The paradoxical tale of a well-behaved chicken

All hands on deck! Te Kaihōpara is back in action!

Te Kaihōpara and I were reunited, after my Silver Fern side-quest (with a delivery to Norsand Boatyard in Whangarei for maintenance) as we welcomed our Skipper, Mick Johns back onboard for an in depth, two week exploration of the Islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Our crew for this adventure, in no particular order, would be Ross Glare, the human ‘cat’ with eight lives, who I’d also crossed the Tasman Sea with in January this year, onboard Silver Fern. Joining him is Delwyn, a Salt Lines veteran with a penchant for polar bears; Helen, a soon to be Grandma with nerves of steel on the high seas and Cheryl, a real-life cowgirl with around a hundred sheep, couple of hens and a whole bunch of dawgs (thats ‘dogs’ for you city-slickers) on her farm.

The only acceptable way to divide a sandwich, courtesy of Helen

As we left Auckland, I got great pleasure in filling up Te Kaihōpara’s belly with fuel (first time since February) as the crew went in to sixth gear in preparing the boat for sea. The sails were hoisted, but to no avail, as the winds played pee-a-boo with us and managed to successfully dodge us all afternoon. Cheryl claimed the trip would be incomplete without getting all four sails up. I’ll make sure I get a picture of her when the winds are gusting thirty-eight knots on Wednesday. Te Kaihōpara never leaves her guests unsatisfied!

'A view to kill for' - James Bond (probably)

The crew settled down for the night at Mansion House Bay (Two house Bay for the purists) as Mick and Delwyn cooked up a British Classic; Bangers and Mash! I was hoping to get some ‘Toad-in-a-hole’ (another classic British dish), but Delwyn’s Welsh roots, stopped her from baking it. Cheryl blew me away with tales of her farm’s rooster, which has the incredible ability to keep its volume down at sunrise. The only rooster I’d known previously, resided behind my dear friend’s house in Goa, India. It resembled King Louis XIV and enjoyed climbing the tree behind their house to ‘cock-a-doodle-do’ right next the bedroom window that I used to sleep in, at 4am, of course. For now, the gentle lullaby of the ocean’s waves will lull Te Kaihōpara to sleep ,as she gets her rest before our sail toward Great Barrier Reef Island.  

- Arjun Thimmaya, Chief Mate, Te Kaihōpara