Leaving Opua - filling in the gaps since November 2008

We had a wretched journey over to Whangaruru from Opua. It was like riding the mechanical bull at a CW bar in Texas. No rhythm to the waves and wind but it was worth the bucking we got on the way there. The bay was large and picturesque. So calm you could water ski there, with large mountaintop homes and little islands dotted throughout. We were just going to stay overnight and then move on to see some other anchorages but had heard a NZ weather forecast predicting an oncoming gale for the coastline with gusts of up to 50 knots. Although well protected and in excellent holding, we felt the rage of the storm around us for 2 days. Destiny twirled on her anchor and danced around but held tight. We sat right there through Tuesday AM, watching movies and reading books and just thanking God we weren't "out there"! Early Tuesday morning, the 25th, the wind and seas died down to a dead calm. We had a heck of a time getting the anchor unstuck from the mud in Whangaruru. Apparently there was so much rain that the run-off from land buried it quite deeply. Finally it loosened bringing up chunks of muddy bottom and away we went, heading to Great Barrier Island (GBI). www.frankandbarbgladney.com while at sea: kd0cff@winlink.org (note:the sender must include the character sequence "//WL2K" in the subject line of the message.) Skype ID: frank.barb.gladney