We departed Opua in beautiful sunshine and a light south easterly breeze. We waved goodbye to our families, set sail excited for the coming adventure. We do not know each other yet but already we are learning to work together. Who knew just pulling on ropes with a bunch of strangers could be fun? We’ve done so much in one day! Raised sail, climbed the rigging, eaten delicious food, hiked to the top of a big beautiful hill to survey the Islands of the bay of islands, rode the rope swing and splashed into surprisingly warm water, played camouflage on the beach And played ‘hide and go seek’ on the boat. So ready for bed.
Day 2, we started our morning with our first morning swim and we were all pleasantly surprised by how warm it felt. After our refreshing wake up, we got into our smaller groups and began our morning chores, learning how to look after the ship, once a hot breakfast had been eaten we lifted anchor and set sail for Deep water cove learning about different sail stations and what all the lines do, on our way out a pair of dolphins followed us for the journey of the sail! Anchored in deep water cove we had a delicious curry for lunch, before everyone putting on wetsuits and getting in for a snorkel, we saw lots of snapper, crayfish and other colourful fish! A hot chocolate and brownie was on the cards to warm up after our time in the water, before setting sails and heading around the hole in the rock towards Whangamumu, a bit of swell made for some fun bow sprit riding and climbing in the rigging. Arriving in the beautiful anchorage currently, excited for what tomorrow holds. Until then.
