Tim puts his foot down
A vibration in the engine and prop-shaft persisted during our first week out in the Bay of Islands. I tried a few things to resolve it, and they did help, but in the end Kerri and I decided to order up some new engine mounts to knock that idea out as well. Of course, this would mean I will be lifting the engine up again, but by now – after twelve or more times in the past 18 months – it has become a fairly mundane job. So, back to “town” to get parts ordered in, and to perform the repair while nearby more parts and tools if needed. Anyone that does their own maintenance on boats (or cars for that matter) knows better than to think things will go according to plan, so best to have a Plan B or at least the option to formulate a B if needed.
Leaving Moturua Island to the outside, where there would be the possibility of a breeze, we had a fine sail all the way around Tapeko Point. We still had some re-learning on how to sail but we were not going to take it seriously enough to raise the main sail. Instead we just rode the Jib-only sail plan all the way into the small tourist town of Russell (1). Here we could wait out a small weather system that would pass over us in the coming days. Nothing all that big, but nice to see someplace new, and we had a weekend to kill before any parts would arrive anyway.
Russell is a tourist-town for sure. Complete with a waterfront full of ice cream shops (woohoo from me!) and restaurants (woohoo from Kerri) we made sure to visit one or two of each during our days anchored just outside the main ferry traffic lane. Not far enough outside the ferry traffic lane in the end. The wake from each and every ferry full of tourists coming from the mainland – seemingly passing us by every 15 minutes – was felt no matter what. We survived nonetheless.
Our time anchored just off our first town since re-starting our lives on the sea was time well spent. We did a few grocery runs as we re-learn how to provision. We also did a few runs to the local laundry, which doubles as “me time” as Kerri stays back on the boat working. And lastly, Kerri made and ran off to a vital appointment which she had neglected for years now – a full body massage, also known as “her time”. I apparently do not give enough quality back rubs to prevent these added costs to our life.
Once the parts had arrived, we made the short trip to Opua (2) and anchored just outside the marina where Meriwether had spent the past two months. Again leaving Kerri at the boat, I took the dinghy to shore to hit the shops for said parts as well as a much needed extra solar panel. In the end the parts were not going to suffice, so we returned them and postponed the project, saving me the additional engine lift, for now.
The solar panel however, was vital. Within a single day of use, our power problems were eased… a we-bit (as they say out here). We were no longer going negative each day, but neither were we gaining any substantial battery capacity on the best of days. I have been arguing the need for more solar for well over two years now (since before Mexico) and this one extra panel was only a small step in the right direction. Problem was that any cloudy day put us well behind on power. And any water-making put us well behind on power, and the watermaker needs to run at least every three days. This meant we were always, and have always been these past two years, in a perpetual loops of never enough power. I had to finally put my foot down and give her the choice of adding more panels that would block her happy hour in the cockpit views, or turn off the chest freezer, which really only served as an ice maker if you ask me. She chose to lay off the freezer.
With all that nonsense settled, we pulled out the lazy-sail once again and made our way back out to the islands. Spending a single night at an unnamed bay (3) for protection from that night’s southerly wind. The following morning I heard the unmistakable huff-n-puff of Kerri inflating the stand up boards. It is a monumental task, even with a small electric pump doing the bulk of the work. Those last few PSI are done by manual pump, and take some serious effort. So we SUP’ed around the bay ending on a small beach across the bay, where I found a nice stick.
Across the strait, just a short 1 mile hop, was our real destination for the week; Motuarohia Island (4). Cooks Cove on the island to be exact. We had passed it the week prior and it looked amazing, so I made sure to pencil it in for our next adventure to the islands. With an evening of rest under our belts, we set out to hike the short trail up to a viewpoint overlooking… well, everything. Once we paddled our boards to shore, dried off our feet and installed our hiking boots, a tour boat pulled up and offloaded many dozens of people to do exactly what we were set to do. We had barely walked 10 yards before turning around and rescheduled the hike for the next morning, before the blasted 9am tour boat.
Cooks Cove turned out to be a very popular place. We were lucky to have anchored Meriwether furthest from the trailhead where a dozen boats would pack in each day to play in the waters, hike the short trail, and just enjoy the beauty of the Bay of Islands. No complaints from us really. We got the sunrise and sunsets to ourselves but for a couple other full-time cruisers. That’s fine by me.
