Day 1, Year 2: Leaving Whangarei
Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Weather Today: Warm, Sunny Fall Day; 62 degrees F at Sundown
Location: Urquarts Bay, New Zealand
Latitude: S 35 degrees 50.696 minutes
Longitude: E 174 degrees 31.925 minutes

It is just about 6 PM here and I am sitting very comfortably in the cockpit listening to the New Zealand weather on the VHF radio and watching the sky being painted with all shades of pink and red just after sunset. It’s one of those nights where the water around us is reflecting red light as well. Since there are red sails tonight maybe we will have fair weather tomorrow for our trip up the coast to Whangamumu. One thing is for sure. We have had a beautiful start to our second year of the voyage of Windbird.

I spent the entire morning doing laundry–sheets, towels, blankets, etc. We will have access to a laundromat in Opua, but I wanted to start fresh from here. The laundry took longer than it should have because we had a meeting at 10 AM with Dr. Geoff of Aspect of Arron. We sat with him and his wife Raewyn at dinner last night and he asked if we had room to take some sails to Vanuatu. Geoff is a physician and Raewyn is a nurse, and they work in Vanuatu every winter. This year they will be flying, not sailing there, and they were looking for a way to get the old sails to some of the village chiefs. The villages will be able to use the material to make sails for their canoes. We are more than happy to transport the sails and Geoff wanted to give us advice on where to go and where to anchor when in Vanuatu. It was a great trade and I’m sure that when we deliver the sails to the village chiefs we will get a special welcome into the villages.

We left Whangarei at 2:30 PM at high tide and arrived here in Urquarts Bay at the mouth of the Whangarei River at 5:00 PM. Leaving Whangarei was an emotional experience for me. First, I was devastated that I didn’t get to say a personal goodbye to Ray Roberts, the marina owner. As I explained in yesterday’s log, I had totally forgotten that today was a holiday and that no one would be working at the marina. And then we had to say goodbye to some good friends that we probably won’t see again for years, if ever. Beth and Ken on Eagle’s Wings are going back to Nuie, to Tonga, and then to Fiji this year. We will be long gone from Fiji by the time they arrive. Bill and Yvonne on Windsong will be staying in Whangarei. They have been granted residency and will work through the winter, sail in the Pacific next season and then return to New Zealand. It is possible that they will not be returning to the United states for many years. Joe on Maggie Drum is waiting for Cindy to return from the US and then they will be traveling on land for a while. They will probably catch up with us in Fiji, or at least we hope so. Dianna and Bob on White Swan will be leaving Whangarei in a week or so and we will probably see them in Opua and possibly travel to Fiji near the same time. Bernard and Christiane on Est-Ouest from Quebec have sold their boat and will be returning home on May 18. Jens on Moana will be leaving Opua for Fiji in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we will see him there. We hope to see Roger and Jane of Wings and Strings and Anna Maria and Ernst of Galatea in Opua before they head off in different directions. So many people and so many directions. All of these people have become our family out here and leaving them is hard for me. I was also sad that I didn’t get to make phone calls to family. We had this great deal at Riverside with a Cheap Talk phone card. It only cost a penny a minute to talk to people in the US. We had bought the card and not used it much since we usually use Skype on the computer. I had hoped to call people today before we left, but there was just no time. Mark didn’t have the same emotional feelings that I did. He really enjoys all of the new friendships, but he was ready to go. The sea is calling, and I must admit that as we headed down the river, I enjoyed tremendously hearing the water rushing against the hull. Even with the sadness of saying goodbye, it feels good to be on our way. We are looking forward to year two of our voyage.

We got an email this morning from Dave Laux back in Hard Scrabble, Delaware. Dave is the “magician” that installed our new motor in the fall of 2005. He evidently read our log from last night and had some further advice for us in reference to the stress cracks in the headstay chainplate. First, we were delighted to hear from Dave, and secondly we were amazed once again at how technology has changed the world of sailing. Even five years ago, sailors didn’t have the ability to have such quick returns on correspondence from sea. Dave gave us some solid advice on things we should do to check to see just how serious these stress cracks might be. As soon as we get to Opua, we will follow Dave’s advice, point by point. He truly is amazing and we are very grateful that he took the time to send us the information. Once again, David, thank you for being there. And Mark says to tell you that the bolts are solid and there is no rust.

We left Riverside Drive Marina just after Marie and Paul of Ranger left today. Marie gave us a wonderful “going away” present. She invited us to come to Ranger for dinner tonight. So as soon as we were anchored in Urquarts Bay, we put the dinghy in the water. I then started writing this log and then we rowed over to Ranger for dinner. Marie fixed pork chops, fresh green beans, a fresh bib lettuce salad, and baked squash. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was fun to have someone to share our feelings about being “on the road again.” Where is Willie when I need him? Tomorrow morning we will be up at 6 AM and out of here by 6:30. That should put us in Whangamumu Bay by no later than 4 PM, maybe sooner.

One last note. Mark and I marveled at how easy it was to put the dinghy in the water tonight and when we got home from dinner on Ranger, we were able to get the dinghy back on board in the dark. I guess we haven’t really forgotten how to do this. The real test will be tomorrow when we raise the sails.

070425 Day 1 New Zealand– Windbird Leaves Whangarei