Crap weather & rough seas

Our forecast was not looking good for our first few days in the Bay of Islands. The remnants of Cyclone Wati had travelled down to bring us gale force winds and a very dismal looking day. We were driven into Paihia by The Moorings where we shopped for our food and alcohol and had a quick look in some of the shops - vowing to return to them at the end of sailing. After stowing everything on board (we tend to over cater), we ummed and ahhed about leaving our snug harbour and heading out to the islands. Looking around though, everything was a whiteout, so it was decided to head back into Paihia for the shopping we didn't get to do earlier in the day! We are chicks after all!

On our way

Spent up big on clothing, jewellery, t-shirts, handbags etc and went back to the boat with the same dilemma of should we stay or should we go. Ah, to hell with it, lets just go!

Our guardians!

We motored out through the channel and we were got closer to the entrance is certainly got a bit rougher. Rana was a little anxious as she hadn't been on the water for sometime and certainly not in the rough stuff for even longer. I had butterflys and I am sure Trace did too but everyone got over any feelings of anxiety when we were greeted by dolphins that seemed to be assisting us out of the entrance and showing us the way! It was pretty awesome.

They left all too soon and we rounded Tapeka Point to head to Te Hue Bay and an anchorage called Assassination Cove which took us 2 hours to get to. Very good shelter in all conditions. We anchored just outside of the handful of yachts already there and had a lots of very strong gusts coming through. It wasn't overly cold - our feet probably suffered the most but when we got settled it was hot showers all round. A nice relax over nice food and nice wine and great company and lots of card playing. The night wasn't exactly still and I was up and down all night making sure we were staying put. Not much sleep to be had. Bring on the morning and a calmer day....

Rana after seeing the dolphins

Well the next morning arrived and after listening to the forecast (still strong/gale winds) and having a look around outside we decided the best course of action would be nothing! It rained most of the day, so we were pretty much cabin bound. A bit of time to catch up on reading and heaps of time to learn the game of Canasta. Made our way through a bottle of Port and fine red wine, ate well, argued over cards a bit but made the most of the day anyway. Maybe tomorrow we can move on...

Cabin Fever