Roberton Island in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

Michael, photographed by Karen Gilhespy.

4 May 2002  The Category I inspection prior to departure. Here Ted Leeds is systematically checking  we have all the requisite gear we need aboard in working order. EPIRB, life raft, man over board signals,  flares , charts, light lists, radio, and so on, and including bilge pumps,  sea cocks, extra water, grab bags, navigation lights, extensive medical kit, and several pages of other detail. A month earlier, when Sea Quest was hauled out, he inspected the hull and propeller shaft. All this is required before a NZ registered vessel may obtain clearance!

11 May 2002
Three long blasts from the conch shell horn rang out the finality of our departure. Did an old acquaintance walking in the streets of Russell momentarily stop, listen and wonder? Did anyone snug aboard their boats in Matauwhi Bay pop a head out of the hatch to locate the sound? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It didn't matter. The plaintive signal was intended mainly for ourselves.

Outside the bay it seemed as though the world held its breath. The ocean's wide expanse undulated like a huge silver mirror under the hazy gray skies. The little blue penguins, normally invisible, stood out in silhouette like kiddies bathtub duck. Just under the thousand foot high peak of Cape Brett, the outer extremity of the Bay of Islands, Michael called out for me to round up Sea Quest, our 47' steel ketch. He hauled up the sails and brought the dinghy aboard.

High pressure systems that had characterized the fine weather through autumn had given way now to lows. Clouds cloaked the peaks  and strong easterly winds exposed all the pretty summertime coves to a rolling swell. Plates clattered and things in lockers clanked.

Departure from Tauranga, (Bay of Plenty) New Zealand
3 June 2002


3^rd June
Conditions are cloudy and windy. 20-30 knot winds have been forecast,

Michael adjusts the windvane sail as we motor from the Bay of Islands on 11 May, 2002.

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