Happy Easter!   Sunday, 31/03/2024

I hope that you’re having a pleasant long weekend, and for everybody in the Northern Hemisphere that your early spring weather is fine. Amazing to think that a quarter of this year has now gone by.

All is good here. We left Riverside Drive marina last Monday morning. The timing turned out easy, given the need to have sufficient depth to proceed downriver. High Water was at 09:08, and we left at about 09:50. This time I was mentally well organised for getting through the bascule bridge: I simply slowed right down a few hundred metres before it and called the operator. He said he’d open it right away. So, moving slowly towards the bridge, I could hear the warning alarms come on, indicating that the booms on both sides were coming down to stop traffic. And then the central section of the bridge started to rise… As we slowly approached it, this section was almost vertical, so through we went, no stopping. All very efficient – and it’s quite a novelty, the idea that you’re stopping road traffic and sailing through the bridge.

[Given the sad event in Baltimore this week, it should be said that no large ships come this far up, into Whangarei town. Cargo ships tie up at docks further downriver, so there is little risk of catastrophe. The bridge’s columns have some protection around them – should a sailing or motor boat head into the bridge, the damage will be to the boat. In addition, the central channel is relatively deep, perhaps 4 to 5 metres at High Water, but to the side of this it is considerably shallower, not deep enough for a 2.1 metre draft, such as mine, to pass. So any boat losing power and drifting out of control would quite likely simply run aground before reaching the bridge.]

I had two men doing a few things – including unjamming a winch which had seized up – on the boat during the week. I’m hoping that the sail guy will be able to present himself during this coming week. 

It’s strange being back in Marsden Cove marina: the landscape around here is very flat, so when I go for a walk I’m on the flat, rather than climbing up very steep hills in the forest opposite Riverside Drive marina. And it’s a lot quieter. Between here and One Tree Point is a very new residential area; they’re gradually opening up areas adjacent to existing houses for new building. The passage that comes into the marina from Whangarei Harbour continues into the residential area, branching off in different directions. This is so that property can be sold with a “water view”, adding to its value. Everything is very new, clean and tidy – maybe a bit too tidy: bordering on the sterile.

The weather has been sunny, so very nice during the day, although temperatures are battling to get over 20 degrees thanks to a strong wind from the south. Fairly cold at night, dropping to 10 or 11 degrees. So it’s feeling like autumn. 

In a few weeks, hopefully by the end of April, we will be off. I’ve yet to plan the route. The choice is basically to sail westwards to Australia and then follow the Australian coast north, or to simply sail northwards up to New Caledonia, which is a French territory west of Fiji. Whichever I choose, it will then be case of going through Indonesia and on to the Indian Ocean. I shall report whatever I decide.