Caduceus of Burnham - South to Whangarei Day 2 - A new home for Caduceus in Riverside Drive Marina

Date   Saturday 15 to Wednesday 19 November 2014  Distance run    42nm over the ground  Our long lost friend David and his wife Nicky joined us for five days for a cruise around the Bay of Islands.  With one day delay whilst we hid in the marina from foul weather and another day spent hiding from unfavourable conditions in Urupukapuka Bay we had three great days visiting various anchorages and sailing around the “Hole in the Wall” Rock off Cape Brett.   Nicky and David were great company and I trust that a good time was had by all. The centre part of the chart shows our route around the islands.  The area is not huge, our total trip around the bay was just 42nm, but there are a host of pretty bays and anchorages with good walks. read more...

Caduceus of Burnham - South to Whangarei Day 1 - Pararahi Bay, Mimiwhanga

Position           35:26.03 S 174:23.80 EDate                1825 (UTC+13) local time New Zealand                        Distance run    34.5nm over the ground, 34nm through the water                        Time from Opua 6 hoursOpua to Whangarei is over 70nm and is rather too far to sail in a day unless unnecessary use of the engine is used and as we did not really want to do an overnight sail we opted to break the journey part. read more...

Caduceus of Burnham - Five days in the Bay of Islands

Date Saturday 15 to Wednesday 19 November 2014Distance run    42nm over the groundOur long lost friend David and his wife Nicky joined us for five days for a cruise around the Bay of Islands.  With one day delay whilst we hid in the marina from foul weather and another day spent hiding from unfavourable conditions in Urupukapuka Bay we had three great days visiting various anchorages and sailing around the “Hole in the Wall” Rock off Cape Brett.  Nicky and David were great company and I trust that a good time was had by all.The centre part of the chart shows our route around the islands.  The area is not huge, our total trip around the bay was just 42nm, but there are a host of pretty bays and anchorages with good walks ashore.  The scenery is. read more...

Caduceus of Burnham - New Zealand Day 7 and a bit - We made it in daylight - and the morning after

Position 35:18.82 S 174:07.35 EDate1745 (UTC +11) Tuesday 11 20141945 (UTC+13) local time New Zealand Distance runLast 5 hours 45 mins 42nm over the ground, 40nm through the waterDistance (OG) covered from start 1064nmOriginal distance to Opua (direct route) 890nmWell, the forecast in the Day 7 entry was spot on and as an added benefit we sailed some of it.2000 local is definitely dusk and we made it with 15 minutes to spare.Sailing through the Bay of Islands to Opua was an exciting end to the journey even if we did not see it at its best due to the failing light.The approach to Opua was not difficult and whilst the Quarantine berth is isolated from those already cleared in Firefly, Paul, Suzie and Gareth a friend who had joined them for this passage, were there waiting to take our lines. read more...

Caduceus of Burnham - New Zealand Day 7 - Land ho New Zealand - Almost there

Date                1200 (UTC +11) Tuesday 11 2014                       1400 (UTC+13) local time New Zealand                        Distance run    Last 24 hours 179nm over the ground, 178nm through the waterDistance (OG) covered from start 1022nmDistance to destination 42nm 178nm made in the dayOriginal distance to Opua (direct route) 890nmLeaving our turn towards our waypoint and resorting to full motor meant that we had a decreasing swell to motor into and initially with only a well sheeted in main we made just over 5 knots. read more...