Headed out of the shelter of Fitzroy Harbour towards the mainland, first stop overnight being the Hen and Chicken Islands as it was just a bit too far to get up the estuary to Whangarei in one day at this time of year.
Passed the “Spirit of New Zealand” in the Harbour with many youngsters aboard.
Then into the straight, light winds and concern that we may not get across the water in time. However the wind soon got up along with the swell and we were making about 5 knots on a reefed mainsail and a cutter. We put up the genoa but had to take it in and out several times as the wind rose and eased, mainly as fronts and showers went through. The wind gusted 30 knots and the waves about 2 metres with a 1.5 metre swell which was a combination of swells from various directions. It wasn’t unpleasant but without much confidence in the weather forecasting, we did wonder if that was the height of the wind.
The Hen and Chicken Islands are fairly bleak, at least in these conditions, but I’m sure they are beautiful on calm summer days. We anchored in Boulder Bay for the night, it was tucked in from the Southerly and South-Easterly but still a fair bit of chop.
The anchorage was rocky and the anchor well dug in but the noise of the anchor chain in the night with high winds pulling at the boat was not enjoyable.
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