MV Dirona travel digest for Coromandel to Marlborough, New Zealand 2014

Position: -36°51.17'S, 175°7.70'E

Passage Rock looking south as we approach Waiheke Channel.

Position: -36°27.47'S, 175°24.92'E

The dramatic Pinnacles off the tip of Coromandel Peninsula.

Position: -36°36.49'S, 175°46.74'E

We were considering anchoring at Huruhi Harbor, but the inner bay looked crowded and northwest wind waves were rolling into the outer bay. And even without that, we didn't find the anchorage particularly appealing.

Position: -36°38.53'S, 175°46.88'E

Beautiful sand beach at the head of Bumper Cove. The south end of Great Mercury Island is known for its beaches and clear water, reminiscent of the South Pacific. We might have anchored here, but the winds were expected to pick up from the southwest to 35 knots.

Position: -36°38.70'S, 175°48.93'E

Peachgrove Bay was quite crowded.

Position: -36°36.54'S, 175°48.98'E

People who have seen both say Mercury Island's soaring white cliffs are whiter than those at Dover.

Position: -36°36.23'S, 175°47.68'E

At anchor "The Mercs" at Coralie Bay. This is by far the best anchorage on Great Mercury Island--dramatic cliffs are on either side of us at the entrance, and lovely beaches ringing the interior.

Position: -36°36.23'S, 175°47.68'E

We had a saltwater leak in front of the engine, apparently coming from a crevice inside the hull. After many hours of investigation, we found a box-shaped fiberglass stiffening section that runs nearly the length of the hull. The water in front of the engine was coming from the far back corner of the lazarette through this box section. The source wasn't an external leak at all--it was the watermaker, which was due for service anyway. We needed to change the prefilter (shown) and carbon filter, grease the bearings and change the oil in the high-pressure pump, and backflush the media filter. So we did all that while addressing the leaks.

Position: -36°36.23'S, 175°47.68'E

Dramatic sunset looking over the isthmus at the head of the Coralie Bay.

Position: -36°36.42'S, 175°47.73'E

The micro-tender ashore on one of the fine beaches in Coralie Bay.

Position: -36°36.26'S, 175°47.81'E

Looking north across the anchorage. When we arrived two nights ago, only three other boats were at anchor, all near the north beach. But the winds came up to 30 knots from the southwest yesterday and several of the boats in Peachgrove Bay moved to Coralie Bay.

Position: -36°36.26'S, 175°47.81'E

View to the mainland looking across the isthmus at the head of Coralie Bay.

Position: -36°36.26'S, 175°47.81'E

Te Koru Bay, directly south of Coralie Bay, with those beautiful white cliffs in the background.

Position: -36°35.99'S, 175°47.62'E

View southwest from the bluffs at the north entrance to the anchorage. Dirona is at the far left.

Position: -36°43.97'S, 175°51.10'E

Sea arch looking west to Motukoruenga Island, likely the namesake for the channel we're passing through: Hole in the Wall.

Position: -36°49.47'S, 175°47.36'E

The dramatic shore-accessible sea arch at Cathedral Cove is a popular destination.

Position: -36°49.65'S, 175°47.36'E

There's no road directly to the cove, so here's how many of the visitors arrive. The water taxi anchors off, then backs down, lifts the motor, and lets the waves carry it backwards to shore. The pull of the anchor rode keeps the boat from broaching (turning sideways and flipping over) in the waves. Once close enough, crew hold the stern in place and help people on and off while the vessel bounces in the surf. Then they kedge off (use the anchor to pull the boat offshore) until the water is deep enough for the motor again. Having just landed a dingyy in that surf ourselves, we know how difficult it is, so there's a lot of risk in this operation. But we watched them doing it time after time without mistake.

Position: -36°49.62'S, 175°47.35'E

The catamaran next to the spire is SV Sophie of Seattle, owned by James and Jenna Utzschneider. The two James know each other from Microsoft. It seems kind of unlikley that two people who worked together for years and kept their boats in the same marina (Elliott Bay) could end up anchored together off the same rock in New Zealand.

Position: -36°49.73'S, 175°47.43'E

View north through the arch to Cathedral Cove. Dirona is the leftmost of the three boats visible.

Position: -36°49.14'S, 175°47.75'E

We were considering anchoring for the night off this sea arch at Poikeke Island, but it felt a little exposed to the northeast swell. So we continued to Cooks Bay and found a calm and sheltered spot there.

Position: -36°49.80'S, 175°45.17'E

Moonset at Cooks Bay.

Position: -37°5.91'S, 176°3.18'E

The fishing vessel Matariki II working in the Bay of Plenty.

Position: -37°18.34'S, 176°15.40'E

Anchored at lovely South East Bay on Mayor Island. The charts, even the new BSB rasters that New Zealand recently released in unencrypted form, don't show any detail for the bay. But it is larger than it looks on the chart and relatively hazard-free.

Position: -37°18.34'S, 176°15.40'E

Mayor Island is pest-free and has its own quarantine to stay that way--any gear brought ashore is subject to inspection. They didn't check us, but we've heard that other boaters have been.

Position: -37°18.34'S, 176°15.40'E

Getting directions and a map from the island's host. She also collected our $5 landing fee.

Position: -37°17.42'S, 176°16.18'E

View into Lake Paritu. We're hiking along the rim of the crater that takes up much of Mayor Island.

Position: -37°17.10'S, 176°16.35'E

Lookout across Taratimi Bay.

Position: -37°17.10'S, 176°16.35'E

The shore is incredibly steep here--it just drops hundreds of feet straight down.

Position: -37°17.10'S, 176°16.35'E

The island is full of obsidian--volcanic glass. Apparently it is bad luck to remove it from the island: those who have in the past have been sending pieces back by helicopter in the hopes of improving their lot.

Position: -37°17.10'S, 176°16.35'E

Looking to Lake Aroarotamahine through an arch. Obsidian streaked both sides of the arch.

Position: -37°17.10'S, 176°16.35'E

The way down into the crater included climbing chains and eventually a ladder where it was too steep for chains even. This section is called Devil's Staircase.

Position: -37°17.40'S, 176°15.98'E

Massive root system of a tree along the path inside the crater (position approximate).

Position: -37°17.64'S, 176°15.71'E

Ladder climb following a steep ascent at Ruru Pass to reach back up to the crater rim.

Position: -37°17.58'S, 176°15.36'E

Looking west across the Bay of Plenty from the summit.

Position: -37°17.58'S, 176°15.36'E

The area has heavy shipping traffic--from the anchorage we've seen several large ships pass.

Position: -37°18.58'S, 176°15.32'E

We returned back to South East Bay and followed a track to tip of Panui Peninsula for another good view into the Bay of Plenty.

Position: -37°18.31'S, 176°15.49'E

View to the anchorage from the northeast corner of the beach. The seascape behind the boat includes pillars and arches.

Position: -37°18.41'S, 176°15.53'E

35-knot westerly winds, with gusts to 40, have been blowing across the Bay of Plenty the last couple of nights and whitecaps are sweeping across just outside the anchorage. Conditions are pretty calm where we are, although we are getting some wind. But we're being blown east--the winds must hit the east shore and swirl back.

Position: -37°19.07'S, 176°22.88'E

Between storm systems we're making the 450-mile, 2-night run to Wellington, at the southern top of the North Island. The past two day's gale force winds in the Bay of Plenty have settled down, but winds currently are blowing 35 knots on the North Island's southeast coast, with 25-foot seas. The image is of MaxSea's GRIB display. The bluer the color, the smaller the waves and the redder, the higher the waves. Conditions are expected to calm considerably, however, by the time we reach there. We might see 10' seas on 10 seconds as we round East Cape, at the island's eastern extremity, but that should be the worst of it.

Position: -37°19.17'S, 176°24.18'E

Conditions so far are excellent--calm seas with winds around 12 knots.

Position: -37°22.67'S, 177°13.91'E

Looking south to White Island. The vocalno there still is active and tour boats visit frequently.

Position: -37°28.70'S, 178°11.98'E

Rugged shoreline at Lottin Point. The coast along this route is not very hospitable. The first reasonbly sheltere stop is a ways south of East Cape at Gisborne.

Position: -37°28.75'S, 178°12.16'E

East Cape coming into view from a distance. Reminds is a bit of Brooks Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Position: -37°39.03'S, 178°35.04'E

East Island off the tip of East Cape. This reminds us of Solander Island off Brooks Peninsula. Conditions have been execllent so far, but are beginning the deteriorate as we round East Cape. Winds are up to 20 knots and the seas are 8-10 feet on 6-8 seconds. Makes for an uncomfortale ride, so we slowed down a bit to reduce boat motion.

Position: -38°21.62'S, 178°29.78'E

Boat has been pitching a fair bit around East Cape, but finally starting to settle down.

Position: -38°36.26'S, 178°20.68'E

Conditions at sunrise are even calmer that yesterday morning. The wind is below 10 knots and we're on a slow southerly swell.

Position: -39°6.91'S, 178°3.50'E

Steep bluffs on Mahia Peninsula at Table Cape. Forecast calls for 40 knot winds today on southeast coast (Castlepoint). But the winds should subside by tomorrow morning, so hopefully we won't see much as we won't get into the area until around midnight this evening.

Position: -39°10.29'S, 178°1.69'E

Fishing vessel working off Mahai Peninsula. We've seen a lot more commercial fishing boats in the past week or so than the past three months.

Position: -40°15.52'S, 177°10.82'E

Conditions remained calm the entire day. Castlepoint (southeast coast) forecast has worsened from 40 knots northwesterlies to now 45 knots today. The wind speed is still less than 15 knots here though. Swell is getting a little bigger from the south now, perhaps residual from those big winds farther south. Hopefully they will have settled down by the time we reach the area.

Position: -41°2.91'S, 176°24.45'E

We didn't quite miss that 45-knot gale. Near Cape Kidnappers at the southern end of Hawke Bay, winds picked up to steady high 30's, often in the 40s, with gustst over 50 knots. Seas were 10-12 feet on 5-6 seconds, mostly on the beam. The stabilizers did their job, but still quite a bit of boat motion, making sleeping difficult. Conditions have improved considerably now--winds are down to around 10 knots and the seas have settle to 2-3 feet.

Position: -41°1.03'S, 176°26.60'E

We've been getting some beautiful sunrises and sunsets on this run.

Position: -41°38.37'S, 175°18.70'E

Light on aptly-named Rocky Point as we round Cape Palliser for Cook Strait.

Position: -41°34.67'S, 175°7.40'E

Perhaps two dozen dolphins followed us into Cook Strait, leaping and swimming in our bow wake.

Position: -41°22.01'S, 174°50.60'E

Old (top) and new lights on Pencarrow Head at the east entrance to Wellington Harbour.

Position: -41°22.01'S, 174°50.60'E

Leaving Wellington Harbour as we arrvied was the Stena Alegra, one of the ferries that runs across Cook Strait to Picton. Seas can be very rough there--the ship looks built for weather.

Position: -41°17.17'S, 174°48.04'E

Wellington is a busy commercial harbour. We saw four powerful tractor tugs like this one, moored at the port.

Position: -41°17.17'S, 174°48.04'E

Regent cruiseship Seven Seas Voyager leaving port. The ship passed us on it's way down from Napier to Wellington.

Position: -41°17.17'S, 174°48.04'E

Pilot boat heading out to pick up the harbour pilot from Seven Seas Voyager.

Position: -41°17.17'S, 174°48.04'E

Strait Shipping's Santa Regina, setting off for Picton across Cook Strait. Like the Stena Alegra we saw when entering the harbour, it looks built for serious weather.

Position: -41°17.17'S, 174°48.04'E

View to Carter Fountain and Wellington from our anchorage in Oriental Bay. This was an awesome anchorage--the city lights surrounded us at night and we loved watching the commercial traffic. And over cellular we were able to watch the Seahawks beat San Francisco to make it to the Superbowl.

Position: -41°17.42'S, 174°47.06'E

We called Chaffers marina and arranged a berth for a few days, and picked up 3,530L of diesel on our way in. Their fuel dock only carries diesel, so we wheeled one of our to a nearby petrol station and filled it there.

Position: -41°17.41'S, 174°47.11'E

Berthed at Chaffers Marina with a view to downtown Wellington.

Position: -41°17.62'S, 174°46.94'E

We did some provisioning at a large grocery store across the street from the marina, then had lunch streetside at Kitty O'Shea's Irish Pub.

Position: -41°17.77'S, 174°47.66'E

We took the bikes up to 196m Mount Victoria for a 360-degree view to Wellington and the surrounding area. (Click the picture for a larger image.)

Position: -41°17.39'S, 174°47.39'E

Oriental Bay was such a nice anchorage, you'd expect it to be packed with moored boats. This is why it's empty: northerly winds, and Wellington has lots of wind, sweep across the harbour, making the anchorage pretty unappealing.

Position: -41°15.87'S, 174°47.24'E

We biked down to the port and watched vehicles loading onto the Stena Alegra, the ferry that was exiting Wellington Harbour as we arrived.

Position: -41°17.51'S, 174°46.59'E

A glass of wine at one of the numerous restaurant patios on eclectic Cuba Street.

Position: -41°17.11'S, 174°46.16'E

Riding the Wellington Cable Car. Wellington is so steep that expanding the city was difficult. The cable car was installed in the early 1900s to encourage residency up the hill in Kelburn. Victoria University is up there as well.

Position: -41°17.12'S, 174°46.04'E

The view west across Wellington Harbour from the top of the cable car run.

Position: -41°17.12'S, 174°46.04'E

This unusual sundail is part of Carter Observatory at the top of the cable car run. If someone stands on the elipse at the point for the current date with their back to the sun and arms up, their shadow will tell the time. And it works--we were there at 2:30.

Position: -41°17.41'S, 174°47.11'E

We'll be crossing Cook Strait today, a body of water notorious for rough and dangerous conditions--those ferries aren't built like tanks for nothing. But we've got great weather for the crossing, so don't exepct any problem.

Position: -41°21.28'S, 174°49.83'E

Interislander's Kaitaki heading into Cook Strait for Picton.

Position: -41°21.92'S, 174°39.30'E

The Karori Rip extends between Sinclair Head and Cape Terawhiti and can be dangerous for small craft, particularly in strong winds against current. Its easy to see why--we're transiting close to slack water on a neap (small) tide and still have picked up two knots in the current.

Position: -41°12.74'S, 174°19.17'E

Tory Channel is a high-current, limited-visibility channel. The area is a controlled navigation zone--only one ship greater than 350 gross tonnage is allowed through the channel at a time. We entered about two hours before high water at nearby Picton on a neap (small) tide. The current was running about two knots with us, but was easy to navigate through.

Position: -41°12.62'S, 174°18.77'E

We're now in the Marlborough Sounds--a complex cruising area comprised of twisting channels, mountainous scenery and countless anchorages. And what amazing weather we have for it. We'll only be stopping here briefly, however, as we pass through on our way to Fiordland via the South island west coast. We'll explore more thouroughly when we return back up the east coast.

Position: -41°14.76'S, 174°12.69'E

A brief lunch stop in Erie Bay.

Position: -41°14.76'S, 174°12.69'E

Interislander's Kaitaki, that we saw earlier this morning leaving Wellington, now returning from Picton through Tory Channel.

Position: -41°10.84'S, 174°9.79'E

We stopped for the night off the sunlit bluffs at Pope Bay, anchored in about 80'. The anchorage had excellent north wind shelter and a great view south south to the intersection of Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Strait where the large ferries passed.

Position: -41°10.85'S, 174°9.80'E

Looking west across the anchorage in the morning sun.

Position: -41°6.16'S, 174°15.73'E

The complex waterways of Queen Charlotte Sound remind us of, well, Queen Charlotte Sound.

Position: -40°58.73'S, 174°19.26'E

Looking back to Cape Jackson as we round it. That isolated offshore light isn't the extent of the cape--Walker Rocks lie over a half mile farther out.

Position: -40°58.86'S, 174°9.71'E

We found an excellent anchorage in Guards Bay in about 80' and climbed up the bluff for lunch with a view.

Position: -40°58.42'S, 174°9.65'E

The views from the ridge above our anchorage were amazing. This panorama is looking north across Titi Island to the Chetwood Islands. (Click the picture for a larger image.)

Position: -40°58.58'S, 174°9.10'E

Looking northwest to Pelorus Sound.

Position: -40°58.58'S, 174°9.10'E

The view southeast into the anchorage with Cape Jackson, that we'd rounded earlier today, barely visible in the distance.

Position: -40°45.59'S, 174°0.87'E

Sea caves on the northeast coast of Wakaterepapanui Island as we approach the northern tip of D'Urville Island.

Position: -40°42.79'S, 173°58.82'E

Approaching Stephens Passage between D'Urville and Stephens islands. The channel is narrow and has signficant current--the adjacent bay names are telling: Hells Gate and Bishops Cauldron. Bessels above 500 tonnes are not even allowed to transit this passage without permission from the Harbourmaster. Conditions are calm as we approach, but a 40-knot gale is in the forecast, so we'll be happy to be through.

Position: -40°41.17'S, 173°57.64'E

Huge sea arch on Te Wakaapani as we exit Stephens Passage.

Position: -40°46.63'S, 173°54.07'E

Fishing vessel Latitude in Port Hardy. We're finding a lot of the names here are familiar to us--captains Cook and Vancouver seemed to practice name re-use. We know Port Hardy as a harbour and community at the north end of Vancouver Island, B.C..

Position: -40°47.90'S, 173°54.24'E

Anchored in Wells Bay off the confluence of three creeks. The charts weren't very accurate here--according to them we're anchored on land. But the setting was beautiful, and while we did see some big gusts, this was a good place to be anchored through the gale.