Sloppy movie plots, bashful winds and a beaming spotlight

The crew finding solace in getting someone else to do their dirty dishes

The next morning had a lazy charm one can only expect from a Sunday morning as the Te Kaihōpara’s crew decided to explore Tauranga. As they slowly trickled off the yacht, I juggled the idea of visiting a pop-up art gallery close by. However, the forty-five minute one-way walk decidedly put me off, as I stayed onboard to top-up Te Kaihōpara’s thirsty fresh water tanks and treat myself to some delicious Granny smith apples. Iain snuck off to a hike atop a hill and was almost ambushed by a daredevil pilot in a tiny plane, which ventured a tad too close to mother earth.

Blurry or in-focus, capturing the moon has intrigued humans since they first laid eyes on it 

We set sail off Tauranga marina in typical fashion, giving Silver Fern a sizeable time advantage (refer to my previous blog as to why we decided to be so magnanimous). The agenda for the evening was to keep Te Kaihōpara’s sail area to minimum to counter the predicted winds gusts during the night sail as well as to cook up Kester and Barry’s brilliantly caught fish. Both missions were successful and describing the end results would be beyond the scope of this blog (you just had to be there to experience the crew’s silky smooth reefing/ cooking skills). A late night game of ‘Sloppy Movie plots’ was played by my watch, the prize being a sizeable amount of chocolate. Obviously Te Kaihōpara and I won because the house always wins.

Shane single-handedly showing the mainsheet who’s the boss

The early hours of the next day brought us into Mercury Bay. As a sign of acknowledgement to Silver Fern, we shined our high powered spotlight right into their saloon, hoping to confuse their crew into thinking that the sun had risen a tad early. Tasi and Shane did a great job getting the anchor deployed as we sipped on hot tea and watched the sun rise from behind a shelter providing hill at the bay’s entrance. Life just keeps getting better on Te Kaihōpara.

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara