Part 5: Homeward Bound

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Next morning was almost the same operation the other way around, I’d been overboard for a swim at first light, wiping off with fresh water to rid myself of the salt, then it was cereal and canned fruit for breakfast and tidy ship ready for the next leg of the voyage.

Fresh milk can be an issue on small boats sans refrigeration. I go to the supermarket shelves where the kids drinks are kept and buy the 250 ml UHT treated cardboard carton plain milk drinks, one per day plus a couple of spares.  If I keep them in the icebox, take one out each day and open it, they last the day and are enough to provide milk for my breakfast cereal, tea four times a day and maybe enough to cook pancakes or somesuch.  Powdered milk is ok in cooking and that’s what I use when baking scones or bread, but it never does taste quite right in tea, so the carton milk works well for me.

This day took me back through the area I described as the “box” of reefs and small islands, but this time with a gentle beam wind and perfectly sunny weather, such a contrast.  Blue waters, lovely green islands, a little white foam around each reef and shoal, perfect sailing weather. 

Early in the afternoon I pulled into Matiatia harbour on Waiheke Island, that’s where the passenger only ferries from Auckland City come in, it’s a tiny harbour and crowded but the call of the little shop and its icecreams was irresistible,  so it was a quick but very enjoyable stop.  I was ok for stores, with only two more nights to provide for before having to return to the rat race my ice box was still cool and providing safe food, there was more than enough for the last two days stores so I had no need, other than the icecream, to resupply.

That’s the smaller of several ferries that service Waiheke Island, she has three 18wheelers and about 20 cars on board, and I’m careful not to get in their way! The reef in the foreground is just covered at high tide, but makes a perfect breakwater, protecting water that is just deep enough for Spook at low tide. Perfect!.

This part of Auckland's Hauraki Gulf is a maze of little and big islands, reefs, shallows and narrow tidal channels interspersed with miles wide stretches of clear water, it’s a wonderful place to go cruising in a boat of any size, and I’d not been able to do that for quite a few years so it was with great pleasure that I spent the next two days poking Spooks bowsprit into the old favourite places,  checking out the anchorages, looking at the scenery and marvelling at how many new houses had been built since I had last visited.

Auckland's Hauraki Gulf is a magical place, if you choose your course there are perfect little islands like this every couple of hours sailing and it would take weeks to visit them all.

One more night to go, I chose to head over to Islington Bay early in the day, got the anchor down and the ship tidy, and spent the day walking on Rangitoto Island.  This island is a volcanic cone, only some 900 years old and as its all lava is covered with a unique range of flora, most vegetation not adapting well to the porous lava surface it’s quite different to the usual forest.

Conservation measures have pretty much eradicated non indigenous animals, and the New Zealand native birds do well there, the birdsong being particularly attractive all year around.

Back in the “20s” sites for holiday homes were available on a long term rental arrangement, and many wonderfully characterful little houses and huts were built, often from materials salvaged from the demolition of bigger buildings on the “mainland”. These buildings are a marvel of ingenuity, characterful little shanties right down by the seas edge, some so close that it’s possible to put a fishing line into the water from the front door.

While there will never be any more those still remaining are carefully maintained and are often available to rent.  Off season the black rocks and dark foliage of the forest cover make this a much warmer place than the mainland, and they are a real bargain if you want a very quiet holiday in a very special place.

But I’ve got my own accommodation, and the view of the anchorage from the top of the island, Spook visible in her sheltered corner and the flash of bright yellow that was Offcuts (tied securely this time) on the beach was spectacular, turning around the view was of central Auckland City, a slight haze of smog with huge buildings poking up through it, the arch of the harbour bridge showing where I needed to be on the appointed time next day, and the melee of ships, ferries and pleasure boats a harbinger of the freeways and highways to be negotiated on my way home.

It’s a long walk around the edge of the island and up to the craters at the top of the cone, but a very pleasant one. I’d not been up there for a while, and was pleased to see the considerable progress the Conservation Dept has made in restoring the island to a more natural state, other islands in the Hauraki Gulf are also being reforested and restocked with endangered bird species, and these bird sanctuaries are a welcome haven for those who enjoy the peace and quiet of New Zealand before we humans arrived.

One last night, the icebox had only eggs and bacon left; I had worked my menu so that sausages, then bacon with their preservatives would be last out.  They were still cold to the touch so the new icebox with careful management, opening only once a day and stuffing the empty space with crumpled up newspaper (can’t do that with an internet page eh!) is good for a week away.  Nice to know, good trial run.

I slept well, much refreshed by the week away, and although the bunk is not nearly as soft as the bed at home I find that the work of sailing plus being out on the water is a very effective soporific, no tossing and turning here.

Breakfast on the last day of the cruise. Bacon, Tomato, Eggs and sausages, a hot mugful of English Breakfast tea, toasted rye, and (I’d already eaten it) a Naval Orange.  It would be a fairly long leg up to windward to get back to the boatramp, and I suspected that I’d not have much chance to  eat due to heavy shipping and boat traffic and a forecast that suggested high winds later in the day.  A good meal makes a long day much easier to bear.

One last sail, heading back into Auckland's main harbour from the pristine wilderness of the outer islands into the uproar of the commercial harbour is a real shock to the system,  Lots and lots and lots of traffic on the water, 150 ton fast ferries blasting past at 25 knots, big freighters like mobile walls, seemingly still in the water but in fact travelling much faster than they look, hundreds of yachts and power boats, small workboats, tugs and barges everywhere. 

Rangitoto Island off to leeward. I have a reef in the main, the jib sheet through the after position, and its clouding over.  Later in the day the second reef was needed, and yes I appreciated having had a good breakfast.

On this day, we had Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand out in their A 45 catamarans, the fresh breeze of about 20 knots powering these monsters along at well over 30 knots, threading their way through the traffic like fleet footed deer dodging through a herd of plodding cattle, they are spectacular things to watch and I’m looking forward to being out on the harbour when the AC72s are sailing.  I’m told that they are foil borne and that 50 knots is well within the realms of possibility. I wonder if they should be getting Formula One car drivers to train the helmsmen?

I made it back to the boatramp an hour or so early, found WoodenBoat forumite John B there, we correspond some on line but had seldom met in person so had a good chat. Blair was soon there with the car and trailer and we were out, rig down and tidy and off on the long road home.

Spook back on her trailer and ready to prepare for the long drive home.

Pulling into the driveway, it all seemed like a dream. But writing this brings the pictures in the mind back.  It's spring here as I write, time to do the little jobs needed to have Spook and Offcuts ready to go again.  Summertime calls.

This is sailing at its best.  A  wonderful little ship, a familiar harbour over the bow, just the right amount of breeze and the sheets eased slightly. Perfect, I’m at home as I write this, its raining bucketsful outside.  Its wet, windy and dark, this picture brings the sun back.  Perfect!

John's Plans are in our Duckworks Store.