bay, it was time to figure out how to get everyone back to their day jobs. A feed of bacon and eggs for breakfast before we pulled up the anchor and headed back to Mercury Bay. We pulled some sails out briefly, but when faced with a 25kt headwind once we were around the corner, we took the easy option and started up the engine.

We made a pit stop at Waitaia Bay for a snorkel. Nathan found another crayfish and pulled him out of his crack, but he was a bit small so we released him after showing him to the kids. The water was a bit murky, making it difficult to shoot any fish, but we did see a couple of eagle rays and an octopus hanging out on the reef.

We made our way back to Whitianga and delivered Jamie, Dave, Ash and the kids back to shore with all their gear before heading over to Maramaratotara Bay to spend the night. The views of the cliffs out the back of the boat were pretty spectacular, and both Vela and Nathan decided they were big fans of this yacht on a mooring (which we think was an Elliott 10.5).

Vela made a simple (but always delicious) dinner of pork meat balls in a tomato broth to keep our bellies from grumbling.Read more
Traveler This one does look like a stingray
3/11/24Reply
Traveler Just a Jamie and his Juicie
3/12/24Reply
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Cruising NZ
Opito Bay
March 10, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
We woke up to our anchorage at Korapuki Island being rather uncomfortable. Waves were coming round both sides of the island and sandwiching us in the middle... Still not as bad as that night at Tutukaka though!

After a quick coffee, we hauled up the anchor and motored across to Opito Bay. We found out why our spot was so uncomfortable as we were pushed around by 2m+ swells on our way across. Vela came up from downstairs with a peeved look on her face - she had slept through the coffee run and was woken up when a wave rolled her out of bed... Whoops!

After about 45 minutes of motoring, we pulled into Opito Bay. The eastern end was pretty well sheltered from the Southeasterly swell, so we decided to anchor up for the day.

Now that we were settled, Nathan got stuck into his work, making round two of coffees (round one for Vela) and whipping up a big batch of pancakes to appease the crowd.

After breakfast, it was time to check out the underwater life. We suited up and took the full contingent over to the reef with the paddleboard and dinghy. Almost immediately after jumping in, a massive school of kahawai streamed past. Big schools like this can be confusing and difficult to pick a target, but Nathan managed to plug a nice mid-sized kahawai (the bigger one he was lining turned away at the last second, prompting a change in target).

Nathan then spent a bit of time playing with some snapper (the legal ones seem to hang out just out of range) and goat fish (popped two to have for dinner later). Vela, Jamie and David found the reef drop off and were playing with the rock cod and big red moki. They even found a pufferfish to check out!

When Nathan swam over to them, there was a big splash and disturbed water around his dive float, signalling there was likely another shark hanging around us. Vela took the spear gun for a bit, attempting to shoot a rock cod, but only managing to spear a poor unsuspecting rock. It looked a bit tough to steam with the goat fish and kahawai so we left the rock where it was.

Jamie then reported he had spotted the shark which was hanging around. Another big bronzy. Nathan also spotted it shortly after, hanging around the dive float. It looked to be in a calm state, cruising around investigating what was going on in his reef, but we decided it was time to head back to Starling regardless.

Once back on board, we spent the rest of the day paddleboarding and chilling out before Vela smashed it again with another delicious dinner of goat fish and kahawai.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Great Mercury
March 9, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
After coffee and breakfast in Matapoua Bay, we cruised around the corner towards the Mercury Islands. The wind got a little stronger than we were expecting from the forecast, but we managed to find shelter in Peachgrove Bay.

It wasn't long before Nathan, Jamie & Vela donned their snorkels and dive gear and headed over to the reef on the western end of the bay. The snorkeling was awesome, spotting eagle rays, snapper, maomao, parore, red moki, trevally, kahawai, goat fish, and a friendly blue cod. Vela sent a lovely shot with the spear gun through a leather jacket, killing it stone dead. Then Nathan took the spear gun further around the point, trying to hit a goat fish (they were all getting a bit too friendly, getting so close it actually made shooting them tricky).

Then a school of kahawai flew past Nathan, so he lined one up and nailed it. While he was dealing to that, a big bronze whaler (2m+) came steaming in, doing it's Top Gun fly-by impression. This signalled it was time to leave, so everyone swam steadily back to Starling (Nathan took a second to shoot a second leather jacket on the way back).

Once we were back on board, Vela fed us with a yummy invention of poached leather jacket and kahawai in an onion, ginger, garlic, and spring onion broth with a hint of chili to keep you on your toes. Meanwhile Dave, Ash, Oakley & Cooper headed to the beach in the dinghy to hang out in the shade. Oakley found a cool rope swing to hang off too.

While this was happening, Nathan spotted a dark shadow in the water behind us. We quickly realised it was a shark, and spent the next 30 minutes doing shark spotting. There were at least three cruising around the shallow bay, up to about a meter from the beach. Two of them were pretty big, 2m+ specimens, while the third was a little smaller.

After all the excitement it was time for a hazy and more cuddles with Cooper before we moved spots over to Korapuki Island to shelter from the strong Southeasterly change that was forecast to come through at midnight.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Cathedral Cove and Matapoua Bay
March 8, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
After a peaceful sunrise back at Wharekaho after picking up Jamie, we headed back to Whitianga. Nathan and Jamie headed ashore to restock on groceries while we awaited the arrival of the Blunden clan. Vela made some noodles for lunch, using the head of last night's crayfish for flavouring - yum!

The Blunden's arrived, Oakley was super excited to get in his lifejacket, but Cooper was a little less enthusiastic... After arriving, we headed for Cathedral Cove, Dave catching a nice big Kahawai for dinner along the way. Cathedral cove was beautifully calm, and after we anchored a few snapper came up to swim around behind the boat.

Nathan and Jamie jumped in and snorkeled to shore while Dave took Oakley for a paddleboard. Vela and Cooper enjoyed some cuddles on the boat too.

After we'd had enough, we crossed Mercury bay to stay the night in Matapoua Bay. While anchored, Oakley caught his first fish! He's now talking about catching a big one tomorrow, bigger than dad's!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Chilling at Waitaia Bay
March 7, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Couple of chill days at Waitaia Bay - for Nathan at least, while Vela has been slaving away earning a last little bit of cash before we leave the country. Sunrises, sunsets, paddleboarding and afternoon swims filled our days.

A couple of work ups came past the boat, which prompted a little bit of fun catching kahawai on some light gear, releasing them because we have enough on board.

We jumped in the water for a dive one morning, and had some very cool underwater landscape to explore. Fingers of rock stretching out over the sand, with some cool overhangs to check out. While exploring one such overhang, we found a nest of crayfish all huddled into the crevices. Nathan plucked the largest one out, while Vela practiced her technique and "yoinked" a smaller one - which was put back to get bigger for next year. The larger one turned out to be a male, which was just over the legal size, so Vela turned him into a delicious meal full of Chinese spices and other goodies!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Wharekaho to Waitaia Bay
March 5, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
Another epic sunrise to start the day - with the sun peeking between the rocks of Motukorure island. With the wind firmly coming from the west, we decided we could find a slightly more picturesque anchorage, so we headed past the Spirit of New Zealand and around the corner to Waitaia Bay. With white sandy beaches and decent shelter from the wind, we anchored up.

It was a bit of a lazy day for Nathan, while Vela was hard at work with meetings. A short paddleboard of the bay between rain showers before cracking a beer and watching some yacht racing in the afternoon.

Vela cooked a delicious stir fry with Chinese bacon and her spicy fried potatoes for dinner, yum!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Wind & Rain at Wharekaho
March 4, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
With a terrible forecast, we were surprised to start the day with a fantastic sunrise, which Nathan was up early enough to enjoy.

The morning was spent marveling at the massive schools of Kahawai and bait fish that seemed to be doing laps around the bay - followed of course by flocks of sea birds. The school came right up and underneath Starling, which prompted Nathan to get some fishing lines in the water (hooked a Kahawai which released itself alongside the boat...) Snapper were the target however and no luck with them at this stage.

The forecast wind and rain did eventually arrive, and we saw gusts up to 35kt on our wind gear (likely closer to 40kt). Vela spent this time doing some planning for our overseas trip, while Nathan took advantage of the extra water and scrubbed the decks in the cockpit.

While this was going on, we were joined in our anchorage by the Spirit of New Zealand, looking very cool in the wild and misty weather. We watched as she laid both her anchors in a V-formation which helps reduce the swinging at anchor and likelihood of dragging in the big gusts.

Eventually the weather settled down and the day was bookended with another beautiful sunset. Nathan pulled the fishing rods back out and hooked a little Koheru. This went back in the water as a live bait with dreams of attracting a Kingfish (no luck) and was later pulled back out and added to the bait bag. Nathan was also able to land a nice pan size snapper, the first for a long time! Looking forward to this going in some wraps for lunch tomorrow.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Matapoua Bay - Wharekaho
March 3, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
This morning we were lucky enough to have a period of fine weather, so we made the most of it and got the paddleboard, dinghy and dive gear out and headed to a little beach. Nathan shot a couple of goat fish and a leather jacket for lunch while Vela practiced her free diving and the others played on the beach and paddleboard.

Afterwards we motored through a heavy rain squall to Wharekaho where we enjoyed a little swim before we headed back to Whitianga. With bad weather forecast for tomorrow, Alla and the girls decided to leave early. On the way, there was a massive workup of Kahawai, Nathan caught a small Kahawai which went in the freezer for bait, while Liza pulled in a whopper which was filleted for Alla to take home.

After a little bit of a sad goodbye, Vela made a successful drop off back to shore in the dinghy. We then headed back to Wharekaho, where we are likely to spend a couple of days hiding from the worst of the weather.Read more
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Cruising NZ
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Cathedral Cove & Matapoua Bay
March 2, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
In the morning we were greeted with glassy water and beautiful clear skies. Nathan made pancakes for everyone to enjoy before we headed around the corner to Cathedral Cove. We knew the weather was going to worsen so we had to make the most of the bright morning.

We arrived at Cathedral Cove and took the dinghy ashore. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the beach, snorkeling, and making sure we got our selfies with the Cathedral. While snorkeling we saw a bunch of parore, blue maomao, and a couple of nice fat snapper (shame it's a marine reserve...)

We were surprised at how many people were at Cathedral Cove given that the hiking trail remains closed after cyclone damage, but it must be great for the local tourism businesses! Fortunately Nathan's phone is clever and can remove people and boats from the background.

Afterwards, we headed to Matapoua Bay on the northern side of Mercury Bay. With a strong westerly turning north west it was our best look at a sheltered anchorage for the night.

Vela cooked us a feast for dinner with the last of the goat fish from Nathan's dive at rabbit island, and we relaxed for the rest of the evening, watching a movie on the couch.Read more
beautiful [Jeanette]
3/3/24Reply
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Cruising NZ
Cooks Beach to Whitianga (and back)
March 1, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
The big event for the day is that we are set to pick up Alla and her two girls, Liza & Lena from Whitianga. But first, Nathan made the most of the calm water and went for a paddleboard. Along the way he was treated to a couple of eagle ray encounters, clear water, white sand, and schools of small fish.

With the washing hung up over the rail, we pulled up the anchor and headed over to Whitianga where we anchored at the mouth of the estuary. After lunch, we headed into town where Vela got her nails done and Nathan found a few key fishing and sailing supplies.

Alla and the girls arrived around 6pm and we had dinner at the Irish pub before ferrying everyone and the supplies out to Starling.

We then motored back over to Cooks Beach (with two very excited girls) for the evening and were treated to a bit of stargazing before we finally settled down for bedtime.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Slipper Island to Cooks Beach
February 29, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We were starting to get itchy feet, and with plans to meet Alla in Whitianga, we decided it was time to make a move.

So we set off in about a 15kt south westerly, which built to around 25kt with gusts up to 30. This made for a pretty quick trip, forgetting about our crash gybe on autopilot (a first for us on this trip).

We decided Cooks Beach looked the most likely spot for a relaxing afternoon and evening so we dropped the anchor, had some noodles for lunch courtesy of Nathan, and settled down. We were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset before bedtime too!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Relaxing at slipper Island
February 28, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
The last few days have been filled with a bit of rest and relaxation on board Starling. We found a nice anchorage on the southwestern corner of Slipper Island and made the most of the gaps in the poor weather when we had the chance.

A couple of points of interest included a visit from the local tax man, who wasn't a fan of the undersized snapper that Nathan was pulling in on the bait rod, and Nathan also went for a little dive off the western side of Rabbit Island, resulting in a nice little haul of goat fish along with a leather jacket. There were a lot of kingfish seen, mostly around the 50-60cm mark, and one legal sized which came in for a look, but unfortunately the spear gun wasn't loaded.

Regardless, we had a great time hanging out here, plan is to move a bit further north for the weekend, fingers crossed for a spot of nice weather!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Diving the Aldermen Islands
February 24, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
An early(ish) start today. We launched the fizz boat at about 8.30 and headed to Starling to drop Vela, Tina and Vita off while Nathan and James headed out to the Aldermen Islands. It was a grey day to start, but as we arrived the clouds were clearing and it looked like it would be an awesome day.

We hopped in the water and Nathan immediately shot a nice fat koheru. There were massive schools of koheru right under the boat, a favourite snack of kingfish, but unfortunately none of the bigger fish showed up. James tried out his surface breathing apparatus and was swimming around for a look. Nathan headed for some slightly shallower water, hoping to find some crevices filled with crayfish. Unfortunately no luck on that, and the water got very murky close to the rocks so we headed back towards the boat.

James hopped out of the water and pulled his rod out, while Nathan was diving with the schools of two-spot Demezel. Another school of koheru swam through, and Nathan shot another to add to the sashimi for later. Almost immediately after shooting the koheru, a kingfish swam past, but without a loaded gun Nathan just had to watch it swim by. The koheru were hanging around, and Nathan, excited by the chance to spear his first kingy, kept trying. He spotted another kingy, but it was right at the end of his breath hold, so again no opportunity to get a shot away. 10 more minutes and the koheru had cleared out and no more kingfish had turned up so we called it a day.

With the forecast set to get windy and choppy later, wet headed back to Starling. There was a little bit of action in the top water on our way back, spotting what we think was a school of Skipjack or Albacore Tuna, and later a shark swimming lazily on the surface.

Meanwhile, the girls on Starling had been enjoying the sun and a peaceful morning. Paddleboarding and hanging out in the beautiful clear water off Slipper Island. They were even nice enough to make noodles for the boys for lunch!

When the wind got up, and with a wet forecast for Sunday, James decided to head back to Auckland early. The girls took the opportunity to get a ride back to Pauanui with James, and left Nathan to keep an eye on Starling. After a rough trip back to Pauanui, they safely crossed the bar and said goodbye to James.

For dinner they made kina dumplings, which Nathan was a bit disappointed to miss out on, but someone has to be responsible and mind the yacht!Read more
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Cruising NZ
Diving at Rabbit Island
February 23, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Today we'd made plans with James, the owner of Starling, to come out and meet us at Pauanui and stay for a couple of nights. Originally he thought he'd get to Pauanui by 12, but he messaged us at about 10.30 to say he was nearly there (we think he was a bit excited).

So we pulled up our anchor and headed for Pauanui. The waves on the beach were a little daunting, but after a bit of scouting and discussion we were confident we could get in without flipping the dinghy. So we put on our lifejackets, launched the dinghy and made for shore. We found a nice flat spot between sets and beached the dinghy without any drama.

We then headed for a spot of lunch, before sending Vela back through the breakers to Starling - she was a little nervous but pulled it off like a pro! Meanwhile, Nathan and James headed to the boat ramp to launch James's fizz boat. We negotiated the estuary and the bar without any issues and soon met up with Vela back on Starling. We sent James ahead to scout out some fish while we motored Starling back over to Slipper Island. We parked in a different bay and were met with some stunning clear water and not a breath of wind, so we had to put the drone up for a bit of footage!

James then picked us up and we motored to the southern end of Rabbit Island. The water was amazingly blue, so we pulled on our wetsuits and jumped in to check out the fish. There were massive schools of blue maomao, which are so much fun to swim with as they whirlpool around you. There were so many that they were even bumping into the end of the spear gun. Nathan quickly shot a leather jacket, and Vela fired a nice shaft into a blue maomao which we captured on the 360 camera. Nathan then spent a bit of time playing with an eagle ray, and checking out the edge of the drop off for some other fish species. A couple of kingies showed up, and Nathan took a shot which hit, but unfortunately the spear didn't go all the way through the fish and it swam away. It feels bad to hurt a fish like that, but kingfish are resilient so fingers crossed it will live to fight another day.

After that we called it a day and headed back to Pauanui to meet up with Vita and Tina, who have rented a bach for the weekend. Hot pot for dinner and we stayed the night on shore so we didn't have to navigate the Tairua bar in the dark.Read more
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Cruising NZ
Midnight Escape to Slipper Island
February 21, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
By midnight we'd had enough. The easterly we had seen forecast wasn't coming through and we were experiencing a 2m easterly swell and a building Southwesterly chop, leaving us with nowhere to hide at Mayor Island. So we pulled the anchor up and pointed our bow to the Northeast and Slipper Island.

We were able to make good time with just the big headsail out reaching and a bit of assistance from the engine. As we got closer to the east coast of the Coromandel, the chop eased and we had very pleasant (if cold) conditions. It took about 4 hours to get across to Slipper Island, but once we got in we had a decent anchorage and were able to get some sleep.

The easterly swell prevailed for the next couple of days, so we hid as best we could from it, although it was still quite rolly. Nathan spent most of Wednesday hibernating while Vela got some work done to help pay the bills. A couple of small snapper were caught, so nothing too exciting, but we did have a few cool clouds and a nice sunset to look at!Read more
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Cruising NZ
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Tauranga to Mayor Island
February 20, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We made the most of the marina facilities before leaving, getting a load of washing done, filling up the water tanks, and topping up on Diesel before leaving Tauranga harbour on the slack tide. We sailed across to Mayor Island in an easing westerly breeze, able to beat the northerly sea breeze which was filling in.

It was great to see some amazing blue water again, and as we approached the island, we could clearly see the bottom 10m down. We tried a couple of different anchorages, looking for a spot with decent mobile coverage so Vela could join her afternoon meetings, but no luck. So we dropped the pick on the south western side of the island, where Vela grabbed a fishing rod and drifted out on the paddleboard, hoping to find a grandaddy hapuka which we had been advised were in abundance. No luck.

On Vela's return, the northerly sea breeze had filled in and our spot had become a little lumpy, so we moved to the south eastern corner of the island. Here we were greeted with crystal clear water, which must have been 20 degrees or warmer. With no other boats around we got a little bit cheeky and jumped in for a skinny dip.

We watched a very pretty sunset, even counting down the sun as it disappeared behind the Coromandel Peninsula. A few hours later and we were ready to settle in for the night, but unfortunately our night didn't end there...Read more
Traveler Nice pasty white shorts you got on there 🤣
2/20/24Reply
TravelerI feel like they might be a little bit revealing...
2/20/24Reply
Traveler😂😂😂
2/20/24Reply
Traveler No wonder the fish weren't biting, you scared them off. 😂😂🤣🤣
2/20/24Reply
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