Coastal Cruising

• Mana, Porirua to Opua, Bay of Islands
• Distance: 527NM
• Av. Speed: 5.5kts.
• Time: 4 Days, 10 hours

We had a quick turn around in Mana, 48 hours to restock, repack, purchase some additional safety equipment, plan and prepare for the next trip. Our biggest one yet, with lots of firsts!

I was both excited and nervous! We’d spoken about this being the next trip after the Malborough Sounds but it’s quite surreal when you say goodbye and start your voyage north. Watching the land get smaller and smaller before it disappears and all you can see is the distant horizon.

Even though its coastal sailing we treated it with the same respect as off shore sailing. The plan was to head up the west coast, this leaves only one stop in New Plymouth if needed otherwise it’s a non stop trip to Opua. The weather outlook was good, the southerly wind stuck around which would help sail Nagu up the west coast. At times the wind was so light we had to motor sail, we were happy with this and would much rather a calm motor sail up the country then be hit with huge winds.

Dean helped us crew Nagu up the coast, he’s done this route many times and shared his wealth of knowledge and experience along the way. As a crew of three, we set out a three hour rotating roster, this worked really well and after previously working 13 hour night shifts, 3 hours was a breeze!

Day 1 – We put the sails up just off Mana Island, the wind was light but we could see 10-15kts further out so we headed in that direction. Getting the hang of doing everything on the move, spilt my coffee all over the floor in the first hour….lesson learnt…..it moves! Adapting quickly, it all became a bit easier.

As Mt Taranaki came into view, we headed into our first night onboard. I wasnt too worried about the night watch, I was more worried about seeing another boat and not hitting it! As you can imagine, I was thrilled that on our first night we would pass through the Kupe and Māui gas and oil fields. At least they were lit up for miles and easy to spot.

I had my book, plus some downloaded Netflix series to keep me occupied during my shift, although I really didnt need anything – the night sky, stars and phosphorescence lighting up the water as we sailed through was incredible! I spent so many hours just mesmerised by the night, being present and enjoying the surroundings.

Day 2 – We were all pretty tired, the previous 24 hours had been mentally and physically tiring. The initial excitement was wearing off, mix this with broken sleep, I guess you could say we were getting into the cruising routine.

I’d prepped a heap of meals before we set off to make cooking easier on the move, plus given the long days, we always looked forward to a yummy meal. Dean had brought along his fishing lures and we caught some tuna. The next few days we had fresh ceviche, sashimi, pan fried, crumbed and then curried (I did think it was an offence to make a curry with tuna) but it was all delicious!

Day 3 – We’d been motor sailing for a while now, the wind was between 5-10kts and we were averaging 5.5kts. Everyone was pretty chilled on board, we’d take our shift, read, have a nap or watch a movie. It was a long trip once we passed Taranaki, 65NM off shore, theres nothing but water to see all around you. Maritime NZ were keeping watch on us and we checked in twice a day. We just had one 24 hour period with no coverage given our position offshore. I was also plotting our positioning along the way, it was slow but also nice to map out how we were tracking.

Day 4 – I woke up to the sight of land… well a sand dune but either way it was a great sight! We were just south of Ahipara and the water was so calm you could have taken your paddle board and paddled up 90 mile beach. For a coast line that is notoriously rugged, you could see shark fins above the water just crusing along. We were all full of energy, we’d be passing Cape Reinga this day and on the home straight. We even passed a couple of guys fishing off one of the fishing banks, you’d think I hadn’t seen another human for weeks! I was so excited, it was great chatting to them as we cruised past.

We wanted to get around the top and be heading down the east coast before dark. The currents, cray pots and shallow waters make it a bit of a mine field, one we didn’t want to manage in the dark. It was a four hour trip from point to point and pretty special seeing Cape Reinga from the water.

Sailing into the night was awesome, we were able to turn the engine off and sail along at 6kts. This was the first night with out the engine noise, it was so peaceful just listening to the sound of Nagu moving through the water.

Making our way down the coast on the final morning, enjoying passing places we’ve explored on land now seeing it all from a different angle. Once Cape Brett was in sight we knew we were nearly there, a sense of achievement for some salty sailors from Wellington, now arriving in the Bay of Islands.

A rather grand entrance, we were welcomed with 140 other yachts sailing towards us…….. Okay so there may have been a large sailing regatta underway that we had to quickly navigate our way through but despite all the chaos, we made it!