March 21, 2013
When we left Omakiwi Bay (and the Parekura Bay area), we passed under Urupukapuka Island heading east, which meant we were leaving the more enclosed area of the Bay of Islands and getting closer to the open ocean. It felt like it, too. The anchorages here are more exposed and rugged, meaning windier and rollier. Cape Brett, marking the entrance to the Bay of Islands on the south side, would be only 4.5 miles away from our next destination: Oke Bay.
One of the most interesting aspects of Oke Bay was the rocky headland enclosing it. It had lots of little inlets and caves that looked like it could be fantastic snorkeling on a day when the water’s calm. We passed by all this to end up in the bay itself, enclosed by hills and mountains.
In spite of the rugged look and exposure to more open ocean conditions, this area managed to have the white sand beach and grassy hill look of some of the more sheltered bays further in. This made an interesting combination and gave the bay its own unique look.
The afternoon was windy, and even though the bay was sheltered, we were getting more of the ocean effect than we were used to. The sound of the wind and the bumpy conditions made us edgy, but it’s nothing that a nice dinner and a bottle of wine in the still-sunny cockpit couldn’t fix. Chocolate from Makana made us feel even better. Chocolate and wine are really nice antidotes for wind anxiety. If you drink enough wine, you don’t care so much about anchorage rolliness, either.
We hoped conditions would calm the next morning so we could land the dinghy and take a walk ashore, but it wasn’t looking good. I finally gave up, informing Rich that boot camp would not happen today, and that I was ready to move on. Rich did not do a very good job of concealing his glee over this regretful decision. He wasn’t thrilled about this bay and is not always an enthusiastic participant in boot camp. It was time to pull our anchor and head to our final bay in the Bay of Islands.
Above is a gallery of photos of both Oke Bay and the rocky headland that encloses it. As always, click any to enlarge, click on the right side to scroll through and click on the lower right X to close the enlargements. –Cyndi
