On February 15 Sadiqi departed Riverside Drive Marina and motored the 15
miles down river to the Nook. This was a slow motor as the propeller
was foul with barnacles. The fouling was cleared with some
assistance. It rained off and on for the two days that Sadiqi was
anchored at the Nook - a quiet and pleasant anchorage.
 |
| The Nook - Monkey's wedding |
Before
sun up on Saturday February 18 Sadiqi departed the Nook and motor
sailed to Great Barrier Island (40 miles). The first night was
anchored at Nagal Cove, the second night anchored near Green Island. I motor sailed to Copper Mine bay.
 |
| Great Barrier Island |
The
weather forecast showed winds 12 to 15 knots from the east. The
skipper decided to take advantage of the favorable winds and head
further south to Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland. It
was one of the best sails I’d had since leaving Fiji. Sadiqi had
the company, for a time, of a fairly large pod of dolphins, which
happily cavorted in the bow wave.
 |
| Hauraki Gulf - Dolphins at play |
On
Tuesday afternoon Sadiqi was one of three yachts anchored in Oneroa
Bay, Waiheke Island. The winds swung to the south early the next day.
By late afternoon there were 30 yachts and motor launches anchored in
the Bay. The skipper did several walks on the pretty island. With the
fair weather on Saturday the number of yachts and power boats had
again doubled.
 |
| Oneroa Bay, Waiheke Island |
 |
| Oneroa Bay, Waiheke Island |
The
weather forecast for Sunday offered an escape from the crowds at Waiheke with 10
knot winds from the south.
It was a fantastic sail to Great Barrier island in
light airs from the south. The wind was cool, the swell mild. The 40
mile passage took a little over 9 hours with less than an hour of
engine running time. The anchor was dropped in Wairahi Bay. The
serenity of Great Barrier island.
 |
| Sunrise Wairahi Bay, Great Barrier Island |
 |
| Sunrise Wairahi Bay, Great Barrier Island |
I thoroughly enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of
Wairahi Bay. I wanted to be back in Whangarei by the middle of March.
I keep an eye on the weather from local VHF radio broadcasts,
WindFinder Pro app, and Windyty app. The weather forecast showed some
challenging weather. On Tuesday March 7, I woke very early and
checked the weather forecasts again. There was a strong to gale force
easterly winds forecast for Wednesday. I prefer sailing in lighter
airs on a half meter swell to strong winds and a two and half meter
short snappy swell forecast later in the week.
 |
| Red sky in the morning over Great Barrier Island |
Before sunrise - 0550 - I hauled anchor and
motored out of Wairahi Bay. There was a spectacular red sunrise. Red
skies in the morning - sailors warning! The winds steadily increased
to 15 to 20 knots from the east. By mid afternoon the winds had
dropped and it started to rain heavily. Sadiqi was about 12 miles
away from The Nook anchorage. The rainfall at times was torrential.
The anchor was dropped at 1630 by a very wet and cold skipper. On
Wednesday the wind howled or screamed through the rigging. The wind
speed indicator sometimes showing 45 knots. It rained very heavily
for long periods of time.
Thursday 0430 - dark o clock - the anchor alarm
sounded. It was high tide and Roxy had let go of the muddy bottom.
This was the skippers fault, I had not let enough chain out for the
wind conditions. Sadiqi had drifted closer to some shallows. I went
forward and let out more chain. The anchor held. I returned to my
bunk and listened to the wind screaming through the rigging. Not much
sleep was had. At around 1000 hours, on the low tide, there was a
brief lull in the wind and rain. Emanuela the anchor windless hauled
in Roxy the Rocna. I re-anchored closer to the shelter of the land.
I had an email from a friend telling me that parts of North Island
had suffered the worst flooding for over 50 years.
On Friday afternoon Sadiqi departed the Nook and
motor sailing to Whangarei. It was another very wet trip. The hot
shower back at the marina felt unbelievably good.
