Twister has been anchored off Paihia in The Bay Of Islands (BOI) for about a week. I've been doing some boat projects in preparation for sailing back to Fiji in April but also some relaxing. I put some miles under her keel the last couple of months, so it's nice to stay put in one place for awhile.
I had a nice visit with my friend Kurt. After a couple of days in Auckland, we did an overnight passage from Auckland to Whangarei. The passage started out very calm, but was pretty bumpy by time we reached the entrance to the channel/river leading up to the Whangarei Town Basin. We had hoped to time our arrival with the low tide, so we could ride the incoming tide up the river. We arrived earlier than expected but it was blowing sufficiently hard for us to sail up the river against the outgoing tide. We tied up to the Whangarei Town Basin and were met by an friend of Kurt's from Texas who now lives near Whangarei.
After a short visit we sailed back down the river two days later. After another overnight passage, we entered the BOI and anchored off Moturua Island and caught some Zs. We then continued onward to Paihia where Twister has been anchored since then--well, not anchored anymore. Yesterday there was a good breeze and just after I had rowed ashore, I noticed Twister was not where I left her. The anchor had dragged and she glided past a big aluminum catamaran. The anchor caught again just behind the cat. So I rowed frantically back out. The owners of the cat were onboard, were very gracious (fortunately Twister did not make contact with the cat), and pointed out a brand new, free mooring nearby. As the winds are forecast to increase today and tomorrow, I thought it prudent to use the mooring. So after that excitement, the St. Patrick's Day beer tasted extra good.
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