A quiet place

Just a short sail away from our last anchorage (1) is an inlet that provides access to the well protected waters of Whangaroa Harbor, and away from the ocean swell just outside the entry gates. Numerus bays sprinkle Whangaroa Harbor and we wanted to visit a few before continuing north to other adventures. A small village (3) offered the possibility of making it to a grocery store as well, but after calling ahead to ask about a taxi for the 5 mile drive to the nearest market, that idea was nixed.

Upon arrival we chose to drop anchor, beside a small houseboat, in the picturesque Wahai Bay (2) with its towering rock formations offering memories of Alaska, just to tease memory of Alaska somewhat. Kerri set out on a solo paddle on a SUP board, while I hung back on Meriwether while the owner of the houseboat dropped in for a meet and greet. The uber-calm waters of being anchored NOT in the ocean swell was fully welcomed by us both, with good sleep a result of the still nights.

With the possibility of grocery shopping shelved for another time, I had only one big chore to accomplish in this region; a bit of bottom cleaning on Meriwether, who has ramped up the collection of hitch-hiking barnacles since we arrived in New Zealand. It seems that our bottom paint applied in Mexico just before our Pacific crossing offered little to no protection to these particular barnacles here in New Zealand. Because of this, I knew I would be diving on Meriwether every week or two. Considering the mild water temperatures, I could do this daily if it were not for a regulation stating that bottom cleaning may only be done in specific anchorages along the coast. Just outside the Whangaroa marina is one of these locations and the only one we have come across since leaving the Bay of Islands where I last cleaned Meriwether’s bottom side.

The only problem with this plan is that the waters this deep into the harbor were muddy, and the tidal flow strong. I could barely see the hull while I was scraping away the stowaways, and a lot of energy was required just to not be pulled away from Meriwether. In the end, after a few hours of cleaning, I was only able to clean the top-half of Meriwether’s bottom. It is a job that pretty much puts me straight to bed. However, before I settled in for a nap, Kerri and I went to the marina restaurant for a burger and a walk. Afterward, with no reason to stay in this uninspiring anchorage, we picked up and moved on to more scenic places.

Retracing our steps, past Wahai Bay and the resident houseboat, is Lane Cove with even more towering rock formations surrounding the bay. We parked Meriwether beside a beautiful double-ender and set in for a relaxing evening in the calm anchorage. Not long after, we were struck with the biggest serving of irony possible when said beautiful double-ender, a boat with the name “Quiet One”, turned on his generator to charge up the battery bank. No so quiet after all.

While we waited for the wind to fill in to sail further North, I continued my early morning outings in the dinghy to explore the shoreline and snap a few photos of our ever changing yard, but we otherwise stayed onboard as Kerri’s workload is quite heavy at this time and I was still recuperating from scraping barnacles of Meriwether’s belly. We would end up slipping out of the protected waters soon after as the wind coaxed us back into the ocean to make more mileage to the north.