February 10, 2022
Great Barrier Island lies about 10 miles off the top of the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s heavily forested, mountainous, and far enough away from everyplace else to remain remote and sparsely populated. While there are a few decent anchorages around the perimeter of this island, the well-protected harbor of Port Fitzroy is definitely the most popular destination for boaters.
Port Fitzroy harbor is created by the close proximity of Kaikoura Island, probably a piece of Great Barrier that broke off eons ago. At the north and south ends of Kaikoura are channels which lead into the harbor, a body of water which runs about 3 miles long and half a mile wide. Within this area are several deep bays which make for great anchorages. Naturally, it’s very popular with boaters, generally from Auckland and willing to make the hours-long trip from one of the Hauraki Gulf islands.
Below, a map showing Port Fitzroy Harbour and the anchorages we were interested in.
We’ve previously visited Port Fitzroy and all but three of its anchorages. Coincidentally it was these three that looked like the best bet for sitting out the remnants of Cyclone Dovi’s high winds. The good news was we’d see something new, but the bad news was we weren’t familiar with any of these anchorages and would need scout them out.
The wind was forecast to start from the north then back to the west when the winds would reach their highest point (we could see gusts to 60 knots!). So it looked like our best bet would be one of the two anchorages on Kaikoura Island. They were marked as anchorages in our guidebook but neither bay had a name and the information was sparse. We looked at a local guide’s comments and saw the southernmost of the two anchorages was called Stony Bay, although the commentator may have simply made this name up. In any case, we’ll call it Stony Bay.
We motored up to Stony Bay and I was impressed by what I saw, but the unnamed bay just north of it looked to be roomier and better suited to our boat. We motored around the unnamed bay and it was nice, but not as pretty as Stony Bay. Of course “pretty” should not be the first concern when looking for a storm anchorage, but maybe Stony Bay would be suitable for that, too. We decided to go get a closer look at it.
As we entered Stony Bay I was enchanted with its shadowy green beauty. The surrounding hills were thickly forested with trees, and I could hear the squawking of Kakas, New Zealand’s native brown parrot. At the head of the bay was a little cove, adding to the magic of this place. Below, a few photos (click to enlarge any photo).
We decided we’d love to stay there, but when we anchored it quickly became apparent there wasn’t enough room for comfort or safety, especially with the large underwater rock on one side of the bay. Sadly, we’d have to go to the other bay. I ran around getting photos and tried to soak in this place before we brought up our anchor and headed back to the unnamed bay.
Well the unnamed bay, while not as pretty as Stony Bay, was hardly chopped liver. It, too, had lush tree growth and dark green water. What it lacked was the more cozy feeling of Stony Bay, and it didn’t seem to have its abundant bird life. But what it did have was enough room for us to put out a lot of anchor chain and have swinging room. Of course, this rather ideal situation depended on us having the bay to ourselves. Another boat trying to squeeze in would change everything. Below, some photos:
So, securely anchored and having the bay to ourselves, we weren’t quite satisfied yet. A complicating factor in an area like this is how the height and shape of the mountains and hills might affect the wind. As you can see from the photos below, Port Fitzroy has a tumble of mountains in all shapes and sizes, which probably meant there would be no shortage of wind surprises.
The wind currently wasn’t very strong, but it was enough to get a feel for the possible flow patterns in the harbor.
Well, it didn’t take long to see something of concern. The wind had gone northwesterly since we arrived and this bay should offer great protection from NW winds; so it was unsettling to see a breeze start to blow directly into the bay. How was this possible? We think of it as a venturi effect but I’m not sure that’s exactly the correct term for this. We use it to describe what happens when wind gets funneled in some unexpected direction. Mountains are generally the culprit, but lower hills can be tricky, too. We decided to keep an eye on the situation for awhile.
Later in the afternoon, I looked out and my heart sunk when I saw a boat anchored right behind us! That was the nail in the coffin for this bay—we immediately made preparations to pull up the anchor and head to our next choice for an anchorage, leaving in a huff and not even looking at the guy, who was out on his deck and probably wondering why we were taking off so urgently. I have to admit that since he anchored too close to us, I wasn’t wishing the best for him.
So now it was off to our third choice: Wairahi Bay, a mile-long arm of a bay located at the south end of Port Fitzroy. After we started down its arm, we saw a possibility, a wide indent that would give us northerly protection, but would we be close enough to the far side of the arm to get enough westerly protection?
We continued on to the next bight which looked promising on the chart but turned out to be full of anchored and moored boats. We couldn’t go any further in as it was too shallow, and going to the west side of the channel would leave us completely exposed from the north. So, it was back to the first bight, which we shared with a moored boat. I hoped the fact that someone had chosen to keep their boat on an unattended mooring in this spot meant it would be well protected.
Below, some photos showing our first view of this spot as we motored by, a view of the bay just south of it with too many boats, and then back to this spot.
Well, it might not be the most beautiful spot in Port Fitzroy, but I hoped it would be one of the safest. –Cyndi
