Racing, Exploring, Maintaining
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Having expended so much time and effort on
getting ‘Sunstone’ in racing trim and relieved of some of her live-aboard cruising
clobber, it was time to actually do something. New Zealand’s largest, though
by no means most challenging race, is the Coastal Classic from Auckland to
Russell in the Bay of Islands. To add to their list of round-the-world racing
venues we were joined once again by John Curtis and Viv Worrall, as well as
by Wayne Oliver who had sailed with us at Hamilton Island back in 2001. As so
often the race was a broad reach, which is very much to the Kiwi taste for
their light, down-wind orientated boats. During an extended light patch after
the start we thought we would disgrace ourselves, but some heavier going
later in the race, some lumpy seas near Cape Brett, and some beating near the
finish brought us back to the middle of our class and a slightly more respectable
position. |
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With a brisk westerly blowing straight
into the anchorage at Russell, we were happy that we had brought the dinghy
so that we could go round the corner to shelter, row ashore to the beach and walk
across to the festivities in town. Because New Zealand were no longer in the
Rugby World Cup the Race organisers were unmoved by pleas that the
prize-giving should be moved to avoid a clash. Fortunately Vicky decided that
she should put in an appearance while the rest of us stayed riveted to the TV
watching South Africa trounce England. Vicky emerged from the prize-giving
proudly bearing a prize – not for any particular achievement apart from her
presence. The best prizes of the Race are spot prizes and hers was a 2HP
Yamaha outboard. We were suitably impressed! A walk up Flag-Staff hill above
the town gave us a panoramic view of the BOI (Bay of Islands). |
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With a few days before their flight to Nelson
in the South Island we gave John and Viv a whirlwind tour of the Bay of
Islands, coincidentally meeting up with our friend Terry, who runs Great
Escape Yacht Charters in the BOI. To toughen them for their hikes further
south we took them on an amble around Moturua Island. Unfortunately the amble
turned out to be slightly more demanding than anticipated and a moment’s
inattention left John with a strained and swollen ankle. Having no ice on
board we strapped a cold beer to it – much to John’s frustration! |
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Despite John’s discomfort we did a swing
around Piercy Island off Cape Brett and also managed to visit lovely
Urupukapuka, where Viv and Vicky managed to get ashore and commune with the local
sheep – a subject of interest to Viv as she and John keep a few at their home
in Wiltshire. We were pleased to see that unlike on our
first visit to the BOI in 1999, quite a number of the foreign cruising boats
which had arrived from the Pacific Islands were actually getting out to do
some cruising, rather than merely sitting at the moorings in Opua. |
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We had travelled up and down the coast
between the BOI and Auckland several times but made very few stops on the
way. This time we were determined to extend our range and so stopped in at
Tutukaka, where we were delighted by the antics of two extremely playful
dolphins. The following day we followed a route
close inshore to Bream Head and then up the River to Whangarei. This is not a
trip to be undertaken lightly, as the town is a good 15 miles up-river, which
is heavily tidal. In addition, at the southern entrance is Marsden Point, New
Zealand’s only refinery, with all the usual tasteful architecture and
olfactory delights. |
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The River winds
through extensive sand and mud flats and in its upper reaches is so shallow
that we were warned not to attempt to reach the town basin until at least
half tide. Whangarei has a reputation for rain, but we were fortunate to arrive
on a sunny day. Though crowded the basin is attractive – more so than the town. The CBD had been somewhat
beautified since our last visit by an abbreviated pedestrian precinct, but in
general the town leaves a markedly industrial impression, with street after
street of warehouses. This is sad given the attractiveness of the surrounding
countryside and the fact that it is the major centre for the whole of
Northland. We had thought that Whangarei might be one of the areas to
consider as our base in New Zealand, but our visit confirmed that it was not. |
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A
long day’s sail took us back to North Cove, Kawau Island. We knew that Lin
and Larry Pardey had established a base there, the ‘Mickey Mouse Boatyard’, but
thought that they would probably still be in North America in late October. We
discovered our error when Lin rowed out and invited us to use their mooring
and to come to dinner. Their beautiful little cottage looks out over the Cove
and the dock below. Larry’s latest restoration project, the New Zealand
Classic yacht ‘little’ ‘Thelma’ lay alongside, though on the big spring tides
she took on a somewhat undignified heel at low water. We had just missed
meeting Lin and Larry in BC in 2003, so it was a pleasure to catch up and
compare notes on our cruising experiences. |
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Back in Auckland, we took the opportunity
of a break in our somewhat feverish schedule (for us) to drive over the Coromandel
to Whangamata. We thought this a fairly unlikely spot for a ‘base camp’, but
wanted to check it out and drive through some of the beautiful Coromandel
scenery to do so. It was unlikely, with a heavily barred river entrance and a
marina not yet constructed and a good way from even starting. The town itself
was very much a beach resort, heaving with surfers in summer and full of
‘dead’ holiday ‘baches’ (New Zealand cottages) in winter. Not for us. By way of compensation, back in the city we
visited the excellent maritime museum, which gives coverage not only to New
Zealand’s maritime history, but also to that of the Pacific Islands and their
remarkable contribution to the design of sailing vessels. |
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As well over a year had passed since our
last antifouling in South Africa, some attention to ‘Sunstone’s’ bottom was
well overdue. We hauled out at the very efficient Westpark Marina and were
delighted to find that apart from the odd spline there was really very little
to do. We even had time to socialise when David Mitchell (RCC) kindly took us
to dinner and introduced us to several other RCC members – as well as sharing
with us life on the hard and the pleasures of antifouling, in his case,
bright red. |
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As punctuation to our stay in Auckland,
like many local yachties and visitors, we irregularly go rum racing with the
Stewart 34’s on Thursday evenings. These weekly events are ruled by the amazing
Bill Miller, who is still an active and competitive sailor, though he is now
over 80. His energy and enthusiasm have been the keystone on which much of
the success of the Stewarts as a class has been based. He rules the Thursday
racing with an iron hand – around the rum bottle, as you can see below! |
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The
Stewart 34s are a remarkable class. They were far ahead of their time when
designed in the late 50’s with a high aspect fin keel and a flat-bottomed bulb.
They have a spade rudder and can spin on a six pence. For many years they
were used for match racing competitions. Many see them as the training ground
which produced so many New Zealand sailors who have now achieved
international fame, such as Russell Coutts and Chris Dickson. They are still
very competitive in fleet, handicap sailing and as a class have some of the
closest competition on the Harbour in their weekly, Monday evening,
windward-leewards. Our cruising friend George Backhus is writing a history of
the class – which inevitably involves a good deal of research over glasses of
rum! |
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