Author: richwest3

March 23, 2013 (Whangamumu Harbor, New Zealand)

Cruising Rule #37: Never sail anywhere cold enough to support penguins. Never!

Combined March and December, 2013

One of the most popular tourist attractions in the Bay of Islands area is the Hole in the Rock.  It’s 60-feet high and wide enough to allow fairly large motor vessels to pass through. It’s located in Piercy Island just off Cape Brett.

We’ve made two trips around Cape Brett and Piercy Island, one in March and the second in December. On the December trip the conditions were so calm we were able to get right up next to the hole.  Of course with a 63-foot high mast we could not attempt to pass through.  (It may be possible at low tide, but we’re not going to test it.)

If I were advising a land traveler planning to visit the Bay of Islands, I’d say focus more on getting to the beautiful islands rather than doing the Hole in the Rock tour.  That said, we did enjoy getting an up-close view, and I have to admit the jet ski tour looked like fun.

Aside from the famous hole, it was interesting to see the rugged coastline at Cape Brett, both desolate and beautiful.  And of course it’s exciting to look forward to the adventures ahead as we head out to explore new territories. –Cyndi

Above is a gallery of photos of both Cape Brett and Piercy Island’s famous hole.  As always click to enlarge and scroll through photos.

March, 2013

We returned to the Bay of Islands in December 2013 and visited areas we didn’t get to the first time around. I wrote four posts about those areas and tacked them on after the March posts, labeling them: Bay of Islands Revisited.

I’m currently writing blog posts for that December era and am updating and giving new titles to those “Revisited” posts. I’m also moving them around, first to the top of our blog as I write them, then eventually to their proper chronological order.

For anyone doing research who finds it useful to have the Bay of Islands posts lumped together, I’ve put links to those posts here, plus added in a new post:

The Manawaora Bay Area
Lovely Opunga Cove
Motorua Island: Awaawaroa Bay and Hahangarua Bay
Urupukapuka Island: Urupukapuka Bay
A Dinghy Ride to Oke Bay
Good-bye For Now, Beautiful Bay of Islands

So the first round of Bay of Islands posts is still here, and above are links to posts from our second time through the area.

We also have A Quickie Guide to Our Favorite North New Zealand Anchorages (located in the New Zealand section of the Cruising Information Page), which includes the Bay of Islands and the North New Zealand Coast.–Cyndi

March and December 2013

There are always those photos that don’t quite fit in with a blog post.  Maybe they look too much like another picture, or maybe they’re the extra odd photo in an even-numbered gallery.  For whatever reason they don’t make the final round.

Some of them I like too much to discard; so I set them aside for galleries like these.  So, here they are, the final pictures from the Bay of Islands. Note: These are combined photos from both our March and December visits.–Cyndi

As always, click to enlarge any and all.

March 22, 2013

Cape Brett is the southern boundary of the Bay of Islands, and we wanted to round this cape in the early morning when it’s most calm.  We decided to anchor overnight in the closest anchorage to Cape Brett:  Deep Water Cove  (Part of a larger area called Maunganui Bay.)

Maunganui Bay sits several miles east of the outermost islands in the Bay of Islands but is still considered part of it.  That said, it feels very different as the closer you get to this bay, the more exposed you are to the open ocean. Once you get up into Deep Water Cove, though, it’s a well protected anchorage.

The anchorage sits tucked amid hills covered with native bush, with deep green water and a rocky beach.  A navy ship was sunk near the entrance to the cove and has become a popular dive site, something we found out firsthand as we made our way in.

We were motoring along into the bay when we spotted a high-speed dinghy carrying a dive group headed our way.  The driver thought he’d cut in front of us but changed his mind when he realized how fast we were going and abruptly turned to go behind us instead.  Rich made a pointing gesture at our fishing pole so he’d realize we had a line trailing and not cut it too close.

We went about our business and were startled when this boat suddenly pulled up beside us and a guy started yelling: “You Get That Line IN Or Put Out a Trolling Flag NOW!”  We stared at him, trying to determine whether this was some sort of prank.  A trolling flag? That’s something a professional fishing vessel might have, not a recreational boat.  We needed to bring the line in anyway as we were getting to the bay, and as Rich started to do so the boat sped off.

At this point, we were more amused than anything else.  After anchoring and going ashore, we ran into another dive group and asked the dive master if boats here use trolling flags. She had never heard of such a thing, and confessed that the skipper was probably trying to save face in front of his group.  She was so sweet and apologized on behalf of all New Zealanders.  We accepted her apology on behalf of all Americans.

Of course I spent the rest of the season asking marine stores and various people if they’d ever heard if a trolling flag.  The answer was of course no.  But we’re glad that guy saw fit to yell at us about it, because in a 24-year marriage you can’t have too many private jokes and need occasional new material to replenish the supply.  Those fishing poles do not get put out without witty remarks about how we’d better locate the trolling flag.

When not doing hysterical imitations of the guy pointing and yelling about the trolling flag, we hiked up part of the Deep Water Cove Track at the Manawahuna Scenic Reserve.  We didn’t make it all the way to Rakaumangamanga, but when the trolling flag jokes wore thin we amused each other by trying to pronounce these things.  By the way, Rakaumangamanga is the Maori word for the Cape Brett headland. –Cyndi

Above is a gallery of photos of our Deep Water Cove anchorage and our hike.  As always, click to enlarge the photos, click right side to scroll through, and lower right x to return to gallery.

Update:

Brilliant Tom.  Thanks for the great business idea!

Trolling Flags: $20.00 each.