The Sequin, Scourge of the Seven Seas
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2004
1
69
77
Trip End
Ongoing
Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Our hoped-for twilight sail to Issie Bay turned into motoring, as we were incredibly late leaving because of having to swap boats. Issie Bay was heaving with boats; it took some searching to find a place to moor, and we were all rather faint with hunger by the time Jill and I finished dinner.
The next day, we followed our usual route round to Oneroa, though the thought of the Rakino Jazz festival was tempting. It was warm enough to swim; I made lazy laps of the boat and the boys critiqued each others' dives. The next day we headed farther on round the island, Jill and I trying to stop Pablo from taking over all of the rope work, and all of us vying to see who could make the boat go fastest (I held the lead for a while!). Palm beach was a wonderful place for lunch and a great swim, then on round the island, seeing penguins. The third day we progressed to Dead Man's Bay, the perfect stopping place for a would-be pirate ship. We drank rum under a full moon and chatted 'til the early hours.
On our final day we completed the circumnavigation, and moved on to Motutapu. A landing party was sent off in search of coke and ice cream, in the snazzy dinghy complete with an outboard motor with all the power of a hairdryer. They returned empty handed, though I have the feeling the greedy sea dogs consumed the booty on land and didn't share! More swimming and it was time to get back to the city; wonderful for once to have sunshine as we returned to the city of sails. We raced the America's cup boat (we could have won if we wanted to) and ventured under the Harbour Bridge, before returning the boat to its berth. A perfect end to a wonderful summer.
