Sailing Taurus NZ

Cara and I left Waiheke Island on Tuesday, 5th of March heading to Okahu Bay, Auckland. The bay is next door to the Akarana Yacht Club, which was putting on a Yachting NZ presentation about offshore sailing safety, and while anchoring in the bay is free the club generously allows visitors to use their showers and dinghy dock. The club is also home to a bar and restaurant which provided a great venue for catching up with friends.

One of these friends was Simon, an old mate who I had worked with in St John Ambulance some twenty five years ago. Simon now runs his own medic training business and is one of the most enthusiastic and positive people I know. It was great to have a beer and reminisce about the old days. Simon and family later went way above and beyond, picking up an outboard engine and bringing it into the city for us. We’d have been stuck without his help, so thanks again Si!

We stayed at Akarana for a couple of nights and then headed into Westhaven Marina. When we bought Taurus she came with a Schenker 60 watermaker (the 60 denoting its supposed ability to make 60 litres of fresh water an hour). Unfortunately it wasn’t working, but the previous owner told us that the machine just needed a new pump. However, after several unsuccessful attempts to get it going we resorted to sending the water maker to the New Zealand agent, who happened to be in Auckland. The agent, Phil, managed to get the thing going, and had stored it for us, pending our arrival in the big smoke. We had agreed to rendezvous at Westhaven so that Phil could assist us plumb the machine in.

Watermakers are notoriously finicky pieces of equipment. Working through a system of reverse osmosis they turn salt water into drinking water. Naturally, a boat floating on the sea has a plentiful supply of the former, but the volume of the latter is strictly limited by the boat’s storage capacity, and the less certain amount that can be captured from that which falls from the sky. Taurus’ water tank is a fairly puny (by modern standards) 220 litres. Most authorities suggest that a person should drink eight glasses of water a day which equates to about two litres. Cooking and washing raises this bare minimum up to about five litres a day per person. By being careful not to waste water, all our taps work via foot pump for example, Cara and I can normally make our 220l last about a month, but this has been in a cool, temperate climate where beer can be used to substitute drinking water if required (and often when not). In a warmer environment we expect to need 5 litres a day pp — which gives us a realistic supply of 22 days. An added issue is that all our water is stored in a single tank. If this should rupture or be polluted (by sea water entering through a leaking deck filler, or added water turning out to be contaminated) we could lose our entire supply. In the past we have boosted our storage capacity and added the security of a separate ‘tank’ by carrying five, twenty litre jerrycans. The problem with this solution is that the jerrycans can only be stored on deck, which puts weight high and to one side of the boat (they have to be lashed to the lifelines — see images below). The jerrycans also create a possible hazard should they come loose in bad weather, are prone to deteriorate in UV, and the water can readily become tainted by bacteria. The point of this digression is to make clear that whilst we don’t need a water maker, having a water maker solves a lot of potential issues. Naturally, there is a price to pay, and this, beyond the fairly considerable initial outlay, is considerable power consumption (about 20 amps an hour), considerable noise when running, and considerable loss of space.

Getting the Schenker to work in our boat was, of course, not straight forward. But thanks to Phil we were able to leave the marina at the end of the week as planned.

One highlight of our stay was a visit by Pete and Penny, friends of ours from Dunedin who were visiting Auckland to attend the Boat Show. Cara and I happily tagged along to ‘ooh’ and ‘aaaah’ at the latest offerings from Moody, Beneteau, Jenneau, and so on. Though I recognise my bias, I was quite shocked by the price tag for these new boats, especially as the ‘price’ was pretty shady because most things a boat needs to go sailing, like shackles, lines, and even sails I believe, are considered extras that have to be added to the initial cost. The finish of most of these boats was also pretty naff — essentially they are built like cheap kit set kitchens with formica everywhere, there is nothing to hang on to in a seaway, and they all have fin keels and spade rudders that are easily broken off by playful fish. Taurus is much slower than modern boats but she is full of teak and mahogany, and was created by craftsmen who built her with care and skill to cross oceans. Still, horses for courses.

With the water maker installed we left Westhaven, and though intending to head east to Rangitoto we instead turned west so that we could sail under the iconic Auckland Harbour Bridge. It seemed a shame to be so close and not tick this off, so tick it off we did, sailing under it, tacking, and then sailing under it again.

After this exhilarating experience we headed out of Auckland, remembering to dip our ensign as we passed the RNZ Navy ships at Devonport, and after a very brief race with a foiling yacht, we anchored in Islington Bay, Rangitoto Island.

Rangitoto is a beautiful spot. An extinct volcano that Cara has visited many times over the years so that it has become a bit of a site of pilgrimage for her when visiting Auckland. It was fantastic to be back on anchor, and out of the marina. Westhaven was pleasant enough but we didn’t feel too comfortable there. Perhaps it was the very expensive boats surrounding us, and the rush of the time-share owners to get out and enjoy their time on their boat before rushing back, and the paid help rushing in to clean and restock before the next owners rushed in; perhaps it was the toilets that timed your visits, nagged you to hurry, played irritating elevator music, and opened the door if you took too long; maybe it was the way we were locked out of the jetty when we extended our stay by a couple of days and didn’t pay the invoice immediately. We may be too small city to enjoy big city life, but there often seemed a quiet desperation in the other boat owners, and a focus on money rather than customer service from the marina.

Rangitoto was a world away from such nonsense. This charming island is home to some beautiful old bachs, small, traditional, Kiwi holiday homes. Many of these were built in the 1930s when the Auckland city council offered rental rates of $4 a year for campsites. Houses later sprang up on these sites, often humble, but still more permanent than later councils liked. Recently, it was decided that the tenure of the bach owners dies with them, and many of the houses have been removed — though now there seems to be a move to preserve some for historical interest. They certainly make manifest the idyllic lifestyle that so many Kiwis remember and hold dear.

After a brief stay we departed Rangitoto and headed to another anchorage at Oneroa Bay, Waiheke. Here we had a pleasant snorkel and later an ice cream in the holiday town, but the bay was so rolly we got no sleep and we left first thing in the morning.

We crossed to Rakino Island and spent the night in Home Bay, before crossing another channel and anchoring at Station Bay at Motutapu Island. In the morning we took the dinghy to shore and walked up to a series of WWII gun emplacements. These were well preserved and fascinating, especially the underground magazines that were very deep, dark, and claustrophobic.

Heading back to Waiheke we stayed in Opopoto Bay where we enjoyed great fish and chips and a bottle of wine on the beach. The relaxed mood was only slightly spoilt by collecting a big wave as we tried to get the dinghy off the beach…

The following day we upped sticks again and sailed to Tiritiri Matangi Island, but the anchorage was a bit too exposed and we didn’t stay, preferring to sail to Okoromai Bay at Whangaparoa. Here I went for a dive to assess a funny knocking noise that our rudder was making. It turned out that we needed to bush the lower rudder pintle, so Cara and I put our heads together and came up with a plan to insert some thin pieces of plastic and zip tie them in place. Though this might sound a bit rough, the rudder is in no danger of falling off and we’re in no danger of losing our steering. We just needed a bit of space taking up, which this fix will take care of until we get hauled out and make a proper bush, though the gap is so small, perhaps 1-2mm, I’m not sure how best to achieve this. Ideas?

So, it’s now Wednesday, 27th of March, and we’re all caught up. As the map below makes clear we have been bouncing about a bit this past week, enjoying this part of New Zealand but not really going anywhere. This is because we are members of the Ocean Cruising Club, and they are having a BBQ and mini-cruise to celebrate their 70th year. The host of the local event is Lin Pardey, a living sailing legend, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet and have a drink with her. After the cruise we’ll be heading north towards Whangarei, and then the Bay of Islands. It’s not long now before our planned departure for Tonga. To paraphrase the words of Detective Mark Burnett in Bad Boys II — “shit’s gonna get real!”