Sunday and Monday
Sunday
Trying something new here, Gentle Reader, and doubling up my days. There’s just been so much to do and so little time….
On Sunday our crew also doubled up with the addition of Tamsyn Walker and Rory Paris from London. Three flights and a total of 29 hours of travel did not dim their enthusiasm, so we set sail without faffing around. It was a lovely introductory sail for the newbies, with a touch more wind and higher swells than we had encountered previously.
We anchored off Moturua, but this time on the western side in Waipoa Bay.
Linguistic tidbit:
Faffing see Log - Day 31.
Newbies New crew members. Not to be confused with Noobies who don’t understand what is going on.
Tam and David swam to the shore and back and Rory learned the joys of driving Joker, while I attempted a yoga session on the bow.
Not a simple proposition, I have to take several factors into consideration.
I have no mat. Towels can do in a pinch, but lacking the stickiness and padding makes for some uncomfortable and unsteady asanas.
I practice on an uneven surface. I have to maneuver around a large hatch, the hinges and latches for said hatch, and the triangular shape of the available space.
The sun shines relentlessly. The mast can provide a stripe of it, but I can only hope that Leona has swung into a non-sun-facing position to lessen the direct facial exposure.
The breeze pops up unexpectedly. It does provide some relief from the sun, but it also adds to the fun of the balance poses.
Leona floats on the ocean. Need I say more?
I take comfort in the fact that all this adds to the core work-out, and luckily I can grab the hand-rail if Leona feels like a particularly vicious roll.
The rest of the evening was spent catching up on news, cooking dinner (the favorite Lemony Shrimp and White Bean stew), and making plans for the rest of the week.
Cheers to our new crew
Monday
A morning tramp around the island got the blood (and sweat) flowing.
This island has a lot of history, from prehistoric Maori settlements (some of the oldest known) to Captain Cook’s visit in 1769. French explorer Marion du Fresne used the Waipoa Bay (our happy anchorage) as a camp, setting up a temporary hospital and iron forge for both human and equipment repairs. Sadly the visit did not end well. The crew were attacked while fishing in a nearby bay, and the French retaliation led to a nasty battle with the Maori.
For the World War II buffs out there, the Navy set up a mine control station above Army Bay on the western side of the island. You can still see the observation post and the foundations of barracks as you hike up to Hikurangi pa.
Linguistic tidbit:
Motu is the Maori word for island.
Pā is the Maori word for any village or defensive settlement, but most especially a hill fort. It also means to touch or strike.
Fun to look at, but I’m happy to be on board Leona
Newbies faffing around on the pā
After the tramp we pootled around the southern end of the island and back up to Army Bay to settle in for an afternoon of football and napping. With the mind-scrambling time difference (we are a day ahead and three hours behind California) Super Bowl Sunday takes place on a (gasp) Monday. Given the game that ensued, sorry fans, but napping was a good call. Tam and Rory made the most of the sunny afternoon, taking Joker out to explore a sand bar and discovering the limits of towing each other on the paddle board.
Meanwhile, I was honored to be inducted into the highly selective Leona Plumbing Team, also known as the Mario Brothers. You can call me Princess Peach, as I have now learned the intricacies of the on-board shower drainage system. It involves multiple pipes, a float valve, a filter drain, and a sump pump. Mario and I worked together to ensure the smooth (ish) function of our shower.
We will be clean.
Sadly, gathering clouds put paid to the planned sundowner up on the observation post. Sure enough, as we debated the legality regarding the usage of “sonos,” “siri,” and “joue,” in a fierce Bananagrams game, the heavens opened.
A big thank-you was owed to Tam for donning foul weather gear and braving the elements to grill the chicken.