Moored at Whangarei, New Zealand

We got in to NZ two days ago but are just now getting to posting our
whereabouts after a very exciting passage. The last day closing on the
coast was as or more exciting than any of the other days. A big storm
decided to come in before we did and it blew pretty darn hard *20-25 gusts
to 34kts) for the last 24 hours, and of course we were closing at night and
had to pass very close to some islands and rocks. I was still nervous about
our rigging even though it was blowing on the starboard as the jib still put
tremendous pressure on both sides of the rigging.

All held up or we would not be here though. Cindy got me up at 2am to help
reef down when the wind really piped up and we were getting too close to
Poor Knights Island and the rocks just south of the island. Then the
autopilot decided it had had enough and went on holiday after much beeping
and fussing about. The following seas and wind was too much for it, poor
thing, even though it was new this year it just could not cut it. I started
hand steering in the dark with rain blowing sideways in to the cockpit. It
was cold and I had on my foulies top and bottom, a heavy fleece jacket,
socks and knee boots and gloves and I was still cold. Cindy conked out down
below and I could not leave the wheel until 6:30am when I got her up to help
near the entrance to Bream Bay. My arms were completely cramped and my back
was killing me. Hand steering at night is very difficult without any
landmarks. Steering by compass is hard in calm conditions and way hard when
the boat is yawing 120 degrees every few seconds. It took all my strength
to turn it. And, it kept rounding up towards the island and rocks which
were about 20 miles long.

We had reefed the jib to almost nothing, and the main the same. The mizzen
had been taken all the way in before nightfall. We were still going 6.5 to
7 kts with almost no sail up. I think we would have done the same with the
sails completely in. I turned on the engine and put it in gear just to get
some more water flowing past the rudder in the right direction to help steer
the boat.

But, all is well. We got in to the bay and calmer waters just after
daylight. The river entrance to Whangarei Harbor was easy to find and well
marked. The trip up the river was long and against an outgoing tide and
current. You still had to pay extreme attention though as it was a dredged
channel with no room for wandering or you would be high-sided in the mud.
Our friend single-handing on OZ came in the two nights ago and found the mud
and had to be towed off, with some damage to his boat. It was hard enough
in the daylight as the river has many sharp bends and the markers do not
stay in the middle of a seemingly wide channel. The wind was still blowing
hard but the seas were mild.

It took two hours of motoring up the river to get to the Customs dock where
we tied up to S/V Quest and S/V Ranger who had come in before us. They were
waiting for high tide to proceed farther up river to the marinas as it gets
very shallow on up. Checking in was very easy. The US Customs could take
some lessons from the very polite but serious officers in NZ. They asked us
our names and then it was first names only. They took all our meats, eggs
and milk and would have taken any veggies but we were out. We waited a
couple of hours then peeled off for the short trip farther upriver.

You could not relax a bit though as the markers were harder to follow and we
saw 4.5ft on our depth gauge several, several times. We draw 5.5ft but had
never calibrated to the water line so our depth gauges are always worst
case. Nevertheless I felt us grazing along the bottom more than once and we
passed one luckless large sailboat stuck firmly in the mud on the correct
side of the markers. I was worried to pass him as I had to go farther away
from the markers than I would have liked. We got to the marina and needed
extra help to get in with the wind blowing on the beam about 15-20kts.

We were tired but happy to be there. The parts of the countryside we could
see coming in were gorgeous with green pastures, rolling hills, cattle
grazing peacefully and houses scattered about. The people here are some of
the friendliest we have ever been around anywhere. The marina is small but
adequate with showers, laundry, a picnic/BBQ area, a marine store and boat
yard with high quality tradespeople. There are lots of marine related shops
and stores all along the river so we will be able to get all our needs taken
care of here. Grocery stores are big, clean and well-stocked just like in
the US. The town is charming and a nice walk away.

Cindy will be flying out in two weeks and I will follow a week later. I'll
be back in two months and start the biggest projects on the boat. I don't
think I mentioned but we still have a significant water leak around the
rudder causing the bilge pump to run every 30 seconds or so when we are
underway. So thankfully the bilge pump kept on working. I have a back up
big pump but want to keep that as a backup and have two. We thought the
leak was fixed in Mexico but they did not fix it there. If we were there I
would ask for my money back - Hah!