As planned, I left the marina and dropped anchor just a few minutes away, settling in for a quiet night on the water. No need for my traditional ANKARDRAM (a shot). This is when dropping the hook after a longer sail! In my case it’s always Jägermeister.
By morning, a gentle breeze was rippling across the bay. It was one of those mornings when staying put seemed almost a waste, so I thought, why not hoist the sails and see where the wind takes me? After all, the Bay of Islands is famous for its countless little anchorages, and from where I sat, there seemed to be one around every half a nautical mile!
I slipped out into the channel and sailed for about an hour before dropping the hook again. The incoming current was building, and I would have been fighting it for the next four hours. No point battling the tide when there was a perfectly good anchorage just ahead!
Around 1300, the current finally went slack, and the breeze began to fill in. Time to get moving again! I hauled up the anchor, which came out caked in thick, sticky mud, and set sail eastwards, weaving my way through the little islands scattered across the bay. With the wind picking up and the islands sliding past, it was exactly the sort of spontaneous sailing day I love.
A few friends were planning to spend the night in Otiao Bay, so I decided to make that my destination. When I arrived, “Tiger Lilly,” a family of three from Brazil, was already anchored there, with “Luka”, also a family of three, from Lithuania, dropping in just behind me. Before long, we had gathered on “Tiger Lilly” in the sheltered bay. I had my Ankardram!
The evening unfolded just as these sailing days should. We shared stories, enjoyed some delicious smoked mahi-mahi washed down with a little wine, and made the most of the company. Later, we headed ashore for a hike, stretching our legs on solid ground after another day spent afloat.
Tomorrow, it’s time to keep moving south towards Whangārei, exploring the coast and stopping wherever an anchorage catches my eye. There are so many places to discover along this stretch of coastline, and with a bit of wind, who knows where I’ll end up next?
That’s the beauty of sailing here: sometimes you have a destination in mind, but the best days are the ones when you simply let the wind decide.
