Author: Scott
I’m sitting at the table in the salon with the wind raging outside as Starship drunkenly wallows on her anchor chain. We are anchored out at Port Fitzroy, one of many “protected” anchorages at Great Barrier Island (the fourth largest island making up New Zealand). Last night we had to sleep on separate ends of Starship to better monitor our anchor situation. I was tucked up in the forepeak in a nest of blankets listening to every moan, groan, and lurch of the anchor chain. Each vessel has her own song made up of the many sounds produced by the outside environment, her many systems, and the unexpected. Being aboard Starship, Pam and I have tuned into a new radio station and we are not yet familiar with the music made by our new Starship. Last night we had horses running in the mast, anchor chain gnawing away on the bow, wind singing in the shrouds, and of course the many mystery noises that we have not yet identified. It was a night of unease and yet we are loving it. We are back at it, as they would say here in Kiwiland.
On Thursday February 1st we threw off the dock lines and continued our adventure, this time aboard Starship. In the early evening with plenty of daylight we motored up the thirteen mile river closely ghosting Bill and Yvonne’s yacht Windsong. Somehow the mood made the normally muddy river glisten as I sat on the bow seat guiding Pam our pilot, while we chatted on our new headset radios. We wound our way down the river to Urquhart’s Bay, an anchorage just inside the Whangarei Heads, with the open sea waiting for us just outside the bay. Thursday night was our first night on anchor in over a year and it felt great. So much work has gone into the refit of our boat and the continuation of our voyage; work in the states, endless boat work, communication with contractors, severing the ties with our family and friends again, and as we sat on the hook on a beautiful full moonlit night the past year’s efforts evaporated into the peace that comes rarely when you are completely content with your situation in life, and with the thrill and anticipation of the continuing journey.
This trip is only the first of our New Zealand shakedowns but we are in action again and it feels wonderful!
Friday morning we set out on a forty mile trip to Great Barrier Island. In theory Starship was ready, but this trip would be our first opportunity to find the bugs before attempting a blue water passage. The engine was humming away (a welcome sound) as we rounded the point of the Whangarei Heads and heading out into the sea. Starship clung to the edge of the shipping channel and wouldn’t you know it, there was a container ship steaming in to the port of Whangarei. The ship wasn’t a threat to us but she was a sobering reminder of the many threats that lurk at sea.
The first challenge we encountered came when we went to raise our mainsail for the first time. Normally when we would raise the main on Tournesol, Pam would steer into the wind and as the boat turned to windward I would often cheat the main part way up the mast. This maneuver would allow me to shorten the distance the sail would need to travel up the mast before there was significant load on the sail, allowing me to finish the job quickly when we came fully into the wind. No can do with Starship! Starship has a full battened main (for our armchair sailing readers, this is a sail with battens or flexible strips in the sail that provide a more ridged sail and shape). As I cheated up the sail the first batten got caught in the lower shroud (the lower wire holding up the mast) and it was stuck real good. Fifteen minutes later and a climb up the mast to the spreaders, the problem was solved, and we were underway again.
On the trip over to Great Barrier Island we were traveling in a convoy of three boats. Windsong quickly took the lead, followed by our friends Jane and Rodger on Wings and Strings who we met at the anchorage on Thursday night. We took up our favorite position in the rear. As we sailed we refined many things. The fairleads were not adjusted properly and after making some changes we picked up at least 1.5 knots. Our friends saw dolphins that we unfortunately could not see. We prepared and ate our first meal at sea in over a year (grilled cheese). Overall, we had a brisk sail with spot on waypoints to follow with the GPS. We arrived at Great Barrier Island at 1630. The entrance to Port Fitzroy anchorage is through what looks like a pin hole size pass on the GPS, but in reality there was plenty of room, however as you approach you have to trust that there is in fact a channel to pass through. I felt like I had to say “Open Sesame” to have a rock wall secretly slide away and provide us entrance. We wound our way through two more turns and laying ahead of us was a small island with a handful of yachts peacefully anchored between the shore and the small island. Bill from Windsong came out to greet us (and guide us) into the anchorage. We thoughtfully picked our spot and I let the anchor fall, unfortunately it only dropped about five feet and then came to an abrupt halt. Here we were in our boat, now boldly lettered with www.blindsailing.com on the side and we could not release our anchor. Apparently our pile of anchor chain had shifted after falling into the chain locker and it required me to pull free the chain from below as we could not get any purchase on the chain from above. In total, we had to make three attempts and one pass outside the anchorage before Starship was safely moored in her new home on Great Barrier Island. I felt like screaming “she’s a new boat and that is why we could not anchor the first time”. Oh the challenges of sailing a new boat!
Our first night at the Barrier was under a full moon with a gentle breeze blowing across the bay.
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