A Cruising Network

This information is way out of date but it will suffice until I can make contact with Frank and the guys and get the thing sorted.

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A CRUISING NETWORK.... SOME EMAILS

Date: Wednesday, 18 January 2006 9:50 PM
My wife and I are the very fortunate new owners of Varuna, and I thought I'd just drop you a line to introduce ourselves. Thank you for your kind wishes about our future sailing adventures with her.
We are Frank and Barbi Bates, we live in Swanson in West Auckland and we are a middle aged couple who are really just discovering the joys of sailing. All of my recent boating experience has been on an alloy pontoon boat with a large outboard on the back, on which my youngest son & I have enjoyed many days of fishing around the gulf islands. My sailing experience was long ago, starting off in a Sea Cadet naval whaler (a genuine one), a bit of sailing in a Frostbite, a brief period as part owner of a Zeddie, and small amounts of Laser, Hobie cat etc crewing for friends. Barb's previous sailing experience was limited to a day out on a charter boat in the Bay of Islands about 20 years ago. We have been out a couple of times in Varuna, once with Paul which convinced us it was the boat for us, and once by ourselves (you may have seen my e-mail to Paul about that day).
We are delighted with our new boat, and are very much looking forward to the days ahead as we become more familiar with Varuna, and can start to venture further afield in her. Our intention is to set the boat up for overnighting, and to explore the myriad bays and shores that we have previously passed at 20 knots on our way to and from the fishing spots.
Regards Frank

Hi all, John Welsford has suggested to me that there are several people around who are interested in sailing and cruising in small boats in the Auckland area, and that it might be useful to have a 'network' setup to allow us all to keep in touch, maybe organise sail-ins, etc. I know there was an informal group doing this some time ago (Paul Groom, Dave Perillo, Dave Robertson) but I think this was some time ago. I am happy to operate as co-ordinator for such a group, at least until we are able to gauge what interest there is in this idea, and if it is worth doing.
For a start, I will e-mail everyone in the group on a regular basis with any relevant information I have gathered. Please let me know if you have anything you would like to have included in these e-mails. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else you know who might be interested. If you don't want to be included in this also let me know and I will remove you from the list.
I have created an e-mail address : gulfcrews@ihug.co.nz for this network.
You can also contact me on (09) 832 4673.
By way of an introduction, my wife Barb & I purchased Paul Groom's Pathfinder Varuna back in January, and we are having a great time exploring the gulf and learning to sail. We have just spent a week away in her, trying out our new boom tent. The highlight of this trip was the time we spent at Moturekareka Island, the spot in behind the wreck there must be one of the best anchorages in the Gulf.
Cheers Frank

Hi all,
Thought I'd sent a quick e-mail, to find out if anyone has been sailing recently, or more importantly, to see if anyone has any trips planned that we might be able to base an outing around. I expect that most of you, like us, have been put of a bit by the forecasts on recent weekends; I know I've been a bit disappointed when I've been put off planning a trip by the forecast winds, and they don't appear to have turned out as strong as the predictions.
I had several people contact me who are interested in getting together for an outing, including 3 Navigator owners, a Shoal Bay Drifter, our Pathfinder and a few others; t'would be an impressive sight if we all got together for a sail somewhere.
I read somewhere recently that Islington Bay used to be called Drunken Bay; maybe a trip down there to see if we can find out why?
Any takers?
Cheers
Frank

Frank, I owe you some email replies.

Since I made the decision to become a volunteer radio operator I now have little time for myself on weekends. But there is nothing wrong with sailing in winter and because the pressure has come off the radio network I am catching up at last.

Queens Birthday weekend is looming and I will post news of intended destinations if you send them in. There is a Sail Inn being planned for the Upper Waitemata Harbour. Ideally we will go to Riverhead on the tide and then overnight somewhere else where the bigger boats will still have some water. News on that soon.

A lot of my CG Operations life is spent dealing with weather forecasts and I agree that often the day looks nothing like the forecast. I recently spoke to Bob McDavitt the weather ambassador about this. Weather forecasts are exactly that and it is accepted that the wind strengths can be up to 40% either way. Generally I have found that the directions are pretty spot on.
I plan my boating around directions not strengths . I use Met Service weathers broadcast by Coastguard every four hours [Channel 20 and 21] and these resources.
http://www.metvuw.com
http://buoyweather.com
You will also find there are a number of private weather stations available on the net and the windsurfing community is a leader in that respect.

The trick is over a period of time compare what internet resources tell you you are going to get and check the NowCasting on 20 and 21 and listen to the wind strength, direction, max and average on a regular basis. Look for patterns around the turn of the tide and how things match the forecasts and warnings.
Wind conditions at distant stations gives you a leg up. For instance anything out of the South through West means that the Manukau Heads reading is giving a good indication what is coming down that track. Likewise the reporter from Channel Island gives you a leg up on Northerly winds. Boating around the Waitemata should be using Tiri, Bean Rock and Tamaki Strait readings to give you an overall picture.

There are places you stay away from when the wind is about. Anywhere where there are strong tidal flows will normally have the worst wind. Eg. All the big points. Flax Point, the point of Rangitoto closest to Auckland is a case in point. Lots of moving water and more often than not local squalls when areas further out are quite benign.

Understand what the boat you own can cope with and set up your boat up so you can reef quickly and safely. Practice it at home. Have a game plan with adequate food and shelter onboard so you can wait it out. And of course you need some means of communication to pass on the fact that you are banged up somewhere due to the weather.
I think David Perillo will back me that it’s never like they say if you are out there already out there. I meet David out there at times when others can be guaranteed to be tucked up in their armchairs. Of course I am always safely banged up with the pick down and the billy on and David is still sailing.

With Blue Jacket being on a berth in Milford Creek I have an additional set of problems. Getting into the creek on the tide. Coping with big winds from the North through East and that sometimes at night. Seaweed around the prop when there have been a lot of Neasterlies. But its the seamanship that is the drug and the tougher it is the better you feel about yourself.

BUT OF COURSE you have to err on the side of caution in this PC world but the more you look at the weather the better you understand it. The day you start thinking you have mastered the sea it will take you.

A $75 membership fee will join you at Coastguard and help fund those weather repeaters and I might add get you a free tow home [or phone call to the folks]. Of course you can listen to the weathers for free but the tow will cost you $200 per hour and we don’t generally run a member message service for non members.

Islington Bay acquired its local name Drunken Bay as the first stop for sailing vessels after leaving the flesh pots of Auckland. They would stay long enough for enough of the crew man the ship. I have an old friend who served on the scows man and boy. His first night out on a scow was in part in Drunken Bay. Part way through the night the skipper lurched out and said words to the effect that he was sobering up and to the kid ‘take us to Whangarei”.

Please feel free to use the Bulletin Board on site and also feel free to set up a subject area in the Forum section. I hope to now have enough time to combat the hackers who have shagged up these public areas on the site in the past.
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Regards
David Robertson