The weather was against us. The forecast was for rain and strong wind but it didn't look too shabby on Monday so we set off in some reasonable swells and a grey sky. Eight people made for a crowded but manageable boat, so we motor sailed with the main, genoa and number 2 staysail for most of the way. With five in the cockpit the footwell started to fill with water and the rear compartment filled quickly too. We shifted the petrol, chilly bin and food towards the bow and with a couple crew up front we balanced her out nicely. After our recent repairs to the tiller bracket, the wooden tiller itself decided to begin splitting. Sam tied a rope around it and we eased the sailed to relieve the pressure on the rudder. We plan to wrap fibreglass tape around the tiller for super-strength.
At approximately 4.00pm, we arrived at Otakaphe Bay and beached the boat for quick unloading. While the rest of the crew took supplies up to the house, Ben and Frenchie stayed out on the boat until Adam, AJ and Sam found William Shatner's Pants and rowed it out to the then moored boat.
The sun set at 6ish and we cranked the BBQ for dinner.
The next day the weather went further downhill. At 2.30pm the power went off, at 6.00pm it was dark and we were playing cards by candle light. Nachos were prepared on the BBQ due to lack of power and pizza was called off. Because the water at the house is run by electric pumps, we had to manually collect water from the tank with a leaky bucket.We received news that the harbour bridge was closed due to wind and the ferry services were suspended for the night.
The power still wasn't on Wednesday morning, when were intending on departing. The wind was still at gale force and we had dishes for 8 people to clean with no running water. AJ, Becci and Adam caught a taxi to Matiatia to catch the ferry back to Auckland while the rest stayed behind with a plan to clean up when the power came back on. Sam, Ben and Frenchie battled the waves that afternoon to get out to the boat to retrieve 10L of tasty signature range water.
Thursday morning, after 45 hours without power we cranked the water onto the BBQ and washed three days of dishes with detol hand soap and greasy boiling water. We had BBQ piklets and mozzarella on bread for breakfast. The house was tidied and we loaded up the boat from shore around midday. Frenchie, Sam and Ben carried the trash, laden on oars, down to the bins while the girls played Russians.
We motor sailed in not-too-shabby conditions. We sailed with a relaxed genoa to ease the strain on the splitting tiller. Ben heroically helmed the boat the whole way. The picture above of Eve at the helm must have been from the trip out to the island. Sam started work on replacing ropes because we needed ballast in the centre of the boat. Frenchie stood his ground as the bowman for the full four and half hour journey. Eve and Kelly kept playing Russians and kept spirits high. About one hour in the journey, William Shatner's Pants filled with water from waves running through the centreboard slot. Sam bailed out the water and removed the aft bung and all was well. Our newly built flag pole did a fantastic job of representing our super-sailing country all the way home. On our arrival into the Waitemata Harbour we saw a 40 footer washed up on the rocks near Howick. In our bay in Devonport we watched a tugboat drag another beached boat off the shore and onto the dry dock. As it turns out, two boats from our bay were beached during the storm and another had its furling jib torn to shreds. Our adventure may very well have saved Simple Image.
We beached, unloaded and moored the boat making sure everything was beyond ship-shape. We tried a new method of tying up the tiller in a vertical position to easy the pressure from waves on the rudder. Stay strong boatie, we'll be back soon to fix your broken tiller.
Take a look at Adam's Photos
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