First boating weekend of the season...

[John B]

I haven't experienced anything as bad as that. I do vividly recall the man who sailed the Shetlands boat Varangian out here from JOE talking about getting here and then sailing into a hole in the water . Sailed all the way from England to NZ and decided the boat was a goner a couple of miles off Kawau( just north of Auckland).
Riada has some strengthening to her main bulkhead and cabintop after falling off a wave a few years ago.
I don't think some of the common production boats would fare as well as that Mull. The ones you don't take to sea unless you have a case of sikaflex with you.

[Larks]

Looks quite flat and calm to have the main reefed down so much, I gather this must have been taken around lunchtime? Or are those grey clouds something rolling in?

BTW, I'll be up Kerikeri way from 23 to 30 Dec if you're anywhere near for a beer - I will have a car to escape the outlaws again.

[John B]

Photographs and the sea... always deceptive. It was fairly calm as we were behind islands and not in the channel but he was reefed well down because when he left Waiheke it was 28 knots or so and they were cooking breakfast. Also , He'd never owned a leisure furl and was still experimenting with the system and whys and wherefores. As soon as we trucked past he tacked and pulled out his yankee jib.
We were doing 8.. 8.2 at times and were sheeted in fairly close but not hard on the wind with 1 reef and a furl in the jib( no mizzen. It was low 20's through high 20's at times. We even had to round up once when she put the rail under in a gust. The boy was on the helm and did a pretty good job , but he could have reacted a fraction quicker to that one ahh harhar.
smokin along...


look! a LPBC, on my head.

[peter radclyffe]

It'd be safer from offshore but .....


I think I knew that and I have his Yacht design ( according to Perry?) book although I don't particularly remember it from there.. probably something said on SA I think.

I met Laurie Davidson briefly when we were hauled , I understand she's still one of his favourite designs. I looked around when I was working under the boat and saw him standing back looking at it. I asked a couple of questions but forgot all the ones I wanted to ask , like why the tumblehome?

I went aboard one of his production boats on sunday, It's a Cavalier 45 from the mid 1980's I think. they have a good reputation as weatherly, big volume cruising boat here.
14 tons compared to Riada at about 11.

I can see some similarities up about the cove line where our freeboard ends, but below the waterline they're a lot fuller too





Very interesting man and family. They stepped off a mull 42 about 18 months ago halfway between Tonga and NZ. The boat was sailing really well in about 35, deep reefed etc etc but they fell off a wave and broke the main bulkhead. A while later they fell off a second wave, the deck moved up ,hull breathed in , rigging went slack and the rig dropped over the side.
Further significant structural damage ( on investigation) caused him to put his family first and they pinged the epirb.

like why the tumblehome

John , apart from aesthetics it is used sometimes to reduce the beam when heeled, which as you know increases speed

[John B]

Thanks Peter, thats the argument I use because although the boat is 1975, she's built without regard to rule.It conceivably could have been a concession to fashion but somehow , I don't think LD would have done that.
Whatever it is , its the biggest single feature I dislike about the boat because she'll hit hull before rubbing strake for the centre 10 ft of the boat.

see it ?



It's a real pain coming into piles.......

[Larks]

yes, piles can be painful......

[John B]

Mahurangi weekend was canned due to Cyclone Wilma and her baggage so we sailed off to rakino again for sunday night , return monday ( holiday weekend)

Iorangi on the way out



We had a motor home into 30 .. 35 knots at times.


A couple of the classic boats out racing in the anniversary regatta on monday.
Arcturus, the Alden 390 ,with too much rag up... 20...25 or so in the inner harbour.

[John B]

Prize , the 1920's Bailey of 43 ft all snugged and inboard for the conditions





and not sure if she managed it or not... maybe just pipping Katrina on the finish line..

[basm]

John what time did the classics finish? We were out on the harbour and I must have missed them. Was great sailing weather!

[John B]

That was the tail end of the fleet and that was about 3.30 or 3.45 maybe bas.
The funny thing was , we motored from Rakino because it was a tad feral out there and because I didn't know what boats would still be sailing in the harbour.. it gets a bit silly on anniv day as you know. But the Contours decided to go around the Northern side of Rangi ( we had a kid swap going on) and arrived in an hour and a half after us. We had to wait to give their boy back and get our girl.

[basm]

We sailed out around the north side of Rangitoto, anchored behind Motuihe for lunch before motoring home. I think we got in at 4:30 or so. Most of the boats were gone by then.

[John B]

What sort of boat ?( Not your proa I think.)

Riada II sailed home around the outside and had a great time in about 30.

[basm]

Hell no! The weekend served as a good reminder of just how tricky it can get out there. I got invited to go out on a good sized ketch which handled the wind and swell with ease.

[John B]

Gotta love a bipolar boat.

[basm]

Monday's photos:

[basm]

Under sail on heading out under Rangitoto Island


Motoring home back to Auckland

[John B]

Hahaha, good sized ketch.... The master of understatement. We did notice Viking coming in when we were waiting for our kid.

[basm]

Under sail:

[John B]

She loved that that reach !

Bas' ride ...


Viking , 1893 Charles Bailey jnr.. she's been a ketch for a few decades now.


Before that she might have been a schooner for a while? Originally a cutter rig which became a cruising yawl

[Thad]

Thanks again John!

[John B]

This weekend just gone was one out the box although so hot , it was hard to get a breath at times. Nothing like the Aussie temperatures but there's something about Aucklands humidity that needs a factor of 20% or something added to the listed temp to get a real feel for what its like.
There was some muttering about selling Riada and getting a launch though.. no wind to speak of when we were travelling out and back.
Swimming at the Noises in 23.8C was like getting into a warm bath for us, it didn't refresh at all.
Against all normal procedure we actually spent a night in a popular anchorage as we came back a bit to meet up with the Contours. Funny as, 100 boats in the bay protected from the SW( 10 knots maybe) and whole bundle more which came over later in the evening. Of course what happens.... a Northerly came in about 4 am. being survival conditions and all, blowing oooo 7 gusting 8, the whole bays full of boats were gone by 6 am bar about 7 of us!

' Discovered ' a nice little bay yesterday...




We went off for a quick tiki tour of the Gardiner gap in the stripper. Thats the old island Motutapu to the left ,nice sandstone and earth...... and the new island,( arrived C 1300AD or so) the ex volcano Rangitoto to the right. Pretty savage to land a dinghy on with all that black lava twisted rock around its foreshore.



and the Contour boys went fishin amongst the kahawai workup. Fat little good condition fush they were too.


They came in with 6 in about 10 minutes and their dad told em to get 3 more for us. Back in 5 they said, which they were.

Excellent weekend.

[John B]

As soccer season draws near and we descend into soccer trials, soccer practise, soccer games, soccer tournaments etc, all times 2 kids, we are keen on grabbing the last of our cruising.
So we left on friday night with a vague plan of circumnavigating Waiheke island, and maybe seeing Graeme in his new Piedy. We had really nice reach down to Oneroa and a glorious beat into the bay where we decided to stop because it was dusk and we didn't really care. Normally we'd avoid it like the plague, along with various other hot spots the crowds like to go to. It wasn't too bad.. not too many boats there relatively and we stopped right out anyway.
As soon as we'd got anchored the texts and phone calls started telling us about the disaster in Japan.
As usual , other media were far superior over that of standard marine bulletins via VHF . The VHF forecast and channel 16 referred listeners to a website for updates ! The radio stations were just blanked out on reporting what was happening in Japan and left us in the dark comparitively with brief comments once or twice in an hour.
I'd been considering cancelling my laptop aircard recently ,but I guess it paid for itself in peace of mind that night.

Anyway, reports varied from a 1 metre high wave down and not until 6.32 am at North cape , a couple of hundred miles north, so we stayed . The 4.30 or so report from civil defence confirmed that it was unlikely to be a threat but at 6.30 we upped anchor and trundled out so we faced the right way and had some deep water under us. Caught one snapper.
No sign of a tsunami.. some odd ripples at one stage.. that was it.



Dawn dawns




tsunami sunrise

[John B]

I'm going sailing tomorrow

Friday: Easterly 30 knots gusting 40 knots, but 25 knots gusting 35 knots south of Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Becoming northeast 30 knots gusting 40 knots everywhere in the morning. Sea rough. Poor visibility in periods of rain.

but that's fine because the direction we're going is due east. About 32 miles or so. South of Whangaparoa as it happens.

Thats good , right.?

[Larks]

Thats good , right.?

Better than sitting at home mowing the lawn!

[John B]

It looks like they're going to shorten the course. Funny comment from one of the guys ( its a 3 handed gulf rally. 3 legs with a stop each night)
The comment... " We're gettin the old band back together" LOL.


anyway, off to stand under a cold shower whilst ripping up $100 notes, as they say.

[John B]

The race was cancelled but we had a boat full of food , beer and 3 guys sitting on the dock so we went anyway... motored up to a local bay and went for very nice wet sail the next day. Shame about the race though.

[Hwyl]

The jib seems to set well, rolled like that. It's a black art getting them to do that.

[John B]

What 'they' seem to do now Gareth, is run an open ended pocket about 2/3 or 3/4 the hoist just behind the luff. Then they drop a length of fat cheap rope in it. The rope does the job that all that foam luff gimmick used to do, and does it pretty well.
anyway, thats what is on that sail.

[John B]

A nice sail in 5 going 15 and then about 18 today, enough to click 8.5 down to 7.5 most of the way. We're at one of those popular anchorages but out of popular time ... 10 or 12 boats in North Cove aka Chamberlains bay.

ferry noice.

[snow(Alan H)]

A little early for the party.......... or are you checking on the hedge fund?
Might c u Friday for a rumbo

[John B]

Well, that was a very good few days away and a fitting way to end our sailing for the year. Getting away early allowed us to visit a few spots that can get busy through the season without being crowded .
Chamberlains or North cove can often as not have 100 boats in it and we had 10 or so. Rotoroa island next door was our goal as it has been in private ownership and closed to the public for 40 or 60 years ..... we were keen to get ashore and have a wee walk.
Since the ownership change was notified a year or so ago, the island remained closed for extensive work to its structure and ecology... a lot clearing of imported trees and replanting in native, plus tracks and facilities. There was no other visitors there except us. Even at its early growtrh stage the place was a delight to see and started the theme of the early part of our short cruise, stopping in bays we'd never been to before. That still impresses me, being able to go to a spot we've not been to despite nearly 30 years cruising around this gulf and bit of coast.

leaving the smoke. flying the Ed Harrow and Mr Lemonhands flags , as it were.



we managed an hour or so with the Mizzen staysail, but tweaked it down pronto with some gusts a bit further down the straight. Pretty typical sailing weather here.. nil to 12 to 20 to 15, all in a few hours.



some passionate interaction with the environment ..

[John B]

Its about 20 miles to North Cove, it made a nice afternoon sail and the breeze dropped off on cue as we anchored.
I sat aboard as a visit was paid to the 'wildlife' onshore .

donkeys.



from Rotoroa the next morning , looking back at the northern coast of Ponui island , thats North cove with the two masts in it. We usually prefer to slide in to the sandy beach. Its shallow there and less people choose to anchor off it.





and then looking North over Rotoroa.

[John B]

From Rotoroa we made a lunch stop at a favourite rocky bay and pool. It was a bit cool and late in the day( and the season) for swimming but nice to visit anyway





big tides at the time

We were tempted to stop the night there and it would have been fine , however we ended up deciding to move around the corner and came across our mates out. They hadn't expected to be out but the weather had lured them.


That was a very nice and comfortable night and the next day was just spectacular , but totally windless.

[John B]

and that meant a 3 hr motor up to Kawau island , about 22 or so miles north.
Beautiful clear day, fish working everywhere ( but no bites) and a stop at 2 different bays for the kids to go for a swim and moi for a paddle.
Then to Mansion house bay to meet the ferry and our three guests to stay aboard for a couple of days.
Not a bad spot for an afternoon/ evening stop.
Thats an early Townson Keeler in front of us.




That was thurs evening and typically you could expect boats to arrive there well into the small hours on the holiday night.
We got the hell out of dodge and scored a bay to ourselves 1/2 mile up the harbour.

[John B]

You can see I'm on a mission here, determined to finish this thread .
Friday was a cool day in many ways, overcast and fresh. So fresh that most boats heading to Kawau as their easter destination turned around and went elsewhere. However it was cool as a birthday because I was fed and watered to my hearts content and we had a very nice evening and bbq at SteveH's bach in North Cove Kawau. We even caught fish right in the Bon Accord harbour.Great night.
one of the boats arriving at Steves.

a very interesting unit, there's a canoe body under there and when I asked about construction and her shallow draft / beaching aspects , Brian told me that she was built with a 5 inch thick bottom and had a 3 inch thick hull elsewhere. Lug schooner rigs, she has a massive volume interior and trucks around at 6 knots or so... a boat fit for the purpose she was designed to fulfill.

Sat morning arrived and after a late start we trundled ashore for BBQ brunch at the Pardeys to discuss the Mahurangi cruising club race around the islands.
Only 9 boats due to the weather and a notice oversight.. never mind , that made it all the more fun.