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No Tsunami Trouble Here
Everything in New Zealand is fine with respect to the tsunami following the recent earthquake in Japan. Our thoughts are with out friends and everyone else who is there.
Kawau
Kawau is an island about 25 miles north of Auckland. It is the logical stop between Whangarei and Auckland. Kawau has several anchorages, the best of which are on the west side. We made three trips to Bon Accord Harbour, the main anchorage on Kawau. Bon Accord is almost two miles long by half a […]
End Piracy
The crew of Scream strongly endorse the Seven Sea Cruising Association's call to action to end piracy.
Oneroa Bay, Waiheke
Scream made three visits to Oneroa Bay, on Waiheke island near Auckland. Oneroa is a delightful anchorage with room for hundreds of boats to anchor in 10-20m sand bottom off a nice sand beach. Oneroa is well sheltered from west through south. Oneroa ought to be sheltered from the south east and east, but any […]
Islington Bay, Rangitoto
Scream made a pair of two-night stops in Islington Bay, on the south side of the causeway between Rangitoto and Motutapu islands. Islington is a large bay with room for a hundred or more boats to anchor in 20 feet, sticky mud bottom. It is sheltered from all directions except the south, thought the wake […]
Bayswater Marina, Auckland
Auckland, the city of sails, has at least eight marinas. We've kept Scream at Bayswater for the last month. Bayswater has fantastic on shore facilities: a lounge with TV and computers, a BBQ, great showers, laundry, and washrooms. Their docks are good, but there is only a floating breakwater, which lets wake in, so it […]
Whangarei
Scream spent just under a week at the very cruiser-friendly town of Whangarei (pronounced fang-a-rey) just before Christmas. The town of Whangarei is about 15 miles up the river from Bream Head, but we thought it was well worth the trip. [Photo by Sandy Austin] We'd heard widely varied opinions about Whangarei from others - […]
Vava'u
Vava'u (pronounced vah-VAH-oo) is Tonga's second largest island group, and the name of the main island of the group. Vava'u is the nicest cruising ground we've encountered south of Seattle. Officially there are 42 anchorages in the group, and we're aware of another half dozen. The entire area is swell-free, with fairly consistent light to […]
Opua
Opua is a marina in northern New Zealand. It has the port of entry that is closest to the tropics, and a comprehensive collection of businesses serving the marine industry. Opua has more and better marine service than anywhere we were in the tropics. The marina is large and inexpensive. Notably, there is also plenty […]
How We Stay Sane On Passage: Audiobooks
Although it's not the image of sailing you get from Horatio Hornblower or watching the America's Cup, when we're on passage there's a lot of time where there's really not much going on. The vast majority of the time at sea is mostly hanging on and trying to be comfortable rather than hauling lines or […]