Tuesday 6th December
When we awoke this morning the water was like glass. After breakfast Tamara and Raphael took it in turns at climbing the mast for fun. Andrew was next but not for fun, he had to straighten a bent antenna bracket.
With today’s maintenance done, Andrew ferried Tamara and Raphael to shore to explore more of Waiheke. When they returned we moved across the bay preparing for early morning change of wind.

Monday 5th December
This morning we discovered that the new owners of the farm in Hook Bay have stopped people using the track to the top of the hill and Stony Batter (a historical WW2 gun emplacement), so we decided to head off to Rotoroa Island where Raphael and Tamara went ashore to explore.
When they returned we went across to Man O War Bay, Waiheke Island. We anchored about 300m away from another monohull in the bay. It wasn’t long before we had some entertainment. A chartered Catamaran came in the bay and started to dropped anchor between us. With the Cat in high reverse he pulled back till he was 20m from Imagine. He then called out is he too close? The obvious reply was YES. He then moved behind the other monohull and tried again. When he reversed all the way back to us Andrew called out that he move in closer to shore as he doesn’t need to be in such deep water.
He moved about 400m away and tried again. Andrew was ready in the dinghy and as the Cat reached 30m from Imagine he went across to see if he could help. The reply was NO as he continued to back up to 15m from the side of Imagine. He finally stopped and Andrew gave him some pointers on how to anchor and not reverse so hard. The Cat moved away and across the other side of the bay.

Sunday 4th December
We woke to a beautiful day, with sun shining and a light breeze. After breakfast we sailed around the corner to the southern side of Motutapu. Once anchored in Islington Bay, Raphael and Tamara were off to climb Rangitoto, Auckland’s largest dormant volcano.
They returned about 3pm, just enough time to motor across to Motuihe where we spent the night.
This morning we went ashore and walked the island and read all about its history. By the time we returned to Imagine the bay was quite choppy so we headed off to find a sheltered bay on Waiheke Island.
On the way we got a call from Darren (Andrew’s brother), he was taking his boat for a run, so we arranged to meet at Oneroa Bay. After spending half an hour with Darren we continued on our way to Hook Bay on Waiheke.
Just as we set off Andrew slipped and broke his little toe. That hasn’t stopped us. Once anchored in Hooks Bay and after a very quick swim, we thought we might try and hook a fish. But it’s steak for dinner.

Friday 2nd December
Yesterday we said goodbye to Cindy and she flew back to California. Later in the day we picked up Tamara and Raphael, a young couple from Switzerland, who are cycling around NZ.
The 15kt winds gave them their first taste of boat life when leaving the shore heading for Imagine. The wind was pushing half metre waves onto the shore. This meant getting into the dinghy was fun. Once in, waves still sprayed over the dinghy as we made our way to Imagine.
This morning after breakfast we set sail to explore the islands in the Hauraki Gulf. It didn’t take long for Tamara to experience all about sailing, helming, watching dolphins and throwing up over the side. She will have to take sea sick pills on a morning!
That made us decide to head for the closest bay, Waikalabubu bay on the northern side of Motutapu. After lunch Andrew took Raphael and Tamara to shore to hike one of the many tracks.

Saturday 26th November
Friday the winds eased a little and moved southwest, so we made a run back to Whangaparaoa. With a constant 25kts with the occasional 30kt gust, we made good time travelling at up to 7.5kts. To get the best shelter we anchored at Swan beach.
This morning just after breakfast we were greeted by a pod of 2 dozen dolphins. They swam past the boat and around the bay. They stayed and played for about half an hour.
At 10.30 we went ashore to meet Dani and Elo who took us shopping. After shopping they joined us on Imagine for lunch. Elo wanted to go for a swim but after dipping her toe in the water, thought she would wait for a warmer day.

Thursday 24th November
We fixed the vang then went ashore to explore. While walking past the old homestead we saw someone painting the window frames. Aaron and Susan were doing maintenance on the homestead that had been closed all through Covid. Maybe it will reopen this summer as the island’s information centre and selling ice creams and coffees.
They live on their boat anchored in another bay while working on the homestead. We had seen their boat (Wind Shift) a few weeks ago at Motuihe.
With high winds and rain the last two days we have stayed here with reasonable shelter. This meant movies, books, massages and lots of card games.

Monday 21st November
We have spent a few days at Arkles Bay, walking the beach and going to the shops. The weather is going to change again as another storm approaches, so we set sail for Motutapu and a more sheltered bay.
We started with 8kts of wind, hardly enough to move us. With full main and 140% headsail we reached 4.5kts , but it wasn’t long before the wind started moving us off course. We took down the headsail and were able to get back on course with the main swung right out. Approaching the shipping channel Andrew saw the 12kts of wind dropped to 6.
Suddenly it hit us like a freight train. The wind swung around to Starboard and went from 6kts to 28knots in a matter of seconds. The main did an accidental jibe in the high wind. Luckily the boom brake was on and slowed the boom down, but wasn’t on hard enough to stop it. The violent swing of the boom snapped the 6mm bolt on the vang pulley.
The high wind on the full main pointed Imagine towards a cargo boat. Andrew pointed Imagine into the wind and we centered the main, then turned her back downwind away from the cargo boat. With Imagine running almost directly downwind we ran at 6kts till the wind finally dropped back to 10kts.
By this time we were rounding the point of Motutapu we turned on the motor and headed to Home bay where we have anchored for the night.
Note to self, don’t leave sausages outside defrosting when there are hungry seagulls around!

Thursday 17th November
The oil leak is fixed and engine running smooth again. Sunday back at Tindalls beach we all went ashore for dinner at Darren and Chrissy’s. It was a good catch up evening and Andrew’s dad was also there. The next day Andrew repaired the chain guide, whilst Sue and Cindy read their books. A trip to the supermarket to restock the boat gave us some exercise. The exercise was to counteract the ice cream we bought.
Once again the wind changed direction, so we hauled anchor and headed off around the peninsula to Arkles bay with Cindy at the helm.

Saturday 12th November
Thursday we sailed to Motuihe Island to get shelter from the strong easterly that was coming. We anchored as close to the cliffs as we could. Five of the six other boats in the bay had left by nightfall. The wind steadily increased. By Friday morning the radio was reporting 40kt winds gusting to 50kts (100km/h). Imagine was close enough to the cliffs to be sheltered from most of the wind. All we could do is chill out, read and play card games.
By Saturday morning the wind had moved northerly and had started to calm down. Cindy and Andrew went ashore to walk around the island. Cindy saw here first Tuatara (native lizard) Returning to Imagine we had lunch and set off to find somewhere new.
A fender had fallen into the chain well. As we hauled anchor the chain stacked up on top of the fender, then jammed. Which ripped the chain guide out of the deck.
As that happened the engine oil pressure alarm went off. With a bit of difficulty Andrew dropped the anchor again. Climbing into the engine bay Andrew could see there was oil leaking from the engine. A seal has blown on the turbo. We only had a small amount of spare oil onboard, but it was enough to run the motor long enough to haul anchor and get out of the bay.
We set the sails to head back to Whangaparaoa Peninsula where we could get repairs. We had to tack back and forth against the northerly wind till we were in line with the Peninsula then we could make one big run to shelter. As we started the the last run we had to cross the shipping channel and of course there was a cargo boat coming down the channel.
On this angle and speed we would cross just behind the cargo boat, but the wind had different ideas. Suddenly the wind dropped, then returned as a stong westerly. This turned parallel with the cargo boat and meant we now had to tack against the wind again to get where we wanted to go. We had a good sail but it was challenging at times!
One great thing today was being greeted by a pod of dolphins.
We made it to a bay on the Peninsula just before nightfall and dropped the sails and anchor together, all manually (no motor, no power for anchor winch).

Wednesday 9th November
We have spent the past few days chilling out and doing more maintenance. Cindy spent time on the back deck working on her overall tan. Andrew went up the mast to install the phone booster antenna. We did a little shopping and caught up with family. Some friends, Elo, Dani and Greg invited the three of us around for dinner.
We have now moved to Rakino to show Cindy more of Auckland’s islands and to get away from the high winds coming.