Torries

TASMAN

SEA

january/february 2017

cruisingworld.com

68

and pulled the deployment bag and anchor on deck

through the forward hatch.

The deployment bag has a clip, which I attached

to the lifeline, and a Velcro-closed opening in the

bottom so that the end of the rode can be cleated —

always a good idea. I pulled the 20 feet of chain and

about 55 feet of line from the bag and secured it to

the starboard bow cleat. I have installed a small roller

on Gannet’s starboard bow to keep the chain part of

the rode off the hull when raising anchor, so I set

the hook from that side. Concerned that the anchor

might fall overboard if we heeled in a gust, I lashed it

to the pulpit with a sail tie.

As we made the turn to the west between penin-

sulas, instead of fading as I had expected, the wind

accelerated and backed to the northwest, gusting

hard, heeling us far over and rounding Gannet up

toward nearby rocks.

I eased the mainsheet and continued mostly under

jib alone, getting knocked down and bobbing up, til-

ler in my left hand (a round of applause for physical

therapy that has greatly relieved a torn rotator cuff )

and playing the mainsheet with my right.

Whangamumu appears to be an ancient volcano

whose northeast side has been breached for a few

hundred yards. Surrounded by jagged rocks and

shelves, the entrance seems narrow.

Inside the harbor, the wind continued to gust,

and Gannet was making 6 and 7 knots. In a lull, I

engaged the tillerpilot and went to furl the jib. I had

just uncleated the furling line when a gust knocked

us down and spun us toward the nearby shore. I had

to drop the line and move back to the tiller. With

Gannet again under control, I went to furl the fl og-

ging jib, whose sheets had twisted themselves into a

Gordian knot.

The wind was now coming from the northwest. A

30-foot white sailboat was anchored close to the ruins

of the old whaling station. I like it out in the middle.

Full-batten mainsails are almost impossible to

depower completely, and we were still making 4 knots

— faster than I like to anchor — but I knew ultra-

light Gannet would be stopped by the wind when we

turned into it.

We were arriving at high tide. When the depth

fi nder read 26 feet, I made the turn, slipped the

tiller pilot arm onto the tiller pin to keep the tiller

amidships, and went forward and dropped the Spade

anchor, feeding out the rode with my hand to where

it was cleated, at 75 feet. The Spade dug in instantly.

I moved aft and released the main halyard, lowering

the sail, before I returned to the bow, uncleated the

rode and fed out another 75 feet. The anchor was

down at 1545.

We had taken almost six hours to make 16 miles. It

is good to have a fast boat.

I remained at Whangamumu for two days, and

after the sailboat and a powerboat that came in an

hour after I did left the next morning, I mostly had

the place to myself.

Both were anchored far away from Gannet, yet

there is a satisfying diff erence between being alone

and in company: the diff erence between being on

a truly deserted island and on one where you just

momentarily can’t see other people.

The wind continued gusting 20 to 25 knots, and

there were brief, passing showers. With stronger

wind forecast for overnight, I let the anchor rode out

to the 180-foot mark.

A sudden gust heeled Gannet far over as I stood in

the companionway that evening, sipping wine and lis-

tening to music. I grabbed the tumbler sitting on the

waist-high deck before it could spill.

The gust passed into sudden quiet as the wind

dropped to 2 knots.

That afternoon I had dragged the Torqeedo elec-

tric outboard from where it is stowed, out of sight

and mind, and mounted it on the stern, just to see if it

still ran. It did, and I planned to turn it on sometime

on the way back just to use it.

Gannet is an almost engineless boat.

I have sailed more engineless miles than some

who have built their reputations and made a reli-

gion out of it. I had Egregious built without an engine;

Chidiock Tichborne did not have one; and the diesel on

Resurgam died on the Caribbean side of Panama, and

the boat and I sailed all the way to Australia before

replacing it. I’ve never powered more than an hour

here and there at sea, and then usually only to stabi-

lize a boat being thrown about by leftover waves with

no wind. That you have to power through the dol-

drums is simply not true. I’ve crossed the equator 13

times without motoring. If you are a sailor and have

a boat that sails well, you need an engine only for the

last hundred yards in harbors that are set up with the

expectation that all boats are powered.

I must admit that there is a satisfaction in doing

it all under sail: sailing on and off the mooring, on

and off anchor, and even spending two hours making

2 miles in almost no wind and then sailing into a

knockdown- gusty harbor.

Gannet is beautifully natural. Even with the solar-

charged Torqeedo, she runs only on wind and sun and

my muscles.

I looked around at the long shadows on the hills

covered with impenetrable foliage. A few white

skeletons of dead trees were surrounded by wild, exu-

berant green life. To the north, one tree broke above

the others and reached higher for sun and sky.

I loved being there; I long have. I’ve sailed into this

harbor on Resurgam, The Hawke of Tuonela and Gannet.

And I knew that when I left this time, I might never

be back.

Loreena McKennitt was singing “Dante’s Prayer”:

“Cast your eyes on the ocean / Cast your soul to the

sea / When the dark night seems endless / Please

remember me.”

Auckland

North

Island

South

Island

NEW

ZEALAND

40 º S

170 º E 180 º E

35° 10' S Bay of Islands

35° 14' S

35° 18' S

174° 6' E 174° 10' E 174° 14' E 174° 18' E

0 2 4

Nautical Miles

Bay of Islands

Whangamumu

Harbor

Cape

Paradise Bay UrupukapukaBrett

Island

Opua

Russell

174° 22' E

WEBB CHILES (OPPOSITE); MAP BY SHANNON CAIN TUMINO

CRW0217_FEA3_Whanga (outlines).indd 68 11/21/16 12:35 PM