(no subject)

Hi
Further news of our wanderings. We are still in Whangaroa and enjoying our time in this beautiful place - somewhat like the southern fjords with deep water in close and long narrow inlets. It hasn't been without incident though. We were ashore in Whangaroa itself the other day when the wind got up and the Tiare dragged her anchor. Fortunately a couple on another moored boat saw the predicament and managed to secure her alongside them. We had 30 metres of chain out in 20' of water and our new 25 kg Delta anchor but she still dragged. Maybe it was poor holding but we were the only boat to do so - so our faith in the Delta is somewhat eroded!! Might look at another alternative when we eventually get back to Whangarei.
Then we had an electrical problem inasmuch as the alternator wasn't charging the batteries. We traced the problem to a faulty plug on the battery regulator so we will have to stay here until about the 3/2 before we can get a new one as it is a public holiday this weekend as luck would have it. Still, we have managed to effect temporary repairs and there are definitely worse places one could be enduring an enforced stay!
It's also amazing what a small world it is. While alongside at the Whangaroa Marina sorting out our electrical issues, we happened to be tied up behind a lovely Herreschoff ketch called "Okere". She turned out to be owned by John Olsen whose family had owned a clothing factory in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in the 60's and 70's which coincided with the time when Jim spent 6 months there in 1968 working for the old family islands trading firm. Naturally there was plenty to talk about. It also transpired that "Okere" had been built in 1972 by Jack Hargreaves (with John helping). Jim had sailed with Jack back to New Zealand from Fiji a few years ago on his Herreschoff 3 masted schooner "Matari"! What a small world. After "Okere" was finished the Olsens then embarked on a 10 year world circumnavigation on her which must have been the experience of a lifetime. Shades of what we hope to accomplish over the next few years. Encounters like this give one renewed confidence and conviction that planning offshore sailing passages isn't as completely loony as some people seem to think! Each to his own as they say.
Anyway, it is now 2200 at the end of the first month of 2010. The engine has been running for the last hour charging the batteries and making more water so it's time to shut it down and have a shower and then turn in.
Cheers,
J & G (J)
P.S. Our position is:
latitude 35 degrees 01.206 minutes south
longitude 173 degrees 46.196 minutes east

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Anniversaries

Hi everyone,
We thought we'd break our newly imposed rule of only emailing our blogsite to announce a very momentous occasion! It's Jim's 63rd. birthday - born in 1947; the same year that the Tiare's keel was first laid. The difference is that he reached maturity (although some might disagree with this!!) earlier than the Tiare. She wasn't launched until 1979 - 32 years later.
It is also Jean's (Gina's) 63rd. birthday on the 18th. of next month so for a limited time at least the skipper has a seniority advantage and should be shown the respect due to this happenstance - yeah right! Wishful thinking no doubt.
We are anchored at the moment in Horseshoe Bay on the SW corner of Motukawanui Is. in the Cavallis - an island group about 15 nautical miles north of the Bay of Islands. For those who are interested our position is latitude 35 degrees 00.692 minutes south longitude 173 degrees 56.331 minutes east. We are reasonably sheltered from the E-SE wind and it is a delightful spot with crystal clear water - a gem of the Northland coast. Gina has just put another banana cake in the oven to bake in order to use our rapidly blackening stash of bananas! Such fare is very welcome on coastal passages along with the ubiquitous cup of tea.
We are intending to leave here later this morning for Whangaroa Harbour - about 12 nautical miles further north. We are having a very leisurely cruise at the moment but will be doing some longer passages on our journey south in a couple of weeks. We're going to be even more decadent tonight because due to the great importance of this date in history we thought we would celebrate in appropriate style by having a meal at the Whangaroa Game Fishing Club or maybe the Whangaroa Hotel. Incidentally, it is also the anniversary of another event. This day last year was when we re-launched the re-named Tiare at Norsand in Whangarei. At that stage though we didn't have the rig in the boat and so we spent the next few months at the Town Basin Marina. However, it was important for the sake of the timber hull to have her in her natural environment.
We'll take this opportunity again to remind you of our website (tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com) and also to suggest that if you wish to urgently communicate by email, it might be better to email to our sailmail address (rather than post a blog) as we generally won't be able to access the website ourselves until we can pick up a wireless internet connection. It is possible for us to request access to specific websites through Sailmail but this is a little long-winded and probably not possible for us to post blogs in reply.
LOYSALUV
J & G(J)

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(no subject)

Hi again,
Goodness - 2 in one day! We had a slight change of plan. We decided that we would go as far as the Cavallis (an island group about halfway between the BOI and Whangaroa - 15 miles north of the BOI) so we motorsailed up here late this afternoon. Very little wind which was frustrating but a good trip and it is now 2200 and we are anchored in Horseshoe Bay on the southern end of Motukawanui Island. A truly beautiful spot with pristine clear water. We've been hearing all these stories of other people catching lots of fish but our efforts are fairly desultory so we must get ourselves into gear and start some serious fishing ourselves. We need to get into practice for heading north in a few months.
It's Jim's birthday tomorrow (27th.) so we thought we'd go into Whangaroa and celebrate (if that's appropriate at our time of life) with a meal either at the Whangaroa pub or the game fishing club. Won't be cordon bleu but will make a change.
Cheers again,
J & G

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(no subject)

Hi everyone,
This will be a very short blog @cos nothing much to recount at this stage. We had Gina's son Perry on board for a couple of days over the weekend and went down to Oke Bay from Paihia - motorsailing most of the time because not much wind. Pleased to see the Soren Larsen is back in commission and bringing groups of people up from Auckland over the summer and apparently planning a voyage to the Islands during the winter.
We left Russell yesterday and are now at Marsden Cross on the Purerua Peninsula which is at the NW side of the Bay of Islands. This is where in 1814 Samuel Marsden preached the first Christmas sermon which is historically interesting but sowed the seeds for all the disension that ensued in subsequent years!! The missionaries (or at least some of them) actually facilitated the acquisition of muskets for Hone Heke with which he laid waste much of Northland and Auckland and murdered many of his own people, albeit members of other tribes.
At Marsden Cross the chief in Marsden's time was Rangiputa and he only allowed "his" Pakehas to live on the site where the cross actually is so that he could keep an eye on them and make sure that they weren't stolen by rival Maoris!! After their time at Marsden Cross which was fairly short lived the missionaries moved to Kerikeri (with Maori permission)and built what is now known as the Stone Store in 1836.
We are shortly going to go ashore and visit the Cross and then climb up to Rangiputa's Pa which still has clearly outlined against the sky the terraces by which the pa was defended against marauders. It is on a commanding headland which overlooks the bay. Just as well we brought along some muskets - we might meet an unfriendly reception!!
Tomorrow we plan to head north - might overnight at the Cavallis which are an island group between here and Whangaroa. Easterlies are forecast which will give us a good slant up the coast and also allow us to anchor at the Cavallis which are not tenable as an overnight anchorage in other wind directions. Then the plan is Whangaroa and then further north - maybe even North Cape weather permitting.
We'll keep in touch as always and hope all is well with everyone.
Lots of love
Jim and Jean (Gina)
P.S. After this we intend to sail to the Barrier and round the Hauraki Gulf before returning to Whangarei for our haulout around mid March prior to the big OE!

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Tiare Taporo III

Hi
Not a lot to report at this stage. We left Whangarei 6 days ago on the 14th. and had a pleasant trip up the coast to the Bay of Islands stopping for a night at Mimiwhangata. The sailing was scrappy as there wasn't enough wind and what there was was from an unfriendly quarter!! However, we used our UPS for the 1st. time and were reasonably pleased with its performance but, as it is primarily a downwind sail and we were sailing upwind it didn't make a lot of difference. But it looked good in all its blue and yellow glory! We've been in the BOI for the last few days getting our laundry done in Russell as well as some re-provisioning. We also today went to Opua to sort out a problem with the watermaker and thankfully that was a simple fix. The weather forecast for the next couple of days isn't that good with strong northerlies (up to 30 knots) and rain. We had a great sail from Opua with full Genoa, staysail and reefed main and were consistently acheiving 5-6 knots in only 15 knots of breeze. If this is an indication of future passage making potential we will be very satisfied. We are now (2150) anchored off the southern end of Moturua Is. We are sheltered here and looking forward to another boisterous sail tomorrow.
We are also looking forward to Gina's son Perry joining us for a night and couple of days on Saturday when the weather forecast is better. It will be good to be able to show him something of the BOI. After that the plan is to head north - possibly up to North Cape and then down to the Hauraki Gulf. We'll keep you posted. For those navigation buffs our current position is latitude 35 degrees 13.732 minutes south longitude 174 degrees 11.833 minutes east.
Then it's back to Whangarei for another haulout before being finally ready for the big OE at the end of April.
Hope this finds you all well.
Cheers,
Jim and Gina

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(no subject)

Hi again everyone,
Just a reminder to check into our blogsite (tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com) as all further emails will be directed to this site.
At the moment we are still in the Town Basin Marina - this time awaiting a new starter motor which should be here tomorrow. In addition our fresh water pump which supplies the galley is not working and we have to ascertain the reason for this. However, we do have a hand pump but this does not supply hot water. At least we won't die of thirst. Yours truly is just learning how to use a multimetre and test light - a far cry from accounting!! But when cruising on a yacht sometimes far from professional help one needs to acquire these skills. The worry is that you know what they say about "a little knowledge......."
Anyway, we hope to be sailing around the middle of the week and will be heading North again before going South to the Barrier etc. This latter destination always seems to be being put off but we need to be in the BOI in a few days to meet Gina's son Perry who will be here on one of his flying visits.
Hope this finds you well,
Cheers,
J & G(J)

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Snapshots of Summer 2010 on the boat