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| The three capes at the tip of North Island (no that's not our track in red) |
We had a sunny day and 20 knots of wind on the beam as we
headed north out of Mangonui, and reached North Cape just before dark and just
in time to catch enough of the flood tide which carried us around all three
capes: North, Reinga, and Maria Van Diemen. There were a few squalls in the
dark as we bore off to head eastward across the top of the North Island, but it
was all from behind us and running the same direction as the tide which was
helping us out by two knots or more at some points, so that we hit 8 and 9 kts
of boat speed at some points! This is exciting stuff for Picara as she’s really
a 5-knot average kind of girl. It was all the more pleasant because the sea
state was quite mellow and the we were dosed up with our “Paihia Bombs,”
trademarked seasick pills out of the Paihia Pharmacy which really do the job.
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| Mike is always a light sleeper and in super-high alert mode when we’re on a coastal passage. Here, he has leapt naked from bunk to cockpit at the hint of a sail change. Not necessary, but nice to know he is ready at a moment’s notice! |
We rounded Cape Maria Van Diemen just before midnight, and
were once again on a beam reach as we turned south. As the wind was blowing over
the north island towards us we continued to have a relatively mellow sea state
and we spent the next 12 hours averaging about 7 knots! Such progress couldn’t
continue for long though, and as the wind died over the next day we slowed down
and eventually turned to our trusty Perkins engine to push us through the
second half of the voyage.
We opted for less wind and more comfort and safety on this
trip, in part due to the willies about being in the big bad Tasman Sea – and we
feel that we made the right choice. The last day of the trip was spent crossing
the western end of notorious Cook Strait, and after a year or so listening to
the NZ weather service describe frequent gales and nasty seas in that
particular body of water we were quite happy to motor across it in calm
weather.
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A highlight was seeing 2518m Mt Taranaki rise out of the sea
at dawn on day three of the trip – and we could still see it at sunset!
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A tuna just before landfall in the Abel Tasman capped off an
awesome southbound trip. Thanks to Don and Debbie on Buena Vista for the rod!
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