Two At Sea

December 19, 2015

I’ve always wanted a time plot screen like the one below to show the wind speed over time. I tried a couple different PC programs (which meant getting NMEA 2000 into the computer) and had some success.

Then one day, while I was looking for an answer to a completely unrelated issue in my Simrad NSE8 chartplotter’s manual, I ran across time plots. That was just the ticket. I configured my favorite info screen (on the right above) to share space with the time plot and I love the results. With this screen, we can really see what the wind is doing over time, and not just what it happens to be doing when we happen to glance at the screen. I could have had this all along if I’d just read the manual.

(I  often benefit from re-reading equipment manuals, after I’m familiar with the equipment. On the first read, I get the basics – usually enough to get things working the way I want. The next reading yields the goodies. Re-reading equipment manuals! Wow, I live an exciting life!)

-Rich

December 14, 2015

After a really nice passage, we arrived in Opua, rented a car, and spent nearly two weeks visiting our old favorite spots. It felt great to be back in beautiful New Zealand, one of our favorite places in the world.

As Rich stated before, we’ve had a change of plan and are making a long trip to the south island instead of a short one. This means we’ll spend the next month or so heading down the east coast of the north island.

This has given us a chance to do some things we missed during our first two seasons here, heading to some less mainstream destinations while making our way to Waiheke Island, were we’re sitting out some windy weather before continuing our journey south. Below, a few photos from our trip so far.

Now that we’re here, Rich will take over writing about our current travels, and I’m going to pick up where I left off in the blog and see if I can do some catching up this season. –Cyndi

December 16, 2015

Yea, yea, we know… there are too many pictures of pizza on our blog. So what! We like pizza! Here’s another.

What are you going to do about it? Huh? (Sorry, I get a little defensive about my pizza.)

This one was at wonderful Fenice Italian restaurant in Oneroa, Waiheke Island (New Zealand, of course). We came to Waiheke to get some protection from the wind that’s supposed to blow for the next couple of days. Also, for the wine tasting (there are 25 wineries on the island), the ice cream, and of course this pizza. We’ve been to Waiheke a number of times before, but it’s the kind of place we just can’t get enough of.

This bay can get pretty crowded. Luckily for us, there were only about five boats in the harbor when we arrived. By the end of the day, there were about fifteen.

This Google satellite image shows what it can look like during silly season (the day after Christmas until “Bad Treaty Day” (Waitangi Day) in early February). This image is dated March 22, 2008. That was probably the Waiheke Food and Wine Festival. Sounds fun, but I think we’ll pass.

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Here’s what we’ve done since our last post with a map…

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-Rich

December 9, 2015

That’s what they taught the mynah birds to say on the island of Pala in Aldus Huxley’s book called Island to remind people to live in the here and now. (I love that book!) I repeat that phrase to myself to try to remember to pay attention and live here and now as often as I can.

It cracks me up that I’m out here in the South Pacific Ocean on a boat off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island and what am I doing? Searching newegg.com* for a hard drive. Is that living in the moment?

Shouldn’t I be paying attention to my surroundings? Admiring Cape Brett? Noticing the way the wind moves the boat and feels on my face? Appreciating the little sun that there is and happy it’s not colder?

I wonder: Am I really any less “here and now” when I’m shopping on Newegg? I feel like I’m very much in the moment. Not a moment of being at sea, but I am totally engrossed, for the moment, in the hard drive shopping process. I might even say I’m experiencing flow – aware of nothing else, not remembering the past nor contemplating a future that might have limited space to anchor in the next bay. During this time, I’m not worrying about anything and I’m not making any future plans (other than maybe installing the new drive in our laptop!).

Is it really worse to be out here looking at hard drives on my phone than to be staring off at the landscape? I think when I’m staring off at the landscape or the ocean, I’m more apt to worry about things to come and things that have been. I feel like people would look down on me for working on the internet out here. Strange this, kind of a reverse work ethic. “You should be doing nothing and not working.”

And to sail off on a slightly different course: It’s kind of amazing that shopping Newegg is even an option. Not many years ago, there wouldn’t have been internet waves out here. What an amazing world. I don’t know if the change is for better or worse. For me, better I think.

Better for us because this isn’t a day sail, a vacation, a one-time day-trip on a sail boat, but rather a way of life for four years now. If it were my only chance to sail beside beautiful mountains on a calm, blue sea, than it would be a shame to miss even a second of it. It’s not a one-time event for us… It’s just another Wednesday. I think it’s different when you are living this life rather than just experiencing what is our day-to-day world as a transitory event.

Yep, that settles it. It’s OK for me to shop on my phone. I give me permission. I’ll let you know how the new hard drive works out. -Rich

*If you don’t know newegg, you should. It’s an incredible place to buy computer stuff. www.newegg.com

December 12, 2015

We looked at both North Cove and Bon Accord Harbor on Kawau Island for a spot where we could ride out the front that’s due to cross NZ tomorrow and didn’t like the protection from the predicted western quadrant winds. Cyndi, brilliant researcher that she is, had a plan C: Mahurangi Harbor.

This is, hopefully, just the ticket. Mahurangi is an amazingly large natural harbor with more room to anchor than I could have guessed from the chart, despite hundreds of moorings across from us and in another nearby branch of the harbor. It’s also beautiful with bright green water and lush vegetation surrounding us. More cruisers should come here!

This is a fully-functional Google map. Pan and zoom away!

And this evening, across the bay…

 

We’ll hang here tomorrow, and hopefully continue the great Legacy NZ expedition of late 2015 on Monday, after the weather calms. In future episodes, look for Legacy and crew to move towards Tauranga for a haul-out, after indulging in all the Hauraki Bay has to offer (wine tasting at Waiheke included). Then we hope to continue south for some time at Wellington and points in between. After that, it’s across the Cook Straight to the top of the south island we’re we hope to spend the rest of the season. All that, or maybe just chill in Auckland until it’s time to go back to Fiji… who knows. -Rich

Our Anchor Waypoint:

36° 28.87′ S, 174° 43.11 E in 15 feet of what’s probably mud with tons of swing room in all directions and great protection from the western quadrant.