Great Barrier Island , New Zealand
The Kiwis love their outdoors and their sports, and when it comes to fundraising for a good cause, why not do it on a wave runner?
Hence, the
Yamaha Ski-NZ 2016, a fund raiser for the N.Z. Melanoma Foundation.
Twenty-nine riders, seven days, 650 km around the top of New Zealand, and over $90,000 raised.
Invited by Jeremy Burfoot, DOMINO was only too excited to jump in the fun and be the support boat.
The route was from Hokianga on the west coast to Leigh on the east coast, and “over the top” of Cape Reinga and North Cape. While the riders got to the Hokianga by road, on their trailers, DOMINO had to get there by sea, starting from the Bay of Islands.
It was a beautiful trip, dodging the finicky weather that is notorious at the capes, but we discovered stunning landscapes.
Feb. 25 – Paradise Bay (Bay of Islands) to Horsehoe Bay (Cavalli Islands) – Hurricane Winston had just run amok over Fiji and the 3-meter swells from the NE were a challenge to contend with, especially at anchor. Bonus: our friends on MAUNIE (last seen in Fiji) happened to cruise by and we managed to drop the dinghy and visit for a short while until we all wanted to get out of the damned swell.
Feb. 26 – Cavalli Islands to Whangaroa – or WOWangaroa… no sooner had we passed the head of Whangaroa bay entrance we were in a green paradise, with volcanic lava domes peaking out of green forests. We found calm anchorages at last, dozens of nooks and crannies to recuperate our balance. There again, we caught up with friends, the Tennant Powercat “November Rain.” Garry and partner Lori had just won 3rd place at the national Penn fishing tournament, 1stplace at the local gamefishing club, and Gary was keen on giving us all tips on fishing… oh, and how to get to good anchorages, how to safely cross the bar in Hokianga, and how to best navigate “over the top.” In the end, we both fueled up and Garry and his shipmates escorted us all the way to North Cape.
Feb. 29 – Whangaroa – Cape kariKari – With a NE gale advisory on the forecast for the next day, we decided to duck on the west side of the Cape, while Garry opted to stay on the east side, expecting a calm night. The gale came through at 2 in the morning, gusting at 36 knots, and we were tossed out of our bunks by the chop. Meanwhile, a 100-ton steel trawler not even 2 miles north of us was thrown on the rocks and just lolled there, its 7 passengers wearing life jackets, hoping for the best, ready for the worst. It was maddening to be in sight of the Lady Lola and not to be of any assistance. The gale was raging, it was pitch dark, and the skipper had assured us that he was in no immediate danger. At dawn, the “Florence Nightingale” was steaming down from North Cape at full speed, and with the winds down and the tide high, managed to refloat the Lady Lola, miraculously with only a few scrapes on her bottom. Meanwhile, November Rain’s passengers were a bit green around the gills as they made out of their anchorage.
March 1 – Kari-Kari – North Cape – Tom Bowling Bay – I expected the north coast to be very rugged and rocky. Instead, we found lovely, long beaches and safe anchorages. Which was a good thing as the forecast was announcing more high winds from the SE. We simply waited for the weather to pass, as it always does in these parts. More fishing for snapper, kingfish, trevally, blue cod, and encounters with hundreds of dolphins were enough to make us happy. As the chop swirled into Tom Bowling, we searched for a better anchorage and found it at Piwhane Bay were none other than Garry was already sheltered, bottom fishing for John Dory!
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| Cape Reinga |
March 4 – Piwane Bay – Cape Reinga – Ahipara – At last, the wind has dropped below 15 knots from the SE, the seas have calmed down and we had a glorious rounding of Cape Reinga, the northern most point of New Zealand. I expected clashing, pyramidal waves, having listened to the lore of sailors who battled this cape, but all we found was strong currents and splendid views.
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| 90-mile beach…. you can drive on the beach… 4-wheeling in the sand dunes |
Then, it was a ride down the 90-mile beach, along the immense sand dunes, by the rock with a hole in it, and –with 25 knots blowing where there was supposed to be no wind (is the weather forecast ever right in NZ?) – we ducked into the wide bay of Ahipara, again amazed at the beauty and peace of the landscape.
March 5 – Ahipara – Hokianga (Opononi) – We dreaded this part. Hokianga is a bar harbor. Only the week before, a boat had taken the bar in the wrong spot and had broached. How were we to do this? I had tried to get the harbormaster in various channels, by email, on the Coast Guard website, on the Hokianga Tourism website, no dice. In the end, it was Annette, the operator on Far North VHF Radio, who got me the phone number of Pete, the harbor warden. Just a call, and we had agreed on the best time to come into Hokianga: 0700.
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| Sand dunes at Cape Maria |
We rose early, having a 2 to 3 hour ride, depending on weather. We expected 25 knots of wind and rough seas… we got ZERO knots and flat seas… is the forecast ever right in NZ??? Pete called us on our cell phone, directed us to were he wanted us to cross, and just guided us in as we glided on a mirror!
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| Opononi, on the Hokianga… lovely! |
Sunrise in Hokianga is just breathtaking, with its sand dunes, wide estuary, green banks, jutting pine trees. Once more, we dropped anchor, dropped a line, caught snappers for lunch, and pinched ourselves at the beauty of the New Zealand coastline.
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| The ultimate Yamaha setup |
But that was enough for our leisurely cruise. The Riders were coming in and it was time to get into high gear.
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| Trevor and his 2 sons…. What a team from Lake Taupo! |
THE GUYS – AND GALS –— They came from all parts of New Zealand, but also from Australia and New York, 27 guys, 2 gals. Some are couples, some are brothers, all are friends, lead by the fearless Jeremy Burfoot.
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| Burfoot |
All are avid waverunner riders. The 3 groups may have been labeled “advanced,” “Intermediate,” and “beginner Intermediate,” this was no ride for beginners. If the weather was to be what we had endured with DOMINO on our way in, a challenge was definitely on the horizon!
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| What a sight in the early morning light! |
March 6 – Hokianga – Ahipara – We raised anchor at dawn, ready to cross the bar by 0800, once more on glassy water.
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| Is that one of the Terry Boys on his hoverboard? |
We slowly motored, waiting for the riders who were scheduled to leave an hour later, and peered over the silver mirror of the flat sea, not a wave, not a breath of air. And suddenly they appeared, hovering over the surface, jetting past us in a wink.
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| One of the Terry boys…. |
DOMINO kicked up to speed and was only too happy to steam along at 20 knots while I shot hundreds of photos. It was a magic morning, thanks to the benevolent weather gods.
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| OK… can’t keep track of them!!! |
While the land crew retrieved the skis on the beach, JP and I were curious to find out what were the fish that were schooling all around us. Soon we had pulled 6 Kahawai, considered by some as bait fish. “Not bad smoked,” advised Tom, cruising by on his jetski. And so it was that 2 hours later we had smoked and packed the Kahawai, ready to auction at the auction night! But for tonight, not going to shore.
March 7 – Ahipara – Cape Reinga – North Cape – Parengarenga –
Could we ever be so lucky?
Again, no wind, flat seas, heavenly conditions for a ride “over the top.”
While the road crew was peering down from the Cape Reinga lighthouse or from the beach, cheering their riders, the riders played in the surf all along the 90-mile beach and Cape Reinga, took a lunch break on their machines along the coast, refueled at sea, and assaulted North Cape in the most ideal conditions.
We lost sight of them at Parengarenga. There was no way for us to enter this harbor, only 2 meter depth over moving sandbars… not for us. We kept on to Cape KariKari where we knew we would be sheltered. Not going to shore for us tonight.
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| Burfoot at Cape Reinga |
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| JP never looses sight of his riders |
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| (Burfoot) “Hey, JP, slow down!” |
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| The Red Team: Invincible Armada |
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| Burfoot on the prowl |
March 8 – Parengarenga – Cape KariKari – Mangonui –
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| JP: “Where is the Green Team?” |
It was to be a late start, so JP and I went trolling around KariKari … a dozen skipjack, a hundred dolphins, no tuna, but still no wind and glassy seas. How long would our weather luck hold?
Not long, as it turned out. By noon, we were sighting the first group at Cape KariKari, and the wind freshened up, soon to reach 20 knots, and a nasty chop was kicking the riders sideways.
We were keeping track of the groups as they zoomed by: the red hot-doggers, the yellow who wanted to prove themselves as good as the red, and the green…. Oh, where were the green? I logged on the SPOT tracker page, and it showed the green team way behind, somewhere along the bay west of kariKari, but not moving very much. Was anything wrong? These guys are usually gung-ho, ready to eat miles of ocean at high speed.
Darth Vader Jeremy, black-suited, mounted on his police-white Yamaha, was concerned.
The green group was lagging.
Soon, we had to make some calls.
Could a road crew have picked up a rider in trouble anywhere along the way?
Our calls on our designed VHF channel remained unanswered.
At last, I put an all-vessel call on Far North radio and hailed “Mango Moon,” a friend of ours who was cruising north of KariKari. “Mango” stayed put and kept watch. Soon, Frank on “Mango” gave us some relief: “They’re in the cut!” From the flybridge, I finally spotted them and Jeremy, who had been sidling to DOMINO for the last half hour, made a beeline for the riders.
Turned out they were doing what they said they would do: enjoy the marvelous scenery of Cape KariKari. Can’t blame them: they were in sheltered waters. Now that they had found the nasty chop on the east coast, it was a straight line to Mangonui.
Mangonui is a very busy fishing harbor and JP had the challenge of finding a spot for BigD in cramped quarters and shallow water, not good holding, strong reversing tides. Settled at the bottom of the harbor, we watched the sun go down, backlighting the splendid silhouette of Mangonui’s quaint harbor. No going to shore for us tonight!
March 9 – Mangonui – Russell – The wind instrument read 4 knots out of the SE; seas were slight… our luck was back!
And what a ride this was!
The coast is chock-full with islands to poke in and out of.
Berghan Point, Motutara Island, Bird Rock and the Te Umukukupa Peninsula, Stephenson Island, Frenchman Rock, Flat Island, The Cavalli Islands, so many fun rocks to zoom to and fro!
We watched the riders zoom at the bottom the cliffs, surf the beach waves, go through holes in the rocks, and just have a jolly good time until the sky covered and the rain caught us as we were turning into Russell. Certainly, this was the most fun day… or is every day just better than the previous one?
Russell – we’ve been here before, we know the lay of the land, and yes! We’re going to shore tonight. It’s auction night.
The Duke of Marlborough is quite the venue, historical hotel on the waterfront, perfect to watch over DOMINO while we were having a great dinner and a bit of fun. Our sponsor from GURIT came by and we were thankful that Tony Stanton, now chief engineer for Gurit Asia Pacific, designed such a strong and capable boat.
Dinner-auction was a success, even our smoked Kahawai raised a bit of $$. And we got to mingle with some awesome people… but not for long. We had to regain the boat and ready for the next day’s run, Russell-Tutukaka, while the riders would take a day’s rest in Russell.
March 10 – Russell-Tutukaka – No wind, covered sky, slight seas, and we’re trolling the 150-200 meter line, hoping for tuna… not a thing, and I’ll leave it at that! We dropped anchor in the shallows of Tutukaka harbor and JP went to shore to make the final preparations for tomorrow’s trip to the Poor Knights Island.
March 11 – Tutukaka-Poor Knights Islands – Tutukaka –– For once, the riders would have to do without DOMINO. This was a day for the road crew and families.
The marina had kindly allowed us to dock at the fuel dock to pick up passengers and lunches and by 10:30 we had 24 passengers, all strapped in their life jackets, ready for a fun day on the water.
We’d never had so many people on board, but it was quite a pleasure to share DOMINO with such a pleasant group.
Poor Knight Islands is a marine reserve, renown for its spectacular diving, and location of the largest sea cave in the world, the RikoRiko cave: 130 meter wide, 80 meter deep, 30 meter tall. The objective? Get DOMINO inside the cave!
Flat seas on the way, that was good… a slight chop in front of the entrance, that was not so good. My heart was racing, and I’m not sure that JP was breathing, but, from the flybridge, he had a perfect command of his ship and got us in there… followed by the waverunners.
And echo? Oh yes, DOMINO’s horn inside the cave sounded long and strong!
Slaps of congratulations to JP who dropped anchor in a secluded cove so we could all have lunch together.
It was a time for pictures!!
Now, JP had ridden a waverunner before, but when Brock Terry loaned him his machine, he was catapulted in a whole new dimension… try to compare a Formula I race car to your run of the mill street car! Beaming from ear to ear, my guy regained the ship and ordered to raise anchor.
Uh-oh… chain won’t come up! Wiggle this way, that way, forward, reverse, no dice.
Kindly, passenger Matt donned mask and snorkel and checked it out: too deep. Time for JP to go for a scuba dive: yes, the chain has slipped in crevasses between boulders, 17 meters below. One, two, three twists and we’re free! Not a bad day, JP!
That evening, we kept an eye on the weather. Strong wind advisory from 02:00, gusting at 35 knots. We anchored DOMINO in a more protected spot and waited. Sure enough, middle of the night brought gusts at 37 knots and a chop in the harbor. We were not looking forward to next day’s ride.
March 12 – Tutukaka to….???? By 07:00, it was still blowing 25kts in the harbor, 35 outside. Boats trying to go out were turning around. One sailboat made it out and was disappearing in the troughs, its mast barely visible.
Would the guys dare to ride? JP was adamant, he was not taking DOMINO in these conditions. Jeremy and Russell made a recon foray into the roiling surf. What would the decision be? Ride or not ride? We were pretty sure they would not go to Leigh, a punishing ride. But, lo-and-behold, there they were! Almost the whole fleet was scooting past us, waving, into the nightmare.
Needless to say, we turned up our VHF on Ch.77 and 16, made sure our phone was charged, DOMINO ready to go if needed, and logged on to the SPOT tracker. There they were, hugging the coast, mindful of the nasty rocks along the Tutukaka coast, past Tutukaka Head, past Bream Head, and into Marsden Cove. What a relief to see all tags out of the water and not on their way south to Leigh.
Was that a punishing ride? Nobody will admit to it, but I’m pretty sure it was wicked!
And just like that, the ride was over, our friends gone on their way (Nationals in Lake Taupo this weekend.)
I can’t imagine a better time, better people, all rallying for a good cause, and we were glad to be a part of it.
Thank you to the friends who sponsored us, GURIT, other cruisers, melanoma survivors… $90,000 for melanoma research, education and treatment will go a long way.
DONATIONS to the N.Z. Melanoma Foundation can be made
HERE
Two days later, the weather had returned to windless, sunny days and flat seas and we hopped on El Tigre to dive The Poor Knights with Dive Tutukaka. A spectacular day!
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| Blue-eyed Triplefin |
We love New Zealand, but it’s time to get ready to go back to Fiji, work on the recovery of the islands devastated by Cyclone Winston. Until next time…
Dominomarie
A big thank you to the Ski-nZ event Sponsors
