John B
04-09-2002, 12:38 AM
It Blew.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/p5019a6f896f1f48e939468d7c7397b41/fdd24443.jpg
Easter is a four day weekend here, but it also coincided with the school holidays so I took the following week off and we arranged to meet up with the "Ronaki's" for a cruise. We had great plans for a trip to the GT Barrier but those first 4 days were blowing hard. As Our friend Dave said at the end of the cruise, " we made the best of what we had, we couldn't have done any better with weather like that". It started at about 30 knots the next day and there was a bit of rain. We sheltered at the back of Ponui Island that night and we stayed there for the next couple of days. There was a boil up of fish in the bay though, so we trotted out and got our 3 we need to feed our family. Motoring back in after the rain squalls had gone we had a pod of dolphins in the bay so we spent an hour motoring around with them. Always good.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/pe89090e6da160fe3fff1c2b8ac027a4e/fdd27501.jpg
We had a bit of a social morning on the monday to celebrate Kirsty's birthday. We watched the breeze pick up and although we were in the best possible place for the weather a few squalls still came down the hills and blew us about. In one of them I watched the water pick up in a ball and roll along until it hit Waione, cranking her over and flipping the little kids dinghy upside down behind the boat.
We walked up to the crest of the adjacent hill on the island. 4 adults and the 5 kids.We could see out to the west and Auckland, the north and Waiheke,and the east out across the Firth of thames. The Firth was solid whitecaps and we had to lean into the wind.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/pe4cd0d387aa366988e34a4514eb46d23/fdd274fe.jpg
Here's how hard it blew. We met people later who had been in various locations around the bottom end. A rain squall came across and we headed back down the hill in hail. The Spirit Of New Zealand ( Our sail training vessel, a 3 masted barquentine) dragged out of Man'o' War bay, people were talking about 60 knots in the squall, and a vessel sailing between Gt Barrier and Coromandel was seen to get knocked flat and not seen come back up. It did come back up( with a broken boom apparently), but there was a search alert until the boat was reported in safe.
It was windy, but we were snug and sheltered ,although we did move a bit later in the day when too much south came in and brought a swell around the corner.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/p9e4e5c7b1aad79ac6f6ad88c8f62fd04/fdd274fa.jpg
The bay we moved to should have been empty of boats but instead was full. Everyone extending their weekend until the weather permitted the trip home. The next morning they all lit out and left the area to us and only a few others.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/p5019a6f896f1f48e939468d7c7397b41/fdd24443.jpg
Easter is a four day weekend here, but it also coincided with the school holidays so I took the following week off and we arranged to meet up with the "Ronaki's" for a cruise. We had great plans for a trip to the GT Barrier but those first 4 days were blowing hard. As Our friend Dave said at the end of the cruise, " we made the best of what we had, we couldn't have done any better with weather like that". It started at about 30 knots the next day and there was a bit of rain. We sheltered at the back of Ponui Island that night and we stayed there for the next couple of days. There was a boil up of fish in the bay though, so we trotted out and got our 3 we need to feed our family. Motoring back in after the rain squalls had gone we had a pod of dolphins in the bay so we spent an hour motoring around with them. Always good.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/pe89090e6da160fe3fff1c2b8ac027a4e/fdd27501.jpg
We had a bit of a social morning on the monday to celebrate Kirsty's birthday. We watched the breeze pick up and although we were in the best possible place for the weather a few squalls still came down the hills and blew us about. In one of them I watched the water pick up in a ball and roll along until it hit Waione, cranking her over and flipping the little kids dinghy upside down behind the boat.
We walked up to the crest of the adjacent hill on the island. 4 adults and the 5 kids.We could see out to the west and Auckland, the north and Waiheke,and the east out across the Firth of thames. The Firth was solid whitecaps and we had to lean into the wind.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/pe4cd0d387aa366988e34a4514eb46d23/fdd274fe.jpg
Here's how hard it blew. We met people later who had been in various locations around the bottom end. A rain squall came across and we headed back down the hill in hail. The Spirit Of New Zealand ( Our sail training vessel, a 3 masted barquentine) dragged out of Man'o' War bay, people were talking about 60 knots in the squall, and a vessel sailing between Gt Barrier and Coromandel was seen to get knocked flat and not seen come back up. It did come back up( with a broken boom apparently), but there was a search alert until the boat was reported in safe.
It was windy, but we were snug and sheltered ,although we did move a bit later in the day when too much south came in and brought a swell around the corner.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid18/p9e4e5c7b1aad79ac6f6ad88c8f62fd04/fdd274fa.jpg
The bay we moved to should have been empty of boats but instead was full. Everyone extending their weekend until the weather permitted the trip home. The next morning they all lit out and left the area to us and only a few others.