Heading south

Hi everyone,

We are now heading south and are at Mimiwhangata again. Decided to leave the BOI today as we need to be back in Whangarei early next week and the forecast SE conditions didn't cheer us much. Had a windless rounding of Cape Brett but further south picked up some good wind although we are only 20 miles south of the Cape here so the sail didn't last long. Just north of here we hooked what turned out to be a Wahoo which was a good size and Gina was thrilled and excited to haul the beast on board. Must have weighed a good 2-3 kilos and we had most of it for lunch!!
We had a discussion last night re our plans for the summer and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we are going to need much more time to become fully familiar with the boat as she has now become with all the changes - not to mention simply getting used to living at sea. It's quite different from living on board out on the hard or even afloat in the marina. Therefore we think it would be prudent to abandon the plan to circumnavigate NZ this summer and instead concentrate on getting ourselves and the Tiare up to speed between the Gulf and Northland before leaving for the Islands next April. There are also the inevitable small teething problems that need to be sorted and we also have to haul out again in March for some final painting and anti fouling so that gives us too short a time frame to squeeze in a 3 month circumnavigation as well as everything else. And, before tackling the southern seas we need to be fully seasoned for a voyage of that sort.

At the moment it's 2115 and we've just heard a fishing boat at Stewart Is talking to Bluff Fishermans Radio so no worries about radio reception. The wind has died down and we are right at the E end of Mimiwhangata tucked in inside a rocky point. The boat is moving a bit but it will be a gentle rocking to sleep! This bay is quite shallow so we have to be careful that we have enough water under us when the tide goes out! Earlier today we had 2-3 feet under the keel at low tide. The bottom is sand and so the water is very clear which only makes it appear shallower.
We are hoping for a decent sail tomorrow to Whangarei. Easterlies up to 20 knots are forecast so that should push us along. Urquarts Bay tomorrow night and then some day sailing maybe before we head up the river to anchor off Norsand again. The Town Basin Marina is filling up with all the offshore boats coming in but we have a slot booked for the latter half of this month.
Well must now go through the palaver of Sailmail and trying to find a frequency in the Sailmail system that is currently free for data transmission. More nautical adventures again soon. Watch this space!
Cheers,
J & G