Epic 3 day sail around Waiheke Island

60 nautical miles in 3 days!

Day 1 - After bring the boat out of storage for winter, our first sail for the season was on Labour weekend.  We left Half Moon bay around 12pm, sails up at the mouth of the estuary. We realised we had forgotten the top batten for the main, but after some hunting I found a spare from the old mainsail, so we used that one. Lucky! We sailed down the western side of Waiheke. and past Huruhi bay and onto Omaru bay. Wind was 8-15 knots NW. With the wind at our backs, I decided to put the spinnaker up, for a easy run all the way down. We were moving faster than all the other yachts out around the gulf, but there always seem to be some yachts that just motor all the way! Having a light displacement boat is a definite advantage in light winds on the gulf.

With all our supplies and kit, the boat seemed a little heavier than usual, and you definitely notice the speed pickup when one person is on the foredeck, as the transom does not drag as much.  We averaged about 6 knots, hitting 7 knots a few times while surfing downwind.

Approaching Omaru bay, first inlet sheltered from the NW.

Eileen fixing us some tea..

 Day 2 - Was still early when we left, wind was already up @ 8am.  15 knots Northerly with a change to SW. Was planning to stop at Man'o'war bay, but we were so quick upwind, we sailed right past it!  I had my phone GPS on logging our speed, 5.8 knots on the upwind leg, not bad ! Recorded some video from sailing on the east side of Waiheke, sailing past Man'o'war bay in about 15 knots. Youtube Link is here

Got around the corner, then a couple of tacks upwind, and then into Hooks bay and dropped the anchor. Lunch consisted of some tasty hot grilled cheese and bacon rolls ! Spent a nice sunny afternoon there, and mucked around on our stand up paddleboard, and took a couple of photos.

We had planned to leave Hooks bay in the afternoon, however a front coming across caused a big wind change, had us motoring back into the bay, after seeing a heap of whitecaps around the corner, and after a hour or so lots of boats came in running for cover, into Hooks bay.  You can kind of see the unsettled sky in the background of the photo below. We decided to stay on in Hooks bay, we had plenty of food and drink, so we settled in for the night.

Goldie is the smallest of boats travelling around the gulf!

Testing our boat tender / inflatable SUP!

He's going for distance... he's going for speeed

Homely huh! Complete with matching cushions

Studying the cruising guide

Sunrise at Hooks Bay.. finally a peaceful nights sleep.. well a couple of hours.

Day 3 - Woke early, and the bay was completely still.  Prepared to sail out early, I'm sure the wind will be up later.  Full sail and jib up when we left.  Went around the corner into a perfect 10-12 knot breeze.

Morning glass

Sailed to Oneroa, beating up the coast from Hooks bay, pulled into one bay half way up to put a reef in the main.  That wind just kept picking up ! Continued on up to Oneroa, where we would meet our friends Wing and Carl who were joining us for a sail back to the mainland. Prepared for the worst, we knew it was windy, despite the ongoing Metservice reports unhelpfully still forecasting an afternoon of 15 knots.

Two reefs in the main, and storm jib up, we beached the boat, and picked up our friends. All aboard and off around the corner of Waiheke, into..... 20 knots...!  Not making much headway we decided to swap the storm jib with the normal working jib. Carl did the honours, up on the foredeck in difficult conditions.  The wind picked up soon enough, while we tacked upwind, making good progress.

About half way up the Motuhi channel we started getting squalls, 25 knots ! Up by Motuihi, we had big short waves, and gusts of 30 knots. (verified by the land based windmeters later). The only other boat was a 40ft motorsailor with a large bridge cabin, with plumes of spray coming off the bow, while tacking upwind in sync with us. Survival conditions... the bow of the boat was launching off the tops of waves and crashing down violently, we were all hanging on, and the boat was heeling wildly in the gusts. We found one tack smoother than the other, so we went on a steady starboard tack all the way up over to Beachlands (an extra few nautical miles!) to get out of the nasty wind and swell, then reach across to the Tamaki estuary. 

Dropped the sails in the shelter of Music point cliffs, and then motored home. Mission.... No photos to show you, no way we were getting the camera out in that ! You'll just have to believe me... !