Waiheke

Well, we arrived at Waiheke Is. this morning (after spending the night at Rakino) and spent about half an hour trying to find a spot where we could anchor in Matiatia Bay where the Fullers ferries land as we wanted a sheltered anchorage in view of the forecast 35 knot south westerlies!! We eventually did find a spot but it is very difficult anchoring amongst moored boats as boats behave very differently when anchored as opposed to being moored. The diameter of swing is the main difference - and how they lie to wind and tide. It is a very vexing issue these days - especially when one wants to visit a particular place to re-provision. We had the same problem in Whangaroa and Russell and, while we can understand the desire for locals to have somewhere to moor their boats, it seems to us that there should be provision for visitors to anchor both from a safety point of view as well as simply extending a welcome. Particularly as most visitors are going to spend money!! The problem is also beginning to encroach on some of the more popular anchoring spots as well and the same arguments apply - particularly the safety one. It seems wrong to effectively deny proper access to what should be the public domain (seabed and foreshore notwithstanding!) just because someone has bought a licence to occupy an area of the said seabed. It's a worse problem in some other countries as well and no doubt will be one of the crosses we have to bear when we cruise offshore.
We went ashore and wandered around Oneroa which was nostalgic for Jim. He spent nearly 5 years on the island in the mid 90's operating a retail liquor franchise at Ostend and supplied many of the restaurants on the island as well as writing wine lists and negotiating with suppliers for some of them. It always brings back memories when reading the descriptions of wines on restaurant lists because Jim used to be quite creative too with "hints of lychees or asparagus or berries", etc.!! We had dinner at Vino Vino as it was Gina's birthday and that was very pleasant overlooking Oneroa Bay. Now it's time to turn in - more tomorrow.
Well, it's now tomorrow and we are storm bound in Matiatia. We've heard wind reports on the radio of winds up to or nearly 50 knots at various places around the Gulf and it's been blowing straight in here at over 20 knots since dawn. We had thought we'd be reasonably sheltered from the SW but the headland effect is working well and funnelling the wind straight into the bay. The anchor is holding well, although we are uncomfortably close to the ferry wharf as there wasn't anywhere else to anchor yesterday thanks to all the moorings, so we have taken a line from the bow and tied it to an unused mooring on our port side and that is not only taking some weight from the anchor but also holding us away from the ferries turning when they back into the wharf. The wind is forecast to diminish this afternoon and evening so we are looking forward to a quieter night. We decided we shouldn't leave the boat today so will pay a visit to Ostend tomorrow to visit the supermarket and see how Jim's old business of Waiheke Wines and Spirits (Waiheke Super Liquor) is doing these days.
More fascinating news tomorrow!
Cheers for now,
J & G

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