Round the Cape

0500 Thursday

The Sky is starting to turn orange and a band of cloud is touched with pink and the sun is not far from coming over the horizon. With a cup of tea and a gingernut there is no better time on a boat than this with the night over and now able to see the land again after a night passage. Forty five minutes later I have a full moon setting on my starboard side and a huge sun rising to port.

We left Whakatane on Tuesday morning. We felt like we had stayed there so long we were becoming locals so with an improving forecast it was time to move. The harbour exit over the Whakatane river bar was nerve wracking and exciting. The tide was out flowing and we had been told the bar was “workable with caution”. Even so there were pressure waves standing up across the entrance causing Gunner to point skyward several times. No doubt the locals had many binoculars trained on us to see how this townie handled the conditions however Gunner ploughed her way out without complaint.

We were very fortunate to have the Gwillim family come over from Tauranga on Monday to visit. It was a pleasure to meet Jenny Gwillim who was married to Don whose father Noel owned Gunner from 1957 to 1968. Jenny knew the old Gunner from those days before she had been converted and Noel and Don worked her as a fishing boat out of Ohiwa Harbour.

Their son Neil is also a fisherman and their boat the GayMaree is based in Tauranga. Sadly Don passed away earlier this year and had been looking for the Gunner after having seen a recent photo in the Professional Skipper magazine. Jenny has some fantastic photos of Gunner when she was fishing and also newspaper articles and photos of her when she went aground during the Wahine storm. We will visit them on our return from this trip and get copies of these photos.







Thanks to Brian Alderson for this photo of his of Gunner on the wharf at Ohiwa prior to the Wahine storm.

 From Whakatane we headed over to Omaio Bay again (being the only decent anchorage for a northerly wind). Next morning we were up to listen to the 5.30 weather forecast and decided to head for Hicks Bay and possibly anchor there for the night. Conditions moderate with 15 knot NWesterly on our beam to Cape Runaway going round behind as we followed the coast round to Hicks Bay. Conditions were improving and we decided to go and have some lunch in the bay and then make a decision whether we would carry on around East Cape and down to Gisborne or Napier.

For a moment there I wondered if my navigation was badly off - this is Table Hill (between Hicks Bay and East Cape) not Table Mountain..

By about 4.30 we rounded east island which lies just over a mile off the cape, having chickened out of going on the inside passage in the big swells and there being numerous crayfish pots in the area.



East Cape Lighthouse




The sunset was spectacular over the land and not long after we had a meal the full moon rose, huge and glowing orange out of the sea. We settled in for a pleasant night motoring down the coast with the lights of Gable End, Gisborne and Mahia helping us along, and after passing the entrance to Gisborne’s Poverty Bay at 2 am we decided to continue on to Napier.

 

Mahia – chalky white cliffs of Portland island and stark cliffs of the peninsula cut through with deep fissures.
Now heading across Hawke Bay we have been passed by a cruise ship, the Sea Princess, accompanied by dolphins and gannets and have seen a couple of huge mollymawks resting on the water. I think it was the Shy Mollymawk but without contact lenses in I could barely make out it was a bird so will have to hope I see another one to identify it!

Eta Napier 1430. Looks like we will be here for a few days as the weather further south is still unsettled. Will be going shopping for Christmas dinner when we hit town.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas wherever you may be.
Kate and Peter