Whangarei, New Zealand
01/24/2008 - 02/18/2008
Calm conditions start the day upon leaving Port Abercrombie
Passage to Whangarei
Over the previous couple of days, four to five meter swell pounded New Zealand's northeastern coastline. Remnants of the storm left no wind and a two meter swell once outside Great Barrier's protected harbor, but two meters is still a noticeable swell. Forecasts called for the wind to pick up to southwest 15 knots later in the day. Perfect sailing conditions for the direction we want to go. Until the wind picked up, we took the opportunity to motor along charging Whisper's batteries. Sans generator, we discover a newfound appreciation for motor-sailing in light winds.
Little Barrier stands out in the morning light.
The day remained overcast and a tad bit chilly for a summer day.
Several islands lie just off the coast from Whangarei. Here we are on approach to the south side of one of them. Notice Robin is wearing jeans - is this not supposed to be summertime?
From a distance, this rock looks like a sail hence named Sail Rock.
The water color off this island is spectacular.
Whangarei is one of New Zealand's shipping ports albeit a smaller one. This freighter heads is heading up the coast preparing to go in to the Port of Whangarei.
Bream Head marks the entrance to Whangarei's harbor.
Isn't this a beautiful buoy? This must mean we are near the Whanagrei channel. Is that a tiny solar panel power the buoy light? Perhaps we should get one of those.
After trying Urqhuarts Bay, we moved over to The Nook in Parau Bay for a much better anchorage.
Eventually, the wind picked up and the motoring ended. A gorgeous sail in 10 knots of breeze showed Whisper likes to go fast in light winds. Surprising since we keep her loaded down with equipment, toys, food, water and wine. With between seven and eight knots of speed over ground, the sail to Whangarei went quickly.
We rounded the corner of Bream Head and tucked in to Urqharts Bay. Urqharts Bay is filled with many private moorings as well as space to anchor. We dropped the hook and made a post-passage gin and tonic. As we sat in the cockpit taking in the new location and drinking our G&Ts, we noticed the wind pick up and a slight swell start rolling in to the anchorage. Hmmm, will this last? Another couple of sips of G&T and who will notice the roll. Apparently Duncan did not make the drinks strong enough and within the hour, we picked up the anchor and started looking for a new place to spend the night.
Whangarei and its harbor are a bit of a challenge. There is a relatively narrow channel leading past several very shoal bays with the channel terminating at a narrow shallow river. More on this later. In looking at our options for the evening, we determined an anchorage called The Nook in Parau Bay would be the best option. Only one problem. We needed to navigate around several really shallow areas to get there. Have charts and depth sounder, will navigate. Duncan watched the charts and depth sounder while giving Robin magnetic bearings to steer. Focusing on the compass, Robin steered to the directions and before we knew it, we had the anchor down in a very beautiful, comfortable spot. Little did we know this was much less stressful than navigating up Whangarei's river tomorrow.
Slowly heading up the channel, this fishing boat zipped past us. Perhaps we should flag him down and get some fishing tips.
Inching Up the River
Two hours before high tide we left for the big trip up the river. The town of Whangarei is 15 miles up the Hatea River where there are a few marinas and many marine services. We wanted to be in a marina when we met up with Todd, reprovisioned Whisper, and worked on the generator.
Depths in the shallow parts of the river channel at low tide are around two meters so timing is everything. Whisper's draft is just over 2 meters. Tension was high on board given the lack of information on the real depths in the river. No chart data provided any depth information. The sparse number of channel marks further up the river added to the tension. Primarily only red channel marks existed.
The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was hauled out here in Whangarei. Perhaps a few repairs are needed after an altercation with a Japanese whaling vessel? The original Rainbow Warrior was sunk by the French Secret Service in Auckland harbor in 1985 and is now an artificial reef and nice wreck dive in the Cavalli Islands.
The lovely Town Basin marina provides a home to many offshore cruising yachts in New Zealand for the summer. The proximity to cafes, shops, groceries, and marine services makes it quite appealing - assuming you do not mind dealing with the river access for sailing expeditions.
After suffering Robin's cooking for over a month, we both looked forward to eating out at a cafe. First stop, Revas for a pizza and bottle of wine.
Inching our way through the shallow bits from channel mark to channel mark, we kept a close eye on the depth sounder. The lowest depth beneath the keel was two feet (feet, not meters). Yikes, this is nerve wracking. After a little confusion on which slip to take and whether permanent docklines were at the slip, Whisper was safely tied to the dock and tension started to ease.
For the first few days, we took full advantage of being near restaurants and cafes. If you get to Whangarei and want a nice meal, be certain to go to Vinyl - by far the best food we found in Whangarei.
Exploring further up the river by kayak proved rewarding. This beautiful park and walkway were just around the corner from the marina.
We hit the end of the road at a tiny, rocky rapid and turned around to head back down the river.
We cruised both the marinas and ran into this unique dinghy. In Panama, this guy's buddy carved this dugout canoe from a tree. Not great for carrying mass quantities of laundry or provisions, but still kinda cool.
There are no hungry ducks in Whangarei. Lots of people feed them, but our next door neighbor in the marina was especially generous. As a result, the ducks appeared at the stern of our boat around 5 am every morning and 7 pm every night.
The town of Whangarei is the main city in New Zealand northern region. As a result, everything is available here. Marine chandleries such as All Marine serve visiting offshore cruisers needs as well as local boaties and boat builders. We wandered down to All Marine on a Saturday. All Marine is about an hour long walk from the marina, but we had heard great things about this shop so we put on our walking shoes.
We arrived around 2pm in the afternoon to find the shop closed. Doh! Saturdays everything closes around noon in New Zealand. Dejectedly, we sat on the stoop and drank our water. As Duncan snapped a couple of photos, a truck pulled in to the car park. The owner of the chandlery had seen us walking and saw us stop at the shop. He OPENED the store for us to have a look around. You have to love New Zealand!
En route to the chandlery, we spotted this field awaiting the crickets to show up.
Would you buy sushi from this guy?
While Duncan worked on the generator, Robin fluctuated between researching new generators and solar panels to provisioning. Every day, Robin walked along this wharf to the Pak 'N Save in hope of leaving the next day. Sadly, Robin visited the Pak N' Save close to 15 times in 25 days.
Generator Gyrations
The big project of figuring out the oil pressure issue with the genset started as soon as the new oil pressure sensor arrived in Whangarei. Initial tests with the new sensor indicated the problem was with the sensor. But, as Duncan ran the generator longer, the oil pressure problem returned. The problem was not overheating, bad fuel, low oil, too low a viscosity of oil, too high a viscosity of oil, a bad oil pump, a problem with the oil pressure relief valve, a clogged exhaust elbow, too low of fuel pressure or a bad fuel pump - even though all of these things were tested. Several rounds of debugging with Fischer Panda left us with the conclusion that a "spun bearing" caused the problem. Not good.
Nice flowers. Robin wore her shirt that matches some of the flower colors.
Despite the generator woes, Robin keeps on smiling.
Rain, rain go away.
During all of the generator diagnosis, we started researching new gensets and alternate charging solutions. Coming in to Whangarei, we considered adding solar panels to the mix. The generator situation made the decision for us - bring on the solar. However, the Whispers (that's us) cannot live comfortably with only a 75 amp engine alternator and solar.
Bring on the spreadsheets to document alternatives and costs. internet, mechanics, electricians, phone calls and emails left us spinning at the end of each day. In the end, we decided to continue down the new DC generator path and add solar panels. Of course, we will not be buying another Fischer Panda.
For oh so much more detail on the generator, check out our next log Fischer Panda: the Final Chapter.
We arrived in Whangarei the day Todd arrived. What a treat to catch up with him. His new business venture will bring him to New Zealand regularly. Check out his partnership with Steve Dashew to build the FPB 64.
Old & New Friends
Our friend, Todd, is partnering with Steve Dashew to build new boat similar to Steve's recently (2005) launched "Wind Horse". We benefited from this venture by getting to see Todd here in New Zealand. Catching up with Todd is always a treat. We managed to share a few meals together even though Todd was quite busy with work while he was here.
While in Town Basin and Riverside Drive marinas, we met several boatloads of cruisers. Several folks knew us through the website. With lots of folks heading back to the islands this year, we hope to run into them again along the way.
Steve Dashew, Todd & Robin in Whisper's cockpit. Having Steve Dashew on board with his camera was worrisome. We hope some aspect of Whisper does not appear in one of his books as a "never do this to your boat" picture.
The Sunday BBQ at Riverside Drive marina gave us a chance to meet more cruisers. Riverside Drive's shaded BBQ area is very flash.
If the whole global warming thing is accurate, we may not need a generator. Bring on the solar panel installation.
Here Comes The Sun
With a new generator on order and 4 weeks away from arrival in New Zealand, adding solar panels jumped to the top of the priority list. The solar panels arrived in Whangarei a couple of days after ordering them. This is the easy part. Wiring and mounting the panels and regulator iss the big project.
Given the budget for electrical boat projects was blown out of the water by the genset situation, Duncan played electrician. He researched, purchased, and installed the solar regulator and did all the wiring over the course of a few days. Meanwhile, stainless rails and adjustable poles were added by a local stainless shop to mount the panels. In a little over a week, Whisper has 180W of solar power available. Now we just need some sunshine.
Rails replaced the lifelines on Whisper's stern quarters.
Installing wiring required taking apart the aft cabin to run the wires.
This fancy Xantrex C35 regulator manages the solar panel voltage delivered to the batteries. The longer loop of wire makes it easy to remove the unit from its tight, hidden behind-and-under-the-cabinet-shelf mounting space — for setting, testing, or troubleshooting.
Fuses and labeled circuit breakers make everything safe and sound.
Duncan connects the wires and mounts the panels on the new stainless rails. Doesn't he look like an electrician?
Eh, Viola! Mounted, functioning solar panels can know deliver somewhere between 10 to 15 amps per hour of sunshine to the batteries.
After a much longer stay than planned, Whisper leaves Whangarei and heads back out cruising.
The desire to get back out to anchor and to continue the summer cruising season motivated us to work quickly on making decisions, installing the solar panels and leaving the marina. Sitting in Whangarei, we were spending money like we made it. The sooner we get back out to anchor, the sooner the spending will stop. We were very ready to leave Whangarei. New generator ordered - check. Solar panels installed - check. Old generator dead, but not gone yet. High tide? Close enough. Must be time to leave! 26 days and $15,000 later, we threw off the dock lines and headed back out to anchor. Hooray!