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Firefly - North to Whangaroa



Firefly is still cruising in the Bay of Islands and with the arrival of Barney and Juanita we now have a crew compliment of 4. Last week we had a spell of glorious weather but recently the wind has been blowing from the south west and its been showery and chilly. During the next week we are planning to head north and will anchor of the Cavalli Islands and then move onto Whangaroa.

Since arriving in New Zealand we have not gone far - just out into the Bay of Islands and have then been back into Opua Marina a couple of times in order to utilise the exceptionally good yacht services on offer. There is a real 'mend it' attitude in New Zealand that is really refreshing. As an example, our high power Balmar alternator failed in Vanuatu and we have been running on the spare one we have. So we took the failed unit into 'Marine Electrics' located at the marina and Rob who is both proprietor and technician got stuck in - initially he reckoned it was too expensive to repair but by the next day he had found some parts and it was up and running and the bill for the work was very reasonable.

The forthcoming week was reserved for taking part in the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) 60th anniversary NZ rally. There was never an itinerary for the rally which seemed odd, but just times and dates for 2 'pot luck' dinners a week apart at OCC members houses in Opua and then Whangaroa. 50 people turned up on Friday 28th for the first event in Opua which was notable for excellent food and the presentation of the 'OCC, role of honour award' to Laura Dekker.

Laura who is Dutch, was actually born in NZ and is the youngest person to have sailed around the world, and did so, leaving at the age of 14 and completing the voyage when she was 16. At the presentation, Peter Barton, an well travelled British yachtsman now living in NZ, and son of the founder of the OCC, explained about Laura's trip. At the time of her departure there were international news headlines reporting that the Dutch authorities had raised legal objections and were stopping Laura from leaving on the grounds that she was too young. 9 court hearings were required to over throw the ruling and she then sailed with her father to Gibraltar and from there on her own across the Atlantic and completed her circumnavigation sailing from and back to St Martin in the Caribbean. Interestingly Laura left under the Dutch ensign but when she had reflected on her treatment by their authorities, when she completed the voyage she was flying the NZ flag.

Despite all of this 'inspirational stuff' only 3 boats, including Firefly actually signed up to sail to the second event in Whangaroa and the other 2 were not leaving for a few days - everyone else will go by car. Therefore our plans and expectations for cruising in company with beach BBQ's along the way were somewhat scuppered!

Its currently Sunday 30th Novemeber and the non existent rally is actually no problem. We came back out in the Bay of Islands yesterday and anchored in Waiwhapuku Bay. Before lunch we hiked around Motorua Island and once Barney has finished his nap we will up anchor and move around to Urupukapuka Island. There, despite the temperature of the sea, Paul is planning to don his thickest wetsuit and go snorkeling to find some green lipped muscles.

The forecast is for the west wind to back to the south west tomorrow and we will sail to the Cavalli Islands that are less than 20 miles north. From there its an even shorter hop to Whangaroa. Barney and Juanita have a car we have left in Opua and the plan is to hitch back from Whangaroa, fetch the car and then have a few days exploring the north of Northland by car before sailing back south towards the Auckland area.

Paul, Susie, Barney and Juanita

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