Back at home when I was a busy working mom, I rarely watched movies. It just seemed that when I racked and stacked everything I needed to do and everything I wanted to do, movies would fall off my priority list. I really do love watching a good movie, but the problem is that so many movies aren’t good. And I just couldn’t see wasting time on that.
Then I quit my job and went cruising and now I have all kinds of free time to watch all the movies I want, right? If one turns out to be a dud, no big deal, I’ve got plenty of time for another, right? Well, that doesn’t seem to be the way it’s turned out.
I’m not complaining. It’s a choice. It’s always a choice how we prioritize our time. I’m just saying that I was somewhat surprised to find that my time out here is every bit as valuable to me as my time was when I was a busy working mom, and I still seem to have things I need to do and things I want to do that cause movies to fall off my priority list. Life is simpler in that a lot of extra stuff is cut out, which makes it easier and more enjoyable, in a way, but it also makes it busier in another way. I make bread and yogurt, I teach my kids, I study weather, I write, and I cook (almost) every single day. Those are things I never did at home. Whenever the guys sit down to watch a movie, the voice it my head still rattles off the 15 things I should probably be doing instead of that.
But last night I caved and now I have movie regret. We watched “All is Lost,” with Robert Redford as a single-handed sailor who (presumably) survives some pretty severe issues at sea. Oh my god, what a piece of crap! Even my youngest son, Brenden, at one point tentatively said, “This movie isn’t that good.” Spot on, Brenden! The only good part of the movie was the very first scene, where he wakes up and finds that his boat is full of water due to hitting a floating container. This is real. Although very rare, this has happened. And his reaction, initially dazed but then 100% action, seemed real too. For about 2 seconds I was sucked into his plight with him, living it with him. But after that, I was lost. You’re going to leave your boat and walk out onto the container without somehow lashing yourself to the boat? Really!? The sea anchor deploys and works to pull the container off of your boat but then you can easily just pull it in by hand? Really!? It’s been a while since I’ve “walked out of a movie” but this one I just couldn’t stay connected with. That’s why above I say he “(presumably) survives” because I don’t know if he did or not, and I don’t care. I watched probably an hour of the movie, and I can never get that hour back.
We are socked in by a low pressure system that’s bringing strong winds and a lot of rain. Perhaps that’s why I caved and watched a movie. A rainy day just screams popcorn and a movie right? Well, next time, to me, it will scream, bake some bread or read a book.
We never left the boat while we were in this cove, because it was rainy and blustery (gale force). But we passed the time with boat projects and sushi rolls.
Logbook – Monday December 15, 2014 (Paradise Bay to Omakiwi Cove)
Passage Log
1020 Engines on
1127 Engines off Omakiwi Cove
Daily Notes
Moved to be off a lee shore & away from dragging boats
Max wind 36.2 kts SE
Paradise Bay to Omakiwi CoveOmakiwi Cove
Logbook – Tuesday December 16, 2014 (Omakiwi Cove)
Daily Notes
Wind and rain all day. Picked up in the evening. Max 34.6 kts E
Boats dragging in Opua (heard VHF traffic)
Boat project or modern sculpture?Mmmm… spicy Hamachi rollsBrenden got impatient and just picked it up like a burrito
Logbook – Wednesday December 10, 2014 (Deep Water Cove to Urupukapuka)
Passage Log
1036 Engines on
1042 Depart
1147 Engines off Urupkapuka Bay
Daily Notes
Move to Urupukapuka
D/Boys explore on shore.
T/Jack – swim with dolphins & scalloping
Deep Water Cove to Urupukapuka BayUrupukapuka BaySpecks on the hillsideThis is overlooking another bay on the other side of the islandA network of tramping trails on Urupukapuka islandScallops!
Logbook – Thursday December 11, 2014 (Urupukapuka)
Daily Notes
T/B/Jack – Scalloping – Alex in the dinghy 80 scallops
Tim perfects cleaning – 2 scallops/minute
Email to family and friends dated December 11, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Urupukapuka bay
We moved from Deep Water Cove to Urupukapuka bay yesterday morning. Urupukapuka bay is on a small island called Urupukapuka island. The Bay of Islands is reminiscent of Vava’u with many anchorages close together so you have your pick for a blow from any direction. The bay itself isn’t as pretty, but the shore is more versatile in that there is a beach, lots of walking tracks (trails) around the island of varying levels, and grassy areas where Tim and Alex are going to go play catch today if it ever stops raining. I think the last time I wrote I said that Tim and Jack were going to out redeem themselves, and boy did they ever. They came back with two 30 lb Kingfish (Yellowtail) and two huge lobsters. We had quite a feast that night. And then to top it off yesterday after we moved here they went out and got a bunch of scallops. There is a 20 scallop per person limit, so if Tim can’t get the boys to go, I have volunteered to suit up and just sit in the dinghy. That counts, right? Love and miss you all, -D.
P.S. We are slowly learning the Kiwi lingo. Jandals = Flip-flops & Trundle = Shopping Cart. And the one you really want to know ahead of time is Tomato Sauce = Ketchup. Learned this the hard way.
Logbook – Friday December 12, 2014 (Urupukapuka)
Daily Notes
Rain, rain, go away
Tim helped Jack fix the carburetor for his dive compressor
Email to family and friends dated December 12, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Tour boats and dolphins
It rained most of the day yesterday, and there’s neverending rain in the forecast. We think we are going to head back to Opua today because 1) our freezer is broken and we want to see if the part is here before the weekend and 2) We left the car parked on the street. Next time we will leave the keys with one of our friends to let them use it and look after it while we are out. Anyway, I’d like to back up a bit and share some of Tim’s stories from the past couple days. I’m sure I won’t tell them quite as good as he would, but I’ll give it a go.
When they were out spearfishing at Cape Brett, the day they got the two huge yellowtail and lobsters, there were a couple tourboats out visiting the “hole in the rock,” which is basically a huge hole in the side of the island off the tip of cape brett. It’s a big tourist destination, and apparently it’s big enough for boats to transit through. Not sailboats, because of the mast, but all the big motor tour boats go through it. Except this time one of them missed their mark a bit and hit the top of the hole and snapped off their VHF antenna. I guess it was quite a sound and a sight. One of the guides on this same boat had Tim and Jack hold up their catches for the tourists as they all snapped a bunch of photos. I wonder how many facebook pages they will show up on (unidentified, of course.) Then, yesterday after we got here to Urupukapuka and Tim and Jack were heading out to get scallops a pod of dolphins showed up. They were swimming around the dinghy when that same tourboat showed up. Well, at least the same guide, not sure about the boat, and probably not the same driver. Tim thought for sure they were going to get yelled at for being too close to the dolphins or something (and as the boys and I were watching from Exodus we were thinking the same thing.) But no, the guide recognized them and came over to them and started telling the guests about how they are two “expert spearfishermen” and maybe they would go in the water with the dolphins for them. Tim was the first one in the water, and the dolphins were really playful and swimming circles around him, and the next thing he knew there were about 20 people in the water off the tourboat with him. I guess the dolphins were huge, and we’ve seen them several times here in this bay. Twice we’ve seen them go up to an anchored boat and start jumping around and slapping their tails on the water. It’s almost like they’re saying, “c’mon…c’mon…c’mon you little human…c’mon and play with us.”
Yesterday I didn’t have to go out in the dinghy to go scalloping because Alex and Brenden did. Brenden actually got in the water with two wetsuits on, but he still got cold pretty quick. So, they brought back a huge haul. The scallops here are just laying on the bottom in about 10-15 ft of water so the toughest thing is spotting them, once you spot them you just have to pick them up. So, apparently it’s easier than clams because you don’t have to dig them out. Although, Brenden points out that they went clamming in warm water, and that makes a big difference.
Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – Saturday December 13, 2014 (Urupukapuka to Paradise Bay)
Passage Log
1429 – SB engine on for hot water
1613 P engine on
1624 Depart
1701 Engines off – Paradise Bay
Daily Notes
D – shore excursion solo. Lots of sheep and seep poo. Caught in the rain.
T/Jack – spearfishing at Cape Brett w/ a couple kiwis – Huge yellowtail
The fences are to keep the sheep in not the people out, so they provide steps to help you over
Paradise Bay is just around the corner from Urupukapuka. (No, we didn’t run aground, the inReach only pings on 15-minute intervals.Paradise BayBackrub for Dad
Email to family and friends dated December 13, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Staying put
We decided not to go back to Opua yesterday, because Jack met a local spearfisherman online and he’s invited the two of them out to Cape Brett today. So, they’ll be leaving in about a half hour. We are probably going to move to a bay around the corner for more East protection this afternoon because a low is approaching and winds are supposed to howl out of the east for a couple days. Yes, there is not only online dating but online spearfishing. And some of you might remember it was from the Lagoon owners chat room that Tim found Exodus, not even for sale. The internet is good, but we don’t have it here in this anchorage. Hopefully we can pick up a tower when we move this afternoon, because tomorrow is an important day (day after tomorrow for those of you on the other side of the dateline) and I will need to do some face-timing. Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – Sunday December 14, 2014 (Paradise Bay)
Passage Log
0445 Call for assistance on VHF 16 (1)
Daily Notes
(1) S/V Finesse called for assistance. Whangerai Maritime radio responded. Anchor dragging, engine failure, can’t raise buddy boat Cooper in same bay. Located in bay just North of Paradise. Another vessel recommended letting out more scope, which they did. Situation Stabilized
Break in the rain. Shore excursion – catch (baseball), D- walked Paradise loop track.
A break in the rain allowed a brief shore excursionPizza to celebrate Andrew’s birthday
Email to family and friends dated December 14, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Happy Happy Birthday to Andrew
My first is all growed up and 23 today (really, it’s tomorrow, but here in New Zealand it’s today, and we are celebrating by making pizza.) I uploaded a happy birthday movie to my facebook page, and I only cried about a dozen times while making it. We love and miss you Andrew!
Other than that we are kind of socked in and stuck on the boat due to weather. There was some VHF radio drama last night as a charter boat in the next bay was dragging anchor and their engine wasn’t working. Luckily someone suggested they put out more anchor scope (which I never would have thought to suggest to them, because, well, duh!) and that stabilized their situation. We are in a nice protected spot and our average wind last night was under 10 kts with gusts up to 20, but on the other side of our bay Iguana saw average of 15 kts with gusts to 30. All manageable.
Deep water cove is the first anchorage inside the Bay of Islands near Cape Brett. We weren’t really done with everything we needed to do in Opua, but Tim needed to get in the water, and it was well worth it.
Logbook – Sunday December 7, 2014 (Opua to Deep Water Cove)
Passage Log
1020 Engines on
1027 Depart Opua
1141 Engines off. Main + genoa.
1310 Engines on
1334 Engines off – Deep Water Cove
Daily Notes
T/Jack – Spearfish Cape Brett. 2 small yellowtail!
Beers w/ Iguana
Depart Opua December 7, 2014 at 1027 – Arrive Deep Water Cove at 1334A view of Paihia as we were leavingDeep Water Cove- there’s a power boat in our spot!sv Iguana at Deep Water CoveHow’s this for a lee shore?Scouting the hiking track for the next dayA view of Deep Water Cove
Logbook – Monday December 8, 2014 (Deep Water Cove)
Daily Notes
Sound of surf
Awesome hike from Deep Water Cove to Cape Brett lighthouse
Resistance w/ Iguana. Epic win by Alex & Brenden
Hiking time!Jellyfish stranded on the beachWe went for about a 4-hour (round trip) hike from Deep Water Cove to the Cape Brett lighthouse.Taking a breakWe made it!“I think we should spearfish there”
Logbook – Tuesday December 9, 2014 (Deep Water Cove)
All suited up for cold water divingThey each speared a 30 lb yellowtailAnd a couple lobsters for good measure
Email to family and friends dated December 9, 2014
Subject: Exodus – Deep Water Cove
We escaped Opua a couple days ago and we’ve been anchored out near the entrance of the Bay of Islands in a spot called Deep Water Cove. It earns its name, because we have to anchor VERY close to shore to find a suitable depth. Tim and Jack went out spearfishing the first afternoon we were here, and they came back with just a couple small (illegal sized) yellowtail, but they are heading out this morning in the drizzly rain to redeem themselves. Yesterday, we all went on an amazing hike, about 4.5 hours round trip, from here out to the Cape Brett lighthouse. It was along ridges and up and down ravines, and the views were stunning. Afterwards, Alex and Brenden schooled us in a game of resistance, and I’m starting to get really worried about how good Alex is getting at this game… We have cell service out here, but the only device we have set up for internet is Tim’s iPad, which is why I’m not constantly on Facebook now. Love and miss you all, -D.
For a year and a half, we’ve been hot and sweaty. Sometimes crazy hot like when we were in Bahia Concepcion last year for July 4th and the heat was debilitating and we spent pretty much a full day in the water in the shade under Exodus. Sometimes only mildly hot, but always hot. And humid. I stopped using lotion and hair conditioner. Exodus was designated a “shirts optional” evening hangout (don’t get excited, that mostly just applied to the guys.) I can recall school days when the boys and I would move back and forth from the salon to the cockpit trying to find the coolest spot, and then we’d tell each other, “Stop sitting so close to me!” In the Marquesas, I used to wake up at 5am in order to do yoga before the sun rose above the cliffs. OK, you get the idea. But now we are in New Zealand, and Brrrr… we are just not used to this.
1) Comforters that we haven’t seen since shortly after leaving Marina del Rey are now back on the beds. 2) I wear my uggs and a ski hat in the mornings and evenings. And sometimes a scarf. 3) Rum doesn’t need ice. 4) If I need to thaw something for dinner it needs to come out of the freezer first thing. I can’t wait until 5pm and have it thawed by 6. 5) We can buy ice cream at the store and have it back on Exodus before it is a soupy mess 6) Shower bag showers need to be taken by about 2pm if you want hot water. And you definitely want hot water. 7) I need lotion every 5 minutes and chapstick every 10. 8) The bilges are finally good wine cellars 9) Our power consumption has plummeted since the fridge and freezer don’t have to work so hard. Seriously, our batteries are loving it, and we didn’t even plug into shore power in the marina. 10) I still don’t have to shave my legs because I don’t wear shorts.
Some of these are positives, some negatives, and so far I am still loving change. It was sunny today; I even took off my sweatshirt during my run. So, it’s warming up and summer is still progressing, but I still don’t think I’ll ever want to get in the water. Except for the hot springs.
We’ve been here over a week, yet I’ve seen very little. I was thinking that when people vacation, sometimes they only have a week, maybe two, and I’ve already used up a good amount of that time. I guess because we are planning to be here for so long (5-6 months) and also the fact that we aren’t really vacationing so much as moving our life here for a little while, we are a little slow to get out there and see the country. We’ve barely left the marina area, and when we have it’s been to take care of mundane everyday life things like grocery shopping, opening a bank account, and buying a car. We haven’t even gone wine tasting, for crying out loud.
I’m still marveling over being here and still overwhelmed with how life is going to be different for awhile. We aren’t really cruising anymore. We’re just living on a boat. Did I mention we bought a car?
Instead of soaking in the things that make New Zealand special and a tourist destination, I’m getting excited about a coin operated reasonably priced self-serve laundromat where all the machines work and a grocery store that has easily identified meat and a bulk food section rivaling Whole Foods. And yesterday we went into the town of Kerikeri and shopped at a store that could have been “The Container Store” and another the could have been “Home Depot.” I had to resist the urge to stock up on specialty kitchen gadgets like a clip you put on your pot to hold the spoon, so you don’t set it on the counter and get it messy. I guess because I haven’t seen stuff like that for so long, my first reaction was, “I…must…buy!”
Eventually, we will see more of New Zealand, both on the water and on land. But for now, if you ask me how New Zealand is, I’ll likely reply something about how good the internet is and that the apples are to die for.
The running options here in Opua, New Zealand are endless. There are roads and trails going in all directions, and we are currently docked at a marina, so the only effort I need to make to go for a run is to step off the boat. No paddle boarding to a beach with my shoes draped around my neck. No dropping the dinghy and getting one of the boys to give me a ride ashore. Just a large step, almost a leap at times, from Exodus to the dock.
My first adventure took me north from one end of the marina to the other, and I kept going until I noticed a small trail that continued along the water. I had no idea where it would lead or if it would turn into an uphill hike, but I went for it anyway. It turned out to be a pleasant, mostly flat, run along the water. It was a very narrow trail, though, so I had to slow down or move off to the side to get around other walkers, but they were few and far between. Mostly it was a quiet run, and even though I had taken my iPhone with me to listen to the gazillion new podcasts I’ve downloaded since we have internet, I mostly kept it off. I enjoyed the quiet and the lapping of the water against the shore. When it was about time for me to turn around, I came across a smaller trail leading up with a sign that said, “lookout 5 min.” Five minutes was pretty accurate, but it was pretty steep, so I didn’t exactly run to the top. It wasn’t the best view, since there was a lot of obstruction by trees, but had I not gone up I would have wondered about it all the way back home.
For my second adventure I headed south from the marina. There is a bike trail on top of an old railway line, and it is the perfect track on which to do a long run. I was creaky and tired, and I could tell from the beginning that the run would be a slog. We were up late the night before playing card games with friends, and I was a little stiff and sore from the first run after taking so much time off. But it was a beautiful route, and the remnants of the railway are pretty obvious. You can see the rails under the dirt and gravel in many places, and there are many old and rundown wooden signs left in place, intentional for effect, I’m sure. The most obvious, and the most charming, was a short, narrow stone tunnel through one of the hillsides. As I approached, I thought, “how cool, I get to run through a train tunnel,” and as I got closer, I was relieved to see that it was short enough that the light from the other end seemed to pick up before this side gave out, so I would never be totally in the dark. However, as I got closer still, I began to feel scared. Seriously, scared. Irrationally, scared. I talked myself into going through, I mean, there was no way I was going to end my run here and turn around. Without too much thought my pace quickened. Then, when I got about a third of the way through, I saw a dark cutout on the wall on one side of the tunnel, and that floored me. I sprinted the rest of the way with the fury of someone running for their life. When I got to the other side, I laughed at myself for being so silly, but I also learned something. I learned that I wasn’t as creaky and tired and sore as I thought I was. That was just a mental roadblock I was allowing myself to have, but fear in a dark tunnel kicked that roadblock over. The rest of the run was a good one, including the second sprint through the tunnel on the way back.
We are still getting the lay of the land here. There’s not much in Opua besides a marina and boat related vendors and contractors, but there are some nice towns nearby, and we are intending to buy a car, so we’ll be able to do much more exploring soon.
I’ve been silent for a while, because, well, I haven’t been running in a while. Tonga is over a thousand miles behind us, and we are quietly at anchor in beautiful, warm, and sunny Opua, New Zealand. Scratch that. It’s definitely beautiful, but at least today it’s certainly not warm and sunny. It’s gray and cold and drizzly, and you might think I’m missing the tropics right about now, but surprisingly I’m not. During the (mostly benign) ocean passage, I watched the air temperature slowly tick down, and instead of mourning the loss of the warm weather we’ve grown so accustomed to, I found myself excited for the change. And as we neared land, I didn’t have my usual tenseness over arriving somewhere new. There was a sense of calm, and this may sound a bit corny, but it felt like we were going home. This feeling must have been coming from very subtle observations, almost subconscious on my part. I’m thinking at that point it must have been mostly weather related and the fact I was wearing clothes that I would wear at home. Comfortable clothes, like my favorite Lucy sweatpants and my Uggs. As we got even closer and entered the Bay of Islands, the smell of the land was even familiar. Brenden said it smelled like Papa and Nana’s house. Tim said it smelled like the shrubs at Twenty-Nine Palms. We arrived in Opua and tied up to the Q-dock just before midnight, and when I woke in the morning and surveyed our surroundings while sitting in the cockpit drinking my coffee, I felt like we could be sitting somewhere in Central or Northern California (it is too green to be compared to Southern California) and the nippiness of the morning air reminded me of mornings drinking my coffee in the cockpit while we were still in Marina del Rey.
Then, the clearing in process began, and wow, were we quickly reminded that we were back in a first world country. I LOVED Tonga, and I loved the people of Tonga, so I don’t make this statement with any sort of negative judgment or a sense of superiority, I simply say it matter of factly. Because the difference was stark. The process was efficient, thorough, and professional. They arrived promptly. No one asked us for anything. They brought us forms to fill out and then came back (they didn’t sit there and stare at us while we filled them out). They processed nine boats in about 2 hours. I was stunned.
There are other obvious similarities between New Zealand and home, like the language of course, that contribute to my comfort level. But I don’t mean to imply that everything is the same, that would be unfair to New Zealand. It’s a unique place, with it’s own history and culture. They call French Fries “Chips” after all.
I’ve been looking forward to running here, but for now I still wait. When the rain stops the wind is supposed to pick up and blow hard for a few days. But we’ll be here the entire cyclone season, so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to run comfortably in my leggings and long sleeved technical shirts. And I’m sure eventually I’ll be sick of home and be ready for more adventures in less familiar places again.
Our first morning in OpuaThe serenity of the Q dock early in the morning. Boats kept arriving: we were there with Silhouette and IkaExodus in New Zealand!It is called “The Bay of Islands” after all (behind that little island would become our go-to anchor location)Yes, the foul weather gear made it out of storage for this passage to New Zealand. Weather was calm, so we didn’t need it to stay dry, just to stay warm.Still with Iguana
Logbook – November 28, 2014 (Opua)
Passage Log
0955 Engines on (1)
1025 Engines off
Daily Notes
(1) To the fuel dock to fill water tanks
D – road trip to Kerikeri with Tusitala & Rigel
T/Boys – reanchor Exodus. Gusty winds – almost collision w/ Iguana at anchor. Move Exodus
Boys play on shore all day. Fluenta’s here.
Resistance night w/ Iguana and Tusitala
Our friends with a broken outboard hitched a two when we were taking Exodus to the dock to get waterRock sculptures in Kerikeri
Logbook – November 29, 2014 (Opua)
Passage Log
1127 Engines on – move to marina
1202 Arrived at marina
Daily Notes
Move to Manrina
D – run/hike along waterfront trail
Boat chores!!
“Thanksgiving dinner”
T – socialize at Danny’s (s/v Lumbaz) birthday
Exodus at the marina. Well, not the marina exactly, they don’t have many spots for catamarans, so we are on the boatyard dock.
Email to family and friends dated November 29, 2014
Subject: Exodus – No Thanksgiving (yet)
So, we still haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving yet on Exodus, but we have reasons to be thankful everyday. The night before last we all of a sudden ran out of water, and we only realized it when the water pump started sounding funny. Our first reaction was, “Boys, check the bilges!” because we could just imagine a leak had occurred and the contents of our fresh water tank were now in the bottom of our boat. Nope. They were dry. It was almost dark, and we are anchored near the mouth of a river, so we REALLY didn’t want to run our water maker in here. So, we went the night without water. I joked that we still have all the pouches of water in our ditch bag that Marsha gave us for Xmas before we left in case we got desperate. The next morning we went to the fuel dock to fill our tank with shore water, and it seems everything is working fine. I guess for the first time ever we mismanaged our water supply. But it all turned out great, because while we were raising anchor to go to the fuel dock our friends on s/v Tusitala, whose dinghy outboard engine isn’t working, rowed over and very sneaky like tied their dinghy to exodus to get a tow to the dock. It was comical. Anyway, they were borrowing someone’s car to go into town and they invited me to go. What a great day! We went to the main town of Kerikeri about 20 km away, and it has a quaint downtown area that is jam packed full of nice coffee shops, restaurants, and stores. We walked around for hours and then as a last stop hit the HUGE grocery store. It was just like being at home. Not only was it huge but it had everything you could ever want. Mexico and French Polynesia had huge grocery stores, but it was still often a challenge trying to find the things you are used to and if you did they were insanely expensive. But not here. I almost wept over the bulk food aisle. Anyway, I bought all the fixins to make steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus (asparagus!) for our own little Thanksgiving dinner, but we got back kind of late, and we didn’t even stop at the winery on the way back (winery!) Upon my return we had a decision to make: go ahead and cook and have a late dinner OR make something quick and then play Resistance with Iguana and Tusitala. Resistance won and we had sandwiches for dinner. So…. Thanksgiving will be tonight on Exodus.
Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – Sunday November 30, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
More boat chores (Laundry, mattresses, etc.)
Kid (boy) movie night on Exodus. Girls on Fluenta
Look how patriotic we are…. OK, the real story is our US flag is faded and tattered, and a guy on the dock told Tim he should be embarrassed and gave him this one. It’s HUGE, 4×6 ft, but we feel obligated to fly it.Laundry Days! Do it yourself coin operated machines, and every machine worked. (It’s laundry “days” instead of “day” because I spent the better part of 3 days in here. I think I washed every piece of fabric on the boat.)
Logbook – Monday December 1, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
Even more boat chores
D – run along the bike track south
No pizza 😦 Emergency bean & cheese burritos
Going for a run on a frigid morningMy running trail. A railway line turned bike track.
Logbook – Tuesday December 2, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
T – Auckland to buy a car
D – Paihia to open a bank account
PaihiaOur new wheels. It’s a used car from Japan, so it says “konnichiwa” when you start it up (It became affectionately known as The Ex-Wagon)The boys have a lounge (just like Andrew used to)
Email to family and friends dated December 3, 2014
Subject: Exodus – In the marina
We’ve been busy in the marina, and I haven’t had much to write about, but in general, since we have internet, these emails will probably be less frequent. Just to catch you up… we’ve been crazy busy doing boat chores and laundry while in the marina. We are supposed to check out today, but we are going to ask for 2 more days so Tim can service the dinghy outboard. We’ve also opened a bank account and bought a car. Yes, that’s right, Tim went to Auckland yesterday and came back with a car. I haven’t even seen it yet, but it’s a big Toyota thing that seats 8 and is big enough we could sleep in it. I’m so excited for the freedom of having a car! We also learned that we can get our iPhones unlocked by AT&T (it’s the law they have to do it), so then we would be able to buy new sim cards here and then have data and phone service right from our phone. Can you even imagine! (oh yeah, most of you have that all the time…) The boys have done their share of boat work, but they’ve also been part of the kid pack that roams the marina. It’s mostly the same group of kids we were with in Tongatapu and Minerva, they have just picked up where they left off. It’s mostly girls and younger boys, and I think Alex might be the oldest of the bunch. It was 52 deg F in our salon when I got up at 6am this morning, and I’m still bundled up even though it’s warmed up all the way to 56 deg. I made a trip into Paihia yesterday, which is the closest town to Opua, and I was a bit disappointed to find myself amongst the entire population of a cruise ship. And apparently the library had free wifi, and you could tell this from far away, because of all the people loitering outside on their smartphones and iPads. The crowd of the ruiseshippers aside, it was WAY more touristy than Kerikeri. I think every other shop was a souvenir shop, and the cafes and coffee shops were bland and generic, like they belonged in an airport or something. I think we are going there for dinner tonight with another family (they helped Tim with the car buying process since they had already blazed that trail) and they know of a good place, so maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. I know I’ve talked to a few of you about skyping, but our internet is mostly still very spotty during the day. I think it’s just due to the load of users on the wifi hotspots, because early in the morning it’s great, but by the time the boys get up, not so much. But we’ll keep trying. Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – Wednesday December 3, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
Dinner in Paihia w/ Field Trip
Logbook – Thursday December 4, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
Renewed EPIRB registration (every 2 years)
Coastguard doc renewal (every year)
Tim’s b-day – Pizza & Resistance w/ Iguana
Logbook – Friday December 5, 2014 (Opua)
Passage Log
1223 Engines on – depart dock
1243 Engines off at anchor
Daily Notes
Left the marina
Afternoon in Kerikeri
Happy to have a Subway sandwich
Logbook – Saturday December 6, 2014 (Opua)
Daily Notes
(Nothing recorded)
The trail from Opua to Paihia includes this bridge over shallow waterWho the heck is Uncle Toby?Tim needed some peace and quiet so he’s chillin in the cockpit locker. Not really… he’s trying to troubleshoot our non-functioning freezerGood boys doing their school work…
The Bay of Islands is on the very North of North Island, New Zealand and is wonderful place for cruising. Opua is where a large marina is located, and the nearby towns of Paihia (short drive) and Russell (short passage) offer cruising respites with shopping and restaurants.
Opua –> Deep Water Cove –> Urupukapuka –> Paradise Bay –> Omakiwi Cove –> Opua –> Matauwhi (Russell) –> Opua –> Paradise Bay –> Matauwhi (Russell) –> Opua
Gresham Family Exodus 