A tale of four sails, a baby seal and a pod of dolphins

Silver Fern (L), Te Kaihōpara and Salt Lines (R) departing Port Hardy in perfect synchronisation

The Te Kaihōpara crew bid farewell to the Silver Fern and Salt Lines crew as we set off on our very own adventure towards Torrent Bay, a.k.a Rākauoa. Before we left, I did see a friendly face on a nearby mooring. It was a fluffy cat I’d met in Portsmouth Harbour last July. I was sure it was the same cat because, its home, the sloop was the same shape, size and colour (I didn’t remember its name). The Jolly Roger it was flying was the same as before, as were the seven little children running around the deck. I wish I’d had time to go say hello to the Captain/ father onboard, but time was not on my side. Te Kaihōpara was yearning to get sailing!

I uncovered the fancy aft helm once all four sails were up

Once we got a bit of wind, Te Kaihōpara beamed with pride as we got all her sails up (no iron sail today). What a sight to behold! The only thing off today was the fact that David and Shazz were not twinning with their T-shirts. I’m eagerly waiting for things to go back to twinning-normallacy tomorrow. A baby seal and a pod of Dolphins accompanied us for part of the day as I ran around trying to sort out some issues with the main power supply. In a completely shocking turn  of events, David chose to allow Lynda to helm for a while. Shazz and Jo seemed a bit shell shocked as David coolly sat and wolfed down a couple of chocolate Easter eggs in honour of the special day.

Everybody makes way when Te Kaihōpara comes visiting

We entered Torrent Bay surrounded by about twenty-four boats anchored around us. A good day of pure sailing was followed by some excellent Japanese fish curry with veggies and rice.  Te Kaihōpara and I sure are lucky to have this crew and their loving cooking skills onboard. The escapades and more shenanigans will continue tomorrow!

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara