Things have changed

After a quick discussion, Kerri and I decided not to continue North to the tip of New Zealand. There were very limited anchorages, all with minimal protection from the ocean swell and weather. Add to it that the only “sight” that we wanted to see another 40+ miles further North was a lighthouse, it was decided to make our last stop the Northern-most stop of this season’s sailing adventures.

A day-sail returned us to Mangonui for a single overnight stay, and another quick visit to the grocery store. We left as soon as possible. While Mangonui is a cool place, we have already been here. Just 4 miles away was an anchorage out in nature, and we always prefer a backyard of nature over restaurants and boat traffic.

Takerau Bay fit the bill with the bay all to ourselves (until it wasn’t) for the day. I tried my hand at some more fishing, but came up empty. Once again, we spent only a single night, as we had some serious miles to make to get down the coast to new adventures, and to get to a safe anchorage for some ugly weather arriving in a couple days.

A head wind was on the menu when we departed the following day, but if we didn’t go now we would be stuck in this anchorage for up to a week, seriously ruining all the fun of anchorages further South. The wind was not strong enough to be a safety concern so we set the sails and prepare for a few tacks over the course of a long day sailing. After an hour sailing directly out into the ocean, we tacked and were immediately met with the reality that we made a near 180 degree turn and could not point any closer to our destination. We were going to be stuck out here traveling the same five miles back and forth. A sailor’s groundhog day. 

The decision to switch on the motor and motor-sail with our nose pointed closer to the wind helped us with a better angle, allowing us to make southern ground. To save ourselves motoring for13 miles (3 hours-ish) into the wind, we ended up motor-sailing 26 miles, about six and a half hours. Super frustrating, but that is life on a sailboat sometimes.

Whangaroa to the rescue! Inside the extremely well protected harbor of Whangaroa we could ride out what looked like could be a seriously ugly storm out in the ocean just offshore. Lots and lots of rain, and near gale force winds were forecast, so we hid Meriwether behind a landmass and set the anchor good just in case.

And then it started raining. And raining. And raining! Buckets upon buckets of rain, plus the wind had arrived as scheduled and blew hard for a couple days as well. All of a sudden, New Zealand was different. Like a light switch was toggled, we went from perfect summer weather just a day ago to a serious amount of wind and precipitation in the foreseeable future. So much so that the water changed color from that amazing clear-teal to murky waste-water brown. Eventually the weather gave up trying to sink Meriwether, and rewarded us with fog and eventual blue skies.

By this time – at the start of April – we have begun to realize that we booked our departure out of New Zealand about a month too late. Our flights are not for another 30-days, but the season is over. The forecasts show only foul weather in the 15-day future window. Some days there is a break just long enough for us to plan more sails (likely just motoring) to get further South where we need to be to haul-out Meriwether before our departure. Just a few days back I was in a t-shirt and shorts, fishing at 6 am. Now Kerri and I have both dug up our sweaters, flannels, and puffy down jackets. It isn’t that it is seriously cold by the thermometer per-se, but our bodies could not adapt quickly enough to the shock of the overnight switch from summer to deep-Fall.