Waiting for a Door to Stay Open

We made a break for it while the weather was playing nice. Out of Whangarei, around Busby Head, and north back toward the Bay of Islands. Going back up bought us three things: a change of scenery (badly needed), more anchorages to pick from, and nearly a full day shaved off the passage to Fiji, for whenever the forecast decided to let us make that haul.

We more or less retraced last year’s run down from the BOI, only backwards. Tutukaka the first night. Up early, on to Whangaruru again,  except this time we anchored just around the corner from where we’d been, on account of our affliction: repeating an anchorage feels, to us, like a small personal failure. Bland Bay was the pick, and we figured on a few days there while some weather moved through. Bland was bland. We left the next morning.

Next stop was a little cove that had once been home to the Whangamumu Whaling Station (old, defunct, and all the better for it). We tucked in there for a few days and let the weather blow past. Good call. Pretty scenery, solid protection, and a derelict whaling station makes for a fine afternoon’s poking around. No complaints from me – which, if you’ve been paying attention, is a rarity.

The only real trouble was the one we’d been hauling around for months. It was mid-June, about as deep into a southern-hemisphere winter as a person can get, and every weather window that might let us sail north kept slamming its door in our faces. One would slam, another would appear out on the forecast-horizon, and then as it drew close… SLAM. This had been going on since the beginning of May. The frustration was, by now, load-bearing.

The Bay of Islands, at least, was a decent place to wait it out. Anchorages sprinkled all over, easy enough to get provisioned, and ready to go the day the door finally stayed open.