Roberton Island: anchored
Roberton Island: anchored
To the early Maori voyagers New Zealand was Aotearoa, “The Land of the Long White Cloud,” and it usually is. But Friday evening as I was sitting on deck there was something odd about the sky: it was cloudless. And so it has mostly remained.
I waited for the wind yesterday morning until 11:00 a.m., when I dropped the mooring and powered north in a faint breeze that was supposed to grow to ten to fifteen knots from the north. It did, but not until long after I was anchored here at 12:30. I am waiting again this morning. Hopefully the wind will come up before my patience runs out. I’d like to sail north a few miles and then set the spinnaker on the furling gear for the run home.
Roberton Island is the most picturesque anchorage in the Bay of Islands, and the most photographed. Several of the photos in the miscellaneous page of the main site were taken here. The anchorage is known as ‘The Lagoon’ but only looks tropical. A handful of private homes are on the island, but most of it is open to the public, including a trail up to a lookout platform which provides spectacular views over the bay.
I don’t keep track of school holidays, but New Zealand seems to be having another one. Day-trip boats come and go, but four other sailboats anchored here overnight.
Still early--7:45--and still still. Dew on deck. Blue cloudless sky. Boat feels motionless, but the hills visible through the companionway are swaying side to side.
Monday, October 8, 2007